The LDS Daily WOOL Home Page
(1/9/97)
More than 6,000 years
ago, Father Adam received the commandment, "In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread." (Gen. 3:19.) Some 2,700 years ago, a Greek poet
observed that "in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat,
and long and steep is the way to it." (Hesiod, Works and Days, 1. 287;
as cited in John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, 14th ed., Boston:
Little, Brown and Co., 1968, p. 67.) My young friends of the Aaronic
Priesthood and you trainers of this great army of Christ, the principle
of work has been taught from the foundation of the world. It is the
bottom line of any forward motion of success. The frightening
disappearance of work as a part of our basic ethic is alarming. We
constantly hear the statements, "It's too hard," "Give me something
easier," "I want it now," "I can't wait that long," coming from our
young people. The ugly disease of "nothing to do" is growing in
epidemic proportions among us. It undermines the basic fabric of our
nations. The prophet Ezekiel clearly defined iniquity as an "abundance
of idleness." (Ezek. 16:49.)--Elder F. David Stanley, General
Conference, April 1993
(1/10/97)
There are several
principles which undergird the significance of work in the Lord's plan.
First, as the covenant people we must be as self-sufficient as
possible. We are to be free from dependence upon a dole or any program
that might endanger our free agency. Second, we must work to support
the families with which the Lord has blessed us. Every true son of God
wants to care for his own, and many a noble mother, from whom a husband
has been taken, struggles to support her children, both as a
breadwinner and a single parent. Finally, we work so that we may have
the necessities of life, conserving time and energy left over for
service in the Lord's work. Sometimes it seems that the men who work
the hardest at their occupations are the men most willing to devote
time to church service.--Elder Howard W. Hunter, General Conference
Welfare Session, October 1975
(1/11/97)
An essential part of
teaching children to be disciplined and responsible is to have them
learn to work. As we grow up, many of us are like the man who said, "I
like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours"
(Jerome Klapka Jerome, in The International Dictionary of Thoughts,
comp. John P. Bradley, Leo F. Daniels, and Thomas C. Jones [Chicago: J.
G. Ferguson Publishing Co., 1969], p. 782). Again, the best teachers of
the principle of work are the parents themselves. For me, work became a
joy when I first worked alongside my father, grandfather, uncles, and
brothers. I am sure that I was often more of an aggravation than a
help, but the memories are sweet and the lessons learned are valuable.
Children need to learn responsibility and independence. Are the parents
personally taking the time to show and demonstrate and explain so that
children can, as Lehi taught, "act for themselves and not ... be acted
upon"? (2 Nephi 2:26).--Elder James E. Faust, General Conference,
October 1990
(1/12/97)
The remarks of
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., given fifty-six years ago, are
instructive today. He said: "It is the eternal, inescapable law that
growth comes only from work and preparation, whether the growth be
material, mental, or spiritual. Work has no substitute" (in Conference
Report, Apr. 1933, p. 103). More recently, Elder Howard W. Hunter
counseled: "The first recorded instruction given to Adam after the Fall
dealt with the eternal principle of work. The Lord said: 'In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' (Gen. 3:19.) Our Heavenly Father
loves us so completely that he has given us a commandment to work. This
is one of the keys to eternal life. He knows that we will learn more,
grow more, achieve more, serve more, and benefit more from a life of
industry than from a life of ease" (Ensign, Nov. 1975, p. 122).--Elder
Joseph B. Wirthlin, General Conference, April 1989
(1/13/97)Among the saddest of events to all mission presidents is to observe elders and sisters coming into the mission field not having learned how to work. President Ezra Taft Benson gave us a powerful key in one of his addresses on missionary work: "One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for [he will have] all [his] time and talents and interest ... centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work--there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work." (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, p. 200.) There you have it, fathers and trainers of future missionaries. There you have it, my young friends who are now preparing for your missions and you who are currently serving. If you want to be successful, start with the bottom line of work. Recently, we noticed a surge in baptisms in one of our missions. The mission president was asked the reason for the surge. He said, "Baptisms come from hard work. We must work smarter and much harder."--Elder F. David Stanley, General Conference, April 1993
(1/14/97)
One of the eternal
gospel principles and one that is basic in the development of men and
women is the law of work, because it is only through work that human
beings grow mentally and spiritually. God's commandment to the father
of the human family—which commandment applied to all of Adam's
descendants—was that all of them who were mentally and physically able
were to work all the days of their lives, except on the Sabbath, until
they should "return unto the ground." It is the law of God that each
person work sufficiently to support himself or herself. The Pearl of
Great Price declares that Adam and Eve were obedient to the commandment
to work. In fact, the foregoing scripture states: "Adam began to till
the earth … and to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow … and Eve,
also, his wife, did labor with him."--Milton R. Hunter, Pearl of Great
Price Commentary, p.153
(11/8/05)
"We live in a world of entertainment in full color
with a lot of fast action, a world in which many children grow up thinking that
if it isn't fun, it is boring and not worthwhile. Even in family activities, we
need to strike a balance between play and work. Some of my most memorable
experiences while growing up centered around family activities: learning how to
shingle a roof, build a fence, or working in the garden. Rather than being all
work and no play, for many of our children it is almost all play and very little
work." - Joe J. Christensen, "Greed,
Selfishness, and Overindulgence," Ensign (CR), May 1999, p.9
9/3/06
"Work brings happiness, self-esteem, and prosperity. It is the means of all
accomplishment; it is the opposite of idleness. We are commanded to work. (See
Gen. 3:19.) Attempts to
obtain our temporal, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being by means of a
dole violate the divine mandate that we should work for what we receive. Work
should be the ruling principle in the lives of our Church membership. (See
D&C 42:42;
D&C 75:29;
D&C 68:30-32;
D&C 56:17.)" - Spencer W.
Kimball, "Welfare
Services: The Gospel in Action," Ensign (CR), November 1977, p.76
9/3/07
"Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed out one of our biggest problems
when he said that primarily we are parlor soldiers. We like to dine nicely and
sleep warm, but we shun the vigorous battle of life where strength is born. The
divine law that the Lord always fits the back to the burden embodies one of the
greatest benefits that ever uplifts our lives. If we want to get a strong back,
the best way is to get a big load to carry. The way to get more is to give more.
If you want to see your own problem solved, learn how to solve the problems of
other people. If you will effectively do the Lord's work, he will help you to do
your own much better." - Sterling W. Sill, "That Ye Might Have Life," p.152
5/20/08
"Your Heavenly Father will help you find the right
path as you seek His guidance. Remember though, after you pray you must get off
your knees and start doing something positive; head in the right direction! He
will send people along the way who will assist you, but you must be doing your
part as well. By the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, you can be guided in your
trip through life."
- Margaret D. Nadauld, "A
Comforter, a Guide, a Testifier," Ensign (CR), May 2001, p.90
11/30/08
"Great
athletes are hard workers. Points, rebounds, assists, tackles, goals, and home
runs are all the result of long hours of painstaking practice and hard work. The
bulk of that practice will always be on your own, away from the coach. Victory
is brought to pass by one’s personal diligence and commitment to hard work. The
view of a champion, and the glory that surrounds him, must never be overshadowed
by the long process of becoming one. There is a time of preparation and a time
of victory. The second mile of hard work is what makes the difference between
the exhilaration of achievement and the acceptance of mediocrity." - F. David
Stanley, "The Principle of Work," Ensign (CR), May 1993, p.44
11/28/09
“Every
child, of course, is different, and what works for one may not elicit the
correct response from another. However, I believe that second only to ensuring
that every child receives an understanding of the gospel of our Lord and Savior
is teaching them the joy of honest labor.” - L. Tom
Perry, “The Joy of Honest Labor,” Ensign (CR), November 1986, p. 62
2/16/10
“I
have learned that when people of goodwill labor cooperatively in an honest and
dedicated way, there is no end to what they can accomplish.” -
Gordon B. Hinckley, “Some Lessons I Learned as a Boy,” Ensign
(CR), May 1993, p. 52
9/9/10
"A consecrated life is a life of labor. Beginning early in His life, Jesus was about His Father's business (see Luke 2:48–49). God Himself is glorified by His work of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children (see Moses 1:39).
We naturally desire to participate with Him in His work, and in so
doing, we ought to recognize that all honest work is the work of God.
In the words of Thomas Carlyle: 'All true Work is sacred; in all true
Work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness.
Labour, wide as the Earth, has its summit in Heaven.'
"God has designed this mortal existence to require nearly constant exertion." - D. Todd Christofferson, 'Reflections on a Consecrated Life," Ensign (CR) October 2010