"Receiving our own endowment in a temple and returning frequently to perform sacred ordinances for our kindred dead increases our faith, strengthens our hope, and deepends our charity. We receive our own endowment with faith and hope that we will understand the Lord's plan for His children, will recognize the divine potential within each of us as children of our Heavenly Father, and will be faithful to the end in keeping the covenants we make. Performing temple ordinances for the dead is a manifestation of charity, offering essential blessings to those who have preceded us, blessings that were not available to them during their mortal lives. We have the privilege of doing for them what they are unable to do for themselves."
~Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (from "Cultivating Divine Attributes," Liahona, January 1999)

Random quotes

"Stop saying you have regrets in life. Just look at everything as a living and learning experience because you can change what you lived and learned."
~Jonlyn B.

"Look at each day as a chance to invest life into life. A chance to share your experience and deposit it into someone else's conscience. Each day is a chance to work miracles in the lives of others."
~Jim Rohn

"You can choose whichever one you desire: Negative way-Nothing I do matters; we're all going to die in the end. Positive way-In life, everything matters; savor every second."
~Delany Perry

"So many people say, 'One cigarette, one cup of tea or coffee, one puff of marijuana won't hurt you, and one drink of alcohol surely cannot hurt anybody. I want to emphasize that if you never take the first you will never take the second. You will never become an alcoholic or an addict."
~N. Eldon Tanner, in Conference Report, April 1975, p.114; or Ensign, May 1975, p. 77)

The Blessings of Paying Your Tithing

"As a young man recently returned from his mission, he found the girl he wanted to marry. They were happy, but very poor.

"Then came a particularly difficult time when their food and money ran out. It was a Saturday, and the cupboard was literally bare. Rene felt distraught that his young wife was hungry. He decided he had no other choice than to use their tithing money and go purchase food.

"As he was leaving the house, his wife stopped him and asked him where he was going. He told her he was going to buy food. She asked him where he got the money. He told her that it was the tithing money. She said, "That is the Lord's money--you will not use that to buy food." Her faith was stronger than his. He put the money back, and they went to bed hungry that night.

"the next morning they had no breakfast, and they went to church fasting. Rene gave the tithing money to the bishop, but he was too proud to tell the bishop that they were in need.

"After the meetings he and his wife left the chapel and started to walk home. They hadn't gone very far when a new member called to them from his house. This man was a fisherman and told them he had more fish than he could use. He wrapped five little fish in a newspaper for them, and they thanked him. As they continued to walk home, they were stopped by another member who gave them tortillas; then someone else stopped them and gave them rice; another member saw them and gave them beans.

"When they arrived home, they had enough food for two weeks. They were even more surprised when they unwrapped the package of fish and found two very large fish and not the five smaller ones they thought they had seen. They cut the fish in portions and stored it in their neighbor's freezer.

"They have repeatedly testified that never since then have they gone hungry."

~Gordon B. Hinckley, "In the Arms of His Love," Ensign, November 2006)

"Be smart. Do not be so shortsighted as to indulge in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. It simply is not smart to do so. It is stupid, if you will pardon that harsh word, to use cocaine, marijuana, or any of the other drugs that rob you of control of your mind. After every drug-induced 'high,' there is a reactionary 'low.' Why spend money on that which can only harm you? Why become enslaved to a habit that can only hinder and short-circuit your future?"
~President Gordon B. Hinckley, in Conference Report, October 1981, p.57; or Ensign, November 1981, pp.40-41)