Mormon Musings

"Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching in His understanding.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail; But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint… Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:  I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness…For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." Isaiah 40: 28-31; 41: 10, 13

"It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. . . . Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. . . . If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers."  Gordon B. Hinckley, quoted in Latter-day Counsel, “Excerpts from Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, October 2000, 73; see also “Put Your Trust in God,” Ensign, February 2006, 63

"In the short speech of not more than five minutes, which I delivered in the old Bowery, when that judge publicly insulted this people, there were men and women in the congregation who suffered more in the anticipation of what might be the result of it in the future, than the generality this people suffered in being actually mobbed.  They could see, in imagination, all hell let loose upon us, themselves strung up, their ears cut off, their bowels torn out and this whole people cut to pieces.   After they had time to think, they found themselves still alive and unhurt, to their great astonishment.  They suffered as much as though they had been sent to the bottomless pit...I know this people have suffered more by the contemplation of trouble, than they have when actually passing through it...People suffer more in the anticipation of death than in death itself. " Brigham Young, February 20, 1853 (Journal of Discourses Volume 1) " I, even I, am he that comforteth you:

Its not very spiritual, but its worth a good chuckle and shows that conference addresses for the Saints were sometimes quite entertaining (even when Brigham wasn't speaking). It also speaks to letting the "cares of the world" get in the way of the important stuff. Ok, perhaps I just like it because it has the "d" word. Somehow, I relate more to George A. Smith now that I know he used "colorful" language now and then: "There are many here, as religious as this congregation looks, who have not got a good fence around their farms and yet will kneel down in the morning, perhaps, to offer a prayer. By the time they have got one knee to the floor, peradverture somebody thunders away at the door and cries out 'Neighbor, there are twenty head of cattle in your wheat; they have been there all night and are there now.' The man with no fence is roused up, and instead of praying he is apt to think, 'Damn it', and to start off to get the cat