My Thoughts on Making the Most of This Life

We only have one life to live.  We must choose how we will use our time.  We don’t want to come to the end of our lives and wish that we had done things differently.  We can prevent many of what could be our future regrets by making certain resolutions today.  If we take the time to make a plan and chart a course we will use our time much more wisely.  We will cherish our loved ones more and make good memories with them.  We will work on improving ourselves, follow the Savior’s example more closely, and become more like Him.  And we will choose to be happy now.  We will find ways to enjoy our journey and show more gratitude for our blessings.  When we make mistakes, and we will, we will learn to receive the Atonement in our lives.  We will repent and we will let go of the pain that comes with those bad choices.  We will learn from those mistakes and move forward with peace and a resolve to be better.  We must make the most of the limited time we have while we are here.

Prevent Regrets Through By Following Chrst

Many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today. If we have sinned or made mistakes—if we have made choices that we now regret—there is the precious gift of Christ’s Atonement, through which we can be forgiven. We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret and remove the burden of our sins.  His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart, and a determination to do better and especially to become better. 

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - October 2012 General Conference "Of Regrets and Resolutions"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng

Pursuit of Happiness

When it comes to living the gospel, we should not be like the boy who dipped his toe in the water and then claimed he went swimming.

Discipleship is the pursuit of holiness and happiness. It is the path to our best and happiest self.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - October 2012 General Conference "Of Regrets and Resolutions"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng

The Precious Gift of Time

I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished. I can’t see it.  Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - October 2012 General Conference "Of Regrets and Resolutions"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng

Tryng to Understand the Gift of Grace

Trying to understand God’s gift of grace with all our heart and mind gives us all the more reasons to love and obey our Heavenly Father with meekness and gratitude. As we walk the path of discipleship, it refines us, it improves us, it helps us to become more like Him, and it leads us back to His presence.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - April 2015 General Conference "The Gift of Grace"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-gift-of-grace?lang=eng

My Thoughts on Discovering Our Potential

We need to take a look at our lives and our motives and be sure that we are doing things for the right reasons.  Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of serving with no hidden agendas.  Everything He did was out of love for the Father.  That should be our motivation as well.  Christ can help us find our potential.  He can help make our weaknesses into strengths.  We just have to humbly approach Him and He can heal us, lift us, and make us more than we ever dreamed possible.

Becoming Humble

The greatest, most capable, most accomplished man who ever walked this earth was also the most humble. He performed some of His most impressive service in private moments, with only a few observers, whom He asked to “tell no man” what He had done.  When someone called Him “good,” He quickly deflected the compliment, insisting that only God is truly good.  Clearly the praise of the world meant nothing to Him; His single purpose was to serve His Father and ‘do always those things that please him.” We would do well to follow the example of the Master.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - April 2015 General Conference "On Being Genuine"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/on-being-genuine?lang=eng

Becoming Who We Want to Be

Here in the Church of Jesus Christ you can mature spiritually and draw closer to the Savior by applying‍ gospel principles day by day... With patience and persistence, even the smallest act of discipleship or the tiniest ember of belief can become a blazing bonfire of a consecrated life... So if you feel small and weak, please simply come unto Christ, who makes weak things strong. . .

My beloved brothers in Christ, the God of Creation, who breathed life into the universe, surely has the power to breathe life into you. Surely He can make of you the genuine, spiritual being of light and truth you desire to be.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - April 2015 General Conference "On Being Genuine"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/on-being-genuine?lang=eng

Why Do We Do It?

I am here because I desire with all my heart to follow my Master, Jesus Christ. I yearn to do all that He asks of me in this great cause. I hunger to be edified by the Holy Spirit and hear the voice of God as He speaks through His ordained servants. I am here to become a better man, to be lifted by the inspiring examples of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and to learn how to more effectively minister to those in need.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - April 2015 General Conference "On Being Genuine"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/on-being-genuine?lang=eng

Christ Centered Family

“A wonderful family life comes from their having the Savior at the center of each of their lives.”

President Henry B. Eyring - April 2015 General Conference "The Comforter" 
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-comforter?lang=eng

Nazareth Was a Little Place

“‘Father, where shall I work today?’

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then he pointed out a tiny spot

And said, ‘Tend that for me.’

I answered quickly, ‘Oh no, not that!

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done.

Not that little place for me.’

And the word he spoke, it was not stern;

He answered me tenderly:

‘Ah, little one, search that heart of thine;

Art thou working for them or for me?

‘Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.’”

—Meade MacGuire

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1973/04/yellow-canaries-with-gray-on-their-wings?lang=eng&query=yellow+canaries+with+grey+on+their+wings

Choose to Live Greatly

All of us are prone to excuse our own mediocre performance. We blame our misfortunes, our disfigurements, or our so-called handicaps. Victims of our own rationalization, we say silently to ourselves: “I’m just too weak,” or “I’m not cut out for better things.”

Can we not appreciate that our very business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves? To break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by our todays, to bear our trials more beautifully than we ever dreamed we could, to give as we have never given, to do our work with more force and a finer finish than ever—this is the true idea: to get ahead of ourselves...

   
To live greatly, we must develop the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and triumph with humility. You ask, “How might we achieve these goals?” I answer, “By getting a true perspective of who we really are!” 

President Thomas S. Monson - April 1973 General Conference “Yellow Canaries with Gray on Their Wings”
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1973/04/yellow-canaries-with-gray-on-their-wings?lang=eng&query=yellow+canaries+with+grey+on+their+wings

My Thoughts on Following Christ

Christ has set the perfect example for us to live by.  If we will follow His example we will become the man or woman that we have the potential of becoming.  There is so much that we can learn about Jesus if we will study the scriptures.  I know that the more time and effort I put into studying the scriptures the closer I feel to the Savior and to my Heavenly Father.  It is something that needs to be done on a daily basis so that daily I can grow closer to them.  The Savior went through so much so that He could have empathy for us and so that He could succor us.  I know that if I study His life and follow His example I can find peace and happiness in this life. 

Come Follow Christ

"To help guide us we have the words of God and of His Son found in our holy scriptures. We have the counsel and teachings of God’s prophets. Of paramount importance, we have been provided with a perfect example to follow—even the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—and we have been instructed to follow that example...

 Physically walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked. Emulating His actions and following His example are far more important than trying to retrace the remnants of the trails He traversed in mortality...

All of us can walk the path He walked when, with His words ringing in our ears, His Spirit filling our hearts, and His teachings guiding our lives, we choose to follow Him as we journey through mortality...

As we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives by learning His words, by following His teachings, and by walking in His path, He has promised to share with us the eternal life that He died to gain. There is no higher end than this, that we should choose to accept His discipline and become His disciples and do His work throughout our lives. Nothing else, no other choice we make, can make of us what He can."

President Thomas S. Monson - October 2014 General Conference "Ponder the Path of Thy Feet" 
 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/ponder-the-path-of-thy-feet?lang=eng