Mormon Life - Word of Wisdom tag

Young Men Lesson 18: The Word of Wisdom

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:03:00 -0600

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: "The certainties of the gospel, the truth, once you understand it, will see you through these difficult times." -Boyd K. Packer

Discussion Questions

• What blessings have come to you and your family from living the Word of Wisdom?

• What are some effective ways to respond to those who tempt you to violate the Word of Wisdom?

Excerpt from "Counsel to Young Men" by President Boyd K. Packer, April 2009 General Conference:

As I moved into school, I found that my muscles were weak. I was very self-conscious. I knew that I could never be an athlete.

It did not help a lot when I read about the man who went to a doctor to find a cure for his inferiority complex. After a careful examination, the doctor told him, “You don’t have a complex. You really are inferior!”

With that for encouragement, I set about through life and determined to compensate in other ways.

I found hope in my patriarchal blessing. The patriarch, whom I had never met before, confirmed to me that patriarchs do have prophetic insight. He said that I had a desire to come to earth life and was willing to meet the tests that would accompany life in a mortal body. He said that I had been given a body of such physical proportion and fitness to enable my spirit to function through it unhampered by physical impediment. That encouraged me.

I learned that you should always take care of your body. Take nothing into your body that will harm it, such as we are counseled in the Word of Wisdom: tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco, or anything else that is habit-forming, addictive, or harmful.

Read section 89 in the Doctrine and Covenants. You will find great promises.

To read the full talk, click here.

The gospel and the power of limited life choices

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:30:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

I’ll never forget the first time I went to buy a vacuum as a full-fledged adult.

We had a single square of blue carpeting in our one-bedroom Miami Beach apartment that needed some attention. I drove far out of the city to a giant warehouse specializing in any gadget with a plug or a motor. The store had questionable origins, and even more questionable clientele.

I wound my way through keyboards, stereos, flat-screen televisions and hand mixers until I found the vacuum department. And right there, between the bagless and self-propelling models, I had a panic attack.

Should members of the LDS Church abstain from eating meat?

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:35:00 -0600

source: hjnews.townnews.com

Mormon Life says: We don't agree, nor disagree with his thoughts, we just think it's interesting and wanted to share. Does LDS doctrine support a meat-free diet?

A Utah Valley University lecturer made the case that it does during a presentation last week at Utah State University.

Presenting scriptural references and the teachings of prophets and apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christopher Foster argued for vegetarianism and a lifestyle that causes animals as little harm as possible.

'Brilliant ideas' of the LDS Church

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:19:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

Mormon Life says: Wow, I think the Church has found its number one fan! Years ago, I happened to sit on an airplane by a fellow who thought he knew quite a bit about our church.

And in a way, he did!

“I’ve lived around a few of you Mormons,” he said, “and you have some really brilliant ideas.”

He was a sociologist or some kind of behavioral scientist, and he had several observations.

LDS World: Reaching out to the one

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:48:00 -0700

source: MormonTimes.com

A friend explained that a number of years ago she attended a fireside for both parents and teenagers. A local leader spoke and explained that as a junior high school student, he learned that a longtime, close friend of his had joined with some other junior high students who had managed to get hold of cigarettes and smoke them. He went on to explain that he had an important decision to make at that time and ultimately he decided that he would no longer associate with that boy. He advised the young people in attendance, if faced with the same choice, to follow his example.

Young Men Lesson 27: The Body Is a Temple

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0600

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Let us consider our callings, let us reflect on our responsibilities, and let us follow Jesus Christ. Discussion Questions:

What is the purpose of the Word of Wisdom?
How does living the Word of Wisdom bless you physically and spiritually?
What can you do to help friends or family members who have difficulty obeying the Word of Wisdom?

Excerpt from "Preparation Brings Blessings" by Thomas S. Monson:

Everyone needs good friends. Your circle of friends will greatly influence your thinking and behavior, just as you will theirs. When you share common values with your friends, you can strengthen and encourage each other. Treat everyone with kindness and dignity. Many nonmembers have come into the Church through friends who have involved them in Church activities. ...

The Apostle Paul declared: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? … The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 6 Brethren, it is our responsibility to keep our temples clean and pure.

Hard drugs, wrongful use of prescription drugs, alcohol, coffee, tea, and tobacco products destroy your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Any form of alcohol is harmful to your spirit and your body. Tobacco can enslave you, weaken your lungs, and shorten your life.

*To read the full talk, click here.

Eating with wisdom: Author, blogger put Word of Wisdom into action

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:13:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

From gluten free and vegan to lacto-vegitarian and macrobiotic — there seems to be a different option to fit every lifestyle and possible to solve every problem.

While there is no "one-size-fits-all" diet, many religions have dietary perscriptions for their members. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's the Word of Wisdom found in Doctrine and Covenants 89.

The Word of Wisdom consists of seven base dietary rules: Avoid alcoholic beverages; avoid the use of tobacco; avoid hot drinks (understood to mean tea and coffee); eat all herbs (understood to mean vegetables) in their season; eat all fruits in their season; eat meat sparingly; eat grains, especially wheat.

An author and a blogger have developed diets and recipes around the Word of Wisdom.

Skip Hellewell, author of wordofwisdomliving.com, points out, "There is a natural link between religion and diet. Spiritual health — the first concern of religion — is linked to physical health, and physical health is most influenced by diet."

LDS author finds a better diet — God’s

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:09:00 -0700

source: sltrib.com

Mormon Life says: This LDS author published The W.O.W Diet with tips on how to lose weight by following religious counsel. Interesting... If losing weight is one of your New Year’s resolutions, why not look to religion as a guide?

That’s what Michelle Snow did — and it worked.

By drawing on the dietary teachings of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Seventh-day Adventism and Mormonism, the Kaysville mother, nurse and author lost nearly 40 pounds and dramatically reduced her lifelong digestive problems.

“God has told his people how to eat,” Snow says in an interview. “It’s our choice what consequences we want for our bodies. Why should we choose what man has made over what God made? He knows our bodies best. He made them.”

Snow, a Mormon, has assembled those teachings and her own insights into a just-published book, The W.O.W. Diet: Words of Wisdom and Dietary Enlightenment From Leading World Religions and Scientific Study.

Healthy, Recognizably Mormon Faces

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:28:00 -0700

source: millennialstar.org

Mormon Life says: A new study found Mormon faces to be recognizably "healthier." Five years ago, Ryan Bell wrote a post at Millennial Star considering which public figures look like Mormons, particularly Chief Justice John Roberts (“Mormon Face”). Now, researchers the University of Toronto and Tufts University have tackled the question “Can people pick out Mormons by looking at their faces?” (Thanks to Marginal Revolution for pointing out the article.)

“On the Perception of Religious Group Membership from Faces”

Utah teens have lowest alcohol, marijuana use in nation

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:47:00 -0700

source: sltrib.com

Mormon Life says: This statistic says a lot about the Word of Wisdom. When it comes to marijuana and alcohol, Utah teens “just say no” more than kids in any other state.

Utah had the lowest percentages of ninth- through 12th-graders who said they used alcohol and marijuana in the nation last year, according to a school crime and safety report released Monday by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Last year, an estimated 18.2 percent of sampled Utah students in grades 9-12 reported using alcohol during the previous 30 days, compared with nearly 42 percent nationally. And 2.7 percent said they drank on school property compared with 4.5 percent nationwide.

The figures were even lower for marijuana, with an estimated 10 percent of sampled Utah high schoolers saying they had used it during the previous 30 days, compared with nearly 21 percent nationwide. In Utah, 2.5 percent of high school students said they’d used marijuana on school property compared with 4.6 percent nationwide.

Young Men Lesson 18: The Word of Wisdom

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:00:00 -0600

by James E. Faust
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Each of us needs to train ourselves to be bold, disciplined, and loyal men of the priesthood who are prepared with the proper weapons to fight against evil and to win. My dear brethren of the priesthood, I express my love and appreciation for each of you. We are grateful for all you do to move this holy work forward in all of the world. I am humbled and honored to be one of you.

Even before the world began, a great war in heaven commenced between the forces of good and evil. 1 That war rages today ever more fiercely. Satan is still the captain of the hosts of evil. He is still tempting us just as he did Moses, saying, "Son of man, worship me." 2 As priesthood holders we are marshaled into the great army of righteousness to combat the forces of Lucifer. Each of us needs to train ourselves to be bold, disciplined, and loyal men of the priesthood who are prepared with the proper weapons to fight against evil and to win. Paul said these weapons are "the breastplate of righteousness," "the shield of faith," "the helmet of salvation," and "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." 3

Tonight I should like to speak about the battle that each of us has to wage within ourselves. President Joseph F. Smith taught us: "Our first enemy we will find within ourselves. It is a good thing to overcome that enemy first and bring ourselves into subjection to the will of the Father, and into strict obedience to the principles of life and salvation which he has given to the world for the salvation of men." 4 In simple terms, this means that we need to strengthen the good within us and to overcome the temptations of Satan. The direction finder is sure. Alma tells us, "Whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil." 5

Robert Louis Stevenson captured this constant struggle between good and evil in the classic novel about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story tells us that in the beginning "Dr. Jekyll is a highly respected London physician, a good and kindly man, who in his youth had showed inclinations toward evil which, however, he succeeded in suppressing. Interested in drugs, the doctor now chances upon one which enables him to change his external form to that of a repulsive dwarf, the very embodiment of evil, whom he calls Mr. Hyde. A similar dose permits him to return to the form and personality of the benevolent doctor. Many times the doctor becomes Mr. Hyde, thereby giving this side of his nature more and more power. Jekyll finds it increasingly difficult to regain his virtuous entity and also finds himself occasionally becoming Hyde without the use of the drug." 6 In the character of Mr. Hyde, he commits murder, and when the drug will no longer restore him to the kindly Dr. Jekyll, the truth is discovered and Hyde kills himself. The misuse of drugs destroyed his life. So it can be in real life.

Now the key to never turning into an evil, wicked Mr. Hyde is to determine not to yield to destroying temptations. Never, never experiment with any addictive substance. Do not ever use tobacco in any form or take any other enslaving substances. Stay away from intoxicating liquor. Addictions bring tragic consequences that are hard to overcome.

Blessings come from holding true to our principles. When I was the president of the Cottonwood stake, one of our stake patriarchs was Dr. Creed Haymond. He would occasionally bear strong testimony of the Word of Wisdom. As a young man he was the captain of the University of Pennsylvania track team. In 1919 Brother Haymond and his team were invited to participate in the annual Inter-Collegiate Association track meet. The night before the track meet his coach, Lawson Robertson, who coached several Olympic teams, instructed his team members to drink some sherry wine. In those days, coaches wrongly felt that wine was a tonic for muscles hardened through rigorous training. All the other team members took the sherry, but Brother Haymond refused because his parents had taught him the Word of Wisdom. Brother Haymond became very anxious because he did not like to be disobedient to his coach. He was to compete against the fastest men in the world. What if he made a poor showing the next day? How could he face his coach?

The next day at the track meet the rest of the team members were very ill and performed poorly or were even too sick to run. Brother Haymond, however, felt well and won the 100- and 220-yard dashes. His coach told him, "You just ran the two hundred and twenty yards in the fastest time it has ever been run by any human being." That night and for the rest of his life, Creed Haymond was grateful for his simple faith in keeping the Word of Wisdom. 7

In the military service during World War II, I associated with some fine young men of great promise. But little by little, I saw some of them turn from the decent, God-fearing qualities of Dr. Jekyll and revert to the baseness of a Mr. Hyde. For some, it began by drinking coffee because the water was foul, and the water decontamination pills had such an unpleasant taste. The coffee led some to take an occasional drink of beer. Every soldier serving overseas was allocated a ration of cigarettes and an occasional bottle of whiskey, which were worth considerable money.

President George Albert Smith once gave this advice: "If you cross to the devil's side of the line one inch, you are in the tempter's power, and if he is successful, you will not be able to think or even reason properly, because you will have lost the spirit of the Lord." 8 Some soldiers stayed on the safe side of the line and never experimented with nor trafficked in these addicting substances, even though they were given to us free. But others would sample the cigarettes or alcohol as a diversion to the challenges of the war. A few were even drawn away into immorality, believing that the stress of war justified lowering their standards and letting the Mr. Hyde side of their personalities take over.

After the war, those who had become addicted to tobacco, alcohol, and immorality found that they could not readily shake off these bad habits. The young men who had started out with such potential crossed that line inch by inch, robbing themselves and their families of the promised happiness and experiencing instead divorce, broken families, and heartaches.

Those who never lowered their standards did not succumb to these addictions. They came through that stressful period of their lives stronger and more prepared to lead productive, exemplary, and happy lives as faithful fathers and grandfathers of righteous families. They have also served as honored and respected leaders in the Church and in the community.

Another false philosophy that appeals to the Mr. Hyde side of our natures is that peeking into pornography is harmless. This is a terrible deception. Pornography is as addictive as cocaine or any illegal drug. I recently received a heartbreaking letter from an excommunicated man whose soul is filled with sorrow and regret. With his permission, I quote the following from his letter: "I hope that this letter will confirm to any who have doubt that the path of destruction only reaps sorrow and grief and no sin is worth this price."

He goes on to state: "I have brought grief and sorrow upon myself. Only now do I fully realize the great destruction that I have brought upon myself. No selfish or lustful desire is worth losing your Church membership for. I have brought terrible grief to my wife and two wonderful children. I am grateful for my wife's great efforts to help me overcome my sins. My wife has been a victim of my sins and had to endure great sorrow and suffering. I long for the day that I can again be a member of the Lord’s Church and for our family to be an eternal family."

The letter goes on to admit: "My sins are a direct result of my early childhood addiction to pornography. Without a doubt, pornography is addictive and is poison. Had I learned early in my life to apply the power of self-mastery, I would be a member of the Church today."

One of Mr. Hyde's deceptions is what some erroneously call "premeditated repentance." There is no such doctrine in this Church. This may sound subtly appealing, but it is in fact pernicious and a false concept. Its objective is to persuade us that we can consciously and deliberately transgress with the forethought that quick repentance will permit us to enjoy the full blessings of the gospel, such as temple blessings or a mission. True repentance can be a long, painful process. This foolish doctrine was foreseen by Nephi:

"And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God - he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God." 9

Of all those who teach this doctrine the Lord says, "The blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them." 10 This is because all of our covenants must not only be received through ordinances but to be eternal must also be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. 11 This divine stamp of approval is placed upon our ordinances and covenants only through faithfulness. The false idea of so-called premeditated repentance involves an element of deception, but the Holy Spirit of Promise cannot be deceived.

Some people wear masks of decency and outward righteousness but live lives of deception, believing that, like Dr. Jekyll, they can live a double life and never be found out. James said, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." 12 In the Book of Mormon we read the account of Corianton, who went on a mission to the Zoramites with his father and brother. His double life caused him to forsake his ministry and his father to lament, "O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words." 13

Hypocrites are those who outwardly wear masks that portray goodness but inwardly practice evil and deceit. Such were the scribes and Pharisees who came to the Savior pretending to be troubled in conscience and to be seeking His wise counsel. "Master," they said in flattering tone, "we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men."

With this devious approach they hoped to catch Him off guard as they asked: "Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?"

Their question was loaded with wicked intent because one of the most offensive of the Roman laws was the poll tax. If He had answered, "Yes," the Pharisees could have painted Him as disloyal to the Jews. If His answer had been "No," He could have been denounced for sedition. "But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?"

He asked them to show Him a penny and then asked, "Whose is this image and superscription?" They answered, "Caesar's," and He silenced the hypocritical Pharisees with that classic reply, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." 14 We are in the world but we should not be overcome by the hypocrisy and deceit that are in it.

The truth about who we are and what we do will ultimately become known. The Lord has given us this sober reminder: "For their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed." 15 Because we live in a morally desensitized environment, we find it hard to say to ourselves and to others that our actions are not right.

Brethren, we can shield ourselves against the enemy within each of us by using the protective mantle of the priesthood of God. Individually, we need to put the great powers of the holy priesthood to work in our lives. This means using this divine agency daily to bless the lives of others as we do our home teaching, perform ordinances, or hold family home evening. Collectively, we have the mission to bring the message of salvation to the world, which mission we carry out under the direction of our President, Gordon B. Hinckley, who holds all of the keys of the priesthood on earth at this time. But we cannot fulfill this mission unless each of us wins the battle within ourselves. In so doing, we will be able to put on the whole armor of God and receive the blessings contained in the oath and covenant of the priesthood. The Lord has promised that "all they who receive this priesthood receive me . . .

"And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

"And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him." 16

Exaltation in the Father's kingdom includes kingdoms, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers which increase forever. 17 That we may all strive to overcome the enemy within so that we can receive these blessings, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

See Rev. 12:4-9; Moses 4:1-4; Abr. 3:24-28; D&C 29:36-38; Isa. 14:12-20; Luke 10:18.
Moses 1:12.
Eph. 6:14-17.
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998), 371-72.
Alma 5:40.
Thesaurus of Book Digests (1949), 206.
See Joseph J. Cannon, "Speed and the Spirit," Improvement Era, Oct. 1928, 1001-7.
Sharing the Gospel with Others, ed. Preston Nibley (1948), 43.
2 Ne. 28:8.
2 Ne. 28:10.
See D&C 132:7.
James 1:8.
Alma 39:11.
Matt. 22:16-21.
D&C 1:3.
D&C 84:35, 37-38.
See Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997), 72.

Word of Wisdom: The Reality

Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:00:00 -0600

by Susan Noyes Anderson
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Only you will be held accountable for the choices you make in this life. Only you will reap the benefits, and only you will live with the consequences.

Parents, teachers, and leaders notwithstanding, the truth is pretty simple: It's all up to you. Only you will be held accountable for the choices you make in this life. Only you will reap the benefits, and only you will live with the consequences. You made a decision to come to earth and receive a body, and you have the opportunity to master its appetites, but whether you do that or not is between you and the Lord. In the end, the things you do with and to your body will be strictly between you and your Heavenly Father. He is the one who gave you that gift, and He is the one who will hold you responsible for it. That's the plan!

If this series of articles has given you more information than you had before, or if reading it has helped you see the same old issues in a new way, then I've accomplished my purpose. I'm a person who believes in things strongly, and one of the things I believe in most strongly of all is the basic goodness and strength of Latter-day Saint youth. Given the right information, most of you will make choices that prove who you are: sons and daughters of God specifically reserved for this day and age because of your valiance. It took a lot of guts and gumption to come to earth, and that guts and gumption is exactly what's needed to make the hard choices. In other words, you've got what it takes!

May the Lord bless you in everything you do, and may every battle you win over the adversary leave you more aware of the incredible power and influence you wield as a son or daughter of God.

Here is some additional food for thought on choice and accountability.

LETTER FROM A FRIEND

(This letter is from a real person and tells his true story; used by permission.)

"On November 10, 1988, at 12:17 AM there was a major car accident in Santa Clara County. The driver of the car that caused the accident was drunk. He was speeding and ran a red light, hitting another car broadside, at the driver's door. Three people were killed in this accident: a mother and two of her children. One child of hers survived. The drunk driver survived with minor injuries. He was arrested and charged with three counts of second degree murder and felony drunk driving. Ten months later, he was convicted of these charges, and fourteen months after the accident he was sentenced to a total of 48 years to life in prison, the maximum sentence possible. I am that drunk driver.

It is difficult to express the sorrow I feel for the innocent victims involved. It is usually a subject I avoid because the memories are painful. I have always thought life to be a miraculous and precious thing, and then to take it away from three human beings, so senselessly, has caused me great anguish. The fact that the victims were a mother and two children just add to my sorrow. It was very hard to accept the day after, when reality finally hit. I didn't want to live anymore. It took awhile for the will to live to come back. I had to change my attitude and lifestyle. To be able to live with myself I had to start recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. It is the main thing that gives my life meaning now.

At this time, I am at Pelican Bay State Prison. It is the highest security prison in the State of California. We are always being watched by guards who carry automatic assault rifles. They will, and do, shoot at inmates when there is violence, or if a person were to try to escape. This is a totally alien and uncomfortable environment compared to what most people are used to. I would not recommend it for anyone, even the other inmates here.

I think that you should know a little about my teenage years. Adolescence was a very difficult time for me. It is a time when body and mind change. The body matures and the mind becomes preoccupied with the opposite sex. In my case, my mind was changing but my body wasn't, at least not as fast as my peers. I was small for my age at thirteen, and was very insecure. At this age, I discovered alcohol. I knew that I wasn't supposed to drink alcohol, that it wasn't legal for a thirteen-year-old to drink, but my friends were trying it, and being insecure already, I felt I had to, to fit in. I was also very curious, and when I finally did drink, I was surprised to find that I was no longer insecure. I felt comfortable around the popular crowd, and most importantly, I felt comfortable around popular girls. I was hooked from the moment I realized this magic quality of alcohol, although at the time I didn't know that I was hooked.

I think it is important to let you know that alcohol wasn't the only drug I started using when I was thirteen. I also started smoking marijuana, and I experimented a little with amphetamines (uppers). Once I tried one drug the decision to try others came easier. By the time I was eighteen I had used alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, methamphetamines (crank), cocaine, LSD, and psychedelic mushrooms. Through all this time I got into trouble, mostly with my parents, but also a couple of times with the law. I figured at the time that most kids my age had these same things happen to them, at least a lot of the kids I was hanging around did. I didn't feel it was that serious, even when I blacked out one night and threatened to kill my parents. Two police came, and an ambulance came and took me to the hospital tied to a gurney. I was embarrassed, and felt bad for a couple of days, but that wore off soon.

When I was eighteen, after my senior year in high school, my parents were finally fed up with my crazy lifestyle. I think the last straw was when I quit going to summer school. I needed to finish summer school English class because I had failed it during the regular school year. Needless to say I didn't graduate high school. I was given an ultimatum. I had to move out or go to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Being irresponsible, and realizing it, I realized I couldn't make it on my own. I chose rehabilitation. It was the first time I really looked at myself and admitted I had a problem. The one program lasted thirty days, but I ended up going to another one on top of that one, and then a halfway house after that—five months of treatment.

What happened? One thing that you must always remember is that a person is never cured. Recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction is an ongoing process. Three months after I got out of the halfway house, I started using drugs again. Slowly at first, but I was soon back to where I was. Because it started slowly, I had thoughts that maybe I wasn't an alcoholic or a drug addict after all. Maybe I was just unlucky. It is the nature of the disease, and human nature, to not want to admit that something is wrong with me—that I'm not a normal person. It is like a cancer patient, when he first learns he has cancer, does not want to admit it or accept it. Alcoholism and drug addiction, like cancer, is terminal if not treated, and there is always a fear of relapse.

Soon, I was worse than I was before the rehab program. Before I was twenty- one, I had two drunk driving [convictions]. I ended up losing my driver's license for eighteen months. Being an auto mechanic, this was very hard on me, but that did not stop me—Nope. I managed to stay out of serious trouble with the law for the next two years. I had a few minor scrapes that were good for a couple of days in the county jail each, but they didn't discourage me from my drug and alcohol abuse. A three-and-a-half-year relationship with a young lady went bitter and ended because of my drug and alcohol abuse. All this, and all I could manage was a couple of sorry attempts at recovery again. Because I never got serious about it, three innocent people died, and I'm in prison for many, many years, maybe for the rest of my life.

I never thought that something like this could happen to me. I always thought that I had enough control over alcohol and drugs to know when to stop or to know when not to drive. In reality, I lost control as soon as I decided to have a drink or to take drugs. Taking drugs or drinking alcohol is like playing Russian roulette. You never know whether you will become addicted. Chances are that some of you that hear this will later become alcoholics or drug addicts. It is also very important to know that alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs there is, and it's made more dangerous because, for people over twenty-one, it is legal. Not only is alcohol legal, it is socially acceptable. God have mercy on the people who can't handle alcohol because society won't tolerate drunkenness, but yet condones social drinking. That is what kills the alcoholic. For those who prefer illegal drugs, be aware that this new trend, `The War on Drugs,' has no place for rehabilitation. The state is building huge human warehouses, called prison, for you. Remember that rehabilitation doesn't always work the first time, and it takes a great amount of personal effort. Once one becomes despondent, they must never give up trying to recover, even if they keep going back to using. My advice to you is to stay away from all of it. It is not always easy; your friends may try it and try to draw you into it. Stay away from smoking too. It isn't good for you and is also addicting. If you never try it, you'll never have the problems that come with it, and you won't be missing anything. Alcohol and drugs never solve problems—they just create more.

Yours truly,
Dave

TWO SECONDS IS ALL IT TAKES

(written for Saratoga High School's "Two Seconds Is All It Takes," a program discouraging driving under the Influence of chemicals.)

Twisted steel and broken lives
Dreams are dead, but the pain survives
Loved ones wishin' they could take it back
Run the scene on a different track
But truth cuts deeper than shattered glass
You can't build a future on a dying past
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Never shoulda happened—Who's to blame?
Johnny's headin' out to a baseball game
Splits a twelver with Hans and Geoff
Downs a few just to cool him off
Doesn't get buzzed—He's good to go
Takes a lot more 'n that to lay most guys low
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Walks to his car; waves good-bye
Sunny afternoon—clear blue sky
Killer day for a baseball game
Starts the engine...hears his name...
What's up Johnny, can we get a ride?
Sure, Chrissi. Hey, Kathy. Just hop inside
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Brand new system, soundin' good
Turn it up—Lauryn Hill rocks the `hood
The girls are soundin' real good too
Singin' 'bout Zion comin' through
Now Johnny's bustin' it in his seat
They're laughin' so hard they almost miss their street
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Tragedy waitin' around the bend
Never coulda known it was gonna end
Arthur and Monte on a burger run
Talkin' 'bout women, havin' some fun
Pagin' all their buddies to meet `em there
Rappin' to the radio without a care
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

There's the school. Turn left here...Quick!!
Johnny jerks the wheel like a joy stick
Cuts the turn too tight, too late
Tires squeal as they accelerate
Around the corner—They're movin' fast
And the scream that turns his head is Chrissi's last
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Arthur's got no way to go
They're headed for him in slo-mo
He sees their eyes—alive with fear
Three faces tell him death is near
He sees it all—like a movie take
But there isn't even time to hit the brake
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

World blows up like a hand grenade
Glass and flesh and metal sprayed
Grinding steel and deafening crash
Chrissi layin' still, across the dash
Arthur moans, and Kathy's tears
Feed Johnny and Monte's darkest fears
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Jaws of life can tear and shred
But no machine can raise the dead
Please help my friend; she's hurt the worst
There—in the front—Get Chrissi first
They carry her gently to one side
But Kathy sees the body bag they can't hide
Two seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

We need a level on this guy
That's Johnny Jones—Yeah—DUI
We've got one dead and one near miss
Does anyone ever get used to this?
Hey...Who's that kid over there alone?
We gotta get his parents on the telephone
Two seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

One more ambulance underway
Wait, that's my friend. Is he okay?
How bad is Arthur really hurt?
Oh no, his blood is on my shirt
It wasn't our fault—Some crazy guy
Came right outa nowhere. Don't let Arthur die
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Johnny in cuffs, hangin' his head
Kathy still sobbin', "Mom, she's dead"
Anne Chin livin' every parent's fear
A call from the morgue—Your daughter's here
Monte's mom thankin' God he's okay
Arthur's mother findin' out he's DOA
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Twisted steel and broken lives
Dreams are dead, but the pain survives
Loved ones wishin' they could take it back
Run the scene on a different track
But truth cuts deeper than shattered glass
You can't build a future on a dying past
2 seconds is all it takes
You can't live with some mistakes

Nauvoo Hotels

Word of Wisdom: The Voices of Prophets

Thu, 25 Jul 2002 18:00:00 -0600

by Susan Noyes Anderson
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Be smart. Do not be so shortsighted as to indulge in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. It simply is not smart to do so. It is stupid, if you will pardon that harsh word, to use cocaine, marijuana, or any of the other drugs that rob you of control of your mind. . . Why spend money on that which can only harm you? Why become enslaved to a habit that can only hinder and short-circuit your future? The Voices of Prophets

A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—

"2. To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the Word of Wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—

"3. Given for a principle with a promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.

"4. Behold, verily thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this Word of Wisdom by revelation—

"5. That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father. . .

"7. And again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.

"8. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.

"9. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly. . .

"18. And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings,walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

"19. And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

"20. And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

"21. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them" (D&C 89:1-5, 7-9, 18-21).

"Some people argue over whether it [the Word of Wisdom] is a commandment. I do not need to argue. As far as I am concerned, whether it is a commandment or counsel, that which the Lord counsels becomes a commandment to Gordon B. Hinckley. I hope it does to you" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Tacoma Washington Regional Conference, August 20, 1995).

"Never forget that you were chosen and brought to earth as a child of God for something of importance in His grand design. He expects marvelous things of you. He expects you to keep your lives clean from the sins of the world. You are the line through which will pass the qualities of your forebears to the posterity who will come after you. Did you ever see a chain with a weak link? Don't you become that weak link" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Youth Fireside Satellite Broadcast, December 5, 1982).

"President Kimball used to tell the story of his boyhood. Some of his friends were not doing the right thing. . . They were violating the Word of Wisdom. Spencer Kimball, seeing what was going on in their lives, went to his room and got on his knees and told the Lord, as a fourteen-year-old boy, that he would not do those things. And having once made that decision, he never had to make it again" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Santiago Chile Fireside, November 11, 1996).

"The religion of which you are a part is seven days a week. It isn't just Sunday; it isn't the block plan; it isn't just three hours in Church; it isn't just the time you spend in seminary; it's all the time—twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Parowan Utah Youth Fireside, January 13, 1996).

"One appreciates the incomparable wisdom of the Lord who in 1833 in a rural town on the frontier of America spoke these simple and encompassing words: 'tobacco. . . is not good for man.' (D&C 89:8) He did not say that one would get lung cancer, develop heart or respiratory problems if he smoked. He did not produce mountainous statistics or recite histories. He simply declared that 'tobacco is not good for man.' Can there be any doubt that it is a Word of Wisdom when great forces, with millions of dollars at their command and some of the cleverest minds in the art of advertising, promote that which sober men of science also now say 'is not good for man'?. . . True freedom lies in obedience to the counsels of God. . . The gospel is not a philosophy of repression, as so many regard it. It is a plan of freedom that gives discipline to appetite and direction to behavior" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Principle with Promise," Improvement Era, June 1965, 521).

"I remember a report from the American Medical Association to the effect that heavy smokers die seven years before they would if they did not smoke. Seven years of life. That's as long as many persons spend in high school and college. Seven years—time enough to become a doctor, an architect, an engineer, a lawyer. Seven years in which to enjoy the sunrise and the sunset, the hills and the valleys, the lakes and the seas, the love of our children, the friendship of wonderful people we may know. What a statistical promise confirming the word of the Lord that the destroying angel shall pass by those who walk in obedience and will not slay them" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Pillars of Truth," Ensign, January 1994, 6).

". . . There came to my desk a copy of an address given by Senator Dan Coats of Indiana. He spoke of a report dealing with the problems of American youth. That report concluded: 'Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among adolescents. . . Homicide is now the leading cause of death among fifteen to nineteen-year-old minority youth. . . Every year substance abuse claims younger victims with harder drugs. A third of high school seniors get drunk once a week.' The report reached a shocking conclusion. It said: 'The most basic cause of suffering. . . is profoundly self-destructive behavior. Drinking. Drugs. Violence. . . A crisis of behavior and belief. A crisis of character' ("Imprimis," September 1991, 1). . . If that is the mainstream of American youth, then I want to do all in my power to persuade and encourage our young people to stay away from it" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "This Favored Season," New Era, September 1992, 4-5).

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

"We must stand a cut above our peers in that which we do. It is not enough to be a part of the herd. We can and must be out in front" ("Search for Excellence," Bonneville International Corporation Executives, February 6, 1989).

"Stay away from drugs! They will destroy you in more ways than one. They will destroy your health. They will destroy your self-respect. They will destroy your character, your honesty, your integrity. Stay away from them, is my urgent and humble plea. You can make it without drugs" (Gordon B. Hinckley, So. Utah University Institute of Religion Devotional, Feb. 11, 1997).

"To those who may be partaking. . . stop immediately. To you who at any time in the future may be tempted, I urge you to stand your ground. Reflect on the fact that you are a child of God our Eternal Father, endowed with those faculties of body and mind which will help you to take a place that is significant in the world in which you live. Do not throw away your future. Do not jeopardize the well-being of your posterity" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Plague on the World," New Era, July 1990, 6-7).

"Never have the young people of the Church been faced with such temptations as they are today—temptations that their parents or their grandparents never dreamed about. . . I would like to express to the wonderful young people we have in this Church the hope which I have for them, which the leadership of the Church has for them. They are our future. Our greatest assets are not our lands and our herds and our stocks and bonds or our business blocks, but our young people. Only a matter of years and they will be in positions of leadership in the kingdom. The adversary knows this, and he knows that the place to strike is at the young people. . . The Lord has on the earth some potential spiritual giants whom He saved for some six thousand years to help bear off the kingdom triumphantly and the devil is trying to put them to sleep. . . like Gulliver. . . And what good is a sleepy, neutralized, lukewarm giant as a leader?" (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 403.)

"Those who, because of their acceptance and use of the Word of Wisdom, possess a clean body, a clear mind and a spirit in tune with the infinite, are best able to assist in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, and thereby to render greatest service to their fellow men. They also find the greatest happiness in life, for their capacity for joy is unhindered by a weak body, a dull mind, and dim spiritual vision. They find a new wealth of joy in every commonplace of life. They have eyes and they see; ears and they hear. Their understanding is reinforced with the spiritual light of truth. There are many laws of the Gospel that lead towards spirituality. Among them the Word of Wisdom stands unchallenged" (John A. Widstoe, The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation, 283-84).

"Do not become involved in illegal drugs. Do not touch them. Never experiment with them. I plead with you, with every one of you, to shun them as you would poison. . . A great future is ahead of you. Your lives are radiant with promise. Most of you will someday wish to be married and have children. The use of illegal drugs could place a terrible handicap not only upon you, but also upon your children. If you discipline yourselves to avoid them, you will have reason to rejoice. . . If you tamper with these things, you will regret it" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Stand True and Faithful," Ensign, May 1996, 92).

"In earlier centuries there were plagues that swept across England and the nations of Europe. They struck like lightning, carrying tens of thousands to their death. This modern drug scourge has become as a plague on the world. But in most cases, the death it brings is not swift, but rather, it follows a long period spent in misery and pain and regret. Unlike the plagues of old, from which there was no known defense, the defense is clear and relatively easy in the case of illicit drugs. It lies in simply refraining from touching them" (Gordon B. Hinckley, National Conference of Christians and Jews Banquet, February 21, 1995).

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body. . . " (Matthew 10:28).

"I feel so grateful for the Word of Wisdom. . . What a remarkable thing it is. The Lord used those words 'evil and conspiring men.' Very interesting words, really. 'Evil and conspiring men in the last days.' Read the paper, listen to the radio, watch the television news, and you will see almost, not quite but almost, those words in the things that are taking place these very days in which we live. How thankful I am for the Word of Wisdom. . . " (Gordon B. Hinckley, Potomac Virginia Regional Conference, April 27, 1997).

"Be smart. Do not be so shortsighted as to indulge in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. It simply is not smart to do so. It is stupid, if you will pardon that harsh word, to use cocaine, marijuana, or any of the other drugs that rob you of control of your mind. After every drug-induced 'high,' there is a reactionary 'low.' Why spend money on that which can only harm you? Why become enslaved to a habit that can only hinder and short-circuit your future? Beer and other forms of alcohol will do you no good. Their use will be expensive, dull your conscience, and could lead to. . . alcoholism, which is humiliating, dangerous, and even deadly. Tobacco will shorten your life. Studies show that it will enslave you, weaken your lungs, and statistically that it will shorten your life seven minutes for every cigarette smoked. Be smart. Take the Lord at his word. His is the wonderful promise that those Saints who follow his counsel in these matters 'shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint" (D&C 89:19-20). (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Four B's for Boys," Ensign, November 1981, 40-41).

"Some have. . . used as an alibi the fact that drugs are not mentioned in the Word of Wisdom. What a miserable excuse. There is likewise no mention of the hazards of diving into an empty swimming pool or of jumping from an overpass onto the freeway. But who doubts the deadly consequences of such? Common sense would dictate against such behavior. Regardless of the Word of Wisdom there is a divinely given reason for avoiding these substances. I am convinced that their use is an affront to God. He is our Creator. We are made in His image. These remarkable and wonderful bodies are His handiwork. Does anyone think that he can deliberately injure and impair his body without affronting the Creator? We are told again and again that the body is the tabernacle of the spirit. We are told that it is a temple, holy to the Lord. . . Can anyone doubt that the taking of these mind and body-destroying drugs is an act of unholiness? Does anyone think that the Spirit of God can dwell in the temple of the body when that body is defiled by these destructive elements? If any of you are tampering with these things, resolve. . . with the strongest determination of which you are capable, that you will never touch them again" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Plague on the World," New Era, July 1990, 4-6).

"And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the Kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness" (Alma 7:21).

"For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven" (D&C 1:31-32).

"We cannot say it frequently enough. . . Stay away from drugs. They can absolutely destroy you. Avoid them as you would a terrible disease, for that is what they become. . . Observe the Word of Wisdom. You cannot smoke; you must not smoke. You must not chew tobacco. You cannot drink liquor. You hold the priesthood of God. You must rise above these things which beckon with a seductive call. Be prayerful. Call on the Lord in faith, and He will hear your prayers. He loves you. He wishes to bless you. He will do so if you live worthy of His blessing" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Converts and Young Men," Ensign, May 1997, 49-50).

"Brigham Young once said that 'every principle of the gospel carries with it a conviction of its truth to those who live it.' I believe that with all my heart. The Word of Wisdom carries with it a conviction of truth to those who live it. What a marvelous thing it is. Four hundred thousand people die each year as a result of tobacco. You cannot live the Word of Wisdom, you cannot observe it, without recognizing the hand of the Lord in this marvelous thing which we call the Word of Wisdom, which is the only law of health anywhere under the heavens that carries with it a divine promise concerning those who observe it and live it. And that conviction comes into our hearts of its truth and divinity as we live it" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Jacksonville Florida West Stake Conference, January 19, 1997).

". . . Drink brings cruelty into the home; it walks arm in arm with poverty; its companions are disease and plague; it puts chastity to flight; it knows neither honesty nor fair dealing; it is a total stranger to truth; it drowns conscience; it is the bodyguard of evil; it curses all who touch it. Drink has brought more woe and misery, broken more hearts, wrecked more homes, committed more crimes, filled more coffins, than all the wars the world has suffered" (President Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark Jr., David O. McKay, Conference Report, October 1942, 8).

"In those early years, the milk we drank was not pasteurized. We, of course, did not have an automatic dishwasher, except that it was our automatic duty to wash the dishes. When we were diagnosed as having chicken pox or measles, the doctor would advise the city health department, and a man would be sent to put a sign in the front window. This was a warning to any who might wish to come to our house that they did so at their own peril. If the disease were smallpox or diphtheria, the sign was bright orange with black letters. It said, in effect, 'Stay away from this place.' I learned something I have always remembered—to watch for signs of danger and evil and stay away" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Some Lessons I Learned as a Boy," Ensign, May 1993, 52).

"We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see" (Boyd K. Packer, Conference Report, April 1983, 89-90).

"I have never committed a sin in this Church and kingdom, but what it has cost me a thousand times more than it was worth" (Elder Wilford Woodruff, July 4, 1880, Journal of Discourses 21:184).

"Behold I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10).

"Happiness leaves no bad after-taste; it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse" (James E. Talmage, "A Greeting to the Missionaries," Improvement Era, December 1913, 173).

"Awake my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul" (2 Nephi 4:28).

"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God. . . I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end,. . . if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. . . That same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world" (Alma 34:31-34).

"You have an alarm system built into both body and spirit. In your body it is pain; in your spirit it is guilt—or spiritual pain. While neither pain nor guilt is pleasant, and an excess of either can be destructive, both are a protection, for they sound the alarm 'Don't do that again!' Be grateful for both. If the nerve endings in your hands were altered so that you couldn't feel pain, you might put them in fire or machinery and destroy them. In your teenage heart of hearts, you know right from wrong. Learn to pay attention to that spiritual voice of warning within you" (Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 1989, 54, 59).

"I pray you. . . avoid drugs of all kinds as you would avoid the very gates of hell" (Hugh B. Brown, General Priesthood Meeting, October 1, 1967).

"And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion;. . . and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from which there is no deliverance" (2 Nephi 28:21-22).

"Whoever said that sin was not fun? Whoever claimed that Lucifer was not handsome, persuasive, easy, friendly? Sin is attractive and desirable. Transgression wears elegant gowns and sparkling apparel. It is highly perfumed; it has attractive features, a soft voice. It is found in educated circles and sophisticated groups. It provides sweet and comfortable luxuries. Sin is easy and has a big company of pleasant companions. It promises immunity from restrictions, temporary freedoms. It can momentarily satisfy hunger, thirst, desire, urges, passions, want without immediately paying the price. But, it begins tiny and grows to monumental proportions—drop by drop, inch by inch" (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 228).

"The attractiveness of sin is a lie. Have you seen a real mirage in the distance with lakes and trees and dwellings and castles and water, but as the thirsty traveler moves on and on and on through it, he finds it but an illusion, and when he has gone too far to return he stumbles choking in the desert deception? That is like life. . . shadows of nothingness can bring us only disappointment and frustration" (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 153).

"As we go through life, we ofttimes build a rock wall between ourselves and heaven. This wall is built by our unrepented sins. . . In spite of the wall we build in front of us, when we cry out to the Lord, he still sends his messages from heaven; but instead of being able to penetrate our hearts, they hit the wall that we have built up and bounce off. His messages don't penetrate, so we say: 'He doesn't hear,' or 'He doesn't answer.' Sometimes this wall is very formidable, and the great challenge of life is to destroy it, or, if you please, to cleanse ourselves, purifying this inner vessel so that we can be in tune with the spirit" (Elder H. Burke Peterson, Ensign, June 1981, 73).

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge that it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him. And now. . . seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully;. . . " (Moroni 7:16-18).

"I was brought up in scientific laboratories, where I was taught to test things, never to be satisfied unless a thing was tested. We have the right to test the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. By testing it, I mean living it, trying it out. Do you question the Word of Wisdom? Try it. . . It is the way to truth" (John A. Widstoe, Conference Report, October 1938, 129).

"I repeat, the crucial decision. . . of life. . . is between good and evil. . . Happiness will depend on what each of us does with what each has, what we learn from what we do, and what we do thereafter. These are the things that will be reviewed in the days of judgment" (Boyd K. Packer, New Era, August 1989, 6).

"No [man] can serve two masters. . . " (Luke 16:13).

". . . To meet and beat the enemy will take clear heads and strong bodies" (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 480).

"Behold, verily, verily I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name" (3 Nephi 18:18-19).

"Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptation to sin" (Brigham Young, in the Tabernacle, May 24, 1863, Journal of Discourses, 10:173).

"If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

"Obedience to God can be the very highest expression of independence. Just think of giving to him the one thing, the one gift, that he would never take. . . Obedience—that which God will never take by force—he will accept when freely given. And he will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of. . . Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience. We should put ourselves in a position before our Father in heaven and say, individually, 'I do not want to do what I want to do. I want to do what thou would'st have me do.' Suddenly, like any father, the Lord could say, 'Well, there is one more of my children almost free from the need of constant supervision'." (Boyd K. Packer, Brigham Young University, 1971).

"He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple; and he that saith he receiveth it and doeth it not, the same is not my disciple, and shall be cast out from among you". (D&C 41:5).

"I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D&C 82:10).

"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22).

"Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

"There is no reward for half-hearted obedience. We must become vigorous and enthusiastic about living our religion, for God commands that we serve him with all our heart, with all our might, with all our strength, and with the very best of our intelligence. With him there can be no halfway measures. We must be fully for him or we may be classed with those who are against him" (Mark E. Petersen, Conference Report, April 1980, 96).

"And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold;. . . " (Alma 5:39).

"Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more" (D&C 58:42).

"Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love" (D&C 6:20).

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it" (Mosiah 2:41).

"For the day soon cometh, that men shall come before me to judgment, to be judged according to their works" (Matthew 7:21).

"And if ye keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God). D&C 14:7).

"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart. . . " (Psalms 24:3-4).

"I could not wish for you anything more than that happiness which comes of being at peace in your hearts and at peace with the Lord" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ricks College Regional Conference, Rexburg, Idaho, October 29, 1995).

"Believe in yourself as a child of God. Every one of you here. . . has a divine inheritance. God is your Eternal Father. What a marvelous birthright that is. Do not live beneath it. Stand tall and live the gospel" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Managua Nicaragua Fireside, January 21, 1997).

"Believe in God as your Eternal Father. You are His child. You are His child all the time, not just when you are good. You are His child when you are bad. You have within you. . . a portion of divinity that is real and tremendous and marvelous and wonderful. My great plea is that we all try a little harder to live up to the stature of divinity that is within us. We can do better than we are doing. We can be better than we are. . . We are children of God and we love Him. Act that way a little more. . . Our Father loves us. I believe that with all of my heart" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Smithfield/Logan Utah Regional Conference, April 21, 1996).

"We are all part of a great conflict that is going on. This conflict has been going on since the war in heaven. It is the conflict between good and evil. It is endless. We shall never know the end of it in our lifetime. We must be strong. We must be faithful. We must be true. We must stand up for that which is right as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. God help us to do what is right" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Guatemala City Guatemala North and South Regional Conference, January 26, 1997).

Word of Wisdom: Voices of Experience

Thu, 18 Jul 2002 18:00:00 -0600

by Susan Noyes Anderson
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: This article consists of direct quotes from interviews with LDS youth who responded to 12 questions about their experience with drug use and repentance. They have willingly shared their real feelings and experiences with you, and though it isn't always easy to learn from someone else's experience, it can sure save you a lot of heartache. The Voices of Experience

(Direct quotes taken from interviews with LDS youth who responded to 12 questions about their experience of drug use and repentance)

1. How did you start using drugs, tobacco, or alcohol?

A lot of my friends were drinking, and it looked like they were having fun. I wanted to see for myself what it was like."

"My sister had been using cigarettes for awhile and offered them to me one time on vacation. I smoked my first cigarette then and gradually tried other drugs as they came along."

"I started using drugs and smoking cigarettes one day at school. I was in tenth grade and there was a group of guys I wanted to fit in with. We were all standing in a circle in one of the back fields, and when they passed around some pot all I could think of was making them think I had used it before so they'd think I was cool. The first time I actually drank was in ninth grade at a party."

"I began using drugs when I was 13 going on 14. The first day I got drunk I had just had a huge fight with my stepfather and was very angry. I ran down to my friend's house, not only because she was my best friend and I wanted to talk, but because for months my friends had been going to her house to drink and get high. I had turned it down at first, but I was so mad I thought it was the only thing that might calm me down. By the end of that night I was drunk, and that's how I started drinking. Before long I was smoking pot too."

"I'm not sure why I started. I tasted beer and found it didn't taste good at all. I began to wonder why my friend would drink this day after day. But I guess I just got sick of saying no all the time."

"I was at a party in ninth grade. My friends were there and so was my older sister and her friends. My sister's friends asked me if I wanted to taste this drink they had made. I'd never been offered a drink before, and I liked being the center of attention at that moment. I didn't think it would hurt to try a sip of it. It actually tasted kind of good, so I asked for another sip. Then they gave me the whole glass. After awhile, I started to feel a little buzz. The next weekend my friends and I bought our first case of beer, and that's where it all began. Once I started drinking I had no problem trying a cigarette. We would drink every Friday and Saturday night and any time we drank, we'd smoke."

"I started smoking when I was in the ninth grade. I had some close friends who one day 'lit up' in front of me. I remember thinking, 'When did they start smoking?' At first, it made me very uncomfortable, and I felt shocked at their choice. Then I shocked myself. After weeks of them offering me cigarettes and me saying no, one day I just reached across the table, picked up my first one and smoked it. I thought it made me seem cooler and older. The next weekend I tried drinking and pot too."

"When I was 12, we moved from Colorado to California. I went from having lots of good friends to having no friends at all. After a few weeks I finally got invited to someone's party. When the kids there offered me some pot I just said okay. I knew it was wrong, but I had to be accepted."

2. Why do you think you started?

"I started as a form of rebellion and to prove to myself that I could do anything that I wanted to do. I couldn't be forced to obey any restrictions set by my parents."

"I think there were many things that contributed to me starting to experiment with drugs and alcohol. The first thing that made me want to try doing drugs was so that I could feel more accepted by a particular group of friends I had. They all started messing around with marijuana and alcohol at about the same time, so it just sort of happened. Another contributing factor was just plain curiosity. I was curious about how drugs and alcohol would make me feel. I was also curious about the whole culture surrounding drugs. It makes no sense to me now, but for some reason I wanted to be a part of it."

"I went to a dangerous school with a lot of gangs. I wanted to be part of this group of guys that nobody messed with, because I didn't feel safe at school. When they started smoking pot, I did too. I wanted to be known as one of those tough guys so nobody would beat me up."

"I drank because I was angry. My dad had left my mom when I was only six years old, and I didn't get along with my stepfather at all. I kept drinking because of the way it made me forget everything that made me mad."

"I think I started because I had never really made up my mind ahead of time not to. I always knew it was wrong to smoke and drink, but when I was confronted with it, I didn't understand why I shouldn't try it. I didn't care about the consequences."

"I resented my parents, teachers at school, and people at church who wanted me to live by their rules. I just couldn't do it. My sister amazed me because whatever they told her to do, she always did. I used to wonder if something was wrong with me because I had to question and challenge everything. I felt like I wanted to be different from my sister and recognized for who I was."

"I basically started because it was so accepted, and I didn't want to be on the outside."

3. How were you hooked in?

"I think that once you start making bad decisions, you allow yourself to make even worse decisions each passing day because the choices don't really seem that bad compared to the last bad choice made.'I've already done this, so I might as well do that'."

"Drugs made it so I didn't have to think about the unpleasant things in life."

"I wanted to be free from all my bad feelings and not have to deal with my life. Pretty soon I was both drinking and smoking pot every night after school. Once summer rolled around we'd party all day...no one's parents were home. About eight of us lived in the same neighborhood and only one parent out of all eight had someone home during the day in the summer. So, with seven houses to go to and nothing to do, my addiction grew."

"I was hooked in because it was my older sister's friends that offered it to me. I thought it looked like they were having fun. It seemed harmless. It's funny because it's like I forgot everything I'd been taught. At that moment it was only important to look cool."

"Having made one bad choice, it was easy to make more. I began choosing friends who were even more into drugs than I was. I liked being around them because it made me feel safe knowing they were 'worse off.' It made the things I was doing seem acceptable."

"At first it was just a way of meeting people, but then it became physical. I needed those drugs, and I would do anything to get them."

4. What did you like about it?

"It seemed like I was having fun. I also felt independent and like a rebel."

"At first I thought taking drugs was great. I didn't have to worry about anything because they made me not care about anything. I told myself I was having good times with my friends, but those "good times" were pretty hard to remember. In a way, we all felt like we had a common bond. It was like we were on top of the world because we were trying new things and having new experiences. For a while I also liked having the reputation of being a partier."

"At first it just made me feel better. It freed me from my anger. The more I got involved though, the more I got drawn into the whole culture. I grew to depend on the 'friends' and everything that surrounded the drug community."

"I was attracted by the new experience that it was. It was completely different than anything I had ever done. I didn't have any worries. I was just living for the moment."

"In the beginning marijuana made things seem easier. Later on a lot of things got worse, but by then I really didn't care."

"I felt like I was in complete control. I got so I could rationalize just about anything to myself, so what really happened is my life got way out of control."

"Drugs and alcohol took away my inhibitions, and I would act really crazy. No matter what kind of people I was partying with I would have a good time with them. It wasn't till later that I found out how messed up some of them were. By then I was pretty messed up too."

5. What didn't you like about it?

"I didn't like that I couldn't be myself when I was using. I felt like I couldn't be the fun, smart person that I know I am. Instead, I was some other person that I hardly even know."

"The things I didn't like were actually the flip side to the things I did like. Sometimes I didn't like not caring about anything because I saw that my not caring was making my life suffer in many areas. I was dropped from my high school and had to go to a continuation school which I was barely able to pass. I didn't care about any of my family relationships as much and felt a lot of strain between my family and me. I even have found out that one of my brothers was scared of me because he saw me lose control a couple of times and realized I wasn't very stable. Sometimes I didn't like being labeled a partier because it lost me the respect of some cool people. I remember people labeling me as being dumb, which I am not, and that was also very frustrating."

"I didn't like drinking to the point that I got sick, which happened to me occasionally. I never liked smoking pot that much because I thought it was boring, and it made me eat too much. I didn't like lying to my parents all the time. And I didn't like the way my lifestyle made me feel 'outside' of my family."

"One time I had a bad trip that completely creeped me out. I felt like I was thinking all these neat things and that my mind was expanding and understanding these big mysteries of the universe. Then all of a sudden I felt totally scared, like I was trying to get knowledge from a bad source. I felt the presence of evil more strongly than I ever had before, and I never took any drugs again. It was like if I did Satan would be there waiting for me. Really freaky."

"Drugs actually took away my freedom. The more often I did drugs, the more often I had to be high to cope with life. My feelings grew stronger the more I suppressed them, and it took more for me to forget the anger. So what I first thought I liked actually backfired. Looking back, it made dealing with my feelings so much harder when I quit drugs and even to this day. As far as the culture and the friends, it was all a false sense of security and friendship. I have been sober for almost four years now, and only one of my many 'friends' even keeps in touch with me. She was the only one that came to my wedding last summer."

"It seemed that every time I would go out drinking, something would go wrong. Friends would get in fights, something would get broken, someone would get hurt, or someone would screw up. I didn't like lying to my parents either."

"I couldn't think straight on pot, and a couple of times it made me really paranoid."

"I hated getting the munchies and gaining weight. Once I went to a friend's house and got caught eating an entire cake while I was drying some pot in his mother's oven. I also had a terrible experience that made me realize I didn't like being out of control when I was drinking. Once I woke up in a strange apartment in a total fog and couldn't even remember what had happened. The room was spinning, and I've never been so sick and so ashamed. I found out later that my date had put Everclear in my glass. That really scared me and got me thinking more about what I was doing."

"By the time I was 16, my drug use had escalated to cocaine, crack, and heroin. Once I started getting deeper into these drugs, I became owned by whatever drug I was craving. I had to be able to find it, hide it, and lie about it. I lied to the bishop and church leaders; I lied to my family, and I lied to my friends. It was terrible when I wanted to quit and realized I couldn't."

6. How did it affect your life/change your thought process, etc? (for example, relationships, self-esteem, spirituality, decisions made, decisions not made, physical body, etc.)

"I was much less spiritual."

"The main problems that I faced with drugs were basically problems with my priorities. Nothing was important to me but getting and using drugs. Everything else in my life was shoved to the back seat. My family and friend relationships suffered. My schoolwork was non-existent. I was feeling pretty unhealthy and lethargic. I was missing out on a lot of really neat things that I could have been doing at the time."

"It kept me from ever getting a real testimony of my own. It also got me in the habit of depending on other things like food and caffeine. When I stopped smoking and drinking I started eating too much and drinking tons of diet coke. Now I get a headache when I don't drink two super big gulps every day."

"Drugs changed my life in every way possible. I entered into abusive relationships with boyfriends and never left because I blamed the things they did on 'he was drunk last time,' and told myself it wouldn't happen again. I often made relationships with dealers or boys that could get free drugs. None of these relationships did anything but hurt me. My relationship with my family only got worse. It was so bad at one point that my mom sent me away. I was awful to all the people who really loved me. I would do anything if I could take away the pain I caused my mom. I also had a younger sister who looked up to me, and I know I failed to live up to the person she thought I was. I can never take back the things she saw. I am only lucky she is forgiving and loves me enough to look up to me again now that I have my life in order. My sister is not a member of the Church, and I hope one day I can teach her about my beliefs. It would have been so much easier if I had lived up to the standards of the gospel when I lived in the same home with her. Now I have to try to teach her from hundreds of miles away. I made a lot of bad decisions from being under the influence and just from being in the state of mind a drug user is always in, sober or not. I did things I never thought I would or could do. Things I hate! And there is nobody who is strong enough to keep standards, even the ones you set for yourself, when you allow drugs to rule your thoughts and actions. For example, even after I used drugs I said I would never get into a car with a drunk driver. I can't tell you how many times I broke my own rule. I am thankful I'm still alive and healthy today, because I have some friends who are not."

"Drinking and doing drugs changed the person that I was completely. I could not really see that at the time because it was a very gradual and subtle process. But my focus on the drinking and drug lifestyle was complete, which left room for very little else. My grades dropped because I didn't care enough about school to study. I was constantly fighting with my parents because I wanted more freedom to do the things that I thought were fun. I lost my desire to believe in the gospel because there was no room in the gospel for 'fun' things like drinking and drugs. So my spirituality was very low."

"I quit being involved in anything extra-curricular. I stopped playing sports. I had been involved in the student body presidency before I started, but never returned. Now I had my drinkin' buddies. I cut myself off from my family. My attitude was that if I didn't talk to my parents, I wouldn't have to lie to them. My self-esteem was very damaged. I didn't feel confident talking to girls or doing anything like going to dances unless I had a few drinks. It always felt as though something was missing in my life. I would try to fill the void with girlfriends, but they never filled what was missing. I finally discovered that it was the Spirit that I was missing. I have a lot of regrets from that part of my life. I wish I would have worked hard in school, rather than cut class to buy beer. Now that I'm working hard I'm doing well in school. I could have gotten scholarships and gone straight to BYU, or whatever school I wanted."

"I alienated myself from a lot of people I loved, especially my mother. She can still remember, word for word, some of the mean things I said to her. I don't even remember saying them because I was so out of it. The other loss for me was spiritual. When I quit going to Church, I sort of missed it. In another way I didn't want to be there because it reminded me of the things I was doing wrong. For awhile, when I went back, it was a sad reminder of how I had disappointed my parents and myself."

"I've always been pretty thin, and I lost more weight on drugs. I had no appetite and looked terrible. I couldn't concentrate because I had no attention span. The real things didn't seem important to me. I was always looking for my next high. I was living on a day-to-day and sometimes hour-to- hour basis. My whole world was brought down and my goals lowered a lot."

"My self-esteem dropped because I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing. I went against everything I believed deep down in my heart, and yet I couldn't make myself stop. I turned against everything my family had taught me. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't get out of it."

7. How and why did you stop? How long did it take? How difficult was it?

"I always knew in my heart that it was wrong; I always knew that I would change sometime. I just couldn't bring myself to stop the bad habits that I had already formed. I finally decided that I would get my life together during my senior year. I applied to BYU because I knew that it would be a good place for me, and I had a great desire to go there. On the day I sent my application in, I vowed never to use anything again. And I didn't. I had been wanting to stop for awhile, but could never quite do it because I was always putting myself in tempting situations. So the only way I could stop was to totally remove myself from old friends and bad situations."

"I stopped doing drugs because I had a very scary experience on them. At the time I thought it was a seizure, but now I think it was an anxiety attack. I remember having a feeling like my whole body was about ready to quit on me, and I really thought I was going to die. I was just about to pass out when I prayed and told Heavenly Father that if He would take the feeling away that I was having and let me live that I would never do another drug again. Immediately the feeling went away, and I knew that God had heard my prayer. I have kept my promise and have been drug-free since then, but it was very difficult. I went to a drug rehabilitation out-patient program where I had personal and family counseling for a long time. For a few more years after that experience I smoked and chewed tobacco quite a bit. Then one day I just got sick of doing these things and decided I wanted to quit and serve a mission. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I eventually quit doing everything and served a great mission. Now I've been sober for five years and wouldn't trade it for anything."

"It was a lot of things at once in my life that made me stop. I was sick of living day to day, waiting for the next high. I looked around and noticed that there was so much to life I was missing out on. This whole time I thought I was expanding my mind, I was really killing it. The world that I thought was so much better on drugs was one of illusion. I was missing the REAL stuff. I didn't want to be like some of my friends' parents who got high with their kids. I wanted more for myself. At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to get more, but it soon became clear to me. I had a good friend who was a strong member of the Church. She had a loving husband, three kids, and was a great mother. I spent more and more time with her. I noticed the pictures of temples she had in her home, and I wanted a temple marriage. I wasn't sure of all the gospel principles, but I knew I wanted a temple marriage. So I started by visiting my bishop and asking what it would take to get me to the temple. I knew that I could never do drugs again. It took a few months from the time I started to feel like I might want to quit until I went back to the bishop and actually did quit. During that time I was gradually cutting back and moving away from a lot of the hard drugs. But once I promised myself and my bishop and Heavenly Father, that was it. I never touched anything again. I am sure this sounds easy, but it wasn't. Every day for at least a year I was tempted. My thoughts were constantly going to drugs. I had trouble falling asleep for at least three months after I quit smoking pot, and I never slept well. I went through panic attacks and depression. I felt sick most of the time. I also had an ulcer from all the drinking. It was the worst thing I have ever gone through, and by far the most difficult thing I have ever done. None of it was worth any moment I had ever been high."

"I began to cut down on my drinking and doing drugs during my senior year of high school. I started to wonder if I had made a mistake. The lifestyle started to look fake and tainted. It took me about two and a half years to completely stop everything. The most difficult part was realizing that most of my close friendships were not good for me, and watching them slowly dwindle as I began to focus on healthier and more spiritual things."

"The day I knew I wanted to permanently change my lifestyle was the day I met my future husband. I wanted so badly to be worthy of his friendship and love, and I knew that a guy who had always focused on the gospel would never take a 'partier' seriously. I began to see more options for happiness...BETTER options. It became very obvious to me that my old lifestyle was a dead-end of absolutely no growth spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. I wanted to grow."

"I think I grew out of it when I started to become more of an individual. At the end of my senior year, I decided I was sick of all the crap and depression I was going through. I would occasionally drink when I was really angry. Those would be the hardest times not to drink when I was quitting, and they are the most tempting times even now. When I'm really angry, I feel like just saying 'screw it' and drinking, just to escape from life for awhile."

"I had a total blackout and lost my memory of one whole night. I still don't know exactly what happened during that time. This was a turning point for me. I never wanted to be out of control of my body like that again. I went through the repentance process and stopped using drugs and alcohol."

"I got to the point where I could no longer fund my habit. I'd already stolen from or lied to pretty much every person I knew, so there was no more way to get money. I also got into legal problems because I'd stolen money from the restaurant I worked in. When they caught me, I was charged with a felony. I spent some time in jail, and it really scared me. I realized my soul had almost completely decayed. I knew I needed help."

8. Share any particularly memorable experiences with using or quitting.

"After quitting and being righteous for awhile, I was called to serve in my class presidency. When I was being set apart, the priesthood leader mentioned three different times that the Lord was pleased with me. I knew that Heavenly Father was letting me know through the blessing and the Spirit that he was proud of the decisions I was making."

"Drugs have a way of deadening your conscience and making it easier to make bad decisions. During the time that I was drinking and doing drugs, I made some decisions that I knew were wrong but could live with because drugs were able to cover up the feelings that surrounded them."

"I was stealing from my grandma and my parents all the time to buy drugs, and I blamed it on the maid or other family members. I still can't believe some of the things I did to get money. It was unreal...stuff I could never have imagined myself doing. It wasn't even me."

"I was starting to think about quitting when something happened to one of my friends that really helped me decide. There was this big New Year's Eve rave at a golf course, and all the cops were there. People were passing out vials, but they were supposed to be legal. We were told the vials were filled with herbal stuff. My friend was on what was called a 'drug-free spree,' so he decided to take one of the supposedly herbal mixtures. About halfway through the night a bunch of kids were getting chest pains and an ambulance came and took them away, including my friend. A lot of people were in critical condition, and my friend died of a heart attack. Later I heard that the vials had been laced with heroin. I never went to another rave, and I stopped all the hard-core drugs after that."

"I never tried many drugs. A friend did give me some poppers though. I didn't think much of them. If you take a drag off the fumes you get this head rush that makes you think you're invincible. I took the little bottle to a party once. I didn't show it to many people. I would take friends into the bathroom and let them all take drags off it. One time I took a friend and his girlfriend into the bathroom because he wanted to try it. His girlfriend started crying and freaking out because he used to be addicted to sniffing gasoline, and she didn't want him to do it. She tried to get out of the room, and he blocked the door and wouldn't let either of us out. He then threw her to the floor after she kept on trying to leave. I freaked out on him and took her out of the room myself. As I left the party I realized how much a substance like that could change a person. I chucked the bottle that night."

"Getting sent to jail was a turning point for me. I was there on charges I knew I shouldn't have committed. I was brought before a judge, and the two guys in front of me had just been sent away for a year or more. When my turn came up, I said a prayer and promised if I were given a second chance I'd make the most of it and clean myself up for good. I was given a suspended sentence if I would get into drug treatment. I got into a program and worked hard at it. I never want to lose my freedom again, and I never want to be controlled by anyone or any substance."

"A couple of months after I'd been clean, when I knew for sure that was what I really wanted, I was praying for confirmation about what I was doing. I hadn't felt the Spirit for a long time, but that night it hit me so hard I got in touch with my spiritual self again and remembered who I was as a spiritual being. It was an intense and incredible feeling, and since then I've wanted to know more about myself and our religion. I read the Book of Mormon all the way through for the first time in my life, and I haven't lost the feeling of having the Spirit with me since."

9. What was the aftermath of your use? Any losses, issues, etc.?

"I lost time that could have been spent improving myself and growing closer to my Heavenly Father. I made a lot of stupid mistakes during that time that I would normally not have made, but through repentance I know I am forgiven."

"One thing that I really regret is not ever playing basketball in high school. I love basketball but couldn't find the motivation to do anything active or that took commitment."

"I lost most of my friendships. No one ever refused to be my friend or anything but after awhile we had nothing in common, and the friendship just dwindled into non-existing. I had a lot of relationships to try to heal with my family and loved ones. There were a lot of apologies to be made and a lot of things to ask forgiveness for."

"My biggest regret is the horrible example I was to my non-member friends. I was the only Mormon they knew, but I was as bad as they were, and in a lot of cases worse. I've tried to go back and show them that I've changed without being obnoxious about it. I don't think that I can ever fully repair that damage."

"I lost my close family relationships, including my brothers and sisters. I also lost my self respect for awhile."

"I lost my innocence. I wish I could go back and be like my friends who haven't gone through the things I have."

"I lost the trust of all my family members. I lost the girl I wanted to marry. I also lost too many years of my life. I should be back from my mission, almost done with school, and ready to start a family. Instead, I am trying to get worthy and turn my papers in."

10. Does this choice affect you still, today? If so, how?

"Yes, it does. I have to work harder at not being worldly than my friends who never got into drinking or drugs."

"Sometimes I still feel bad about the choices I made. When I got married, it made everything harder knowing some of the bad decisions I'd made and seeing how they affected me in ways I couldn't have predicted. When I was using drugs, I lost my chastity, and even though I had repented so long ago, now I had to worry about whether I was healthy and about getting tested for AIDS and other diseases."

"The choice I made that night when I took my first drink and the many other bad choices that followed for five years still affect me to this day. Through the atonement I have learned to forgive myself, and I know my sins are forgiven, but memories and feelings of those days will always haunt me. Things that happened can be forgiven, but the consequences still follow. Also, I'm not sure you can ever forget the 'high' once you've felt it, and when life gets hard I worry that I'll be tempted in that area again."

"I think I'm more understanding of people who get addicted to alcohol and drugs now. A lot of members have no tolerance for people who have addictions. On my mission I knew how to deal with investigators who had Word of Wisdom problems. I knew what they needed to hear."

"I have a lot of emotional scars, not only from using drugs, but from immorality. The immorality has left a huge emotional scar that will affect me the rest of my life. Those mental images are so hard to block out, and it takes a long time and a lot of work to have them not affect you in your everyday life."

"My choices do still affect me today. I've repented to the best of my ability, but sometimes I doubt my repentance could ever be complete. This doubt can leave me very unhappy at times. I still remember my lowest and most degraded moments, and I still see myself as a person who was once capable of those things. But I am working on forgiving myself."

11. .Please describe your struggle with repentance in general, and any specific experience in particular.

"I kept putting off going to the bishop for months because I was embarrassed and had too much pride. I rationalized that I would go to him sometime. Finally, when I did see the bishop, I felt like a weight was lifted off my chest."

"I had a great struggle with my repentance process because I didn't only have to repent for doing drugs, I had to repent for things that I allowed myself to do because drugs had taken my morals from me. It took my entire mission to feel that I had been really forgiven for the things that I had done. I remember talking to companions who hadn't done any drugs and seeing how guilt-free they were able to be, and I really envied them."

"Describing my repentance process would be almost impossible. I think many LDS youths today choose to drink, do drugs, or have sex because they think they can repent later, like I did. When young people hear my story and see that I have a pretty good life now, they think that it was a piece of cake to do the 'fun' stuff, then apologize and work everything out as if it never happened. I've tried to explain to some young people that I suffered so much because of my choices. Not only did I suffer, but my younger brothers and sisters suffered and my parents suffered. Unfortunately, I didn't videotape the hours I spent crying alone. Nobody ever saw as I begged the Lord to grant me a testimony and got no answer for many months. Nobody felt my self-doubt and depression as I went through the process. It's truly something you can't understand unless you've gone through it. That's why much of this advice will have to be taken on faith alone."

"Repentance was the worst and the best of feelings all at once. Most of my repentance was from choices I made while involved in the drug culture. Those choices led to disfellowshipment from the Church for one year. It was a long and slow road back. I had so much to learn and to accept about the gospel. I spent hours and hours in my bishop's office. We cried together, and we laughed together. Making a 360 is never easy, but through that year I learned to forgive myself and others. Most of all, I learned Heavenly Father always loved me and was only waiting for me to ask forgiveness so that he could let me feel the love of our Savior in my life. But the year following my repentance process was hard too. I moved away from home. It was the only way to get on with my life. I felt more alone than ever. I had not had LDS friendships for so long that it was hard to know how to make LDS friends. My bishop was no longer there for me to lean on. Repentance is a lifelong process, and I had five years of spiritual 'catching up' to do."

"When I drank I messed around with a lot of girls. One night I took it way too far. The next day I felt sick and miserable with regret and shame. I didn't date any more for over a year. I didn't feel too close to my bishop, so I kept it bottled up inside until I left home for school a year and a half later. I was pretty unhappy during that period of time. It was an incredible feeling to finally have that burden lifted when I went through the repentance process."

"I felt terrible about what I had put my parents through. Later on they told me how helpless and sad they felt. They felt like nothing they could say to me made a difference. Luckily, they hung in there and kept trying."

"The first few months of my mission I felt a lot of guilt and unworthiness, even though I'd already repented with my bishop before I went. I was having trouble feeling forgiven, so I kept going to my Mission President and confessing the same old things over and over. He finally helped me understand that Heavenly Father had already forgiven me, but that the hardest thing of all was going to be forgiving myself."

"Repentance is not an easy process. The steps are simple, but repentance is hard."

12. Finally, knowing what you know now, what is your advice to LDS youth on this subject?

"If you're having problems, go seek your bishop's counsel; don't put it off. He loves you and wants to help you. One thing my bishop said to me was that he was sorry I had to bear that burden alone. Go talk to him even if you feel like you can handle everything yourself. If you feel like you can't stop, because you already have made so many bad choices, make the commitment today to stop. Tomorrow will be a new day and a new beginning."

"My advice is not to start using drugs. They seem like fun, but they are really very harmful. They mess you up way more than can be seen at first glance."

"If you're using drugs you probably don't want to believe right then that the Church is true. You might not ever find out either because you don't really have the Spirit. A way you could find out if you're right or wrong is to try obeying the Word of Wisdom for six months. Go to church and do all the things you're supposed to. At the end, see how you feel. If it sounds too hard to stop doing everything for six months, you probably need to get help for addiction."

"My advice to LDS youth is to focus on the things that you enjoy that do fit with the gospel. You don't necessarily have to become a religious nut to help yourself grow. Focus on the things that you are good at, that make you unique, and improve those things. You don't have the time to waste in a long and unhappy repentance process. You'll be happier to just avoid it altogether. Don't be fooled by THE LIE, that the drinking and drug lifestyle will bring you happiness. The fun is temporary and comes at a very expensive price."

"I would advise LDS youth to stay away from all types of drugs. Don't let curiosity kill you! Learn to deal with your feelings you have now. Someone who becomes dependent on drugs never learns to cope as long as they are doing drugs. And it is much harder to handle a twenty-year-old's problems when your emotional maturity pretty much stopped at age thirteen. There is so much more to life than drugs can offer. Learn to have fun on your own, and you won't need drugs to do it for you. The plus side to that is you can remember what you did the night before. Life is hard enough, so don't make it harder by adding drugs to the equation. Most importantly, learn to love yourself and know that you are a child of God with many important things to do while you are here... and if you're high, you can't do those things!"

"Stay away from drugs! Stay close to your family. They're the only ones who have been there from the beginning and will always be there for you. Listen to your parents, and be honest. You can't get help if no one knows you have a problem. Be up front about what you're doing so everyone around you knows what you're dealing with."

"My advice? That's tough to sum up. Gain a real testimony for yourself—find out if all of this is true. When you do find out, make a commitment to yourself and Heavenly Father. Be tough and stand up for what you know is true. If it gets rough at times, suck it up. Learn from other's mistakes rather than your own. You'll save yourself a lot of regret. Last of all, know that someone understands. If there's nobody that you know that understands, know that Christ understands."

"I hope you can listen and not be like me and have to find out the hard way. I wish I could go back and make my decisions again because I have a lot of things that I feel bad about in my life, and it isn't that easy to get over them."

This column has been written by remarkable and generous young men and women who have willingly shared their real feelings and experiences with you. (Thanks, everyone!) It isn't always easy to learn from someone else's experience, but it can sure save a lot of heartache. Let's seal their words with the addition of some wise, loving, and inspirational thoughts from Elder Boyd K. Packer. It almost seems like he's spoken to some of the young people quoted here.

"Youth suffers from a lingering thirst that has become a drive. Though it gnaws within them, it is not physical. They want to know what it all means—they are seeking the true meaning of life. There is something missing from their lives, some vital substance they have not tasted.

"Many of them unfortunately seek it in physical satisfaction. They smash down the boundaries of morality and...indulge themselves in every manner conceivable to the limit of physical experience, seeking in physical gratification some taste of life. They come away less satisfied than before, the thirst and the craving more acute.

"Then many of them turn elsewhere, seeking to escape the futility in life. They turn to drugs and find for a moment the escape they seek. At last their spirits soar. They reach beyond themselves, erase all limitations, and taste for a moment, as they suppose, that which they have been seeking. But it is a synthetic, a wicked counterfeit, for they return to a depression worse than the one they left. Then they become players in the saddest of human tragedies. For, as they turn again to this release, they are not seeking what they sought before, but indulge to escape the consequences of each previous adventure with drugs. This is addiction! This is tragedy! This is slavery! When a remedy becomes worse than the disease, then we have found futility itself."

President Packer continues by offering this advice: "If...young people would listen for a moment—listen seriously enough that I could speak from the depths of my soul—there are some things I would tell [them]...

"...There is a spiritual answer to your need; I hope you won't dismiss it or ridicule the possibility. 'Don't knock it till you've tried it' is sound counsel. ...You may say you've been to church, that you've tried religion and not been satisfied. ...No one can compel you to taste of this living water. It can come only when you consent. There are no conscripts, only volunteers. If you are to find it, you must pay more, by a thousandfold, than you ever paid before, reach farther than you have ever reached, use more courage and self- discipline than you ever knew you had. But at the end of all that comes the promise: 'Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am; And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world'." (D&C 93:1-2).

The apostle's closing words hold both a warning and an explanation of the Lord's promise. Elder Packer speaks clearly: "I must be plain to say to you, my young friend, that when you come to know [that He is], it will be on His terms—not on yours. 'Therefore,' He has said, 'sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you will see him: for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will'." (D&C 88:68).

And now for the good news! "The fact—the positive, irrefutable truth—is that what you [the youth of the Church] seek...exists. And when you find it, it will not take you out of the world. You will find a greater need to be in the mainstream of life facing the same issues that are so disturbing to you now, but you'll face them with a different light."

Finally, an invitation is extended: "We bid you—our restless, seeking youth—to come, quench that spiritual thirst. The Lord has said: 'Whosoever drinketh of...water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life'." (John 4:13-14).

Elder Packer closes with his testimony: "I bear to you my witness, as one among those authorized to bear that witness, that God does live, Jesus is the Christ, this is His church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He directs his church and ministers in the midst of his Saints. There is a prophet of God directing this work. Youth is needed to carry it on. We bid you to come, in the name of Jesus Christ" (Boyd K. Packer, CR, October 1969).

What do you think other prophets have said on this subject? (Talk about word [s] of wisdom!) In next week's installment, we'll find out.