Trust your Training

I was asked for a copy of some of my quotes from the talk that I gave in Church a few weeks ago.  FYI, the topic was strengthening our testimonies, so I compared strengthening a testimony to physical training (Utah Valley Marathon) and threw in a little snippet about Girls Camp.

The ones in bold are the ones that were on posters on the side of the marathon route.  Yes, I actually did stop to take pictures.  Here are some of the quotes:

“Trust your training.” 

Elder Cecil O. Samuelson said that one of the steps to gaining a testimony is that we must “learn to trust the things that we believe in or know to sustain us in times of uncertainty or with issues where we struggle.”  

"Everyone who is willing to pay the price may have a testimony.

“if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.”

Tough times don’t last forever.  Tough people do.

“Cultivate an attitude of happiness.  Cultivate a spirit of optimism.  Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.”   

Gordon B. Hinckley

“The next time you feel unhappy; remember where you came from and where you are going.  Rather than focus on those things that dampen your thoughts with sorrow, choose to focus on those things that fill your soul with hope.”  Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“What is this life for if not to make life less difficult for one another.”   George Elliot

“Reach out to help one another.  All of us need help from time to time.  We need encouragement.  We need friends who will stand by us through thick and thin.  I ask each of you to be that kind of friend.”   Gordon B. Hinckley

“You are creatures of divinity; you are daughters of almighty; limitless is your potential.  Magnificent is your future, if you will take control of it.  Do not let your lives drift in a fruitless and worthless manner…Never forget that you came to earth as a child of the divine Father, with something of divinity in your very make-up.  The Lord did not send you here to fail.  He did not give you life to waste it.  He bestowed upon you the gift of mortality that you might gain experience, positive, wonderful, purposeful experience that will lead to life eternal.  He has given you this glorious church, His church, to guide you and direct you, to give you opportunity for growth and experience, to teach you and lead you. “ 

Gordon B. Hinckley

“You are very precious, regardless of your circumstances. You occupy a high and sacred place in the eternal plan of God, our Father in Heaven.  You are His daughter, precious to Him, loved by Him, and very important to Him.  His grand design cannot succeed without you.”  Gordon B. Hinckley

Heber Valley Camp June 2011

I will be going on the 4th Year Hike this weekend with our Stake as per the Stake President's request as he was in the meeting where I gave this talk.  We are going to use some of these quotes through the 10 mile hike to keep the girls motivated and happy--well that and carbs to keep 'em happy.  Pictures will come...