The Prophecies of Neal A. Maxwell

[Third Hour]

Elder Neal A. Maxwell was an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 23 years. He passed away at age 78 in July 2004. He was known and loved for his way with words. Although it was almost impossible to fully grasp his talks just listening once in conference, dissecting them afterwards was both enlightening and delightful. Many, many Latter-day Saints collected his quotes. Here are a few jewels: “The laughter of the world is merely loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself.” “We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.” “Faith in God includes Faith in God's timing.” “God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability.” “The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give' are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us.” See more Neal A....

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[askandanswer]

I sometimes reflect on the fact that if Elder Maxwell was still alive, he would become the next prophet. I wander what sort of difference that would have made in how the church operates?

[Guest]

8 hours ago, ldsnet said:

Elder Neal A. Maxwell ...

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That speech was given in 1978.  What was so prophetic about it was that there wasn't really much of the secular take-over of the government at the time.  

• Teachers still taught the Ten Commandments in schools.  
• Atheists didn't rule the bench.  
• The Freedom From Religion Foundation was just barely founded that year.
• Prayer in schools just barely made a blip on the atheists radar.
• Abortion was still considered a tremendous moral issue -- and most Americans found it to be a sinful and immoral practice.
• Being religious was still considered a good thing.
• Gay rights still meant the right to be happy.

In other words, all the issues that we see as the big moral & religious issues of today were all pretty secure, but were just that year beginning to be attacked on a very small scale.  Yet this apostle of the Lord gave us a pretty good description of what it has turned into.