Totally Unfair

Keep Trying

By Elder Marvin J. Ashton (1915–94)

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From “If Thou Endure It Well,” Ensign, Nov. 1984, 20–22.

When family members disappoint us, we especially need to learn endurance. As long as we exercise love, patience, and understanding, even when no progress is apparent, we are not failing. We must keep trying. …

… Greatness is best measured by how well an individual responds to the happenings in life that appear to be totally unfair, unreasonable, and undeserved. …

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Use During Ministering Interviews

It Is All about People

By Bishop Gérald Caussé

Presiding Bishop

President M. Russell Ballard taught, “What is most important in our Church responsibilities is not the statistics that are reported or the meetings that are held but whether or not individual people—ministered to one at a time just as the Savior did—have been lifted and encouraged and ultimately changed.”3

My dear brothers and sisters, are we active in the gospel, or are we merely busy in the Church? The key is to follow the example of the Savior in all things. If we do that, we will naturally focus on saving individuals rather than performing tasks and implementing programs.

Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like if the Savior visited your ward or branch next Sunday? What would He do? Would He be worried to know if the visual aids were good enough or if the chairs were positioned properly in the classroom? Or would He find someone He could love, teach, and bless? Perhaps He would seek out a new member or a friend to welcome, a sick brother or sister in need of comfort, or a wavering young person who needed to be lifted and encouraged....

I promise you that as you strive to be on the Lord’s agenda, nothing will become more important than finding those people you can help and bless. At church you will focus on teaching individuals and touching their hearts. Your concern will be to foster a spiritual experience rather than organize a perfect activity, to minister to your fellow members rather than check a box for the number of visits you have made. It will not be about you but about them whom we call our brothers and our sisters.

Sweep the Earth

In a CES fireside in 2009, Elder Bednar warned against the “potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing, and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls” and pleaded with members “to beware of the sense-dulling and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity and that promote degrading and evil purposes” (“Things as They Really Are,” Ensign, June 2010, 20).

Elder Bednar invited members to “sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth” following these four guidelines:

1. Be authentic and consistent.
2. Seek to edify and uplift rather than to argue, debate, condemn, or belittle.
3. Respect the intellectual property of other people and organizations.
4. Be wise and vigilant in protecting yourself and those you love. (Remember, the world will have access to your messages and photos for all time).

“Too much time can be wasted, too many relationships can be harmed or destroyed, and precious patterns of righteousness can be disrupted when technology is used improperly,” he later warned. “We should not allow even good applications of social media to overrule the better and best uses of our time, energy, and resources” (“To Sweep the Earth as with a Flood”).

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Bored, Angry, Lonely... don't do this!

• Be focused on a higher purpose.Have a specific purpose for using technology, and limit its use when you are bored, lonely, angry, stressed, or feeling any emotion that makes you vulnerable or susceptible for using technology inappropriately.

• Be disciplined. Don’t let your devices control you. Use settings that allow you to minimize interruptions during meetings, appointments, and conversations.

adapted from the Safeguards for Using Technology booklet for missionaries 

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Learning the Painful Lessons

“Difficulties come into our lives, problems we do not anticipate and which we would never choose. None of us is immune. The purpose of mortality is to learn and to grow to be more like our Father, and it is often during the difficult times that we learn the most, as painful as the lessons may be.”

President Thomas S. Monson, “God Be with You TillWe Meet Again,” Ensign, Nov. 2012, 111.

Endure to the End

He That Shall Endure unto the End, the Same Shall Be Saved

By Elder Claudio D. Zivic

Of the Seventy

April 2018 Conference

We must strive to obey all the commandments and pay close attention to those that are hardest for us to keep. The Lord will be at our side, helping us in times of need and weakness, and if we demonstrate a sincere desire and act accordingly, He will make “weak things become strong.”...

I suggest a formula that will help us endure to the end:

1. Daily, pray and read the scriptures.
2. Weekly, partake of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
3. Pay our tithing and our monthly fast offering.
4. Every two years—every year for the youth—renew our temple recommends.
5. Throughout our whole lives, serve in the work of the Lord.
   He suffered for our sins, pains, depression, anguish, infirmities, and fears, and so He knows how to help us, how to inspire us, how to comfort us, and how to strengthen us so that we may endure and obtain the crown that is reserved for those who are not defeated.
   Life is different for each of us. We all have a time of trials, a time for happiness, a time for making decisions, a time for overcoming obstacles, and a time for taking advantage of opportunities.
   Whatever our personal situations may be, I testify that our Heavenly Father is constantly saying, “I love you. I sustain you. I am with you. Do not give up. Repent and endure in the path that I have shown you. And I assure you that we will see each other again in our celestial home.”
   

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Forethought and Attention

The Beautiful Gift of the Sacrament

By Elder Dale G. Renlund and Sister Ruth L. Renlund

Elder Renlund is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From a devotional address, “Come unto Christ,” delivered at Brigham Young University–Idaho on September 26, 2017. For the full address, go to web.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

Preparation for the sacrament requires forethought and attention. You cannot expect the sacrament to be a spiritual experience if you are scurrying about, texting on your phone, or otherwise being distracted.

So come early to church. As the sacrament hymn begins, make sure your thoughts are focused on the Savior, His Atonement, His love, and His compassion. Pray that you will be renewed as you partake of the sacrament and remember Him.

When Children Are Young...

Remember that daily family prayer, family scripture study, and sharing our testimony in sacrament meeting are easier and more effective when children are young. 

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, “A Priceless Heritage of Hope,”Ensign, May 2014, 25.

Unlock Hard Hearts

“What a joy, what a comfort, what a satisfaction can be added to the lives of our neighbors and friends through kindness. How I would like to write that word in capital letters and emblazon it in the air. Kindness is the power that God has given us to unlock hard hearts and subdue stubborn souls.”

Teachings: George Albert Smith, 228.

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Disappointment and Betrayal

Do Not Leave the Savior

By Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Of the Seventy

From a devotional address, “The Lens of Truth,” delivered at Brigham Young University–Idaho on March 7, 2017. For the full address, go to web.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

Some of Satan’s most effective weapons are distraction, deception, and spiritual desensitization. Each erodes faith, obscures vision, and skews perspective. Together they constitute the great challenge of our time. Satan uses them not simply to undermine Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, Church doctrine, and Church leaders but also to attack the Savior and the Father’s plan. It has always been so....

When you are encompassed and overwhelmed by doubt, difficulty, and temptation, trust Him. When life isn’t what you expected and those you trusted disappoint and betray you, continue to trust in Him completely. May you respond as Nephi of old in equally distressing times: “Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. … O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever” (2 Nephi 4:19, 34).

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