"We have not been blessed with moral agency to do whatever we want whenever we will.  Rather, according to the Father's plan, we have received moral agency to choose the right, to do good, and to become whatever God intends for us to become."

David A. Bednar
Act in Doctrine

"One of the greatest indicators of righteous character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us.  Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress.  Therefore, character is demonstrated by looking, turning, and reaching outward when the instinctive response of the "natural man" (Mosiah 3:19) in each of us is to turn inward and to be selfish and self-absorbed.  And the Savior of the world is the source, the standard, and the ultimate criterion of moral character and the perfect example of charity and consistency."

David A. Bednar
Act in Doctorine

"Line upon line and precept upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God.  Conversion unto the Lord requires both persistence and patience."

David A. Bednar
"Converted Unto the Lord," Ensign November 2012