Mormon Musings

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/03/learning-through-lifes-trials?lang=eng#footnote1-09203_000_015

I will not doubt, I will not fear; God’s love and strength are always near. His promised gift helps me to find An inner strength and peace of mind. I give the Father willingly My trust, my prayers, humility. His Spirit guides; his love assures That fear departs when faith endures. 2 Timothy 1:7 D&C 6:36 https://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=128&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=128&searchsubseqend=ZZZ&lang=eng

When in situations of stress we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked. When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and, therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not overprogram us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (D&C 50:40). Neal A. Maxwell, BYU Speeches of the Year 1978, p. 156 http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=909

"May we ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe, and if we must stand alone in the process, may we do so courageously, strengthened by the knowledge that in reality we are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven." -Thomas S. Monson, "Dare to Stand Alone", Liahona and Ensign, November 2011

“Let us have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God’s approval. Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully, but also as a determination to live decently. A moral coward is one who is afraid to do what he thinks is right because others will disapprove or laugh. Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with dignity have courage as well.”  (   “The Call for Courage,”   Ensign,  May 2004, 55–56. ) 

The work of devils and of darkness is never more certain to be defeated than when men and women, not finding it easy or pleasant but still determined to do the Father's will, look out upon their lives from which it may seem every trace of God has vanished, and asking why they have been so forsaken, still bow their heads and obey.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Will of the Father in All Things" (BYU Devotional, January 17, 1989) [Paraphrased from C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1961), p. 39]

On one occasion J. Golden Kimball and George Albert Smith were traveling together and had been invited to spend the night in a small log home. George Albert Smith later recalled: “About midnight we were awakened with a terrible shouting and yelling from the outside. Foul language greeted our ears as we sat up in bed to acquaint ourselves with the circumstances. It was a bright moonlit night and we could see many people on the outside. President Kimball jumped up and started to dress. The men pounded on the door and used filthy language ordering  the Mormons  to come out, that they were going to shoot them. President Kimball asked me if I wasn’t going to get up and dress and I told him no, I was going to stay in bed, that I was sure the Lord would take care of us. In just a few seconds the room was filled with shots. Apparently the mob had divided itself into four groups and were shooting into the corners of the house. Splinters were flying over our heads in every direction. There we

Men's and nations' finest hours consist of those moments when extraordinary challenge is met by extraordinary response.  Hence in those darkest hours, we must light our individual candles rather than vying with others to call attention to the enveloping darkness.  Our indignation about injustice should lead to illumination, for if it does not, we are only adding to the despair--and the moment of gravest danger is when there is so little light that darkness seems normal. Neal A. Maxwell, The Smallest Part, p. 75

The Lord has probably spoken enough such "comforting words" to supply the whole universe, it would seem, and yet we see all around us unhappy Latter-day Saints, worried Latter-day Saints, and gloomy Latter-day Saints into whose troubled hearts not one of these innumerable consoling words seems to be allowed to enter. In fact, I think some of us must have that remnant of Puritan heritage still with us that says it is somehow wrong to be comforted or helped, that we are supposed to be miserable about something. Consider, for example, the Savior's benediction upon his disciples even as he moved toward the pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary. On that very night, the night of the greatest suffering the world has ever known or ever will know, he said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). I submit to you that may be one of the Savior's commandments that is, even in th

Above the roar of cannon and airplane, the maneuvers and plans of men, the Lord always determines the tide of battle. So far and no farther does He permit the evil one to go in his career to create human misery. The Lord is ever victorious; He is the Master to whom will Satan is subject. Though all hell may rage, and men may follow evil, the purposes of the Lord will not fail. The God of Israel "slumbers not nor sleeps" (Psalms 121:4). It is well to remember the admonition of old: "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10). John A. Widtsoe, April 1942 General Conference 

I recall sitting in the Salt Lake Tabernacle when I was 14 or 15—up in the balcony right behind the clock—and hearing President Heber J. Grant tell of his experience in reading the Book of Mormon when he was a boy. He spoke of Nephi and of the great influence Nephi had upon his life. And then, with a voice ringing with a conviction that I shall never forget, he quoted those great words of Nephi: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” ( 1 Ne. 3:7 ). There came into my young heart on that occasion a resolution to try to do what the Lord has commanded. What marvelous things happen when men and women walk with faith in obedience to that which is required of them! I recall reading the story of Commander William Robert Anderson, the naval officer who took the submarine   Nautilus   beneath t

I am surprised (I would be amused if the cost were not so great) that people think they can remove the foundations of our social structure--things like work, chastity, and family and then wonder why other things crumble. You can't remove the foundation of a building while standing inside and not be hit with falling plaster... You're soon going to go out into a world full of marshmallow men. Like the act of putting a finger into a marshmallow, there is no core in these men, there is no center, and when one removes his finger, the marshmallow resumes its former shape. We are in a world of people who want to yield to everything--to every fad and to every fashion. It is incredibly important that we be committed to the core--committed to those things that matter, about which our Father in heaven has leveled with us through his Son, Jesus Christ, and his prophets. I saw an interesting cartoon not too long ago that bears on this point of marshmallow men. It showed

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. Mohandas Gandi

recent BYU address by Elder Scott: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1949

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/courage-and-true-optimism/

whether you've never heard/read it, or have it memorized, its worth another read/listen: http://lds.org/general-conference/1999/10/an-high-priest-of-good-things-to-come?lang=eng

"...in certain times and circumstances, discipleship requires us to be willing to stand alone! Our willingness to do so, here and now, is consistent with Christ’s kneeling alone, there and then, in Gethsemane. In the final atoning process, “none were with [Him]” ( D&C 133:50 ; see also Matt. 26:38–45 ). As we take our stand, the faithful will not be alone—not that alone, however. Of necessity, the angel who stood by Christ in Gethsemane to strengthen Him left Him (see Luke 22:43 ). If we hold aloft the shield of faith in God and faith in His commandments, His angels will be “round about [us], to bear [us] up” and “have charge over [us]” ( D&C 84:88 ; D&C 109:22 ). Of this promise, I testify. And now, therefore, in terms of the weather in our souls, brothers and sisters, I testify that we set the dial. We so determine the degree of our happiness in this and the next world. I likewise testify that our compliance with God’s commandments...invites God to place His hand on

One of the marks of the executive is the ability to decide. One of the obligations of free men is the  willingness to decide. One of the qualities of effective people is the courage to decide.                                                                                      Elder Richard L. Evans

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/care-for-the-life-of-the-soul-2/

I should like to spend the few minutes I stand before you today to salute a group of people who have developed what I believe to be a Christlike characteristic, and that is the ability to “hang on.” At this very moment, there is a man, a good member of the Church, who hovers between life and death in a nearby hospital. In the last few weeks he has withstood crisis after crisis; and yet to the amazement of all, he still hangs on. I know not whether the Lord will ordain that he should ultimately live or die at this time, but I do know there is something noble about his tenacious fight for life and the desire to hang on. In the lives of each of us come these trials—trials of all kinds which shake us to the very core and cause us to explore to the very depths our ability to hang on. I think of the person who, in the quiet of night, could not be persuaded to compromise virtue and decides instead to hang on, though the temptation is great. I think of those who have withstood the test of man