Don and I teach the 14-15 year old youth of our ward. When I look at the youth we teach I just want so badly for them to remember who they are and that they have something to give this world.
Sometimes I think we forget who we really are and where we come from. We all have gifts within us. We all can do something, give something to the world. I think Satan often tries to make us feel like there is nothing that we have to offer. That we aren't unique. But these negative voices are so wrong.
I found a compilation of several quotes and here are my favorites. As I read them I am reminded that I am someone to my Heavenly Father and He is always cheering me on.
Although there have always been challenges in the world,
many of those which you face are unique to this time. But you are some of
our Heavenly Father’s strongest children, and He has saved you to come to
the earth “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). With His help, you will have
the courage to face whatever comes. Though the world may at times appear dark,
you have the light of the gospel, which will be as a beacon to guide your way.
(Ensign, May 2009)
Gordon B. Hinckley
(President)
God bless you, my dear young friends. You are the best
generation we have ever had. You know the gospel better. You are more
faithful in your duties. You are stronger to face the temptations which come
your way. (Ensign, November 2003, 82)
First, I want to tell you that I love you. I love you kids,
you wonderful young people of this Church. I love you. I believe you are the
best generation this Church has ever had. No generation which has gone
before measures up to the stature to which you measure up. You are better
educated. I think you have greater faith I think you have shown that faith and
are showing that faith [more] than any other previous generation. (BYU-Idaho,
Oct. 22, 2002)
Believe in yourselves as sons and daughters of God-men and
women with unlimited potential to do good in the world. Believe in personal
virtue. There is no substitute for it anywhere under the heavens. Believe in
your power to discipline yourselves against the evils that could destroy you. Believe
in one another as the greatest generation ever yet to live upon the earth.
(CES Fireside for Young Adults, 9 Sept 2001)
Each time I have stood before a group of young people, there
has come into my mind the great and prophetic statement made by Peter of old.
Said he: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Pet. 2:9).
I know of no other statement which more aptly describes
you, nor which sets before you a higher ideal by which to shape and guide
your lives....
Notwithstanding all of the problems that we have, this, I
believe, is the greatest generation in the history of the world. And you
young people are a part of it. You are the beneficiaries of it. Its fruits are
here to bless your lives if you will grasp them and live worthy of them. (Ensign,
May 1992, 69-70)
This is the greatest generation in the history of the
world. How wonderful to be born at this time in the history of the earth. I
hope you young people are grateful that this is the season of your lives…. You're
not just here by chance. You are here under the design of God. (Teachings
of Gordon B. Hinckley,
719-720)
Howard W. Hunter (President)
It is indeed a pleasure to address you [young people] this
evening. It is more than a pleasure. I feel it is a distinct privilege because I
realize that you are one of the most remarkable generations of youth that has
ever been born.
You are a people of destiny. What awaits you is
almost beyond our comprehension. If you remain faithful to the Church, God
will use your talents to guide his work through one of the most important
periods of the world's history, leading toward the Second Coming of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Are you ready for that destiny? Are you getting ready?
Do not suppose that your destiny is limited to your
neighborhood, or to your city, or even to your state. Yours is a world destiny.
(The Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, 121)
Ezra Taft Benson (President)
For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in
reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of
the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but
ours will not. True, there will be some individuals who will fall away; but the
kingdom of God will remain intact to welcome the
return of its head--even Jesus Christ. While our generation will be comparable
in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood,
there is a major difference this time. It is that God has saved for the final
inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom
triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that
must be prepared to meet your God.
All through the ages the prophets have looked down through
the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be
born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it--you are a marked
generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short
period of time as there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have
the forces of evil and the forces of good been as well organized. Now is the great
day of the devil's power, with the greatest mass murderers of all time living
among us. But now is also the great day of the Lord's power, with the greatest
number ever of priesthood holders on the earth. And the showdown is fast
approaching.
Each day the forces of evil and the forces of good pick up
new recruits. Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our
support will go. The final outcome is certain--the forces of righteousness will
finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in
the future, will stand in this fight--and how tall we will stand. Will we be
true to our last-days, foreordained mission? ("In His Steps," Church
Educational System Devotional, Anaheim,
California, 8 February 1987)
You are a royal generation. The heavenly grandstands are
cheering you on. We are fast coming to the close of this game. The opposition
is real and is scoring. But we have scored, we are scoring, and we will score
in the future. The Lord is our coach and manager. His team will win, and we can
be a valiant part of it if we so desire. Rise up, O youth of Zion! You hardly realize the great divine
potential that lies within you. ("In His Steps," Church
Educational System Devotional, Anaheim,
California, 8 February 1987)
Young men of the Aaronic Priesthood, you have been born at
this time for a sacred and glorious purpose. It is not by chance that
you have been reserved to come to earth in this last dispensation of the
fulness of times. Your birth at this particular time was foreordained in the
eternities. You are to be the royal army of the Lord in the last days. You
are “youth of the noble birthright.” (Hymns, 255) In the spiritual battles you
are waging, I see you as today’s sons of Helaman…. Live up to your godly
potential. Remember who you are and the priesthood that you bear. Be modern-day
sons of Helaman. Put on the whole armor of God. (Ensign, May 1986,
43-45)
Never has the Church had a more choice group of young
people than at present, and Satan is well aware of who they are. He is
doing everything in his power to thwart them in their destiny. He knows that
they have been sent to earth in this crucial period of the world's history to
build the kingdom of God and establish Zion in preparation for the second coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, our youth have an awesome challenge.
("Challenges for Leaders of Aaronic Priesthood," Salt Lake City, Utah,
19 September 1979)
Our young generation, as a group, is even more faithful
than the older generation. God has reserved you for the eleventh hour—the
great and dreadful day of the Lord. It will be your responsibility not only to
help bear off the kingdom
of God triumphantly but
to save your own soul and strive to save those of your family. ("Fourteen
Fundamentals in Following the Prophet," in 1980 Devotional Speeches of the
Year [Provo, Utah: BYU, 1981], 26)
You have been born at this time for a sacred and glorious
purpose. It is not by chance that you have been reserved to come to
earth in this last dispensation of the fulness of times. Your birth at this
particular time was foreordained in the eternities. You are to be the royal
army of the Lord in the last days. You are "youth of the noble
birthright". (Ensign, May 1986, 43)
I am sure that I am looking into the faces of one of the
choicest groups of young people that have ever come to this earth. It is my
conviction that in this dispensation some of the choicest spirits of all time
are being sent to earth to help bear off the kingdom, to help provide
leadership in a time of great need....
You are a youth of a noble birthright, but your progenitors
cannot save you. Each one of us must work out our salvation individually by
making personal choices. We are each personally responsible. (May 24, 1961, BYU
Speeches of the Year, 1961, p.3)
It is my conviction that the finest group of young people
that this world has ever known anything about has been born under the covenant
into the homes of Latter-day Saint parents. I have a feeling that in many
cases at least, these choice spirits have been held back to come forth in this
day and age when the gospel is upon the earth in its fulness, and that they
have great responsibilities in establishing the kingdom. (CR April
1951)
Harold B. Lee (President)
You, our youth of today, are among the most illustrious
spirits to be born into mortality in any age of the world. (The
Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 627)
I remembered something that my wife handed to me from an
address given by George Q. Cannon some time ago in which he said some very
interesting things which I fully believe. These are a few of his
words:
And there is this to be taken into consideration, God having
predicted the ushering in of the last dispensation, knowing the odds that would
have to be contended with in establishing it: God knowing this has reserved in
the heavens to come forth at this time the noblest of His spirits, the men and
women most capable of carrying out this work, and achieving the grand results
the Prophets have predicted should be accomplished in the day and generation,
preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. God knowing this, in His wisdom
and foreknowledge has prepared the way beforehand, and there will be men and
women brought forth who will carry off this work in the way He designs. (Journal
of Discourses, 25:26.)
You are among those of whom he was speaking. This is your
day and your time. You have been brought forth in the most auspicious time
in the history of the world, to help in bringing to pass the preparing of the
people to be ready to receive the coming of the Lord. (The Teachings of
Harold B. Lee, 626)
Wilford Woodruff (President)
The Lord has chosen a small number of choice spirits of sons
and daughters out of all the creations of God, who are to inherit this earth;
and this company of choice spirits have been kept in the spirit world for
six thousand years to come forth in the last days to stand in the flesh in this
last dispensation of the fulness of times, to organize the kingdom of God upon
the earth, to build it up and to defend it and to receive the eternal and
everlasting priesthood [of God]. ("Our Lineage," Topical
Outline to the Way to Perfection, (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of
Utah, 1932), p. 4)
George Q. Cannon (First Presidency)
God has reserved spirits for this dispensation who have the
courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil
one, visible and invisible, to proclaim the Gospel, and maintain the truth, and
establish and build up the Zion
of our God, fearless of all consequences. He has sent these spirits in this
generation to lay the foundation of Zion
never more to be overthrown, and to raise up a seed that will be righteous, and
that will honor God, and honor him supremely, and be obedient to him under all
circumstances. (Journal of Discourses, 11:230)
And there is this to be taken into consideration, God having
predicted the ushering in of the last dispensation, knowing the odds that would
have to be contended with in establishing it: God knowing this has reserved in
the heavens to come forth at this time the noblest of His spirits, the men and
women most capable of carrying out this work, and achieving the grand results
the Prophets have predicted should be accomplished in the day and generation,
preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. God knowing this, in His wisdom
and foreknowledge has prepared the way beforehand, and there will be men and
women brought forth who will carry off this work in the way He designs. (Journal
of Discourses 25:26)
Boyd K. Packer (Quorum of the Twelve)
We notice, as we travel about the Church, that our young
people are stronger than heretofore....
You are better than we were. I have the conviction that
against what was surely coming and the prophecies that were given, the Lord has
reserved special spirits to bring forth at this time to see that His Church and
kingdom are protected and moved forward in the world. ("Lehi's
Dream and You," BYU Devotional, 16 January 2007)
Russell M. Nelson (Quorum of the Twelve)
If my fondest wish could be granted, it would be that we
could know who we really are, and that we know we come from premortal realms
where we were numbered "among the noble and great ones
who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.
"Even before [we] were born, [we], with many others,
received [our] first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come
forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of
the souls of men" (D&C 138:55-56).
Our precious identity deserves our precious integrity! We
must guard it as the priceless prize it is. (Perfection Pending,
29-30)
You are one of God's noble and great spirits, held in
reserve to come to earth at this time (see D&C 86:8-11). In your
premortal life you were appointed to help prepare the world for the great
gathering of souls that will precede the Lord's second coming. You are one of a
covenant people. You are an heir to the promise that all the earth will be
blessed by the seed of Abraham and that God's covenant with Abraham will be
fulfilled through his lineage in these latter days (see 1 Ne. 15:18; 3 Ne.
20:25). (Perfection Pending, 79)
Every man who has received the Melchizedek Priesthood has
been foreordained from the foundations of the world for that
privilege. Every Latter-day Saint woman has been foredetermined
to come at this time to participate in partnership in building up the Church
and kingdom of God upon the earth as part of the preparation for the second
coming of the Lord (Perfection Pending, 206.)
L. Tom Perry (Quorum of the Twelve)
You are a chosen generation—saved for this special time in
the history of mankind. You have so much to give to add to the growth and
development of the families to which you belong. I challenge you to step
forward in your family units with that special, enthusiastic spirit of your
youth to make the gospel really live in your homes. (Ensign, May 1994,
38).
1 comment:
Thank you my daughter for taking the time to remind us all of the greatness of "this generation" and the power they have to withstand the plan of Satan.
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