31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer;
for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if
ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan
of redemption be brought about unto you.
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea,
behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses,
therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your
repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to
prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this
life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor
performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent,
that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit
which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that
same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
(Alma 34:31–34)

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolish in me; but behold
I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great
things brought to pass; and small means in many instances
doth confound the wise."
(Alma 37:6)

Calamities are only permitted by a merciful Father, in order to bring
about redemption. Behind the fearful storms of judgment, which often
strike the just and the unjust alike, overwhelming the wicked and the
righteous, there arises bright and clear the dawn of the day of
salvation... We believe that his judgments are poured out to bring
mankind to a sense of his power and his purposes, that they may
repent of their sins, and prepare themselves for the second coming of
Christ to reign in righteousness upon the earth.
(Pres. Joseph F. Smith, The Lesson in Natural Calamities, June 1906)
In relation to events that will yet take place, the kind of trials,
troubles, and sufferings which we shall have to cope with, it is to me
a matter of very little moment; these things are in the hands of God,
he dictates the affairs of the human family, and directs and controls
our affairs; and the great thing that we, as a people, have to do is to
seek after and cleave unto our God, to be in close affinity with him,
and to seek for his guidance, and his blessing and Holy Spirit to lead
and guide us in the right path. Then it matters not what it is nor who
it is that we have to contend with, God will give us strength according
to our day.
(J Taylor, JD 18:281)

I hope we are all familiar with these words of the Lord and with
his predictions concerning other coming events, such as the
building of the new Jerusalem and the redemption of the old,
the return of Enoch's Zion, and Christ's millennial reign.

Not only do I hope that we are familiar with these coming
events; I hope also that we keep the vision of them continually
before our minds. This I do because upon a knowledge of them,
and an assurance of their reality and a witness that each of us
may have part therein, rests the efficacy of Christ's admonition,
"be not troubled."
(Elder Marion G. Romney, General Conference, October 1966)

Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked
upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know
service is what Godhood is all about? Without self-reliance
one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can
we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot
come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot
come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot
come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come
from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual
guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak.

There is an interdependence between those who have and
those who have not. The process of giving exalts the poor
and humbles the rich. In the process, both are sanctified.
The poor, released from the bondage and limitations of
poverty, are enabled as free men to rise to their full
potential, both temporally and spiritually. The rich, by
imparting of their surplus, participate in the eternal
principle of giving. Once a person has been made whole or
self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle
repeats itself.

We are all self-reliant in some areas and dependent in
others. Therefore, each of us should strive to help others in
areas where we have strengths. At the same time, pride
should not prevent us from graciously accepting the helping
hand of another when we have a real need. To do so denies
another person the opportunity to participate in a
sanctifying experience.
(Marion G. Romney, The Celestial Nature of Self-reliance)

Someone has said that an ungrateful man is like a hog under
a tree eating apples and never looking up to see where they
come from. Do we look up to see where our blessings are
coming from?
(Ezra Taft Benson, Area Conference, 12 August 1975.)

Gratitude is said to be the memory of the heart.
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.262

When you drink of the water don’t forget the spring from
which it flows
(Charles Dickens)

To you men I issue a challenge, Run from the tide of
sleaze that would overcome you. Flee the evils of the
world. Be loyal to your better self. Be loyal to the
best that is in you. Be faithful and true to the covenants
that are associated with the priesthood of God. You cannot
wallow about in lasciviousness, you cannot lie, you cannot
cheat, you cannot take advantage of others in unrighteousness
without denying that touch of divinity with which each of us
came into this life. I would pray with all of my strength,
brethren, that we would rise above it and be loyal to our
best selves.
(Gordon B. Hinckley, Loyal, April 2003)

Some determinations made early in my life, which
decisions were such a help to me because I did not
have to remake those decisions perpetually. We can
push some things away from us once and have done
with them! We can make a single decision about
certain things that we will incorporate in our lives
and then make them ours—without having to brood and
redecide a hundred times what it is we will do and
what we will not do.
(Spencer W. Kimball, Decide To Decide, 08/17/1996)

The way to prepare for the responsibilities of manhood and
womanhood is by living up to the responsibilities of youth.
The way to build a solid basis for meeting big problems in
the future is by carefully and soberly meeting smaller
problems in the present.
(Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 552)

I find that when I get casual in my relationship with divinity and when it seems
that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far,
far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the
spirituality returns. I find myself loving more intensely those whom I must love
with all my heart and mind and strength, and loving them more I find it easier to
abide their counsel.
(Spencer W. Kimball, Address to Seminary and Institute Personnel, July 11 1966)

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of
Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold,
the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it
will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought
into the light, but must perish in the dark.
5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive
the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.
(2 Nephi 32:3-5)