Temple Dedications and the Lord's Servants

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 109. This section is the prayer that was given at the dedication of the temple in Kirtland, Ohio. This section was in fact a revelation despite it being a prayer of dedication according to the heading of the section but it is not the prayer of dedication that is now used when dedicating a temple.

As I was reading this section I couldn't help but think of the time I attended my first temple dedication. It was the Saint Louis, Missouri temple dedication. It was there that I got to meet President Gordon B. Hinkley. I was in a folding chair in one of the aisles that led to the celestial room. As a matter of fact, I was in the very back on the left aisle, on the right side of that aisle in the aisle seat, as far away from the Celestial room as you can get and still be in the temple. I was just looking around when we all heard the elevator doors open. As we had been instructed, we all stood and faced forward. I was just standing there waiting when I felt a hand on my left shoulder and a voice I very much recognized ask, "And how are you today, brother?" I looked to my left and there was President Hinkley smiling at me with his hand on my shoulder. What's more, he was waiting for an answer! It was not just some random salutation with no meaning, he really wanted to know how I was doing. After about a second I replied that I was "good" and he smiled even wider, patted my shoulder a couple of times and said, "That's good". He and his retinue then walked into the Celestial room. As we were sitting back down I heard the man sitting to my right, there were only two chairs per side per row, whisper, "Oh man, I should have sat on the aisle seat." So while I did not introduce myself to him, this has always been a very fond, very special memory for me. President Hinkley didn't know me from Adam and yet he stopped to ask me, and only me, how I was doing. Not only that, he really wanted to know. It wasn't a random greeting like we give to acquaintances without any thought or care of the answer. He really wanted to know how that 15 year old boy was doing that day. After the dedication President Hinkley came back down our aisle, I felt a little bad for the right side aisle, and shook everyone's hand on that row, including mine. It was a great day.

I have met a few other Apostles and 70's and even Area Authorities in my day and that's something I can say about all of them. They are all, wonderfully humble men that radiate love even though they have never met you. One of my mission companions home ward was the same ward Elder Neal A. Maxwell attended when he was alive. He used to tell me all kinds of stories about Elder Maxwell. When he returned home, I was attending BYU-Provo so I went up to Salt Lake City for his homecoming talk. He asked me to sing "Because I have been given much" with him in Chinese and I agreed. So since I didn't have anywhere better to sit, I sat with my friend on the stand and got to shake Elder Maxwell's hand. However, after the meeting was over, Elder Maxwell came over, hugged my friend, and gave me a big shake and a big smile and whispered in Chinese, "Thank you, my friend".

As a missionary I got to meet President Uchtdorf when he was still Elder Uchtdorf, a member of the 70 along with Elder John B. Dixon. My mother has been hugged by Elder David B. Haight and was told by Elder Jeffery R. Holand that she had a beautiful smile. I had a chance to attend a fireside with Elder Richard G. Scott where at the end he insisted on shaking everyone's hand before they left. My brother and sister in-law live in the same ward as one of Elder David A. Bednar's sons and have had him come speak in their sacrament meetings dozens of times and I've had Elder Bednar, when he came to our Stake Conference last year, fawn and exclaim over my new daughter.

I don't say all this to brag, although it is neat to reminisce and count my blessings of having met so many Apostles and General Authorities, but rather to point out a common theme of humility and genuine love and charity for the Saints, their brothers and sisters. My Dad got to meet President Monson when he came to dedicate the Louisville, Kentucky Temple where my Dad and Mom live and he said that love just radiates off that man. All of these men have a genuine love and affection for us, the Saints. They all have our best interest at heart and it's a little easier to me to pay attention to Conference when I have a personal connection to some of these men. But these men are special and especial witnesses of Christ. Their whole lives, like Alma before them, are dedicated to the Lord and to spreading His message. When they speak we should listen.

The Lord has said the same in Doctrine and Covenants section 1, He stated that whether the Lord uses His servants to speak to us, or He speaks to us directly, it's the same and there is no difference. We should obey His servants just as we would obey Him were He here among us. As we listen to the prophets and apostles and read their messages, we too will grow to be more like they are, because they are like the Savior is. And as I have mentioned before, they did not get that way overnight. They grew line upon line, precept upon precept just as we do. I don't know about you, but it gives me hope for myself. Maybe someday I too can be full of charity and humility the way they are. Until tomorrow.

Our Standing before God and Trials

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 108, which is a short section given to Lyman Sherman and his call to serve. I noticed that in verse 2 the Lord tells Lyman that his soul can be at rest concerning his spiritual standing before the Lord. I found that interesting because I have also worried about my spiritual standing before the Lord and sought blessings to see if the Lord is pleased with me and with my performance of what I understand His will to be towards me.

That got me wondering how many other people worry about their standing before the Lord. I'll bet it's a common thing for most people to wonder. If you think about it, we as people really wonder about our standing with just about everyone we have contact with it we respect them enough. The difference is with people here on the earth, we can ask them directly, or as is most common, see how they react to us and then analyze their behavior in turn. Often times we over-analyze the others behavior and worry way too much about it and feel rather foolish when we break down and confess to the person in question what has been going on in our mind.

But with God, He is not in front of us, and He generally doesn't speak directly to us. We also fall into the trap of thinking that if we have trials, we are some how not doing what is right. We have all heard the testimonies in fast and testimony meeting and in talks during sacrament meetings where people say, "I don't understand why this is/did happening to me, I am/was trying to hard to live the gospel." Such statements always make me shake my head. Such people do not understand the gospel or the scriptures.

As I am sure I have stated before, a person who has lots of trials in their lives, that are not of their own making such as addictions or trouble with the law through sinful behavior, should feel good about their standing with the Lord. The reason for this is because trials are how we grow. And if the Lord gives us trials, it is because He is pleased with where we are, and He wants to help us grow. It is actually the people that never have a trial that should be worried about their standing before God in my opinion. Because none of us, not even our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson, are perfect yet and all of us can grow more in this life and be better prepared for the life to come.

So perhaps that is the answer right there. If you want to know your standing before the Lord, take a good, honest look at your life and look at your trials that you have had over the past 6 - 12 months. Take away any self inflicted trials by sin and just view your true trials. For example this past month my wife and daughter went up for a visit to some family members for what was supposed to be a 1 week visit. While they were there our car broke down and they ended up being gone for 1 full month to the day. That was quite the trial to be separated for that long for all 3 of us. Luckily for us, my wife and daughter were surrounded by family and were taken care of perhaps even better than if they had been down here with me. But it was a trial that the three of us had to go through and it made our bonds of love that much stronger. Such trials will help us grow together as a family, a necessary component if we hope to be exalted one day in the Celestial Kingdom.

We all desire to know our standing before the Lord and we can know with certainty that we are doing well when we have trials in our lives that are designed to help us grow. Now, the Lord also does not mind when we seek a blessing and desire to know His will concerning us more directly, but in a lot of cases it is just not needed. We just need to take a good honest look at ourselves. I will give you a hint though. The fact that you are even desiring to know your standing before God shows that you are in a pretty good place. People who are prone to sin a lot, do not care where they stand before God usually. Food for thought. Until tomorrow.

The Priesthood and its Offices

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 107. This section is all about Priesthood and the various offices in the Priesthood and their duties. I was actually intrigued by the section heading which stated that this section was not given all at one time. Rather the Prophet had been given this section in parts. And this is not the only section that he received that way. There are a few others that the section heading state the prophet had received certain parts of the section at an earlier time.

Nothing really stood out to me in this section today, rather instead I was impressed with the whole section and how it talks about the Priesthood and its offices. It also talks about the two Priesthoods and what they are responsible for. It is a great lesson on the Priesthoods and just last weekend in General Conference, President Uchtdorf advised all the brethren in the Priesthood session to re-read this section along with sections 20, 84 and 121.

The Aaronic Priesthood is the priesthood that was given to Aaron, the brother of Moses, and is responsible for administering the outward ordinances of the gospel. It is primarily concerned with the sacrament and baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. I have always been fascinated that the Priesthood is first given to 12 year old boys. I think it is really neat that the Lord wants men to exercise their Priesthood and to learn their duties so completely that He essentially let's us use our whole lives to perfect our service in using the Priesthood.

Similar to all other aspects of the Gospel, young men are given responsibility line up on line and precept upon precept. Young men are given more responsibility every two years until they are given the Melchizedek Priesthood. Each office in the Aaronic Priesthood is given a little bit more responsibility. A deacon is allowed to pass the sacrament, acting in the stead of the Savior as He also passed the sacrament that first time at the Last Supper. A teacher is allowed to prepare the sacrament, also acting in the stead of the Savior. A teacher is also called as a home teacher and is able to act as a minister to those members of the church under his stewardship. A priest is allowed to bless the sacrament, also acting in the place of the Savior. A priest is also a home teacher, he may also baptize people for the remission of sins and may also ordain other priests, teachers and deacons by conferring upon them the Aaronic Priesthood.

The Melchizedek Priesthood can be conferred upon a young man as early as 18 but most of the time is conferred upon the young man once he has received his mission call, or when he is about to go to the temple for his own ordinances. The Melchizedek can perform all the ordinances of the Aaronic Priesthood but in addition can also give the Gift of the Holy Ghost, perform temple ordinances, confer the Melchizedek Priesthood, and give Priesthood blessings. Unlike the Aaronic Priesthood, the Melchizedek Priesthood does not progress in offices by age, but rather by calling. A Melchizedek Priesthood holder is ordained an Elder and could conceivably stay in the office of an Elder until he dies. However, if that Elder is called to a calling that requires it, such as a Bishop or a Stake President, he will be ordained to the office of High Priest.

The other offices of the Melchizedek Priesthood are Seventy, Apostle and Patriarch. A member of the Seventy are a traveling high council, according to the section and are to assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in whatever need they may have. An Apostle is a special witness of Christ and is the presiding High Council of the Church. The Lord in this section states that the Quorum of the Twelve hold the same authority of the Presiding Presidency, or the First Presidency. Finally, a Patriarch is a special office whose only duties are to bless the lives of the members of a stake by giving them their patriarchal blessing and reveal the will of the Lord to them.

Now, for most of us, this is not new. For those of you raised in the church, especially the men who may read this, you have known it all your lives. But as President Uchtdorf said just one week ago, it is good to review from time to time and the Lord may have something new to teach you about your own duties, especially if you are a President in one of the quorums mentioned above in your own ward or branch. I urge you to re-read this section yourself and see what the Lord wants to teach you and what you can learn from Him about the Priesthood you, your husband or father holds and what you can do to magnify it. He will tell you, I promise. Until tomorrow.

Prepare Yourselves for the Second Coming of the Lord

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 106, a section given to one of Oliver Cowdery's older brothers. In the section he is advised to preach the gospel and that is the best use of his time. I have often wondered about the people that are called to preach the gospel full time for their entire lives. Is it because they are the best suited for the work and will reach the most people, or because they have the most growing to do and serving a mission full time is what will cause them to grow? Perhaps it is a hybrid of both?

I have also often wondered why the Lord warns the people to prepare for His second coming. We have discussed in the past that the judgment is actually just a deep, unabashed look at who we really are and what type of person we have become. It is about examining who we are most comfortable around and what we want out of our existence. So I wonder, why does the Lord tell us to prepare for His second coming? Why does He not instead tell us to prepare for the judgment? I know that at times in the scriptures He does tell us to prepare for the judgment and that this life is the time to prepare to meet God and that we should not procrastinate the day of our repentance, but most of the time, especially in the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told to prepare for the Second Coming. Usually by some analogy such as the Lord coming as a thief in the night.

Perhaps it is because it is more tangible for us. The judgment seems so far away and seems so distant that it feels like we have all the time in the world to prepare for it. Truth be told we do have all the time on THIS world to prepare for it, the only problem with that is we don't know how much time we actually have on this world. We also know that the judgment will take place after we die. The second coming however, has been something that all believers have looked forward to for almost 2000 years. We have also been told for the last almost 200 years that it is just around the corner and that this is the dispensation of the fullness of times. So maybe because we feel it is going to happen anytime now, even though the Lord tells us we do not know the hour or the day, we feel it is so close and it is more effective to prepare now.

Really though preparing for the Second Coming IS preparing for the judgment. When Christ comes again, there will be those who cannot abide His presence. Those are the same people that will not want to be in His presence when they stand before Him for an open examination of their lives. So perhaps to the Lord telling us to prepare for the Second Coming and to repent of our ways to prepare for the judgment are synonymous. What ever the reason behind it we need to make sure that we are cultivating the right habits so that when the Lord does come again, or we stand before Him at the judgment seat, we are ready to see within ourselves our darkest secrets and have revealed to ourselves, just what type of a person we are. I hope and pray that we will all take advantage of this time that we have to make the right changes in ourselves so that we like what we will see at that day. Until tomorrow.

The Lord protects us, uplifts us and perfects us

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 105, which was given to Joseph Smith while in Zion's camp as they were headed to redeem the Saints in Missouri. The Lord spoke of many things in this section but I feel like it was basically three different main ideas that the Lord is expounding on in this section. Those ideas are that the Lord will fight our battles for us, that the Lord had an endowment of power to give His elders, and that all things are for our good.

It has always intrigued me when I read in the scriptures that the Lord fights our battles for us and to read the accounts of when the Lord fights our battles. Now, in my reading of the scriptures, I believe there are two ways that the Lord will fight our battles. The first is He will uplift His people during the battle and keep them safe from the enemies so that even if they are outnumbered, the people will be safe and will be victorious. The second way the Lord fights our battles for us is He stops them from even happening as He did with Enoch, and the Israelites with the battle of Jericho and in more recent times, at Zion's Camp.

As strange as it may sound, the second way of protection, that of using the elements of the world to protect the Saints is easier for me to understand. The has moved mountains and changed the course of rivers, has used weather and tumbled walls in order to keep His people from having to fight. That makes perfect sense to me because God is the God of nature and the elements love and obey His word. It is the protection of His people during an actual battle that I don't understand how He does it. But protect them He does. The scriptures are replete with stories of the Lord miraculously keeping His saints safe, probably the most miraculous being the story of Helaman's Stripling Warriors. While we don't really have many physical battles to fight anymore, the Lord still protects us in our day.

The second part of this section as I mentioned was the Lord telling His elders that He wanted them to be endowed with power from heaven. The Lord of course is speaking of the temple and it's blessings that wait for all worthy members of the church. The temple blessings bring wonderful strength to us in this life and help us to stay on the right path. The sacred covenants we make in the temple with our Heavenly Father are beautiful and provide us with the strength and power we need to stay strong in this life. The Lord knows this and that is why He asks us to build so many temples and why we put such an emphasis on temple worship. We have talked quite extensively on this in the past so I will not dwell too much on this one but needless to say the temple is for our benefit just as much as it is for the dead.

Finally, all the things that we experience in this life are for our good. This can sometimes seem harsh when we see some of the extremely horrible things that happen to some people in this life. This world is a harsh, and cruel world and sometimes really horrible things happen to people, sometimes to innocent children who have done nothing except be born. I hate to watch the news and television these days try to emulate real life and do so so effectively that it hurts my spirit to watch such programs. But the Lord tells us that these things are for the benefit of those that suffer those things. I believe that the Lord does not do anything to be cruel. It is not in His nature.

He does not do things just because He thinks it is a good idea. He only does things for us because He knows us, He knows what our weaknesses are and what will help us to overcome those weaknesses. Despite how horrible some of the things that some people suffer might be, we need to have faith in God that it is for the benefit of that person and that it will help them overcome their weaknesses and help them become more Christlike. As we have our trials and tribulations in this life, we truly should thank the Lord for those trials because as long as we endure them with the proper spirit, we will become better people because of them. Now it is really, really hard to be thankful for trials while we are going through them, but truly we should be thankful for them because it means we have a chance to grow.

The Lord loves us and wants us to grow and become better men and women. By relying on Him to fight our battle for us, by participating in temple worship so that we have the powers of Heaven behind us, bolstering us and uplifting us, and finally by recognizing that all things we suffer in this life are for our good, will have a tremendous effect on our lives and help us to become more like Him. And that is the ultimate goal, isn't it? Until tomorrow.

Avoid Debt

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 104. This section was about the United Order and the Lord directing the temporal affairs of the church at the time to best provide for those in need and to make sure that the Saints were all taken care of. The part of this section that stood out to me was actually a part at the very end where God tells the Saints to avoid debt and that the Saints should pay all their debts.

Earlier in this section the Lord states that they are to be agents unto themselves. I got to thinking about the counsel the Lord gives to pay our debts and why that is so important. We are taught as Latter-day Saints that we should avoid anything thing, person or activity that limits our agency and takes away our ability to act for ourselves. We usually think of things that do this as sin such as drugs, alcohol or pornography. However it occurs to me that being in debt will also take away and limit our agency in just as deadly a fashion.

When we are in debt, we are giving away our agency to use our money that we earn as we see fit. The scriptures state that we should be anxiously involved in a good cause and that we should use our excess money to bless the lives of the poor and those in need of our assistance. However, if we are in debt, we do not have excess of money because it is already assigned and allotted. And the things we put ourselves into debt for our just silly. A bigger TV when our current one is just fine and just as serviceable. A new car when our old one is still working and will get us safely from point A to point B. We have bought into the culture of credit cards as a society and we are reaping the rewards of our folly for doing so.

In our day, our leaders, the prophets and apostles we all sustained and agreed to listen to their counsel, have cautioned us to avoid going into debt except in purchasing a MODEST home that meets our needs, an education and a modest car. Many have followed this counsel and they are better off for it. Recently, back in October 2010, President Henry B. Eyring counseled us that if we are able to, we should pay off our house. My in-laws recently were able to do just this and I am so happy for them that they followed the counsel of a modern day prophet and apostle. I know they will be blessed for it. I know when I was paying a mortgage before my wife and I moved into an apartment that met our needs just fine but was significantly smaller than our home, I couldn't help think month over month just what all that money I paid to the bank for the privilege to live int hat house could do in blessing the lives of those around me.

We are counseled to get out of debt because in this day and age, we live in a time where the economy can literally crash within 5 minutes and millions of people will find themselves without work. If such a thing happened today, would you be able to accept a minimum wage job to provide for your family? Would such a job provide for all your needs? For most of us the answer is a resounding no. But for my in-laws, it would. Things would be tight, but it would provide for all their needs because they do not have a house or car payment. They have been wise stewards indeed. When we live within our means, the Lord is pleased. When we live within our means and use our excess to bless the lives of His children, the Lord takes note and we will find that we have been storing blessings for ourselves in the world to come.

As we mentioned, being in debt is just as limiting to our agency as is an addiction. And for some, being in debt is just as addictive as drugs. Some people just like to buy things and are constantly buying things they don't need, or if they thought about it, don't really even want either. When my wife and I moved to our apartment, because it was so much smaller, it really forced us to examine our possessions and decide what was truly important. There were several things that we gave, or threw away because we found that we did not actually need it and that while it might make our lives more comfortable, there just wasn't room for it.

I hope you will all follow the counsel of our leaders that we each raised our hands to the square saying we would sustain and listen to their counsel and avoid debt and if you are in debt, that you will work to get out of debt. It is just as damning as pornography and just as deadly as alcohol. We are meant to be tools in the hand of the Savior in doing good in this life and that requires money. We cannot be a tool in His hand if we have already sold ourselves to another for that which moth doth corrupt. Avoid debt just as you avoid sin and you will find great opportunities for service in this life. Until tomorrow.

Zion's Camp

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 103. This is another section that is about the Saints in Missouri and their suffering. The Lord again reiterates that the reason for the suffering of the Saints in Zion was due in part at least to the fact that they were not keeping the statutes and commandments of God as they ought to have.

The end of this section was a commandment to the prophet Joseph Smith to organize a force of at least 100 men to go down to Zion to redeem the Saints there. This group of men is commonly called Zion's Camp. The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in this dispensation all came from Zion's Camp I believe. It was a hard time for all the people involved at that time, both the Saints in Missouri and the brethren in Zion's Camp.

A lot of people who went on Zion's camp did not understand why they were organized in the first place because once they finally got down to Missouri, the Lord told them to turn around and go home. Some of the men took this in stride and went home knowing they had done the Lord's will. I often wondered if I had been part of Zion's camp, which group I would have fallen in with. Would I have been meek and humble and let the experience change me and say, "The Lord's will be done"? Or would I have hardened my heart and felt the whole journey would be for nothing?

I will never know how I would have reacted if I had been in Zion's camp, but I can have a good idea based on how I react in this day and age. How do I react when my church leaders send out a call to serve now? That should give me a good idea of how I would have reacted if I had been on Zion's camp. It is a hard thing to build character I think. The idea is that character is built by doing activities that are tough, not fun and cause us to put aside our own desires and focus instead on what is best for us, whether it is pleasant or not. It's things like having a good work ethic, to put aside our own selfish desires and serve others instead of ourselves.

I think it also gives us a different perspective. When we have gone through something that is tough, something that stretches us to our limits and sometimes pushes us past that to a place we didn't even know existed, we grow and become a better person. But it also makes the little bumps that then come up later not seem nearly so bad. It gives us perspective and allows us to see that while what we are going through right now is tough, it is not impossible and as long as we work with the Lord to get through it, we will ultimately be better off because of it. For example, Brigham Young went on Zion's Camp. Then, a decade or so later in his life, he had to organize the exodus of all the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a much farther trek, in much harsher conditions. I have no doubt in my mind that Brigham's participation in Zion's Camp prepared him for leading the Saints across the plains of the Mid-West.

All trials and tribulations can be for our benefit if we approach them in the right way. Zion's Camp was not about reclaiming the Saints lost land and redressing the wrongs that had been committed against them. It was about changing the lives of those 100 men for good or for the worse and preparing the future leaders of the Church. As I write this I am struck by the idea that when we are faced with trials, we will be changed, either for good or ill, we will be a different person one way or another. Much like our testimony, we cannot stand still, we are either progressing or regressing in this life and trials force us to change for the better or the worse. I had not thought of it in quite those terms before now. But it is very true that in this life every experience we have will cause us to change. Some changes are very small, some are life changing. But we are always moving in this life, physically, emotionally or spiritually.

I really do hope that I never have to go through something as drastic as Zion's Camp, but if we don't we are going to have make that kind of progress another way. We are all striving to become like Christ is, that means, to me at least, that we are going to have to experience things that will change us in the way that we become more like Christ. For some, little jumps and bounds are what is needed. But for others more drastic change is needed and so more drastic experiences are needed. I would only counsel that whatever your trials and challenges that come your way, that you work hand in hand with God to make sure they work for your benefit and do not drive you away from Him instead. Until tomorrow.

The Lord's Discipline

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 102 which is actually the minutes of a meeting where the first High Council of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. The majority of the section actually has to deal with church discipline courts and how the counselors are to conduct themselves during such courts.

The section itself holds little doctrine of any kind and reminds me of Mosiah 26 where Alma the Elder asks God what to do about members of the church that were taken in sin and refused to repent. It is always very unfortunate when a member of the church who felt the spirit strong enough to be baptized will fall into sinful ways and have problems with the commandments and would fall away so completely that they have no desire to repent of any of their sins.

I have never taken part in one of the church's disciplinary courts fortunately, on any side. My father though has told me a couple of things from when he served as a high counselor many years ago. The one thing he always said was it was always amazing to him how much love was in the room for the individual that had made the mistakes. He also talked a bit about people who had been denied blessings because of the sins they had committed and how they reacted when they fully repented and the council was able to restore their blessings. My dad mentioned that the person remarked how dark the world is without the Holy Ghost as a companion. I've always found that interesting.

My father is a convert to the church. He did not join the church until he was an adult and was married to my mother. He has also remarked that once he joined the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost the world itself seemed to have more light in it to him. Now, having been raised in the church, I have no point of reference to understand his statements and so I am not sure what exactly he means by that, but I do understand the statement of having light around a person which I have heard many people remark upon at one point or another.

I have never seen a light surrounding someone like I have heard some people can see. But I, like I am sure that some of you have seen in your lives, have come into contact with people who have no light at all in them. It just makes you uncomfortable to even be around them. Unfortunately those people are usually drawn to people like you and me because we DO have that light that they extinguished years ago. Now, if those people were drawn to the light in us for the purpose of repenting of their ways and gaining that light in their own lives, I would not mind it at all. But all too often they just want that happy feeling they get when they are around someone righteous and have no desire at all to change their ways.

The last thought that came to my mind when I was reading this section is again, that the Lord's house is a house of order. In a way that is extremely comforting to me. I love the fact that if I have to travel somewhere or if I move somewhere, the church will be the same no matter where I go. I remember when I moved last year with my family, someone who is not a member of the church asked me after I had been here for several months if I had found a new church yet. When I replied that we had she replied that she was glad because she knew how much of a hassle it can be to find a new place to attend church in a new city. I felt really blessed that as a Latter-day Saint I don't have that problem. It is a small blessing but a really welcome one. I am really grateful that the Lord guides this church and does not leave us hanging when we need His help and that He still speaks to His children. It is a wonderful comfort indeed. Until tomorrow.

The Salt of Heaven

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 101, which was given in response to the persecution of the saints in Missouri. The Lord makes it clear in the very beginning of the section that the reason this is happening to the saints is because they were not faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord and have entered into transgression. However, just like Pilate, that does not exempt those who did the persecuting and they will ultimately suffer the consequences of those actions.

It really got me thinking too about the people who committed those atrocities both in the early days of the church and during the Crusades. I mean, what were those people thinking? I understand during the Crusades it was actually the leaders of the churches in those days who are ultimately to blame, but still. Do you think those people killed Latter-day Saints in Missouri, burned houses and watched women and children walking in the snow with nothing but the clothing on their backs truly felt good about themselves? What in heaven and earth could inspire such hatred? Could those men really go home and get into bed with a smile on their face feeling like they had done the Lord's will? I don't see how.

As I mentioned I understand that the Crusades are another matter, and the leaders of the churches at that time had NO understanding of the Gospel of Christ and led their followers to sin by demanding they retake Jerusalem and urging their followers to kill supposed heathens. But it also brings to mind Saul, who later became Paul. From what we know, he DID feel he was doing the Lord's work in persecuting and killing the followers of Christ before his vision on the road to Damascus. To me, such attitudes reflect a severe misunderstanding of our Heavenly Father. I understand that Saul was not a Christian at the time, but it also reflects about as big a misunderstanding of the Gospel of Christ as you can have. What do you suppose all those men, and perhaps some women, I mean who knows, thought when they got to the other side and full implication of their error was made apparent to them? I shudder to even think on it. Food for thought.

The other thought I had came from the verse comparing the saints to salt. The Lord says that when salt has lost its flavor it is good for nothing and should be cast out. It got me to thinking about the comparison between the saints and salt. The way I see it, salt basically has two functions, flavor and preservation. As I was reading I thought of some really interesting comparisons between Latter-day Saints and salt. First, flavor. Salt, in this day and age, is primarily a flavoring for food and is found in a great number of foods from breads to sauces and soups. It adds variety to otherwise bland foods. It can also cover up a bad taste of a food we may not be fond of. I imagine that Heavenly Father when looking at the world feels much the same way about the people of the world. They are a distasteful "flavor" to Him. But the Saints are a good, wonderful flavor and He can cover up the bad taste in His mouth when He deals with the sins of the world.

To me the aspect of preservation is a much more interesting concept in comparison of saints and salt. Before refrigeration, and even now with some foods like country ham, salt was used to preserve foods, especially meats, beyond their normal period of edibility. Now, there are many cases where the Lord has told the world, or rather cities in the world, that He would destroy them, however, there are righteous among them that are calling on His name and saving those people from destruction. What a marvelous comparison it is then to call the Saints a tool of preservation that save those wicked around them well beyond what should be their allotted time based on their level of wickedness. According to the scriptures, the saints are indeed a wonderful tool of preservation for the wicked to keep them well past their prime in the hope that some few of them may repent and turn to God.

There is another aspect of preservation though that the Saints are good at, that of staving off corruption. When a righteous Latter-day Saint follows the commandments, they have the Holy Ghost as their companion. As such, they have a unique spirit about them that others notice and like to be around. This can lead to those people that are around them in changing their habits and nature so that they no longer desire to do that which is evil or will at least cause them to not do that which is wrong in the sight of God in that person's presence. It is quite the interesting phenomenon which I am sure most of you have noticed in your own lives.

However, like salt, the Saints can lose their flavor and far from staving off corruption can begin to cause it and as the analogy states may then be only good for casting out. However, unlike salt which has lost its flavor, a Latter-day Saint can repent and regain his/her good standing in the Lord's sight and can once again act as salt for the Lord in this life. It really is a marvelous analogy and I am grateful to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in helping those around me and preserving the spiritual lives of some few of my brothers and sisters in this life. I hope you too are taking advantage of the opportunity that righteous living affords you and are able to do good in the world around you, even if only by being who you are. Until tomorrow.

The Lord will give to us what we should say

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 100, a revelation given to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon about their missionary service. Most Latter-day Saints who have served a mission will recognize this section as containing one of the classic missionary scriptures. In verse 6 the Lord comforts Joseph and Sidney by telling them that He will tell them what to preach and tell them in the very moment what they should say to those they are preaching to.

My whole life I was taught that the Lord will indeed help missionaries and teach them what to say, but it was contingent upon the person already knowing the thing somewhere in their mind. For example, I'm sure for those of you that grew up in the church, you , like me, were told as a child and teenager that the Lord can help me when I take a test in school by reminding me of the things I have studied. And it is true, He did in fact help me in exactly that fashion growing up.

And there are those who would have you believe that as a missionary, it is the same thing. That when you are in the moment and need His help to reach an earnest seeker of truth, He will only remind you of things that you have studied in the past. First of all, the scriptures do not say that. The exact verse says: "For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say." Nowhere in that sentence does it say "as long as you knew it before hand". As far as I am aware, the only requirement to take advantage of this blessing is the same requirement that all revelation has, living the commandments and an earnest desire to do that which is right in the sight of God.

Now, I think the reason people get confused about this, is because most of the time, what the Lord will prompt people to say, are things they already know. Or He will prompt them to recite a scripture they might have learned in seminary that is appropriate. Because that is how the Lord works. Think about the Savior and His earthly ministry. Most of the time He came up against someone who was trying to trick Him, or when he rebuffed Satan, He quoted scripture to them. That is the pattern. So if you knew it before hand, sure, He will tell you the best scripture to quote to the person you are talking with if that is what is going to be most effective.

However, again I say it is not a prerequisite for receiving this promise from the Lord. I'm sure you could find countless examples of people who when they served a mission could tell you instances where they had this promise fulfilled, but the Lord taught them something new when He put in their mind what they should say. Something that they did not know before. I myself could cite at least 3 examples from my own mission without even pausing to reflect if there are more. The Lord means exactly what He says there, He will tell us in the very moment what we should say.

This promise is also not just for missionaries. I have had this promise fulfilled as a regular old member of the church when talking to someone about the Gospel. Now, I will say that most of the time this has happened, the Lord HAS called to mind scriptures I could turn to with the individual or things I recalled reading from the scriptures in an earlier setting. In fact those examples are far more numerous than the other examples I could give where the Lord taught me something new in the moment. So it would definitely behoove you to learn the scriptures and the doctrine since that is what is going to tough the hearts of most people anyway. But as I was saying, this promise is not just for missionaries, it can happen to a father teaching his child, to a wife speaking with a husband, a friend talking to a friend, and any other relationship you care to think of. The Lord will not leave us alone when we fulfill our covenants.

We made a promise when we were baptized that we would stand as a witness for Christ at all times and in all places. When we live up to that covenant, the Lord will bless us by standing with us. It's also an incredible experience to feel the Spirit that strongly and have an idea pop in your head that you absolutely know did not come from you. Hopefully each of you will get to experience that at some point if you have not already. Until tomorrow.

Missionary Service Changes Lives

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 99. In this section the Lord commands John Murdock to leave his family and go serve a mission in the eastern states and actually asks him to preach the gospel for the rest of his life, but tells him that if he so desires, at a certain time, the Lord will allow Him to end His mission. It's a pretty typical section and nothing really unique about it when the Lord calls someone on a mission.

But it did get my thinking that as much as serving a mission helps and benefits those who hear the gospel, it probably helps the missionary more. Section 50 teaches that when the Spirit is present, both the hearer and the preacher are edified, which we have talked about before. Now, I don't know how it was in days gone by, but I know that in today's world, if a missionary truly lives the gospel of Jesus Christ and lives the life of a missionary, they will come home a changed man or woman.

I remember that when I turned 18 and came face to face with serving a mission, I started having doubts. Now, I knew I was supposed to serve a mission and I knew that I WOULD serve a mission, but it was a challenge. I knew it was a commandment of the Lord that i serve a mission and so I would indeed serve one. But I was not looking forward to it and unfortunately for my parents, I let that fact be known. They were really worried I was not going to go. What they didn't know was nothing was going to stop me, it was a commandment of the Lord, how could I not go? But the reason I was having trouble with it, was because I knew the truth. I knew that I wasn't being asked to give up 2 years of my life to the Lord, I was being asked to give up my entire life.

Now, I was not doing anything wrong. I was committing no serious sins, and I was fulfilling all my covenants I had made up to that point, but my life had no direction really. I spent my days working and sleeping and my nights going out with friends. Now, we were not the "party" type, we would go out to eat or go bowling or play frisbee in parking lots. Now, partly the reason I had no direction in my life was because I knew I would serve a mission and didn't want to start college. But I knew that once I left on my mission, everything would change. I knew my friends would not be here when I got back, but if I on the off chance they were still there, I knew things would never be the same.

And I was right. I came home a different person and of the 12 - 15 people that I used to hang out with on a daily basis back before my mission, only 3 - 5 were still around and it was a little strange hanging out with them. Now, when I got back from my mission, I didn't really mind nearly as much, that things were different, but before my mission and before I had changed, I minded very much. I knew that things would never be the same. Actually, it's my opinion that the fact that things WERE so different when I got back that it is a testimony of how well I lived the mission rules and how I gave it my all as a missionary and I was the one who had a real change of heart.

And that's how every man and woman who serves a mission should be. Their number one convert should be themselves, as has been said before in many General Conference addresses. It's very similar to giving a blessing in my opinion because there are times when what is said while giving a blessing has nothing to do with the person receiving the blessing and everything to do with the person giving the blessing. I will close with one final thought on missions and missionaries. It is on a mission that a man or woman really learns how to sacrifice their will in favor of the Lord's will. It is there that they learn what it really means to say "Thy will be done". It can be learned in other ways, but a mission is by far the easiest and least painful. If you have children, begin preparing them now for their missionary service so that when the time comes it is not a question of IF they will serve a mission, but rather where will they serve the Lord as a missionary. Until tomorrow.

Let the Lord Fight your Battles

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 98, which is a revelation given to Joseph Smith about the condition of the saints in Missouri and the persecution that they were receiving and suffering from. The saints during that time endured horrible trials that were not justified and that no human should perpetrate upon another, and yet, all throughout history, humans have done such things to each other, not just to the Latter-day Saints. I've never understood people who let hate get such hold of their hearts, especially over some of the most trivial things. It's barbaric really.

From what I know of church history the saints in Missouri did not help their situation by the way they acted when they got to Missouri and based on their actions it may have inflamed the situation and made people who would otherwise have left them alone part of the problem. Nevertheless, it does not excuse what those people did. As I am fond of saying, nothing gives us the right to treat people in anyway other than how Jesus would treat them. The Lord himself in this section reminds us that we are to forgive 70 times 7.

Nevertheless, the way the Saints were treated at that time, regardless of the reason, is appalling and it is no wonder the Saints in Kirtland wanted revenge and wanted to do something about it. But the Lord has said He will fight our battles for us and truly He did in this instance also. The Lord's house is a house of order and it is no wonder that He wanted the Saints to obey the laws of the land. He still wants us to obey the laws of the land where we live and to have us be involved in the law making process as much as possible. To elect righteous leaders and make sure that we do our part to uphold the law at all times.

It is interesting to see the mind of the Lord though throughout the years and how He has protected His people. I have met and talked with people who firmly believed that the New Testament and the Old Testament had 2 different Gods. They could not understand how in the world the God the Old Testament could possibly be the God of the New Testament. I see no such conflict. In both books of the Bible I see a God who is determined to save and protect His people. I see the same thing in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord has always protected His people in His own way, and as we know His ways are not our ways.

I think the problem arises from the fact that we are too concerned with this life. Now granted, we all want to have a happy life here on the earth and I think all of us with the Spirit in our lives, when we come across those who have suffered in this life, it hurts to dwell on it and I am sure it causes our Heavenly Father, who IS our Father, even more pain. But He has a perspective that we do not have. He knows that everything in this life is for our benefit and this life is but a small moment. Now, I am not saying that we should do nothing to alleviate the suffering in the world. Far from it. I think spending our time in service to others, aside from preaching the gospel, is probably the most worthwhile use of our time in this life. But this life is not the end, or the beginning. It is but a time we use to better ourselves and become more like our Savior.

As we become more Christlike we will start to see the world more through His eyes and we will be able to look past the things in this life that seem so important to us now. We will start to spend our time differently and we will start to be able to forgive easier. It really is sad and amazing how much holding onto a grudge can weigh down the heart and can stop progression. Let the Lord fight your battles and focus on what is most important in this life, serving others and helping your family progress and make and keep sacred covenants. You won't be sorry you did, but I can't say the same if you choose to live your life another way! Until tomorrow.

Line upon LIne

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 97 where the Lord commands a temple to be built in Missouri and commands His people to be humble and not to cause persecutions to arise by their actions. Now the Lord tells Joseph Smith, if I am reading the revelation correctly, that if they build a temple in Missouri and honor it appropriately so that no unclean thing enters into it that all nations will honor Zion. Obviously that did not happen.

The thing that strikes me about this chapter is actually the first part where the Lord is talking about the School of the Prophets and how He is pleased with Parley P. Pratt for his faithfulness. What stands out about it to me is the classic example of the Lord's pattern for learning that it is. No one, not even the Savior Himself when He was here, learns everything all at once. Everyone is given a little light and a little knowledge at a time and allowed to grow into it so that they are not held accountable for too much all at once.

We read in Doctrine and Covenants section 82:3 that when much is given, much is required. This is true of everything in the gospel. That is why when people are first baptized we do not immediately rush them off to the temple to make sacred covenants. They are not ready for it first of all. But secondly, they have not yet had a chance to grow into the new covenant they have made with the Lord yet, that of baptism and confirmation. Whenever we make sacred covenants with the Lord, whether we were in fact ready to make them or not, we are held to them. We are expected to do our part in the covenant and that is why we do not make them frivolously and why we are given so many chances to back out before making them if we are uncomfortable.

It has always amused me to see how the world emulates the gospel of Jesus Christ and its truth. For example, with learning and making covenants, the world does the exact same thing that the Lord does. When a kindergartner begins his/her first day of school he/she is not taught trigonometry immediately upon learning that 1+1=2. They are taught a little bit at a time just like we do in the church. When I worked as a temple worker the ordinance I most had opportunity to assist with more than any other I think was sealings. I was amazed how much of the "modern Christian" wedding ceremony is lifted straight from the sealing ordinance and I can see that it was had in ancient Christian times. Some of the traditions at a wedding that have always made no sense to me at all, suddenly became clear where they came from as I understood the sealing ordinance more and more. It was kind of fascinating really.

Back to our original point however of learning line upon line and not being held accountable to things we don't understand, it is a comfort really to me. It also shows another tender mercy of the Lord that we are only held accountable to things we understand and covenants we enter into with Him. That is after all the reason the Savior taught in parables during His earthly reign, because He wanted to make sure only the people who were ready to know it, understood what He was talking about. I mean, some of the things He taught, not even His apostles understood. How fair would it have been to hold someone who didn't even have their level of light and knowledge accountable to it?

As we each learn and progress in the gospel, hopefully we can all take comfort in the knowledge that the Lord will not let us get too far ahead of ourselves. That is why church leaders generally will focus on the basics and reaffirm them over and over again with us instead of teaching what is colloquially referred to as the deep doctrine. It is because we all need to master the basics before we can move on and that too is for our own good and protection. I for one am glad of it and glad for the constant reminders and deeper insights I gain to the basics of the doctrine. It seems to me like no matter how much of it I know, there is always another level deeper to learn. Hopefully you are the same way, because I don't think the leaders are going to change their tactics anytime soon. Until tomorrow.

Temples

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 96 where the Lord directs a few of the brethren in making sure that the plot of land where the temple will be built is taken care of, as well as making sure that those who are to serve a mission are cared for. It ends with the Lord telling the brethren to have one of the brethren join the United Order.

This section, while not really pertaining to anything in our day and age since we do not use the United Order anymore, got me thinking about the temple in Kirtland and all temples. When I lived in Kentucky, I lived only about 2 minutes away from the temple. It was wonderful. I had a friend that I would carpool to work with several times a week. In order to get to my house he had to drive past the temple every day. We had several discussions about the temple and Latter-day Saints in general during those car rides.

We as Latter-day Saints, take a lot of flack from others about our temples generally. When a new temple is announced and people who are not fond of the church hear about it, they sometimes make a lot of fuss and can even cause quite a stir about the temple being built in that city. A fun story about the Louisville, Kentucky temple. When it was being built, there was a man who came to Louisville. He apparently goes to all the cities in America where temples are being built, goes to the local churches and gathers people to protest the temple being built with him. This man actually told the Stake President in Louisville, that he was unable to get any of the local churches to protest with him. They all said that they had liked the Latter-day Saints and did not desire to protest the temple being built. He had to bring in protesters from another city. He actually gained a bit of respect for the Saints in Louisville.

I've honestly never understood why people protest temples being built anyway. Would they protest if Muslims wanted to build a temple in their city, or a synagogue, or a Buddhist temple or any other religious structure for another religion? Now, I know there are the rumors about what goes on in the temples and so some people may protest them through misguidance, but I don't believe for a second that the man who protests all the temples actually believes those rumors. He strikes me as one who knows all too well what actually goes on in the temple.

Temple worship is some of the most wonderful, sacred worship we can do in this life. The last year I lived in Louisville before my wife and I moved, we actually were able to serve as temple workers. It was a wonderful opportunity and I'm really glad I had a chance to do it. It was a lot of fun to be able to serve all those who were coming in to worship and serve God. If you have never had the opportunity to serve as a temple worker, if your situation allows it, I would suggest you talk to your Bishop about it. It is a very worthwhile opportunity.

I've been lucky in my life that I have never met anyone who disliked Latter-day Saints, except on my mission, and most of the people I have met in my life get to know me as Fred first and then find out I am a Latter-day Saint later, which I think helps. Although there was a couple of instances as a teenager that my friends were fine with me because they met me that way, but their parents heard that their child had a Mormon friend and didn't like it so when I met them I took some heat. One friend of mine, when I met her mother, she came out on to the porch, looked me up and down and then said, "Well you certainly don't look evil". But I have been fortunate that it is a rarity. But I think most people that we come across in this life as members are going to be more curious about temples as opposed to hostile about it. I would urge you if you have non-member friends, which we all do, that if you ever have an opportunity to invite them to a temple open house, please do so. It is a wonderful spiritual experience and we have them for a reason.

It is a true blessing to have temples. The Lord has allowed us to serve with Him as Saviors on Mount Zion to those we perform those sacred ordinances for. Please take advantage of it as often as you can and share what you can of it with those of your acquaintance who may be curious. Remember, a lot of people are searching for the truth and don't know where to find it. Don't hoard the truth, it is meant to be shared with all. And it brings great joy to both the hearer and the speaker alike. Until tomorrow.

Chasten those we Love and Fasting

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 95, wherein the Lord is displeased with some of His disciples. I am again struck by the statement the Lord makes that He chastens because He loves us. It is such an easy thing to forget. When one is being punished, it sure feels like the person doing the punishing has anything but the other party's best interests at heart.

And yet that is exactly what is happening. We care enough to give a punishment so that the other person or persons can learn that the behavior they are exhibiting is wrong and needs to change. Sometimes all that is required to help them learn that is to let them suffer the consequences of their own actions. All too many parents these days though are far more interested in trying to be their children's friend than they are their parent. I don't know where this ridiculous notion came from. Who in their right mind thinks that an 8 year old needs a 40 year old friend instead of a Mom?

Friendship between children and parents really only comes once the child reaches adulthood. If you can manage to be the child's friend when times are good and be the parent when times are bad, then it's fine. But what most people find is that when the child is being punished and the phrase, "I thought you were my friend" is flung back at the parent, the parent caves in. I just sadly shake my head when I see it. That phrase never worked on me even when I heard it from my friends as a teenager. I have never understood how people can be guilted into doing things. But my wife likes to tell me I am not the norm.

But I have already talked about this before back when we read Helaman so I want to switch veins. The Lord chastises His disciples saying that they walk in darkness at noon day and explains that this is the reason He has commanded them to meet together often to fast and to pray. I have always wondered why fasting is so efficacious. How does going without food and water for two meals accompanied by prayer manage to accomplish so much?

We read in the scriptures of people learning the things of the Spirit, of becoming scriptorians, of overcoming temptations, and so much more, all from fasting. I understand that fasting is to help us gain mastery over the physical body and to help us become more in tune with the spirit. And in that sense, I can understand how fasting can help us know the scriptures better. Only when we read with the Spirit as our guide can we truly understand the scriptures, especially the Bible, and understand how they can be of benefit to us. But the scriptures always attribute so much more to fasting than just gaining the Spirit.

Perhaps it is just the willingness to sacrifice that does it. I'm honestly not sure. I do find it interesting that fasting is something most other churches still do. I have a friend who is a member of another faith and she is doing a 40 day fast for lent that involves giving up meat, dairy, processed flour and refined sugars. I am proud of her for doing such a thing and think it's good that other religions still teach their members to fast and that fating is a good and proper way to show devotion to God. I have never heard a member of another faith teach fasting as a way to supplicate God though.

I must admit that all too often I fast each month just because that is what we do and it is what is expected of me. I do have a purpose to the fast as we are asked to do, but it is definitely not something I look forward to and quite often is something I dread as the beginning of the new month approaches. It is a weakness of mine I need to overcome I suppose. So one could argue that it is especially important for me to follow this commandment and do it until I love it as the old saying goes. Perhaps I should fast to better appreciate and gain a truer understanding of fasting. That is after all what it's purpose is. It is most certainly something I will need to work out with the Lord.

The one thing that cannot be denied, is that fasting works and is important. The Lord Himself tells us over and over in the scriptures and through his modern prophets that fasting is important. And if there is one thing I have learned it is that when the Lord continues to reiterate something in the scriptures and through His prophets, it is important to pay attention to it. Who knows? Maybe this weekend one of the Lord's representatives on the earth will talk about it and it will answer all my questions. We shall see. Until tomorrow.

At the Feet of the Prophet

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 94. In this section, the Lord maps out the city of Kirtland, how He wants it laid out. It must have been an interesting life and time, to live around the prophet, Joseph Smith and have him receive revelations from the Lord on a sometimes daily basis. It does seem a little odd to me that he should receive revelations from the Lord on such mundane topics as where to build a house for Hyrum Smith.

I think it would have been neat to live near the prophet Joseph. Although for some people it was stumbling block apparently. There is more than one person that, because of their close proximity to him, saw him for what he was, a man that the Lord had called to lead his church and he apparently did not meet their expectations of what a prophet should be like. For example, one of the men who left the church, I forget his name, came over to ask Joseph something and saw him wrestling on the floor with his children and felt that was not a behavior a prophet should engage in. Personally I would have been thrilled to see such a sight. I would have thought to myself that it is wonderful that the prophet is a man just like me.

I'm not sure where people got the idea of what a prophet should be like anyway. In the Bible we only have a record of the prophets of old and their duties as a prophet. We only know about their prophecies, their missions and the things they did in the name of the Lord. We have no idea what they did in their personal lives. Although, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young are both unique in that they were called to be prophet unusually young, even Joseph was called at half the age Brigham was. So Joseph Smith was unique among most of the prophets, I'm sure there are others we don't know about, in that he was a prophet as a teenager and a young adult.

We DO have a record of the modern day prophets and how they were most definitely men made more perfect through the things they experienced and suffered. And that is a comfort for me, it gives me hope. Because I look at our current prophet, President Monson, and I just feel defeated. How can I ever hope to be as good as he is, let alone the Savior. But then I read about the prophet's in their lives at my age and realize they made mistakes too and they took it one day at a time, just like I have to. I believe it was President Spencer W. Kimball's wife that was once asked what it was like to be married to the prophet and she replied that he was not a prophet when she married him. The only person I know of that did not have to become perfected over a lifetime was the Savior. Enoch and his city was not translated for over 300 years! And Enoch was not called to the ministry until he was 65 I believe.

A prophet is not born, a prophet is made. Even then, they have help. Joseph Smith did not overnight go from being a young adult, to a prophet. The Lord helped him and taught him line upon line, precept upon precept. Joseph is again unique in that we know very, very well his faults and the problems he had in the learning process. We know for a fact that he did things he shouldn't have, like tempt the Lord and thus lost part of the Book of Mormon. Now, this is not to give one a license to just go out and run amok sinning wherever and whenever possible. Rather this is to help give us hope that we too can become as they are and were.

It would have indeed been neat to have lived in the days of Joseph Smith and seen first hand the revelations that we are now reading being received and watch Joseph direct the church. It would have been very hard too as you well know if you have studied any of the church's history. However, if you still want to see a prophet in action, all you have to do is watch general conference every six months, because we have President Monson who is in charge now and he receives inspiration for this church and he lets us know the will of the Lord concerning us. Actually we have conference this weekend, please be sure to take advantage of it and make sure you are spiritually prepared to hear the will of the Lord, and you will. Until tomorrow.

Children are a Fulness of Joy

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 93, a really fun section if you ask me. The Lord in this section tells us some things about himself, and about the universe. I always like learning new things, like I have mentioned before now, and that is I why I really like this section. The Lord teaches us some good things about the nature of the universe in this section, not the least of which is he lets us know that Isaac Newton was correct that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, but that the elements are eternal. I love the idea that God is bound by laws too.

One of the greatest thing about children, to me, is their love of learning. They want to know everything and they love to learn new things. I love to watch my daughter as she explorers the world around her and if you take her to someplace new like the mall, it is pure joy to see her little head whip back and forth and she tries to take it all in. I can't wait until she is a little older so that I can start to teach her things and she can really understand it. Right now I try and teach her certain things but she doesn't really comprehend it. I'm especially looking forward to teaching her the gospel and helping her learn to love the scriptures. I'm really looking forward to helping her find the Savior in this life.

I once heard it said that having children is considered a fullness of joy by our Heavenly Father. In the verse where the Lord tells us that the elements are eternal He tells us that only when our spirits and the elements are inseparably connected can we have a fulness of joy. Having received all the saving ordinances prior to having children, I can agree, that the most joy I have had in this life would be with my wife as we brought our daughter into this world and watched my wife hold our baby girl for the first time. Nothing else even comes close. I wonder if that is the way our Heavenly Father sees us? Given the way He refers to children, I would think He does. That is why I cannot understand why some people treat their children like a burden and go as far as to abuse them. It makes me shudder to even think on it.

But we have responsibilities to our children beyond providing for their physical and emotional needs. Just as the Lord will hold us responsible for who we might have helped save if we had been righteous and had opened our mouth and shared the gospel with them, He will hold us even more responsible if we do not teach our children the gospel. He tells Frederick G. Williams in this section that he is under condemnation because he has not taught his children the right way to go and has not taught them the gospel. It is up to us to make sure that our children are taught appropriately and that they receive the spiritual education that all children need to know in order to return to live with our Heavenly Father.

As we teach our children the everlasting gospel, we will have that everlasting joy in them that our Heavenly Father speaks of. That is the way we can gain the most happiness and satisfaction in this life. For those of you who have children, make sure you are teaching them properly so that they know where to look for their salvation. For those of you who do not have children yet, just wait, be patient on the Lord and they will come in His own due time, when He knows you are ready to teach them the right things. And it will be the most rewarding experience of your life, to just be around them. Until tomorrow.

The United Order - a Zion Society

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 92 which is only 2 verses long. It was s commandment to Frederick G. Williams to join the United Order. The United Order is what is commonly referred to in the church as the law of Consecration. It is my understanding that it was the united order that had all things in common, consecrated all their belongings to the church and then received back what was needful for their families.

I can understand why it was such a stumbling block for the early Saints. It would be a hard thing to have to turn over all your belongings to the church. Some people cannot even pay a full tithe and give just 10% of their earnings to the church. I think I might have had a bigger problem with tithing if I had not grown up in the church. To me it just seems natural because that is what I have always done and it's all I have ever known. But if I had joined the church as an adult I might have had a real problem with it, so I can understand how some might struggle with it.

But to give all one's possessions away? That would be even more hard I think. But the scriptures state that the people in a Zionistic society, the city of Enoch, the Nephites after the Savior visits them are the two that spring to mind, had all things in common. I do not quite understand what that means but I believe it means that they freely gave to all who had need. I don't think they gave away all possessions and were given them back as a stewardship, although it certainly could mean that, we don't have any records to confirm or refute that. What makes more sense to me though is that if they saw someone in need of something and they had it, they freely gave it to that person. It says there was no poor among them. That to me means that they took in any who were homeless, helped them find work, gave them food to eat, perhaps even let the person live with them, who knows. But it certainly seems to me that they were actively looking out for one another and not just themselves.

That would be really nice wouldn't it? To live in a society where your neighbors cared as much about you as they did about their own family? To not have to worry about thievery or being robbed. To let your children go over to a friends house and not have to worry about them in the slightest. It sounds like heaven on earth to me. That is what we are all working towards though I think, we are all working towards caring about others more than we do ourselves. That's what charity is.

As we do all the things the Lord asks of us, home teaching, providing service, performing vicarious temple ordinances for the dead, our hearts increase in charity for our fellow men and women and we become that much closer to a Zion society on earth. It is possible, it's been done at least twice that we know of. The scriptures state it will happen again and if we are not ready for it when it happens, we won't be part of it. I cannot wait to be part of it if it happens in my day. And if not, well, there's always the Celestial Kingdom. Until tomorrow.

The Apocrypha and the Joseph Smith Translation

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 91 which is a very short section about whether Joseph Smith should re translate the Apocrypha. The Lord tells Joseph that he does not need to because for the more part it is true and translated correctly and one only needs to read with the Spirit to know which parts are false.

I have personally never read the Apocrypha as I have always felt if it were really important for us to know what was in it, it would have been included in the King James version of the Bible which the church uses. I also don't like the fact that as I was reading it I would not know which parts were true and which ones were not.

For some people all of the Bible is like that. My dad is a convert to the church and I remember he told me that he used to hate reading the Bible before he became a Latter-day Saint because he could never understand it and it made no sense to him. But once he was given the gift of the Holy Ghost reading the Bible became a lot easier for him. I can relate that reading the Bible is difficult. I really do not like reading the Old Testament. It's very dry and almost no doctrine that applies to us in this day and age. It's perfect for a scholar, but I do not personally enjoy it.

The New Testament is far more interesting as it contains the teachings of the Savior and is completely applicable still in our day and age. It is a joy to read about the life of the Savior Himself while He was on the earth. It gives us a great example to emulate and can help us better understand what type of men and women we should be.

Maybe I should give reading the Apocrypha a chance. The Lord says it is mostly true and as long as I read it with the Spirit I will know which parts are not true. I'm just not certain it is the best use of my time when I could instead be reading the Book of Mormon or other scriptures that I don't have to wonder if all of it is true. We shall see. I am personally extremely grateful to the Lord and Joseph Smith for re-translating the Bible so that it makes a lot more sense. I actually have all the Joseph Smith translations in my Bible highlighted so that I know right away it is a translation. I love how the Lord tries very hard to remove all stumbling blocks from our path so that we know exactly what to do, which paths to trod and how to return back to Him. It's really nice. Until tomorrow.

A Love of Learning

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 90 which is a section that contains various commands for Joseph Smith including naming the counselors for the First Presidency. I'll be honest that on the heels of 2 such powerful revelations like section 88 and 89 were, not a lot stood out to me in this section.

The verse that stood out to me was verse 15 that says, "And set in order the churches, and study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people." I have often wondered at people who do not seem to place a priority on getting an education. Now, I'm not talking about children, because most children do not appreciate formal education and thus seem to not take learning very seriously. Or maybe it's the children who love to learn and it's the teenagers that have a problem with it, I never went though an I hate school phase so I am not sure.

My grandmother used to call me her little scholar because when I was a little boy I was always asking questions and from the time I learned to read I was always reading new things. I loved to learn and I still do. I don't do as much reading to learn something anymore, except for the internet, but I am constantly wondering why certain things are the way they are, as you all well know if you have been reading this blog for any length of time. But I have always been shocked to learn that not everyone shares my love of learning. I was, and still am shocked that not everyone is driven to learn how the things around them function and work.

I surprises me because I often times make the mistake of thinking everyone else are similar to me and they are not apparently. I am the type of person that I want to be able to speak intelligibly about a subject and so I try and find out what I can about it through study or through observation. And it just boggles my mind that not everyone does that. They instead hear something on TV, someone tells them something and they don't even bother to validate it before touting their new found knowledge to friends and foes alike. Now, I frequently make a fool of myself in conversation because I am no means a genius, but I still try my best to keep it from happening.

I also do not understand why people do not like to read more. Especially in this day and age, there are book types for every hobby and fascination. I've never understood why people would not wish to escape into a good book more often than they do. Now some people have disorders that make reading not nearly as pleasurable and those I can understand. I have a friend that when we were kids, it was discovered that unlike most people who when they read say the word fish we picture an actual fish in our minds, he did not, his mind's eye would picture the word fish instead of the animal and he had to work really hard to overcome that. Things like that I can understand why people don't read more but they are rare.

The Lord wants us to be intelligent. If we are one day going to be as He is, we are going to have to know everything, just as He does. In Doctrine and Covenants section 130 we read that what ever intelligence we obtain in this life carries over with us in the life to come. It is about the only thing we can take with us. I am also a firm believer, and this is just my opinion of course, that we will go to school to learn the things we need to learn in the next life too. I don't think Heavenly Father will bop us on the head and we will suddenly know everything. He doesn't do that now, I can't imagine He will suddenly change His pattern just because we are resurrected. It will be nice to learn things though with a non-fallible body and mind that cause me to forget things almost as soon as I learn them.

Just as it is not pleasing to the Lord for us to be physically idle, I do not think He is pleased when we are not stimulating our brain. I look at my almost 7 month old daughter. She is absolutely fascinated by everything and wants to know everything. She is always looking around at things, soaking up what her mother and I are saying and how we interact with things to learn what they are. But somewhere along the lines as we grow up, we all lose that fascination with learning and cease to seek it out. Perhaps it is a learned trait. Perhaps it is the company we keep, because those thought of in the American culture are "geeks" or "nerds" certainly don't lose that love of learning. Whatever the cause, I do feel Heavenly Father wants us to continue learning throughout our life and not only do it, but learn to love learning. It is another of those things that if you need it, you can pray to Heavenly Father for help. He won't leave you in need. Until tomorrow.