"Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid of sacrifice. Please enjoy the happiness and blessings from the sacrifice itself."
"The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that 'a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.' If we summarize the history of the scriptures, we can say that it is the history of sacrifice.
"We can find wonderful examples in the scriptures of those who sacrificed their lives in order to keep their faith and testimonies."
"Today we are not likely to be asked to make such a big sacrifice as giving up our lives, but we can see many examples of saints who make painful sacrifices to keep their faith and testimonies alive. Maybe it is more difficult to make the small sacrifices in our daily lives. For instance, it could be regarded as a small sacrifice to keep the Sabbath Day holy, to read the scriptures daily, or to pay our tithing." But these sacrifices won't happen unless members have "the mind and determination to make the sacrifice" necessary to keep the commandments.
"As we make these small sacrifices, we are compensated by more blessings from the Lord," though occasionally "there is a time gap between the sacrifice and the blessing."
"I think the very first blessing coming from sacrifice is the joy that we can feel when we pay the price. Perhaps the very thought that the sacrifice itself could be a blessing becomes a blessing."
