Moroni 10:26

And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not.

If Joseph Smith made up these words as a fraud, he is the boldest liar in history. He is either a liar or a prophet. He does not quibble on the middle ground. It is so simple to take him at his word and put him to the test. Ask God. Surely the Lord would not let such a liar take his name in vain and not make the fraud known to any honest seeker. An evil man could not write such a book and a good man would not try -- unless it were true.

Moroni 10:23

And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.

Do you ever feel like your not good enough? That no matter what you do, you just don't measure up to be the best parent, coworker, sibling, or daughter or son you can be?

When you feel like insecurities are overwhelming you, President Eyring has the perfect, but sometimes overlooked, solution that will inspire confidence:

"If you will let your heart be drawn to the Savior, to always remember Him, and to our Heavenly Father in prayer, you will have put on spiritual armor. You will be protected against pride because you will know that any success comes not from your human powers. And you will be protected against the thoughts which come rushing in upon us that we are too weak, too inexperienced, too unworthy to do what we are called of God to do to serve and help save His children. We can have come into our hearts the reassurance recorded in this verse. There is another sure promise. It is this: Whether or not you choose to keep your covenant to always remember Him, He always remembers you."

Moroni 7:48

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

True followers are consistent, steadfast and loyal. True, however, does not mean perfect. To follow Christ is a refining process in which we constantly strive to narrow the gap between ourselves and him, yet we are always behind him. I am a follower of Christ, of that there is no doubt, though my following is not always perfectly straight and unerring. Nevertheless, I am on the right path and headed in the right direction, and that is what counts.

Ether 1:34

And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words.

In this and the next five verses, the brother of Jared "cries unto the Lord" for compassion and help. The difference between just praying, which most of us do on a regular basis, and crying, which yields miraculous results, is in the intent and intensity of the experience. When we are desperate, when we have exhausted our mortal means and cannot take another step, we cry unto God.

Most days, however, we are not desperate, or at least we do not recognize how desperate we should be. Most of the time we think we have life under control. We have our routines, we work, we solve little problems, and we take our blessings for granted. Only when we are faced with a crisis -- a dying parent, a sick spouse, a rebellious child, loss of a job, or some other disaster -- do we get serious enough about seeking divine help that we finally cry unto the Lord.

I'm sure our Father understands that mortals cannot live 24x7 in utter crisis mode. Nevertheless, if we truly understood the ultimately desperate situation of mortality, we would cry every day unto God. We teeter on the brink of spiritual death every day. We need daily forgiveness in the worst way. We need grace at every step. We need the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost -- constantly.

We cannot manufacture faith or charity or any other spiritual gift. We are totally dependent on Christ for justification, sanctification, redemption and salvation. To think any other way is to be blind to reality. Yet we fumble our way through most days in total denial of our desperation.

But God is patient and kind, and he lets us have our delusion of self-sufficiency. Only occasionally does he drop a hint that we are living really on thin ice. We face an unexpected setback or a crisis and, if we are wise, we cry unto him, and in that moment we finally get out of his way so he can go to work in our lives.

3 Nephi 17:3

Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again.

The Savior's first instruction to the people when he knew they were saturated and puzzled, was to go home. He did not tell them to go to the synagogue or the temple or the mountain top. He did not tell them to form a committee or hold a meeting. He told them to go to their homes with their families. He is saying in essence to go to their quiet places where they can think and talk as families. He did not demand some great feat or sacrifice--just go home. President Nelson has given us the same direction with the adjustments for a home-centered, church-supported curriculum. We are to go home, study, ponder, prayer, and prepare for great knowledge.