Esther 4:14 Reserved 6000 years, President Ezra Taft Benson:

“For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance before the second coming of the Lord.  Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not...While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, there is a major difference this time.  It is that God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly.  And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God.  All through the ages the prophets have looked down the corridors of time to our day.  Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes upon us.  Make no mistake about it-you are a marked generation.  There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is for us” ("In His Steps," BYU speeches of the Year, 1979 [Provo, Utah: BYU Press, 1980], p.59).   

1 Kings 19:11-12. Elder Holland. The Lord speaks to us in a voice still and small.

Elder Holland:

“Please know that your Father in Heaven loves you and so does His only Begotten Son. When They speak to you - and They will – it will not be in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but it will be with a voice still and small, a voice tender and kind” (The Tongue of Angeles, Ensign May 2007, 18)

1 Kings 19:11-12 President Packer. The spirit is so gentle, we may not feel it if we are preoccupied.

President Packer:

“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we many not feel it at all…. “Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening” (“The Candle of the Lord” Ensign, Jan 1983, 53) 

1 Kings 18:21 You are free to choose to follow the Lord or not.

1 Kings 18:21

“You are responsible for the choices you make. God is mindful of you and will help you make good choices, even if your family and friends use their agency in ways that are not right. Have the moral courage to stand firm in obeying God’s will, even if you have to stand alone. As you do this, you set an example for others to follow.

“While you are free to choose your course of action, you are not free to choose the consequences. Whether for good or bad, consequences follow as a natural result of the choices you make” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 2).

1 Kings 6:12-13. Do nothing which would keep you from entering the temple.

1 Kings 6:12-13. Do nothing which would keep you from entering the temple.

President Monson:

“Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. . . . Now my young friends, who are in your teenage years, always have the temple in your sights. Do nothing which would keep you from entering its doors, and partaking of the sacred and eternal blessings there.

“Your sacrifice may be bringing your life into compliance with what is required to receive a recommend, perhaps by forsaking long-held habits which disqualify you” (“The Holy Temple—a Beacon to the World,” Ensign, May 2011, 92–93).

The Book of Leviticus

About the book of Leviticus:

The word Leviticus is a Latin word that has reference to the Levites—one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Levites held the lesser priesthood and were given the responsibility to officiate in the tabernacle and later at the temple in Jerusalem (see Numbers 3:5–10). The book of Leviti­cus contains instructions on performing priesthood duties, such as animal sacrifice and other rituals that would help teach the children of Israel about Jesus Christ and His Atonement (see Alma 34:13–14). The Lord revealed a primary purpose for the instructions He gave in the book of Leviticus: “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2; see also Leviticus 11:44–45; 20:26; 21:6).

Moses is the author of Leviticus. Moses and his older brother, Aaron, were both members of the tribe of Levi (see Exodus 6:16–20).

The book of Leviticus has been described as a priesthood handbook for Aaron and his sons (who served as priests) and for the Levites generally. Through these instructions, we learn about the laws, rituals, ceremonies, and festivals that would teach Israel how to be clean, holy, and different from the world. 

Central to the book of Leviticus is the con­cept of atonement; the word atonement occurs more frequently in this book than in any other book of scripture. Leviticus describes in detail the system of animal sacrifices that served to remind Israel that “it is the blood that maketh an atone­ment for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Thus, these sacrifices symbolically pointed Israel forward to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who would shed His blood to atone for the sins of mankind. (Seminary Teacher Manual p.200)

Leviticus 1:9 How to live the law of Sacrifice

Elder M. Russell Bal­lard:

“After the Savior’s ultimate sacrifice,. . . .the ordinance of the sacrament replaced the ordinance of sacrifice. . . . This change moved the focus of the sacrifice from a person’s animal to the person himself. In a sense, the sacrifice changed from the offering to theofferer. . . .

“. . . Instead of the Lord requiring our animals or grain, now He wants us to give up all that is ungodly. . . . Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: ‘Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. In­stead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!’ (‘Deny Yourselves of All Ungodliness,’ Ensign, May 1995, 68).

“. . . When we overcome our own selfish desires and put God first in our lives and cov­enant to serve Him regardless of the cost, we are then living the law of sacrifice” (“The Law of Sacrifice,” Ensign, Oct. 1998, 10).