Mormon Musings

So far as I am concerned, I say, let everything come as God has ordained it. I do not desire trials; I do not desire affliction: I would pray to God to “leave me not in temptation, and deliver me from evil; for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.” But if the earthquake bellows, the lightnings flash, the thunders roll, and the powers of darkness are let loose, and the spirit of evil is permitted to rage, and an evil influence is brought to bear on the Saints, and my life, with theirs, is put to the test; let it come, for we are the Saints of the most High God, and all is well, all is peace, all is right, and will be, both in time and in eternity... I used to think, if I were the Lord, I would not suffer people to be tried as they are; but I have changed my mind on that subject. Now I think I would if I were the Lord, because it purges out the meanness and corruption that stick around the Saints, like flies around molasses. John Taylor, Journal of Discourses 5:114-15

I will now say that inasmuch as many of us have received the Gospel and gathered with the Saints of God, it is important that we labour to-day—that we live under the influence of that Spirit, that it may continue to increase and to govern us in our acts among the children of men. Now, when a man has the Holy Spirit and hears the plain, simple truths of salvation, they appear more valuable than all else besides, and he is ready to sacrifice everything of a temporal nature to secure himself salvation; but when people’s minds become darkened, they lose the Holy Spirit and the value of that Gospel, and they do not realize the privilege and the honour of being associated with the Saints of God in these valleys of the mountains, neither do they maintain their allegiance to their Heavenly Father, and honor his name upon the earth, or prize their association with those that bear the holy Priesthood, and therefore they go into darkness. Why has the word reformation ever been named in Zion? It

We are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us. C.S. Lewis Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. 3 Nephi 18:24

If the devil says you cannot pray when you are angry, tell him it is none of his business, and pray until that species of insanity is dispelled and serenity is restored to the mind. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 10:175

http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Curriculum/music.htm/hymns.htm/prayer%20and%20supplication.htm/117%20come%20unto%20jesus.htm#JD_Hymns.117

“Behold, the Enemy Is Combined” (D&C 38:12)

In a "wheat and tares" world, how unusually blessed faithful members are to have the precious and constant gift of the Holy Ghost with reminders of what is right and of the covenants we have made.  "For behold, ...the Holy Ghost...will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:5).  Whatever the decibels of decadence, these need not overwhelm the still, small voice!  Some of the best sermons we will ever hear will be thus prompted from the pulpit of memory--an audience of just one! Neal A. Maxwell ("Behold, the Enemy is Combined"), Ensign, May 1993, p. 76