Some more good quotes...

I had the chance to read some BYU-Idaho Devotionals today, and was really struck by two quotes, so here is another post with uplifting quotes. I love beautiful words and how they speak peace to my soul and bring me the comfort of the Spirit!

"When I come to the Savior with my burdens, my problems, my challenges, He doesn't hand me an off-the-shelf, one size-fits-all yoke. He knows me intimately. He loves me infinitely. Therefore, the help that He offers me will be perfectly fitted to my needs, my abilities, and my circumstances. How profound are those words. “Take my yoke upon you.” …There is no burden, no sorrow, no suffering that He doesn't fully understand. And because of that, there is nothing we can take to Him that brings a response of, “I'm sorry. I don't understand.” …

Why would He willingly offer Himself as such an infinite sacrifice? It was because He was meek and lowly of heart. He was submissive to the Father. Even in the hour of His darkest need, pleading to escape from the bitter cup that lay ahead, He immediately added these words to His prayer. “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). Thus, as Abinadi taught, His will was swallowed up in the will of the Father (see Mosiah 15:7). …

If we who labor and are heavy laden come unto Him, and if we do so because we understand that His meekness and lowliness of heart brought about the Atonement; and if we take His yoke upon us and learn of Him, then the promise is very clear: And you shall find rest unto your souls.

Here again is the promise of rest, but here we learn that this rest is not just for the body, not just for the mind, but for the soul. The soul is the whole man, the body and the spirit knit together. It is our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions all wrapped together. What a promise. “Ye shall find rest unto you souls.”

Brothers and Sisters, I testify that in the Savior Jesus Christ we can find rest to our souls. We can have our burdens lifted. (Elder Lund, BYU-I Devotional, "Come Unto Me," September 23, 2008).

"He is there for you and for me. He knows our needs, our desires, our circumstances, and our challenges. He stands ready to succor us, to strengthen us. His promise is sure and is extended to each of us—individually, personally:

. . . for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. (D&C 84:88)

It takes faith and effort and a bit of practice to see the hand of the Lord in our individual lives. We can begin cultivating that ability by taking time each day to ponder the following questions suggested by President Eyring last October in general conference: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch [me] or [my] children or [my] family today? . . . Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life . . .?”

I promise that as you consistently reflect upon these questions, evidence will come that the Lord loves you—individually, personally—and that He is involved in the very details of your life."

(Betty Oldham, BYU-I devotional, July 1, 2008)