Mormon Musings

Why do this people feel so comfortable when an army is approaching? Are you not afraid of being killed? No, not a great deal. Why are you not mourning and sorrowing, and why are you not distressed and troubled? Because you have got a principle within you that cannot be conquered in time nor in eternity: you possess the principles of eternal life in your bosoms, that cannot be subdued. You know what your relationship is with the Eternal God, and his Spirit gives joy and consolation to your bosoms… I do not care anything about shooting: I have been shot. Neither do I care anything about dying; for I could have died many a time if I had desired to; but I had not got ready. But I do care about those principles of truth which I have received; and I would not exchange my position for that of any emperor, king, or potentate in any nation under heaven… John Taylor, Journal of Discourses  5:244, 248

We have, reason to have the greatest hope and consolations for our dead of any people on the earth; for we have seen them walk worthily in our midst, and seen them sink asleep in the arms of Jesus… I have a father, brothers, children, and friends who have gone to a world of spirits. They are only absent for a moment. They are in the spirit, and we shall soon meet again. The time will soon arrive when the trumpet shall sound. When we depart, we shall hail our mothers, fathers, friends, and all whom we love who have fallen asleep in Jesus. There will be no fear of mobs, persecutions, or malicious law-suits and arrests; but it will be an eternity of felicity. Joseph Smith,  King Follett Discourse, Journal of Discourses  6:9

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

"This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "You Matter to Him", Liahona and Ensign, November 2011

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” C.S. Lewis

"Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order to be tested, we must sometimes face challenges and difficulties. At times there appears to be no light at the tunnel's end—no dawn to break the night's darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea 'Is there no balm in Gilead?' (Jeremiah 8:22). We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. If you find yourself in such a situation, I plead with you to turn to our Heavenly Father in faith. He will lift you and guide you. He will not always take your afflictions from you, but He will comfort and lead you with love through whatever storm you face." Thomas S. Monson ,  "Looking Back and Moving Forward," Ensign, May 200

http://jdquotes.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/the-eye-of-the-lord-is-upon-all-of-his-works/

At the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in!  Those, for instance, who stretch themselves in service, though laced with limiting deseases, are often the healthiest among us.   The Spirit can drive the flesh beyond where the body first agrees to go!   (emphasis added) Neal A. Maxwell, "Deposition of a Disciple" pp. 30-31

It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another... Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse, Journal of Discourses 6:4

If men do not comprehend the character of God they do not comprehend themselves. Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse, Journal of Discourses 6:2

Man, holding a relationship with things that have been, with things that are, and with things that are to come, being an eternal being, having existed before, existing now, and destined to exist while endless ages shall endure,—when he understands his relationship to God, how he is associated with his progenitors, the position in which he stands to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth, the blessing he is able to seal on his posterity, worlds without end, and the great things he is destined to enjoy, if faithful,—there is as much difference between his views and the world of mankind in general as there is between midnight darkness and the light of the sun in its meridian glory. John Taylor, Journal of Discourses 5:146

We are justified in being of good cheer for ultimate reasons---reasons to be distinguished, however, from proximate circumstances.  If, for instance, our attitude towards life depends upon the praise of men, the level of interest rates, the outcome of a particular election or athletic event, we are too much at the mercy of men and circumstances. Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1982, p. 66

Brother Kimball referred to Zion's Camp going to Missouri.  When I returned from that mission to Kirkland, a brother said to me, "Brother Brigham, what have you gained by this journey?"  I replied, "Just what we went for; but I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of the Geauga County; for property and mines of wealth are not to be compared to the worth of knowledge."  Ask those brethren and sisters who have passed through scenes of affliction and suffering for years in the Church what they would take in exchange for their experience, and be placed back where they were, were it possible.  I presume they would tell you that all the wealth, honors and riches of the world could not buy the knowledge they had obtained, could they barter it away.  Let the brethren be contented, if you have trials and must have hard times, learn to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it all.  He directs the affairs of this world... Brigham Young

Lucifer, who has no future, thus desperately tries to persuade men that they have no future either.  He desires that all men might be miserable like unto himself.  (2 Nephi 2:27)  Misery likes company, especially ultimate misery.   Elder Neal A. Maxwell

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/the-road-not-taken/

A good friend, who knows whereof he speaks, has observed of trials, "If its fair, its not a true trial!" That is, without added presence of some inexplicableness and some irony and injustice, the experience may not stretch us or lift us sufficiently.  The crucifixion of Christ was clearly the greatest injustice in human history, but the Savior bore up under it with majesty and indescribable valor. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience " p. 31

When the Latter-day Saints make up their minds to endure, for the Kingdom of God's sake, whatsoever shall come, whether poverty or riches, whether sickness or to be driven by mobs, they will say it is all right, and will honor the hand of the Lord in it, and in all things, and serve Him to the end of their lives, according to the best of their ability...If you have not made up your minds for this, the quicker you do so the better. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:338

On 28 July 1847, four days after his arrival in that valley, Brigham Young stood upon the spot where now rises the magnificent Salt Lake Temple and exclaimed to his companions: "Here [we will build] the Temple of our God!" (James H. Anderson, "The Salt Lake Temple,"  Contributor  [The Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations of Zion], no. 6, April 1893, p. 243). Its grounds would cover an eighth of a square mile, and it would be built to stand through eternity. Who cares about the money or stone or timber or glass or gold they don't have? So what that seeds are not even planted and the Saints are yet without homes? Why worry that crickets will soon be coming--and so will the United States Army? They just marched forth and broke ground for the most massive, permanent, inspiring edifice they could conceive. And they would spend forty years of their lives trying to complete it. The work seemed ill-fated from the start. The excavation for the basement

When we reach a point of consecration, our afflictions will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ.  It does not mean we won't have afflictions, but they will be put in perspective that permits us to deal with them. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Brim With Joy" (BYU Devotional, January 23, 1996)

When I look back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do, what strikes me most forcibly about it is that what seemed at the time most significant and seductive, seems now most futile and absurd. For instance, success in all of its various guises; being know and being praised; ostensible pleasures, like acquiring money or seducing women, or traveling, going to and fro in the world and up and down in it like Satan, exploring and experiencing whatever vanity fair has to offer. In retrospect all of these exercises in self-gratification seem pure fantasy, what Pascal called “licking the earth.” They are diversions, designed to distract our attention from the true purpose of our existence in this world, which is, quite simply: to look for God, an, in looking, to find Him, and, having found Him, to love Him, thereby establishing a harmonious relationship with His purposes for His creation.   (emphasis added) Malcolm Muggeridge