Gratitude Builds Virtues
Gratitude Builds Virtues
President Quinn’s Weekly Message
California Santa Rosa Mission
November 25th, 2024
We extend a warm welcome to the 14 new missionaries who joined us last Wednesday. We are grateful to serve with you in CASRM. We look forward to getting to know you better as we serve together in the work of the Lord.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, I wish to share a few thoughts on the virtue of gratitude. President Monson taught, “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
Think for a minute of the many virtues we can foster by practicing gratitude – kindness, love, forgiveness, patience, and humility to name a few. Even the virtue of faith is strengthened through gratitude. In the 17thchapter of Luke, we read of the experience when the Savior healed 10 lepers. Only one of the cleansed lepers returned to express his appreciation to the Savior. He fell at the Savior’s feet to express his profound gratitude. The Savior’s response to this man was:
“Arise, go thy way: Thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:12-19)
It is interesting that the Lord did not say, “Your gratitude has made you whole”? Instead, He said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.”
The leper’s expression of gratitude was recognized by the Savior as an expression of his faith. As we pray and express gratitude to our loving Heavenly Father, we are also expressing our faith in Him. Gratitude is our sweet acknowledgment of the Lord’s hand in our lives; it is an expression of our faith. Bonnie D. Parkin, a former General Relief Society President, also taught this same truth:
“Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God’s love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence.”
Missionaries have asked me in interviews how they can strengthen the faith of their prayers. I have counseled them to fill their prayers with sincere expressions of gratitude, rather than a long list of requests for blessings. In my own life, I have felt the deepest connection to my Father in Heaven in prayers filled with expressions of gratitude for my blessings – rather than a prayer filled with requests for blessings.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to ponder and express gratitude for the many blessings of our lives. I promise your faith will grow as you express sincere gratitude to our loving Heavenly Father.
We made miraculous progress towards our goal last week. We had another 2 baptisms this weekend. That makes for a total of 29 baptisms since the challenge was issued. We have 46 friends on date between now and the end of the year – 12 of these friends were put on date last week. WOW! I know we can reach our goal. Keep up the good work.
Sister Quinn and I count each of you among our choicest blessings. You are a blessing to us!
Love,
President Quinn
(707) 758-6380
