Overcome evil habits
Strengthen marriage- Hear warnings
"The journey from wickedness to joy requires a mighty change of heart," declared Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Seventy in his Saturday morning address.
"A recurrent doctrine of the Book of Mormon," Elder Condie explained, "is that the Holy Ghost is an active participant in our lives influencing us for good."
He then read passages in the Book of Mormon about the influence of the Holy Ghost and pointed out, "The words strive, entice, contend and persuade are all strong action verbs indicating a very positive influence which the Holy Ghost can have in our lives."
Elder Condie then cited two satanic strategies that are resistant to change - pride and discouragement.
"To the proud, change is threatening because it will require a broken heart and a contrite spirit, a meek and a lowly heart," he said.
"To those who are discouraged, there is the feeling that `there is nothing I can do to change myself or my circumstances.' One of the powerful doctrines of the Book of Mormon is that we can, indeed we must, undergo a mighty change of heart."
He told of a friend who, under the pressures of business, became a prisoner to alcohol. When the friend felt the promptings of the Spirit, it cleansed him from any desire to drink and helped him resolve to keep the commandments.
He added, "President Joseph Fielding Smith taught us: `Habits are easily formed. It is just as easy to form good habits as it is to form evil ones.' "
A mighty change of heart may also be required of those who feel like prisoners within a marriage relationship, he said.
He told of a woman who prayed and asked Heavenly Father if He would approve her divorcing her husband because he had no interest in the Church and was unkind to her. She said that after her prayer, the Spirit revealed that she wasn't perfect either, and she began to work on her own intolerance and impatience with her husband's lack of spirituality. As she changed, her husband changed, she said, and they later received the blessings of the temple.
"When we humble ourselves, the Lord will always tell us what is right," Elder Condie said.
Listening to warning voices can bring a change of heart, he concluded. After retelling the story of a man who saved countless lives in Tasmania by warning motorists of a washed-out bridge, Elder Condie expressed gratitude for prophets "who forewarn us of bridges not to be crossed."
