Quotes from Brent L. Top

Keeping the daily demands of life in balance is one of the great tasks of mortality. There is no peace for those whose lives are out of balance temporally or spiritually.

A periodic tune-up of our personal priorities and a regular safety inspection of the direction and desired destination of our lives help insure us against major temporal, emotional, and spiritual breakdowns.

It is imperative to personal peace and family harmony that we recognize that even our service in the Church should never become a means of neglecting our more eternal personal and family responsibilities.

The Church, with all of its programs and activities, is a resource for families and must never become a substitute for, or even a roadblock to, the eternal family unit.

We don't have to pretend that the sun is shining when it isn't, but we must never give up hope that it will shine again.

The organization of the Church should free us to express ourselves in infinite variations within the eternal guidelines that will keep us safe from self-destruction.

The Lord never deserts His children. Yet sometimes, like a parent teaching a toddler to walk, He steps back and holds out His arms to see if we can come to Him on our own, thus enhancing our own abilities and understanding.

We may unintentionally hold up our own or another's well-intended behavior as the standard to meet, rather than the Lord's gentle, steady, and compassionate guidelines and commandments.

We should remember the wise adage that goals (or commandments, in this case) are stars to guide us and not sticks with which to beat ourselves.

the Church is a purely volunteer organization. No member has to do anything he or she doesn't choose to do.

We cannot find the kingdom of God simply by looking for it externally, because if we do not carry it within , it will not be recognizable without .

Mercy is compassion, kindness, empathy, forgiveness. While grace might be described as blessings and favor from God that we do not necessarily deserve, mercy represents not receiving what we do deserve because of the patience, love, and atonement of the Master.