D&C
And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.
D&C 20:37
And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
Mosiah 18:8
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
John 3:5
Would you honestly want everything spelled out in every detail? Would you honestly want every question answered? Every destination mapped out?
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf (April 2020)
There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated
D&C 130:20
Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.
Alma 38:12
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
John 7:17
Repentance is a wrenching personal spiritual experience, and powerful conversion is more of the same. A missionary cannot of himself or herself manipulate in another person true repentance or genuine conversion. It cannot be done. A truly changed heart can only be produced by the Spirit of God. It can’t be done by tricks or charming people. It certainly cannot be falsified or counterfeited.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (Missionary Devotional 2021)
Wherefore, although a man should be baptized an hundred times it availeth him nothing, for you cannot enter in at the strait gate by the law of Moses, neither by your dead works.
D&C 22:2
Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.
Alma 7:15
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
2 Kings 23:3
We are admonished by prophets and apostles to awake unto God, be “born again,” and become new creatures in Christ by receiving in our lives the blessings made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The “merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” can help us triumph over the self-centered and selfish tendencies of the natural man and become more selfless, benevolent, and saintly. We are exhorted to so live that we can “stand spotless before [the Lord] at the last day.”
Elder David A. Bednar (April 2016)