Mormon Musings

…whenever I have had anything that was great or important to accomplish, I have been impressed with my own weakness and inability to perform the task imposed upon me, and that of myself I was as nothing, only as I trusted in God, and under these circumstances I was certain to speak by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost.   When I have trusted in books, or in my own acquirements that I had gleaned from reading the productions of different authors…I was sure to be foiled in my attempt, for all would leave me.   But when I have trusted in the Lord, and relied upon Him for strength, it has come out right. Jedediah M. Grant, May 30, 1855, Journal of Discourses 3:11 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.   But a commandment I give unto you, that ye sh...

We  become  what we want to  be  by consistently  being  what we want to  become  each day.  Righteous character is a precious manifestation of what you are becoming. Righteous character is more valuable than any material object you own, any knowledge you have gained through study, or any goals you have attained no matter how well lauded by mankind. In the next life your righteous character will be evaluated to assess how well you used the privilege of mortality. Elder Richard G. Scott, October 2010 General Conference

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/the-choice-of-faith/

Let us here observe that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation...When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth's sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering and that he has not, nor will not, seek His face in vain.  Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life.  It is in vain for persons to fancy to themselves that they are heirs with those, or can be heirs with them, who have offered their all in sacrifice, and by this means obtain faith in God and favor with Him so as to obtain eternal life, unless they, in like manner, offer unto Him the same sacrifice, and through that offering obtain the knowledge that they are...

Now, brethren and sisters, what hinders you from enjoying all you anticipated [when you prepared to accept the Gospel and join the Church]? The calm reflections of your own minds, and the conclusions of a well balanced judgment, enlightened by the Spirit of the Lord, will give you a correct answer to this question. I can answer it for myself, and perhaps for many of you. If I do not enjoy all I anticipated, if my happiness is not as complete as I anticipated, if the light of the Holy Spirit is not in my heart to that degree which I expected it would be, if I have not obtained all I anticipated when I was down in yonder world, mingled with the wicked, the cause is in myself, in my own heart, in my own disposition, in the weakness of human nature; it is my own will that prevents me from enjoying all I anticipated, and more. It is a mistaken idea to suppose that others can prevent me from enjoying the light of God in my soul; all hell cannot hinder me from enjoying Zion in my own heart...

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/the-book-of-mormon-keystone-to-our-religion/

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/the-book-of-mormon/

"I would rather have God my friend, and all the world enemies, than be a friend with the world, and have God my enemy..." Brigham Young, February 18, 1866, Journal of Discourses 2:176 "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

Discipleship is a journey. We need the refining lessons of the journey to craft our character and purify our hearts. By patiently walking in the path of discipleship, we demonstrate to ourselves the measure of our faith and our willingness to accept God’s will rather than ours. It is not enough merely to speak of Jesus Christ or proclaim that we are His disciples. It is not enough to surround ourselves with symbols of our religion. Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessings of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not a primary way of worshipping. Ours is not a secondhand religion. We cannot receive the blessings of the gospel merely by observing the good that others do. We need to get off the sidelines and practice what we preach....

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/there-are-no-ordinary-people/

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/everyone-must-have-two-pockets/

“I recently recalled a historic meeting in Jerusalem about 17 years ago. It was regarding the lease for the land on which the Brigham Young University’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was later built. Before this lease could be signed, President Ezra Taft Benson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, then president of Brigham Young University, agreed with the Israeli government on behalf of the Church and the university not to proselyte in Israel. You might wonder why we agreed not to proselyte. We were required to do so in order to get the building permit to build that magnificent building which stands in the historic city of Jerusalem. To our knowledge the Church and BYU have scrupulously and honorably kept that nonproselyting commitment. After the lease had been signed, one of our friends insightfully remarked, ‘Oh, we know that you are not going to proselyte, but what are you going to do about the light that is in their eyes?’ He was referring to our students who were studying in...

http://mormonthoughts.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/be-still-my-soul/ P.S. for those who might wonder, I've been having issues with this Blogger version, so I'm now slowly migrating over to the Wordpress version of this blog.  

“The Savior’s use of moral agency during His lifetime is an instructive example for us. At one point in His teaching He revealed the principle that guided His choices: ‘He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.’ (John 8:29) I believe that much of the Lord’s power is attributable to the fact that He never wavered in that determination. He had a clear, consistent direction. Whatever the Father desired, Jesus chose to do…So, being Jesus’ obedient disciple—just as He is the Father’s obedient disciple—leads to truth and freedom… … Some think that they should be spared from any adversity if they keep God’s commandments, but it is ‘in the furnace of affliction’ (Isaiah 48:10) that we are chosen. This is the battle we expected when we ‘shouted for joy’ (Job 38:7) at the prospect of this time on earth. I believe the challenge of learning to make and hold onto correct choices in the face of opposition appealed to us when God...