Developing Spirituality

Dallin H. Oaks taught,

“We seek spirituality through faith, repentance, and baptism; through forgiveness of one another; through fasting and prayer; through righteous desires and pure thoughts and actions. We seek spirituality through service to our fellowmen; through worship; through feasting on the word of God, in the scriptures and the teachings of the living prophets. We attain spirituality through making and keeping covenants, through conscientiously trying to keep all the commandments of God. Spirituality is not acquired suddenly. It is the consequence of a succession of right choices. It is the harvest of a righteous life.

Through the lens of spirituality, we see all the commandments of God as invitations to blessings. Obedience and sacrifice, loyalty and love, fidelity and family all appear in eternal perspective.”

Joseph Smith: Pattern of Humble Prayer

Henry B. Eyring taught,

“Joseph Smith’s mission was unique, yet his humble prayer can be a helpful model for us. He began, as we must, with faith in a loving God who can and wants to communicate with us and help us. That faith was rooted in impressions which came to him as he pondered the words of God’s servants in the scriptures. We can and must go often and carefully to the word of God. If we become casual in our study of the scriptures, we will become casual in our prayers.”

“Prayer”
October 2001 General Conference

Cheerful, Believing Participation

Neal A. Maxwell shared,

“Even as believers, however, when we are a part of encapsulating events, we can scarcely savor all that swirls about us. It is unlikely, for instance, on that night so long ago in Bethlehem, that Joseph and Mary looked at the newly born Christ child’s feet with the realization that those feet would, one day, walk the length and breadth of the Holy Land. And, further, that, later on, spikes would pierce those feet.

As a loving Mary grasped those tiny hands, and, as in the months ahead those tiny hands clasped her, did she know that those hands, when grown, would ordain the original Twelve or, still later, carry the rough-hewn cross?

As she heard her Baby cry, did she hear intimations of Jesus’ later weeping at the death of Lazarus or after blessing the Nephite children? (See John 11:35; 3 Ne. 17:21–22.) Did she foresee that those baby-soft knees would later be hardened by so much prayer, including those glorious but awful hours in Gethsemane? (See Matt. 26:36–56.)

As she bathed that Babe so many times to cleanse His pores, could she have been expected to foresee that one day, years later, drops of blood would come from His every pore? (See Mosiah 3:7.)

There is such a thing as cheerful, believing participation—even without full understanding—when you and I keep certain things in our hearts and are nourished as we ponder them! (See Luke 2:19.)”

Broken Hearts and Homes

Neal A. Maxwell observed,

“Surely, brothers and sisters, already too many Church members have broken hearts and broken homes because of broken covenants and broken promises. Society’s increasing slide toward pleasure seeking brings our so-called civilization comparatively closer to Sodom than to Eden.”

“Be of Good Cheer”
October 1982 General Conference

From the Bottom Looking Up

Ezra Taft Benson taught us a great deal on the topic of pride, especially helping us recognize it’s prevalence. He taught,

“Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. (See 2 Ne. 9:42.) There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous.”

“Beware of Pride”
April 1989 General Conference

Video

Olivia Plays Pick-a-boo [Video]

Every night we have some traditions that we have with Olivia. We typically start with a walk around the neighborhood. After which, we come in and read from the scriptures. Then the three of us play. I’ll chase her around the chair, or Elizabeth will read her a book. And what playtime would be complete without a little pick-a-boo??

After that we say a prayer together as a family and then Elizabeth gives
Olivia a bottle and rocks her and sings her songs and she goes to bed.

Trying to Cut a Deal with the Lord

Neal A. Maxwell taught,

“Perhaps when we murmur we are unconsciously complaining over not being able to cut a special deal with the Lord. We want full blessings but without full obedience to the laws upon which those blessings are predicated. For instance, some murmurers seem to hope to reshape the Church to their liking by virtue of their murmuring. But why would one want to belong to a church that he could remake in his own image, when it is the Lord’s image that we should come to have in our countenances?”

“Murmur Not”
October 1989 General Conference

Understanding The Atonement

Richard G. Scott said,

“By understanding the Atonement, you will see that God is not a jealous being who delights in persecuting those who misstep. He is an absolutely perfect, compassionate, understanding, patient, and forgiving Father. He is willing to entreat, counsel, strengthen, lift, and fortify. He so loves each of us that He was willing to have His perfect, sinless, absolutely obedient, totally righteous Son experience indescribable agony and pain and give Himself in sacrifice for all.”

Worthy Fathers, Worthy Sons

Ezra Taft Benson taught,

“Why did righteous fathers in the Book of Mormon go to so much trouble to teach their sons the word of God? King Benjamin said it was to fulfill the commandments of God. (See Mosiah 1:4.) He further stated that were it not for their having the brass plates which contained the commandments, they would have “suffered in ignorance.” ( Mosiah 1:3.) Could the lack of teaching the scriptures in our homes be a source of our suffering in ignorance today?”

“Worthy Fathers, Worthy Sons”
October 1985 General Conference

“Write Them Down”

Henry B. Eyring shared the following story about journal keeping,

“When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

“He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

“I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.”

“O Remember, Remember”
General Conference, October 2007

It’s A Boy

Today Elizabeth had her appointment and learned that we’re having a boy. When we found out, I had this rush of emotion and excitement. Shortly after we moved here to Salt Lake City, both Elizabeth and I felt strong feelings about another member of our family.

At the time I could picture a blonde-haired little boy in a white shirt and Sunday slacks and a vest, ready to go to church. To learn that it was indeed a boy was a tender mercy that meant a lot to me as a father. Those feelings, which I think is manifestation of the Holy Ghost and Light of Christ, begin to forge a bond for me.

As I have spent time with the Family History Department of the Church, we talk a lot about the Spirit of Elijah. For those not of our faith, we use that term to refer to the influence of the Holy Spirit that unites families. It’s named after Elijah, the Old Testament prophet who held the power to seal in heaven what was sealed on earth. We believe that power extends to our families and that as a united family we can be sealed by that power on earth to live together as a family in heaven for eternity.

As I’ve come to understand a little more about the Spirit of Elijah, It’s something that’s not just present when we consider our ancestors or loved ones who have passed on beyond the grave that we want to live worthy to unite with again–it extends the other direction to, as Malachi said in the last chapter of the Old Testament: not just from the children to the Fathers, but the Fathers to the children.

I feel that turning, and I’m grateful for the changes that are happening my life because of it.

“My Spirit Will Not Dwell in an Unclean Tabernacle”

David O. McKay shared the following experience:

“One of the great influences upon my youth was the memorizing of that important saying: “My spirit will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle” ( Hel. 4:24). I recall other warnings. One came to me as a boy. I sat on a spring seat by the side of my father as we drove into Ogden. Just before we reached the bridge across the Ogden River, a man came out of a saloon on the north bank of the river. I recognized him. I liked him because I had seen him on the stage. But on that occasion he was under the influence of liquor and had been, I suppose, for several days.

“When he saw us, he broke down and cried and asked Father for 50 cents so that he could go back into the saloon for another drink. As we drove across the bridge my father said, “David, that man whom you just saw in that drunken state used to go with me to visit the members of the ward in their homes as a representative of the priesthood.” That was all my father said to me about the incident, but it was a very vivid warning to me about the effects of dissipation that I have never forgotten.”

“A Citizen Who Loves Justice and Hates Evil Is Better and Stronger Than a Battleship”
David O. McKay, Conference Report, October 1968, pp. 4-9

Word of Wisdom Key to Personal Revelation

Boyd K. Packer taught,

Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit. In that marvelous revelation, the Word of Wisdom, we are told how to keep our bodies free from impurities which might dull, even destroy, those delicate physical senses which have to do with spiritual communication.

The Word of Wisdom is a key to individual revelation. It was given as “a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints.” ( D&C 89:3.)

“Revelation in a Changing World”
October 1989 General Conference

Keeping the Commandments Includes Caring for the Poor

Russell M. Nelson taught,

“Every person so baptized who receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, which seals the ordinance, is under solemn covenant with the Lord to obey his commandments. Caring for the poor is one of those commandments. Surely, in Book of Mormon times, members of the Church had a sacred obligation to care for the poor.”

“In the Lord’s Own Way”
April 1986 General Conference

(See Also 2 Ne. 9:30; Mosiah 4:16–27; Alma 1:29–31, Alma 32:2–6, Alma 34:28; Hel. 4:11–12; Morm. 8:35–39.)