LDS Blog

The Church in Turkey

2012-01-29T22:54:00.001-05:00

It should be noted that much of what I am about to report is second hand hearsay and I have no official documents to back up the current happening with the Church in Turkey.

I saw earlier this evening @emiliescribbles reporting on Twitter, "Found out today the LDS Church is opening its first-ever mission in Turkey. Eight missionaries will be there in two weeks."

I checked the Church's website about the Church in Turkey and found this: "In 1884, the Church established the Turkish Mission and sent Jacob Spori, born in the Swiss Alps, to preach in Turkey." http://newsroom.lds.org/country/turkey

"The Book of Mormon was translated into Turkish in 1906 and shipped to Constantinople, but it was delayed by customs and did not reach the missionaries serving in Turkey until late 1908. On 28 July 1909, Wilford Booth, president of the Turkish Mission, received word that due to increasing violence in the region, the mission should be closed. Booth and the missionaries left shortly thereafter." http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58669/Country-information-Turkey.html

I contacted a friend I work with, whose dad was, up until recently, the presiding authority in Turkey. As I understand it, the Church has been unable, until now, to get recognition from the government, which would allow the work to move forward more efficiently.

My friend told me that his father told him that he heard they are expanding a mission in Bulgaria to include Turkey and that they are sending the first four missionaries on February 14, 2012.

The Church in Turkey

2012-01-29T22:53:00.000-05:00

Bored Without Being Employed

2012-01-26T02:08:00.001-05:00

I am often stunned when I hear some people who are retired or are getting ready to retire speak of not knowing what they are going to do when they retire. I have heard some trying and trying to find a hobby to occupy them.

I have heard similar things from married women without children. I have heard them talk about how they had to go find a job, so they didn't sit around and watch TV all day. I admit I watch too much TV, but if I am bored with TV and have extra time, there is no shortage of things to be engaged in, especially as a member of the Church.

I recommend that when you retire or if you are a wife become self employed in doing good. Don't feel slighted or lost without corporations or career telling you where and who you need to be.

There is tons of service that needs done in this world.

People complain about the public schools. Go volunteer to help out. Yes, they will still be a bureaucratic mess and a tax dollar sink hole, but you will likely have helped several children before you are done.

There are people who want to learn whatever the predominant language is in the area in order to better themselves. You could volunteer to help them learn it.

There are often multiple languages spoken in areas and being bilingual could help you be of more service to those around you and create understanding goodwill. You could take that time to learn a second language.

There are still too many people that are illiterate. Help teach someone to read.

Babysit for a young mother that is overwhelmed or go over and assist her in some way.

Help a young couple with fix-er-upper work they don't know how to do and can't afford to hire out.

Help someone learn a trade. If you know something about nursing or computers or auto mechanics or plumbing or whatever, then guide someone else getting started in that area on how to get started, where to find resources to help them, or who they can get in contact with.

Volunteer at the temple. Step one, take your own family names or do temple names. Step two, ask about being a temple worker. Whenever I go they appear to usually be shorthanded in certain parts of the temple.

Work to perfect your home and visiting teaching. We all could do better and with extra time you could do much better.

Do missionaries work. Full time missionaries get a ton of work done. Do some of the things missionaries do during your day and bring others to Christ.

Volunteer at a family history center. You can use the resources there for your family history work and you can help others with theirs. You can also fellowship and uplift both members of the church and those who are not.

Create a blog. Share your life experience with others. Try not to "over share", as that can make people flee from you, but be a resource for people to use in their lives. Share scriptures and quotes you have found.

There is plenty to do without relying on the tv or an employer.

Randall Bennett

2011-12-18T15:43:00.000-05:00

I just found out that Randall Bennett is in my ward. Ok, I didn't just find out, since we have been in the same congregation for a long time and we frequently have ward council, elders quorum, and stewardship meetings together and talk in the hall. But he told me today that he is on the TWiT network every so often. He mentioned Tech News Today, which is not one of the TWiT shows I generally watch, but I looked it up and sure enough, he is semi almost famous.

Since I am a geek, this is almost more cool than when I was in a ward with Rob Morris, defensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts, and my wife use to go visit teach his wife each month.

The Mission Field

2011-11-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

I heard this term "The Mission Field" used a lot by people that would come to the mid west from Utah. When I first joined the Church I suppose it didn't bother me much, but it irritates a bit more as the years go on and as I hear it frequently here in Utah.

I was pondering today as someone said it. Where is the line where the mission field begins? Is it the Utah boarder. Is there some distance I can drive down I-80 and all of a sudden I find myself in the mission field? Is Oregon in the mission field.

What is the opposite of the mission field? I am assuming that the opposite that people have in their mind is Zion. As I understand it, every stake is a stake of Zion, which means Zion is everywhere that a stake is organized.

If one is envisioning Zion being established in the tops of the mountains, then I supposed the mission field would be anything outside the Rockies.

If one is envisioning Zion as "This is the place.", then clearly Ogden is the mission field. So is Provo and Orem and Logan and Brigham City and all the rest of Utah outside of Salt Lake City.

When I served my mission the impression I got was that once I left the Missionary Training Center property I was in the mission field. When we took a trip into Provo to get some clothing we were in the mission field. When we returned to the MTC we were not. When they took us to the airport to depart to our various assignments we were in the mission field. When we were on the planes or vans or buses, we were in the mission field. When we arrived at our assigned area, we were in the mission field. Some of those I was in the MTC with went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Was that not the mission field? If not, why would missionaries be sent there?

The only reason I didn't consider the MTC the mission field was because it was a controlled environment where the only people we had to teach was other missionaries.

It is probably ridiculous for this to irritate me. I realize it is just an easy way to refer to places where the Church is less established than in Utah, but let's keep in mind that the mission field is white and it is everywhere, all around us, no matter where we live.

Having Prophets and Apostles Close

2011-11-01T13:20:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we had stake conference. The Saturday evening adult session was as usual at the stake center and the stake presidency spoke. The Sunday morning session was at the Dee Events Center and was for nine Ogden stakes. The prophet, Thomas S Monson, was there, as was Elder Neal L Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Rosemary M. Wixom, the general primary president was also there as well as Elder Marlin K. Jensen, of the Seventy.

This was the same venue where we had come to see Elder Jeffrey R Holland speak for pioneer days in July. When we had gone to see Elder M Russell Ballard at the Browning Center on the Weber State University campus, it was not as personal of a setting as I would have liked, since I think there were three or four stakes at that as well, but I was able to pick a seat four rows in front of him and see him very well, just by arriving a half hour or early. I think we were actually an hour early, but it appeared that a half hour would’ve gotten us the same seats.

In the Dee Event Center, they sit the bishops and stake presidents down on the floor where it would be possible to get a seat as good as we got at the Browning Center, but in the non VIP seats, it was difficult to get a seat less than nine rows up with having arrived an hour early.

All of this is nice history information of how things went down, but here is what I wanted to share. Every time I stand when the prophet enters the room it is very moving for me. I remember what it was like to live so far from Salt Lake City when we lived in Indiana. I hope I never forget how great it is to be in the same room with the prophet and apostles. To have the opportunity to be near 3 apostles and the prophet over the last four months has been so great.

Since my son and I also went to the priesthood session of General Conference at the beginning of this month, I should also include in this the great privilege I have had to be in the room with all of them, although in an even less intimate setting. Conference was always something to see on TV. The conference center, tabernacle, and temple square was always something almost exotic. Certainly something I imagined rarely seeing, if ever. Now every time we go down there and see the temple and the Church’s presence, it moves me. I look forward to when my other can go too and taking both my boys.

The Joseph Smith Papers

2011-08-27T11:03:00.000-04:00

I have been watching the video series that the Church did called The Joseph Smith Papers. It touted that it was going to chronicle the research done in preparation of publishing the Joseph Smith papers books, which are volumes of things that Joseph wrote or others wrote about his experiences.

I thought it was going to be a discussion of the methods they used to get the information and preserve the documents and all that, which it was. I was fascinated at one point where they talked of how they chose what to include. They were very careful to check sources. They classified the information they were considering into how reliable it was. I think they said they had several levels of reliability.

Additionally, the series covered the material that was in the papers. There were many episodes going through Church history and discussing what the project had found on those events.

At one point they discussed the events at Carthage jail and the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I have been to Carthage when I was you and heard the story of the bullet being stopped by John Taylor's pocket watch and saving his life. They discussed in the program that they had recently discovered that the watch had not been struck by a bullet, but by the corner of the window. The back of the watch, I think they said, had the appearance of a bullet crushing it, but in reality was just parts of the watch that had been compacted by the window corner. I can't remember how they got on to chasing that. Perhaps they were doing a Myth Busters sort of thing and read through the papers finding no mention of this and then looked more closely at the watch. Nonetheless, it appears that John Taylor came out of the ordeal, never having been struck by any of the bullets. He just took a beating from the window.

The Joseph Smith Papers video series also discussed Emma and her family after the Saints headed West. I have always been very torn on what to think of Emma. She stood by Joseph through everything and was in key roles during the translation of the Book of Mormon and during the early days of the Church. Then to see her stay behind and not go West with the saints and to see her posterity start up this other Church with themselves as false prophets.

As I listened to the presentations I wonder if it wasn't God's will. Yes the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not Christ's church, but perhaps it was necessary to preserve thing Church sites out East like the Kirtland temple. Perhaps it was to leave some contention behind. The project talked about times where the brethren would make a decision and some of the people would turn to Emma for what she wanted them to do. I guess there was a hymnbook she created and the brethren at one point made a hymnbook to be the official hymnbook of the Church and there was contention about not using Emma's.

Why did Emma join with her children in the other Church? Maybe she had gotten the revelation that she needed to stay behind and not go West with the saints and this other church was the closest thing she had to the truth.

There have been many generations of Joseph' descendants that were not members of the true Church of Christ and only recently have some of them joined the Church. This seems so sad and we want to say, "How can this be part of the plan?" How often do people say that a just God would not do this or that when there is pain or tragedy? He can see beyond the tears to the hope. He can see what good those tears brought forth and that would not have come forth without those tears. He can see that this life is just a blink and that death is not some vile abyss, but just part of our eternal existence. So for Him to use death for the benefit of man is reasonable. Death is not the end, just a change and our next step. All the same is true for what happened with Joseph's descendants. God has a plan for them to be saved, even though he left them in a hard situation.

I am still working my way through all of the episodes of The Joseph Smith Papers, but so far I find them very instructive and interesting, and I highly recommend them for viewing.

Disneyland

2011-05-16T17:17:00.000-04:00

We visited Disneyland last week and noticed that there appeared to be a lot of LDS members there.

We would walk around the park and the obvious ones were the ones wearing BYU hats or shirts. Of course there are BYU fans that aren't members, but I think they are a lot fewer.

Another thing we would notice is the way people would interact with their kids and even the people around them. Many times there was a calmness or maybe even a reverence. We would look more closely and generally find garment lines.

Another characteristic we could use to make our determination that they were members was the presence of long shorts and the lack of tattoos, extra piercings, profanity, and tank tops.

Often we tire of the same lessons on the same subjects at church, but I am convinced that even having the repetitive lesson weaves the fabric of our character and it is visible. The more we surround ourselves with those lessons and media drawn from those lessons and doctrines the more complete our tapestry of character become. We spend a lot of our times weaving the world into us through its media and such. If we let that go on too much it can obscure the picture of who we want to be.

An illustration of spotting members happened at our motel one evening. I took the kids swimming. It was getting chilly, so I only wanted to soak my feet after a long day of standing in lines. There was a family swimming there. I watched them a bit as I watched my kids. The mother was sitting on the side and she appeared to have long shorts on. The father was swimming with the kids. I keep using the word reverent, which may not exactly be the right word, but there was something like that as he interacted with his children. perhaps a better word is selfless.

There was no profanity and the kids were polite to each other. The father was very attentive to playing with the kids and keeping them safe. The father had no tattoos or piercings.

As we got up to leave I asked him where they were from. He said Provo, Utah. We talked a little bit that night and ended up meeting up with them at other times and places. We never asked them if they were members, but we noticed garment lines at some point and the conversation floated to temples we had visited on the way and to other church stuff.

We went to Huntington Beach one afternoon to swim in the ocean and get a break from amusement parks. As I was swimming with a couple of my kids I noticed a couple come into the water. The guy had a long swim suit on and had a Utah look about him, which I can't really describe. The young woman had a bikini on, which made me doubt the assessment I was starting to make, but she had shorts over it. Later she put a tank top over the top. I was still doubting due to the bikini, but neither had tattoos or piercings. There was also a little of that reverence about them. A little while later I noticed an older couple sitting behind my wife and the husband had a BYU hat on. Eventually the young couple I had been watching went and sat with them. I went and asked the older guy if he was from Utah or just a Cougar fan. He said both. I only talked to them briefly and told them it was nice to see them. I then took my kids back out to the water as my family looked at me strangely for talking to strangers.

It is just so nice to have members around me. I grew up only having members around me at church. I would go to school and work and for the most part not have the saints around me. People obviously will say that there are good people of other faiths and whatnot, but it is different. It is just different.

Indiana Jones was the first ride we went on when we got to Disneyland. We went again on our last day or so. In front of us was another young couple. He had a bit of a Utah Mormon look to him. He did have a t-shirt collar hanging out of his shirt, but I could not tell about her. She looked a little worldly, but was dressed modestly. There was more of that calmness in their interactions together.

He was noticing the teenagers making a fuss behind us. I was getting irritated, but he took the opportunity to mess with them. He seemed to have been on the ride before and knew the tricks in the cave entrance to the ride. He walked by a place when you could yank on one of the fake supports and make the cave rumble like there was a cave in happening. The teen-aged girls freaked out.

I have heard things about liberal practices creeping into Disney, so I was surprised that the Mr. Lincoln display lives on, since it speaks positively and in favor of God.

Distracted

2011-05-15T18:31:00.000-04:00

I am increasingly seeing a trend within myself where at times I am distracted and get little out of my church services at times unless the speaker or teacher really grabs me something.

One week I was completely preoccupied with something stupid I had said in priesthood opening. It consumed me the rest of the morning at church and somewhat into the afternoon at home.

Today I was excited about my son getting the priesthood and being ordained a deacon. I was also nervous about being the one to ordain him. I was hoping to do it in quorum meeting, which in our ward is first, but I found out he had to be sustained by the congregation first. Then I was sad that he wouldn't get to pass the sacrament, which he has been bugging me to do since at least the beginning of the year.

The good news is that there is a temple trip scheduled for Tuesday night. He has been looking forward to doing baptisms with me.

So between the thought of doing baptisms this week, of ordaining him after church, and the fact that we just got back from vacation at 9PM last night, my head was buzzing. I heard and absorbed many things that were said in Elders Quorum and Sunday school, even though my notes were not very good, but by the time sacrament service rolled around I was zoned out. The excitement was exhausting me.

I don't know if I need to prepare better before church or if I to do some exercises to better control my concentration, but very frequently I find that my notes are lacking due to having spaced out for periods of time.

LDS Employment Services Mentor

2011-05-01T17:10:00.000-04:00

I received a phone call today from a member of the bishopric. He wanted me to be a mentor, since I am the ward employment specialist. I was not familiar with the concept in the context of ward employment specialist. The bishopric and former ward employment specialist had no experience with mentoring in this context either.

I did some searching and found the following resources that gave a little more description of what is entailed in being a mentor to someone looking for employment. I hope these links will be of use to bishoprics and ward employments specialists to understand the concept of mentoring in the context of LDS employment services and Deseret Industries.

Mentor Overview
Being a Mentor
Friendship Comes First
A Second Chance at a Future Through Deseret Industries - LDS Newsroom
LDS Church News - Part of the family: Mentors knit close ties with...

Memorization

2011-04-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

We were talking in Teacher Development class a few weeks back about always having the scriptures with us. We talked a little of more and more people having their scriptures on their phones or music devices or pocket organizers. We then talked that a better way is to have them in our minds. Mostly with a familiarization, but also to some degree through memorization.

When I was a kid I had to memorize various things for school. I didn't care for it because it was a lot of work. My dad had to memorize the Gettysburg address when he was a kid and he also did not care for it. At the time he expressed that he didn't see the value in it and I agreed.

Memorizing still takes a lot of work. Whether there is value in memorizing the Gettysburg address or other things from school, I know not, but what I do know is that memorization is a good brain exercise and brains need exercise just like muscles. I also know that the more of the scriptures and words of the prophets we have memorized, the better teachers we can be to our families, our ward, and the world at large. We will be able to more easily recall them impromptu when we are teaching or when we are answering people's questions in life.

Breast Cancer Awareness

2010-10-09T21:05:00.000-04:00

I have been very concerned over the years on the focus on Breast Cancer "Awareness". I think the amount of talking about it and the way it is being talked about is making people aware, but it is making them aware that they are annoyed, offended, or wearied by the conversation.

I'm not sure what raising awareness means. I think most people we very aware of breast cancer and that it kills people or make it necessary to remove a breast surgically. This is likely because it is widespread and they likely know or have heard of someone who has had it.

Because of the over publicizing of it and the vulgar way that breast cancer awareness is being promoted, I am less likely to contribute to the cause or participate in events the cause is organizing.

Perhaps everyone passionate about curing brain cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, or cancer anywhere in the body should unite their resources, rather than having their own private battles.

Our Bodies and Sexuality are Sacred

Even if a good cause is being promoted, doing it by speaking irreverently about our body and sexuality is inappropriate.

Focusing on Our Bodies Diminishes Our Self Worth

This is likely why many are so devastated after a mastectomy. They have tied a too much of who they are to their breasts. It is also likely why many girls and women or so self conscious about their breasts being "too big" or "too small". When our "sex appeal" is what defines or is our biggest too to stay ahead in life then we are devaluing ourselves.

Memory and Knowledge

2010-09-12T12:18:00.000-04:00

I have trouble at times with memory and focus. Below are some scriptures and thoughts I have found.

Go to the temple and ponder the blessing in the initiatory.
Speaking of the Word of Wisdom, Doctrine and Covenants 89:19 states
19 And shall ^afind ^bwisdom and great ^ctreasures of ^dknowledge, even hidden treasures;

We Are the Body

2010-09-05T17:17:00.000-04:00

Later that very morning that I posted my previous post on a contemporary Christian song that was giving me cause to ponder I was presented with another one in priesthood opening.

Someone was called on impromptu to give a scripture as is the way things are done each week. The person giving the scripture today told of how his friend had given him a bunch of contemporary Christina music. He was slowly going through it finding things he liked. He came across the song “If We Are the Body” by Casting Crowns. The chorus of the song is as follows.

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

I have pondered on this song several times in the past as this was not the first time I had heard this song, being I was raised in a predominantly protestant community. I had attended several protestant churches before my family joined the Church when I was 14 and my wife was raised protestant.

One day that stands out to me when I considered this song was as I was eating lunch at a Chinese buffet with some folks from work in Indianapolis, Indiana. Next to us I heard someones phone "ring" and the ringtone was this song. It "rang" with "If we are the body, why aren't His arms reaching" and so on. I am not a fan of a phone doing anything but actually ringing when it needs you attention, but I found it admirable that she had this on her mind and wanted the song to frequently remind her to be Christ-like.

The women then picks up the phone and begins her conversation with an F bomb followed by whatever other profanity she could squeeze between the words necessary for the conversation.

Needless to say, my admiration faded and a spiritual moment was lost.

I have been with people and seen them help someone load their car with groceries or some other service that needed doing and I often think, "Why didn't I do that? Why didn't it even occur to me until I saw them doing it?"

Home Teaching and Missionary Thoughts From Contemporary Christian Song

2010-08-29T11:19:00.000-04:00

I was listening to the song Saving Grace by the Contemporary Christian sing group Point of Grace.

The song tells the story of a girl whose father left before she was born. Her mother named her Grace. The girl ran away when she was fifteen. It talks of how the girl doesn't see the point in going to church, so we have to be where she lives. I don't think that just means going to her home, but there are many other parts of her life. When we see her where she works whether that is where we work or where we buy groceries or where we get lunch.

The songs says "Being Jesus to those he came to save. Sharing life and giving our own away. It's all about serving God, all about saving Grace " It goes on about showing who Jesus is. Not telling, but showing. Helping people who feel pain to feel His spirit and His love.

I have indicated that the subject of this post is missionary work and home teaching, but it is about living our life. It is about receiving His image in our countenances.

Alma 5:14,19

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye ^aspiritually been ^bborn of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty ^cchange in your hearts?

19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the^aimage of God engraven upon your countenances?

The lyrics for this song can be found at http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Saving-Grace-lyrics-Point-Of-Grace/508F53D9DD46D10A48256A5600150582

Being the Only Latter-day Saint in Your High School

2010-08-16T07:57:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine posted on Facebook yesterday about how he was the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his high school when he was growing up in Goshen, Indiana. He still lives in that same town and now his kids are the only members of the Church there.

Another friend commented that for years she and her siblings were the only members of the Church in their school system in Middlebury, Indiana. I joined the Church my freshman year and the oldest sibling in her family was a grade younger than me. My freshman year and my first year as a member of the Church I went to school as the only member. It worked out okay, since I was pretty use to not fitting in, so being a member of a religion that many have misconceptions about was not horrible, but it would've been nice to have someone there with that common life experience. The following years, one by one her siblings trickled into the high school and another family of members moved into town with high school aged kids. Although, since they were in the younger grades, we didn't have classes together and were generally in different parts of the school, so it was still like being the lone Mormon.

By the time I graduated high school there was still me as the only member of the senior class, a couple of girls in the junior class, a couple of girls in the sophomore class, and a freshman girl. I believe the freshman class of a couple of years later, that my brother was in, filled out a little more. More people were moving to Middlebury to commute to the bigger towns.

As I heard from the kids in the Elkhart and Concord school systems, where our chapel was located, I perceived that having a few more members in their school wasn't much of a comfort to them either since the class sizes were much bigger, everyone had different things going, and there were a lot of pressures that perhaps I didn't have to deal with in my small town.

Modest Clothing

2010-04-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

I think it is some times missed that just because you are dressed modestly does not mean you are dressed appropriately or reverently. I think this is much like sometimes it is missed that even though you are not doing anything "to have to go to the bishop for" doesn't mean that you are acting properly by long and/or heavy make out sessions.

Examples might include wearing jeans in the chapel or shedding you Sunday clothes the moment you walk in the door from church.

Justification/Sanctification

2010-04-04T20:59:00.000-04:00

I have struggled for years to understand what the difference between justification and sanctification was. I found some clarity the other day while I was reading. Here's what I think the definition of the two are.

Justification is being saved from past sins.

Sanctification is the process of being repeatedly justified, through repentance, until one learns perfection.

Live Up to Your Privilege

2010-03-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

"If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates."
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith (1977), 226.

Logan, UT Temple

2010-03-14T18:58:00.000-04:00

We went to the Logan temple yesterday. It was nice to be there, but it was a bit confusing.

Getting Lost
I often get turned around in the temple and even more so when it is my first time at that temple, but Logan was especially difficult for some reason.

The confusion started a block or two away from the temple. The road we came in on turned into a one way to make room for a scenic walkway or something. The confusion came more upon leaving since we had followed a friend in and the road was one way going the direction we needed to get in. We were entirely lost on how to get back since our friend was gone.

Then we moved to the parking lot. Our friend told us that it is frequently over flowed. Fortunately this time it was not, but was still a very oddly shaped parking lot. I did find the gates around the temple to be unique and ascetically pleasing.

Once we got out of our vehicle and headed to the door we were unsure where the entrance was. We followed some people, but they appeared to be confused as to where the bride would come out for a wedding that appeared to be happening.

There were tons of people standing around in the entry ways and around the front desk. We weren't sure who was waiting to check in and who were just loitering.

The hallways always seemed to draw me in the wrong direction and I would end up in a corner that went no where.

There were several other confusions as well with various seating situations, but I feel constrained to give too many details there.

Noise and Loiterers
As I mentioned previously it appeared that there was a wedding going on. There were several people milling around out side the entrance, making it difficult for others to enter. They seemed to be so caught up in visiting that they were oblivious to others outside their party. This sort of thing continued once we entered.

There were people stacked in the entryway. All of this may have been exacerbated because it was cold and raining outside. The people in the entryway were much the same as those under the overhangs outside. They were just standing around visiting and not paying attention to being courteous and that others were there to attend the temple and not to party.

The noise was like the rumble in a reception hall, rather than a temple. People were mingling all around the front desk and into the seating areas in the temple foyer. One of the matrons apologized for the noise. I would've figured someone would ask the people to keep it down, but I often find it noisier than it should be as people stand and visit in celestial rooms at times as well.

Architecture
I do not advocate the temple being overly ornate, but I was surprised that such a unique looking temple was very non unique on the inside. This is not a complaint. As with most of my commentary, other than the discussion of misbehaving patrons, this is just an observation. I enjoyed going to the Logan temple.

The Secret to Getting Kids to Sit Through Church Quietly

2010-03-14T18:39:00.002-04:00

I keep seeing parents stumped as to why their kid won't sit quietly in church. At times it appears as though they are sabotaging themselves.

The chapel is sacred and kids are very capable of being reverent. They can be trained that there are places to play and there are places to sit quietly.

Dogs are less developed creations than humans, yet dogs can even be taught to sit and not take food when they are hungry or sit and not chase distractions, even though it is their natural instinct. It takes a long time to teach them to be obedient and the same is true of children, but it can be done if one is diligent.

Placating Is Your Worst Enemy

Just like with anything, training a child takes work. Procrastination and laziness makes the problem worse.

Giving in to the child teaches them they can keep throwing the fits and get what they want.

I heard recently of a primary teacher that was sitting with a child in primary. The child was saying they wanted to go to their mom for food. The teacher told her it was not the time. The mother was in the room and looked to the child and told her to stay there. After several minutes they were winning. Then the child started to cry. The mother immediately gave in and reinforced with the child that if she behaved badly she would be rewarded.

Hopping Them Up on Sugar

Feeding them sugar cereals or carbohydrates like crackers and Cheerios, which the body immediately turns into sugar isn't going to help the situation. It also makes a mess that you have to take time to clean up after church and you will never find all the places the child has dropped food or ground it into the carpet, which then make work for someone else later and until someone does clean it up, everyone has to sit in your mess.

The chapel is sacred. It is not a buffet.

Elder Robert C. Oaks, Worship Through Reverence, Ensign December 2009

"Often we equate the reverence of a congregation with the behavior of the children present. True, young children can provide a special challenge to reverence. But the first rule with respect to children is to bring them! They can be taught, they can be taken out, and they can be brought back into the meeting. And in the teaching it is better to minimize the number of training tools that are brought to church, such as toys and food."

Making the Hallway or Pew a Playground

Of course a kid doesn't want to sit in a boring pew when they can through a fit and get to go out and play in the hall or run their cars up and down the pew. If the kid can play on the floor in the hall, often with other kids, then they will scream in order to go every time.

The chapel is heaven. Anywhere else that you have to take them because they are misbehaving is hell. When they throw a fit, swiftly take them out and find a spot where you can make their time outside of the chapel more uncomfortable than their time in the chapel. Often finding a spot where they can throw their fit without disturbing the chapel is useful. I generally use a class room, but if they are especially vocal you can take them out to your vehicle.

Outside of the chapel must be exponentially more boring and painful than inside the chapel. Just letting them sit and play is not painful.

I say take them out swiftly, because this shows that their behavior will not be tolerated for any length of time and if they are noisy enough to get your attention, then there is trouble coming. Eventually because they know the trip to the hall is immediate and painful, many times just a stern look is enough to put their seat back in the pew and to button their lips.

Disturbing Others
Turning the pew into a playground can also disturb those around you even if the kid isn't screaming. You may tune them out, because you have giving them something to play with and they aren't screaming. While at the same time, no one around you can focus because the kid it scraping their toys along to back and side of the pew or is staring at the people behind you or are kicking the pew or are grabbing the people in front of you.

The chapel is sacred. It is not a playground.

When to Start
I'm not sure that any age is too young to start training. Obviously you must tailor it to each child, but even babies can be taken to a plain room to be quieted, rather than the hall. You can hold them and rock them, facing a dull wall in a quiet place, which will make the chapel seem entertaining with things going on their.

Missing Spiritual Instruction
Some may think that they will miss out on the lessons and talks by taking their kids out of the chapel and out of the hallway where the parents can hear. You will miss less by taking a few weeks to train the child. Besides that, training the child is your top priority. In reality, how much are you getting out of the meeting out in the hall with noisy kids and chatty parents? Once your kids sit quietly you will get more from the meeting and you can leave the chatty parents in the hall.

As you have more children the process will be helped along as they learn by example of the others.

Teaching Them Reverence for Sacred Things
If they learn reverence for the chapel, they will learn reverence for other things in life and respect for people that are speaking to them.

Just like Sunday is different than other days, the chapel is different than other rooms. There are things we don't do on Sunday that we do on other days. There are things we don't do in the chapel, like play and eat, that we do in other rooms.

Just like we dress differently on the sabbath, we all dress different in the chapel.

The chapel is one step closer to the temple than any other room in the church meeting house and it should be treated as such.

Limited Focus

2009-08-02T16:19:00.003-04:00

We often find that lessons in Church only focus on some portions portions of the doctrines that are contained in the lesson manual. In turn it is often the case that the lives of many members also only focus on parts of the doctrine.

Here are a few examples:

Word of Wisdom - What seems to stand out to people is we don't drink and we don't smoke. We often leave out of our lives the other parts of the code of health like how to eat properly.
Sabbath - Generally we as members of the Church focus on Sunday being a day that we don't work. Some forget to not make others work and most forget that even though it is a day not to work, it is also not a day to play.
Earrings - Most everyone heard President Hinckley say that if women are going to wear earrings they should only wear one in each ear. Many missed that he said if you felt the need to wear earrings that they should be modest earrings.

Lessons are to contain the basics and have limited time constraints, so not every point of doctrine is covered. Our lives should not stop with simple parts of the gospel that are easy for us to live.

Is It a Prayer, a Testimony, or a Talk?

2009-04-04T19:09:00.012-04:00

Testimony

Elder Ronald A. Rasband - Presidency of the Seventy

Elder Rasband spoke to us in stake conference in the Browning Center at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. He mentioned that he was instructed as a youth that I talk should have three things: a scripture, a story or experience, and a testimony. He showed us how to do this. He gave a scripture and a story and a testimony and closed.

It made me consider my ongoing desire to differentiate between prayers, testimonies, and talks. Since Elder Rasband listed story/experience and testimony as two different items, one can deduce that a testimony does not contain stories or life experiences.

Elder M. Russell Ballard - Pure Testimony
My experience throughout the Church leads me to worry that too many of our members' testimonies linger on "I am thankful" and "I love," and too few are able to say with humble but sincere clarity, "I know." As a result, our meetings sometimes lack the testimony-rich, spiritual underpinnings that stir the soul and have meaningful, positive impact on the lives of all those who hear them.

Our testimony meetings need to be more centered on the Savior, the doctrines of the gospel, the blessings of the Restoration, and the teachings of the scriptures. We need to replace stories, travelogues, and lectures with pure testimonies."
...
"Again, please keep in mind that we are talking about sharing real testimony, not just speaking generally about the things we are thankful for. While it is always good to express love and gratitude, such expressions do not constitute the kind of testimony that will ignite a fire of belief in the lives of others."

Elder Jay E. Jensen - Bearing Testimony
"Using the scriptures and the words of the prophets, let us examine what a testimony is and how we should bear it."

"A testimony is usually defined as knowledge or assurance of a truth that a person declares by the convincing power of the Holy Ghost."

"A testimony can be identified by the use of powerful verbs such as know, testify, believe, certify, declare, affirm, bear witness, bear record."
"Generally speaking, a testimony is short, precise, and concise."

President Boyd K. Packer - Teach Ye Diligently, rev. ed. (1991), 323–24.
“We held a series of zone conferences to improve the spirituality in the mission. Rather than schedule instruction on the mechanics of missionary work, we determined to have a testimony meeting. In the last conference, in the testimony of one of the humble elders, I found the answer to the problem. There was something different about the brief testimony of this frightened new elder. He stood for less than a minute, yet I learned from his expression what it was that was missing.

“The testimonies we’d heard from all the other missionaries went something like this: ‘I’m grateful to be in the mission field. I’ve learned a lot from it. I have a fine companion. I’ve learned a lot from him. I’m grateful for my parents. We had an interesting experience last week. We were out knocking on doors and …’ Then the missionary would relate an experience. His conclusion would be something like this: ‘I’m grateful to be in the mission field. I have a testimony of the gospel.’ And he would conclude ‘in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.’

“This young elder was different somehow. Anxious not to spend an extra second on his feet, he said simply, in hurried, frightened words, ‘I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that we have a prophet of God leading the Church. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.’

“This was a testimony. It was not just an experience nor an expression of gratitude. It was a declaration, a witness!

“Most of the elders had said ‘I have a testimony,’ but they had not declared it. This young elder had, in a very few words, delivered his testimony—direct, basic, and, as it turned out, powerful.
“I then knew what was wrong in the mission. We were telling stories, expressing gratitude, admitting that we had testimonies, but we were not bearing them.”

Summary
To illustrate what was talked about in these talks I have created a couple of bullet list inspired by the bullet list in Elder Jensen's talk, but with points gleaned from all of the talks.

What a testimony is not:

A list of things that we are thankful for.
A list of things that we love.
Story, travelogue, lecture, talk, or sermon.
A testimony can be identified by the use of powerful verbs such as know, testify, believe, certify, declare, affirm, bear witness, bear record.
An admission ("I have a testimony").
An exhortation.
A public confession.
Not a long explanation of how you know.

What a testimony is:

A testimony is a witness or confirmation of eternal truth impressed upon individual hearts and souls through the Holy Ghost.
Simply stated, testimony—real testimony, born of the Spirit and confirmed by the Holy Ghost—changes lives.
Anchored very early to the first principles of the gospel.
Centered on the Savior, the doctrines of the gospel, the blessings of the Restoration, and the teachings of the scriptures.
A declaration ("I know").
Brief and concise.

Prayer
Elder Russel M. Nelson - Lessons from the Lord’s Prayers
"The concept of 'too much and unnecessary' could also apply to the length of our prayers. A closing prayer in a Church meeting need not include a summary of each message and should not become an unscheduled sermon. Private prayers can be as long as we want, but public prayers ought to be short supplications for the Spirit of the Lord to be with us or brief declarations of gratitude for what has transpired."

The Covenant of the Founding Fathers

2009-04-02T17:17:00.003-04:00

Does this covenant sound familiar?

"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." (Declaration of Independence)

This is the way that things get done. Through our voluntarily serving each other, supporting each other, and being honorable. A pledge is voluntary, not compulsory through being taxed. We pledge our support of each other and God will support us.

No Man Hath Seen God at Any Time

2009-01-31T17:51:00.004-05:00

John 1: 18 and 1 Jn. 4: 12 talk of no man ever seeing God. Some use this to dispute Joseph Smith's vision of God the Father and Jesus. They also dispute that in the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible the verse was changed to read:
19 And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved.

Exodus 24:9-11 states that at least 74 people saw Him with Moses.

9 ¶ Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and ^aseventy of the ^belders of Israel:

10 And they ^asaw the God of Israel: and there was under his ^bfeet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as ^cit were the body of heaven in his clearness.

11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they ^asaw God, and did eat and drink.

Exodus 33:11 - States that Moses spoke to God face to face.
11 And the Lord ^aspake unto Moses ^bface to face, as a man ^cspeaketh unto his ^dfriend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant ^eJoshua, the son of ^fNun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Gen 32:30 - states that Jacob saw God.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place ^aPeniel: for I have ^bseen God ^cface to face, and my life is preserved.

Deuteronomy 5:4 - States that Moses spoke to God face to face.
4 The Lord talked with you ^aface to face in the mount out of the midst of the ^bfire,

Modest Earrings

2009-01-28T11:31:00.008-05:00

President Hinckley stated, "Do not disfigure yourself with tattoos or body piercings. If girls or women desire to have their ears pierced, they are encouraged to wear only one pair of modest earrings." (For the Strength of Youth, 16)

What is a modest pair of earrings?

Dictionary.com defines modesty as:
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the quality of being modest; freedom from vanity, boastfulness, etc.
2. regard for decency of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
3. simplicity; moderation.

Definition 3 may be instructive for what "modest earrings" means.

When women heard President Hinckley's statement did they think of the types of earrings they owned or just the number of earrings their wear at a time? Did they ask themselves if they had an immodest earrings?

Is a modest earring one that hangs from a hole one has punched in their body (ear) or that one has had someone else punch?

...As Far As It Is Translated Correctly

2009-01-16T17:29:00.005-05:00

Part of the 8th Article of Faith states "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly;..."

Often the Church is criticized for thinking that the bible is flawed. I think sometimes we as members do sometimes take that point of view. As I have studied this out I find that the Bible is a miracle that we have what we have in the good condition that it is in. Here I will list some comments on this that I find relating to this part of the 8th Article of Faith.

This statement by Richard R. Hopkins gives us a point of view to ponder about the 8th Article of Faith. "This simple statement speaks worlds more about acceptance of the biblical texts than many realize. It acknowledges that the currently accepted texts, transmitted over the ages from the original autographa (the original pages written by the prophets and apostles, or their scribes), are sufficiently accurate that men need only be concerned about the accuracy of their translation." (Biblical Mormonism, p17)

In commenting on criticisms of the Church which state that we do not use the Bible Hopkins states, "Those who level such criticisms at the Mormon Church and its leaders have little or no practical experience with LDS teaching. For example, at the direction of the very apostles maligned in the forgoing quotations, two years out of every four are spent in the study of the Old and New Testaments at weekly Sunday School classes attended by all adult Mormons. LDS leaders constantly teach from the Bible, about the Bible, and that every Mormon should study the Bible." (Biblical Mormonism, p18)

I would add that our teenages spend two years taking a course on the Bible. Many take that course every school day before school starts, generally around 6 or 7 in the morning.

Another book by the same author is How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God, which I have not read yet.

The Worth of Souls

2009-01-11T20:13:00.002-05:00

President Monson related this story:
"Early in my service as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, I was attending a conference in the Monument Park West Stake in Salt Lake City. My companion for the conference was a member of the General Church Welfare Committee, Paul C. Child. President Child was a student of the scriptures. He had been my stake president when I was an Aaronic Priesthood youth. Now we were together as conference visitors.

When it was his opportunity to participate, President Child took the Doctrine and Covenants and left the pulpit to stand among the priesthood to whom he was directing his message. He turned to section 18 and began to read: 'Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. … And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!' 1

President Child then raised his eyes from the scriptures and asked the question of the priesthood brethren: 'What is the worth of a human soul?' He avoided calling on a bishop, stake president, or high councilor for a response. Instead, he selected the president of an elders quorum—a brother who had been a bit drowsy and had missed the significance of the question.

The startled man responded: 'Brother Child, could you please repeat the question?' The question was repeated: 'What is the worth of a human soul?' I knew President Child’s style. I prayed fervently for that quorum president. He remained silent for what seemed like an eternity and then declared, 'Brother Child, the worth of a human soul is its capacity to become as God.' (Ensign September 1997 p 2)

The Da Vinci Code

2008-10-30T21:09:00.010-04:00

Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University in his speech, The Da Vinci Code, the Gospel of Judas, and Other Bad Ideas listed some things to remember about the book The Da Vinci Code.

1. The Da Vinci Code is a novel.
2. The Da Vinci Code is found in the fiction section of bookstores.
3. The author has no training making him an expert on the New Testament.
4. The author is not an apostle or prophet.

Some books by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel:

Characterists of a Worthy Career

2008-10-15T21:28:00.014-04:00

Mark E. Peterson in One Lord...One Faith said,
"We must remember always that life is more than meat --- and the body than raiment. Our careers may provide the meat and raiment, but it is the gospel which nourishes the soul.

With this in mind --- if I were now preparing for a career --- I would choose a line of employment which would:

Not require Sunday labor.

Nor much night work.

Nor one which would require me to be away from home and family to any great extent.

Nor which would force me to choose close associates who lack proper standards of decency and right.

Nor which would uproot my home and disturb my own routine through frequent transfers.

I would choose a career which would be working to my mind and my soul.

I would seek one intellectual challenge.

I would seek a job in which I could feel I was making a contribution to the welfare of my fellow men as well as to my family and close associates.

I would choose a type of war which I would not be ashamed -- one which would reflect honor upon my family -- one which would make a child of mine say: "I am proud of my dad -- see what he is doing."

I would choose an occupation which would not interfere with the living of my religion nor with my full participation in church activities.

I would want the kind of daily job which would be compatible with my becoming a bishop or a number of a stake presidency in case I were called to such a position.

I would choose the kind of work which would permit me to have a normal life -- with time for companionship and will with my wife and children.

I would remember that good family life --- based on a good marriage --- is essential to the ultimate end of my existence --- and that therefore, my job must never be permitted to interfere with my family life and relationships.

I would want the kind of job which would be compatible with my living a clean life and having a prayer in my heart each hour of the day.

I would choose the kind of job in which I could be honest and fair --- and in which I could close each day's dealings with a clear conscience, knowing that I had done unto others as I would be done by.

In other words, my job would be my servant and not my boss.

It would contribute to my objective in life --- not interfere with it.

It is through the --- and not through our careers --- that we become like God."

Other books by Mark E. Peterson:

Do What Works

2008-10-15T21:23:00.005-04:00

"We must recognize which factors and conditions in life will assist us in this endeavor and include them in our life's planning.
And conversely, we must recognize the factors and conditions which will tend to interfere with and obstruct us in reaching our objectives, and eliminate such contrary things from our activities." (One Lord...One Faith p198 paragraph 3-4)

Heaven

2008-10-12T10:21:00.004-04:00

Luke 23:43 states
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in ^aparadise.

Some interpret this to mean that the thief was forgiven and went to Heaven. John 20: 17 states

17 Jesus saith unto her, ^aTouch me not; for I am not yet ^bascended to my ^cFather: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my ^dFather, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

It would appear as though on the day he spoke to the thief he had not gone to Heaven, or where the Father is.

John 20: 17.

17 Jesus saith unto her, ^aTouch me not; for I am not yet ^bascended to my ^cFather: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my ^dFather, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Alma gives us some clarification on this in Alma 40: 21
21 But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do not say; but this much I say, that there is a ^aspace between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in ^bhappiness or in ^cmisery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be ^dbrought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

Other scriptures that talk about this:
1 Peter 3

18 For Christ also hath once ^asuffered for sins, the just for the ^bunjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to ^cdeath in the flesh, but quickened by the ^dSpirit:

19 By which also he went and ^apreached unto the ^bspirits in ^cprison;

20 ^aWhich sometime were ^bdisobedient, when once the ^clongsuffering of God waited in the days of ^dNoah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were ^esaved by ^fwater.

1 Peter 4
6 ^aFor for this cause was the ^bgospel ^cpreached also to them that are ^ddead, that they might be ^ejudged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Worshipping a Different Jesus?

2008-09-28T12:33:00.009-04:00

One Lord...One Faith by Mark E. Peterson on P53 Last full paragraph through the 5th full paragraph on page 54
"The scripture says there can be but one Lord. Are there more in the churches of today?

"In Present day Christendom there are various Lords and Gods. They differ from one sect to another. One believes in a God described as universal intelligence or mind, without body, parts or passions -- not a person -- just mind, or intelligence. When we die, it is said, our minds are merged into the universal intelligence, and that constitutes immortality. Is that the Christian God?

"Another says there is one God with three means of expression, or three names. At one time he appears as the Father, at another time, as the Son, and as the Holy Ghost at still a third time. But he is only one God, and yet not one God, but three, only one, and he is incomprehensible!

"When they speak of Christ some say he is identical to the Father, some say he still has his resurrected body, others say he has laid it aside, claiming that having a body is not compatible with the celestial order.

"The more we study Christendom as we know it, the more we realize the importance of our finding out for ourselves which church is right, so that we will not be among those to be address by the savior when he says: 'Depart from me, I never knew you, ' even though we may have cried out 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name done many wonderful works?' (Matt. 7:21-23).

"We must choose the true way of salvation, for otherwise we may find ourselves on the broad way which leads to destruction."

These paragraphs made me reflect on times when I have been accused of not being Christian because I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I have assured them that I believed in the Savior they said that our church believes in a different Jesus, so we are not Christian. As stated in these paragraphs between the various denominations of Christianity you find all sorts of different Jesus' and different God's being worshiped.

The question is would Christ affiliate himself with Christianity if he returned today?

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

2008-09-24T20:09:00.005-04:00

The seventh chapter of the book One Lord...One Faith is titled "The Nature of God" has scripture after scripture on why Father, Son, and Holy Ghost being the same being is not scriptural. He uses several versions of the Bible to help illustrate. He also includes his own commentary on the subject. I have included some of them below. They show Jesus talking to the Father or about the Father doing something or about sending the Holy Ghost. It seems clear that these are separate beings that are show to be together in the same place at the same time.

Luke 10:21-22
Matthew 26:39, 42, 44
Matthew 19:16, 17
Luke 2:49, 52
John 7:16-17
Acts 7:55-56
John 14:16-17
John 14:25-26
John 15:26
John 16:7-8

Not Just A Suggestion

2008-09-16T12:39:00.005-04:00

I was listening to the First Presidency Message in this month's Ensign and came across this paragraph:
"First, the Holy Ghost remains with us only if we stay clean and free from the love of the things of the world. A choice to be unclean will repel the Holy Ghost. The Spirit dwells only with those who choose the Lord over the world. “Be ye clean” (3 Nephi 20:41; D&C 38:42) and love God with all your “heart, … might, mind, and strength” (D&C 59:5) are not suggestions but commandments. And they are necessary to the companionship of the Spirit, without which we cannot be one."

He quoted some things that we are told to do in the scriptures. He noted that they are not suggestions, but commandments.

I have often felt that the crowd that says all we have to do to be "saved" is to say that we accept Jesus ignores that he has commanded us to do things more than just recognize that He is the Savior. Yet I also find that we Latter-day Saints at times treat the scriptures or the words of the prophets as suggestions as well.

Is sitting in a parked car alone with a person of the opposite sex wrong even if we don't violate the law of chastity? The prophets have counseled us not to do that. Is it a suggestion of a commandment?

What about making out when you are not married? You have not broken the law of chastity, but what have the prophets said?

"We must clearly explain to our children that passionate kissing and “making out” should be left until after marriage. Too many young couples falsely believe that because they are dating or engaged they can relax these constraints. Yet it is during this emotion-filled time that the greatest care should be taken to build and preserve a virtuous relationship.

“'When the unmarried yield to the lust that induces intimacies and indulgence, they have permitted the body to dominate and have placed the spirit in chains. It is unthinkable that anyone could call this love.' (Spencer W. Kimball, 'Love vs. Lust,' in 1965 Speeches of the Year, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1966, p. 9.)"
(From the December 1986 Ensign Talking with Your Children about Moral Purity)

Are their words a suggestion or a commandment?

Is watching rated R movies wrong, even though there is not specifically a temple recommend question asking if you watch rated R movies? The prophets have counseled us not to do that. Is it a suggestion of a commandment?

Elder Cree-L Kofford Of the Seventyin his July 1998 Ensign article Marriage in the Lord’s Way, Part Two
"All too often, we get ourselves enmeshed in the process of trying to understand why God gave us a particular commandment. We want to rationalize. I don’t know where that is more evident than in watching movies. Young people know they should not watch R- or X-rated movies, and yet time after time I hear them say, 'Well it’s only rated R because it’s violent.' What difference does it make why it is rated R? The fact is, a prophet of God has said not to go to R-rated movies (see, for example, Ezra Taft Benson, “To the ‘Youth of the Noble Birthright,’ ” Ensign, May 1986, 45). That ought to be good enough."

Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep It Holy.

2008-09-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

Exodus 20
7 Thou shalt not take the ^aname of the LORD thy God in ^bvain; for the LORD will not hold him ^cguiltless that ^dtaketh his name in vain.

8 Remember the ^asabbath day, to keep it ^bholy.

9 ^aSix days shalt thou ^blabour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy ^astranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in ^asix days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD ^bblessed the sabbath day, and ^challowed it.

In Exodus 31:16 the Lord states that it is a "perpetual covenant". Dictionary.com define perpetual as "continuing or enduring forever; everlasting." Verse 17 reenforces this definition in this context: "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever"

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual ^acovenant.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in ^asix days the LORD ^bmade heaven and earth, and on the ^cseventh day he ^drested, and was ^erefreshed.

Verse 13 also states:

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my ^asabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that yemay know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

Elder Ezra Taft Benson quoted President George Albert Smith, "much of the sorrow and distress that is afflicting and will continue to afflict mankind is traceable to the fact that they have ignored his [God's] admonition to keep the Sabbath day holy" (Conference Report, Oct. 1935, p. 120; quoted in "Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy," Ensign, May 1971, 7).

Why Christ "...Gave Some Apostles; and Some Prophets..."

2008-09-03T20:57:00.009-04:00

In Eph. 4: 11 Paul states of Christ:
11 And he ^agave some, ^bapostles; and some, ^cprophets; and some, ^devangelists; and some, ^epastors and ^fteachers;

Why did he set up these offices in his Church?

Verse 12 states that these offices were:
"For the ^aperfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the ^bedifying of the body of Christ: "

Verse 13 states the duration that these offices would be part of his Church.
"Till we all come in the ^aunity of the faith, and of the ^bknowledge of the Son of God, unto a ^cperfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: "

One could hardly call the state of Christendom today "the unity of faith".

Verse 14 states another purpose of these offices:
"That we henceforth be no more ^achildren, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of ^bdoctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"

These offices were so that there would be an authority as to what the truth is when individuals or congregations disputed the meaning of scriptures.

The scriptures also give us direction as to how church leaders are called.
Heb. 5: 4
4 And no man taketh this ^ahonour unto himself, but he that is ^bcalled of God, as was ^cAaron.

People don't just decide that they are going to be take on one of these offices they must be called of God as Aaron was. Aaron did not go to school to study to lea the people. He was not chosen by the congregation. He was not able to be fired by the congregation. He was called by The Prophet of God and that prophet laid his hands upon him to bestow the responsibility on him.

When Jesus died he left the apostles. He did not leave the individuals with the Holy Ghost alone to figure out God's doctrine. The Holy Ghost only guides for what you have stewardship over. That which God has given you stewardship over, not what you chose to take stewardship over or what a congregation hires you to have stewardship over.

Eph 2:19-20

19 Now therefore ye are no more ^astrangers and foreigners, but ^bfellowcitizens with the ^csaints, and of the ^dhousehold of God;

20 And are built upon the foundation of the ^aapostles and ^bprophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief ^ccorner stone;

You don't remove the foundation anymore than you would the corner stone.

The Lord Hardened Pharaoh's Heart Exodus 4:21, Exodus 9:7

2008-07-29T22:09:00.004-04:00

Exodus 4
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those ^awonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine ^bhand: ^cbut I will ^dharden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

Exodus 9
7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Does the Lord cause people to sin by hardening their hearts?

Law of Witnesses

2008-07-29T14:45:00.003-04:00

I have thought for a while that it was weird that when someone quotes a talk by one person, the quote ends up being from someone else. Today as I was listening to the First Presidency Message in the June 2008 Ensign I found a blurb about witnesses.

"In our own time we have been warned with counsel on where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third. Each of us old enough to listen heard President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) give counsel on the importance of a mother in the home and then heard President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) quote him, and we have heard President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) quote them both.3

The Apostle Paul wrote, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1). One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time."

Prophets quote other prophets to give a second witness.

Being Born Again

2008-07-27T19:12:00.003-04:00

We had a lesson in church today that I thought was worthwhile to post here for discussion.

The lesson was based on a talk from April 2008 general conference.
Elder D. Todd Chistofferson - Apostle (Audio, Video)

Born Again

The instructor cited the story that Elder Christofferson related about having a retired protestant minister come to his home because the minister was concerned about Elder Christofferson's salvation. He and the minister had talked about what it meant to be born again.

John 3:3-5

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be ^aborn ^bagain, he cannot ^csee the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be ^aborn of ^bwater and of the ^cSpirit, he cannot ^denter into the kingdom of God.

Unless we put off the natural man we have not come to Christ. Does this mean we are perfect and do not make mistakes, but if we have put off the natural man we constantly reach for Christ and strive to do better.

Mosiah 3: 19

19 For the ^anatural ^bman is an ^cenemy to God, and has been from the ^dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he ^eyields to the enticings of the Holy ^fSpirit, and ^gputteth off the ^hnatural man and becometh a ⁱsaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
1 Cor. 2: 14

14 But the ^anatural man ^breceiveth not the things of the ^cSpirit of God: for they are ^dfoolishness unto him: neither can he ^eknow them, because they are ^fspiritually ^gdiscerned.

Mosiah 5: 2

2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty ^achange in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do ^bevil, but to do good continually.

Being born again is a process and not a one time event.

Because We Want To

2008-07-22T09:36:00.003-04:00

We had a lesson Sunday and part of it had to do with changing our hearts from being obedient out of duty and being obedient because it is who we are in our hearts (Sunday July 20, 2008 - Services Sullivan Hollow Se...).

I was listening some Ensign articles on the way into work and happened across one in the June issue (The Exquisite Joy of Repentance). There is a line in there that states, "Many years ago I paid my tithing because I felt I had to. Now I realize I can pay it with a heart full of gratitude and with the excitement that comes from knowing that the funds will help build churches and temples."

Will we be blessed for doing it out of duty? I believe we will, even if it is a little begrudgingly. But will will not have a fullness of joy that comes from putting your whole heart into it and doing it out of love for Heavenly Father and love for those we serve.

What else is missing?

2008-07-20T18:24:00.003-04:00

From p41 of the book From Critic to Convert by Willard Morgan after referring to the doctrine taught by Jesus that Paul references in Acts (20:35):
"What else did Jesus say that is missing from modern Bibles? For forty days he remained with the apostles after his resurrection. What did he teach them then? Certainly, anything he had to say would be important. In addition to these references, the Bible refers to seventeen other books of scripture which have become lost." Footnote 4 on this chapter in the book lists several books that are referenced and not included in the Bible.

All Roads Do Not Lead to Rome

2008-07-18T10:05:00.005-04:00

I recently started reading One Lord...One Faith by Mark E. Peterson. This will probably be the first of many gems that I find in this book.

He starts the book by saying "One of the great fallacies of the world today is found int eh expression: 'All roads lead to Rome.' They do not."

He then quoted the Savior from Matthew 7:21. "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven"

Indianapolis West Stake Boundaries

2008-07-01T19:50:00.002-04:00

I saw a comment that someone put on one of my other blogs through firefly. They asked what the boundaries were for the Indianapolis West Stake. I asked around and am told that this information is not confidential, so I am going to put a link here to a PDF with the boundaries.

Indianapolis West Stake Boundaries

Fair Test

2008-06-30T19:25:00.003-04:00

I was listening to an Ensign article on the way to work and the author noted that life is a fair test because our memories had been taken from us or something like that. I haven't yet gone back to reread it to find out what they entirely said, but it struck me as something that people not of our faith might not understand, so I pondered it a little. I captured the following thoughts and perhaps people could comment here and help me make them more coherent.

With our memories wiped our true character could come out. We would not be inhibited by something we remembered from before.
When your boss is in the room you might be more guarded and not show your true character whether it be good or bad.
Someone offers you money in another currency to perform some set of tasks over the course of a few years. Perhaps it is a job offer, I don't know. You have no idea how much the currency was worth. Would you be limited in what you were willing to do to get that money?
What if someone came up to you and said that they had read something by a person who had been to that country and knew that what they were offering was a large sum of money? What if they gave you material that detailed how to do the tasks and they told you the tasks would take time, but you could do them in the time you had been given? Who is the author of what they read? Who is the person testifying that they know the author to be truthful? What if they told you there would be people who had experience with such tasks to help you?
Perhaps you would have to do some research yourself and learn about that currency and maybe even that culture. Through the process you would learn and grow as a person and maybe earn even more money as you progressed in your research and in the end you would have the large sum of money as well?

Faith vs Science

2008-06-30T19:16:00.002-04:00

There always seems to be a discussion of faith vs something. Whether it be faith vs works or faith vs science of whatever. I think I have discussed before in some places my thoughts on how faith and works are connected. Now I have a few thoughts that came to mind about faith and science.

I believe that faith is a branch of science. One that is learned by having experiences with God and recognizing them.

I can not give you my notes and necessarily have you understand them without you having gone through the same experience or something similar.

Teachers of Religion That Fail to Do Their Duty

2008-06-25T19:40:00.004-04:00

I was listening to Insights into Isaiah (http://www.byub.org/isaiah/) yesterday morning on the way to work. They were discussing Isaiah 56:10-11.

10 His ^awatchmen are ^bblind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yea, they are ^agreedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are ^bshepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their ^cown way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

They proposed they could be talking about teachers of religion that do not do their duty. They fail to call out the sins of the people. They fail to train the people up in the correct ways they should go. Many churches has paid clergy. That can make for a hard conflict since they work for the congregation and the congregation can fire them if they don't like the way they preach or what they preach.

I think Abinidi also taught some of this in Mosiah 12:25-29

25 And now Abinadi said unto them: Are you ^apriests, and pretend to teach this people, and to understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these things mean?

26 I say unto you, wo be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord! For if ye understand these things ye have not taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord.

27 Ye have not applied your ^ahearts to ^bunderstanding; therefore, ye have not been wise. Therefore, what teach ye this people?

28 And they said: We teach the law of Moses.

29 And again he said unto them: If ye teach the ^alaw of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon ^briches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and ^cspend your strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil against this people?

These Are They Who Died Without the Law

2008-03-26T07:21:00.004-04:00

Here's another one to get some discussion going.

Doctrine and Covenants 76:72-75

72 Behold, these are they who died ^awithout ^blaw;

73 And also they who are the ^aspirits of men kept in ^bprison, whom the Son visited, and ^cpreached the ^dgospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh;

74 Who ^areceived not the ^btestimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it.

75 These are they who are ^ahonorable men of the earth, who were ^bblinded by the craftiness of men.

Does this mean they never heard the Gospel (the law) OR that they never made covenants to accept the law?

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles in his April 1942 Conference talk - The Necessity of Working on Our Own Lineage stated:
"They who enter into the terrestrial kingdom, the one higher than the telestial, are the honorable men — the honest, the virtuous, those who have been clean, and yet would not receive the gospel. There will be some others also who will go into that kingdom, but in a general sense these people will be the honest and honorable, who could not or would not see or receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore they are assigned to the terrestrial kingdom."

Love is What You Go Through Together

2008-03-09T16:14:00.002-04:00

I was listening to the last Worldwide Leadership Training meeting on the way to work a few weeks ago and heard Elder Jeffery R. Holland talking about the reasons that people put off getting married (schooling, finances, and so forth). He then quoted James Thurber, "Love is what you go through together." (See “Thurber,” Life, Mar. 14, 1960, 108.).

As I heard that I thought of another facet of people making decisions to get married. Sometimes the opposite is true. People jump into bad relationship because they don't think logically enough and get God involved in the decision making process. At times people get caught up in feelings about how handsome the other person is or that they enjoy being touched by them or that it is so exciting to see them in some activity they do whether it be driving a fast car or playing a sport and they label that as love.

As I reflected on my own experience and on the quote that Elder Holland gave, I wondered if love doesn't happen until one has been married for some period of time. It also reminded me of the Michael McLean song It Wasn't Love Before.

It appears to me that love comes through going through experiences together. One should perhaps look more at if this is a person who they could successfully go through trials with.

An Example of the Believers

2008-03-01T07:48:00.003-05:00

In studying in Preach My Gospel this morning I found this:
"Along with your authority comes a responsibility to live worthy of your calling. As the
Lord’s representative, you are to be “an example of the believers” (1 Timothy 4:12). Strive
to live according to God’s commandments and keep the covenants you made in the temple;
know the scriptures; be courteous, on time, and dependable; follow missionary standards
of conduct, dress, and grooming; love the people with whom you serve and work. Honor
Christ’s name by your actions."

I think that this applies to not just missionaries, but all members of the Church. Too often members of the Church have language, dress, conduct, and personal standards which do not give a good example of being a believer and does not honor Christ.

We all represent the Lord by virtue of being members of the Church.

Obedience Is the Armor That Will Protect Us from Evil

2008-02-11T06:40:00.000-05:00

Found this in the last paragraphs of an article in the January 2008 Ensign by William D. Oswald Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency - Obedience: The First Law of Heaven

He quotes President Boyd K. Packer:
“By following the rules,” said President Packer, “you will never make a serious mistake … either while you are on your mission or thereafter without being warned. You will never take the wrong road, you will never go around the wrong bend, or make the wrong decision without your having been warned. That pattern is the pattern of the Latter-day Saint. You were confirmed a member of the Church, and you had conferred upon you the gift of the Holy Ghost to be a guide and a companion to you.”2

Certainly Latter-day Saints believe this is true for the prophet leading the church. Do we believe this for us leading our families? And if we do, why are we not more obedient?

Trees in the Scriptures

2008-01-20T15:20:00.001-05:00

Is there any significance to God using trees in the scriptures? For example, the tree in Lehi's dream and the two trees in the Garden of Eden.

Also, Adam and Eve were not forbidden to partake of the Tree of Life until after they partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Had they partaken of the Tree of Life before that? Is the Tree of Life a symbol and not an actual tree, much as in Lehi's vision?

Needed a Nap

2007-11-23T10:42:00.000-05:00

I found this paragraph in a talk given by President Monson at the General Relief Society Meeting in October. (Text, Audio, Video)
"I learned recently of loving service given to a mother when her children were very young. Frequently she would be up in the middle of the night tending to the needs of her little ones, as mothers do. Often her friend and neighbor across the street would come over the next day and say, 'I saw your lights on in the middle of the night and know you were up with the children. I’m going to take them to my house for a couple of hours while you take a nap.' Said this grateful mother: 'I was so thankful for her welcome offer, it wasn’t until this had happened many times that I realized if she had seen my lights on in the middle of the night, she was up with one of her children as well and needed a nap just as much as I did. She taught me a great lesson, and I’ve since tried to be as observant as she was in looking for opportunities to serve others.'”

Media

2007-11-07T06:50:00.000-05:00

Ezra Taft Benson May 1986
"Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic. Don’t listen to music that is degrading."

For the Strength of Youth
"Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable."

“If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things” (Articles of Faith 1:13).

Lies and Half Truths About the Church

2007-06-03T20:11:00.001-04:00

If the Church is wrong then people should be able to create a logical argument against it without having to lie.

Below I will list of critics that I have found to be disreputable. Below that I will detail some of the things I have heard about the Church that are not true. Where possible I will note the person that said it, so that as people come across works about the Church they can identify authors to avoid.

Disreputable Critics

Shiela Garrigus
Eric Grieschaben

Details

Lie
Mormons talk to dead people in their temples. If you are a member in good standing and you want to talk to your dead grandmother you can go to the temple and do a ritual and talk to her.

Source
Eric Grieschaben

Truth
There is not temple ritual to talk to dead people.

Lie
Mormons are not Christian. They believe in a different Jesus.

Source
Eric Grieschaben

Truth
How different is Jesus between the various protestant denominations, yet they all consider each other as Christians. An example of this is whether God is one entity taking on different forms or whether the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are individuals. This is a huge difference about who Jesus is.

To say that Mormons do not believe in the same Jesus as Christians in order to classify them as being part of the occult is ridiculous.

One of the arguments used to bolster this argument our Jesus not being Jesus is to throw out that Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Scandalous!

The bible states that Lucifer was with God and he got greedy and tried to take over and was cast out and became Satan (Isaiah 14, Rev 12:7-9). The bible also states that before the Earth was created that Jesus was with God (John 1:1-4). Many families have family members that go on to greatness, while some of those same families also have family members that are trouble.

I realize that based on the biblical record that we have today this could be perceived as speculation, but is it a doctrine that really throws Mormons into the category of the occult?

Lie
Women can not be saved without men. This goes in the category of "the Mormons are oppressive to women."

Source
Shiela Garrigus

Truth
Being "saved" to protestants means going to Heaven or not going to Hell. This would be equivalent to getting to the Celestial Kingdom to Latter-day Saints. You don't have to be married to get to the Celestial Kingdom. To obtain all the blessings of the Celestial Kingdom one must be married. This applies to men and women both.

Lie
"Mormons refuse to take off these garments completely even while taking a bath..."

Source
I didn't catch the source, but it was some guy being interviewed in a cafe and was pontificating rubbish about Latter-day Saints.

Truth
He mentioned something about Latter-day Saints would take a bath and keep their hand outside the tub covered with their garments. This is a flat out lie and totally inflamatory.

2 Nephi 4:13-15

2007-01-15T10:17:00.000-05:00

2 Nephi 4:13-15
Summary
Laman and Lemuel are upset with Nephi because of their father's words to them about their disobedience. Nephi is constrained from giving them any more instruction, but continues his record. This record can then be used by future generations to find their way back.

It struck me that this can apply to us. When we get stuck in our own traditions and our own wants we harden ourselves and distance ourselves to where the spirit stops instructing us. In order to get further instruction we need to go to the scriptures get get those instructions and to get the spirit to begin instructing us again.

Mighty Prayer

2007-01-12T06:29:00.000-05:00

I was listening to the December 2006 Ensign article What I Have Learned about Mighty Prayer by Mary Jane Woodger on the way to work this morning. A quote from President Hinckley in it made me think. “The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries—we place our order and hang up."(Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 469)

I think most of us have had the concern at one time or another about repetitious prayers or prayers that seem to barely reach to the ceiling let alone to Heavenly Father. One piece that I think I miss frequently is meditating.

The world has perhaps made the concept of meditation seem hokey, but I think if done properly and with the right spirit it is a critical part of prayer. I have heard several talks over the last couple of years on meditating. I think meditating could be defined as the part of prayer when we listen. I think the word meditate indicates something a bit more focused than listening, but I think listening is something we all understand and it is a good place to start.

In my opinion, meditation is not the chanting that we sometimes see on TV, but a simple, focused listening and pondering or focused observing.

This article was a nice reminder that prayer is a communication channel and is a two way channel. We must listen and not just rattle off our requests and leave.

Pro Sports and the Sabbath

2006-11-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

We often talk about people that "have" to work on Sunday. Either because they are short on money and they have no choice but to take a job on Sunday or because they are in a profession that is critical to have available to people on Sunday (doctors, firefighters, police).

I don't believe that professional sports fall into either of these categories, but I wanted to get some other opinions on this. If I was someone starting out my career life is Professional sports a justifiable "work on Sunday" career?

The second piece of this that I am interested in is watching pro sports on Sunday. A) Is it a valid use of our Sabbath time to watch sports? B) Are we causing others to work on Sunday (the players) by us watching? We would not go out to eat on Sunday and cause someone else to have to work on the Sabbath, but does watching sports commercialize the Sabbath as well?

The point of this post is not to be judgmental, but to expand each other's knowledge of the Sabbath.

Satan Petitioning to have Job Tortured

2006-08-27T15:30:00.000-04:00

In Sunday school this week we talked about Satan's telling God that Job was only faithful because he was so blessed. It made me think about why was Satan given an audience with God? Why was God persuaded by him?

I didn't want to side track the lesson, but I thought it might be a nice thing to share thoughts on with each other.

Gospel Preached to the Dead

2006-08-10T20:08:00.000-04:00

1 Peter 3:18-20, 1 Peter 4:6

The Elders of Israel and The Constitution

2006-07-29T12:07:00.000-04:00

The lord told Joseph Smith That the Constitution would hang by a thread in the last days. President Ezra Taft Benson says that the Elders of Israel will rally together at that crucial moment to hold it up. These crucial times are very near So, what must we do as Elders of Israel to hold up the Constitution in our day?
What is the biggest threat to the constitution? See: D&C 134, D&C 98:5, & 3 Nephi 3:10

Forgiveness in the World to Come

2006-07-02T15:56:00.000-04:00

I read Matt 12:32 today
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be ^aforgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
I had always read this scripture from the perspective of the unpardonable sin, which is obviously what it is all about. When I read it today I noticed the phrase "neither in the world to come." People often talk about people dying and going directly to Heaven or Hell, which goes against the idea of Christ returning and judging his people. This scripture's implication seems to support the doctrine of being able to repent to some extent after death.

This is not to imply that one should wait until the "world to come" to repent, but it made me think that this might be a biblical reference to doing work for the dead.

God is a Spirit

2006-07-02T15:33:00.000-04:00

John 4: 24

24 ^aGod is a ^bSpirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in ^ctruth.

Many people use this to prove that God does not have a body, but the same could be said for man. Man is a spirit. Man is also flesh and bone, but our spirit is who we are.

Does anyone have any other authoritative resources on this?

What is David's Fate?

2006-06-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

One question I have had is can David repent? Has his committed the unpardonable sin by committing murder? Our Sunday school teach said that he may never attain anything above the Telestial. If he had not received any level of forgiveness he would have received no glory and yet to have fallen so far to not be able to reach beyond the Telestial. Also the statements in 2 Sam 11-12 about his wives being given to another. Is that in this life or in the resurrection? Does anyone know the history of David at all? Did he lose his wives in this life? The scriptures reference that the Lord would do this thing before the sun. That kind of spoke of Celestial things to me, but I have nothing authoritative yet.

Anyone else have anything autoritative?

Bible and Book of Mormon

2006-06-21T18:48:00.000-04:00

Bible
Several are offended at the suggestion that there would be any scripture in addition to the Bible. Several also are stunned at the thought that God might have had any other plan than to keep the Bible pristine through the centuries.

Book of Mormon
Prophets have asked us to read the Book of Mormon every day.

Latter-day saints love the Bible and it has been an act of God that it has been preserved to us in the condition it is in.

I don't know what question to put here to spawn discussion, but this is such an important issue that I feel it is worthy of discussion. Maybe part of the problem is that I can not articulate the issue. Perhaps the discussion should start with someone helping me define the issue.

If Your Eye Offends You Pluck It Out

2006-06-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

The Lord talked about this and it is recorded in the gospels. Over the years I have heard these passages discusses as referring to excommunication, but I was just listening to a BYU devotional given on June 6, 2006 by Joseph Perry. The talk was called "On Being a Christian Perfectly".

He proposed that one application of this doctrine might be to not pluck out our eyes if we can't keep from watching bad things, but to pluck out the cable, internet, or TV if they are causing us to stumble.

Evil Spirit From the Lord

2006-06-18T16:18:00.000-04:00

1 Samuel 16 talks about Saul being afflicted with an evil spirit from the Lord. There are several other verses that use that same wording. I saw that the Joseph Smith Translation says that it is an evil spirit not of the Lord. I notice that other bible translations from other church seem to keep that theme that the evil spirit is of the Lord.

I was wondering if anyone had any information about the translation of these verses and the doctrine of other churches that would explain, from their perspective, an evil spirit from the Lord.

What should we be entering into our journals?

2006-05-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

We are told that writing in our journals in an acceptable Sabbath activity. That being the case should our journals perhaps be of a spiritual nature?

What does "other side of the flood" mean?

2006-05-21T16:14:00.000-04:00

In Joshua 24 the phrase "other side of the flood" is used. Does this refer to a time before the flood, a place where people lived before the flood, or is it just a manner of speaking that has nothing to do with the great flood?

What is a Prophetess?

2006-05-21T16:01:00.000-04:00

We see in a few places in the bible references to prophetesses. For example, Judges 4:4 and Exodus 15:20.

What is the significance of bringing Joseph's bones out of Egypt?

2006-05-18T07:17:00.000-04:00

Was it just to obey Joseph? What is so significant about doing it that Joseph would command that? Our bodies are temples of God, but is there any importance to what happens to them after we die? Does it matter where one is buried?

Joshua 24:
32 And the abones? of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
Gen. 50: 25
25 And Joseph took an aoath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bbones from hence.

Ex. 13: 19
19And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my abones away hence with you.

What happened to Moses?

2006-05-07T14:57:00.000-04:00

What resources do we have on what happened to Moses after he left the children of Israel?

Deut 34
6 And he aburied• him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth bof• his csepulchre unto this day.

7 ¶ And Moses was an ahundred• and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

It says that he died, but then it says that his eye was not dimmed and his natural force was not abated.

Here's a small list I started. Anybody got any other sources?
Jst Deut 34:6
For the Lord took him unto his fathers, in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor; therefore no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.

Alma 45:19
Behold, this we know, that he was a righteous man; and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the Spirit, or buried by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses. But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto himself; therefore, for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial.

Relatives as ministering Angels

2006-05-02T17:38:00.000-04:00

Here is a paragraph from the talk President Faust gave in the priesthood session of this past general conference:

I would like to say a word about the ministering of angels. In ancient and modern times angels have appeared and given instruction, warnings, and direction, which benefited the people they visited. We do not consciously realize the extent to which ministering angels affect our lives. President Joseph F. Smith said, "In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh."⁶ Many of us feel that we have had this experience. Their ministry has been and is an important part of the gospel. Angels ministered to Joseph Smith as he reestablished the gospel in its fulness.

Is there really no marriage in the resurrection?

2006-04-30T16:15:00.000-04:00

In Matthew 22:33 Jesus says "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage". Does this just apply to "'till death do us part"?

Who was Balaam?

2006-04-30T15:18:00.000-04:00

Balaam is referenced in Numbers. He seems to be separate from Israel, but seems to be a prophet. He starts out wanting to do what the Lord wants, but continues to ask the Lord to do something else as the price tag the king is willing to pay goes up. He ends up being killed in the battle it seems.

He is spoken of rather harshly in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:15–16; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14).

Special Witnesses

2006-04-27T12:37:00.000-04:00

What does it mean when the apostles say that they are special witnesses?

Let me get the get the ball rolling with some resources I found:

Edward J. Brandt, “‘And He Gave Some, Apostles’ (Eph. 4:11),” Ensign, Jul 1999, 14

“Special Witnesses of Christ,” Ensign, Apr 2001, 4

“Special Witnesses,” Friend, Apr 1994, 38

Apostle - Bible Dictionary

“Special Witnesses,” New Era, Jun 2002, 4

What was Moses' speech problem?

2006-04-24T12:21:00.000-04:00

This got us off on a tangent a few weeks ago in Sunday school. Anybody have some authoritative sources that have commented on this?

Why is pop okay? Or is it?

2006-04-20T12:23:00.000-04:00

If you want to derail a lesson on the Word of Wisdom start talking about whether it is okay to drink soft drinks (caffeinated or otherwise).

Why no coffee?

2006-04-04T08:23:00.000-04:00

This has been the big question lately. Because God said so doesn't always satisfy the curious.

What do you think?

Are Latter-day Saints Christian?

2006-04-02T20:19:00.000-04:00

I spent a lot of time in my youth defending that we are Christians. As I got older I started to think about why I wanted that title. Obviously I wanted it known that I believed in Christ. I thought a lot as I was told that I worshipped a different Christ and didn't qualify for the title of Christian.

Has the word Christian become empty? It seems that anyone can define what a Christian is, even though many that deny us the title say that all that is required to be saved is to say that you believe in Christ.

What does everyone think, is Christian a good term to use? We call ourselves saints. Do we need the extra title of Christian?

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What happened to Moses?

Relatives as ministering Angels

Is there really no marriage in the resurrection?

Who was Balaam?

Special Witnesses

What was Moses' speech problem?

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