He cannot tempt us beyond our power to resist.
He can reveal all truth to us in our minds and in our hearts, comfort us in times of distress, prompt us in making correct choices and decisions, and help purify ourselves from sin. I know of no greater blessing that can come to us in mortality than the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
We need not feel depressed or discouraged about conditions in the world, for the Lord will help us find the good that will lead us to happiness.
Do we visit our neighbors even when no one is ill and no crisis exists?
Lucifer understands how to tempt and drag many of our Heavenly Father’s children down to where he and his followers are.
If we seek things that are virtuous and lovely, we surely will find them
We can fill our lives with good, leaving no room for anything else. We have so much good from which to choose that we need never partake of evil.
The word seek means to go in search of, try to discover, try to acquire. It requires an active, assertive approach to life.

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LDS.org - Ensign Article - Do Not Fear

Things have a way of working out. The Lord himself encouraged . . . .

Tags: fear, opposition, progress, Christ, church, talks on 2008-07-19 -All Annotations (0) -About

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Isaiah promised, “In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee” (Isa. 54:14).

The Lord Himself encouraged, “Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come” (D&C 68:6). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).
attends complete repentance
healing
This testing is the source of our strength.
We are under covenant to provide physical bodies so that spirits may enter mortality (see Gen. 1:28; Moses 2:28). Children are the future of the restored Church.
True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.

Find happiness in ordinary things, and keep your sense of humor.
Things have a way of working out.
Fear is the opposite of faith.
the safest place and the best protection against the moral and spiritual diseases is a stable home and family.
Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you [and your children as well] all things what ye should do” (2 Ne. 32:3).
The word inoculate has two parts: in—“to be within”—and oculate means “eye to see.”
avoid places where there is danger of physical or spiritual contagion.
But if they seek prayerfully for help and guidance, they shall be given power over adverse things. Such trials shall not be permitted to stand in the way of their progress, but instead shall act as stepping-stones to greater knowledge.

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LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Pattern of Our Parentage

An excellent article that lays out fundamental gospel truths re: the scriptures very clearly, simply, and convincingly.

Tags: scriptures, truth, revelation, obscurity, mysteries, church, talks on 2008-07-19 -All Annotations (0) -About

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The Father is the one true God. This thing is certain:
no one will ever ascend above Him; no one will ever replace Him. Nor will anything ever change the relationship that we, His literal offspring, have with Him.
verses which seemed to oppose one another have harmony.
Anyone who believes and teaches of God the Father, and accepts the divinity of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, teaches a plurality of Gods.
The theory of evolution, and it is a theory, will have an entirely different dimension when the workings of God in creation are fully revealed.
If a species ever does cross, the offspring cannot reproduce.
For even a four-year-old knows that a chick will not be a dog, nor a horse, nor even a turkey. It will be a chicken. It will follow the pattern of its parentage.
Doctrinal truths are interrelated. There is an old saying that if you pick up one end of a stick, you pick up the other end as well.

If you concede that we are His children, you must allow that God is our Father.
And I add one more conviction: there is an adversary who has his own channels of spiritual communication. He confuses the careless and prompts those who serve him to devise deceptive, counterfeit doctrine, carefully contrived to appear genuine.
First: instruction vital to our salvation is not hidden in an obscure verse or phrase in the scriptures. To the contrary, essential truths are repeated over and over again.

Second: every verse, whether oft-quoted or obscure, must be measured against other verses. There are complementary and tempering teachings in the scriptures which bring a balanced knowledge of truth.

Next: there is a consistency in what the Lord says and what He does, that is evident in all creation. Nature can teach valuable lessons about spiritual and doctrinal matters. The Lord drew lessons from flowers and foxes, from seeds and salt, and sparrows and sunsets.

Fourth: not all that God has said is in the Bible. Other scriptures—the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—have equal validity, and they sustain one another.

Fifth: while much must be taken on faith alone, there is individual revelation through which we may know the truth. “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” (Job 32:8.) What may be obscure in the scriptures can be made plain through the gift of the Holy Ghost. We can have as full an understanding of spiritual things as we are willing to earn.

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LDS.org - Ensign Article - God Will Have a Tried People

Tags: opposition, progress, trials, church, talks, resistance on 2008-07-19 -All Annotations (0) -About

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the same forces of resistance which prevent our progress afford us also opportunities to overcome
What makes us imagine that we may be immune from the same experiences that refined the lives of former-day Saints
“Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery”
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”
when resistance and opposition are greatest, our faith, commitment, and growth have the greatest opportunity for advancement; when opposition is least, the tendency is to be complacent and lose faith.
By the tribulation well endured by numerous of our progenitors, a desert blossomed as a rose (see Isa. 35:1), a tried and persecuted people provided a heritage of faith, and Zion put on her beautiful garments for all to see (see D&C 82:14).
The law of opposition makes freedom of choice possible;
he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Ne. 2:2).
Friction, or resistance, is an interesting phenomenon. Without this force, a person or vehicle could not move about, or if already in motion, could not be stopped except by collision. Simple things like nails, screws, and bolts would not stay in place; a cork would not stay in a bottle; a light globe would drop from its socket; a lid would not stay on a jar.
Resistance creates both the opposition and the forward movement.

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LDS.org - Ensign Article - “If Thou Endure It Well”

Tags: opposition, endurance, church, talks, progress, trials on 2008-07-13 -All Annotations (0) -About

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When heartaches, tragedies, disappointments, injury, unusual attention, fame, or excessive prosperity become part of our lives, our challenges and responsibilities will be to endure them well. God will assist us in our quest to conquer, triumph, and continue if we humbly rededicate ourselves to the meaningful declaration “We have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.” (A of F 1:13.)
endure well, with purpose and power.
our own strength and capacity will be doubled when we help others endure.
To endure is to bear up under, to stand firm against, to suffer without yielding, to continue to be, or to exhibit the state or power of lasting.
Greatness is best measured by how well an individual responds to the happenings in life that appear to be totally unfair, unreasonable, and undeserved.
She finds fun where others may not see it:
Enduring well is accomplished by personal discipline hour by hour and day by day, not by public declaration.
How we handle these challenges determines whether they become stumbling stones or building blocks. To the valiant these challenges make progress and development possible.
The ingredient that is essential in learning to endure is consistent effort
the key is that we must take it just one step at a time.
The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (See Eccl. 9:11; Matt. 10:22; Mark 13:13.)
his success was achieved by being able to endure the pain of commitment and self-discipline.
When family members disappoint us, we especially need to learn endurance. As long as we exercise love, patience, and understanding, even when no progress is apparent, we are not failing. We must keep trying.
endured without bitterness
As we are called upon to suffer
Help us, O Lord, to remember thy love for us and help us to be fortified by thy strength when our eyes are blurred with tears of sorrow and our vision is limited.”
This scripture does not tell us how or when this commitment will be effective or realized, but His promise is real and binding. Our challenge is to endure.
“I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” (D&C 82:10.)
With His help we can use our trials as stepping-stones.
Sometimes we spend so much time trying to determine what we did wrong in the past to deserve the unpleasant happenings of the moment that we fail to resolve the challenges of the present.
We must remember that all suffering is not punishment.

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LDS.org - Ensign Article - Opposition in Order to Strengthen Us

Tags: opposition, church, talks, progress, growth on 2008-07-13 -All Annotations (0) -About

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this world was created and all the development and the progress on this earth from Adam till now have been primarily for you as much as anyone else.

Christ came to atone for you.

The gospel was restored for you.

The Lord will answer your prayers.

God is mindful of you, for you are a son or daughter of God.
God would be very unjust if he were to turn Lucifer loose to tempt man without giving him help to overcome. God will not permit Satan to have power over you, to tempt you beyond the strength He will give you if you will seek and accept His help.
“Tis easy enough to be pleasant

When life goes by with a song,

But the man worthwhile

Is the man who can smile

When everything goes dead wrong.”
if you want to find who your leaders are, load them up with work, pour it on. You’ll then find who the leaders are.

It may be that’s just what the Lord does with us. He too is trying to develop leaders.
“God … shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”
men are, that they might have joy.
The diamond is enhanced and made more valuable with polishing.
We all have our trials of life to strengthen us.
if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet.”
Without a change, they would have remained in that state forever.
Adam and Eve had been in a state of stagnation: no progress—no growth
All progress is made by overcoming an opposing force

LDS Housing

Searchable database of apartments/townhomes for sale, people wanting roommates, etc.

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utahsingles31.org

Info. on singles wards, etc.

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www.slc-sa.org - Utah Salt Lake City Area Single Adults

Event calendar (concerts in the park), monthly newsletters

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Multi-Stake Singles - Home Page

Info. on cluster activities, plus choir, conferences, dances, firesides, super saturday, temple sessions, etc.

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umi-umd-2707.pdf (application/pdf Object)

dissertation on Primary music

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Reason, Faith, & the Things of Eternity - Annual Maxwell Institute Lecture - Elder Bruce C. Hafen: March 21, 2008

Tags: church, bruce_c_hafen, intellect, intelligence, scholarship, BYU on 2008-05-27 -All Annotations (0) -About

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being faithful enough to see Him was the ultimate resolution of the tension between faith and reason. He is the ultimate resolution to everything.
faith and hope rising to overcome their rational fears
"The kind of people we are is more important than what we can do to improve the world; indeed, being the kind of people we should and can be is the best, and sometimes the only, way to improve the world."²⁸
Not that the macro problems don't matter; he just knew that the micro problems are the ones we can do the most about. And in the long run, he knew that the gospel's way of changing the individual is the only lasting way to change society.
from this vantage point, we need even more rigorous scholarship and deeper inquiry, especially about protecting and nurturing the things of eternity.
This level does not ask us to give up anything of value in our reason or our scholarship,
Those who taste sanctification must often pay such a terribly high price that they can't possibly understand the need for their suffering
adversity can squeeze out of us the [remaining] hypocrisy that's there
the very act of choosing to be a disciple can bring to us a certain special suffering. [Such] suffering and chastening is the dimension that comes with deep discipleship," when the Lord takes us "to the very edge of our faith; [and] we teeter at the edge of our trust [in] a form of learning as it is administered at the hands of a loving Father.
adversity is sometimes a tool the Lord uses to teach his followers the very attributes they need for their development.
would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, [than] because bad philosophy needs to be answered."
To be ignorant and simple now
Every success in the scholar's life increases this danger.
otherwise, we "may come to love knowledge--our knowing--more than the thing known:
In living a learned life,
personal humility is essential;
The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a charwoman, become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being [humbly] offered to God . . . This does not ... mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a cock must crow."
They tend to measure the gospel and the Church by what they have learned in their academic disciplines rather than the other way around
Genius without meekness is not enough to qualify for discipleship.
academic scholarship [can be] a form of worship, another dimension of consecration
the life of a disciple-scholar was more about consecration than it was about scholarship
part of the sacrifice the Lord may require is that we accept what He may inflict upon us without understanding to our rational satisfaction why we should be lost in some dark night of the soul.
And a lifetime of trying to make sense of mortality, especially on days when it doesn't seem to make sense, gives us the experience we must eventually have to appreciate the meaning of our sanctification after it has been completed.
we can't go there until we've walked as far as the light of our search for knowledge allows.
someone who conditions his faith on its being rationally intelligent may shrink back from a sanctifying experience--and thereby not discover what the experience could teach.
By its very nature, faith ultimately takes us beyond the boundaries of reason.
sanctifying effects of these afflictions.
to offer the sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit, which was somehow making the Lord's own sacrifice more accessible to them.
observe their covenants by every sacrifice
Only when belief is not compelled, by external evidence or otherwise, can it produce the growth that is the promised fruit of faith.
Science will not be able to prove or disprove holy writ
faithful scholarship as a source of defense,
consecrated scholarship converges both the life of the mind and the life of the spirit
draw on divine power in their professional work