Messages of inspiration from President Monson
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
Responsibility
Can we not be men and women of integrity, of principle, of honor? Not fence straddlers, but men of courage and conviction. Seek not freedom from responsibility, but the freedom and the willingness to accept responsibility. — "Constant Truths in Changing Times," BYU Commencement, May 26, 1967
Attitude
Most of you have heard of John James Audubon, the famous ornithologist, naturalist and painter who was noted for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds. His detailed illustrations depicted the birds in their natural habitat. When I was about ten years old, I served as the president of the Junior Audubon Club at the Grant Elementary School in Salt Lake City. I've always loved birds and have enjoyed being able to identify them.
Well, John James Audubon once left a box containing over 200 of his beautiful drawings of birds at home when he went on a business trip. Upon his return he found that a pair of rats had entered the box and chewed through the paper, destroying years of work. He was devastated and spent weeks nearly paralyzed by grief. One day he awakened and realized that his attitude would have to change. He picked up his notebook and pencils and went out into the woods. "I felt pleased," he said, "that I might now make better drawings than before." — "Three Bridges to Cross," Dixie State College Commencement, May 6, 2011
The Holy Scriptures
The holy scriptures are for children, to fill their eager minds with sacred truth. They are for youth, to prepare them for the challenges of our fast-moving world. They are for the sisters, remembering President Spencer W. Kimball's advice: "We want our sisters to be scholars of the scriptures as well as our men" (Ensign, November 1978, p. 102). They are for the brethren of the priesthood, that each may qualify for the description given in the Book of Mormon to the sons of Mosiah: "They were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God" (Alma 17:2). — "Come Learn of Me," satellite broadcast, March 10, 1985
Love of God
Love is the catalyst that causes change. Love is the balm that brings healing to the soul. But love doesn't grow like weeds or fall like rain. Love has its price. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). That Son, even the Lord Jesus Christ, gave His life that we might have eternal life, so great was His love for His Father and for us. — "A Doorway Called Love," Ensign, Nov. 1987, p. 66
Finding peace
World peace, though a lofty goal, is but an outgrowth of the personal peace each individual seeks to attain. I speak not of the peace promoted by man, but peace as promised of God. I speak of peace in our homes, peace in our hearts, even peace in our lives. Peace after the way of man is perishable. Peace after the manner of God will prevail. — "The Path to Peace," Ensign, May 1994, 60
Purpose of mortality
How grateful we should be that a wise Creator fashioned an earth and placed us here, with a veil of forgetfulness over our previous existence, so that we might experience a time of testing, an opportunity to prove ourselves, and qualify for all that God has prepared for us to receive.
Clearly, the primary purposes of our existence upon the earth are to obtain a body of flesh and bones and to gain experience that could only come through separation from our heavenly parents. In a thousand ways, we are privileged to choose for ourselves. Here we learn from the hard taskmaster of experience. We discern between good and evil. We differentiate as to the bitter and the sweet. — "An Invitation to Exaltation," Ensign, July 1984
