Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson

8/10

I finished this one over the holidays. I was able to keep up with the lessons for the most part throughout the year with a few slip ups. This is another winner. Jam packed full of awesome prophetic teaching. Contains his great C.S. Lewis-esque talk on pride as well as lots of teachings on one of his favorite topics, the Book of Mormon.

Also has some interesting info about his time as Secretary of Agriculture under Eisenhower. President Benson would start each meeting with a prayer and said "[W]hen you start a meeting that way, people aren't stuck up with the pride of their opinions." He also said, "Unlike the political opportunist, the true statesman values principle above popularity and works to create popularity for those political principles which are wise and just."

I did a quick scan for quotes and came up with the following to share:

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities."

"Happiness must be earned from day to day."

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.... Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world."

"Over one-half of all the verses in the Book of Mormon refer to our Lord.... He is given over one hundred different names in the Book of Mormon. Those names have a particular significance in describing His divine nature."

"The greatest events of history are those that affect the greatest number of people for the longest periods. By this standard, no event could be more important to individuals or nations than the resurrection of the Master."