Family: Preserving Marriage

"Under the law of the Lord, a marriage, like a human life, is a precious, living thing. If our bodies are sick, we seek to heal them. We do not give up. While there is any prospect of life, we seek healing again and again. The same should be true of our marriages, and if we seek Him, the Lord will help us and heal us.

Latter-day Saint spouses should do all within their power to preserve their marriages….They should be best friends, kind and considerate, sensitive to each other’s needs, always seeking to make each other happy. They should be partners in family finances, working together to regulate their desires for temporal things….

Don’t treasure up past wrongs, reprocessing them again and again. In a marriage relationship, festering is destructive; forgiving is divine (see D&C 64:9–10). Plead for the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord to forgive wrongs…to overcome faults, and to strengthen relationships….

A good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect woman. It only requires a man and a woman committed to strive together toward perfection."

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Divorce", April 2007 General Conference

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Courage: The Price of Discipleship

"Some people mistakenly think responses such as silence, meekness, forgiveness, and bearing humble testimony are passive or weak. But to “love [our] enemies, bless them that curse [us], do good to them that hate [us], and pray for them which despitefully use [us], and persecute [us]” (Matthew 5:44) takes faith, strength, and, most of all, Christian courage….

When we do not retaliate—when we turn the other cheek and resist feelings of anger—we too stand with the Savior. We show forth His love, which is the only power that can subdue the adversary and answer our accusers without accusing them in return. That is not weakness. That is Christian courage….

We too have a great work to do, which will not be accomplished if we allow ourselves to stop and argue and be distracted. Instead we should muster Christian courage and move on. As we read in Psalms, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers” (Psalm 37:1).

Evil will always be with us in this world. Part of mortality’s great test is to be in the world without becoming like the world…It is for you and me, Latter-day Saints who pay the price of discipleship by answering…with Christian courage."

Elder Robert D. Hales, "Christian Courage: The Price of Discipleship", October 2008 General Conference.

Learn more about Robert D. Hales.

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Courage: The Call for Courage

"Life’s journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares. Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed: the courage to say, “No,” the courage to say, “Yes.” Decisions do determine destiny.

The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be….

Of course, we will face fear, experience ridicule, and meet opposition. Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but also as a determination to live decently. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well….

Someone has said that courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of it.1 At times, courage is needed to rise from failure, to strive again."

President Thomas S. Monson, "The Call for Courage", April 2004 General Conference, Priesthood Session

1. See Mark Twain, in Gorton Carruth and Eugene Ehrlich, eds., The Harper Book of American Quotations (1988), 111.

Read or watch the entire address here.

Learn more about the Prophet Thomas S. Monson.

*Photo source: http://news.byu.edu/archive11-nov-presmonsondevo.aspx

Finances: 6 Guidelines for Home Finances

1. Avoid debt-pooling where exorbitant fees are charged. We may want to consolidate debts using a bank or credit union loan that can be repaid at a sensible interest rate over a reasonable length of time. We may need to stop using our credit cards.

2. Exercise self-discipline by telling ourselves “We can’t afford it” and refusing to take on further credit obligations...Please be patient and carefully control your purchases so that you will not become enslaved to your creditors.

3. Make a budget and stick to it.

4. Cut expenses by distinguishing between wants and needs. Economize by controlling the use of goods, services, and energy.

5. Increase homemaking skills and have family members complete home and car repairs, when feasible.

6. Invest wisely. Avoid speculations and get-rich-quick schemes.

Excerpt from "Providing for Our Needs", by Elder M. Russell Ballard, April 1981 General Conference

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Learn more about the Apostle, M. Russell Ballard here. 

*Photo source: http://www.lds.org/topics/finances

Finances: Debt is a Form of Bondage

“In spite of the teachings of the Church from its earliest days until today, members sometimes fall victim to many unwise and foolish financial practices. Some continue to spend, thinking that somehow the money will become available. Somehow they will survive.

Far too often, the money hoped for does not appear.

Remember this: debt is a form of bondage. It is a financial termite. When we make purchases on credit, they give us only an illusion of prosperity. We think we own things, but the reality is, our things own us.

Some debt—such as for a modest home, expenses for education, perhaps for a needed first car—may be necessary. But never should we enter into financial bondage through consumer debt without carefully weighing the costs.”

Elder Jospeh B. Wirthlin, “Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts”, April 2004 General Conference

Learn more about Joseph B. Wirthlin, or access full address here. 

*Photo source: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/12/elder-joseph-b-wirthlin-finding-happiness-serving-the-lord?lang=eng

Agency: The Best Control is Self-Control

“We develop control by [learning] freedom…

When one understands the Gospel, it becomes very clear that the best control is self-control.

It may seem unusual at first to foster self-control by centering on freedom of choice, but it is a very sound doctrinal approach. While either subject may be taught separately, and though they may appear at first to be opposites, they are in fact parts of the same subject.

Some who do not understand the doctrinal part do not readily see the relationship between obedience and agency. And they miss one vital connection and see obedience only as restraint. They then resist the very thing that will give them true freedom. There is no true freedom without responsibility, and there is no enduring freedom without a knowledge of the truth.”

President Boyd K. Packer, "Agency and Control", April 1983 General Conference

You can learn more about President Packer here. 
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*Photo source: http://javaniamwebb.com/2012/05/29/self-control/