Finding Joy Through Loving Service

Ahoy friends. I have just read a marvelous talk. And wanted to post my favorite section. Except, it got hard to narrow it down, because it all seemed powerful and relevant. So here is pretty much the whole last page. I highlighted my very favorite quote.

In all of our service, we need to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The still, small voice will let us know who needs our help and what we can do to help them.

And President Thomas S. Monson has counseled: "The needs of others are ever present, and each of us can do something to help someone."… Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives" ("What Have I Done for Someone Today?" Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2009, 85).

Brothers and sisters, may I reemphasize that the most important attribute of Heavenly Father and of His Beloved Son that we should desire and seek to possess within our lives is the gift of charity, "the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47). From this gift springs our capacity to love and to serve others as the Savior did. 

The prophet Mormon taught us the supreme importance of this gift and told us how we can receive it: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure" (Moroni 7:48).

Great things are wrought through simple and small things. Like the small flecks of gold that accumulate over time into a large treasure, our small and simple acts of kindness and service will accumulate into a life filled with love for Heavenly Father, devotion to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a sense of peace and joy each time we reach out to one another.

As we approach the Easter season, may we show our love and appreciation for the Savior's atoning sacrifice through our simple, compassionate acts of service to our brothers and sisters at home, at church, and in our communities. For this I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Finding Joy through Loving Service M. Russell Ballard April 2011