Quote 1

"One of the false notions of our society is that we are victims of our appetites and passions. But the truth is that the body is controlled by the spirit which inhabits it" (Terrance D. Olson, "Teaching Morality to Your Children," Ensign, Mar. 1981, p. 14).

Quote 2

"Some become enslaved with compulsive habits or yield to appetites or to improper actions, and plead that they are helpless before their habit-that they are compelled, persuaded; that temptation was stronger than their will to resist. But we can choose. ... We can break bad habits; we can acquire good habits; we can choose what we think by the sheer determination to do so" (Richard L. Evans, "Self Control," Improvement Era, Dec. 1963, p. 1113).

Quote 3

President Brigham Young said

"When you are overtaken in a fault, or commit an overt act unthinkingly; when you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has put into your tabernacles, take the lead. If you do that, I will promise that you will overcome all evil, and obtain eternal lives" (in Journal of Discourses, 2:256; italics added).

Story 1

Thunderous applause filled the concert hall. One of the world's greatest violinists had just completed his final selection of the evening's program. Eagerly, a woman made her way to the stage in hopes of expressing her admiration to this great artist. Threading her way through the crowd, she finally reached him. Shaking his hand, she said exuberantly, "Oh, I'd give my life if I could play like that!" He promptly responded, "Madam, I have!"

Story 2

"Everyone else was doing it, so why shouldn't I? The commandments only said we shouldn't take the Lord's name in vain. I found myself trying to justify my reasons for swearing, but it wasn't helping. I knew that it was wrong to swear, even if all my friends did it. It kept bothering me, and I finally decided that I had better do something about my problem. I felt somehow 'dirty' and unworthy to approach the Lord in prayer. But I knew that if I didn't repent, it would just make matters worse.

"I started to try to control myself for just one day. I knew I had made swearing a habit. I heard so many vulgar expressions all day long at school that it seemed natural to swear also. I decided I would try to get through one day without doing it.

"The first day I consciously tried, and I did all right until lunchtime. Then everyone was excited and noisy and before I knew it, my mouth had run right along with my emotions. I hardly realized I had said it; but when I was once again aware of my habit, I felt disappointed and sick inside.

"That night I prayed very hard and asked for strength. The next day I got up the courage to tell my two best friends at school that I didn't feel good about our language and that I was trying to change. I tried again that day.

"I had no idea that it would be so hard. Somehow I always felt living the gospel would always be easy. It took four days until I finally made it through one day without swearing. I was so excited but knew that each day I would have to be very careful. It would be too easy to slip and get back into my old habits.

"I kept praying all through this time for strength. I progressed and stopped the bad language, but I didn't feel that I had been forgiven. Then we had a testimony meeting in our Young Women meeting. I asked my friends to forgive me for the bad example I had been. I felt the Spirit there so strongly that I couldn't suppress my desire to bear my testimony. I expressed my love for my Heavenly Father and for his Son and for the gospel. When I had finished, it was like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I knew that I had been forgiven."

Story 3

"A missionary serving in the eastern United States was confronted by a college student who was less interested in the [gospel] message than in the missionary's strict moral code. The student sneeringly asked the missionary how he controlled his desires when there were so many beautiful girls around, implying that the missionary must not [have normal feelings]. The elder explained: 'It is not that I am abnormal; it is that I know I am responsible and in charge of mind and body. You think you are helpless in the face of your desires. You think you are a victim of them. I have proven to myself that I am the master of those feelings' " (Terrance D. Olson, "Teaching Morality to Your Children," p. 14).

Case Study 1

Some of my friends at school invited me to a party. I was excited to go because one of the boys I particularly liked had told me he would be there and wanted me to come. I was really looking forward to being with him. When my girlfriends and I arrived, we realized that the parents were away and the party was unchaperoned. The lights were down low. Some of the kids were dancing and some others were pairing off, kissing, and necking. The fellow I liked saw me come in.

Case Study 1 Conclusion

I knew I should leave the party, but I really liked this boy. I was worried about what he would think if I left. It was dark outside. I didn't want to walk all the way home alone. Finally, I gained control of my feelings. I called my parents and asked them to come and pick me up.

Case Study 2

I knew we weren't supposed to date until we were sixteen, but I had a lot of fun at school talking and kidding around with boys. One of these was Brad, a good-looking boy who seemed to like me. One day at lunch he asked me to meet him at the shopping mall and go to a movie with him. There was a Young Women activity planned for the same time. It would be easy to tell my parents I was going to the activity and catch the bus to the mall instead. I would get back about the same time the activity was ending. I said, "Yes." But, when the time came for me to leave home, I felt really nervous. My mom called to me to make sure I had my jacket and said, "Have fun!" Then she went back into the house.

Case Study 2 Conclusion

I started toward the bus stop. I should have felt happy. I was going to see a great movie with a boy who liked me. So why did I feel so bad? Half of me felt like running to the bus; the other half felt like running back. I stopped dead still on the sidewalk. I thought of all the pretending I would have to do when I came home, the lies I would tell for many days. Then I remembered a phrase my dad had taught us: "Where there's a will, there's a won't." I felt myself calming down, beginning to think more clearly. I told myself to go home, call Brad, tell him I wouldn't be there and why, and then to get on to the activity. I then did what I told myself to do.