Sister Porter speaks simply and sweetly about the power of prayer and our ability to pray for knowledge, growth, and how to show love to others.

“Do you like to receive gifts? I want to talk to you about a very special gift that Heavenly Father has given to you to help you. It is the gift of prayer. What a blessing prayer is! We can talk to Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere.”

What is your favorite memory of prayer?

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Elder Rasband's talk is all about the power of words - the Lord’s words, the words of the prophets, and our own words.

“Unfortunately, words can be thoughtless, hasty, and hurtful. Once said, we cannot take them back. They can wound, punish, cut down, and even lead to destructive actions. They can weigh heavily on us.

On the other hand, words can celebrate victory, be hopeful and encouraging. They can prompt us to rethink, reboot, and redirect our course. Words can open our minds to truth.”

How do the words around you - that you read, hear, or say - impact your daily life?

“Our words can be supportive or angry, joyful or mean, compassionate or tossed aside. In the heat of the moment, words can sting and sink painfully deep into the soul—and stay there. Our words on the internet, texting, social media, or tweets take on a life of their own. So be careful what you say and how you say it. In our families, especially with husbands, wives, and children, our words can bring us together or drive a wedge between us.”

How can you watch your words in order to impact those around you in a positive way?

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Elder Uchtdorf speaks about joy! We all feel sadness and happiness, anger and love. He reminds us that through the gospel, we can feel lasting joy and gives three ways to find joy in this life - draw near unto God, look for it, and serve others. He ends with an invitation to do those things.

“Life is not an endless sequence of emotional highs. “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” And if God Himself weeps, as the scriptures affirm He does, then of course you and I will weep as well. Feeling sad is not a sign of failure. In this life, at least, joy and sorrow are inseparable companions. Like all of you, I have felt my share of disappointment, sorrow, sadness, and remorse.”

“The gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the “good news of great joy”! It is a message of matchless hope! A message of yoke-bearing and burden-lifting. Of light-gathering. Of heavenly favor, higher understanding, holier covenants, eternal security, and everlasting glory!”

An invitation:

“During the coming days, weeks, and months, may I invite you to:

• Spend time in a sincere, full-hearted effort to draw near to God.

• Seek diligently for everyday moments of hope, peace, and joy.

• Bring joy to others around you.”

  
  

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Elder Carpenter compares our covenants to preserving fruits and vegetables when we can them. As we keep the covenants we make at baptism and in the temple, the blessings are sealed upon us and can be preserved for eternity.

“The Holy Ghost, in His divine role as the Holy Spirit of Promise, will seal each ordinance upon those who are faithful to their covenants so that it will be valid after mortality. Having the Holy Ghost seal our ordinances is essential if we want to have the promised blessings for all eternity, becoming fruit that remains.”

How does knowing that your covenants are "sealed" upon you by the spirit change your view of your covenants?

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Sister Muñoz Spannaus shares the story of David and Goliath and says that, while David's first stone defeated the giant, he was prepared with 5 stones. She gives some examples of "stones" we could have in our hands to prepare us for the "giants" in our lives.

“While David used only one stone to kill Goliath, he was prepared with five. With five! This makes me think about how I can prepare myself to face the world.

What if each of David’s stones represented a strength we need to be triumphant in our lives? What could those five stones be? I thought of these possibilities:

1. The stone of my love for God.

2. The stone of my faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

3. The stone of the knowledge of my true identity.

4. The stone of my daily repentance.

5. The stone of my access to God’s power.”

What strengths do you have that help you when you come up against giants in your life?

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Elder Bangerter speaks about our individual proposes here on earth and how our choices in the premortal life direct our life now. We can use our agency to fulfill the purpose God has planned for us.

“Those premortal promises and blessings are called your foreordination. “The doctrine of foreordination applies to all members of the Church.” Foreordination does not guarantee that you will receive certain callings or responsibilities. These blessings and opportunities come in this life as a result of your righteous exercise of agency, just as your foreordination in your premortal life came as a result of righteousness.”

“Knowing who you are begins with understanding God’s foreordained blessings bestowed upon you before you were ever born on this earth. Our Heavenly Father desires to reveal to you your personal foreordination, and He will do so as you seek to learn and follow His will.”

What do you think about your foreordination? Have you ever thought about what your purpose in life is?

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Elder Bowen testifies of miracles and the priesthood's role in them. He shares stories from his life and from his family history of miraculous events and his testimony of their divine origin.

“I witness that miracles have not ceased, angels are among us, and the heavens are open. And oh, how open they are!”

What miracles have you seen in your life?

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Elder Cook 's talk revolves around a line from Christ's intercessory prayer - that we should be one with each other and one with Christ. He talks about the relatively simple task of becoming one with Christ and being unified with others in him. A large portion of his talk discusses choices, agency, and free will, and how we are free to choose what we value and what we spend our time on. And in doing so, we choose to follow and be one in Christ or not and include other along the way.

“On the recent cover of a major university alumni publication, a prominent biologist-professor asserts, ‘There’s no room for free will.’ Not surprisingly, the professor is quoted in the article as saying, ‘There’s no such thing as God, … and there’s no free will, … and this is a vast, indifferent, empty universe.’ I could not disagree more strongly.”

An invitation: Think about how your decisions are influenced by things around you - people, weather, your biology, etc. And give yourself grace for the things you can’t control and empower yourself over what you can.

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