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“If Ye Be Willing and Obedient”

By President Gordon B. Hinckley Gordon B. Hinckley, "“If Ye Be Willing and Obedient”",  Liahona , June 1995, 3 Some time ago I stood in Trafalgar Square in London and looked up at the statue of Lord Nelson. At the base of the column are his words uttered on the morning of the Battle of Trafalgar: “England expects every man to do his duty.” Lord Nelson was killed on that historic day in 1805, as were many others; but England was saved as a nation, and Britain became an empire. The image of duty and obedience has been seriously tarnished since that time. This condition is not exactly new; it is as old as human history. Isaiah declared to ancient Israel: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: “But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” ( Isa. 1:19–20 ). I recall sitting in the Salt Lake Tabernacle when I was 14 or 15—up in the balcony right behind the clock—and hearing President Heber J.

never act in haste

Man is endowed with power and wisdom sufficient, if he will exercise them, to silence his tongue, and cause his hands to cease their operations.  His feet may be swift to shed blood, but he has power to pause, and combat and conquer the enemy; for good is present with him also and he is influenced in a greater or lesser degree by the Spirit of the Lord.  You experience these two opposites of good and evil in yourselves every day you live, you are tried, tempted and overtaken in sin, by saying and doing that which is wrong.  Now from this time henceforth, pause, and whatever you do, let it be done in a spirit of reflection, never again act in haste, but let your actions always be the result of mature consideration. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:92

misery likes company

Lucifer, who has no future, thus desperately tries to persuade men that they have no future either.  He desires that all men might be miserable like unto himself.  (2 Nephi 2:27)  Misery likes company, especially ultimate misery.   Elder Neal A. Maxwell

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

In the Garden of Gethsemane As a young missionary, Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931), who later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever. He later wrote: “One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. … I stood behind a tree in the foreground. … Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, He passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed … : ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’ “As He prayed the tears streamed down His face, which was [turned] toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with His great sorrow. My whole heart went out to Him. I loved Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else. “Presently He arose and wal