My experiences taught me firsthand that when a person is not performing well, there are many possible reasons, some not of his own choosing.

We must seek to be firmly rooted and converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When all other hope is gone, our Father in Heaven provides the Lamb of God, and we are saved by his sacrifice.

And so we understand that the atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to overcome spiritual death that results from sin, and, through making and keeping sacred covenants, to have the blessings of eternal life.

Our attitude toward abortion . . . is fixed by our knowledge that according to an eternal plan all of the spirit children of God must come to this earth for a glorious purpose, and that individual identity began long before conception and will continue for all the eternities to come. We rely on the prophets of God who have told us that while there may be 'rare' exceptions, 'the practice of elective abortion is fundamentally contrary to the Lord's injunction, 'Thou shalt not . . . kill, nor do anything like unto it'

We should recognize the reality that just because something is good is not sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them.

Even as we seek to be meek and to avoid contention, we must not compromise or dilute our commitment to the truths we understand.