Friendship

“Reach out to those you do not know and greet them warmly. Each Sunday extend a hand of fellowship to at least one person you did not know before. Each day of your life, strive to enlarge your own circle of friendship” 

(Russell M. Nelson, “Be Thou an Example of the Believers,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 48).

Ministering

“Be With and Strengthen Them”

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

 In addition to whatever schedule you establish for actual visits, that calendar can be supplemented with telephone calls, written notes, texts, emails, video chats, conversations at Church meetings, shared service projects, social activities, and a host of possibilities in the world of social media....with these adjustments we want more care and concern, not less....

However, I warn you, a new name, new flexibility, and fewer reports won’t make an ounce of difference in our service unless we see this as an invitation to care for one another in a bold, new, holier way, as President Nelson has just said.

Daily Bread

• JANUARY 2012
• RECOGNIZING GOD’S HAND IN OUR DAILY BLESSINGS

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Recognizing God’s Hand in Our Daily Blessings

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From a Church Educational System fireside address given on January 9, 2011. For the full text in English, visit speeches.byu.edu.

Jesus teaches us, His disciples, that we should look to God each day for the bread—the help and sustenance—we require that particular day. ...

 Likewise, as we plead with God for our daily bread—for help in the moment that we cannot provide for ourselves—we must still be active in doing and providing that which is within our power....

The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me how to truly pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a practical way to have faith in God....

Asking God for our daily bread rather than our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread is also a way for us to focus on the smaller, more manageable bits of a problem. ...

Incorporating new and wholesome habits into our character or overcoming bad habits or addictions often means an effort today followed by another tomorrow and then another, perhaps for many days, even months and years, until we achieve victory. But we can do it because we can appeal to God for our daily bread, for the help we need each day....

Experience teaches that in a marriage, for example, a steady stream of simple kindnesses, help, and attention do much more to keep love alive and nurture a relationship than an occasional grand or expensive gesture....

As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures of the day and what will make the next day a little better. And thank your Heavenly Father for the manna He has placed along your path that sustained you through the day.

Preparing for Conference

• MARCH 2018
• THE WORD OF GOD TO HIS CHILDREN

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FIRST PRESIDENCY MESSAGE

The Word of God to His Children

By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Second Counselor in the First Presidency

I give you my personal witness that long before a speaker in general conference makes that long walk to the podium, he or she has invested immense effort, prayer, and study in response to the assignment to speak. Every conference message represents countless hours of preparation and heartfelt pleading to understand what the Lord wishes His Saints to hear.

What might happen if we as listeners matched the speakers’ preparation with our own? How might our approach to general conference be different if we saw conference as an opportunity to receive messages from the Lord Himself? Through the words and music of general conference, we can expect to receive personalized answers to whatever questions or problems we might be facing.

Eating the Flesh and Drinking the Blood

The Living Bread Which Came Down from Heaven

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

To eat His flesh and drink His blood is a striking way of expressing how completely we must bring the Savior into our life—into our very being—that we may be one. How does this happen?...

Clearly, then, we partake of His flesh and drink His blood when we receive from Him the power and blessings of His Atonement....

But figuratively eating His flesh and drinking His blood has a further meaning, and that is to internalize the qualities and character of Christ, putting off the natural man and becoming Saints “through the atonement of Christ the Lord.”...

We cannot be content to remain as we are but must be moving constantly toward “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”...

To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ means to pursue holiness....

If we yearn to dwell in Christ and have Him dwell in us,23 then holiness is what we seek, in both body and spirit.24 We seek it in the temple, whereon is inscribed “Holiness to the Lord.” We seek it in our marriages, families, and homes. We seek it each week as we delight in the Lord’s holy day.25 We seek it even in the details of daily living: our speech, our dress, our thoughts. As President Thomas S. Monson has stated, “We are the product of all we read, all we view, all we hear and all we think.”26 We seek holiness as we take up our cross daily....

Partaking of the Savior’s flesh and drinking His blood means to put out of our lives anything inconsistent with a Christlike character and to make His attributes our own. ...

God will show us our flaws and failings, but He will also help us turn weakness into strength.

Accept Your Body

“I plead with you young women to please be more accepting of yourselves, including your body shape and style, with a little less longing to look like someone else. We are all different. Some are tall, and some are short. Some are round, and some are thin. And almost everyone at some time or other wants to be something they are not! … Every young woman is a child of destiny and every adult woman a powerful force for good.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “To Young Women,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 29.

Put Phone Down

"For the Spirit to dwell in us, we have to have time and space. Learn to put your Smartphones down. Insert time when your technology is intentionally not accessible."

- Neil L. Anderson