"If you take each challenge one step at a time, with faith in every footstep, your strength and understanding will increase. You cannot foresee all of the turns and twists ahead. My counsel to you is to follow the direction of the Savior of the world: 'Be not afraid."' — Oct. 4, 1997

"We are a covenant-making people. These eternal blessings are for all who wish to worthily receive of them, both the living and the dead. In the mercy of God we are privileged to receive these blessings by proxy for our deceased ancestors who did not have this privilege in life. They, of course, may choose whether to accept these blessings. Our duty is to search out our forebears and give them the opportunity to accept and receive these blessings." — April 5, 1997

"Each of us has times of agony, heartbreak and despair when we must, like Job, reach deep down inside to the bedrock of our faith. The depth of our belief in the Resurrection and the Atonement of the Savior will, I believe, determine the measure of courage and purpose with which we meet life's challenges." — Oct. 6, 1996

"When I was first named as a General Authority many years ago, I went to see President Hugh B. Brown, then in the First Presidency, and asked him, "President Brown, what advice have you got for a new, young,inexperienced General Authority?" This wise and venerable man responded simply and directly, "Stick with the Brethren." Who are the Brethren? The Brethren are those who hold the keys of the kingdom of God on earth. They are the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, each of whom is an apostle and prophet; the Seventy; and, in temporal matters, the Presiding Bishopric." — April 6, 1996

"The best counsel I ever received about staying away from the edge came when, as a young married man, President Harold B. Lee called me to be a member of a bishopric. He said, "From now on, you must not only avoid evil, but also the appearance of evil." He did not interpret that counsel. That was left to my conscience. — Sept. 30, 1995

"I have been a member of the First Presidency for only a few days. It seems as though before I had this calling I had limited vision, but I have now put on glasses that allow me to see more clearly, in a small way, the magnitude of the responsibility of the President of the Church. I am afraid I am like the aristocrat who wore a monocle in one eye. Of him it was said, 'He could see more than he could comprehend."' — April 1, 1995