Inch By Inch

The song says, “Inch by inch, and row by row, I’m going to make this garden grow.” That’s the way we operate. At the beginning of a big job you look ahead and think, “There’s no way I’ll ever be able to get this done.” But you just begin. You do a little each day, and suddenly, one day, the job is done.

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From Last Place to First

The Kentucky Derby in 2022 was won by a horse named Rich Strike. The top 20 horses in the country qualify to enter the derby. Rich Strike was number 21; but just before the derby began, one of the 20 other horses had to drop out, putting Rich Strike in. He was rated last, and was late getting out of the gate. He was initially one of the last three horses in the pack. He wove in and out among the horses, and passed one after another until there were only two running ahead of him. He put on a burst of speed, and passed them by a length to win the Kentucky Derby. It was a hugely exciting race.

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Do It Heartily

This past week Danny was given the opportunity of playing his guitar and of singing with his wife at the funeral of a 94-year-old man. The man had requested that Danny do so. Danny was lamenting the fact, which is so often the case, that it takes a funeral to inform you about what an outstanding and interesting person the deceased individual was. “If only I had known these things during his life,” we say to ourselves, “I’d have been able to talk with him or her, and to ask questions, and to have learned some valuable things.”

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Kayaking With Only One Arm

I have a friend who served as a priests quorum adviser. The boys and the adviser planned a kayak activity at Flaming Gorge, Utah. After some initial planning, one of the quorum members quietly approached the adviser and said: “We better not plan a kayak trip. Mike won’t be able to go because he can’t paddle.”

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Diligent Child Led Parents

Recently a stake president shared with me a tender story demonstrating the power of the council system in building up the Church. He said that both the Relief Society and the priesthood had been working with a family in their stake but had failed to make progress with the parents.

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Persistent Brazilian Leader

No one in our Utah town knew where the Countess had come from; her carefully precise English indicated that she was not a native American.

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Stick to Your Task—Poem

Stick to your task ‘til it sticks to you;
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
Honor, power, place and praise
Will always come to the one who stays.

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David and Goliath

The Philistines had a super weapon in their arsenal which they believed made them invincible. They had Goliath. The Israelites were all pessimists. When they saw Goliath they thought, “Wow, with a guy that big, we’ll never be able to beat the Philistines.” David, on the other hand was an optimist. When he saw Goliath he thought, “Wow, with a target that big, I can’t miss!”

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One Thing About Satan

I have to say one thing about Satan. He’s not afraid of hard work, long hours, and impossible odds. He never gets discouraged. He knows he can’t ultimately win, but rejoices in accomplishing little goals along the way. How happy it makes him when I bend to a temptation.

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Positioning

As I read the account of Christ appearing to the Nephites, I found myself thinking how fortunate and coincidental it was that all twelve of the disciples whom Jesus wanted to call were right there in the crowd of 2500 who witnessed Him descending. Why weren’t they scattered throughout the country where Jesus would have had to seek them out?

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Out of Captivity

About 600 years before the birth of Christ, Nephi had a most remarkable vision of events that would take place more than 2,000 years later.

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Spiritual Stamina

While teaching the Young Single Adults in institute this week I was marveling over how quickly the Nephites could turn from righteousness to rebellion…

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One By One

Today (28 February 2016) I reached a milestone. Last fall, because of our mission, I was five conferences behind in my indexing…

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John Bennion

The story of the Church is a story of chain reactions. One step in the process of the Restoration always leads to another. A chain reaction was initiated by Joseph Smith’s reading of James 1:5 that continues today in an ever-widening, ever-lengthening chain of events that is currently linking millions of lives in miraculous ways.

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Come Join the Ranks

Major parts of both the Bible and the Book of Mormon deal with armies and war. One is led to ask why these books of peace are so interlaced with violence. The simple answer is that we are, in fact, in the midst of an ongoing battle that began before the world was created.

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