Mormon Musings

Elder Holland, General Conference April 2013: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe

When you're experiencing a severe trial, ask yourself this question: "Am I trying to do what the Lord would have me do?" If you're not, then adjust your course. But if you are, remember the boy outside the walls of Jerusalem who turned to his brothers and said, "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 Nephi 3:7.) I bear you my testimony that the Lord will always prepare a way for you to escape from the trials you will be given if you understand two things.  One is that you need to be on the Lord's errand. The second thing you need to understand is that the escape will almost never be out of the trial; it will usually be through it. If you pray to have the experience removed altogether, you may not find the way prepared for you. Instead, you need to pray to

worth a repeat post...: "The great Jehovah contemplated the whole of the events connected with the earth, pertaining to the plan of salvation, before it rolled into existence, or ever 'the morning stars sang together' for joy; the past, the present and the future were and are, with Him, one eternal 'now'; He knew of the fall of Adam, the iniquities of the antediluvians, of the depth of iniquity that would be connected with the human family, their weakness and strength, their power and glory, apostasies, their crimes, their righteousness and iniquity; He comprehended the fall of man and his redemption; He knew the Plan of Salvation and pointed it out; He was acquainted with the situation of all nations and with their destiny; He ordered all things according to the council of His own will; He knows the situation of both the living and the dead, and has made  ample provision  for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, and the laws of the kingdo

Brother Brigham feels calm and serene as a summer’s morning; and in his desire to save Israel he wishes to save also the lives of our enemies, if possible. Why is he so calm and steady? It is because God is with him; and though armies are approaching and ready, apparently, to swallow up this people, yet he and his brethren feel calm, and the Lord reveals unto them, by the Holy Spirit, how to govern and control this people. They have had a long experience in proving the Almighty God, who holds the destiny of the Saints and the sinner. And has he ever failed us? No, never… You need not fear: all we have to do is to be passive in the hands of the Lord, and follow the counsel of our leaders, and not be particularly anxious that the Lord should reveal to you or to me his mind and will and intentions concerning our present difficulties; but pray earnestly that the Spirit of the Lord may be upon those men who stand at the head. All we have to do is to live our religion; and when the Presi

“My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.” President Thomas S. Monson -”Be of Good Cheer,” April 2009 General Conference

“We need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan’s power.  He can have no power over us unless we permit it.  He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat.  The Apostle James counseled: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7).  He cannot know our thoughts unless we speak them.  And Nephi states that ‘he hath no power over the hearts’ of people who are righteous (see 1 Nephi 22:26).” President James E. Faust - Ensign,  Nov. 1987, 35

“Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future.” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf -“The Infinite Power of Hope,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 23.

There are many things that seem to us trials and difficulties, that perplex, annoy, and harass our spirits; yet these very things, as one justly observed, are blessings in disguise, so many helps to us to develop our weaknesses and infirmities, and lead us to put our trust in God, and rely upon Him to give us a knowledge of ourselves, of our neighbors, and of the work of God; they have a tendency to develop principles of worth to our minds, and thus they serve as schoolmasters, helps, and instructors, and are to us as many blessings in disguise. In fact all things that we have to do with in the world, whether they are adversity or prosperity, whether they relate to ourselves or to others, if rightly appreciated and understood, may teach us a lesson that will be to our joy, probably not only in time, but in all eternity. We must know ourselves, learn what is in our nature − our weakness, our strength, our wisdom, our folly, and the like things that dwell in others, that we may learn t

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

The Apostle Paul defined  faith  as “the substance of things hoped for [and] the evidence of things not seen” ( Hebrews 11:1 ). Alma declared that faith is not a perfect knowledge; rather, if we have faith, we “hope for things which are not seen [but] are true” ( Alma 32:21 ). Additionally, we learn in the  Lectures on Faith  that faith is “the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness” and that it is also “the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”   1 These teachings highlight three basic elements of faith: (1) faith as the  assurance  of things hoped for that are true, (2) faith as the  evidence  of things not seen, and (3) faith as the principle of  action in all intelligent beings. I describe these three components of faith in the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and initiating action in the present. Faith as the assurance of things hoped for looks to the future. This assurance is founded upon a cor

What a narrow measure it is to try and judge and calculate the infinite by the little our finite minds know. A story is told of Lincoln, who was supposed to be a great skeptic in his younger life. When he was down at Richmond as the war was drawing to a close one of his early companions—I think it was General Reynolds—suddenly came around the corner of the tent where the President was living and found him reading the Bible. The General began to twit him about reading the Bible, basing the raillery on the early life, as he understood it, of Lincoln. Then Lincoln said: "Well, I have grown older and wiser. I now read the Bible. I believe all I can and I take the rest on faith." And that is about where all of us are when it comes to the infinities that are involved in our spiritual welfare. J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

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

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth of falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a cliff. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it? C.S. Lewis

How do you remain “steadfast and immovable” ( Alma 1:25 ) during a trial of faith? You immerse yourself in the very things that helped build your core of faith: you exercise faith in Christ, you pray, you ponder the scriptures, you repent, you keep the commandments, and you serve others. When faced with a trial of faith—whatever you do, you don’t step away from the Church! Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes into view. Elder Neal L. Andersen http://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/trial-of-your-faith?lang=eng

The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ---faith that They exist; faith in the Father's plan for our immortality and eternal life; faith in the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which animates this plan of happiness; faith to make the gospel of Jesus Christ our way of life; and faith to come to know 'the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent' (John 17:3)." Elder D. Todd Christofferson (Ensign, May 2010, 34)

With all your differences in personal circumstances and past experiences, I can tell you something of what lies ahead for you. As you keep the faith, you will find yourself invited by the Lord often to serve someone in need when it will not seem convenient. It may appear to be an unpleasant and perhaps even impossible task. When the call comes, it may seem you are not needed or that someone else could easily give the succor. Remember that when the Lord lets us encounter someone in distress, we honor the good Samaritan for what he did not do as much as for what he did. He did not pass by on the other side even though the beaten traveler on the road was a stranger and perhaps an enemy. He did what he could for the beaten man and then put in place a specific plan for others to do more. He did that because he understood that helping may require more than what one person can do. Lessons in that story can guide you in whatever your future holds. President Henry B. Eyring, October 201

"Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me." Alma 32:28

For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37

"Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come." —Jeffrey R. Holland, " An High Priest of Good Things to Come ",  Liahona and Ensign , November 1999

 “Our Father in Heaven is not an umpire who is trying to count us out. He is not a competitor who is trying to outsmart us. He is not a prosecutor who is trying to convict us. He is a loving Father who wants our happiness and eternal progress, and who will help us all He can if we will but give Him in our lives an opportunity to do so.” Richard L. Evans, quoted by N. Eldon Tanner in April 1971 General Conference http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1971/04/choose-you-this-day?lang=eng