Category Archives: Study Mode

Lorenzo Snow: It will be turned to your advantage

President Lorenzo Snow taught, “My young friends, there is an opportunity for you to become great—just as great as you wish to be. In starting out in life you may set your hearts upon things very difficult to attain to, but possibly within your reach. In your first efforts to gratify your desires you may fail, and your continued efforts may not prove what may be termed a success. But inasmuch as your efforts were honest efforts, and inasmuch as your desires were founded in righteousness, the experience you obtain while pursuing your hearts’ desires must necessarily be profitable to you, and even your mistakes, if mistakes you make, will be turned to your advantage.” Lorenzo Snow Teachings of the Presidents of the Church Chapter 6: Becoming Perfect before the Lord: day by day

Stand Firm and Realize the Promises

In this quote President Lorenzo Snow speaks on how understanding our gospel convenants and being true to them can overcome any disappointment or doubt and help us realize all the Father has,

“Where is there cause to mourn? Where is there cause for the Saints to wear long faces? Where is there cause for weeping or repining? There is none; but it is life or death that is set before us; principalities and powers are ours if we continue faithful; sorrow and banishment if we disregard the gospel.

“What can we wish for more than is comprehended in our religion? If we will stand firm upon the rock and will follow the Spirit that has been placed in our bosoms, we shall act right in the way of our duties, we shall act right to those who are placed over us, we shall act right whether in the light or in the dark.”

Lorenzo Snow
Teachings of the Presidents of the Church
Chapter 5: The Grand Destiny of the Faithful

Not Particular Concerning Them

President Lorenzo Snow taught,

“I had not been in this Church [very long] when it was clearly shown to me what a man could reach through a continued obedience to the Gospel of the Son of God. That knowledge has been as a star continually before me, and has caused me to be particular in trying to do that which was right and acceptable to God. … It seems, after all the education that we had in things pertaining to the celestial worlds, that there are some Latter-day Saints who are so well satisfied with simply knowing that the work is true that when you come to talk to them of our great future they seem surprised, and think it has nothing to do particularly with them.”

Lorenzo Snow
Teachings of the Presidents of the Church
Chapter 5: The Grand Destiny of the Faithful

Improvement begins with ourselves

President Lorenzo Snow taught,

If we expect to improve, to advance in the work immediately before us, and finally to obtain possession of those gifts and glories, coming up to that condition of exaltation we anticipate, we must take thought and reflect, we must exert ourselves, and that too to the utmost of our ability.

Teachings of the Presidents of the Church
Chapter 3: Lifelong Conversion: Continuing to Advance in the Principles of Truth

Stick with the Ship of Zion

Sometimes we talk about a perfect church filled with imperfect people. I liked this analogy by Lorenzo Snow,

“Stick to the ship of Zion. If boats come to the side, showing beautiful colors and making wonderful promises, do not get off the ship to go to the shore on any other boat; but keep on the ship. If you are badly used by any of those that are on the ship, who have not got the proper spirit, remember the ship itself is allright. We should not allow our minds to become soured because of anything that the people on the ship may do to us; the ship is allright, and the officers are allright, and we will be right if we stick to the ship. I can assure you it will take you right into the land of glory.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow,
Chapter 3: Lifelong Conversion: Continuing to Advance in the Principles of Truth

Testimony is Character

An EFY counsellor shared this with our group over and over again back in 2003. It’s something I have come back to again and again,

“A testimony is fortified by spiritual impressions that confirm the validity of a teaching, of a righteous act, or of a warning of pending danger. Often such guidance is accompanied by powerful emotions that make it difficult to speak and bring tears to the eyes. But a testimony is not emotion. It is the very essence of character woven from threads born of countless correct decisions. These choices are made with trusting faith in things that are believed and, at least initially, are not seen (Emphasis added).”

Richard G. Scott
October 2001 General Conference
“The Power of a Strong Testimony”

Offended, Parents’ Choices Impact Family [Story]

When I was a child, we used the expression, “He cut off his nose to spite his face.” To us, that meant that one was fighting against fate, rebelling against the inevitable, damaging himself to spite others, breaking his toe to give vent to his senseless anger.

Eight lovely children had blessed the temple marriage of a man and woman who in later years were denied a temple recommend. They would not be so dealt with by this young bishop. Why should they be deprived and humiliated? Were they less worthy than others? They argued that this boy-bishop was too strict, too orthodox. Never would they be active, nor enter the door of that Church as long as that bishop presided. They would show him. The history of this family is tragic. The four younger ones were never baptized; the four older ones never were ordained, endowed, nor sealed. No missions were filled by this family. Today the parents are ill at ease, still defiant. They had covered themselves with a cloud, and righteous prayers could not pass through (see Lam. 3:44).

“Sour Grapes”
General Conference Address

David O. McKay on D&C 4

Speaking on the revelation contained in Doctrine and Covenants, section four, David O. McKay said,

“When that revelation was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, he was twenty-three years of age. The Book of Mormon was not yet published; no man had been ordained to the priesthood. The Church was not organized; yet the statement was made and written without qualification that ‘ . . . a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.'”

April 1952
General Conference

Curb the Curse

Russel M. Nelson, speaking on repentance and conversion, made this interesting connection with temple and family history work,

“’Jesus wants me for a sunbeam’? Yes! And you too! He also wants us as bonding blacksmiths—creating celestial welding links—to curb the curse of family fragmentation. The earth was created and temples provided so that families can be together forever. Many, if not most, of us could repent and be converted to more temple and family history work for our ancestors. Thus, our repentance is necessary and essential for their repentance.”

“Repentance and Conversion”
April 2007 General Conference

Temple and Family History Work Testifies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke on the importance of temple an family history work and what it says about our testimony of the Savior. He said,

“The principle of vicarious service should not seem strange to any Christian. In the baptism of a living person, the officiator acts, by proxy, in place of the Savior. And is it not the central tenet of our faith that Christ’s sacrifice atones for our sins by vicariously satisfying the demands of justice for us? As President Gordon B. Hinckley has expressed: “I think that vicarious work for the dead more nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior Himself than any other work of which I know. It is given with love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything of the kind. What a glorious principle.”8 [“Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Jan. 1998, 73.]”

…

Our anxiety to redeem the dead, and the time and resources we put behind that commitment, are, above all, an expression of our witness concerning Jesus Christ. It constitutes as powerful a statement as we can make concerning His divine character and mission. It testifies, first, of Christ’s Resurrection; second, of the infinite reach of His Atonement; third, that He is the sole source of salvation; fourth, that He has established the conditions for salvation; and, fifth, that He will come again.”

…

“By identifying our ancestors and performing for them the saving ordinances they could not themselves perform, we are testifying of the infinite reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ”

“The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus”
October 2000 General Conference

How do we turn our hearts?

Sister Elaine S. Dalton spoke on the
importance of turning our hearts and the work of saving the dead. She said,

How can the promises made to the fathers be planted in the hearts of the children? How can the hearts of the children be turned to their fathers? This can happen only when we understand our identity and roles in this work and remain worthy and prepared to enter the temple and act on behalf of those who have gone before.

Brigham Young said: “We have a work to do just as important in its sphere as the Savior’s work was in its sphere. … We are now called upon to do ours; which is to be the greatest work man ever performed on the earth.” [Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1954), 406.]

“We Did This For You”
October 2004 General Conference

What Can We Do?

President David O. McKay spoke on what we can do to take upon us ‘His yoke’ in a world of trouble and tribulation. He said,

“First—We can set an example of uprightness; be honest in all our dealings; avoid vulgarity and profanity; demonstrate to our neighbors and to all whom we meet that we live clean, honorable lives.

Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ( Matt. 5:16).

Second—Let us strive for peace and harmony in the home. If we cannot keep quarreling, bickering, and selfishness out of our home, how can we even hope to banish these evils from society?

A true Mormon home is one in which if Christ should chance to enter, he would be pleased to linger and to rest.

Third—Having at least striven for a good character, having a home environment that is creditable, we may then consistently discharge our duty as authorized representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ to declare to the world that the conditions that will bring peace and comfort to the individual, to the family, and to the nation, are found in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. These can be named and understood and as easily practiced with resultant contentment and peace as are the evils and vices that bring tribulation.

Summarized these fundamentals are: An acceptance of Christ as Savior and Redeemer; a moving, soul-consciousness of the existence of God, and that he is our Father in Heaven; a daily life consistent with such a knowledge; a love for one’s fellow men.

In other words, as the Savior summarized the law and the prophets:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind . . . and thy neighbor as thyself ( Mark 12:31-32).”

“The Significance of World Trends”
October General Conference, 1947

Only One Place for Safety

President Harold B. Lee taught,

“Where else can you go for guidance? Where is there safety in the world today? Safety can’t be won by tanks and guns and the airplanes and atomic bombs. There is only one place of safety and that is within the realm of the power of Almighty God that he gives to those who keep his commandments and listen to his voice, as he speaks through the channels that he has ordained for that purpose.”

Closing Remarks
General Conference October 1973

The Will of The Lord for the Next Six Months

At the end of General Conference in 1973, President Harold B. Lee said,

“Now, you Latter-day Saints, I think you have never attended a conference where … you have heard more inspired declarations on most every subject and problem about which you have been worrying. If you want to know what the Lord would have the Saints know and to have his guidance and direction for the next six months, get a copy of the proceedings of this conference, and you will have the latest word of the Lord as far as the Saints are concerned.”

Closing Remarks
October 1973 General Conference

Improvement by Learning

President Lorenzo Snow spoke on the importance of education and learning.

“It is not only our privilege but it is necessary that we receive these things and gather these new ideas.

The whole idea of Mormonism is improvement—mentally, physically, morally and spiritually. No half-way education suffices for the Latter-day Saint.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 1: Learning by Faith