don't just hold, cling

"In our world of skepticism, confusion and wickedness, to know the truth, to have a deep, humble, and solemn conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is a very precious thing."

Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased By Elder George P. Lee, October 1982

2 Nephi 31:20

Alma 37:47

Jeremiah 31:16-17

Hold to the rod, the iron rod; ’Tis strong, and bright, and true. The iron rod is the word of God; ’Twill safely guide us through.

The Iron Rod, hymn 274

1 Nephi 8:19, 23-24

Therefore what?

Elder Marion G Romney recounts the “Fable of the Gullible Gull,” Reader’s Digest, Oct. 1950, p. 32.

Seagulls are starving to death in an area where fishing is abundant. They aren’t starving from a lack of food but the lack of knowing how to fish for themselves. Generations of gulls depended of the shrimp boats to toss them scraps. Parents brought their young to the shrimp boats instead of teaching them to fish. The basic knowledge of fishing is lost to this grpup of birds. - The Celestial Nature of Self-reliance By President Marion G. Romney October 1982

Self reliance is both spiritual and temporal. Doctrine & Covenants 29:34-35. 

The purpose of both temporal and spiritual self-reliance is to get ourselves on higher ground so that we can lift others in need. - Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service By Elder Robert D. Hales, April 2012

Alma 32:27

As we strive to understand, internalize, and live correct gospel principles, we will become more spiritually self-reliant. The principle of spiritual self-reliance grows out of a fundamental doctrine of the Church that God has granted us—agency.

- Christlike Attributes—the Wind beneath Our Wings By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2005

Mosiah 5:2

Alma 5:13-14 

It's not enough to know the Word.

It's not enough to teach the Word. 

Ephesians 4:13

How does this apply to me? How does this teaching change your life?  

In simpler terms "Therefore, What?" Elder Jeffrey R. Holland tells of elder Packer often asking this question in the meetings of the 12. - Teaching Seminary Preservice Readings

I love the sass but I love the meaning even more. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the wording is or how much you can quote if it isn't functional. These two words have changed the way I teach and study. "Therefore what?"

knowing is only half the battle.

Application of Welfare Principles in the Home: A Key to Many Family Problems   

By Barbara B. Smith

October 1982

“Knowing” alone is not always sufficient to bring the promised light. We have to live by every word. We speak often in our worldwide Church about translation. The translation for which we each bear personal responsibility is converting the words of the gospel into actions, attitudes, and habits.

*

The Challenge to Become By Elder Dallin H. Oaks

October 2000

Eph. 4:13

This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.

1 Nephi 15:3

Doctrine & Covenants 88:35