Mormon Musings

A brother on my right told you his experience, that there is no necessity for taking any man’s word for the truth of your religion; for it is the privilege of all to have the testimony of Jesus—to have the Spirit of prophecy.  I have no greater privilege to enjoy the Spirit of prophecy than you have.  I have no better right to the Holy Ghost than you. If you will live as you are taught, you will walk in darkness no more, but will walk in the light of life. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses  8:33

I wish that every man would live so that he could have communion with angels—so that Jesus would come to visit him. I wish I could see this people in such a position; but there is yet too much sin in our midst: our traditions cling to us so strongly, that we cannot yet break through into that liberty; but we will see the day, if faithful, in which we can converse with angels. There are persons in this congregation that will converse with angels just as freely as we converse with each other. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses  5:258

"If any of us could now see the God we are striving to serve—if we could see our Father who dwells in the heavens, we should learn that we are as well acquainted with him as we are with our earthly father; and he would be as familiar to us in the expression of his countenance, and we should be ready to embrace him and fall upon his neck and kiss him, if we had the privilege. And still we, unless the vision of the Spirit is opened to us, know nothing about God. You know much about him, if you did but realize it. And there is no other one item that will so much astound you, when your eyes are opened in eternity, as to think that you were so stupid in the body." President Brigham Young J.D. 8:30

 "When we conclude to make a Zion," said Brigham Young, "we will make it, and this work commences in the heart of each person" ( JD  9:283). "I have Zion in my view constantly," he said. "We are not going to wait for angels, or for Enoch. . . to come and build [it], but we are going to build it [ourselves]" ( JD  9:284). quoted by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Devotional, September 11, 1984 http://speeches.byu.edu/?act= viewitem&id=858

Our religion is simply the truth. It is all said in this one expression--it embraces all truth, wherever found, in all the works of God and man that are visible and invisible to mortal eye. Brigham Young, J.D. 10:251

If the devil says you cannot pray when you are angry, tell him it is none of his business, and pray until serenity is restored to the mind. Brigham Young

We must have our day of trial—an opportunity to become acquainted with the bitter and the sweet. We are so organized as to be able to choose or to refuse. We can take the downward road that leads to destruction, or the road that leads to life. We can constantly act upon the principles that tend to death, or refuse them and act upon the principles that pertain to life and salvation. This is a day of trial; our faith and patience can now be tried: now is the time for your fortitude and integrity to be tried. Let the trials come; for if we should be so unspeakably happy as to obtain a crown of eternal life, we shall be like gold tried seven times in the fire. Let the fiery furnace burn, and the afflictions come, and the temptations be presented;—if we wish to be crowned with crowns of glory and exalted to dwell with our elder brother Jesus Christ, we must choose the good and refuse the evil. According to our faith, we must strive to live our religion when in the kanyons getting wood a

All who would understand the things of God must understand them by the Spirit of God. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses  8:115

You may know whether you are led right or wrong, as well as you know the way home ; for every principle God has revealed carries its own convictions of its truth to the human mind, and there is no calling of God to man on earth but what brings with it the evidence of its authenticity. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 9:149

Many are disposed through their own wickedness "to do as I damned please"--and they are damned. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:254

Those who think that they can succeed without praying, try it, and I will promise them eternal destruction, if they persist in that course. Some think that they can prosper by lying a little, breaking the Sabbath, and doing almost everything that they ought not to do. In the end they will learn that they have trod the path that leads to the first and second death, which will have power over them; and the time will come when they will be as though they had not been. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:205

Jesus, our Perfect Exemplar, was astonishingly exemplary even in the hours surrounding the awful but glorious Atonement. The intrigue of Pilate and Herod, for instance, who had earlier been "at enmity" but who "made friends together" because of Jesus, presented opportunities for Jesus to "shrink" from going through with the Atonement (Luke 23:12; D&C 19:18). Herod, who had been desirous "to see [Jesus] of a long season," "hoped to have seen some miracle done by him" (Luke 23:8). Yet Jesus, under heavy questioning from Herod, "answered him nothing" (Luke 23:9; see also Mosiah 14:7). Jesus' integrity and intellect were not for sale! Amid temptation, he maintained his integrity--even in the midst of an opportunity that a lesser individual would have seized to reduce his suffering and to increase the praise of men. Ironically, when Jesus' enemies came for him, the Light of the World, they came with lanterns and t

Some of the brethren come to me and say, "Brother Brigham, is it my duty to pray when I have not one particle of the spirit of prayer in me?" True, at times men are perplexed and full of care and trouble, their ploughs and other implements are out of order, their animals have strayed, and a thousand things perplex them; yet our judgment teaches us that it is our duty to pray, whether we are particularly in the spirit of praying or not. My doctrine is, it is duty to pray; and when the time for prayer comes, John should say, "This is the place and this is the time to pray: knees bend down upon that floor, and do so at once." But John says, "I do not want to pray; I do not feel like it." Knees, get down, I say; and down bend the knees, and he begins to think and reflect. Can you say anything? Can you not say, God have mercy on me a sinner? Yes, he can do this, if he can rise up and curse his neighbour for some ill deeds. Now, John, open your mouth and say,

I recollect a dream that my father had. He dreamed that he was travelling, and that during his journey he came to a tremendous mountain of snow and saw that his pathway was hedged up. But some one said, “Take one more step.” My father replied, “But that will be the last.” However, he took that step, and then his guide said, “Do you not, see that there is room for you to take another?” When he had taken another, his guide told him to take still another in advance; and there was a passage all the way through. So it will be with us. The Lord will not reveal all that we at times wish him to . If a schoolmaster were to undertake to teach a little child algebra, you would call him foolish, would you not? Just so with our Father: He reveals to us as we are prepared to receive , and I hope to continue to learn. There is no cessation, in time nor in eternity, to the progress and increase of the righteous. If we will but put away every selfish feeling, we can come in possession of all the bl

Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into it.  No son or daughter of Adam ever lived on the earth, or ever will, but has had or will have the light of Christ within them. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses  7:158

Christ is the light of the world, and lighteth every man that cometh into it.  No son or daughter of Adam ever lived on the earth, or ever will, but has had or will have the light of Christ within them. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:158

All people desire to be happy. You cannot find an individual that does not wish comfort and ease. You can obtain happiness in no other way than by unreservedly submitting yourselves to your God. Let him lead us through paths of affliction and cause suffering and trouble to come upon us, still there is that consolation and comfort within that the world cannot give nor take away. That is the only solid comfort there is in this life. Men cannot enjoy comfort and satisfaction in the accumulation of wealth. Wealth never was the source of happiness to any person. It cannot be: it is not in the nature of things; for contentment exists only in the mind. In the mind there is happiness—in the mind there is glory. Place a man in extreme poverty, and let him possess the sweet, benign influences of the Spirit of the Lord, and you will find a happy man and a cheerful countenance; while the man who does not possess the Spirit of heaven, though he may possess all this world can afford beside, is almo

Now, brethren, can we fight against and subdue ourselves? That is the greatest difficulty we ever encountered, and the most arduous warfare we over engaged in. This will apply most perfectly to the brethren who have gathered with the Saints. When we are out in the world we preach faith and repentance, so that the Saints bring the knowledge of first principles with them to the gathering-place. Your next step is to enter into the study of this. A man may learn letters and study all the various branches of scholastic education to the day of his death; but if he does not attain to strict self discipline, his learning will not amount to much. The catalogue of man’s discipline he must compile himself: he cannot be guided by any rule that others may lay down, but is placed under the necessity of tracing it himself through every avenue of his life. He is obliged to catechise and train himself, for he knows his own disposition the best—its fortified and unfortified parts. He is therefore the

There is one virtue, attribute, or principle, which, if cherished and practiced by the Saints, would prove salvation to thousands upon thousands. I allude to charity, or love, from which proceed forgiveness, long-suffering, kindness, and patience. But the short-sightedness and weakness in some are marvelous. To make this a little plainer, I will ask, Do any of your neighbors do anything wrong? They do. People come here from different parts of the earth to make this their adopted country, and the old residents expect them to at once conform to and adopt their manners, customs, and traditions, or they think the new comers are not worthy of their fellowship. In other words, “If every man, woman, and child does not act, think, and see as I do, they are sinners.” It is very necessary that we have charity that will cover a multitude of what we may suppose to be sins. It is written in the Scriptures, “For charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” In its wording this is not literally corre

It is a mistaken idea in the inhabitants of the earth to conclude that it will not do for them to yield obedience to the commandments of heaven, lest it should abridge them in their comforts and in their enjoyments; for there is no real peace, there is no real happiness in anything in heaven or on the earth, except to those who serve the Lord. In His service there is joy, there is happiness; but they are not to be found anywhere else. In it there are peace and comfort; but when the soul is filled with joy, with peace, and with glory, and is perfectly satisfied therewith a person even then has but little idea of that which is in store for all the faithful. Thrust a man into prison and bind him with chains, and then let him be filled with the comfort and with the glory of eternity, and that prison is a palace to him. Again, let a man be seated upon a throne with power and dominion in this world, ruling his millions and millions, and without that peace which flows from the Lord of Hos