A marvelous, wonderful work

Service is not a sacrifice: Service takes time, but the giving of that time is not a sacrifice. It is an investment that brings rich dividends.

What a marvelous and wonderful work [this] is . . . when you think of all the effort that goes into it and how much is expected of you. . . . This is the Church and kingdom of God. This is the work for which the Savior gave His life. We are serving with Him in the great work of the Father to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of mankind. How important it is and how glorious it is to see what is happening, to see it spread across the earth.

— From training meeting, Worcester, Mass., March 23, 2002

Be not faithless, but believing

Let us be not faithless, but believing. Believe in God our Eternal Father, the Father of our spirits, the Ruler of the universe, the great God of heaven and earth whose offspring we are.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as His Beloved Son who left His side and came to earth and walked the dusty roads of Palestine, and then offered Himself upon the cross, gave His life to atone for the sins of each of us, and came forth on the third day. . . . He was seen by many — up to 500, we are told. He came to this Western Hemisphere and showed Himself and spoke to the people here and rose into heaven with a promise that He would return again.

There is not the slightest question in my mind of the eternity of the human soul. I know it to be so.

— From Payson Utah Regional Conference, Sept. 16, 2001

Carry on

I have a wife of 65 years. We are still together after all this time. We have reared five children. They are all married; that makes ten. We have 25 grandchildren; we have 31 great-grandchildren. I think we have been involved in multiplying and replenishing the earth. Generations are piling up. And before long we will leave them, hopeful that we have implanted in their hearts something of faith, something of love, something of appreciation, something of a willingness to do what is expected, something of a sense of duty, something of the courage to stand up in the face of evil and trouble and discouragement. And I know they will carry on, and they will do a better job than we have done. That is the way this work will grow over the earth.

— From training meeting, Worcester, Mass., March 23, 2002

Good came from serving mission

I look back upon my mission 65 years ago and everything good that has happened to me since then is the result of having served a mission. . . . Everything that has turned out to be good and useful and productive is a result of that missionary service. That had greater effect upon my life in terms of giving me direction than any other experience of my life. . . . If you make the most of this [missionary experience] you will go on drawing upon it, upon the strength you have gained from it, for as long as you live and it will bless your lives and if you miss this opportunity, if you don't make the most of it, you will regret it the rest of your lives.

— Devotional, Utah Salt Lake City Mission, Dec. 15, 2001

Genius of missionary work

That is the great genius of this [missionary] work . . . taking young people who don't appear to be of any consequence, bringing them into the mission field where they learn the truths of the gospel, face tremendous challenges, learn to get along with companions, learn . . . other languages, and then go home with an ambition to make something of their lives and do it in a magnificent and wonderful way and grow in the Church and make great and significant contributio ns. They marry in the temple and rear families of faith and testimony and integrity.

— From devotional, Utah Salt Lake City Mission, Dec. 15, 2001

Out of discipline come blessings

We expect a very great deal of our people. . . . We expect they'll be better fathers and mothers, to love and treat their children better. We expect they'll not drink coffee or tea or smoke tobacco or drink alcohol. We expect that they'll pay their tithing. We expect that they'll do these things which are not easy to do. And out of the discipline required to do them, will come strength and love and testimony of the truth of this work.

— From member meeting, Aruba, March 16, 2001

Service is not a sacrifice

I hope, my dear sisters, that you are grateful for the tremendous [Relief Society] organization of which each of you is a part, the unique sisterhood you enjoy, the tremendous opportunity for association, for learning, for giving and receiving help. These are among your blessings. Of course this service takes time, but the giving of that time is not a sacrifice. It is an investment that brings rich dividends.

— From member meeting, New York, N.Y., March 24, 2002

Tithes and offerings

I'm not here to promise you that God will bless you with a yellow convertible or an expensive sedan, if you pay your tithing. But I am here to say that He will keep His ancient promise that He will open the windows of heaven and pour down upon you blessings that there will not be room enough to contain them — blessings of health, blessings of peace, blessings of testimony, blessings of faith — great and marvelous and wonderful blessings.

— From member meeting, New York, N.Y., March 24, 2002