Our Gifts

Timothy 4:14
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.



Moroni 10:8-18

8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

 9 For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;

 10 And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

 11 And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

 12 And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;

 13 And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;

 14 And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;

 15 And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;

 16 And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.

 17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.

 18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:11

11 And if thou wilt inquire, thou shalt know mysteries which are great and marvelous; therefore thou shalt exercise thy gift, that thou mayest find out mysteries, that thou mayest bring many to the knowledge of the truth

(All art by gifted artist J. Keith Richards. Visit his web site here)

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,

'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,

And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,

Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,

'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",

And when we hear what others really think and really feel,

Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.^[9]

Tis the gift to be loving, tis the best gift of all

Like a quiet rain it blesses where it falls

And with it we will truly believe

Tis better to give than it is to receive

'tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be fair

'tis a gift to wake and breathe the morning air

and each day we walk on the path that we choose

'tis a gift we pray we never shall lose

Rise Up!

"....our destiny is not determined by the number of 

 times we stumble but by the number of times we rise

up, dust ourselves off, and move forward."

DIETER F. UCHTDORF

Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.

-Anonymous

Rise Up, Ye Saints, Rejoice!

WORDS BY LARRY HILLER

Music by George J. Elvey

Rise up, ye Saints, rejoice!

And let your hearts take wing!

Add to the heav’nly choir your voice

As all creation sings.

The long-awaited day

Has dawned o’er all the earth.

And death and sorrow now give way

To glorious rebirth.

Rise up and praise the Son

Who light and hope does give.

Our Savior, the Atoning One,

Has died that we might live.

Yea, Christ did come to save,

To break the chains of sin,

To conquer sorrow and the grave,

And new life usher in.

Ye who have suffered loss,

Shake off despair and gloom.

Look up and see the vacant cross,

Behold the empty tomb.

Yea, Christ has conquered death,

And all shall be restored.

Our loved ones shall again draw breath,

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Rise up, all ye who mourn

And lay aside your pain.

For Christ has all our sorrow borne

That we may smile again.

Our tears He’ll gently dry,

As we behold His face.

We’ll bid all mortal cares goodbye

And glory in His grace.

"Every person, young and old, has had his own personal 

experience with falling. Falling is what we mortals do. But as

 long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the

 path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn

 something from failure and become better and happier as a

 result.

My dear brethren, my dear friends, there will be times when

 you think you cannot continue on. Trust the Savior and His

 love. With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power and

 hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and

 continue on."

DIETER F. UCHTDORF

Come Unto Christ, His Hand is Stretched Out Still

“Come unto Me”

BY ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In the 11th chapter of Matthew, verses 28–30, the Savior says: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matt. 11:28–30]

This is my basic message to each of you, wherever you live, whatever your joys or sorrows, however young or old you may be, at whatever point you may find yourself in this mortal journey of ours. Some of you are where you want to be or you know where you want to go with your lives, and some of you don’t. Some of you seem to have so many blessings and so many wonderful choices ahead of you. Others of you feel, for a time and for whatever reason, less fortunate and with fewer attractive paths lying immediately ahead.

But whoever you are and wherever you find yourself as you seek your way in life, I offer you “the way … and the life” (John 14:6). Wherever else you think you may be going, I ask you to “come unto him” as the imperative first step in getting there, in finding your individual happiness and strength and success.

It seems to me that the essence of our lives is distilled down to these two brief elements in these opening scenes of the Savior’s mortal ministry. One element is the question to every one of us, “What seek ye? What do you want?” The second is his answer as to how to get that. Whoever we are and whatever our problems, his response is always the same, forever: “Come unto me.” Come see what I do and how I spend my time. Learn of me, follow me, and in the process I will give you answers to your prayers and rest to your souls.

The world around us is an increasingly hostile and sinful place. Occasionally that splashes onto us, and perhaps, in the case of a few of you, it may be nearly drowning you. To anyone struggling under the burden of sin, I say again with the Prophet Joseph that God has “a forgiving disposition” (Lectures on Faith, 42). You can change. You can be helped. You can be made whole—whatever the problem. All he asks is that you walk away from the darkness and come into the light, his light, with meekness and lowliness of heart. That is at the heart of the gospel. That is the very center of our message. That is the beauty of redemption. Christ has “borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” Isaiah declared, “and with his stripes we are healed”—if we want to be (Isa. 53:4–5; see also Mosiah 14:4–5).

His Hand is Stretched Out Still....

Isaiah 9:17

17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 10:4

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 9:21

21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

(The following scriptures compare to Isaiah 5,6,7,8)

2 Nephi 20:4

4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

2 Nephi 15:25

25 Therefore, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

2 Nephi 19:12

12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

2 Nephi 19:17

17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

We Are Precious

The Atonement and the Value of One Soul

M. RUSSELL BALLARD

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

April 2004

...Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father’s everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement is the word one. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others.

...If we truly understood the Atonement and the eternal value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other wayward child of God. We would help them to know of the love Christ has for them. We would do all that we can to help prepare them to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel.

...Sadly, in today’s world, a person’s importance is often judged by the size of the audience before which he or she performs. That is how media and sports programs are rated, how corporate prominence is sometimes determined, and often how governmental rank is obtained. That may be why roles such as father, mother, and missionary seldom receive standing ovations. Fathers, mothers, and missionaries “play” before very small audiences. Yet, in the eyes of the Lord, there may be only one size of audience that is of lasting importance—and that is just one, each one, you and me, and each one of the children of God. The irony of the Atonement is that it is infinite and eternal, yet it is applied individually, one person at a time.

Alma 31:35

35 Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

Doctrine and Covenants 109:43

43 O Lord, we delight not in the destruction of our fellow men; their souls are precious before thee;

1 Peter 1:7

7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Isaiah 13:12

12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

I Stand All Amazed

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

 I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

 I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

Text and music: Charles H. Gabriel, 1856-1932