Mormon Musings

“The adversary’s greatest power is to give us fear, to tell us that what the Lord requires will be too uncomfortable, too impossible to do. But as we obey, the Lord will fill us with love and inexpressible joy.   When we do subdue ourselves to His will, we are filled with peace and dignity in all circumstances, no matter how challenging. This, to me, is the greatest victory we can achieve.” F. Enzio Busche https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1985/02/elder-f-enzio-busche-to-the-ends-of-the-earth?lang=eng

Knowing everything that might be done is knowledge; knowing what is right to do is wisdom; doing it is character. Elder Delbert L. Stapley

"There is NEVER a time when the spirit is too old to approach God.  All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin".   Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 191 (emphasis added); as quoted by President Boyd K. Packer in October 1995 General Conference

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” C.S. Lewis

“Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock.  One tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness; the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God’s judgment—not ours—right for us.  Sometimes we pound on the fault door for something we want very much and wonder why the door does not open.  We would be very spoiled children if that fault door opened any more easily than it does.  I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by inventorying the petitions He has refused to grant me.  Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves but also much about our flawless Father.”  Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “Insights”, New Era, April 1978

“Answers to prayer come in a quiet way.  The scriptures describe that voice of inspiration as a still, small voice...I have come to I know that inspiration comes more as a feeling than a sound...Put difficult questions in the back of your minds and go about your lives.  Ponder and pray quietly and persistently about them.  The answer may not come as a lightning bolt.  It may come as a little inspiration here and a little there, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept’ (D&C 98:12).  Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers.  And, occasionally, when it is important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration.  The promptings will be clear and unmistakable.”  President Boyd K. Packer, G.C. October 1979)

"We want our children and their children to know that the choice in life is not between fame and obscurity, nor is the choice of life between wealth and poverty.  The choice is between good and evil, and that is a very different matter indeed.   When we finally understand this lesson, thereafter our happiness will not be determined by material things.  We may be happy without them or successful in spite of them.  Wealth and prominence do not always come from having earned them.  Our worth is not measured by renown or by what we own...Our lives are made up of thousands of everyday choices.  Over the years these little choices will bundle together and show clearly what we value.  The crucial test of life, I repeat, does not center in the choice between fame and obscurity, nor between wealth and poverty.  The greatest decision of life is between good and evil."  President Boyd K. Packer, October 1980 GC