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Alma 29:1-3
"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me."
Harold B. Lee
 "There is an old saying of the patriots you remember: 'I'm only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. And what I can do that I will do, so help me God.' But there is a need to remember something else from Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who concluded with this statement, and I have applied it to my own thinking. 'My life cannot implement in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds.' I wish you could understand when I read that how I express that. . . . I wish I could do more. I wish I could be a thousand times more understanding, could deal a thousand times more kindly, a thousand times with more wisdom and foresight. But if it pleases God, I only want what He wants me to have" (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 180-181).
Alma 32:42-43
"And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst. Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you."
Joseph Fielding Smith
 "There are many good, humble souls who have deprived themselves of the comforts, and at times the necessities of life, in order that they might prepare the records and perform the labor for their dead that the gift of salvation might be taken unto them. These labors of love shall not go for naught, for all those who have worked in this goodly cause shall find their treasure and riches in the celestial kingdom of God. Great shall be their reward, yea, even beyond the power of mortals to understand" (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:180).
Isaiah 29:13-14
"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will preceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."
George Albert Smith
 "We are living in a sick world, in a time when, as we read in the scriptures, the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. That is the condition of the world today. The leaders of the nations---many of them---desire to do the thing that will benefit their nation or the group they belong to, but selfishness in many cases characterizes their conduct, and the result is that instead of peace we have sorrow and distress.
"There is only one way. We can legislate until doomsday but that will not make men righteous. It will be necessary for people who are in the dark to repent of their sins, correct their lives, and live in such a righteous way that they can enjoy the spirit of our Heavenly Father" (The Teachings of George Albert Smith, p. 184).
From my twelve year old daughter....
Recently on YouTube a person name Rrmlsou stated this:
With or without him we still stuck in darkness. Jesus and God became nothing more but an excuse to justify the bloodshed that took place during the Middle Age. For someone who wanted to teach love and forgiveness and peace for mankind, I call it quite a failure wouldn't you?
People come to argue that if we're still failing today then Jesus wasn't a great teacher. But let's look at what a teacher means. Somebody who teaches, right? Are they not the same people who who try to point us in the right direction, whether or not we're to fail? Don't they give us guidance and show a path that is "optional" to us the students? Well, Jesus gave us the path and the guidance, so it's up to us and our free agency to decide if we want to take that path. Whether or not you believe in God, we need Jesus the Christ to escape the darkness after we die. Jesus taught love, kindness, and forgiveness, but, unfortunately, most people rejected him because they like the darkness better. But I have to sadly agree that some people today use the word god and Jesus Christ as an excuse for bloodshed from what they did instead of admitting the effects of their causes. But they'll learn after they die once they stand for the Godhead on Judgment Day. Some Jesus's purposes for coming to earth was gain a human body, take upon himself our sins (atonement), and to be a teacher among his brethren. He fulfilled these couple of purposes. He gained a human body, he took upon himself our sins of the past, present, and future, and he was a great teacher amongst his brethren. But with light comes darkness. A lot of people rejected him and decided they liked the darkness better. In the darkness you don't feel remorse for your actions, you don't have to ask forgiveness for what you did, and you don't have to repent for it. You can't force someone to do everything right for that wouldn't count as our free agency, thus making us a part of the Deceiver's plan. For Example: A teacher can teach a student about a certain math equation, and hope they try to use it for future tests. Of course some students will be lazy and not even try to learn the equation and perform the hard work, so they don't listen and procrastinate which results in bad test scores. This is the result of the easy way out. Now pretend we're the students and Jesus is the teacher. Some of us will be willing to perform the hard work that is needed to succeed in the long run, but others will be lazy and want to easy way out. They'll see the darkness is like a shortcut to the "Top of the Food Chain", while the hard workers realize that material possessions isn't the most important thing in life. So ultimately it's up to us to make the decision on whether or not we want to perform the hard work need to succeed or not. Thus is why Jesus isn't remembered as a failure, but a great teacher. He provided the path while we chose if we wanted to walk down it. I personally think he was a wonderful teacher who we need to strive to be like, because to be like him is like being perfect and everyone wants to be perfect. We need to apply love and compassion to our everyday lives to receive the blessings of Heavenly Father. We need to also share the miracles of love, kindness, and forgiveness to others so we can also be like unto him that is our eldest brother.
Psalms 19:7-10
"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."
Lorenzo Snow
 "The god of the world is the gold and the silver. The world worships this god. It is all-powerful to them, though they might not be willing to acknowledge it. Now it is designed, in the providence of God, that the Latter-day Saints should show whether they have so far advanced in the knowledge, in the wisdom and in the power of God that they cannot be overcome by the god of the world. We must come to that point. We have also got to reach another standard, a higher plane; we have got to love God more than we love the world, more than we love gold or silver, and love our neighbor as ourselves" (The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p. 130).
Alma 32:28
"Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves---It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me."
David O. McKay
 "The most ominous threat to the peace and happiness of mankind in this the twentieth century is not the probable misuse of the atomic bomb, but the dwindling in men's hearts of faith in God. 'Epochs of faith are epochs of fruitfulness; but epochs of unbelief, however glittering, are barren of all permanent good'" (Gospel Ideals, p. 295).
AKIN TO SINS OF OMISSION ARE "THOUGHT SINS." we learn from one of the proverbs: "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." [Proverbs 23:7] Thoughts Shape Our Lives
A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. On this theme Henry Van Dyke gave us the following verse:
Thoughts Are Things
I hold it true that thoughts are things;
They're endowed with bodies and breath and wings;
And that we send them forth to fill
The world with good results, or ill.
That which we call our secret thought
Speeds forth to earth's remotest spot,
Leaving its blessings or its woes
Like tracks behind it as it goes.
We build our future, thought by thought,
For good or ill, yet know it not.
Yet, so the universe was wrought.
Thought is another name for fate;
Choose, then, thy destiny and wait.
For love brings love and hate brings hate. Not only does a person become what he thinks, but often he comes to look like it. If he worships the God of War, hard lines tend to develop on his countenance. If he worships the God of Lust, dissipation will mark his features. If he worships the God of Peace and Truth, serenity will crown his visage. A thoughtful poet gave us this:
A human face I love to view
And trace the passions of the soul;
On it the spirit writes anew
Each thought and feeling on a scroll.
There the mind its evil doings tells,
And there its noblest deeds do speak;
Just as the ringing of the bells
Proclaims a knell or wedding feast.
—Author unknown
Inescapably we reap what we sow. If a farmer wants to raise wheat he must sow wheat, if he wishes fruit he must plant fruit trees, and so with any other crop. The principle is equally binding in the mental and spiritual spheres, as James Allen has expressed it in his well-known book, As a Man Thinketh. By President Spencer W. Kimball
Colossians 3:12-15
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."
Joseph Smith
 "Let the Saints remember that great things depend on their individual exertion, and that they are called to be co-workers with us and the Holy Spirit in accomplishing the great work of the last days; and in consideration of the extent, the blessings and glories of the same, let every selfish feeling be not only buried, but annihilated" (Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings, p. 630).
"This priesthood and these keys were conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by Peter, James, and John, and by Moses and Elijah and others of the ancient prophets. They have been given to each man who has been set apart as a member of the Council of the Twelve. But since they are the right of presidency, they can only be exercised in full by the senior apostle of God on earth, who is the president of the Church. "May I now say--very plainly and very emphatically--that we have the holy priesthood and that the keys of the kingdom of God are here. They are found only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "By revelation to Joseph Smith, the Lord said that these keys 'belong always unto the Presidency of the High Priesthood' (D&C 81:2), and also, 'Whosoever receiveth my word receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth those, the First Presidency, whom I have sent' (D&C 112:20). "In this same connection the Prophet Joseph Smith said: 'You must make yourselves acquainted with those men who like Daniel pray three times a day toward the House of the Lord. Look to the Presidency and receive instruction.' "Now, brethren, I think there is one thing which we should have exceedingly clear in our minds. Neither the President of the Church, nor the First Presidency, nor the united voice of the First Presidency and the Twelve will ever lead the Saints astray or send forth counsel to the world that is contrary to the mind and will of the Lord." (Joseph Fielding Smith, "Eternal Keys and the Right to Preside," Ensign, July 1972, 87-88)
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