Commitment and Conversion

Talks

Quotes

The reason people fall away from the church is the same reason people fall out of bed…because they aren’t in it far enough. – Jay Osmond

If you’re too busy for the Lord, you’re too busy. 

I feel sorry for people who aren’t excited for the gospel. – Neal A. Maxwell

“In most human interaction, our commitments are of limited scope and duration.  We ask, ‘How long must I do this?’ or ‘How much of this must I take?’ There is some identifiable point at which we may say, ‘That is enough.’  But when we belong to Christ and he belongs to us, as when parents and children truly belong to one another, both will stay as long as it takes, and both will give all there is.” – Bruce Hafen

Vaughn J. Featherstone said, “The cost of discipleship everlastingly and always will be the same.  It is, simply, all that we have.”

“I believe the time has come for all of us to feast on the fruit of our own testimony as opposed to the testimony of another person.  The testimony of which I speak is much deeper than knowing the church is true.  We need to progress to the point of knowing we are true to the church.

“Many of us take the blessings of the gospel for granted.  It is as if we are passengers on the train of the Church, which has been moving forward gradually and methodically.  Sometimes we have looked out the window and thought, ‘That looks kind of fun out there.  This train is so restrictive.’  So we have jumped off and gone and played in the woods for a while.  Sooner or later, we find it isn’t as much fun as Lucifer makes it appear or we get critically injured, so we work our way back to the tracks and see the train ahead.  With a determined spirit, we catch up to it, breathlessly wipe the perspiration from our forehead and thank the Lord for repentance.  While on the train, we can see the world and some of our own members outside laughing and having a great time.  They taunt us and coax us to get off.  Some throw logs and rocks on the tracks to try and derail it.  Other members run alongside the tracks and while they may never go play in the woods, they just can’t seem to get on the train.  Others try to run ahead and too often take the wrong turn.  I would propose that the luxury of getting on and off the train as we please is fading.  The speed of the train is increasing.  The woods are getting much too dangerous, and the fog and darkness are moving in.”

“With all the prophecies we have seen fulfilled, what great event are we awaiting prior to saying, ‘count me in?”  What more do we need to see or experience before we get on the train and stay on it until we reach our destination?”  It is time for a spiritual revival.  It is time to dig down deep within ourselves and rekindle our own light.”(Glen L. Pace “Spiritual Revival” October Conference 1992)

Don’t ever compare yourself to what someone else is not doing.

Don’t try to see how close you can come to the edge without falling off.

Some people are willing to die for Christ, but aren’t willing to live for Him.          

A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation. – Joseph Smith

Downfall of France – “Our spirit of enjoyment was stronger than our spirit of sacrifice.  We wanted to have more than we wanted to give.  We tried to spare effort and we met disaster.” – Marshal Petain

The greatest tragedy in life is when a man gives up what he wants most for what he wants now.

There is no sacrifice when Eternal Life is the reward.  When we sacrifice all we have He will give us everything He has.

Lukewarm

By Dan Dunkee

In October of 1992 Neal A. Maxwell gave a talk about deepening our discipleship.  In the introduction he said, “These remarks are not primarily for those who are steadily striving and who genuinely seek to keep God’s commandments and yet sometimes fall short.  Nor is this primarily for those few in deliberate noncompliance.  Instead these comments are for the essentially “honorable” members who are skimming over the surface instead of deepening their discipleship and who are casually engaged rather than “anxiously engaged.”

President Ezra Taft Benson once said, “I testify that as the forces of evil increase under Lucifer’s leadership and as the forces of good increase under the leadership of Jesus Christ, there will be growing battles between the two until the final confrontation.  As the issues become clearer and more obvious, all mankind will eventually be required to align themselves, either for the kingdom of God or for the kingdom of the devil.”

Mary had a little lamb,

It turned into a sheep

And when it joined the Mormon Church,

It died from lack of sleep.” 

Neal A Maxwell reminds us, “Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.”

“Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work.  I want You.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there.  I want to have the whole tree down.  I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent, as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit.  I will give you a new self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself.  My own will shall become yours.” – CS Lewis

David A. Bednar said, “When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.

In some way and at some time, someone in this Church will do or say something that could be considered offensive. Such an event will surely happen to each and every one of us—and it certainly will occur more than once. Though people may not intend to injure or offend us, they nonetheless can be inconsiderate and tactless.

You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended.” (October Conference 2006)

David A. Bednar said,  “One of the greatest indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others. A thing, an event, or an expression may be offensive, but you and I can choose not to be offended—and to say with Pahoran, “it mattereth not.”