Work to my Glory

Although I have no way of proving or disproving it I have heard that Moses 1:39 is the most commonly quoted scripture in General Conference. This is the scripture that reads in its current form, “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Now for those of you who are keen in your reading you will notice that I mentioned “in its current form” This is because, when Joseph Smith first received the revelation we now know as Moses 1 the wording was different, it was as follows, “for behold this is my work to my glory to the immortality & the eternal life of man.” One of the places this can be seen is Jackson, Matthews and Faulring’s “Joseph Smith's New Translation Of The Bible: Original Manuscripts”

Now the differences seem small the use of “and” instead of “to” plus the addition of the phrase “to bring to pass.” Nonetheless I have found that having known this I cringe whenever this scripture is quoted as what is God’s purpose. But is there really a difference?

The real difference I am seeing on this doctrinally is by using “to” instead of “and” makes creation of worlds and everything else Moses is seeing a stepping stone in progression and to give the glory to God. (Side note can you imagine if that vision Moses had was placed on a Blue Ray disk and anyone could watch it in HD, that would be totally AWESOME!!!!!)

I also have found more mentioned on this subject here:

Eternal Life vs. Exaltation

So today during my Gospel Doctrine lesson I got called to the carpet by a gentleman after I stated there is a fine line between Eternal Life and Exaltation. He just wanted to clarify that there is NO difference between Eternal Life and Exaltation. So once I got home I started to study up a bit.

Personality I believe that eternal life is with Jesus Christ, while Exaltation is life with God the father. Here is that the definition from the www.lds.org reads on Eternal Life:

"Eternal life is the phrase used in scripture to define the quality of life that our Eternal Father lives. The Lord declared, "This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone will receive this gift. Eternal life, or exaltation, is to live in God's presence and to continue as families (see D&C 131:1–4). Like immortality, this gift is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. However, to inherit eternal life requires our "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Articles of Faith 1:3). "

While the entry for Exaltation reads: "See eternal life"

So I have adjusted my believe to be as follows. Eternal life and Exaltation are the same. Just like Elders Quorum and High Priests are the same Melchizedek Priesthood. Exaltation is just a higher part of eternal life. The same concept can go like this, all rectangles are squares, but not all squares are rectangles.

If you are exalted you will have already have achieved eternal life, but it is just a higher step.

Any thoughts?

Testimony

So the missionaries in my area have been teaching someone in my department at work. Due to schedule changes and such I really don’t know the person, but they have been trying to get me to go out on a discussion with them, however when ever they schedule a time where I can go, the appointment seems to get cancelled. This has gotten me to thinking about what could I share with someone investigating the church that might be beneficial. I mean I’d rather talk to a member who has been reading anti-Mormon literature, verses the person learning about the gospel any day! This soul searching has gotten me to think about my testimony. What is it exactly that I believe? This is what I have so far:

I believe that Jesus is the Christ and by living his teachings we are better off in the world and can find peace. I believe the Bible and Book of Mormon contain truths that when followed lead to greater happiness in life. I hope that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the correct church. I can not say that I know this, nor can I say it is the only true church on the earth but I really hope it is so. However I have made the decision after much thought and prayer that this is where I am going to worship, and I can’t really think of a better church to raise a family in. This not knowing about the true church makes me feel weak and that if I where more righteous I could “know” that the church is true.

I believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he revealed much to the earth. I also believe that like the great prophets before him people never fully understood as much as he did. Therefore we practice differently that the way the church was first set up. This does not mean that we are in a state of apostasy, we are still lead my the spirit. It just means that there are great truths that are lost and will not be preached from the pulpit, but can be understood through personal revelation.

I believe in the concept of eternal rounds, Multiple Mortal Probations, Remortalization or whatever you want to call it. (Just as long as it isn’t reincarnation!) This is one of the only ways that I can see a system of line upon line precept upon precept that would be consistent through out the eternities. I also believe that if I were to teach this publicly I could loose my membership in the church.

Well I’ll just leave it at this for now, but as I think of others I will add them.

Do we ever really listen to ourselves?

Recently a friend of mine send a letter home from his mission upset about bible bashing here is an excerpt from that letter. I have changed it some to protect the writer. But here are his thoughts.

“Bible bashing is an insult. It is pretty much saying that what others believe in is a lie, and here are vague scriptures that says your faith is wrong! Why don't you just go ahead and say the two years I've dedicated to preaching the gospel I believe in is wasted!...Where do they get their authority to tell me how to live my life or to tell me my faith and testimony are wrong, and why do they think I should listen to them if they are telling me I am in an evil church!”

I really don’t mean for this post to demean anyone, especially my friend. However I believe it shows one of the traps that people can get into when discussing the gospel. This trap is one of not really listening to what we are saying. Let me illustrate. I know it has been awhile since I did the whole two year thing, however I do remember that one of the first things we discussed was the first vision and the answer to Joseph Smith prayer. Here are Josephs words of what the answer was.

“18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

Granted yes we believe we are the only true church. Yes we believe that we have authority to preach the gospel, but if they don’t believe in that authority, it is nothing more than a fantasy story for them. People we discuss the gospel with also believe that they belong to Christ’s church. My missionary friend is going about sharing the gospel with people, trying to get them to listen to him when and getting upset when they call his beliefs evil, however if he teaches them he will do the same thing to them telling them there church is untrue. Now I am hoping that the subject of him being upset is one of the attitude of the people. That they are proud when they say we are evil, while missionaries, hopefully, are humble saying we are the only true church.

Just some thoughts I had while reading missionary letters.

Breaking the eternal cycle

Just as a precursor to this post, this isn't the most in depth doctrine or insightful topic, but it has been puzzling me nonetheless.

Lately it seems like whenever I go to solve a problem, I am only creating more problems. For instance, as spring approaches here in Southeast New Mexico I am trying to get my sprinkler system to work. I was out of the country last fall when my sprinkler system was no longer needed for the winter, but it was showing some problems when it was put to rest. So as I attempt to fix a sprinkler head, or a valve, it seems like for every one problem I fix, I find two more problems some where else in the sprinkler system.

It is not limited to just my sprinkler. The same at work. Like a good time manager, I make a list of things to accomplish, prioritize, start with the most important and work on it. However while working on it I find more problems that trump what I am working on and by the time my 12 hr shifts are over, I leave with nothing fully accomplished with more problems then when I started the day.

The previous two examples are ones where negative things have created more negative. I believe there is a balance to all things. Therefore I am believing that this system will also work for the good. Hopefully my belief, will increase to hope, which will increase to faith, which will increase to knowledge. (My take on a hybrid between Alma 32 and Moroni 7) For example if I attempt to go out and perform one good act, like share the gospel with my neighbor, it might create more good than intended. As members of the church we tend to butter people up before this, I don't know why, so I might make a batch of cookies to take some to the neighbor. Having made too big a batch. I end up taking cookies to more neighbors. I might loose the nerve to bring up the gospel, but I have spread the good of the cookies around. Which would lead to more buttering up and more possibilities of neighbors to share the gospel with. At the end of this buttering up phase, because of the propagating effects of the good, I might never share the gospel with the person I intended to in the beginning, however I might end up with a couple families who are interested in the gospel when I only intended to share it with one.

Is this a viable option? If so, now all that is left for me to do is break the eternal cycle of exponentially growing problems, and start the eternal cycle of goodness. Hopefully I will accomplish this.

Gospel Doctrine what is it?

So I have never really been a big fan of Sunday School in particular Gospel Doctrine class. I have always found some way or another to get out of going, whether it was clerking duties years ago or recently helping my wife in the nursery. I mean I have tried to go, but i just would get so frustrated with the trite phrases, that really made no sense like "once a Bishop, always a bishop" or "The world changes yet the church has never changed because it is lead by God." I think you can see where this post is going, if I were to say I just got a calling again in the ward. Yep, Gospel Doctrine Teacher.

So as I am trying to be a good teacher I started to read the Lesson Manual. This is a passage I found interesting in the introduction:

"This manual is a tool to help you teach the doctrines of the gospel from the scriptures and Church history. It has been written for youth and adult Gospel Doctrine classes and is to be used every four years. Additional references and commentaries should not be necessary to teach the lessons."

I have always enjoyed the supplemental information a teacher can bring to a class. If I wanted to learn from the Manual I could read it by myself. So I was a little disappointed. However the next paragraph gave me a way out:
"Elder M. Russell Ballard said:

“Teachers would be well advised to study carefully the scriptures and their manuals before reaching out for supplemental materials. Far too many teachers seem to stray from the approved curriculum materials without fully reviewing them. If teachers feel a need to use some good supplemental resources beyond the scriptures and manuals in presenting a lesson, they should first consider the use of the Church magazines” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1983, 93; or Ensign, May 1983, 68)emphasis added." I can carefully read the lesson first and consider the Church Magazines first, but then I can move onto Words of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

I really want them to know the sing-sang phrases of the church are most of the time doctrinally wrong. Part of me wants to teach "fringe" doctrine. Like none of us are really going to make it to the Celestrial Kingdom immediately after this life, and that is OKAY and part of the plan. However, I don't want to offend people, and also I want to keep my membership in the church. So after thinking about it My real goal is to help the members of the audience feel the spirit and have a desire to come closer to the lord. So here are my real questions:

1) What is Gospel Doctrine?

2) How can knowing this doctrine bring people the spirit and desire to change?

3) What are some things that you would want out of a good Gospel Doctrine class?

Why do bad things happen to good people

A few months ago I taught a lesson in Elder's Quorum that had a story in it that didn't set well with me. It was about how a four year old girl without warning became critically ill and was hospitalized. Her father prayed and prayed, but she was not healed. She eventually died. The story was suppose to teach the lesson of "thy will be done," but it just left me feeling pretty low and empty. I left this story out of my lesson but continued to ponder on it. Could the taking of this little four year old been part of the plan. Is that what God wanted? Did he want her not to have the chance to learn and grow and become like him? Did he want to cause her family grief and anguish? Is that really what he wanted? As I continued to ponder on this, an idea came to me and that is what I'd like to discuss for a bit. What if that wasn't part of God's plan? What if it isn't what he wanted? Does God always get what he wants?

I came to the conclusion that God doesn't always get what he wants. He wants us all to live in such a way that we will become like him and return to his presence, but that doesn't always happen. He wants us to love one another, but that doesn't always happen. He wants us to serve one another, but that doesn't always happen. God doesn't always get what he wants because of agency. His children have agency, and because of this, they don't always listen. They don't always obey. I began to wonder, does this principle extend farther, beyond us? Does everything have the agency? Even the elements? If this were the case, then perhaps there are elements that are disobedient just as we are. Take a young four year old with cancer for example. God wants her to live. God wants her to experience all that life has to offer so she can learn and grow and become like him. God wants the cancer cells to stop their destructive presence. But if they have agency, perhaps they do not listen. Perhaps they do not obey. Could God force them? Can he force us? If God takes away agency, then he would cease to be God. Could this explain why some are miraculously healed through prayers and blessings while others are not? Sometimes the destructive presence (cancer cells, disease, infection) listens and obeys, sometimes it does not. It comes down to agency.

So, do things other than us have agency. Can they choose to obey or disobey. There are a few references that make a case for this.

In a discourse given by Brigham Young on Feb. 12, 1854, he said,

"There are multitudes of spirits in the world. Everything we see, and have a knowledge of, has got its own peculiar spirit, or else there is no life in it. The spirit constitutes the life of everything we see. Is there life in these rocks, and mountains? There is. Then there is a spirit peculiarly adapted to those rocks and mountains. We mark the progress of the growth of grass, flowers, and trees. There is a spirit nicely adapted to the various productions of the vegetable kingdom. There is also a spirit to the different ores of the mineral kingdom, and to every element in existence."

In the creation account in Abraham chapter 4, there are several verses that refer to things other than mankind that "obeyed"

(1) And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. (2) And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters. (3) And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light. (4) And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness. (5) And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night. (6) And the Gods also said: Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and it shall divide the waters from the waters. (7) And the Gods ordered the expanse, so that it divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so, even as they ordered. (8) And the Gods called the expanse, Heaven. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and this was the second time that they called night and day. (9) And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered; (10) And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed. (11) And the Gods said: Let us prepare the earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and it was so, even as they ordered. (12) And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed. (13) And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time. (14) And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; (15) And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so. (16) And the Gods organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also; (17) And the Gods set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to cause to divide the light from the darkness. (18) And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed. (19) And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time. (20) And the Gods said: Let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life; and the fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven. (21) And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good. (22) And the Gods said: We will bless them, and cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas or great waters; and cause the fowl to multiply in the earth. (23) And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and it was the fifth time. (24) And the Gods prepared the earth to bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so, as they had said. (25) And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth the beasts after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and the Gods saw they would obey. (26) And the Gods took counsel among themselves and said: Let us go down and form man in our image, after our likeness; and we will give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them. (28) And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (29) And the Gods said: Behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it; yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it; it shall be for their meat. (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold, we will give them life, and also we will give to them every green herb for meat, and all these things shall be thus organized. (31) And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time.

It seems very clear that there are things other than man (and woman) that have the ability to obey...and hence disobey. They have a spirit. They are intelligences.
Man was "very obedient" in the beginning, but eventually, due to agency, fell. Mankind has continued to become more and more disobedient. Could this be the case with the rest of God's creations, including the very elements. Could this explain increasing disease and natural disasters?
All intelligences have agency. They can act for themselves (D&C 93:30). They have the ability to submit to the will of God and obey, or rebel and disobey. Some will obey and some won't. God doesn't want bad things to happen to his children. God doesn't want us to suffer in pain and anguish. God doesn't want four year old girls to die from disease. But because of agency, there are some things that just disobey. God with his infinite knowledge will work it out, but I don't think things happen the way he wants them to all the time. If our loved one wasn't healed or protected when we prayed and someone else's was, we don't have to wonder if God loved them more. We don't have to wonder why God abandoned us. He didn't. He does love us, every one of us. It's just some things obey and some things don't. It's just…agency.

Temple Musings

I remember from long ago signing in primary, that the temple is a holy place, a place of learning.

Also something you should know about me is sometimes I get a nervous stomach which requires me to find a restroom pretty quick. Recently I attended the temple and one of those nervous stomach situations might have occured.

During this time as I was pondering what I should do, I could not help but think, if the temple is a holy place and I end up going to the restroom, would that be "Holy Shit?"

Do you see what I see?

Ok. so it's getting so I can't watch movies with anyone anymore. My tough guy image is really starting to suffer. Here is the problem, I've begun to notice gospel analogies in everything, and they're always making me bawl. I know, if you're embarrassed about it, why are you telling everybody? Well, I'm hoping that if I get it out there then I won't be as embarrassed when someone catches me. Case in point. A week or so ago, I was at my parents house and flipped on the TV and TNT was doing there little back to back to back Lord of the Rings marathon. There was about a half hour left in the second one, so I decided to watch. Well, I'm doing just fine and then here comes this scene.



What a metaphor for the second coming. A time when everything has fallen into darkness. A time when wickedness abounds and hope is fragile. A time when the saints must gird up their loins, take courage and continue the fight.

"Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them." ( Aragorn, The Two Towers)

"Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom; behold and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord." (D&C 133:10)

“At dawn look to the east.” (Gandalf, The Two Towers)

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt. 24:27)

And when all seems lost, He comes.

"The Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them, and it shall be answered upon their heads; for the presence of the Lord shall be as the melting fire that burneth, and as the fire which causeth the waters to boil. O Lord, thou shalt come down to make thy name known to thine dversaries, and all nations shall tremble at thy presence— Yea, when thou comest down, and the mountains flow down at thy presence, thou shalt meet him who rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, who remembereth thee in thy ways. And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places. For he shall make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God." (D&C 133:18,28,41,44,49,3)

So I'm right in the middle of the scene, tears streaming down my face and my Mom comes in. Well, I try to play the old something in my eye routine, but I don't think she fell for it.

Since TNT is doing their back to back to back Lord of the Rings, the third installment comes on next and I decide to watch it. There are several scenes that cause my tear ducts problems. And to top it all off, my Dad comes in a little way through and decides to watch it with me. Ughhh, you can only pretend like your scratching your face but secretly drying your eyes so many times. Then comes the scene that always does me in. Even the first time I saw it in the theater I was a mess.



How can one not think of the savior in this scene? "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" (Sam, The Return of the King)

There are lots of scenes through the Lord of the Rings trilogy that seem to cause my "allergies" (I don't think people are buying this excuses anymore either) to flair up, but the gospel metaphors don't seem to be limited to just fantasy movies about hobbits. I keep seeing them everywhere, all the time. It's reached epidemic proportions.

Anyway, do you have any favorite movie scenes that remind you of spiritual things?

Son of Righteousness, in comparison to the Lord of Hosts

Son of Righteousness, in comparison to the Lord of Hosts

As I was reading the scriptures today I read Ether 9:22,

“And after [Emer] anointed Coriantum to reign in his stead he lived four more years, and he saw peace in the land; yea and he even saw the Son of Righteousness, and did rejoice and glory in his day; and he died in peace.”

Having a passion for visitations of Christ I was pleased to see Christ visit yet another person, however as I decided to search for more examples of “Son of Righteousness.”

The footnote from Ether sends us to 3 Nephi 25:2, which is the same as Malachi 4:2, with the exception that the Malachi uses the word “Sun” in place of “Son” and a few extra commas. Now Malachi 4 is one of the chapters that Moroni read to Joseph Smith when he visited him, so these verses do pertain to our day specifically. But why? I will quote 3 Ne. 25:1-2:

“ For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.

In verse one above we see that the Lord of Hosts is speaking by the “saith the...” statement. Verse two begins with I assume the same voice of the Lord of Hosts by the “that fear my name.” Now this is where a new person comes in, the Son of Righteousness. I might me misreading this, but I think there are two people spoken of in verse two. One the Lord of Hosts and second the Son of Righteousness.

The only explanation for who this is just that the Lord of hosts is God the Father and the Son of Righteousness is Christ. If this is the case a simple word search for “Lord of Hosts” can give an look into something that we rarely talk about, the role of God the Father, verses God the Son. Lord of Hosts seems to be the destructive one with all the vengeance.

Another verse to support the Son of Righteousness as Christ would when Nephi talks about the Christ visiting the Nephities after his resurrection, be 2 Ne 26:9, “the Son of Righteousness shall appear to them, and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him...”

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thinking in Your Heart Verses Life Changing Moments

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...” Proverbs 23:7

So I have been living in the Netherlands for the last three months for work. While over hear I have been with out my family and home. I am looking forward to going home next week to see my family again. However, three months ago when looking towards my time over here, I was thinking great. Look at all I can accomplish by myself, I can lose 20 lbs., finish reading “Isaiah Decoded” and “In Sacred Loneliness” spend some time learning sleight of hand, in order to make a routine for a magic show.

Well now is my time to return and report, so to say. As far as losing weight, I think I have gained 10 lbs instead. I didn’t even open the books mentioned. (I did read “Mormon Scientist,” about half of “Rough Stone Rolling” and a few fiction books.) I I have only briefly worked on the sleight of hand.

So is it true that as a man thinketh so is he? Why when I desired so much change in my life, did I become fat and lazy instead?

One reason I will state up front is I never wrote down these desires on my own. I goal is if it not written down and studied is nothing more than hope. So the first thing I needed to do was be serious about change and write down goals for it.

But I want to broaden this topic to more than just the frivolous things that I listed above. It applies to any change that we want in our lives. Change to become better, what else can people do to change for the better?

A sign of the times?

I thought I’d post a few thoughts I had as I studied 3 Nephi 16.

The Lord seems to be talking about two modern day groups of people; the Gentiles, which are those people of European decent, and His people, which are those that are descendents of the Nephites and Lamanites. These would be the modern day Native Americans, as well as those indigenous people of Central and South America. I will now refer to them as Lamanites.

7 Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fullness of these things shall be made known unto them.

In the last days the gospel will be restored to the Gentiles.

9 And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them—

The Lamanites will be persecuted by the Gentiles. There is definitely evidence of this as the Americas were settled and colonized.

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fullness of my gospel from among them.

This verse is a little puzzling. I’m not sure if he is including Latter-Day Saints in with the Gentiles in general, or if he is exclusively talking about Latter-Day Saints that have the gospel, or if he is talking about those Gentiles that do not have the gospel. I tend to lean toward the idea that he is talking about Latter-Day Saints. The phrase sin against my gospel implies to me that they have the gospel and can therefore sin against it. They have turned from the fullness of the Gospel. I believe this has already started. We are right in the middle of verse 10. Oh, members of the church aren’t vocally denouncing the prophet. But remember what the Lord said in Matthew. In the last days “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” If this is true, then at the end of verse 10 it says that the Lord will bring the fullness of his gospel from among us.

Is the Lord bringing the fullness of his gospel from among us?
One example that comes to mind is the Time Magazine article. When President Hinckley was asked if the church still teaches that God the Father was once a man like we are he replied, “I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."

Could this be evidence that the Lord is bringing the fullness of his gospel from among us? Could this be evidence that we are right in the middle of verse 10.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

The Lord says in these verses that if the Gentiles will repent then he will not let the Lamanites “tread them down”.

15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.

Here the Lord says that if the Gentiles don’t turn to Him (and I’m sure he means with their “hearts”, not just their “lips”) then he will let the Lamanites “go through among them” and “tread them down”. Are we in the middle of verse 15 also? I can’t help but think of the immigration issues facing the United States (Gentiles).

According to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal immigrants. Thirteen Americans are killed by drunk illegal immigrant drivers every day. Eight American children are victims of sexual abuse by illegal immigrants every day.

Illegal immigrants cost Americans an estimated $2.5 billion in Medicaid costs; $2.2 billion in treatment for the uninsured; $1.9 billion for food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches; $1.6 billion in the federal prison and court systems, and $1.4 billion in federal aid to schools.

The vast majority of illegal immigrants are from Central and South America. Could the previous statistics be examples of the gentiles being “tread on”

Now the point of this post is not a political debate on illegal immigration. The point is that I think there is good evidence that we can no longer talk about verse 10 and 15 in the future tense. I believe they are happening now. We have sinned against his gospel. We have rejected the fullness of his gospel. He has begun to bring the fullness of his gospel from among us. (verse 10) The Lamanites have began to go through among the gentiles, and tread them down. (verse 15)

I guess we had better pay attention to verse 13 and 14.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

Time for a little R&R...repent and return.

Truly united and the work for Zion.

During the past few week as the election has dominated the headlines, both in the United States and abroad, this scripture has often come to my mind, “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they where of one heart and one mind...” Moses 7:18.

Yes, the Democrats have won the presidential election, the Senate, and the House. Republicans are now weeping, but are we truly the United States of America. Offhand, I can think of two times in the last 50 years when, in my opinion we were “United.” One being a great time the other a horrific time. The first being in the race to put a man on the moon. Americans truly wanted to see this great achievement and see an American on the moon. The second time I think we were united was shortly after the attacks on Sept. 11 2001. For a short time after that Americans were humbled, people were nicer to others on the street, I believe it was a kinder gentler nation, for a brief short time we pulled together as a Nation and came up with the slogan, “United We Stand.”

But what about now, Democrats are going to blame Republicans, Republicans are going to blame Democrats. Independents, Greens, Libertarians are all going to blame a two party system. Now, it doesn’t matter who you voted for. Even if, like me, nothing we voted for passed or our candidates were not elected. Even if we disagree with how certain aspects are handled. We can not continue to do the blame game. We must pull together as a nation. What do we really need to do to unite as a people? As a country? As a world?

I really don’t want to turn this blog political, however these same things that apply in government, apply in church and believes. How many different churches are out there claiming they are correct? The readers of this blog certainly believe theirs is the correct church, but which aspect of it? Even among the church there are so many different believes and ways of thought, all rationalized and practiced. Mainstream Mormons verses the bloggernacle. Back row Mormons verses the Molly Mormon and Peter Priesthood. No caffeine verses caffeinated Mormons.

How far and what do each of us need to accomplish to establish a people of one heart and one mind? What are we to do to establish Zion?

Why do good things happen to bad people?

Does the Lord bless the wicked? We’ve all seen it. It’s the converse of bad things happen to good people. Sometimes good things happen to bad people.
In church we are taught that everything we have comes from God, both spiritual and temporal blessings. We are nothing by ourselves and that anything we attain or accomplish is only because of God. We are taught that we should give praise and thanks to God and that it is wrong to take credit ourselves. We are also taught that we are blessed because of obedience and sacrifice. So what are we to make of when we see the wicked blessed? When we see good things happen to bad people. Did it come from God? Did it come from the Satan? Or can the person just take the credit themselves as it is a product of their own means?

Withstanding Temptations

So I got looking at some scriptures on withstanding temptations. So this post is just a compilation of what I found. Sorry no additional commentary to go with them. If we really want to be blessed it looks like withstanding temptation is they way to go about it. Most of them are common knowledge, but when we truly read these scriptures, not just turn off our mind because we know them they do talk to us.

James 1:12 “ Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

D&C 23:1 “ ...But beware of pride, lest thou shouldst enter into temptation.”

2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations”

1 Nephi 15:24 “And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.”

D & C 10: 5 “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.”

Ether 12:27 “ 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

Alma 13:28 “But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;”

D & C 62:1 “Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted”

D & C 93:1 “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you”

Also this is how temptation is defined on the official church web site, “Temptation is a test of a person's ability to choose good instead of evil. It is an enticement to sin and follow Satan instead of God. Part of the experience of this life is to learn to overcome temptation and to choose right over wrong.”

It really looks like humility is key to overcoming temptations.

They don't understand

They Don't Understand by Sawyer Brown

The lesson the song above teaches finally sunk in recently. I’ve liked that song for a long time. Recently I had an experience that re-affirmed the lesson taught in the song. I teach math. I have a student in one of my Algebra II classes that is also in my math lab class. In math lab on the day we had reviewed for an upcoming test, he asked me for help on a problem that I had done for his class earlier that day. In my mind I’m thinking, “Gosh, why didn’t you just listen in class today,” but with a smile, said “sure.” As I started to help him, he halfway apologized, saying that he had a hard time paying attention in class today because he had just prior to class received some stressful news about his brother. I helped him with the problem and didn’t think too much more about it. The next day (test day) I saw him standing outside my door as I was teaching the period before his class. I went out to see what he wanted. In his tough high school football player voice he said, “I’m not going to be in class today, can I take the test another time.” Then with tears filling his eyes and his voice cracking, he said, “They don’t think my brother is going to make it.” I won’t go into the details of our exchange after that. But I will say that I went back into the classroom wondering to myself how many times I had judged a student’s behavior without really knowing what was going on? I gained a greater appreciation for people that day. How often do we judge others on what we see them do when what we couldn’t see was “their brother wasn’t going to make it”? We don’t understand.

Justice, mercy, forgiveness, the atonement, and Alma 42

I'm going to start by first quoting some verses from Alma 42

15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.

In Alma 42, as well as in other scripture and literature, justice is personified, meaning it is given attributes or characteristics of a human. For example in verse 24, "justice exerciseth all HIS demands". In verse 15, "the demands of justice". While this makes for interesting writing, I don't think it helps in understanding the concept. Justice is not a person, justice can't demand anything. People demand justice. So in the context of Alma 42, WHO is demanding justice?

Another question is that of the relationship between justice and forgiveness. If God forgives us, then why does he still demand justice (payment of the debt = atonement). If someone owes me money, but I forgive the debt, I can't expect payment. Forgiving the debt means that the payment doesn't need to be paid anymore. This has been discussed a bit here.

As I've discussed this with several different people, I've run across several different theories about God, justice and forgiveness. I'm going to try to summarize them here.

Theory 1 God freely forgives. It is not God that demands justice (payment) but an outside "organization" (council of gods, society of gods, etc.). This may be viewed much like our earthly system of law and society. Perhaps you steal my wallet. When the police finally catch up with you, they find that you have spent all my money, as well as used my credit card. If I demanded justice, you would need to pay me back, but let's say that I forgive you and don't require that the debt be paid. That's not the end of it. There is an outside organization (police, courts, society) that may require a punishment anyway, perhaps paying a fine or jail time. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to the "organization"

Theory 2 God freely forgives. It is not God that demand justice but the people who are wronged and don't forgive. For example, you punch me in the nose. You have obviously offended (sinned against) me because you punched me in the nose, but you have also offended (sinned against) God because he asked you not to punch people in the nose. With this theory, God forgives you for sinning against him and does not require any payment. I now have the choice to forgive or demand justice. If I forgive you then it is over. No justice or payment is required. I don't get to hit you back, the debt is forgiven. Because all is forgiven, there is not a debt to be paid and Christ’s atonement is not involved in this situation. If I don't forgive you and demand justice, then a payment is required. This is where the atonement comes in. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to all those who don't forgive, but demand justice.

Theory 3 God freely forgives. At this point justice is no longer demanded. But although God forgives the debt, it is still there, unpaid. He just isn't demanding payment. It would be analogous to the following situation. You rack up a huge debt on your credit card. Then the credit card company says, hey, you know what, don't worry about paying it. They aren't going to wipe the debt away, it will still show up on credit reports and things like that. You just don't every have to pay it. In this theory Christ's atonement pays the debt to God so you can have a clean "record"

Theory 4 God doesn't forgive. It is he that demands justice. Christ pays the debt and then it is Christ that has the right to demand justice. Christ freely forgives, meaning he forgives and doesn't require that the debt still be paid. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to God.

Theory 5 God doesn't forgive the debt, but forgives the debtor. This is kind of like a status thing. Justice is demanded. God doesn't forgive the debt, meaning it still needs to be paid, but when he forgives the debtor, the debtor is brought back up to the same relationship status they were in prior to incurring the debt. In this theory Christ’s atonement would be paying the debt to God.

Each of them seem to have their own problems. What do you think? What do you see as problems with each theory? What is good about them? Do you have any modifications or other theories that will help explain justice, forgiveness, and the atonement?

Embraced by the arms of Christ

So the other night I was trying to get my 18 month old daughter to go to sleep. She is a beautiful girl, however she never likes going to bed. My wife and I had done the usual bedtime routine: a bath, Pajamas on, read a story, soft music playing, only the night light on. She still would not settle down for bed, so I was playing with her on the floor in her room. At this same time a lighting storm was now visible from the windows in her room. At first the bright lights only slightly startled her. However within a minute or two the thunder was also audible. (Where I live we get pretty big thunder storms in the summer.)

At this point my little girl begins to get really scared by the thunder. To aid to this, she is also tired since it is past her bed time. She normally is a Mama’s girl, but whenever she is scared she tends to want me and curl up in my lap. So she curled up in my lap and buried her head into my chest crying and terrified about what the sound and noise was outside. I embraced her and after the first initial cry she turned around to face the window so she could watch the lighting storm safe in daddies arms. She soon began to point at the lighting and smile making sure I also saw the bright lights. The thunder remained, but she was no longer scared she realized she was safe and everything will be okay.

At this time I got an insight, or spiritual download as some call it, into what believe in Christ can do for you. In this situation with the Thunder storm and my daughter the only thing that changed was she sat in my lap and felt of my love. Outside nothing changed, the storms were still raging. The same thing happens when we believe in Christ. The situation outside may not change, however we can metaphorically curl up in Christ lap, feel of his love for us, realize that we are safe and everything in the end will be okay! As we progress and work to build our relationship with Christ we can enable ourselves to feel more and more of his love, as we continue to grow eventually we will be able to be embraced in the arms of Christ.

Now I attend church faithfully and fulfill my callings to the best of my abilities, however I am constantly struggling to increase my faith. I am at the point where the church and a believe in Christ makes sense and I hope I am making the right choices in my life. But I really want to increase my hope to a knowledge of the truth. By knowledge I am not speaking of the multitude that profess every fast Sunday that they “know beyond a shadow of a doubt.” I refer to what Joseph Smith said, “No one can truly say he knows God until he has handled something, and this can only be in the Holiest of Holies” (May 1, 1842 WJS) This is why I occasionally write my thoughts here, an attempt to organize them and hopefully grow.

Faith Promoting Stories or Fact?

I have always enjoyed the vision of Wilford Woodruff where the signers of the Declaration of Independence, appear to him in the temple and request that there temple work be done. Part of this may be the fact that even though I reside in New Mexico part of me still considers St. George home. I even took out my own endowments in the St. George Temple.

However I recently read a small article that someone linked to on the Juvenile Instructor Blog. Brian Stuy's article in the Spring 2000 Journal of Mormon History “Wilford Woodruff's Vision of the signers of the Declaration of Independence" You can read the whole article here. Just look for the Wilford Woodruff vision in the column on the left hand side.

According to Stuy, Haden Wells Church and John Bernhisel had already preformed the baptismal ordinances for the people mentioned in Wilford Woodruffs vision, and the endowment was not yet available at this place. (ibid pg. 76) He goes on to assume evolution of Wilford Woodruffs night visions into visitations. I think we as Mormons often mistakenly assume that visions and visitations are one and the same. But that is another topic altogether.

I tend to agree with Stuys conclusion on this point. But the point I want to bring up is the concept of Faith promoting stories vs. Faith Promoting Fact. I can believe this story has inspired many a person to preform temple work for the dead. Which is great and wonderful. However many a person has left the church upon finding out that the great stories from Mormon History are not quite as they are retold in Sunday School. I have always believed that Mormon stories are like a fine wine and they get better with time.

My question is this, at what point does a little fabrication, cause more harm than good?

Second point I wish to make is to put a plug in for the New FamilySearch program. It is amazing how far the church has come with its Genealogy and temple tracking. With this interactive program we can make sure that temple work isn't repeated, like in the case of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Missionary work and The Second Coming

Yesterday during Priesthood someone made a comment about how prior to the second coming everyone will have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, which included all the Muslims. And how great it will be to get missionaries into the Muslim countries. The person who made this comment is the person who I am sure is in a lot of wards. Mainstream Mormon all the way. Gospel Doctrine teacher, member of the Elders Quorum Presidency, brother in the Stake Presidency, knows and quotes all the little catch all phrases all too common in the church. Now I have heard this and it was quite comforting while I was a missionary that I was giving all these people a chance to hear the Gospel, however as I have progressed this answer doesn’t seem to but it anymore. But is this something that we really believe or is it just Mormon Folklore? Does everyone need to accept Mormonism in “one eternal Round” or is that what the eternities are for?

At the end of May I noticed online that there are people in the Amazon who are still “uncontacted” by the outside world. Look here for one article on it. If we really believe this doctrine than this tribe would have to be contacted not only my Christians, but Mormons also.

This to me doesn’t seem to connect. Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus all seem to be blessed and have many truths in there lives. For me and my family, yes Mormonism is true and there are many blessing that we have received from our believes. However, with cultural differences and all I am sure that other major faiths, if followed, will benefit people where ever they are.

Help me out here, I seem to have a major disconnect with this concept.