“Words of the Living Prophet,” Liahona, Nov. 2001, 8
Words of the Living Prophet
Do What You Ought to Do
“I don’t worry too much about the future, and I don’t worry very much about the past. The past is gone, and you can’t change it. … The future—you can anticipate it, but you can’t necessarily do very much about it. It is the present you have to deal with, and so you reach out for every good opportunity that you have to do what you ought to do.”1
Be a Good Citizen Wherever You Live
“Everywhere our people are they ought to be good citizens. That is one of our cardinal doctrines—good citizenship in the land in which we live. We ought to be contributors to the society of which we are a part.”2
Be Good Neighbors
“[The Lord] expects we will be good neighbors, kind to others, to those not of our faith, that we will treat them with generosity and love and respect, that when they have troubles, we will reach out to assist them and lift them and help and bless them.
“Jesus was asked what is the first and great law in the kingdom. And He said: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, … [might, mind, and soul]. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Matt. 22:37–39). Now that isn’t easy to do; it is not easy to do, but we must work at it and work at it constantly. We must reach out to assist others, and their respect and appreciation for this Church will grow as we do so. The God of Heaven expects us to be helpful to others, to be good neighbors, to be friends to all within our reach.”3
We Believe in Education
“We believe in education. The Lord has laid a mandate upon His people that they become acquainted with the things of the earth, as well as the things of the Spirit. He has laid an obligation upon us to get all the schooling that we have. Education becomes the key of opportunity for everyone in this life. It may involve sacrifice, it may involve unusual effort, but with the help of heaven, it can be had.”4
Convert Retention
“I think the Lord would be very pleased if we would get on our knees, each of us, and pray to Him and ask Him to help us bring someone into this Church. And then when that occurs, you stay so very close to that individual until he or she becomes well grounded in the faith so that there will be no falling away after they’ve come into the Church.”5
Prepare Yourselves for the Blessings of the Temple
“My brothers and sisters, you who have not been to the house of God, I plead with you this morning with all the power that I have to begin today to repent of the past, to get your lives in order so that you may go there and bind to you those whom you love most and who are most dear to you. … Trust in the Lord, and as His servant I feel to promise you that He will bless you. There will be opened to you the doors of the temple of the Lord, that you may go there and enjoy these rich and marvelous blessings, and that you will be bound together as a family of husband and wife, of parents and children, living together in love and respect for another.”6
Temple Work
“We have laid upon us as a people a greater charge, a greater responsibility than any other people have ever had in the history of the world. We are responsible for [taking] the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who have lived upon the earth, to all who now live upon the earth, and to all who will yet live upon the earth. No other people have had so great a responsibility as that. God bless the faithful Latter-day Saints who carry in their hearts the love and respect of the great doctrine of the eternity of the family and of the tremendous doctrine of proxy work for the dead.”7
Left: Photograph by Jed A. Clark
Right: Photograph by Jerry Garns