CONVERTS
We want converts to the Church. We are not very much concerned with the [number of] baptisms per se, we are concerned with converts to this Church -- people who have had come into their hearts a conviction, a feeling, a knowledge, a testimony that will remain with them throughout their lives. -- From Regina, Saskatchewan, missionary meeting, Aug. 3, 1998EDUCATION
I hope you [young people] will get all the education that you can get. The Lord has laid a mandate upon the people of this Church that they should learn by study and by faith, that they should seek not only after spiritual knowledge, which is most important, but that they should seek after secular knowledge. You will bring honor to this Church if you will educate your minds and your hands, if you will remain true and faithful as you go into the world. The people of the world will honor you and respect you for your qualifications and you will bring honor to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. -- From Montreal, Quebec, member meeting, Aug. 6, 1998
GRATITUDE
I feel so profoundly grateful in my heart for the blessings of the Lord. How good and kind and generous and wonderful He has been to us, as His sons and daughters. How thankful we ought to be every day of our lives for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the God of heaven and His Beloved Son, parted the curtains and opened the work in this the dispensation of the fulness of times and brought about a restoration of all previous dispensations. All of the great doctrine, all of the great practices of earlier dispensations in this, the greatest of all dispensations. How thankful we ought to be that somehow the Lord in His kindness and goodness and mercy to us has made it possible for us to enjoy these blessings. -- From Sudbury, Ontario, member meeting, Aug. 5, 1998
HUMILITY
The Lord has said, in modern revelation, "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers" (D&C 112: 10). What a marvelous and wonderful promise that is. There is no place for arrogance in our lives. There is no place for conceit in our lives. There is no place for false pride in our lives." -- From Montreal, Quebec, member meeting, Aug. 6, 1998
MISSIONARY WORK
There is something about a mission that is different from all the other experiences of our lives. We have all kinds of experiences as we go through life, but a mission occupies a particular niche. You grow so fast, for one thing, in the mission field. You go out green as grass and in about three months, you mature in a miraculous and wonderful way. Your fears leave you. You're not afraid to go up and knock on a door. That is a terrible thing the first time you try it, but your fears leave you. You are able to stand in a street meeting, if that is the practice of the mission to which you go. There comes into your heart a new assurance and a new boldness to do that which you ought to do. -- From Friday Night Devotional, Missionary Training Center, June 26, 1998
PARENTS
You parents, you fathers and mothers, live the kind of exemplary lives before your children that they will find in you the polar star to which they can look as they shape their own lives. Isaiah declared, 'And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord;' and then he gives this promise: 'and great shall be the peace of thy children.' (Isa. 54:13.)
"Have you ever seen children without peace? Derelict children? Children on drugs? Children in trouble? I have, and in so very many cases, you can look to the parents to find the root of the problem. I hope, fathers and mothers, that you are having family home evening with these young people, your sons and daughters. I hope that you are setting before them an example of righteousness in living. I hope that they can look to you in times of trouble and stress for wisdom and understanding with their problems. -- From Winnipeg, Manitoba, member meeting, Aug. 4, 1998
RESTORATION
"Repent ye therefore," said Peter, "and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:19-21.) These are the days of restitution. These are the days of restoration spoken of in the Holy Bible plainly and forcefully by Peter the Apostle and by Paul. I repeat, you and I are a part of prophecy fulfilled, a part of the divine plan of the God of heaven that there should be a falling away and that there must be a restoration. -- From Hamilton, Ontario, member meeting, Aug. 8, 1998
TEMPLE RECOMMENDS
Now, to all of you who hold temple recommends. Thank you for the great effort you make to go to the temple. To those of you who do not hold recommends, who are adults, please get your lives in order that you may qualify for a temple recommend. -- From Montreal, Quebec, member meeting, Aug. 6, 1998
YOUTH
I believe with all my heart that we have never had a generation of young people in this Church better than the generation we have today, or even as good. You know more of the gospel. You live your lives better. You get up at 5:00 in the morning to get to seminary; even when the wind is blowing and the blizzards are howling, you are out to learn the word of the Lord. Keep it up. -- From Winnipeg, Manitoba, member meeting, Aug. 4, 1998