Robert D. Hales Quotes

* Be ready for rainy-day emergencies
* Avoid excessive debt; be content with what we have
* Use the resources of the earth wisely; don´t be wasteful
* Prepare for the future by making spending and savings plans
* Keep a family or personal budget
* Teach children wise spending habits and help them save for the future
* Obtain an education or vocational training
* Find gainful employment


As we become self-reliant, we will be prepared to face challenges with confidence and peace of mind.

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil

As Latter-day Saints, we need not look like the world. We need not entertain like the world. Our personal habits should be different. Our recreation should be different. Our concern for family will be different. As we establish this distinctiveness firmly in our life's pattern, the blessings of heaven await to assist us.

Study the scriptures; pray morning and night; keep a near, well-groomed appearance; follow a schedule; set and achieve goals; be honest in all your dealings; keep commandments; and always live the standards revealed by prophets.

How we live our religion is far more important than what we may say about our religion.

The greatest blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is over. Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them.

It is not how you start the race or where you are during the race-it is how you cross the finish line that will matter.

As I recognized the beauty of the earth, I knew that my Heavenly Father loved me.

Obedience makes us progressively stronger, capable of faithfully enduring tests and trials in the future. Obedience in Gethsemane prepared the Savior to obey and endure to the end on Golgotha.

The events and prophecies of our time are preparing us for the Savior's Second Coming.

Ingratitude is the attitude of being unaware or not recognizing when someone has assisted us or helped us or, even worse, when we know we have been helped and have not given thanks privately or publicly.

Too often we pray to have patience, but we want it right now!

And yet the standards of Christ and His Church have not moved. As He said, 'The truth abideth forever and ever.' When we understand and accept this, we are prepared to face the social pressure, ridicule, and even discrimination that will come from the world and some who call themselves friends.

Come walk the path that leads to eternal happiness, joy, and everlasting life in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father.

Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future. A recognition of and appreciation for our gifts and talents which have been given also allows us to acknowledge the need for help and assistance from the gifts and talents possessed by others.

Each of us has been sent to earth by our Heavenly Father to merit eternal life

In the Lord's service the path is not always easy ... But in serving Him, we discover that His hand is truly over us.

He set the example for all of us to humble ourselves before our Heavenly Father.

It has always touched my heart to sense so deeply how much the Father loved His eldest son.

All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior's example to serve and bless others.

Waiting upon the Lord gives us a priceless opportunity to discover that there are many who wait upon us. Our children wait upon us to show patience, love, and understanding toward them. Our parents wait upon us to show gratitude and compassion. Our brothers and sisters wait upon us to be tolerant, merciful, and forgiving. Our spouses wait upon us to love them as the Savior has loved each one of us.

Pursue your goals with all your heart, might, mind and strength. You are doomed to failure if you pursue them in a vacillating manner

None of us marry perfection; we marry potential.

If ye love me keep my commandments

One of my greatest concerns for the young women of the Church is that they will sell themselves short in dating and marriage by forgetting who they really are--daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. . . . Unfortunately, a young woman who lowers her standards far enough can always find temporary acceptance from immature and unworthy young men. . . .

At their best, daughters of God are loving, caring, understanding, and sympathetic. This does not mean they are also gullible, unrealistic, or easily manipulated. If a young man does not measure up to the standards a young woman has set, he may promise her that he will change if she will marry him first. Wise daughters of God will insist that young men who seek their hand in marriage change before the wedding, not after. (I am referring here to the kind of change that will be part of the lifelong growth of every disciple.) He may argue that she doesn't really believe in repentance and forgiveness. But one of the hallmarks of repentance is forsaking sin. Especially when the sin involves addictive behaviors or a pattern of transgression, wise daughters of God insist on seeing a sustained effort to forsake sin over a long period of time as true evidence of repentance. They do not marry someone because they believe they can change him. Young women, please do not settle for someone unworthy of your gospel standards.

On the other hand, young women should not refuse to settle down. There is no right age for young men

We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born. We were sent to endure and return to Him with honor.

All men and women
including young men and young women
should wear clothing that covers the shoulder and avoid clothing that is low cut in the front or back or revealing in any other manner. Tight pants, tight shirts, excessively baggy clothing, wrinkled apparel, and unkempt hair are not appropriate. All should avoid extremes in clothing, hairstyle, and other aspects of appearance. We should always be neat and clean, avoiding sloppiness or inappropriate casualness.

We are all welcome to come into the waters of baptism. He was baptized to witness to His Father that He would be obedient in keeping His commandments. He was baptized to show us that we should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Are there times in our lives when we think we have been forsaken by God, or by our fellow men, or by our families? Those are moments when we have to turn to Christ and endure.

Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, all these things shall be for our experience, and our good.

Without God, life would end at the grave and our mortal experiences would have no purpose. Growth and progress would be temporary, accomplishment without value, challenges without meaning. There would be no ultimate right and wrong and no moral responsibility to care for one another as fellow children of God. Indeed, without God, there would be no mortal or eternal life.
If you or someone you love is seeking purpose in life or a deeper conviction of God's presence in our lives, I offer, as a friend and as an Apostle, my witness. He lives!

We are learning, day by day, about the gift of agency that allows us to experience the consequences, good and bad, of our own choices.

Our challenges, including those we create by our own decisions, are part of our test in mortality. Let me assure you that your situation is not beyond the reach of our Savior. Through Him, every struggle can be for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). Each temptation we overcome is to strengthen us, not destroy us. The Lord will never allow us to suffer beyond what we can endure (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). We must remember that the adversary knows us extremely well. He knows where, when, and how to tempt us. If we are obedient to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we can learn to recognize the adversary's enticements. Before we yield to temptation, we must learn to say with unflinching resolve, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Matthew 16:23). Our success is never measured by how strongly we are tempted but by how faithfully we respond. We must ask for help from our Heavenly Father and seek strength through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. In both temporal and spiritual things, obtaining this divine assistance enables us to become provident providers for ourselves and others.

Often we do not know what we can endure until after a trial of our faith.

It is impossible to overestimate the influence of parents who understand the hearts of their children. Research shows that during the most important transitions of life - including those periods when youth are most likely to drift away from the Church - the greatest influence does not come from an interview with the bishop or some other leader but from the regular, warm, friendly, caring interaction with parents.

To the young members of the Church, I promise that if you will listen, you will feel the Spirit well up within you. The Lord will tell you what He wants you to do with your life.

Sometimes we forget that our Heavenly Father desires that each of us have this joy.

Through the Savior's Atonement and by following these basic patterns of faithfulness, we receive "power from on high" to face the challenges of life. We need this divine power today more than ever.

Work together as a family, even if it may be faster and easier to do the job ourselves. Talk with our sons and daughters as we work together.

When we want to speak to God, we pray. And when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures.

The Lord said, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments.' (John 14:15.) Our obedience to the laws, ordinances, and commandments is the greatest expression of love and gratitude that we can bestow upon him.

Never make someone have to choose between your ways and the Lord's ways. And always make sure that you're making it easier to live God's commandments for those who are by your side and who are your friends.

Preparing for the ups and downs of life.

Prayer is an essential part of conveying appreciation to our Heavenly Father. He awaits our expressions of gratefulness each morning and night in sincere, simple prayer from our hearts for our many blessings, gifts, and talents. Through expression of prayerful gratitude and thanksgiving, we show our dependence upon a higher source of wisdom and knowledge - God the Father and his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are taught to 'live in thanksgiving daily.' (Alma 34:38.)

Does this mean we will always understand our challenges? Won't all of us, sometime, have reason to ask, 'O God, where art thou?' Yes! When a spouse dies, a companion will wonder. When financial hardship befalls a family, a father will ask. When children wander from the path, a mother and father will cry out in sorrow. Yes, 'weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' Then, in the dawn of our increased faith and understanding, we arise and choose to wait upon the Lord, saying, 'Thy will be done.'

Oh, how we need general conference! Through conferences our faith is fortified and our testimonies deepened. And when we are converted, we strengthen each other to stand strong amid the fiery darts of these last days.

To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments and enduring to the end.

When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.

Suffering is universal; how we react to suffering is individual. Suffering can ... be a strengthening and purifying experience combined with faith, or it can be a destructive force in our lives if we do not have the faith in the Lord's atoning sacrifice. The purpose of suffering ... is to build and strengthen us. We learn ... obedience by the things we suffer. We should be humbled and drawn to the Lord.

Every one of us is more beloved than we can possibly understand or imagine. Let us therefore be kinder to one another and kinder to ourselves.

We have not been left alone. We have the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost to lead and guide us in an otherwise very dark and dreary world.

The Lord knows the heart of our accusers.

Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

I know that we came to this life with a purpose and that the greatest joy we will receive will be those acts of love and service that we do for others.....
There is none too great to need the help of others. There is none so great that he can "do it alone.

The more I live, the more I recognize that the teaching moments in my youth, especially those provided by my parents, have shaped my life and made me who I am. It is impossible to overestimate the influence of parents who understand the hearts of their children.

Be the kind of friend who makes it easier for others to obey the commandments when they are with you.

I want to help you "fly right" in the gathering storms of the last days. You are the pilots. You are responsible to think about the consequences of every choice you make. Your righteous choices will keep you from getting off course.

As our understanding of obedience deepens, we recognize the essential role of agency.

As disciples of Jesus Christ we have a responsibility to work together with like-minded believers, to raise our voices for what is right.

There is nothing that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand, and He waits for us to go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. If we will be obedient and if we are diligent, our prayers will be answered, our problems will diminish, our fears will dissipate, light will come upon us, the darkness of despair will be dispersed, and we will be close to the Lord.

Agency used righteously allows light to dispel the darkness and enables us to live with joy and happiness.

I promise you in [Jesus] name that if you pray with a sincere desire to hear your Heavenly Father's voice in the messages of this conference, you will discover that He has spoken to you to help you, to strengthen you, and to lead you home into His presence.

As disciples of Christ, we have a sacred obligation to uphold His laws and commandments and the covenants which we take upon ourselves.

The temple is a sacred edifice, a holy place, where essential saving ceremonies and ordinances are performed to prepare us for exaltation. It is important that we gain a sure knowledge that our preparation to enter the holy house and that our participation in these ceremonies and covenants are some of the most significant events we will experience in our mortal lives.