Mormon Musings

 30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.  31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you. Helaman 14:30-31

If we expect to receive, we must ask, seek, and knock. In his search for truth, Joseph Smith read from the scriptures, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” In answer to his prayer of faith, the heavens were opened. God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, descended in glory and spoke to Joseph Smith, ushering in the dispensation of the fulness of times. For us, miraculous healing, powerful protection, divine knowledge, liberating forgiveness, and precious peace are among the answers that come when we offer up a “soul’s sincere desire” in faith. Carol F. McConkie, October 2016 General Conference

We  should  not  worry  that  we  are  not  professionally  trained  gospel  teachers.  No  training  class  or  manual  is  as  helpful  as  personally  studying  our  scriptures,  praying,  pondering,  and  seeking  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Spirit  will  lead  you  along.  I  promise  you:  the  calling  to  be  a  parent  includes  the  gift  to  teach  in  the  ways  that  are  right  for  you  and  for  your  children.  Remember,  God’s  power  to  influence  us  righteously  is  His  love.  “We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us." Elder Robert D. Hales, October 2016 General Conference

"It seems to be human nature: as we become more familiar with something, even something miraculous and awe-inspiring, we lose our sense of awe and treat it as commonplace." President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2016 General Conference https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/o-how-great-the-plan-of-our-god?lang=eng

We can follow the timeless advice that Susanna Wesley gave in 1725 to her son John, a founder of Methodism: “Would you judge the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, [of the innocence of malignity of actions? Take this rule.] Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind; that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” Susanna Wesley: The Complete Writings  (1997), 109.

“Our leisure, even our play, is a matter of serious concern. There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” C.S. Lewis

Surely it should give us more pause than  it does to think of how casually we sometimes give  to [Satan] who could not control his own ego in the  pre-mortal world such awful control over our egos here.  We often let the adversary do indirectly now what  we refused to let him do directly then” Elder Neal A. Maxwell - We Will Prove Them Herewith