"My dear young sisters, I am overwhelmed to be in your presence because you have such a great potential for good. You are an indispensable part of what the Church and the world will be, just as your mothers, aunts, and grandmothers were in years past. You can have happiness beyond your fondest dreams and expectations."
"Virtue is the chiefest beauty of the mind, the noblest ornament of humankind. Virtue is our safeguard and our guiding star that stirs up reason when our senses err."
May I suggest 10 virtues that each of you can pursue in your quest for excellence and happiness:
1. Faith - I promise you sweet young ladies if you will strive to live the commandments, your faith will continue to grow. In exercising faith, we become cheerful and optimistic, charitable and courageous, because faith is the moving cause of all of these virtues.
2. Honesty - You cannot be honest with others unless you are honest with yourself.
3. Chastity - We become co-creators with God in having family and posterity. Chastitiy before marriage followed by fidelity after marriage is a sacred passport to self-respect and happiness for everyone. President N. Eldon Tanner "Always remember that you can go much further on respect than on popularity."
4. Humility - Humility is all about keeping one's balance. When you receive a compliment, receive it gracioiusly, but don't let it go to your head. "Learn to say, 'I don't know'. If used when appropriate, it will be often."
5. Self-Discipline - You must have the strength to discipline yourselves so that you can accomplish your goals and enhance your natural strengtsh. The character thus formed from self-discipline will rise with you in the Resurrection.
6. Fairness - If you will be fair to other people, they will more likely be fair to you.
7. Moderation - It is well to avoid extremems in dress, hairstyles, makeup, conduct, speech, and music. Safety comes from staying close to the center.
8. Cleanliness - "Be clean in dress and manner...The age in which we are living has become an age of sloppy dress and sloppy manners. But I am not so concerned about what you wear as I am that it be clean....Be sure of your personal cleanliness."
9. Courage - You precious young ladies will need a lot of courage - courage to stand up to peer pressure, to resist temptation, to withstand ridicule or ostracism, to stand up for the truth.
10. Grace - Grace is a God-given virtue. It is a disposition to be kind and to do good. It is a charming trait or accomplishment, "A pleasingly graceful appearance." Charm is attractiveness which comes from a feeling of personal dignity, an inner beauty that comes from a feeling of self-worth. It has been said that your expression is the most important thing you can wear.
"We frequently find that the influence of good women is underrated. It is an influence that is often subtle but yet has tremendous consequences. One woman can make a great difference for a whole nation."
"It may be that your most significant, everlasting achievements will be your righteous influence on others, that your divine feminine inner beauty and intution will find expression in your quiet strength, gentleness, dignity, charm, graciousness, creativity, sensitivity, radiance, and spirituality. Enhance these sublime feminine gifts. They will make you appealing and even irresistible as you serve others as the handmaidens of God."
- James E. Faust
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