When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, 'What sign do I want to give to God?' That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear.
— Russell M. Nelson
My dear sisters, whatever your calling, whatever your circumstances, we need your impressions, your insights, and your inspiration. We need you to speak up and speak out in ward and stake councils.
The Lord has often chosen to instruct His people in their times of trial.
I feel impressed to counsel those engaged in personal challenges to do right. In particular, my heart reaches out to those who feel discouraged by the magnitude of their struggle.
We should understand the source of our authority and something of the keys that control its power.
My concern is that contention is becoming accepted as a way of life.
Each faithful young woman in the Church proclaims that individual worth is one of her most cherished values.
A worthy woman personifies the truly noble and worthwhile attributes of life.
Sometimes a nickname is used instead of the real name. But a nickname may offend either the one named or the parents who gave the name.
Have you not learned that strength comes to an ordinary soul when given an extraordinary calling?
No, we don't own our children. Our parental privilege is to love them, to lead them, and to let them go.
Surely wisdom will come as we listen to learn from children, parents, partners, neighbors, Church leaders, and the Lord.
As a member of the Church, you have made sacred covenants with the Lord.
Irrespective of age, we mourn for those loved and lost. Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love.
Our Creator expects His children everywhere to educate themselves.
Our personal intelligence is everlasting and divine.
Honoring the priesthood fosters respect, respect promotes reverence, and reverence invites revelation.
I first found delight in the Sabbath many years ago when, as a busy surgeon, I knew that the Sabbath became a day for personal healing. By the end of each week, my hands were sore from repeatedly scrubbing them with soap, water, and a bristle brush. I also needed a breather from the burden of a demanding profession.
Sisters, do you realize the breadth and scope of your influence when you speak those things that come to your heart and mind as directed by the Spirit?
As a medical doctor, I have known the face of adversity. I have seen much of death and dying, suffering and sorrow. I also remember the plight of students overwhelmed by their studies and of those striving to learn a foreign language. And I recall the fatigue and frustration felt by young parents with children in need.
To understand the power of the priesthood, we must know its limitations.
Prior to my call to the Twelve, I served as a medical doctor and surgeon.
As we dread any disease that undermines the health of the body, so should we deplore contention, which is a corroding canker of the spirit.
Each daughter of God is of infinite worth because of her divine mission.
A saint is tolerant and is attentive to the pleadings of other human beings, not only to spoken messages but to unspoken messages as well.
We are all pleased when our names are pronounced and spelled correctly.
Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir are not superhuman. They are ordinary people with ordinary frailties. But therein lies the power of their example.
To rule children by force is the technique of Satan, not of the Savior.
Counsel with your parents is a privilege at any age.
Our Heavenly Father loves you. He has created you to be successful and to have joy.
The only length of life that seems to satisfy the longings of the human heart is life everlasting.
I believe that in the pursuit of education, individual desire is more influential than institution, and personal faith more forceful than faculty.
Men and women may form associations for and among themselves and be governed by stipulations that are mutually acceptable.
He chose to honor us with His priesthood. So we honor Him by honoring His priesthood - both its power and those who bear it.
Married or single, you sisters possess distinctive capabilities and special intuition you have received as gifts from God. We brethren cannot duplicate your unique influence.
We need women who are devoted to shepherding God's children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.
Many shoulder heavy burdens of righteous responsibility which, on occasion, seem so difficult to bear. I have heard those challenges termed impossible.
Service of any type requires preparation.
Contention existed before the earth was formed.
Contention does not usually begin as strife between countries. More often, it starts with an individual, for we can contend within ourselves over simple matters of right and wrong. From there, contention can infect neighbors and nations like a spreading sore.
A faithful woman can become a devoted daughter of God - more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish, more anxious to exercise compassion than to exercise dominion, more committed to integrity than to notoriety. And she knows of her own infinite worth.
A saint serves others, knowing that the more one serves, the greater the opportunity for the Spirit to sanctify and purify.
In one thousand years of Russia's existence, its first popular national election ever to be held occurred in June 1991. Six days later, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed in Moscow!
While musical experts of the world focus on what choir members can do, I would like to focus on what choir members can be.
Parents and teachers, learn to listen, then listen to learn from children.
Agency is a divine gift to you. You are free to choose what you will be and what you will do.
The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.
Generally, the younger the victim, the greater the grief. Yet even when the elderly or infirm have been afforded merciful relief, their loved ones are rarely ready to let go.
Because of our sacred regard for each human intellect, we consider the obtaining of an education to be a religious responsibility.
Differences exist in practice and organization between the Lord's Church and man-made institutions.
