Mormon Musings

The companionship of the Holy Ghost makes what is good more attractive and temptation less compelling. That alone should be enough to make us determined to qualify for the Spirit to be with us always. Just as the Holy Ghost strengthens us against evil, He also gives us the power to discern truth from falsehood. The truth that matters most is verified only by revelation from God. Our human reason and the use of our physical senses will not be enough. We live in a time when even the wisest will be hard-pressed to distinguish truth from clever deception. Henry B. Eyring, October 2015 General Conference

  Prayer Henry B. Eyring Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles With … faith, we will be able to pray for what we want and appreciate whatever we get. Only with that faith will we pray with the diligence God requires. The world seems to be in commotion. There are wars and rumors of wars. The economies of whole continents are faltering. Crops are failing from lack of rain in places all over the earth. And the people in peril have flooded heaven with prayers. In public and in private, they are petitioning God for help, for comfort, and for direction. You have probably noticed, as I have in recent days, that prayers have not only become more numerous but more heartfelt. I often am seated on the stand in a meeting near the person who has been asked to pray. I have listened recently with wonder. The words spoken are clearly inspired by God, both eloquent and wise. And the tone is that of a loving child seeking help, not as we might from an earthly parent but from an all-powerful Heavenly ...

The Savior has used the word “always” in two settings that may have caused you to wonder. First, you promise to “always remember Him” when you partake of the sacrament. And second, He warns you to “pray always,” (3 Nephi 18:18). You may have wondered, as have I, why He used the word “always,” given the nature of mortality, as its weighs upon us. You know from experience how hard it is to think of anything consciously all the time. Even in service to God, you will not be consciously praying always. So why does the Master exhort us to “pray always”? I am not wise enough to know all of His purposes in giving us a covenant to always remember Him and in warning us to pray always lest we be overcome. But I know one. It is because He knows perfectly the powerful forces that influence us and also what it means to be human. He knows what it is like to have the cares of life press upon us. I plead with you to do with determination the simple things that will move you forward spiritually. Start w...

"There will be noise and people around you most of your waking day. God hears your silent prayers, but you may have to learn to shut out the distractions because the moment you need the connection with God may not come in quiet times." —Henry B. Eyring, " Priesthood and Personal Prayer "

"As we are faithful to the promises we have made, we will feel our love for Him. It will increase because we will feel His power and His drawing near to us in His service." —Henry B. Eyring, " Come unto Me "

"We lighten the loads of others best by helping the Lord strengthen them. That is why the Lord included in our charge to comfort others the command to be His witnesses at all times and in all places." —Henry B. Eyring, " The Comforter "

"Human judgment and logical thinking will not be enough to get answers to the questions that matter most in life. We need revelation from God." President Henry B. Eyring, November 2014 General Conference

“It will take unshakable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life. … It is by acting on that faith we build the strength to do the will of God. And it is by exercising that faith in Jesus Christ that we can resist temptation and gain forgiveness through the Atonement. … “The best time to resist temptation is early. The best time to repent is now. The enemy of our souls will place thoughts in our minds to tempt us. We can decide early to exercise faith, to cast out evil thoughts before we act on them.” President Henry B. Eyring -“Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 38, 40

"A seed of faith is already planted in your heart. ... But, like a growing plant, it must be nurtured or it will wither. Frequent and heartfelt prayers of faith are crucial and needed nutrients. Obedience to the truth you have received will keep the testimony alive and strengthen it. Obedience to the commandments is part of the nourishment you must provide for your testimony." —Henry B. Eyring, " A Living Testimony "

When you're experiencing a severe trial, ask yourself this question: "Am I trying to do what the Lord would have me do?" If you're not, then adjust your course. But if you are, remember the boy outside the walls of Jerusalem who turned to his brothers and said, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7.) I bear you my testimony that the Lord will always prepare a way for you to escape from the trials you will be given if you understand two things.  One is that you need to be on the Lord's errand. The second thing you need to understand is that the escape will almost never be out of the trial; it will usually be through it. If you pray to have the experience removed altogether, you may not find the way prepared for you. Instead, you need to pray to ...

 "We treasure the word of God not only by reading the words of the Scriptures but by studying them. We may be nourished more by pondering a few words, allowing the Holy Ghost to make them treasures to us, than by passing quickly and superficially over whole chapters of scriptures."  (President Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, Feb. 2008, 7)

"Sometimes I go to the scriptures for doctrine. Sometimes I go to the scriptures for instruction. I go with a question, and the question usually is 'What would God have me do? or 'What would He have me feel?' Invariably I find new ideas, thoughts I have never had before, and I receive inspiration and instruction and answers to my questions."  (President Eyring, Ensign, July 2005, 22)

With all your differences in personal circumstances and past experiences, I can tell you something of what lies ahead for you. As you keep the faith, you will find yourself invited by the Lord often to serve someone in need when it will not seem convenient. It may appear to be an unpleasant and perhaps even impossible task. When the call comes, it may seem you are not needed or that someone else could easily give the succor. Remember that when the Lord lets us encounter someone in distress, we honor the good Samaritan for what he did not do as much as for what he did. He did not pass by on the other side even though the beaten traveler on the road was a stranger and perhaps an enemy. He did what he could for the beaten man and then put in place a specific plan for others to do more. He did that because he understood that helping may require more than what one person can do. Lessons in that story can guide you in whatever your future holds. President Henry B. Eyring, October 201...

"We need to ponder in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. We need to make plans which are not only wishes but covenants. And then we need to keep our promises to the Lord. And we need to lift others by sharing with them the blessings of the Atonement which have come in our lives." —Henry B. Eyring, " Help Them on Their Way Home ",  Liahona and Ensign , May 2010

...read and ponder the standard works of the Church and the words of living prophets. There is a promise of help from God that comes with that daily practice. Faithful study of scriptures brings the  Holy Ghost  to us. President Henry B. Eyring, April 2004 General Conference  http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/in-the-strength-of-the-lord?lang=eng

Whatever tumults occur, we can know that God will set bounds to fulfill His promises. He, not just men, has the ultimate control of nations and of events to allow His purposes to be fulfilled. Among every people and every nation there will be raised up those who serve with absolute assurance that they are children of God and who have become purified disciples of the resurrected Christ in His Church. A few years ago I spoke to the missionaries in the training center in Japan. I promised them then that a great day would dawn in that nation. I said that there would be a great increase in the members speaking eagerly to those they met of their testimony of the restored gospel. My thought then was that the courage to speak would come from an increased admiration for the Church in that land. I know now that the great miracle, a mighty change, will come inside the members, not in the world around them. President Henry B. Eyring, April 2003 General Conference READ ENTIRE TALK

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/mountains-to-climb?lang=eng

"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service, because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right, to bear us up. And He always keeps His word." -President Henry B. Eyring, "Mountains to Climb", General Conference, Apr. 2012

Obedience to commandments is the way we build a foundation of truth. Here is the way that works, in words that are so simple a child could understand. The truth of most worth is to know God our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and Their plan for us to have eternal life with them in families. When God communicates that priceless truth to us, He does it by the Spirit of Truth. We have to ask for it in prayer. Then He sends us a small part of that truth by the Spirit. It comes to our hearts and minds. It feels good, like the light from the sun shining through the clouds on a dark day. He sends truth line upon line, like the lines on the page of a book. Each time a line of truth comes to us, we get to choose what we will do about the light and truth God has sent to us. If we try hard to do what that truth requires of us, God will send more light and more truth. It will go on, line after line, as long as we choose to obey the truth. That is why the Savior said that the man who obeyed ...