Mormon Musings

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to appellation. ” George Washington

As the Lord communicates with the meek and submissive, fewer decibels are required, and more nuances are received. Even the most meek, like Moses (see Num. 12:3), learn overwhelming things they “never had supposed.” (Moses 1:10 .) But it is only the meek mind which can be so shown and so stretched—not those, as Isaiah wrote, who “are wise in their own eyes.” (Isaiah 5:21 ; see also 2 Nephi 9:29  and 2 Nephi 15:21 .)  Elder Neal A. Maxwell  (1985 April General Conference)

It is so easy to be half hearted, but this only produces half the growth, half the blessings, and just half the life, really, with more bud than blossom.  A superficial view of this life, therefore, just will not do, lest we mistakenly speak of this mortal experience only as coming here to get a body, as if we were merely picking up a suit at the cleaners.  Or, lest we casually recite how we have come here to be proved, as if a few brick push-ups and deep knee bends would do. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, April 1985 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1985/04/willing-to-submit?lang=eng

And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of  earths  like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy  creations ; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever; Moses 7:30

...we so blithely say in the Church that life is a school, a testing ground. It is true, even though it is trite. What we don't accept are the implications of that true teaching—at least as fully as we should. One of the implications is that the tests that we face are real. They are not going to be things we can do with one hand tied behind our backs. They are real enough that if we meet them we shall know that we have felt them, because we will feel them deeply and keenly and pervasively. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, BYU Fireside, September 1, 1974 http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1022

"Lift up your soul in prayer and explain to your Heavenly Father what you are feeling. Acknowledge your shortcomings. Pour out your heart and express your gratitude. Let Him know of the trials you are facing. Plead with Him in Christ's name for strength and support. Ask that your ears may be opened, that you may hear His voice." —Dieter F. Uchtdorf, " The Hope of God's Light "

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.  The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela