Set some goals and do great things in the year ahead.

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“First, think about your life and set your priorities. Find some quiet time regularly to think deeply about where you are going and what you will need to do to get there. Jesus, our exemplar, often ‘withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed’ ( Luke 5:16 ). We need to do the same thing occasionally to rejuvenate ourselves spiritually as the Savior did. Write down the tasks you would like to accomplish each day. Keep foremost in mind the sacred covenants you have made with the Lord as you write down your daily schedules.

“Second, set short-term goals that you can reach. Set goals that are well balanced not too many nor too few, and not too high nor too low. Write down your attainable goals and work on them according to their importance. Pray for divine guidance in your goal setting”          -M. Russell Ballard  Ensign, May 1987, 14

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“I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass.” -Gordon B. Hinckley

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Hope your “Happy New Year” Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

“Part of the purpose for telling the story of Christmas is to remind us that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Indeed, however delightful we feel about it, even as children, each year it ‘means a little bit more.’ And no matter how many times we read the biblical account of that evening in Bethlehem, we always come away with a thought—or two—we haven’t had before….

“I, like you, need to remember the very plain scene, even the poverty, of a night devoid of tinsel or wrapping or goods of this world. Only when we see that sacred, unadorned child of our devotion—the Babe of Bethlehem—will we know why… the giving of gifts is so appropriate” (Jeffrey R. Holland, New Era, Dec 1994, 4).

Hope your Christmas Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

“Your copy of the Book of Mormon may be hidden from your view

by cares and attention to all you have accumulated in your journey.

I plead with you to drink deeply and often from its pages.

It has in it the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

which is the only way home to God.” -Henry B. Eyring

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Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

“To those within the sound of my voice who are struggling with challenges and difficulties large and small, prayer is the provider of spiritual strength; it is the passport to peace. Prayer is the means by which we approach our Father in Heaven, who loves us. Speak to Him in prayer and then listen for the answer. Miracles are wrought through prayer.” – Thomas S. Monson

Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

Nativity at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

  “Let us not treat lightly the great things we have received from the hand of the Lord! His word is one of the most valuable gifts He has given us. I urge you to recommit yourselves to a study of the scriptures. Immerse yourselves in them daily so you will have the power of the Spirit to attend you in your callings. Read them in your families and teach your children to love and treasure them.” -Ezra Taft Benson

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“The Holy Bible is a miracle! It is a miracle that the Bible’s 4,000 years of sacred and secular history were recorded and preserved by the prophets, apostles, and inspired churchmen.

It is a miracle that we have the Bible’s powerful doctrine, principles, poetry, and stories. But most of all, it is a wonderful miracle that we have the account of the life, ministry, and words of Jesus, which was protected through the Dark Ages and through the conflicts of countless generations so that we may have it today.

It is a miracle that the Bible literally contains within its pages the converting, healing Spirit of Christ, which has turned men’s hearts for centuries, leading them to pray, to choose right paths, and to search to find their Savior.

       The Holy Bible is well named. It is holy because it teaches truth, holy because it warms us with its spirit, holy because it teaches us to know God and understand His dealings with men, and holy because it testifies throughout its pages of the Lord Jesus Christ.”                -M Russell Ballard

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What a blessing to have the scriptures in our lives. So many have sacrificed so that we can have the Bible. To see an excellent documentary about the coming forth of the King James- Bible, go here!

Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

Idaho Falls, Idaho -Temple

Speaking of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Dallin H. Oaks said, “What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow-through our premature death or through His unexpected coming-what would we do today? What confessions would you make? What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear?

If we would do those things then, why not now? Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained? If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them. 

We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult-the spiritual. A 72-hour kit of temporal supplies may prove valuable for earthly challenges, but, as the foolish virgins learned to their sorrow, a 24-hour kit of spiritual preparation is of greater and more enduring value.” Conference Report April 2004.

 Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy

“If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.

“Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most.”

-Thomas S. Monson

Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy