"We can contemplate how far we have already come in the climb along the pathway to perfection; it is usually much further than we acknowledge, and such reflections restore resolve...

...We can allow for the reality that God is still more concerned with growth than with geography...

This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God's grace is sufficient for each of us if we remember that there are no instant Christians."

-Neal A. Maxwell

An Informal Prayer

"The proper way for a man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,

"and the only proper attitude
Is down upon his knees."

"Nay, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Reverend Dr. Wise,

"Is standing straight with outstretched arms
and rapt and upturned eyes."

"Oh, no, no, no," Said Elder Snow;
"Such posture is too proud.

"A man should pray with eyes fast closed
and head contritely bowed."

"It seems to me his hands should be
Austerely clasped in front.

With both thumbs point toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Dr. Hunt.

"Las' year I feel in Hodgkin's well
Head first," said Cyrus Brown,

"With both my heels a-striken' up,
My head a-p'inting down;

An' I made a prayer right then an' there;
Best prayer I ever said;

The prayingest prayer I ever prayed;
a-standin' on my head."

Mosiah 18:21

"And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should love forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."

Mosiah 18:21

Teenage Dreams

It's not enough to have a dream
unless I'm willing to pursue it-

It's not enough to know what's right
unless I'm strong enough to do it-

It's not enough to join the crowd,
to be acknowledged and accepted-
I must be true to my ideals, even if
I'm left out and rejected-

It's not enough to learn the truth
unless I also learn to live it-

It's not enough to reach for love
unless I care enough to give it.

-Anonymous

"You are not just ordinary young women. You are choice spirits, many of you having been held back in reserve for almost 6,000 years to come forth in this day, at this time when the temptations, responsibilities, and opportunities are the very greatest...

"...I pray that you--the young and rising generation--will keep your bodies and minds clean, free from the condemnations of the world, that you will be fit and pure vessels to bear off the kingdom of God triumphant in preparation for the second coming of our Savior."

-President Ezra Taft Benson

"As an indication of the importance the Gods gave to women, the Lord said, 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh,' Genesis 2:24

Do you note that? She, the woman, occupies the first place. She is preeminent, even above the parents who are so dear to all of us. Even the children must take their proper but significant place."

President Kimball

Moroni 10:4-5

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

Moroni 10:4-5