LDS Gem Archives, July 2009
Daily Gems - 31 July 2009
Opportunities in Differences
"God will help us see a difference in someone else not as a source of irritation but as a contribution. The Lord can help you see and value what another person brings which you lack. More than once the Lord has helped me see His kindness in giving me association with someone whose difference from me was just the help I needed. That has been the Lord’s way of adding something I lacked to serve Him better."
Topics: Unity
Family Gems - 31 July 2009
There Is a Great Need to Strengthen and Safeguard Our Families
“[A] very important message is the need to strengthen and safeguard our families. Far too many families are breaking up. This heartbreaking trend has an endless train of consequences. Happiness in marriage begins with husband and wife living together in love, kindness, and mutual respect, walking righteously and humbly before the Lord. It is contingent on being faithful to all vows and covenants.”
Topics: Unity
Young Single Adult Gems - 31 July 2009
Three Suggestions for Safety
“Although our journey through mortality will at times place us in harm’s way, may I offer you tonight three suggestions which, when observed and followed, will lead us to safety. They are:
1. Study diligently.
2. Pray fervently.
3. Live righteously.
“These suggestions are not new; they have been taught and repeated again and again. If we incorporate them into our lives, however, we will have the strength to withstand the adversary. Should we ignore them, we will be opening the door for Satan to have influence and power over us.”
Topics: Prayer
Church History Gems - 31 July 2009
Beautiful Memorial
"Many of you participated in the dedication of the Nauvoo temple last June. It was a great and marvelous occasion, one to be long remembered. We not only dedicated a magnificent building, a house of the Lord, but we also dedicated a beautiful memorial to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
"In 1841, two years after he came to Nauvoo, he broke ground for a house of the Lord that should stand as a crowning jewel to the work of God.
"It is difficult to believe that in those conditions and under those circumstances a structure of such magnificence was designed to stand on what was then the frontier of America.
"I doubt, I seriously doubt, that there was another structure of such design and magnificence in all the state of Illinois.
"It was to be dedicated to the work of the Almighty, to accomplish His eternal purposes."
Topics: Temples
Daily Gems - 30 July 2009
Spiritual Preparation for the Day
"There may be things in our character, in our behavior, or concerning our spiritual growth about which we need to counsel with Heavenly Father in morning prayer. After expressing appropriate thanks for blessings received, we plead for understanding, direction, and help to do the things we cannot do in our own strength alone."
Topics: Prayer
Church History Gems - 29 July 2009
The Visitor in the Night
"The Perry family history records [a] remarkable event:
" 'On a beautiful farm in the state of New York, Gustavus Adolphus Perry and his good wife, Eunice Wing, with their three sons, Orrin Alonzo, Lorenzo, and Henry Elisha, and their four daughters, Rosalie Alvira, Alvina, Amanda, and Lucy, were living very peacefully and happily. Close to the year of 1830 (we do not know the exact date) one evening after a light snow had fallen, the family was all in for the night. It was dark and the latchstring was drawn in so no one could enter the house. Then suddenly without warning, a stranger walked into the home and greeted them with these words: "God bless you." He spent the night with them explaining the principles of the gospel and told them of a new book called the Book of Mormon and quoted passages from the same. He then told them on what pages they were to find the quotations and that elders would soon visit them. The messenger disappeared in the morning just as suddenly as he had appeared the night before, leaving no tracks in the freshly fallen snow. They inquired of their neighbors to see if anyone had seen him. They had not, and no trace of him could be found.'
"This good family was ready for the gospel when it came to them, and they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832."
Topics: Family History
Young Single Adult Gems - 29 July 2009
You Are Enlisted in the Lord’s Army
“You will need bravery and you will need boldness because you are enlisted in the Lord’s army in the last dispensation. This is not a time of peace. That has been so since Satan arrayed his forces against our Heavenly Father’s plan in the pre-mortal existence. We don’t know the details of the combat then. But we know one result. Satan and his followers were cast down into the earth. And since the creation of Adam and Eve, the conflict has continued. We have seen it intensify. And the scriptures suggest that the war will become more violent and the spiritual casualties on the Lord’s side will mount.”
Topics: Obedience
Daily Gems - 29 July 2009
Heartfelt Invitation
"To those who are wounded in spirit or who are struggling and fearful, we say, Let us lift you and cheer you and calm your fears."
Topics: Unity
Youth Gems - 29 July 2009
Strengthened by Gifts and Blessings
“As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life.”
Topics: Holy Ghost, Obedience
Daily Gems - 28 July 2009
Baptism with Water and the Holy Ghost
"John the Baptist said that while he baptized with water, Jesus baptized 'with the Holy Ghost' (John 1:33). Nothing in this life is of greater worth than the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost."
Topics: Gift of the Holy Ghost
Family Gems - 27 July 2009
United Families Are Central to the Gospel
“The ultimate purpose of all we teach is to unite parents and children in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are happy at home, sealed in an eternal marriage, linked to their generations, and assured of exaltation in the presence of our Heavenly Father.”
Topics: Faith
Daily Gems - 27 July 2009
God's Adaptation to Our Intellectual Level
"The truths regarding God are understandable to all His children, whatever their level of education or intellectual faculty."
Topics: Gospel of Jesus Christ
Church History Gems - 24 July 2009
Fulness of Times
"This is the dispensation of the fulness of times in which God has set up His kingdom, which is to be an everlasting kingdom and have no end. Our generation, the generation of the fulness of times, has the benefit of all previous dispensations on which we can build our lives as we understand God's dealings with His children here on earth. We are living in the remarkable age of the dispensation of the fulness of times when the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fulness. . . .
"I testify to you in the name of the resurrected Redeemer that God has spoken from the heavens in this age of the world and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. Joseph Smith was a prophet of the most high and received the revelations of God for the benefit of mankind, and the keys of the dispensation of the fulness of times were delivered to him. God grant that we may gain our witness and testimony of the great work in which we are engaged as we prepare and plan for our future here in mortality is my humble prayer."
Topics: Joseph Smith
Young Single Adult Gems - 24 July 2009
Our Savior’s Invitation
“Our Savior extended this invitation to each and every one of us individually:
“ ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“ ‘For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
“When we do His work and His will, rather than our own will, we will realize that the yoke is easy and the burden is light. He will be with us always. He will reveal to us the exact portion that we need for success with our families, our career, and every responsibility that we have in His Church. He will help us to grow individually and as brethren in the priesthood.”
Topics: Jesus Christ
Family Gems - 24 July 2009
Does Your Home Have a Place for Gospel Priorities?
“Imagine that you are opening your front door and walking inside your home. What do you see, and how do you feel? Is it a place of love, peace, and refuge from the world, as is the temple? Is it clean and orderly? As you walk through the rooms of your home, do you see uplifting images which include appropriate pictures of the temple and the Savior? Is your bedroom or sleeping area a place for personal prayer? Is your gathering area or kitchen a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together, allowing uplifting conversation and family time? Are scriptures found in a room where the family can study, pray, and learn together? Can you find your personal gospel study space? Does the music you hear or the entertainment you see, online or otherwise, offend the Spirit? Is the conversation uplifting and without contention? That concludes our tour. Perhaps you, as I, found a few spots that need some ‘home improvement’—hopefully not an ‘extreme home makeover.’ ”
“Whether our living space is large or small, humble or extravagant, there is a place for each of these gospel priorities in each of our homes.”
Topics: Teaching
Daily Gems - 24 July 2009
Choosing the Right Way
"If we choose the right way, we are sustained in our actions by the principles of righteousness, in the which there is power from the heavens. If we choose the wrong way and act on that choice, there is no such heavenly promise or power, and we are alone and are destined to fail."
Topics: Plan of Salvation
Young Single Adult Gems - 24 July 2009
We Show Love through Our Actions
“When we truly love our Heavenly Father and His children, we demonstrate that love through our actions. We forgive one another and seek to do good, for ‘our old [self] is crucified with [Christ].’ We ‘visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,’ and we keep ourselves ‘unspotted from the vices of the world.’ ”
Topics: Forgiveness
Daily Gems - 23 July 2009
Angels in Times of Need
"I testify that angels are still sent to help us, even as they were sent to help Adam and Eve, to help the prophets, and indeed to help the Savior of the world Himself."
Topics: Adversity
Church History Gems - 22 July 2009
The Prophet Joseph Smith Saw This
"[An] improvement I see coming in the kingdom is a desire and a capacity to reach out to the poor and those in need. I have seen an amazing increase among the members of the Church in sympathy for victims of natural disasters across the world. In obituary notices I see families asking that donations be sent to the Perpetual Education Fund or to the Church's Humanitarian Fund.
"The Prophet Joseph Smith saw that wonderful development. He said that as a person becomes truly converted, he or she will want to range across the earth caring for Heavenly Father's children. That is already beginning to happen among more of the members of the Church. What is remarkable to me is that the pattern of giving to those in need extends to those who have less themselves and seems to be unaffected by whether we are in good or difficult economic times. That is evidence to me that the Atonement is working ever more effectively among the members."
Topics: Faith
Daily Gems - 22 July 2009
Building Character and Increasing Compassion
"Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others."
Topics: Adversity
Subscribe to Daily Gems
Subscribe through e-mail
Subscribe through RSSGem Archives by Topic
- Atonement
- Book of Mormon
- Children of God
- Faith
- Family
- Jesus Christ
- Joseph Smith
- Plan of Salvation
- Repentance
- Restoration
LDS Gem Archives by date
- 2009
- 2008