Susan Wolf, “What Happened When I Was Nice to Everyone (And I Mean Everyone)” LDS Living, December 5, 2015

“…So, look around. I'll bet there is someone in your neck of the woods just itching to be made the subject of an experiment in kindness by you.”

“How a Trip to the Grocery Store Changed my Life”, Michelle Wilson, LDS Living, August 16, 2016

“...As my attitude changed, I noticed another change: my level of gratitude. I was grateful for all the good that had come from the boot, including my bones healing and my conversation with the happy man. In one shopping trip, I went from being a miserable victim to a happy and grateful victor.

The Power of a Positive Attitude

“As with all things pertaining to our eternal salvation, the power of attitude lies in our hands. We are counseled to, “cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves” (2 Nephi 10:23). In a letter Joseph Smith penned from the dimly lit, cramped cell of Liberty Jail, the sorely persecuted and cast-out Saints received the counsel to “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God” (D&C 123:17)….

Ray L. Huntinton, “A Grateful Heart”, BYU Devotional, October 2, 2012.

“In the latter part of the 19th century, Johnson Oatman Jr., a Methodist preacher, penned the following words, which we know as the hymn “Count Your Blessings.” I quote from the second verse:

“Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings; ev’ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.”

“I know those words are familiar, and I believe you accept them at face value: Counting our blessings and being grateful for them has a positive impact—not just upon our lives but upon the lives of those to whom we show our gratitude. Remember what Mark Twain said: “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

The Study of Gratitude

“It now appears that some psychologists have arrived at the same conclusion. Being mindfully grateful for our blessings and expressing gratitude has a strong correlation with increasing our personal happiness and well-being. For example, Dr. Robert Emmons, a professor at the University of California, Davis, and one of the leading scholars in the scientific study of gratitude, said the following:

“It is possible that psychology has ignored gratitude because it appears, on the surface, to be a very obvious emotion, lacking in interesting complications: we receive a gift—from friends, from family, from God—and then we feel pleasurably grateful. But while the emotion seemed simplistic even to me as I began my research, I soon discovered that gratitude is a deeper, more complex phenomenon that plays a critical role in human happiness. Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change people’s lives

“Dr. Emmons and his colleagues found scientific proof that people who practice gratitude through activities such as keeping a gratitude journal are more loving, forgiving, and optimistic about the future. They exercise more frequently, report fewer illnesses, and generally feel better about their lives….

God’s Constitution of Gratitude

“I appreciate the academic contribution to our understanding of gratitude and its impact on our well-being. I also know that the scriptures and the words of prophets and apostles, both ancient and modern, teach us a great deal about gratitude and the need to cultivate a grateful heart. Through studying “the doctrine of gratitude” we can be instructed and motivated to develop a “gratitude attitude” in our lives….”

“All Things Which are Good Cometh of Christ”, President Kim B. Clark, BYU-I Devotional, March 31, 2015

“I am grateful to speak to you today on another great day at BYU-Idaho.  I pray that the Holy Spirit will be with us as I share with you things I have learned from the devotional talks I have given during my service at BYU-Idaho.  My focus is on four themes from those talks I feel are especially important and relevant today: 1) the redeeming and strengthening power of the Atonement of Christ; 2) acting with faith in Christ; 3) obedience of the heart and soul; and 4) the eternal family….”

President Matthew S. Holland, BYU-Hawaii Devotional, April 5, 2016

“Finally, I have a waʻa kaulua. This was gifted to me by one of my Hawaiian students. In fact, she was my intern, and an outstanding one at that. She explained to me that this traditional, double-hulled canoe is a symbol of many things. It is a symbol of connectivity, overcoming the great divide of our globe: ocean and land. It is a symbol of faith, requiring its passengers to push out into an uncertain and often turbulent sea, controlling what they could control, trusting the rest to higher powers of mercy.

“Most memorable to me, though, was her explanation that is a symbol of what I will call the “bountiful return.” Rarely if ever were these canoes used for journeys that would take its passengers to far-flung locations as a final destination. Rather, they were almost always used to take islanders out temporarily to gather food, forge alliances, or collect information, and then return to their home island to distribute these resources of sustenance, safety, and knowledge to their family, friends, and fellow villagers. The process of going out, gathering, and returning with bounty was repeated regularly in the life of the wa’a.   

“The reason I keep this on my credenza, out of the many tokens that find their way to my office, is that, for me, this issue of the “bountiful return” is very much in line with the spirit of education. We leave hearth and home to take a class, earn a certificate, or graduate with a degree, then, with that newly-found knowledge, we return to our families, our jobs, our countries, much better able to make a productive contribution to those people and projects around us that matter the most….

“If you are feeling broken down and beaten this morning by a debilitating disease or death of someone close, a grievous sin or gross injustice, a case of bad judgment or an unexpected rejection by the love of your life, or any one of a host of things agonizing or tragic, do not despair! No matter what has happened to you, hold on! In fact, be of good cheer, for this thing will work for your good, as “all things” do for those who love the Lord. The Lord has declared, “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction”[20]. Yet, the same Lord who may occasionally subject you to the refiner’s fire is the same Lord who will pull you through on the other end, strengthened, purified, beautified, and joyful, deeply, supremely, and eternally joyful.

“As George Q. Cannon, who dedicated the Provo Tabernacle, and whose namesake is on this building we sit in today, once put it:

‘“Our God can be trusted to the very uttermost. No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, He will never desert us. He never has, he never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character. He is an unchangeable being; the same yesterday, the same today, and he will be the same throughout the ages to come… We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we only trust in our God and keep his commandments”’.

“The Atonement Heals, Comforts, Consoles, and Enables Us to Show Mercy and Grace unto Ourselves”, Linda K. Burton, BYU Women’s Conference, May 2, 2014

“I am slowly learning that as we move along life’s path, the Lord gives us burdens to carry so that we might yoke ourselves to Him. Yoking ourselves to Him not only helps us develop the spiritual muscle needed to get us through our current trials but also blesses us with His enabling power, which helps us face the future trials that surely await us. It is the weight of the load, Elder David A. Bednar reminded us, that gives us the needed traction to move forward.”

“Being Prepared for All Things”, Charles W. Dahlquist, LDS Business College Devotional, September 23, 2008

“When President Packer came into our stake a number of years ago, I was a brand new stake president. After we had done a little business early on one Sunday morning, a very, very cold day, we sat in my car. And before he got out, I said, “President, if you were a young stake president, what would you focus on?”  And I thought he was going to laugh, but he didn’t.  He took out his hand—again and, pointing first to him thumb and then to each of his fingers, said, “I would focus on (1) doctrine and (2) covenants and (3) revelation and (4) priesthood and (5) scriptures.” Then he said, “One of our greatest fears is that many of our leaders may only have gospel understanding a quarter of an inch deep.” And that is the same for all of us. Sometimes we may do “touch and go’s” just like pilots who are trying to learn how to land an aircraft. They land over and over again, but it’s just a touch and go and sometimes that’s what we do in the scriptures. And yet we have been taught to FEAST on the words of Christ.  (2 Nephi 31:20; 32:3)  And that means a significant thing to me.”

“The Spirituality of Service”, Elder Derek A. Cuthbert, April 1990

“Over the years, many people, especially youth, have asked me, “Elder Cuthbert, how can I become more spiritual?” My reply has always been the same: “You need to give more service.”

“Service changes people. It refines, purifies, gives a finer perspective, and brings out the best in each one of us. It gets us looking outward instead of inward. It prompts us to consider others’ needs ahead of our own. Righteous service is the expression of true charity, such as the Savior showed.

How, then, does service increase our spirituality? May I share with you briefly ten aspects, from which you can choose those most applicable to your own situation?”

“What is True Greatness?”

Howard W. Hunter, BYU Devotional, February 10, 1987

“True greatness is never a result of a chance occurrence or a one-time effort or achievement. It requires the development of character. It requires a multitude of correct decisions for the everyday choices between good and evil that Elder Boyd K. Packer spoke about when he said, “Over the years these little choices will be bundled together and show clearly what we value” (Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 21). Those choices will also show clearly what we are.

“As we evaluate our lives, it is important that we look, not only at our accomplishments, but also at the conditions under which we have labored. We are all different and unique individuals. We have each had different starting points in the race of life. We each have a unique mixture of talents and skills. We each have our own set of challenges and constraints to contend with. Therefore, our judgment of ourselves and our achievements should not merely include the size or magnitude and number of our accomplishments; it should also include the conditions that have existed and the effect that our efforts have had on others.

“It is this last aspect of our self-evaluation—the effect of our lives on the lives of others—that will help us understand why some of the common, ordinary work of life should be valued so highly. Frequently it is the commonplace tasks that have the greatest positive effect on the lives of others, as compared with the things that the world so often relates to greatness.

“It appears to me that the kind of greatness our Father in Heaven would have us pursue is within the grasp of all who are within the gospel net. We have an unlimited number of opportunities to do the many simple and minor things that will ultimately make us great. To those who have devoted their lives to service and sacrifice for their families, for others and for the Lord, the best counsel is simply to do more of the same.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, First Presidency Christmas Devotional, December 2016

“The prophecies and announcements just quoted tell of the first coming of the Savior. We are now preparing for the Second Coming of the Lord, a time eagerly awaited by believers and dreaded or denied by unbelievers. We are commanded to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly” (D&C 87:8). Those “holy places” surely include the temple and its covenants faithfully kept, a home where children are treasured and taught, and our various posts of duty assigned by priesthood authority, including missions, temples, and other callings faithfully fulfilled in branches, wards, and stakes.

“As we prepare for His Second Coming, and as we stand in holy places, we persist in observing Christmas not just as a season of “Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” but as a celebration of the birth of the Son of God and a time to remember His teachings and the eternal significance of His Atonement. I pray that we will be faithful in doing so.”