This was a really good book! From various talks and other writings, President Eyring teaches us how to "choose higher ground." Some of my main take-aways were the importance of remembering who we are, remembering our goal of returning to our Heavenly Father, remembering our Savior, remembering our covenants, seeking for the Spirit in our lives, acting immediately on promptings, not being complacent, strengthening our faith constantly, and serving and loving others.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
“The Holy Ghost is one who reads the thoughts and hearts of men, and gives his sealing approval to the blessings pronounced upon their heads. Then it is binding, efficacious, and of full force (Harold B. Lee, Families Under Covenant).”
“Let me suggest four things you can do as a priesthood father to lift and lead your family home again to be with Heavenly Father and the Savior:
....gain and keep a sure witness that the keys of the priesthood are with us and held by the President of the Church.
....love your wife.
....enlist the entire family to love each other.
....lead your family in the Lord’s way when discipline is needed (Families Under Covenant).”
“You have been protected and watched over by your Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They know you. They know all of the forces and individuals around you. They know what is ahead of you. And so They know which of the choices you make, which of the desires you decide to satisfy, and which of the circumstances around you will make the most difference in keeping you walking in the light…by the Holy Ghost you may walk confidently in whatever difficulties will come (Walk in the Light).”
“The great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage (Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady).”
“It will take unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life. It is by using that faith we can know the will of God. It is by acting on that faith we build the strength to do the will of God. And it is by exercising that faith in Jesus Christ that we can resist temptation and gain forgiveness through the Atonement (Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady).”
“However much faith to obey God we now have, we will need to strengthen it continually and keep it refreshed constantly. We can do that by deciding now to be more quick to obey and more determined to endure....feast upon the word of God....pray always....be a full-tithe payer....escape from sin and its terrible effects (Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady).”
“I have learned about starting at the moment a command from God comes and being steady in obedience. More than that, as I read the Book of Mormon, I prayed that the Holy Ghost would help me know what God would have me do….determined that I would act quickly on what the Holy Ghost told me I should do (Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady).”
“Great faith has a short shelf life. We can decide to persist in studying the words of Christ in the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets. This is what I have chosen to do. I go back to the Book of Mormon and drink deeply and often (Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady).”
“We can pray every day to know what God would have us do. We can commit to start to do it quickly when the answer comes (Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady).”
“We can and must expect to become better as long as we live....Considering the attributes of Jesus Christ should quash the pride of the self-satisfied person who thinks he or she has no need to improve (Our Perfect Example).”
“Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way toward becoming like Him, our perfect example (Our Perfect Example).”
“Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companions (Our Perfect Example).”
“I hope you will go out today looking for opportunities to do as He did and to love as He loves (Our Perfect Example).”
“You are among the survivors. By making the right choices, and with the help of uncounted servants of God, you have made it through a hail of spiritual bullets. There have been tens of thousands of casualties. You know some of them because they are your friends, your spirit brothers and sisters. You are more than simply the survivors of that spiritual war. You are the future of the Church. God knows that. And so He now asks more of you than He has asked of those who were here before you, because the kingdom will need more. And Satan knows that you are the future of the Church, which gives me a solemn obligation to warn you of the hazards ahead and to describe how to survive them as you rise to the privileges God will give you (A Child of God).”
“There is no such thing as righteous pride (A Child of God).”
“Not only can you pursue excellence and humility at the same time to avoid spiritual danger but...the way to humility is also the doorway to excellence....Remembering the Savior produces humility....We remember our dependence on His sacrifice when we think of the fall of man and of our own sins (A Child of God).”
“Welcome correction....That desire for correction, a mark of great learners, comes naturally to a Latter-day Saint who knows and values what it means to be a child of God. For him or her it begins with seeking frequent correction directly from our Heavenly Father. One of the most valuable forms of personal revelation can come before private prayer. It can come in the quiet contemplation of how we might have offended, disappointed, or displeased our Heavenly Father (A Child of God).”
“Keep commitments....The Latter-day Saints who see themselves in all they do as children of God take naturally to making and commitments (A Child of God).”
“Work hard....Life at its longest is short. What we do here determines the rest of our condition for eternity. God our Father has offered us everything He has and asks only that we give Him all we have to give (A Child of God).”
“Help other people....Every person [you] will ever meet is a child of God…Every person [you] meet, whatever their condition in this life, has been redeemed by the loving sacrifice of the Savior of the world (A Child of God).”
“The great learner expects resistance and overcomes it (A Child of God).”
“When you receive some prompting in your heart about what God would have you do, or do differently, do what you have been prompted to do. Do it now. After you obey you will receive more impressions from God about what He requires of you. Keeping commandments increases the power to keep other commandments (A Child of God).”
“God sends messages and authorized messengers to His children. We need to develop enough trust in God and His servants that we will go out and obey His counsel (Trust in God, Then Go and Do).”
“You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer you hear in your Church meetings, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you (Trust in God, Then Go and Do).”
“The preparation was far more than having consecrated oil close at hand. It must begin long before the crisis which requires priesthood power. Those who are prepared will be ready to answer (Be Ready).”
“The preparation is to be ready to go and do whatever the Lord wants done as the world is preparing for His coming (Be Ready).”
“Have faith....you must have faith that God lives and that you have won His confidence to allow you to use His power for His purposes (Be Ready).”
“Move to help without waiting for a cry, ‘Man down!’ (“Man Down!”)”
“Only an authorized judge in Israel is given the power and the responsibility to verify that there is a serious wound, to explore it, and then, under inspiration from God, to prescribe the necessary treatment for healing to begin. Yet you are under covenant to go to a spiritually wounded child of God. You are responsible to be brave enough and bold enough not to turn away (“Man Down!”)”
“I want to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of Their infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life (Adversity).”
“The Lord helped and blessed two widows by inspiring them to encourage each other. So He gave succor to them both (Adversity).”
“They were sure they were establishing Zion, a place of refuge. It is not surprising then that they pled for that Zion and that they expected not only to build it but to enjoy living in it. What is surprising is that their faith increased when they pleaded for Zion to be established even as they saw times of safety turn to times of testing (Faith of Our Fathers).”
“For Mary and for Henry, the trials began in the promised land….They went to the unknown again, built homes, planted gardens, and served in the kingdom….They saw more safety going forward to unknown service in the kingdom than in staying with the known and the comfortable (Faith of Our Fathers).”
“The peace of forgiveness and of hope in the Resurrection can come wherever we are. The peace that passeth understanding does not depend on a geographic place. The place of refuge is finally in our hearts….Zion is where the pure in heart are gathered; that gathering creates a Zion. But in one person whose heart is cleansed by the Atonement and filled with the hope of eternal life there is a place of peace and refuge, too (Faith of Our Fathers).”
“The power of deliverance is available—not to escape the test but to endure it well (The Power of Deliverance).”
“The first, the middle, and the last thing to do is to pray (In the Strength of the Lord).”
“They turned their feelings of sympathy into a decision to act on their covenants (Opportunities to Do Good).”
“When we join hands to serve people in need, the Lord unites our hearts....Draw your family into the work with you so that they can learn to care for each other as they care for others (Opportunities to Do Good).”
“Let us do whatever is required to qualify for the Holy Ghost as our companion, and then let us go forward fearlessly so that we will be given the powers to do whatever the Lord calls us to do (Serve with the Spirit).”
“We need not worry about knowing the right thing to say or do when we get there. The love of God and the Holy Spirit may be enough. When I was a young man I feared that I would not know what to do or to say to people in great need....President Kimball didn’t speak many words of comfort, at least that I could hear, but he went with the Spirit of the Lord as his companion to give the comfort (Serve with the Spirit).”
“A call to service should be primarily a matter of the heart (Rise to Your Call).”
“You are called of God....You are called to represent the Savior….Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you....The Lord will guide you by revelation just as He called you....To know His will you must be committed to do it....Just as God called you and will guide you, He will magnify you (Rise to Your Call).”
“Learn what the Lord expects of you, make a plan to do it, act on your plan with diligence, and then share with others how your experience change you and blessed others (Act in All Diligence).”
“We are to learn our duty from the Lord, and then we are to act in all diligence, never being lazy or slothful. The pattern is simple but not easy to follow. We are so easily distracted. Studying the daily news can appear more interesting than the priesthood lesson manual. Sitting down can be more attractive than making appointments to visit those who need our priesthood service. When I find myself drawn away from my priesthood duties by other interests and when my body begs for rest, I give to myself this rallying cry: ‘Remember Him.’ (Act in All Diligence).”
“‘How could I become better at sharing my faith with those who do not yet feel what I feel?’....I’ve studied carefully and prayerfully some who are remarkably faithful and effective witnesses of the Savior and His Church. Their stories are inspiring....There is no single pattern in what they do. There is no common technique....Each has prayed to know what to do. They each seem to get a different answer, suited especially to them and to the people they meet. But in one way they are all alike. It is this: they have a common way of seeing who they are....They feel that they are the beloved children of a loving Heavenly Father....They are the grateful disciples of the resurrected Jesus Christ (A Child and a Disciple).”
“To be part of that miracle, you must not wait until you feel closer to Heavenly Father or until you are sure that you have been purified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Pray for the chance to encounter people who sense there could be something better in their lives. Pray to know what you should do to help them. Your prayers will be answered. You will meet people prepared by the Lord. You will find yourself feeling and saying things beyond your past experience. And then in time you will feel yourself drawing closer to your Heavenly Father, and you will feel the cleansing and the forgiveness the Savior promises His faithful witnesses. And you will feel His approval, knowing you have done what He asked of you, because He loves you and trusts you (A Child and a Disciple).”
“The Lord Jehovah will return to live with those who have become His people and will find them united, of one heart, united with Him and with our Heavenly Father (Our Hearts Knit as One).”
“The joy of unity He wants so much to give us is not solitary. We must seek it and qualify for it with others. It is not surprising then that God urges us to gather so that He can bless us. He wants us to gather into families. He has established classes, wards, and branches, and commanded us to meet together often. In those gatherings, which God has designed for us, lies our great opportunity. We can pray and work for the unity that will bring us joy and multiply our power to serve (Our Hearts Knit as One).”
“Vibrant faith in God comes best from serving Him regularly (Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times).”
“Do you want peace? Go to God (Blessed Are the Peacemakers).”
“The change and peace we seek comes only under the influence of the Holy Ghost (Blessed Are the Peacemakers).”
“Find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness (O Remember, Remember).”
“The key to the remembering that brings and maintains testimony is receiving the Holy Ghost as a companion. It is the Holy Ghost who helps us see what God has done for us (O Remember, Remember).”
“The Lord is anxious to lead us to the safety of higher ground, away from the path of physical and spiritual danger. His upward path will require us to climb (Raise the Bar).”
“As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scriptures won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough. Only a steady, ever-increasing effort t will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground (Raise the Bar).”
Side-note: I still don’t love reading e-books. I think I get more out of my reading and remember and organize ideas in my head better when I'm looking at an actual book and can flip back through to see main themes, etc.