Boyd K. Packer quotes:

Temple. One other word is equal in importance to a Latter-day Saint. Home. Put the words holy temple and home together, and you have described the house of the Lord!

Just as chalk can be removed from a chalkboard, with sincere repentance, the effects of our transgression can be erased through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

If you have seen one of the temples at night, fully lighted, you know what an impressive sight that can be. The house of the Lord, bathed in light, standing out in the darkness, becomes symbolic of the power and the inspiration of the gospel of Jesus Christ standing as a beacon in a world that sinks ever further into spiritual darkness.

Thoughts, like water, will stay on course if we make a place for them to go. As you learn to control your thoughts, you can gain courage, conquer fear and have a happy life.

God bless you young women and young men who struggle through the worrisome teenage years. Some of you may not yet have found yourselves, but you are not lost, for Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer.

You are a child of God. He is father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!

Like most things of great worth, knowledge which is of eternal value comes only through personal prayer and pondering. These, joined with fasting and scripture study, will invite impressions and revelations and the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. This provides us with instruction from on high as we learn precept upon precept.

The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs.

You may in time of trouble think that you are not worth saving because you have made mistakes, big or little, and you think you are now lost. That is never true! Only repentance can heal what hurts. But repentancecan heal what hurts, no matter what it is.

Arms now empty will be filled and hearts now hurting from broken dreams and yearning will be healed.

We live in a day when the adversary stresses on every hand the philosophy of instant gratification. We seem to demand instant everything, including instant solutions to our problems. . .It was meant to be that life would be a challenge. To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal.

Every soul confined to a concentration camp of sin and guilt has a key to the gate. The adversary cannot hold them if they know how to use it. The key is labeled Repentance."

In all that we do in the Church, we need to provide the way, as leaders, for parents and children to have time together as families.

Seek worthy companions. Attend church faithfully. Never fail daily to seek for help through prayer. And I promise you that the way will be easier and you shall have a composure of mind and a confident attitude toward life and the future. You shall be warned of dangers and shall be guided through the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.

Our competition in life is solely with our old self.

Hit the 'delete' button when you have unrighteous thoughts.

Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling-from which they will never be released-is to one another and THEN to their children.

Mature love has a bliss not even imagined by newlyweds.

I do not think it pleases the Lord when we worry because we think we never do enough or that what we do is never good enough.

Inherent in the ordination to be bishop is both the right and the obligation to be directed by inspiration.

The ultimate purpose of every teaching, every activity in the Church is that parents and their children are happy at home, sealed in an eternal marriage, and linked to their generations.

Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. . . . We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see

The purest, most beautiful and appealing experiences of life: romance, love, marriage, and parenthood.

Those who speak of blind obedience may appear to know many things, but they do not understand the doctrines of the gospel. There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external form of control. We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.

Our purpose is to produce students who have that rare and precious combination of a superb secular education, complemented by faith in the Lord, a knowledge of the doctrines He has revealed, and a testimony that they are true.

Family time is sacred time and should be protected and respected.

I bear witness of the power of the priesthood given to the Church to protect us and guide us. And because we have that, we have no fear of the future. Fear is the opposite of faith. We move forward, certain that the Lord will watch over us, particularly in the family.

He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty" - Lao-tsu One who can control his thoughts has conquered himself.

Faith is the power, obedience the sacrifice, love the means, Christ the reason.

The voice of the Spirit is described in the scriptures as being neither loud nor harsh, not a voice of thunder, neither a voice of great tumultuous noise, but rather as still and small, of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it can pierce even the very soul and cause the heart to burn. The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting.

Throughout your life there may be times when you have gone places you never should have gone and done things you never should have done. If you will turn away from sin, you will be able one day to know the peace that comes from following the pathway of complete repentance.

The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood. Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling-from which they will never be released-is to one another and then to their children.

This great circle of sisters will be a protection for each of you and for your families. The Relief Society might be likened to a refuge- the place of safety and protection- the sanctuary of ancient times. You will be safe within it. It encircles each sister like a protecting wall.

No pain will last forever. It is not easy, but life was never meant to be either easy or fair. Repentance and the lasting hope that forgiveness brings will always be worth the effort.

Reverence invites Revelation

There are few things more powerful than the faithful prayers of a righteous mother.

A testimony is a testimony, and it should be respected, whether it is small or large.

Young men speak about the future because they have no past, and old men speak of the past because they have no future.

Happiness is inseparably connected with decent, clean behavior.

Our whole social order could self-destruct over the obsession with freedom disconnected from responsibility; where choice is imagined to be somehow independent of consequences.

The rapid, sweeping deterioration of values is characterized by a preoccupation-even an obsession-with the procreative act. Abstinence before marriage and fidelity within it are openly scoffed at-marriage and parenthood ridiculed as burdensome, unnecessary. Modesty, a virtue of a refined individual or society, is all but gone.

At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can 'see' things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known.

Keep the fire of your testimony of the restored gospel and your witness of our Redeemer burning so brightly that our children can warm their hands by the fire of your faith.

A testimony of the hope of redemption is something which cannot be measured or counted. Jesus Christ is the source of that hope.

Get to Know Yourself Once you start getting acquainted with yourselves, finding out who you are and where you belong and who your relatives are, spiritually speaking as well as in the earthly frame of reference, you come to the astounding, overwhelming realization that you are a child of God-that you belong to Him, that He is your Father. He is our Father.

True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. Preoccupation with unworthy behavior can lead to unworthy behavior. That is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel.

To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal.

Some people think a miracle is only a miracle if it happens instantaneously, but miracles can grow slowly and patience and faith can compel things to happen that otherwise never would have come to pass.

One who can control his thoughts has conquered himself.

One of the adversary's sharpest tools is to convince us that we are no longer worthy to pray. No matter who you are or what you may have done, you can always pray.

Teenagers also sometimes think, 'What's the use? The world will soon be blown all apart and come to an end.' That feeling comes from fear, not from faith. No one knows the hour or the day (see D&C 49:7), but the end cannot come until all of the purposes of the Lord are fulfilled. Everything that I have learned from the revelations and from life convinces me that there is time and to spare for you to carefully prepare for a long life.

Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would loan or yield my agency to him-without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege. In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take one's agency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, "I will do as you direct," is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more.

If you are burdened with depressing feelings of guilt or disappointment, of failure or shame, there is a cure.

The gospel teaches us to be happy, to have faith rather than fear, to find hope and overcome despair, to leave darkness and turn toward the light of the everlasting gospel.

Faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief.

The spiritually starving hesitate to partake of the Spirit like a child's reaction to new and strange food. They must be offered a tiny bite on a spoon.

If our view is limited to mortal life, some things become unbearable because they seem so unfair and so permanent.

The guilt that accompanies mistakes can be washed away.

You always hold the key of repentance to unlock the prison door. If they throw the word diversity at you, grab hold of it and say, "I am already diverse, and I intend to stay diverse." If the word is tolerance, grab that one, too, saying, "I expect you to be tolerant of my lifestyle-obedience, integrity, abstinence, repentance." If the word is choice, tell them you choose good, old-fashioned morality.

We are able to feel and learn very quickly through music, through art, through poetry some spiritual things that we would otherwise learn very slowly.

The study of doctrine and the teaching of doctrine will change behavior more than the study of behavior will change behavior.

Music can set an atmosphere of worship which invites [the] spirit of revelation, of testimony.

When music is presented which, however appropriate for other occasions, does not fit the Sabbath, much is lost. . . . The Spirit does not ratify speech nor confirm music which lacks spiritual substance.

Despite the opposition, trials, and temptations, you need not fail or fear.

There is little to be gained by seeking after the mysteries, for there is hardly time in a lifetime to master the plain and precious things.

Prayer is your personal key to heaven.

Happily ever after never happens in the second act.

Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into His presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.

Tolerance is a virtue, but, like all virtues, when exaggerated it transforms itself into a vice,

Addiction has the capacity to disconnect the human will and nullify moral agency. It can rob one of the power to decide.

Parents now are concerned about the moral and spiritual diseases. These can have terrible complications when standards and values are abandoned. We must all take protective measures.

Those who will repent and forsake sin will find that His merciful arm is outstretched still. Those who listen to and heed His words and the words of His chosen servants will find peace and understanding even in the midst of great heartache and sorrow. The result of His sacrifice is to free us from the effects of sin, that all may have guilt erased and feel hope.

The answer is the same for everyone: we must, and we can, resist temptations of any kind.

What a wonderful time to be young. You will see events in your lifetime that will test your courage and extend your faith. If you will face the sunlight of truth, the shadows of discouragement and sin and error will fall behind you. You must never give up!

Devotion to the family and devotion to the Church are not different and separate things.

Your responsibility as a father and a husband transcends any other interest in life.

The Atonement has practical, personal, everyday value; apply it in your life. It can be activated with so simple a beginning as prayer.

You ought to know that the Lord loves you. He will make that known to you, and it will be a very private and individual experience, something you cannot explain to anyone else.

The ultimate effort of everything in the Church is to the end that a father and a mother and their children can be happy at home. If they are happy at home, they are spiritually prepared for whatever should be ahead of them in the world.

Freedom is not a self-preserving gift. It has to be earned, and it has to be protected.

The end of all activity in the church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home, sealed for eternity.

We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.

We could be like a father determined to provide everything for his family. He devotes every energy to that end and succeeds; only then does he discover that what they needed most, to be together as a family, has been neglected. And he reaps sorrow in place of contentment.

However common irreverence and profanity become, they are nonetheless wrong

Moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot.

Punctuality is an essential trait of the teacher. It is a foundation, not an embellishment.

We accept the responsibility to preach the gospel to every person on earth. And if the question is asked, you mean you are out to convert the entire world? The answer is, 'yes'. We will try to reach every living soul.

It is my conviction that your generation is better and stronger than was ours... better in many ways! I have the faith that you young men and young women can meet the world on its own terms and conquer it.

Without a knowledge of the gospel plan, transgression seems natural, innocent, even justified.

If you stumble, rise up, go on.

The gospel stands as true for those who reject it as for those who accept it - both will be judged by it.

Obedience is a powerful spiritual medicine. It comes close to being a cure-all.

Christ's mercy is the mighty healer; even to the wounded innocent.

Parents are with their children almost constantly and can observe when they are ready to be instructed. From questions or behavior or because of experiences in their own lives, they can sense that it is time to teach. Parents must know when the time for the lesson is now, right now, for their children are ready for it.

We were given our agency. We must use it wisely and remain close to the Spirit; otherwise, we foolishly find ourselves yielding to the enticements of the adversary.

If you need a transfusion of spiritual strength then just ask for it. We call that Prayer. Prayer is powerful spiritual medicine.

There are spiritual and physical laws to obey if we are to be happy.

Take hold of your life and order yourself to be valiant.

Progression: you can start from where you are.

Somewhere there is a message in the protest of the man who said, "You can't tell me that worry doesn't help. The things I worry about never happen."

Often, very often, we are punished as much by our sins as we are for them.

An unusual thing happened after that great first vision. The Prophet Joseph received no additional communication for three years. However, he did not wonder, he did not question, he did not doubt the Lord. The Prophet Joseph patiently waited. The Prophet Joseph taught us the principle of patience-by example.

Most of what we acquire materially is found to not be worth what we must pay spiritually.

I hope to be judged as good a man as my father. Before I hear those words "well done" from my Heavenly Father, I hope to first hear them from my mortal father.

I know that God is our Father. He introduced His Son, Jesus Christ, to Joseph Smith. I declare to you that I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He lives. He was born in the meridian of time. He taught His gospel and was tried. He suffered and was crucified and resurrected on the third day. He, like His Father, has a body of flesh and bone. He made His Atonement. Of Him I bear witness. Of Him I am a witness.

Joseph's vision of the Father and the Son opened this dispensation. Then came the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the same organization that existed in the primitive Church, built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets.

It has to be an awfully good meeting to beat having no meeting at all.

There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher of church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. Some things that are true are not very useful.

How grateful we are for you, our youth.

In or out of marriage, abortion is not an individual choice. At a minimum, three lives are involved.

Some suffer from real misfortunes. Sadly, others only imagine that they do.

There are many things about living the gospel of Jesus Christ that cannot be measured by that which is counted or charted in records of attendance.

In the eternal scheme of things - not always in mortality - righteous yearning and longing will be fulfilled.

The scriptures hold the keys to spiritual protection.

There is also an age-old excuse: 'The devil made me do it.' Not so! He can deceive you and mislead you, but he does not have the power to force you or anyone else to transgress or to keep you in transgression.