Mormon Musings

yet another masterful discourse by President Uchtdorf: http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/waiting-on-the-road-to-damascus?lang=eng

"That prayer of consecration [dedicating the Salt Lake Temple] is filled with thanksgiving for the blessings of the Lord upon His people. The occasion was the greatest and most significant event in the history of the Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley. "It is a thing of note that Wilford Woodruff had been the one to drive the stake marking the site of the temple four days after the 1847 arrival of the pioneers. On that occasion President Brigham Young had declared, 'Here we will build a temple to our God.' "Brother Woodruff saw with his own eyes the forty-year pageant of the construction of this magnificent house of the Lord. At the time of the temple dedication he was eighty-six years of age. He had been sustained President of the Church four years earlier. He had known all of the latter-day temples that had been built before this—Kirtland, Nauvoo, St. George, Logan, and Manti. He had presided in the St. George Temple from the time of its dedication in ...

When we do not do what is right or when our outlook is dominated by skepticism, cynicism, criticism, and irreverence toward others and their beliefs, the Spirit cannot be with us. We then act in a way that the prophets describe as the natural man. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Corinthians 2:14)." This "natural man is an enemy to God, . . . and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, . . . and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, [and] full of love’ (Mosiah 3:19).” Robert D. Hales ,  “Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ,” Ensign, Nov. 2009, 31

Those that have the Gospel, who enjoy the Spirit of their religion, lie down in peace, and wake up full of rejoicing, full of peace, of glory, of faith and thanksgiving; this is the case with all who are full of good works. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:52

It has always been the case that the Lord has raised up men as His prophets who have just the cluster of talents needed for a particular time.  It is no different in the culminating days of the dispensation of the fullness of time.  The Lord measured and ordained these men before they came here.  Knowing perfectly the conditions that would obtain, He has sent, and will send, men to match the mountains of challenges that are just ahead of us. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience " p. 122

When the hopes of humans are riddled and blasted, it is usually when mortals assume that familiar formation: the circular firing squad. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " Even As I Am " p. 5

So often in life, it seems, a blessing is quickly succeeded by a stretching.  Spiritual exhilaration is often short lived, being soon followed by vexation, temptation, and even tribulation.  Perhaps this is so because we cannot handle exhilaration for any length of time.  Or it is because we need to get on with the next challenge, there being so little time for languishing?  Or it is that experiencing the sharp, side-by-side contrast of the sweet and the bitter, almost continuously, is essential until the very end of this mortal existence?  Or are we at risk if in extended spiritual reveries we quickly forget others in need?  Whatever the reasons, the Lord hastens us forward--submissively on to the next work to be done.  Handcarts are to be picked up again promptly, after pausing whether for gladness or for sadness. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " Not My Will But Thine " p. 13

Our defiance of God is an expression of our ignorance, not our individuality. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, " Not My Will But Thine " p. 67