Mormon Musings

  "...men are not mere ciphers in a vast but dumb space; they are everlasting and accountable individuals.  Modern witnesses affirm that meaningfulness of life, human identity and human belonging.  The vastness of God's creations are the verification  of meaning, not its annihilation .  There is eternal purpose, and it is to be found in the Father's Only Begotten, Jesus Christ."  p. 8 "...the Lord's plan of salvation is not a set of floor plans for a new house that we as clients can modify or reject.  The Architect is not our employee, but our Host, even the Lord of Hosts; He is not only our Landlord, He is also our Lord!" p. 9 Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Even AS I Am", pp 8-9

When we pray, we are not conveying any information to God that he does not already have.  Nor, when we confess our sins before Him, is it news to Him that we have misbehaved.  More than we realize, being honest with God in our prayers helps us be more honest with ourselves. Elder Neal A. Maxwell

  While faith is not a perfect knowledge, it brings a deep trust in God, whose knowledge is perfect! Otherwise, one’s small data base of personal experience permits so few useful generalizations! But by searching the holy scriptures, we access a vast, divine data bank, a reservoir of remembrance. In this way, the scriptures can, as the Book of Mormon says, enlarge the memory. (See  Alma 37:8 .) Elder Neal A. Maxwell, April 1991 General Conference

Elder Neal A. Maxwell  Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Having all been richly nourished by this general conference, it is fitting to focus prescriptively on the few in the Church who remain spiritually undernourished, including those who have grown weary and fainted in their minds. (See  Heb. 12:3 .) A few of these few have had their faith scorched, such as by the circumstances of wrenching or unrelieved sickness, grinding economic pressures, loss of a loved one, or deep disappointment with a spouse or friend. Adversity can increase faith or instead can cause the troubling roots of bitterness to spring up. (See  Heb. 12:15 .) A few have been overcome by the preoccupying cares of the world, those wearying, surface things of life. (See  Matt. 13:6–7 .) Emerson’s plea is surely appropriate: “Give me truths: for I am weary of the surfaces.” (“Blight,” in  The Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson,  New York: Wm. H. Wise & Co., 1929, p. 874.) A few are fatigued by unconfessed si

Latter-Day Saints need to remember that those who live now are being called upon to work out our salvation in a special time of intense and immense challenges.  [During] the last portion of the dispensation of the fullness of times...great tribulation and temptation will occur.  The elect will almost be deceived and unrighteous people will be living much as they were in the days of Noah.  Therefore, though we have rightly applauded our ancetors for their spritual achievements and we don't and must not discount them now, those of us who prevail today will have done no small thing.  The special spirits who have been reserved to live in this dispensation of the fulness of times will one day be praised for their stamina by those who pulled handcarts. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Notwithstanding My Weakness", p. 18

  "God gave to mankind through a young man, Joseph Smith, the ultimate and immense truths of the gospel in this, the last dispensation. This young man who had no social status to protect, no private theology already worked out for God to endorse, and who had loving and listening parents, could report that theophany honestly and cling tenaciously to the truth of that first vision in the midst of great persecution. A sophisticated man who had community status to protect and his own ideas about what kind of religion the world needed—even though a good man—would have been sorely tempted to have traded off truth for the praise of the world. Paul reminded us that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God. . . ." (James 4:4.) Could any but a humble non-linguist have gone to the Hill Cumorah and, under the direction of an angel, be shown ancient records and be told, so boldly, that he, personally, would be the unlettered instrument in translating these for the benefit of a

  God has no distracting hobbies off somewhere in the universe. We are at the very center of His concerns and purposes. What a sharp contrast to those who believe that man lives in an “unconscious universe” (Bertrand Russell, “A Free Man’s Worship,” in  Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays  [1917], 50), a “universe … without a master” (Albert Camus,  The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays,  trans. Justin O’Brien [1955], 123)... Notably, at the last day the adversary “will not support” those who followed him anyway (see  Alma 30:60 ). He cannot. Jesus will triumph majestically, and the adversary’s clever constructs, “pleasing to the carnal mind,” will also collapse, and “the fall thereof will be exceedingly great” (see  Alma 30:53 ;  1 Ne. 11:36 ). Even now, one can see in the lives of those prodigals who come to themselves the devil’s doctrines dripping in early meltdown (see  Luke 15:17 ). Many, having experienced the utter emptiness of the lower ways, are “in a preparation to hear the

By Elder Neal A. Maxwell Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Elder Neal A. Maxwell passed away on 21 July 2004 as this issue of the  Ensign  was being prepared for publication. After reciting a litany of social ills during his time, Mormon consoled his son, Moroni, suggesting that somber world conditions could unnecessarily “weigh thee down” ( Moro. 9:25 ). 1   Today, I write lest you be unnecessarily “weighed down.” What follows will include several stern but needed prophecies, yet my comments will mostly be about some very reassuring and positive things. Though I write primarily to the youth of the Church, these assurances have ready application to all gospel teachers who have been entrusted with nurturing this royal generation. My text is a later Nephi’s phrase about his own time and season on earth. As he became less nostalgic for an earlier time and more submissive as to doing his duty in his particular season, he said, “I am consigned that these are my days.” I invite young men