Mormon Musings

"The cares of the world that, on occasion, can rob us of cheerfulness are certainly real cares, but they are not lasting cares; they pass with the passing of this world.  Like the pleasures of the world, the cares of this world are fleeting.   Someday, when we look back on mortality, we will see that so many of the things that seemed to have mattered so much at the moment will be seen not to have mattered at all.  And the eternal things will be seen to have mattered even more than the most faithful of Saints imagined ." (emphasis added) Neal A. Maxwell, " Even As I Am "(Deseret Book Company, 1982), page 104

"Wherefore,  redemption  cometh in and through the Holy Messiah ; for he is full of grace  and truth.  Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.  Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it up again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. Wherefore he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe on him shall be saved.   And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore they stand in the pr

"You sometimes wonder whether the Lord really knows what he ought to do with you. You sometimes wonder if you know better than he does about what you ought to do and ought to become. I am wondering if I may tell you a story that I have told quite often in the Church. It is a story that is older than you are. It’s a piece out of my own life, and I’ve told it in many stakes and missions. It has to do with an incident in my life when God showed me that  he knew best. I was living up in Canada. I had purchased a farm. It was run-down. I went out one morning and saw a currant bush. It had grown up over six feet high. It was going all to wood. There were no blossoms and no currants. I was raised on a fruit farm in Salt Lake before we went to Canada, and I knew what ought to happen to that currant bush. So I got some pruning shears and went after it, and I cut it down, and pruned it, and clipped it back until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps. It was just coming day

To do right, can be reduced to perfect simplicity in a few words, viz., from this time henceforth, let no person work or transact any kind of business whatever, that he cannot do in the name of the Lord, and let him sink wholly into His will, whether it oppose his prejudices, or not, or is decidedly objectionable to his feelings. The Lord will ultimately lead such persons into the fullness of His joy by a way that may sometimes appear dark to them… … Will all the people be damned who are not Latter-day Saints?   Yes, a great many of them, except they repent speedily.   I will say further, that many of the Latter-day Saints, except they learn their lessons better, will likewise be judged in the same way.   That is my candid opinion.” Brigham Young, “ Comprehensiveness of True Religion ”, December 5, 1853 ( Journal of Discourses , Volume 1)

“Associated as we are with the kingdom of God, we may reasonably expect, so long as we do our duty before the Lord, to have continual developments of light, truth, and intelligence, that emanate from the great God, for the guidance, direction, salvation, and exaltation of this people, whether it relates to time, or to eternity; for everything we have to do with is eternal; and when we speak of time and eternity, they are only relative terms which we attach to things that are present, and things that are to come, and things that are past. But in relation to ourselves as individuals, we are eternal beings, although we occupy a certain space of eternity called time; in relation to the Gospel we preach, it is eternal; in relation to the Priesthood, it is eternal; in relation to our covenants and obligations, they are eternal; in relation to our promises, prospects, and hopes, they are eternal. And while we are acting upon this stage of being, we are merely commencing a state of things t

“When we first heard the revelation upon the Word of Wisdom many of us thought it consisted merely in our [not] drinking tea and coffee, but it is not only [not] using tea and coffee and our tobacco and whisky, but it is every other evil which is calculated to contaminate this people.   The Word of Wisdom implies to cease from adultery, to cease from all manner of excesses, and from all kinds of wickedness and abomination that are common amongst this generation—it is, strictly speaking, keeping the commandments of God, and living by every word that proceedeth from His mouth.   This is the way I understand the Word of Wisdom, consequently we have to keep all the commandments…in connection with the Word of Wisdom, in order to obtain the blessings, for unless we do keep the commandments of God, and not offend in any one point, we have not full claim upon the blessings promised in connection with this portion of the word of the Lord.” Ezra T. Benson, “ The Word of Wisdom ”, April 8, 18

"Let me encourage you by telling you a story. It was told to me by my father. He told it with the intent to chuckle at himself. It was a story about his trying to do his duty, just the way you try to do your duty.  Now you have to know a little bit about my father. His name was Henry Eyring, like mine. He had done some of the things students of this university are preparing to be able to do. His work in chemistry was substantial enough to bring the honors some of you will someday have, but he was still a member of a ward of the Church with his duty to do. To appreciate this story, you have to realize that it occurred when he was nearly eighty and had bone cancer. He had bone cancer so badly in his hips that he could hardly move. The pain was great. Dad was the senior high councilor in his stake with the responsibility for the welfare farm. An assignment was given to weed a field of onions, so Dad assigned himself to go work on the farm.   Dad never told me how hard it was,