Christmas is the spirit of giving (Monson)

"Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. It is peace because we have found peace in the Savior’s teachings. It is the time we realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for others."

—President Thomas S. Monson, "Christmas Is Love"

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The God of the 4th Watch (S. Michael Wilcox)

The scriptures are our Father in Heaven’s letters; only He knows more than I did as a father what you and I would need. There are times in our lives when we need to open the letter and communicate with our Father in Heaven, and understand what He is like and His concern for us. I would like to share this morning, with you, four letters from my Father in Heaven that have been very important to me—that I hope will be indicative of the power that the scriptures can be for us as we face different trials and challenges of our lives. The first letter is called "The Fourth Watch." That letter comes from the sixth chapter of Mark. The Savior has fed the five thousand that day, and in the late afternoon, early evening, He is sending his apostles down into the ship. He will dismiss the multitude. He wishes to pray that evening, and then He will meet the apostles a little later on the shore and they are to pick Him up. In late afternoon, early evening, the apostles...

A Man for All Seasons (selected quotes)

more quotes from A Man for All Seasons: Sir Thomas More : Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher; perhaps a great one. Richard Rich : If I was, who would know it? Sir Thomas More : You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that... The Duke of Norfolk : Oh confound all this. I'm not a scholar, I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not but dammit, Thomas, look at these names! Why can't you do as I did and come with us, for fellowship! Sir Thomas More : And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship? ... Margaret More : Father, that man's bad. Sir Thomas More : There's no law against that. William Roper : There is: God's law. Sir Thomas More : Then God can arrest him. ... William Roper : So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More : Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the...

we must learn to be righteous in the dark (Brigham Young; Maxwell)

President Brigham Young once made a statement which has impressed me very much. In a quiet moment with his secretary and two others, someone asked, “President Young, why is it that the Lord is not always at our side promoting universal happiness and seeing to it that the needs of people are met, caring especially for His Saints? Why is it so difficult at times?” President Young answered, “Because man is destined to be a God, and he must be able to demonstrate that he is for God and to develop his own resources so that he can act independently and yet humbly.” Then he added, “ It is the way it is because we must learn to be righteous in the dark .” (Brigham Young’s Office Journal, 28 January 1857)(emphasis added) quoted by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, September 1982 fireside See also 1 Nephi 8:4-8

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