Earn their love

“It is our duty—I should say it is our privilege as well as our duty to take sufficient time to surround our children with safeguards and to so love them and earn their love that they will be glad to listen to our advice and counsel.”

Teachings: George Albert Smith, 228.

Everyday Teaching

Their daughter Edith told of one occasion when her father took advantage of a teaching opportunity. She had taken the streetcar home from a piano lesson, and the conductor neglected to collect her fare. “Somehow he passed me by,” she recounted, “and I reached my destination still holding my nickel in my hand, and frankly quite elated that I had made the trip free.

“… I ran gleefully to Father to tell him about my good fortune. He listened to my story patiently. I was beginning to think I was a great success. …

“When I had finished my tale, Father said, ‘But, darling, even if the conductor doesn’t know about this, you know and I know and Heavenly Father knows. So, there are still three of us who must be satisfied in seeing that you pay in full for value received.’”

Edith returned to the street corner and paid her fare. She said later, “I am indeed thankful for a Father who was wise enough to kindly point out the error to me, because if it had been overlooked, I could have thought he approved.”

See Teachings: George Albert Smith, 235.

Natural Missionary Work

A close friend observed how President Smith exemplified “earnestness” in sharing the gospel: “On several occasions I have had the privilege of traveling on the train with President Smith. Each time I observed that as soon as the journey was well underway, he would take a few gospel tracts from his bag, put them into his pocket, and then move about among the passengers. In his friendly, agreeable manner he would soon make the acquaintance of a fellow traveler, and in a short time I would hear him relating the story of the founding of the Church by the Prophet Joseph Smith or telling of the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo and their trials and difficulties in crossing the plains to Utah or explaining some of the gospel principles to his new-found friend. Conversation after conversation would follow with one passenger after another until the journey was ended. In my entire acquaintance with President Smith, which has extended more than forty years, I have learned that wherever he is, he is first and foremost a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Preston Nibley, in Teachings: George Albert Smith, 123.

Teaching the Gospel with the Earnestness it Demands

“I feel sometimes that we do not sufficiently sense the importance of [the gospel], that we do not teach it with the earnestness it demands.”

Teachings: George Albert Smith, 150.

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.

#aang

Love and Kindness Toward All

George Albert Smith’s conviction [is] that we can “meet our problems in the spirit of love and kindness toward all.”

Teachings: George Albert Smith, 223.

Strongest Testimony

George Albert Smith (1870–1951), who served as the eighth President of the Church, from 1945 to 1951, believed that if we truly have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it will manifest itself in our lives—particularly in the way we treat one another. “A correct and consistent life,” he taught, “is the strongest testimony that we will be able to bear of the truth of this work.”

Teachings: George Albert Smith, 9.

True to Their Faith

True to Their Faith

(click to view larger)

Photo illustration by Donna Kay Billmire

President Monson tells a story about one pioneer family and then quotes President George Albert Smith: “Will you live true to the faith of your ancestors? … Strive to be worthy of all the sacrifices [they] have made for you.” Whether you have a pioneer ancestry or are a first-generation member of the Church, do you look to examples of faith for guidance and strength? Here’s a good way you can get started:

1. Make a list of people you admire. They can be members of your own family (past or present), friends, Church leaders, or people in the scriptures.

2. Write down the qualities they have that you like. Is your mom really patient? Maybe your friend is kind to others. Perhaps you love Captain Moroni’s courage.

3. Pick one quality from your list and ask yourself, “How can I gain this quality? What do I need to do to develop this in my life?”

4. Write down your plans for developing this quality and put it somewhere you’ll see it often, to remind you of your goal. Pray for Heavenly Father’s help and check your progress regularly. Once you feel you have sufficiently developed this quality, you can pick a new quality to work on.

Remember that as we develop great qualities in ourselves, we not only honor the faith of our ancestors and the sacrifices they made, but we can also be an influence for good to those around us.

Our Eternal Happiness

“Our eternal happiness will be in proportion to the way that we devote ourselves to helping others.”

George Albert Smith, in Daughters in My Kingdom, 77.

Be a Better Man!

“Within the last year, I have had the privilege of meeting and conversing on the gospel with some men who live in this community [Salt Lake City], not members of our Church. One man had resided here for twenty years, a man whose life is above reproach, a good citizen, a splendid businessman, one who has kindly feelings towards our people. He told me that he had . . . come to the conclusion that we were just as good as our neighbors who are members of other churches; he could not see any difference in us.

“I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that is no compliment to me. If the gospel of Jesus Christ does not make me a better man, than I have no developed as I should, and if our neighbors not in this Church can live among us from year to year and see no evidence of the benefits that come from keeping the commandments of God in our lives, then there is need for reform in Israel.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith (2011), 7-8

How Do We Learn to Forgive Others?

President George Albert Smith helps answer this question in chapter 23 of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith (2011):

• -          “Before we get into the glory of our Father and enjoy the blessings that we hope to receive through faithfulness, we will have to live the laws of patience, and exercise forgiveness toward those who trespass against us, and remove from our hearts all feelings of hatred toward them.”
• -          “When we partake of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, . . . let us purge from our hearts all felling of unkindness toward one another and toward our brothers and sisters who are not of our faith.”
• -          “May we have the Spirit of the Master dwelling within us, that we may forgive all men as He has commanded, forgive, not only with our lips but in the very depts. Of our hearts, every trespass that may have been committed against us.”

Examine Yourselves Today

“In the midst of the unsettled condition, the uncertainty that is in the world, if there ever was a time when we should examine ourselves, to find out if we are doing what the Lord would have us do, it is today; if there ever was a time when we should be sure that we are in the pathway of eternal life, it is now….Now let us examine ourselves. Are we doing as much as we should? And if we are not, let us turn around and do better.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, pg 6-7, 9.

Do Better then You've Ever Done Before

“Let us do better than we have ever done before. Let us renew our determination to be real Latter-day Saints, and not just make-believe. . . .I do not know anybody who can not do a little better than he has been doing, if he makes up his mind.”

In Conference Report, Apr. 1941, 27. or Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, pg 5.

Stolen Buggy Robe

"It was reported to [President Smith] that someone had stolen from his buggy the buggy robe. Instead of being angry, he responded: "I wish we knew who it was, so that we could give him the blanket also, for he must have been cold; and some food also, for he must have been hungry."

Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness (1969), 284.