The Good You Do

We all worry about our performance. We all wish we could do better. But unfortunately we do not realize, we do not often see the results that come of what we do.

I remember going to a stake conference in the East many years ago. On the plane coming home, I felt that I had been a total failure. I felt I had not touched anyone for good. I was miserable with a sense of inadequacy.

Then, some years later, I was at another conference in California. At the conclusion of the meeting a man came up to me and said, “You were at a conference a few years ago in such-and-such a place.”
“Yes,” I said, “I was there, and I remember the occasion.”

The man said: “You touched my heart. I came to that meeting out of curiosity. I really had no interest. I was on the verge of leaving the Church. But when it was announced that one of the Twelve Apostles would be there, I decided to go.

“You said something that started me to think. It touched me and stayed with me and stirred me. I decided to alter my course. I turned my life around. I am now living here in California. I have a good job, for which I am grateful. I hope I am a good husband and father. And I am now serving as a counselor in the bishopric of my ward. I am happier than I have ever been at any time in my life.”

I thanked him, and when I left him I said to myself, shaking my head: “You never know. You never know whether you do any good. You never know how much good you do.”

To the Women of the Church
President Gordon B. Hinckley
Ensign
November, 2003

Cultivating Sensitivity to Others

"And we can increase our ability to love others. Everyone deals with something difficult. We all have weaknesses. Some deficits are more obvious than others, but everyone must overcome some obstacles. Why not help each other along, build each other up, and relieve each other’s burdens rather than make the journey even more difficult with criticism?

Do Good Continually

"In one of my favorite books, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, tending a garden brings healing to a sickly boy who once focused only on his negative situation and to a young girl who was once selfish and sour. A wise old gardener teaches a principle of gardening that can be applied to our attitude toward life: Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow. Good deeds and good words can help us keep disappointments and difficulties from dominating our attitude.


"We can help plant roses in each other’s lives so that the thistles of life will not choke out the joy of God’s love—and His gospel. We can help each other along life’s path by being tactful and sensitive to others’ unique situations. We can help others maintain their privacy and not gossip about their challenges. We can unify our wards and branches by supporting each other and cheering each other on instead of being accomplices to divisiveness. Then we will find ourselves enjoying more fully the blessings of living together in God’s garden."

Cultivating Sensitivity to Others
by Andrea Worthington Snarr
Ensign
June, 2008

Prayer and Promptings

"That sweet, quiet voice of inspiration comes more as a feeling than it does as a sound. Pure intelligence can be spoken into the mind. The Holy Ghost communicates with our spirits through the mind more than through the physical senses. ⁴ This guidance comes as thoughts, as feelings through promptings and impressions. ⁵ We may feel the words of spiritual communication more than hear them and see with spiritual rather than with mortal eyes. <sup>6"

 "</sup>One of the adversary’s sharpest tools is to convince us that we are no longer worthy to pray. No matter who you are or what you may have done, you can always pray."

"Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees. Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. And I have learned to conclude all my prayers with “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10; see also Luke 11:2; 3 Nephi 13:10).

Do not expect to be free entirely from trouble and disappointment and pain and discouragement, for these are the things that we were sent to earth to endure.

Someone wrote:

With thoughtless and impatient hands

We tangle up the plans

The Lord hath wrought.

And when we cry in pain He saith,

“Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot.” ¹¹

 

"The scriptures promise, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13)."

 Prayer and Promptings
Boyd K. Packer
Ensign, November, 2009

Integrity

"The rewards of integrity are immeasurable. One is the indescribable inner peace and serenity that come from knowing we are doing what is right; another is an absence of the guilt and anxiety that accompany sin.

     UAdd a Note 

Another reward of integrity is the confidence it can give us in approaching God. When virtue garnishes our thoughts unceasingly, our confidence is strong in the presence of God. (See D&C 121:45.) When we are doing what is right, we will not feel timid and hesitant about seeking divine direction. We will know the Lord will answer our prayers and help us in our need.     UAdd a Note 

The consummate reward of integrity is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. (See D&C 121:46.) The Holy Ghost does not attend us when we do evil. But when we do what is right, he can dwell with us and guide us in all we do."

Personal Integrity
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
May, 1990

Teachers

"I remember as a young boy feeling carefree as I walked to the church for a Primary meeting. When I arrived, I was surprised to see all of the parents there for a special program. Then it hit me. I had a part in this program, and I had forgotten to memorize my lines. When my turn came to say my part, I stood in front of my chair, but not one word came from my mouth. I could remember nothing. So I just stood there and then finally sat down and stared at the floor.

After that experience, I made a firm resolve never to speak in any Church meeting again. And I held to that resolve for some time.

Then one Sunday, Sister Lydia Stillman, a Primary leader, knelt down at my side and asked me to give a short talk the following week. I said, “I don’t give talks.” She responded, “I know, but you can give this one because I’ll help you.” I continued to resist, but she expressed so much confidence in me that her invitation was hard to refuse. I gave the talk."

"Sister Stillman, Brother Peterson, and Sister Moo taught “by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul” (D&C 121:41–42). They taught with virtue garnishing their thoughts, and because of that, the Holy Ghost was their constant companion (see D&C 121:45–46).
These great teachers have inspired me to ask questions about my own teaching:

• 1. As a teacher, do I view myself as a messenger from God?
  
• 2. Do I prepare and then teach in ways that can help save lives?"
  

Teaching Helps Save Lives
by Russell T. Osguthorpe
Ensign
November, 2009

Holding On

"You will be safe if you look like and groom like and act like an ordinary Latter-day Saint: dress modestly, attend your meetings, pay tithes, take the sacrament, honor the priesthood, honor your parents, follow your leaders, read the scriptures, study the Book of Mormon, and pray—always pray. An unseen power will hold your hand as you hold to the iron rod."

"Will this solve all your problems? Of course not! That would be contrary to the purpose of your coming into mortality. It will, however, give you a solid foundation on which to build your life (see Helaman 5:12)."

"The mist of darkness will cover you at times so much that you will not be able to see your way even a short distance ahead. You will not be able to see clearly. But with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you can feel your way ahead through life. Grasp the iron rod, and do not let go. (See 3 Nephi 18:25; D&C 9:8.)"


Finding Ourselves in Lehi's Dream
President Boyd K. Packer
Ensign, August, 2010

The Spiritual Gifts Given the Stake President

"The calling of a stake president is a sacred and spiritual experience. Under the direction of the First Presidency, General Authorities and Area Seventies are charged with this responsibility. During the 16 years I have served as a General Authority, I have extended calls in many cultures and continents—from North America to South America, from Europe to Asia.
In each experience, I have treasured two teachings I received in my first few weeks as a General Authority. From President Thomas S. Monson: “When you are on the Lord’s errand, you are entitled to the Lord’s help.” From President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “You will have experiences in your ministry when you put a question to the Lord through the veil and receive an immediate response.” In every case these two promises have been realized.
The experience of calling a stake president is always the same, and it is always different. It is the same in that the two General Authorities or Area Seventies who are sent feel an overwhelming dependence upon the Lord, and each must receive the same inspiration before callings are extended. The Spirit of the Lord always powerfully accompanies and confirms the selection process. It is different in that the man called varies greatly from stake to stake. Sometimes new stake presidents are men of great experience and years of service; sometimes they are younger and full of faith; their occupations follow no pattern."

The Bestowal of the Keys

While a stake president is normally found among the current leadership of the stake, there are exceptions. On one occasion we interviewed brethren into the late evening, unable to feel the confirming Spirit among the outstanding men we were meeting. Finally, after exhausting the prepared list of those to interview, we turned to respected men not currently serving in leadership positions. As we met with a Gospel Doctrine teacher at 10:00 p.m., the Lord powerfully confirmed this was His selection. Only after extending the call did we learn that he had been at his home, awaiting our phone call. Several months earlier, before any announcement of a change in the stake presidency, he and his wife were awakened in the night knowing that the calling would come to him.
Those who serve as stake presidents do not seek the office they hold. All are humbled and some are overwhelmed when they are called."
"In the world there are more than 2,800 stake presidents. In many ways, they are ordinary people—like you and me. They are working on their salvation just as we are working on ours. Yet they have received an extraordinary calling. Hands have been placed on their heads, and they have received priesthood keys."

The Spiritual Gifts Given the Stake President
by Elder Neil L. Andersen
Ensign
December, 2009