Priesthood Lesson

The priesthood you bear is a wonderful force for good. You live in a time of great challenges and opportunities. As spirit sons of heavenly parents, you are free to make the right choices. This requires hard work, self-discipline, and an optimistic outlook, which will bring joy and freedom into your life now and in the future.

The Lord said to Abraham, My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee (Abraham 2:8).What does this mean???

Allow me to share with you an experience from my own boyhood. When I was 11 years old, my family had to leave East Germany and begin a new life in West Germany overnight. Until my father could get back into his original profession as a government employee, my parents operated a small laundry business in our little town. I became the laundry delivery boy. I might never have become a jet fighter pilot and later a 747 airline captain. Not Just Luck

John Gym ask Girl to go to Church

We do not know what lies ahead. Occasionally discouragement may sneak into our day; frustration may invite itself into our thinking; doubt might enter about the value of our work. In these dark moments Satan whispers in our ears that we will never be able to succeed, and that our small part will never make a difference. He, the father of all lies, will try to prevent us from seeing the end from the beginning. Back to the Future.

Taught by prophets, seers, and revelators of our day. The First Presidency said: We have great confidence in you. You are choice spirits. . . Your Heavenly Father wants your life to be joyful and to lead you back into His presence. The decisions you make now will determine much of what will follow throughout eternity You have a responsibility to learn what Heavenly Father wants you to do.

Pray for Austere

How deeply grateful I am for the inspired leadership of our dear President Gordon B. Hinckley, the prophet of God in our time, and his noble counselors. Their prophetic view helps you to see the end from the beginning.

The Lord loves you; that is why He has given you commandments and the words of prophets to guide you on your journey through life. Some of the most important guidelines for your life are found in the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. The physical appearance of this little paper booklet would qualify it for the scriptural description Out of small things proceedeth that which is great (D&C 64:33).

John - - - - I wish Jarom would not have gone to mill

I call your attention to the fact that For the Strength of Youth, the accompanying Guidebook for Parents and Leaders of Youth, and the temple recommend of the Church all have a picture of the Salt Lake Temple imprinted on the front. The temple is the binding link between generations, in this life and for eternity. All the temples have been dedicated for the same purpose: to assist in accomplishing the divine work and glory of God, our Eternal Father, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). These temples are sacred structures in which eternal questions are answered, truths are taught, and ordinances performed so that we can live with an understanding of our divine inheritance as children of God and with an awareness of our potential as eternal beings. The house of the Lord helps you to see the end from the beginning.

Just as the temples of God are sacred, so are your temporal bodies. The Apostle Paul said:

Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:19Ð'-20).

My dear fellow priesthood holders of all ages and in all places around this world, let us use our thoughts, our minds and hearts, and our bodies with the respect and dignity worthy of a sacred temple given to us by our Heavenly Father.

The prophets of our day have promised you, my friends, that as you keep the standards given in For the Strength of Youth and live by the truths in the scriptures, you will be able to do your life's work with greater wisdom and skill and bear trials with greater courage. You will have the help of the Holy Ghost. . . . You will be worthy to go to the temple to receive holy ordinances. These blessings and many more can be yours (For the Strength of Youth, 2Ð'-3).

We know that God keeps His promises. We need to fulfill our part to receive His blessings. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated (D&C 130:21).

Every member who wants to go to the temple, regardless of age, needs to prepare for this sacred experience. Certain questions will be asked by your bishop and stake president, who hold keys of priesthood authority and are common judges in the Church. These vital questions will include: Are you honest? Are you morally clean? Do you keep the Word of Wisdom? Do you obey the law of tithing? And do you sustain the authorities of the Church? The answers to these key questions reflect your attitudes and actions.

You younger men might not be aware that the standards set by the Lord in the temple recommend questions are very similar to the standards