Others

Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings. (D&C 108:7)

In every conversation I have, with every person, I can say at least one small thing to show appreciation, admiration, or just plain loving friendliness. I CAN strengthen others through conversation.

In every prayer, every day I can be sure to remember a specific person with a specific life-situation. I CAN think of others and their needs and pray on their behalf; that the Lord will bless their lives.

Through the words I utter and the advice I give I can aim to be positive, uplifting, and true to the unchanging principles of happiness. I CAN tell, and show, others the way to joy.

In all of my doings, hanging out with my family, in school with my students, at the grocery store or other public places, among all the people that I interact with I can be a positive (if small) force for good. It may seem like a overly optimistic endeavor but it is a command from God and in all my efforts in small ways I CAN change myself and strengthen others.

Afterall, it is too much of a waste to do anything less. Think of all the crude jokes, profane and foul language, insenstive remarks, and thoughtless negligence that we perpetuate and only serves to make life less lovely and often more difficult for those around us. As put by president Gordon B. Hinkley, "do not indulge in put-downs, in pessimism, in self-recrimination. Never make fun at the expense of another. Look for virtue in the lives of all with whom you associate."

I think that naturally this is a difficult thing... But what a worthwhile one! And what a feeling it would be to look back on a day as you go to sleep and be able to say that today everything you did was a strength to others......