We need strength beyond ourselves to keep the commandments in whatever circumstance life brings to us. The combination of trials and their duration are as varied as are the children of our Heavenly Father. No two are alike. But what is being tested is the same, at all times in our lives and for every person: will we do whatsoever the Lord our God will command us?

Your calling is to bless lives. . . . Just the way you smile or the way you offer to help someone can build their faith.

We lighten the loads of others best by helping the Lord strengthen them.

Each of us, whatever our talents, has service to give. And to do it well always involves learning, not once or for a limited time, but continually.

Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him. That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives. But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children.

Heavenly Father hears your prayers, He loves you. He knows your name. He loves you beyond your ability to comprehend.

What all of us long for in our hearts, at Christmastime and always, is to feel bound together in love with the sweet assurance that it can last forever.