Being Fully Worthy

"One area of confusion not rare among us is the notion that worthiness is synonymous with perfection.  One can be fully worthy in a gospel sense and yet still be growing while dealing with personal imperfections...Perfectionism is corrosive and destructive and is the antithesis of the healthy quest of eventual perfection that the Savior prescribes....The uneasiness of which I speak is largely rooted in misunderstanding some have about timing and also about definition....With definitions...some mistakenly consider worthiness to be the same as perfection.  This is not true....Please remember that worthiness is vital but is not the same as perfection...not everything, especially perfection, can be achieved quickly or at once."  
                                --by President Cecil O. Samuelson

The Virtue of Kindness

The Church is not a place where perfect people gather to say perfect things, or have perfect thoughts, or have perfect feelings. The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support, and service to each other as we press on in our journey to return to our Heavenly Father.

Each one of us will travel a different road during this life. Each progresses at a different rate. Temptations that trouble your brother may not challenge you at all. Strengths that you possess may seem impossible to another.

Never look down on those who are less perfect than you. Don’t be upset because someone can’t sew as well as you, can’t throw as well as you, can’t row or hoe as well as you.

We are all children of our Heavenly Father. And we are here with the same purpose: to learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

One way you can measure your value in the kingdom of God is to ask, “How well am I doing in helping others reach their potential? Do I support others in the Church, or do I criticize them?”

                              --by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (2005)

Pain in Education

Pain in Education

 “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. … It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”

                                                                                   --by Elder Orson F. Whitney

Spiritual Pain

Spiritual Pain

“Pain brings you to a humility that allows you to ponder. It is an experience I am grateful to have endured. …

“I learned that the physical pain and the healing of the body after major surgery are remarkably similar to the spiritual pain and the healing of the soul in the process of repentance.”

                                                                           --by Elder Robert D. Hales

Suffering...not necessarily our fault....

Suffering...not necessarily our fault....

Much of our suffering is not necessarily our fault. Unexpected events, contradicting or disappointing circumstances, interrupting illness, and even death surround us and penetrate our mortal experience. Additionally, we may suffer afflictions because of the actions of others. Lehi noted that Jacob had “suffered … much sorrow, because of the rudeness of [his] brethren.”  Opposition is part of Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness. We all encounter enough to bring us to an awareness of our Father’s love and of our need for the Savior’s help.

--by Elder Kent F. Richards

(from his April 2011 Conference talk)

Blessings Will Come

“It is not without a recognition of life’s tempests but fully and directly because of them that I testify of God’s love and the Savior’s power to calm the storm,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declares. “They sustain us in our hour of need—and always will, even if we cannot recognize that intervention. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”

President Monson says, “I bear to you my witness that [Heavenly Father] is there. He does hear and answer every prayer. His Son, the Christ, burst the bands of our earthly prisons. Heaven’s blessings await you.”

To Refine Us, Not Destroy Us

To Refine Us, Not Destroy Us

“In the school of mortality, the tutor is often pain and tribulation, but the lessons are meant to refine and bless us and strengthen us, not to destroy us,” Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles says. “There is nothing that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand, and He waits for us to go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. I testify that if we will be obedient and if we are diligent, our prayers will be answered, our problems will diminish, our fears will dissipate, light will come upon us, the darkness of despair will be dispersed, and we will be close to the Lord and feel of His love and of the comfort of the Holy Ghost.”