Don’t Trade Long-term Happiness for Short-term Praise

Hanging dead stuff on your body to impress other people doesn’t make any sense.

But that’s what people do who trade long-term happiness for short-term worldly praise.

These words from Moroni are powerful:

“Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies – because of the praise of the world?”

“Why do you adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?”

- Mormon 8:37-39

Dirt Poor and 100% True to the Core

Imagine you are very poor and for all your hard physical labor have just enough money to pay for the necessities of life. A humble home, bread, minimal clothes.

Now in that circumstance you are given gold coins worth $5,000,000 and told you can’t do anything with them but hold onto them for a year, protect them from people who are going to try to steal them from you, and then you need to return all of them in perfect condition.

Also, you aren’t going to be paid or compensated in any way. In fact having them will bring a lot of trouble and challenges.

How tempting would it be to use them (at least a few!) for your personal benefit? There probably aren’t very many people that have the integrity and self discipline to stay true.

Joseph Smith though was someone that did. He was in custody of ancient writings on metal plates made of pure gold. Purely based on the value of the gold alone they must have been worth millions in his day. Based on the fact they were thousands of years old as a collectors item they must have been worth quite a bit as well.

Yet he was tasked with protecting them and received no financial compensation. He was dirt poor yet he never did anything with them but stayed true to what he was entrusted with. That accomplishment is worthy of our respect!

- Mormon 8:14-16

Slow Down!

Rush rush rush. We run around from one thing to another rarely slowing down to consider the importance of what we are doing. What is important anyway?

When Jesus was teaching several thousand people he and was just getting ready to leave, having told them he was leaving, but rather than rush off to his next assignment he slowed down and perceived that they longed for him to stay longer.

He decided to stay and one of the most beautiful experiences in the history of the world occurred. He invited them to bring their sick, lame, and in any way afflicted to him and he healed each of them.

This was just a day after he had suffered all the pains of the Atonement, a completely selfless act that brought excruciating pain on himself. He said his joy was now full and wept several times.

Then he gathered their children around him and they were visited by angels. He blessed each one individually.

It’s beautiful to read about this and inspiring to know that it occurred because he paused and didn’t run off the next thing on his list.

- 3 Nephi 17:4-25

Taking the Time to Explain

Have you ever been trying to learn something that just isn’t making sense?

It’s the difference between night and day if someone will patiently take the time to explain it. As a learner we appreciate this tremendously.

Jesus was teaching a group of people who were not understanding something he had said, that “old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.”

He patiently explained what he meant, didn’t show any frustration, and didn’t put them down for not understanding. It’s a great example for us to follow.

- 3 Nephi 15:2-10

Success Determined by How We Respond to Difficulties

From James B. Martino, LDS General Conference April 2010:

“Each of us will face trials and tests … it is how we react to those difficulties that will determine our success and happiness.”

“We will each face times of difficulty, and the question is not when we will face them but how we face them.”

Watch this 1 minute video about a boy who at first glance appears to have failed. He doesn’t see it that way.

You Knew What I Was When You Picked Me Up

An Indian legend goes as follows:

A boy is up on a cold mountain top and a snake sees him and asks to be taken down the mountain to where it’s warm. The snake can’t move because it’s too cold.

The boy says, “No, I know your kind, you’re a snake and you’ll bite me.” The snake says “No, I won’t bite you, I will treat you differently because you are doing me this favor” and eventually convinces the boy to take him down.

So the boy puts the snake in his coat and carries him down the mountain. They get to the bottom, it’s nice and warm, the boy puts the snake on the ground and immediately the snake coils and bites him in the leg. “But you promised…” said the boy.

“You knew what I was when you picked me up” the snake said as it slithered away.

We recently re-hired someone at my company that had worked for us 5 years ago. Everything he did was for his personal benefit and at the expense of others. This second time he promised up and down he would be different.

Within two months we had to terminate his employment again. For exactly the same reason. “You knew what I was when you picked me up” came to mind. We should have known better.

Said another way, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

- 3 Nephi 14:16

Bite-size Beliefs from Sunday General Conference

In a continuation of yesterday’s LDS General Conference (www.lds.org) here are the bite-size beliefs I heard in the talks that were given in the Sunday sessions.

I believe that:

President Uchtdorf

• Looking down on others is hurtful to them and to yourself.
• We all fall short and are in need of mercy.
• We should extend to others what we desire for ourselves.
• We cannot gauge the worth of another soul any more than we can measure the span of the universe.
• Everyone is a VIP to God.
• We should love others as we love our self and seek their happiness.
• Until we manifest love in action our words don’t mean anything.

President Monson

• It makes no sense that this world and universe could have been designed and created without a Designer and Creator. There is a Designer and Creator.
• He lives.

Russell Nelson

• The family is central to the Creators plan for the eternal destiny of his children.

Robert Hales

• I’m not old enough to see inappropriate movies, and will never be.
• The greatest missionary service that can be given is in our homes.

Bradley Foster

• The influence of a mother in the lives or her children is beyond calculation.

James Martino

• It’s how we react to difficulties that determine our success and happiness.
• The question is not if we will face difficulties, but how we will face them.
• All things work together for good for them that love God.
• We should learn to recognize the good that comes from each experience.
• We should not seek to do our will. We should seek to do God’s will.
• When we are faced with trials we should not complain or murmur.
• There is a tendency for the natural man to pass blame to someone else so as not to be accountable for their own actions.

Gregory Schwitzer

• Good judgment is needed in making decisions.
• To make good judgment you need to put your own standards in alignment with the Gospel.
• To make good judgment we should follow the advice of the prophets.
• The peace that comes from listening to the Holy Spirit removes the fear of making a poor judgment in life.
• The willingness to keep God’s commandments opens to us many promised blessings.

NEIL Andersen

• Time and truth are on our side.

Bite-size Beliefs from Saturday General Conference

Here are some of the bite-size beliefs that I heard in the Saturday General Conference talks (www.lds.org). There are so many important truths that are spoken in conference it’s like a 5 star buffet of continually arriving food.

President Packer

• Satan seeks to destroy all that is good and righteous.
• We’ll never dominate by numbers but we have the power of the Priesthood.
• We can and in time will influence all of humanity.
• The church programs should not supplant the home, they should support the home.
• It’s better for a father to ordain his son than for an Apostle to do it.

Julie Beck

• There is much distraction and not enough peace and joy.
• There has never been a greater need for strong families and homes.
• The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.
• The scriptures are an aid to revelation.
• Insights in the scriptures accumulate over time.
• The greatest good we can do to ourselves and to each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling.
• When we have done our very best we may still experience disappointments but we will not be disappointed in ourselves.
• We can be certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us.
• Peace, joy, and hope are available to those who measure success properly.

Keith McMullin

• We should seek to do good in the world. This is our duty.

Wilford Andersen

• The true source of hope is faith.
• To build hope we must build faith.

M. Russell Ballard

• Look to your mother and learn from her strengths.
• Our society is bombarded with messages about motherhood that are dangerously wrong.
• The tongue is an unruly member. Hold your tongues about things of no moment.
• Satan is always attempting to undermine the most precious element of woman’s divine nature, which is the ability to nurture.
• God is the source of all moral and spiritual power.
• Life’s most meaningful teachings come from those who have gone before us.
• The home is the most important place to prepare the youth for tomorrow.
• It’s in the home where the gospel must be taught by precept and example.

President Eyring

• As the gravity of sin increases the possibility of a wonderful family life decreases.
• We help God’s children best by providing ways to build faith when they are young.
• Our most important and powerful assignments are within the family.
• You can only arrive back to Heavenly Father as you are guided and directed by the Spirit of God.

L. Tom Perry

• Parents are entrusted with the education of their children.
• The happiness, prosperity, and peace of people all find common roots in the teaching of children in the home.

D. Todd Christofferson

• The scriptures enlarge our memory with things others have experienced.
• There are absolute moral standards.
• Real happiness lies in repentance and forgiveness.
• Scriptures teach us principles and moral values to maintain a civil society.
• If scriptures are ignored or abandoned then the moral core of society disintegrates.
• Scriptures build our faith.
• Scriptures are revelation and they will bring added revelation.

Bruce A. Carlson

• Strict obedience to God’s laws brings his blessings.

Elder Bednar

• We live in a time of warning.
• Read and talk about the Book of Mormon with our children.
• Speak spontaneously with our children about gospel truths.
• Invite children to act and not to merely be acted upon.
• The Book of Mormon speaks to the spirit and heart of the reader like no other scripture.
• The less regimented the testimony bearing the greater likelihood for edification and lasting impact.
• As parents we are not in the business of distributing fish, but rather the business of teaching our children to fish.
• The teacher is no better than the learner.
• Learning by study and faith is the only way to learn.

Elder Holland

• True love must include the idea of permanence.
• Lust is pathologically clandestine.
• True love is out in the open. Lust is in shame and in the dark.
• Lust destroys trust.
• Separate yourself from people and materials that would harm you.
• If a TV show or movie is indecent turn it off.
• Throw the rascals out.
• Picture the faces of those who love you and would be shattered if you let them down.
• We can reject the evil one.

President Uchtdorf

• Patience is active waiting.
• One marshmallow now or two if you wait for fifteen minutes.

President Monson

• Spiritual strength comes through giving service.