Elder Ballard shares his thoughts about finding peace in our lives.  He uses the Savior's ministry as the basis for his comments and shares that true peace is found in living the teachings of the Savior.

• In turbulent and sometimes frightening times, the Savior’s promise of infinite and eternal peace resonates with special power to us, just as His ability to calm the crashing waves must have profoundly affected those who were with Him on the Sea of Galilee that stormy night so long ago.
• Like those who were alive at the time of His mortal ministry, there are some among us who look for physical peace and prosperity as signs of the Savior’s wondrous power. We sometimes fail to understand that the everlasting peace Jesus promises is an inner peace, born in faith, anchored by testimony, nurtured with love, and expressed through continual obedience and repentance. It is a peace of spirit that echoes through the heart and the soul. If one truly knows and experiences this inner peace, there is no fear from worldly disharmony or discord. One knows deep down inside that all is well as far as the things that really matter are concerned.
  

President Hinckley addressed this same topic the night before in the priesthood session.  Elder Ballard quotes President Hinckley:

• As President Hinckley instructed the brethren last night, there is no peace in sin. There may be ease, popularity, fame, and even prosperity, but there is no peace. “Wickedness never was happiness.” One cannot be at peace if one is living a life out of harmony with revealed truth. There is no peace in being mean-spirited or contentious. There is no peace in vulgarity, promiscuity, or permissiveness. There is no peace in addiction to drugs, alcohol, or pornography. There is no peace in being abusive to others in any way, whether it be emotionally, physically, or sexually, for those who are abusive will remain in mental and spiritual turmoil until they come to Christ in all humility and seek forgiveness through complete repentance.
  

Peace comes to us in the form of the Light of Christ.  Peace can be given to member and non-member as we all strive to do the things the Lord would have us do in life.

• At one time or another I believe everyone yearns for the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” That peace for our troubled hearts only comes to us as we follow the Light of Christ, which is “given to every man, that he may know good from evil,” as it leads us to repent of sins and seek forgiveness.
  

Elder Ballard says that real peace is found in following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

• Peace—real peace, whole-souled to the very core of your being—comes only in and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When that precious truth is discovered and gospel principles are understood and applied, great peace can distill in the hearts and souls of our Heavenly Father’s children.

He concludes with hope that we will share the peace that we have found in our lives with others.  Our example is the greatest thing we have to share with the world.  We need to show the world the peace the Savior offers to each of us.

• God’s peace is not to be hoarded. Rather, it is to be shared liberally with our families, our friends, and our communities. It is to be shared with the Church as well as those who are not members of our Church. While those around us may not choose to taste the sweetness and peace of the fulness of the restored gospel for themselves, surely they will be blessed by seeing it in our lives and feeling the peace of the gospel in our presence. The message of peace will grow and expand through our example.
  

I am a firm believer that peace in our lives is only found when we are living the standards of the gospel.  There is no peace in sin and no peace in rejecting the Savior.  I have found in my life, that when I am in need of additional guidance, when I need help to solve a problem in my life, I can find that assistance as I draw closer to the Savior.  His great love blesses us when we turn to Him and seek to become closer to Him and follow His example.  Test it out, the next time you have trials in your life, seek to turn to the Lord quickly and the trial will be decreased as you focus on the Savior.

Elder Hales speaks in conference after the 2002 Olympics that were held in Salt Lake City.  He speaks about the many people that were introduced to the church for the first time and the many that questioned where the light in the eyes of the people came from.  He speaks about the light of Christ that is found within all of us and speaks specifically of that greater light that is within members of the church that have the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

• The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead, a personage of spirit. He is the Comforter, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of Promise. He testifies of Jesus Christ, His work, and the work of His servants upon the earth. He acts as a cleansing agent to purify and sanctify us from sin. He comforts us and brings peace to our soul. The right to His constant companionship is among the greatest gifts we can receive in mortality, for by the light of His promptings and His cleansing power, we can be led back into the presence of God.

He speaks about the law that requires light and darkness to not occupy the say space.  The light will remove the darkness and the only way for the darkness to return is for the light to be diminished.  He likens this to our spiritual life.

• Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs. When the spiritual light of the Holy Ghost is present, the darkness of Satan departs.
  

Elder Hales uses a great story from his childhood to talk about generating light on his bicycle.  He uses this story to talk about the spiritual light we must generate to keep ourselves on the right path.

• When I was a boy, I used to ride my bicycle home from basketball practice at night. I would connect a small pear-shaped generator to my bicycle tire. Then as I pedaled, the tire would turn a tiny rotor, which produced electricity and emitted a single, welcome beam of light. It was a simple but effective mechanism. But I had to pedal to make it work! I learned quickly that if I stopped pedaling my bicycle, the light would go out. I also learned that when I was “anxiously engaged” in pedaling, the light would become brighter and the darkness in front of me would be dispelled.
  
• The generation of spiritual light comes from daily spiritual pedaling. It comes from praying, studying the scriptures, fasting, and serving—from living the gospel and obeying the commandments. “He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light,” said the Lord, “and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.” My brothers and sisters, that perfect day will be when we will stand in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.
• Sometimes people ask, “Why do I have to go to sacrament meeting?” or “Why do I have to live the Word of Wisdom, pay tithing? Why can’t I have one foot in Babylon?” May I tell you why? Because spiritual pedaling takes both feet! Unless you are fully engaged in living the gospel—living it with all of your “heart, might, mind and strength” — you cannot generate enough spiritual light to push back the darkness.
  
• It is as predictable as any physical law: if we let the light of the Spirit flicker or fade by failing to keep the commandments or by not partaking of the sacrament or praying or studying the scriptures, the darkness of the adversary will surely come in. “That wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience.”

Elder Hales concludes by sharing his testimony of the Savior and the light that His life has brought into the work.

• I bear my special witness that Jesus Christ “is the light and the life of the world; yea, [the] light that is endless, that can never be darkened.”
  • He is the Light of Bethlehem, born of Mary, His mortal mother, and His Father, Almighty God.
    
  • He is the Light who was baptized by immersion, by John the Baptist, upon whom the Holy Ghost was manifest in the Spirit like a dove descending.
    
  • He is the Light in whom His Father was well pleased.
    
  • He is the Light at the head of the ancient Church, organized with Twelve Apostles, prophets, and seventies.
    
  • He is the Light of the Atonement fulfilled in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Golgotha, who took upon Himself the sins of the world, that all mankind may obtain eternal salvation.
    
  • He is the Light of the empty tomb, the resurrected Lord with a glorified body of flesh and bone, who broke the bands of death and gained an everlasting victory over the grave.
    
  • He is the Light that ascended into heaven before the eyes of His disciples, with a promise that in like manner He would come again.
    
  • He is the Light that appeared with His Father and restored, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the same Church He established during His ministry on earth.
  • He is the Light that leads and guides this Church today through revelation to a prophet, his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles.
    
  • He is my Light, my Redeemer, my Savior—and yours.
    

The analogy of light is so fitting when we talk about the Savior.  He is truly the light of the world.  All good things we have in our lives comes from Him.  He is the light that turns away darkness.  He is the light that shines in the eyes of those that are living the gospel.  I have seen that light in many instances and when I have inquired, it is brought about by righteous living and a desire to serve God with all our hearts.  The great thing is that we don't have to keep this light to ourselves.  We can share this light and help others grow in the light.  We can bring others into the light, help them recognize what they need to do to generate their own light, and help the feel and recognize the amazing things the Savior can do with their lives.  Share the light you have inside and bring great blessings to those that are seeking for this light in their lives.

Elder Holland uses the parable of the Prodigal Son as a basis for his talk about envy.  The story speaks of two brothers, one older brother who seems to do everything right in his life, and a younger, unwise brother who leaves home and squanders the inheritance that his father has given him.  When the younger brother returns home looking for some compassion, he is met with open arms.

• The tender image of this boy’s anxious, faithful father running to meet him and showering him with kisses is one of the most moving and compassionate scenes in all of holy writ. It tells every child of God, wayward or otherwise, how much God wants us back in the protection of His arms.
  

The older brother is jealous, not that the boy has returned home, but that his parents are so welcoming to the younger brother who did everything wrong.  Elder Holland asks us why this older brother was so bothered by his parent's reaction.

• Who is it that whispers so subtly in our ear that a gift given to another somehow diminishes the blessings we have received? Who makes us feel that if God is smiling on another, then He surely must somehow be frowning on us? You and I both know who does this—it is the father of all lies. It is Lucifer, our common enemy, whose cry down through the corridors of time is always and to everyone, “Give me thine honor.”
  
• It has been said that envy is the one sin to which no one readily confesses, but just how widespread that tendency can be is suggested in the old Danish proverb, “If envy were a fever, all the world would be ill.” The parson in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales laments it because it is so far-reaching—it can resent anything, including any virtue and talent, and it can be offended by everything, including every goodness and joy. As others seem to grow larger in our sight, we think we must therefore be smaller. So, unfortunately, we occasionally act that way.
  
• How does this happen, especially when we wish so much that it would not? I think one of the reasons is that every day we see allurements of one kind or another that tell us what we have is not enough. Someone or something is forever telling us we need to be more handsome or more wealthy, more applauded or more admired than we see ourselves as being. We are told we haven’t collected enough possessions or gone to enough fun places. We are bombarded with the message that on the world’s scale of things we have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Some days it is as if we have been locked in a cubicle of a great and spacious building where the only thing on the TV is a never-ending soap opera entitled Vain Imaginations.

Elder Holland assures us that even though we see the world in this manner sometimes, God does not.

• But God does not work this way. The father in this story does not tantalize his children. He does not mercilessly measure them against their neighbors. He doesn’t even compare them with each other. His gestures of compassion toward one do not require a withdrawal or denial of love for the other. He is divinely generous to both of these sons. Toward both of his children he extends charity. I believe God is with us the way my precious wife, Pat, is with my singing. She is a gifted musician, something of a musical genius, but I couldn’t capture a musical note with Velcro. And yet I know she loves me in a very special way when I try to sing. I know that because I can see it in her eyes. They are the eyes of love.

Elder Holland talks about the main issue with the son in the story was that he was suffering from the great sin of coveting.  We would all be wise to recognize where this sin comes from and how damaging it can be to not understand that our journey back to our Father in Heaven is about a race against others, it is simply a race against ourselves.

• Most “thou shalt not” commandments are meant to keep us from hurting others, but I am convinced the commandment not to covet is meant to keep us from hurting ourselves.
  
• How can we overcome such a tendency so common in almost everyone? For one thing, we can do as these two sons did and start making our way back to the Father. We should do so with as much haste and humility as we can summon. Along the way we can count our many blessings and we can applaud the accomplishments of others. Best of all, we can serve others, the finest exercise for the heart ever prescribed. But finally these will not be enough. When we are lost, we can “come to ourselves,” but we may not always be able to “find ourselves,” and, worlds without end, we cannot “save ourselves.” Only the Father and His Only Begotten Son can do that. Salvation is in Them only. So we pray that They will help us, that They will “come out” to meet and embrace us and bring us into the feast They have prepared.
  
• They will do this! The scriptures are replete with the promise that God’s grace is sufficient. This is one arena where no one has to claw or compete.

Elder Holland ends with words of encouragement for us all.

• No one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, “robes … made … white in the blood of the Lamb.”
  

It is so easy to get lost in the idea that someone else's success comes at a cost of our prosperity.  This is a natural and unnecessary feeling.  There is room for all of our success in the kingdom of God.  As a father, I want to be mindful of the way my kids could see some of the reactions that I have to things that they do.  I don't want one to feel that my love for them is diminished by my expression of love for another's.  These feels are natural when we feel we need to compete for attention, time, or affection.  It is my goal to try to consider how my actions might be causing concerns with my kids and make sure I show an outpouring of love and attention to each of them. Our Father in Heaven loves us and that love isn't diminished by Him blessing someone else or by showing His hand in someone elses life.