Mormon Life - Relief Society/Priesthood

Gospel Principles 19: Repentence

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Neil L. Andersen
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to “re-turn” toward God. My brothers and sisters, it has been six months since my call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. To now serve with men who have long been my examples and teachers remains a very humbling experience. I deeply appreciate your prayers and sustaining vote. For me, this has been a time of fervent prayer, of earnestly seeking the acceptance of the Lord. I have felt His love in sacred and unforgettable ways. I testify that He lives and that this is His holy work.

We love President Thomas S. Monson, the Lord's prophet. I will forever remember his kindness as he extended my call last April. At the conclusion of our interview, he opened his arms to embrace me. President Monson is a tall man. As he wrapped his long arms around me and pulled me close, I felt like a little boy being held in the protective arms of a loving father.

In the months since that experience, I have thought of the Lord's invitation to come unto Him and to spiritually be wrapped in His arms. He said, "Behold, [my arms] of mercy [are] extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."1

The scriptures speak of His arms being open,2 extended,3 stretched out,4 and encircling.5 They are described as mighty6 and holy,7 arms of mercy,8 arms of safety,9 arms of love,10 "lengthened out all the day long."11

We have each felt to some extent these spiritual arms around us. We have felt His forgiveness, His love and comfort. The Lord has said, "I am he [who] comforteth you."12

The Lord's desire that we come unto Him and be wrapped in His arms is often an invitation to repent. "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you."13

When we sin, we turn away from God. When we repent, we turn back toward God.

The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to "re-turn" toward God.14 It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the commandments. Being disciples of Christ, we rejoice in the blessing of repenting and the joy of being forgiven. They become part of us, shaping the way we think and feel.

Among the tens of thousands listening to this conference, there are many degrees of personal worthiness and righteousness. Yet repentance is a blessing to all of us. We each need to feel the Savior's arms of mercy through the forgiveness of our sins.

Years ago, I was asked to meet with a man who, long before our visit, had had a period of riotous living. As a result of his bad choices, he lost his membership in the Church. He had long since returned to the Church and was faithfully keeping the commandments, but his previous actions haunted him. Meeting with him, I felt his shame and his deep remorse at having set his covenants aside. Following our interview, I placed my hands upon his head to give him a priesthood blessing. Before speaking a word, I felt an overpowering sense of the Savior's love and forgiveness for him. Following the blessing, we embraced and the man wept openly.

I am amazed at the Savior's encircling arms of mercy and love for the repentant, no matter how selfish the forsaken sin. I testify that the Savior is able and eager to forgive our sins. Except for the sins of those few who choose perdition after having known a fulness, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven.15 What a marvelous privilege for each of us to turn away from our sins and to come unto Christ. Divine forgiveness is one of the sweetest fruits of the gospel, removing guilt and pain from our hearts and replacing them with joy and peace of conscience. Jesus declares, "Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?"16

Some listening today may need "a mighty change [of] heart"17 to confront serious sins. The help of a priesthood leader might be necessary. For most, repenting is quiet and quite private, daily seeking the Lord's help to make needed changes.

For most, repentance is more a journey than a one-time event. It is not easy. To change is difficult. It requires running into the wind, swimming upstream. Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me."18 Repentance is turning away from some things, such as dishonesty, pride, anger, and impure thoughts, and turning toward other things, such as kindness, unselfishness, patience, and spirituality. It is "re-turning" toward God.

How do we decide where our repentance should be focused? When a loved one or friend suggests things we need to change, the natural man in us sometimes pops up his head and responds, "Oh, you think I should change? Well, let me tell you about some of your problems." A better approach is to humbly petition the Lord: "Father, what wouldst Thou have me do?" The answers come. We feel the changes we need to make. The Lord tells us in our mind and in our heart.19

We then are allowed to choose: will we repent, or will we pull the shades down over our open window into heaven?

Alma warned, "Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point."20 When we "pull the shades down," we stop believing that spiritual voice inviting us to change. We pray but we listen less. Our prayers lack that faith that leads to repentance.21

At this very moment, someone is saying, "Brother Andersen, you don't understand. You can't feel what I have felt. It is too difficult to change."

You are correct; I don't fully understand. But there is One who does. He knows. He has felt your pain. He has declared, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."22 The Savior is there, reaching out to each of us, bidding us: "Come unto me."23 We can repent. We can!

Realizing where we need to change, we sorrow for the sadness we have caused. This leads to sincere and heartfelt confession to the Lord and, when needed, to others.24 When possible, we restore what we have wrongly harmed or taken.

Repentance becomes part of our daily lives. Our weekly taking of the sacrament is so important - to come meekly, humbly before the Lord, acknowledging our dependence upon Him, asking Him to forgive and to renew us, and promising to always remember Him.

Sometimes in our repentance, in our daily efforts to become more Christlike, we find ourselves repeatedly struggling with the same difficulties. As if we were climbing a tree-covered mountain, at times we don't see our progress until we get closer to the top and look back from the high ridges. Don't be discouraged. If you are striving and working to repent, you are in the process of repenting.

As we improve, we see life more clearly and feel the Holy Ghost working more strongly within us.

Sometimes we wonder why we remember our sins long after we have forsaken them. Why does the sadness for our mistakes at times continue following our repentance?

You will remember a tender story told by President James E. Faust. "As a small boy on the farm . . . , I remember my grandmother . . . cooking our delicious meals on a hot woodstove. When the wood box next to the stove became empty, Grandmother would silently pick up the box, go out to refill it from the pile of cedar wood outside, and bring the heavily laden box back into the house."

President Faust's voice then filled with emotion as he continued: "I was so insensitive . . . I sat there and let my beloved grandmother refill the kitchen wood box. I feel ashamed of myself and have regretted my [sin of] omission for all of my life. I hope someday to ask for her forgiveness."25

More than 65 years had passed. If President Faust still remembered and regretted not helping his grandmother after all those years, should we be surprised with some of the things we still remember and regret?

The scriptures do not say that we will forget our forsaken sins in mortality. Rather, they declare that the Lord will forget.26

The forsaking of sins implies never returning. Forsaking requires time. To help us, the Lord at times allows the residue of our mistakes to rest in our memory.27 It is a vital part of our mortal learning.

As we honestly confess our sins, restore what we can to the offended, and forsake our sins by keeping the commandments, we are in the process of receiving forgiveness. With time, we will feel the anguish of our sorrow subside, taking "away the guilt from our hearts"28 and bringing "peace of conscience."29

For those who are truly repentant but seem unable to feel relief: continue keeping the commandments. I promise you, relief will come in the timetable of the Lord. Healing also requires time.

If you are concerned, counsel with your bishop. A bishop has the power of discernment.30 He will help you.

The scriptures warn us, "Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance."31 But, in this life, it is never too late to repent.

Once I was asked to meet an older couple returning to the Church. They had been taught the gospel by their parents. After their marriage, they left the Church. Now, 50 years later, they were returning. I remember the husband coming into the office pulling an oxygen tank. They expressed regret at not having remained faithful. I told them of our happiness because of their return, assuring them of the Lord's welcoming arms to those who repent. The elderly man responded, "We know this, Brother Andersen. But our sadness is that our children and grandchildren do not have the blessings of the gospel. We are back, but we are back alone."

They were not back alone. Repentance not only changes us, but it also blesses our families and those we love. With our righteous repentance, in the timetable of the Lord, the lengthened-out arms of the Savior will not only encircle us but will also extend into the lives of our children and posterity. Repentance always means that there is greater happiness ahead.

I bear witness that our Savior can deliver us from our sins. I have personally felt His redeeming power. I have unmistakably seen His healing hand upon thousands in nations throughout the world. I testify that His divine gift removes guilt from our heart and brings peace to our conscience.

He loves us. We are members of His Church. He invites each of us to repent, turn away from our sins, and come unto Him. I witness that He is there in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes 1. 3 Nephi 9:14.

2. See Mormon 6:17.

3. See Alma 19:36.

4. See 2 Kings 17:36; Psalm 136:12.

5. See 2 Nephi 1:15.

6. See D&C 123:6.

7. See 3 Nephi 20:35.

8. See Alma 5:33.

9. See Alma 34:16.

10. See D&C 6:20.

11. 2 Nephi 28:32.

12. 2 Nephi 8:12.

13. Alma 5:33.

14. See Helaman 7:17.

15. See Boyd K. Packer, "The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 19.

16. 3 Nephi 9:13.

17. Alma 5:12.

18. Matthew 16:24.

19. See D&C 8:2.

20. Alma 42:30.

21. See Alma 34:17-18.

22. Isaiah 49:16.

23. 3 Nephi 9:14.

24. See D&C 58:43.

25. James E. Faust, "The Weightier Matters of the Law: Judgment, Mercy, and Faith," Ensign, Nov. 1997, 59.

26. See D&C 58:42-43; see also Alma 36:17-19.

27. See Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Point of Safe Return," Liahona and Ensign, May 2007, 101.

28. Alma 24:10.

29. Mosiah 4:3. The scriptures link our happiness in this life and the next with peace of conscience. Note Alma's teaching that the opposite of joy is remorse of conscience (see Alma 29:5). Other prophets tie the torment of the wicked following this life to the guilt they feel (see 2 Nephi 9:14, 46; Mosiah 2:38; 3:24-25; Mormon 9:5). Joseph Smith said: "A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner. Hence the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone" (in History of the Church, 6:314).

30. See D&C 46:27.

31. Alma 34:33.

Gospel Principles Lesson 18: Faith in Jesus Christ

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Kevin W. Pearson
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: In a household of faith, there is no need to fear or doubt. Choose to live by faith and not fear. I humbly invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost as we discuss a vital principle of the gospel: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I acknowledge with deep appreciation and love great examples of true faith and faithfulness in my own life. To goodly parents, family, priesthood leaders, beloved missionaries, wonderful children, and a precious eternal companion, I express my deepest love and gratitude. I acknowledge my own need and desire for greater faith as a disciple and witness of Christ. There has never been a greater need for faith in my own life than now.

As parents, we have been commanded to teach our children "to understand the doctrine of . . . faith in Christ the Son of the living God" (D&C 68:25). This requires more than merely recognizing faith as a gospel principle. "To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone" (Bible Dictionary, "Faith," 669). True faith must be centered in Jesus Christ. "Faith is a principle of action and of power" (Bible Dictionary, 670). It requires us to do, not merely to believe. Faith is a spiritual gift from God that comes through the Holy Ghost. It requires a correct understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ, His divine attributes and perfect character, His teachings, Atonement, Resurrection, and priesthood power. Obedience to these principles develops complete trust in Him and His ordained servants and assurance of His promised blessings.

There is no other thing in which we can have absolute assurance. There is no other foundation in life that can bring the same peace, joy, and hope. In uncertain and difficult times, faith is truly a spiritual gift worthy of our utmost efforts. We can give our children education, lessons, athletics, the arts, and material possessions, but if we do not give them faith in Christ, we have given little.

"Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith" (Bible Dictionary, 669; see also Romans 10:14-17). Do your children know that you know? Do they see and feel your conviction? "Strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ" (Bible Dictionary, 669).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: "Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God's laws the greater will be the endowment of faith" (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 264). If we desire more faith, we must be more obedient. When we teach our children by example or precept to be casual or situational in obeying God's commandments, we prevent them from receiving this vital spiritual gift. Faith requires an attitude of exact obedience, even in the small, simple things.

Desire is a particle of faith that develops within us as we experience divine truth. It is like spiritual photosynthesis. The influence of the Holy Ghost, acting on the Light of Christ within every human being, produces the spiritual equivalent of a chemical reaction - a stirring, a change of heart, or a desire to know. Hope develops as particles of faith become molecules and as simple efforts to live true principles occur.

As patterns of obedience develop, the specific blessings associated with obedience are realized and belief emerges. Desire, hope, and belief are forms of faith, but faith as a principle of power comes from a consistent pattern of obedient behavior and attitudes. Personal righteousness is a choice. Faith is a gift from God, and one possessed of it can receive enormous spiritual power.

There is a quality of faith which develops as we focus all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. It is seen and felt in the eyes of a great missionary, a valiant and virtuous young woman, and righteous mothers, fathers, and grandparents. It can be seen in the lives of individuals young and old, in every land and culture, speaking every language, in every circumstance and station in life. It is the "eye of faith" spoken of by the prophet Alma (see Alma 5:15-26) - the ability to focus and be steadfast, continually holding fast to true principles, nothing wavering, even when the mist of darkness confronting us is exceedingly great. This quality of faith is exceedingly powerful.

However, "it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. . . . The Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:11, 16). And so it is with faith. It can be enticing to choose doubt and disbelief over faith.

As Jesus returned from the transcendent spiritual experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, He was approached by a desperate father whose son needed help. The father pleaded, "If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

Jesus replied, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

"And straightway the father . . . cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:22-24).

Faith and fear cannot coexist. One gives way to the other. The simple fact is we all need to constantly build faith and overcome sources of destructive disbelief. The Savior's teaching comparing faith to a grain of mustard seed recognizes this reality (see Matthew 13:31-32). Consider it this way: our net usable faith is what we have left to exercise after we subtract our sources of doubt and disbelief. You might ask yourself this question: "Is my own net faith positive or negative?" If your faith exceeds your doubt and disbelief, the answer is likely positive. If you allow doubt and disbelief to control you, the answer might be negative.

We do have a choice. We get what we focus on consistently. Because there is an opposition in all things, there are forces that erode our faith. Some are the result of Satan's direct influence. But for others, we have no one but ourselves to blame. These stem from personal tendencies, attitudes, and habits we can learn to change. I will refer to these influences as the "Six Destructive Ds." As I do, consider their influence on you or your children.

First is doubt. Doubt is not a principle of the gospel. It does not come from the Light of Christ or the influence of the Holy Ghost. Doubt is a negative emotion related to fear. It comes from a lack of confidence in one's self or abilities. It is inconsistent with our divine identity as children of God.

Doubt leads to discouragement. Discouragement comes from missed expectations. Chronic discouragement leads to lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desire, and greater difficulty feeling and following the Spirit (see Preach My Gospel [2004], 10). Discouragement and despair are the very antithesis of faith.

Discouragement leads to distraction, a lack of focus. Distraction eliminates the very focus the eye of faith requires. Discouragement and distraction are two of Satan's most effective tools, but they are also bad habits.

Distraction leads to a lack of diligence, a reduced commitment to remain true and faithful and to carry on through despite hardship and disappointment. Disappointment is an inevitable part of life, but it need not lead to doubt, discouragement, distraction, or lack of diligence.

If not reversed, this path ultimately leads to disobedience, which undermines the very basis of faith. So often the result is disbelief, the conscious or unconscious refusal to believe.

The scriptures describe disbelief as the state of having chosen to harden one's heart. It is to be past feeling.

These Six Destructive Ds - doubt, discouragement, distraction, lack of diligence, disobedience, and disbelief - all erode and destroy our faith. We can choose to avoid and overcome them.

Challenging times require greater spiritual power. Consider carefully the Savior's promise: "If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (Moroni 7:33).

I humbly declare that God, our Heavenly Father, lives and loves each of us, His children. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He lives and personally leads His Church through President Monson, His anointed prophet. Because He lives, there is always hope smiling brightly before us. In a household of faith, there is no need to fear or doubt. Choose to live by faith and not fear. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gospel Principles Lesson 17: The Church of Jesus Christ Today

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Gordon B. Hinckley
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: God be thanked for His marvelous bestowal of testimony, authority, and doctrine associated with this, the restored Church of Jesus Christ. My dear brothers and sisters, I seek the inspiration of the Lord in addressing you. I never get over the tremendous responsibility of speaking to the Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for your kindness and for your forbearance. I constantly pray that I may be worthy of the confidence of the people.

I have recently come from a very long journey. It has been wearisome, but it has been wonderful to be out among the Saints. If it were possible I would turn all of the day-to-day administrative matters of the Church over to others, and then I would spend my time out among our people, visiting those in small branches as well as those in large stakes. I would wish to gather with the Saints wherever they may be. I feel that every member of this Church is deserving of a visit. I regret that because of physical limitations I can no longer shake hands with everybody. But I can look them in the eye with gladness in my heart and express my love and leave a blessing.

The occasion for this most recent journey was the rededication of the Freiberg Germany Temple and the dedication of The Hague Netherlands Temple. It was my opportunity to dedicate the Freiberg temple 17 years ago. It was a rather modest building constructed in what was then the German Democratic Republic, the east zone of a divided Germany. Its construction was literally a miracle. President Monson, Hans Ringger, and others had won the goodwill of East German government officials who consented to it.

It has served marvelously well through these years. Now the infamous wall is gone. It is easier for our people to travel to Freiberg. The building was worn after these years and had become inadequate.

The temple has been enlarged and made much more beautiful and serviceable. We held just one session of dedication. Saints gathered from a vast area. In the large room where we sat, we could look into the faces of many of those rugged and solid and wonderful Latter-day Saints who through all of these years, in sunshine and in shadow, under government-imposed restraint and now in perfect freedom, have kept the faith, served the Lord, and stood like giants. I am so sorry that I could not throw my arms around these heroic brethren and sisters and tell them how much I love them. If they are now hearing me, I hope that they will know of that love and will pardon my hurried departure from their midst.

From there we flew to France to take care of Church business. We then flew to Rotterdam and drove to The Hague. Work in three nations in one day is a rather heavy schedule for an old man.

The following day we dedicated The Hague Netherlands Temple. Four sessions were held. What a touching and wonderful experience that was.

The temple is a beautiful structure in a good area. I am so grateful for the house of the Lord which will accommodate the Saints of the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France. Missionaries were first sent to that part of Europe way back in 1861. Thousands have joined the Church. Most of them emigrated to the States. But we have there now a wonderful body of precious and faithful Latter-day Saints who are deserving of a house of the Lord in their midst.

I determined that while in that part of the world we would go to other areas. We accordingly flew to Kiev in Ukraine. I was there 21 years ago. There is a new sense of freedom in the air. What an inspiration to meet with more than 3,000 Ukrainian Saints. The people gathered from far and near, enduring great discomfort and expense to get there.

One family could not afford to bring all of its members. The parents remained at home and sent their children so that they might have the opportunity to be with us.

From there we went to Moscow, Russia. I was there 21 years ago also, and there is a change. It is like electricity. You cannot see it. But you can feel it. Here again we had a wonderful meeting, with opportunity to converse with important government officials as we had done in Ukraine.

What a priceless and precious privilege to meet with these wonderful Saints who have been gathered "one of a city, and two of a family" into the fold of Zion in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah (see Jer. 3:14). Life is not easy for them. Their burdens are heavy. But their faith is secure, and their testimonies are vibrant.

In these faraway places, strange to most of the Church, the gospel flame burns brightly and lights the way for thousands.

We then flew to Iceland. It is a beautiful place with beautiful people. Here we had a long interview with the president of the nation, a very distinguished and able man who has been to Utah and speaks very generously of our people.

Again we met with the Saints. What an inspiration to look into their faces as they crowded our own meetinghouse in the city of Reykjavik.

In all of these places and in all of these opportunities to speak to so many, one thing constantly occupied my mind - the wonder of this work, the absolute wonder of it. The words of our great hymn just sung by the choir repeatedly came to mind:

How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word! ("How Firm a Foundation," Hymns, no. 85)

Do we as Latter-day Saints really understand and appreciate the strength of our position? Among the religions of the world, it is unique and wonderful.

Is this Church an educational institution? Yes. We are constantly and endlessly teaching, teaching, teaching in a great variety of circumstances. Is it a social organization? Indeed. It is a great family of friends who mingle together and enjoy one another. Is it a mutual aid society? Yes. It has a remarkable program for building self-reliance and granting aid to those in distress. It is all of these and more. But beyond these it is the Church and kingdom of God established and directed by our Eternal Father and His Beloved Son, the risen Lord Jesus Christ, to bless all who come within its fold.

We declare without equivocation that God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, appeared in person to the boy Joseph Smith.

When I was interviewed by Mike Wallace on the 60 Minutes program, he asked me if I actually believed that. I replied, "Yes, sir. That's the miracle of it."

That is the way I feel about it. Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.

Reflect upon it, my brethren and sisters. For centuries the heavens remained sealed. Good men and women, not a few - really great and wonderful people - tried to correct, strengthen, and improve their systems of worship and their body of doctrine. To them I pay honor and respect. How much better the world is because of their bold action. While I believe their work was inspired, it was not favored with the opening of the heavens, with the appearance of Deity.

Then in 1820 came that glorious manifestation in answer to the prayer of a boy who had read in his family Bible the words of James: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).

Upon that unique and wonderful experience stands the validity of this Church.

In all of recorded religious history there is nothing to compare with it. The New Testament recounts the baptism of Jesus when the voice of God was heard and the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John saw the Lord transfigured before them. They heard the voice of the Father, but they did not see Him.

Why did both the Father and the Son come to a boy, a mere lad? For one thing, they came to usher in the greatest gospel dispensation of all time, when all of previous dispensations should be gathered and brought together in one.

Can anyone doubt that the age in which we live is the most wonderful in the history of the world? There has been a marvelous flowering of science, of medicine, of communication, of transportation, unequaled in all the chronicles of mankind. Is it reasonable to submit that there should also be a flowering of spiritual knowledge as a part of this incomparable renaissance of light and understanding?

The instrument in this work of God was a boy whose mind was not cluttered by the philosophies of men. That mind was fresh and without schooling in the traditions of the day.

It is easy to see why people do not accept this account. It is almost beyond comprehension. And yet it is so reasonable. Those familiar with the Old Testament recognize the appearance of Jehovah to the prophets who lived in that comparatively simple time. Can they legitimately deny the need for an appearance of the God of heaven and His resurrected Son in this very complex period of the world’s history?

That They came, both of Them, that Joseph saw Them in Their resplendent glory, that They spoke to him and that he heard and recorded Their words - of these remarkable things we testify.

I knew a so-called intellectual who said the Church was trapped by its history. My response was that without that history we have nothing. The truth of that unique, singular, and remarkable event is the pivotal substance of our faith.

But this glorious vision was but the beginning of a series of manifestations that constitute the early history of this work.

As if that vision were not enough to certify to the personality and the reality of the Redeemer of mankind, there followed the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Here is something that a man could hold in his hands, could "heft," as it were. He could read it. He could pray about it, for it contained a promise that the Holy Ghost would declare its truth if that witness were sought in prayer.

This remarkable book stands as a testimonial to the living reality of the Son of God. The Bible declares that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established" (Matt. 18:16). The Bible, the testament of the Old World, is one witness. The Book of Mormon, the testament of the New World, is another witness.

I cannot understand why the Christian world does not accept this book. I would think they would be looking for anything and everything that would establish without question the reality and the divinity of the Savior of the world.

There followed the restoration of the priesthood - first, of the Aaronic under the hands of John the Baptist, who had baptized Jesus in Jordan.

Then came Peter, James, and John, Apostles of the Lord, who conferred in this age that which they had received under the hands of the Master with whom they walked, even "the keys of the kingdom of heaven," with authority to bind in the heavens that which they bound on earth (see Matt. 16:19).

Subsequently came the bestowal of further priesthood keys under the hands of Moses, Elias, and Elijah.

Think of it, my brothers and sisters. Think of the wonder of it.

This is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. We as a people are Latter-day Saints. We testify that the heavens have been opened, that the curtains have been parted, that God has spoken, and that Jesus Christ has manifested Himself, followed by a bestowal of divine authority.

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of this work, and it is built upon a "foundation of . . . apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20).

This wondrous Restoration should make of us a people of tolerance, of neighborliness, of appreciation and kindness toward others. We cannot be boastful. We cannot be proud. We can be thankful, as we must be. We can be humble, as we should be.

We love those of other churches. We work with them in good causes. We respect them. But we must never forget our roots. Those roots lie deep in the soil of the opening of this, the final dispensation, the dispensation of the fulness of times.

What an inspiration it has been to look into the faces of men and women across the world who carry in their hearts a solemn conviction of the truth of this foundation.

When it comes to divine authority, this is the sum and substance of the whole matter.

God be thanked for His marvelous bestowal of testimony, authority, and doctrine associated with this, the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

This must be our great and singular message to the world. We do not offer it with boasting. We testify in humility but with gravity and absolute sincerity. We invite all, the whole earth, to listen to this account and take measure of its truth. God bless us as those who believe in His divine manifestations and help us to extend knowledge of these great and marvelous occurrences to all who will listen. To these we say in a spirit of love, bring with you all that you have of good and truth which you have received from whatever source, and come and let us see if we may add to it. This invitation I extend to men and women everywhere with my solemn testimony that this work is true, for I know the truth of it by the power of the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gospel Principles Lesson 16: The Church of Jesus Christ in Former Times

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Joseph W. Sitati
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: God's children on the earth today have the opportunity to understand His plan of happiness for them more fully than at any other time. A few weeks ago Elder Melvin R. Perkins, who is an Area Seventy serving in Alaska, and I stood at the pulpit in front of the congregation of the Vancouver British Columbia Stake in Canada. In a moving voice he invited the Saints to consider the image before them: a descendant of Mormon handcart pioneers and a pioneer convert of the Church from a faraway African nation serving the Lord side by side.

From humble beginnings in Fayette, New York, nearly 180 years ago, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become a global faith. I stand here as a witness of this marvelous work. I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will be with you and with me as I share some thoughts this afternoon.

I am grateful for the keys of revelation in this last dispensation. Through the exercise of those keys by living prophets since the Restoration, God's children on the earth today have the opportunity to understand His plan of happiness for them more fully than at any other time.

The love of our Father in Heaven has been evident as the way has been opened for all living and dead of every nation, now and in the future, to receive exaltation in His presence, according to the exercise of their agency. The standard is the same, and the blessing is the same for all. God has reaffirmed that He is no respecter of persons.

The gospel has gone forth on the earth in a pattern that ensures that God's purposes to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man are fulfilled.

After the Fall our first parents, Adam and Eve, made an eternal covenant with God for their salvation.1 As Adam's children multiplied, two groups emerged.

One group, led by Enoch, kept the covenant so well that they could no longer be retained on the earth. So the Lord gathered them unto Himself.2

The second group was overcome in wickedness so great that they suffered the judgments of God. The Flood swallowed them up, leaving only the family of Noah,3 a righteous descendant of Enoch.4

God put Noah under covenant, with the additional promise that life on earth would no longer be destroyed by floods.5

As Noah's family multiplied once more, many were taken up in wickedness. Driven by pride, they built the Tower of Babel. God allowed the judgments of heaven to fall upon them. Their language was confounded, and they were scattered abroad. Only a few who were obedient were preserved.6

Among those preserved was the brother of Jared, a man of great faith, who pleaded with the Lord on behalf of the righteous Jaredites. The Lord led them to the American continent, with the promise that if they served Him, they would "be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven."7 The Nephites were also led to the same continent later. In the end both the Jaredite and the Nephite civilizations were destroyed, as they did not prove faithful.

Another preserved man of great faith was Abraham, a descendant of Noah, who was led to Canaan. God put Abraham under covenant, with additional promises that his posterity would increase as the stars in the heavens8 and that in his seed "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."9 The nations in the promise were descendants of Noah scattered from the Tower of Babel, known as Gentiles in a general sense.

God renewed the covenant with Abraham's son Isaac and grandson Jacob, who became Israel.

Because the descendants of Israel could not endure the conditions of the covenant, it was changed during the dispensation of Moses. A lesser covenant was introduced and continued among the children of Israel until Christ restored the fulness of the gospel during His mortal ministry.10

After His Resurrection the Savior signaled that the time for the gospel to be taken to the Gentiles had come.11 Earlier, in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, He had revealed that the gentile nations would be visited and invited one after the other. However, the blessings would be the same irrespective of the order of invitation.12

After the Savior's Ascension, the presiding Apostle, Peter, a descendant of Israel, held the keys of the priesthood, by which he gave direction to the Church. It is significant that although the Savior had already given permission, Peter baptized the first Gentile, Cornelius, only after receiving specific revelation to do so.13

The ministry to the Gentiles was interrupted by the martyrdom of Peter14 and the deaths of the other Apostles, after which the keys of the priesthood were taken from the earth. The long period of apostasy followed.

The keys were restored by the ancient Apostles Peter, James, and John in 1829 upon Joseph Smith just before the Church was organized. The gospel in its fulness was again coming to the earth and started to go forth among the nations of the Gentiles as the new and everlasting covenant.

Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord revealed that the determining criteria for the order in which the gentile nations are invited include the capacity to spiritually and temporally nourish the kingdom of God as it is established on the earth for the last time.15

We see that as the restored Church began to be established on the earth, the living prophets sought and followed the will of God about how the gospel should go forth among the nations.

I have lived to see the time foreseen by the prophet Zenos in the allegory of the olive tree, when the righteous from all nations of the earth would become partakers of the covenant of God with Israel.16

I have seen the good fruit of the gospel blossom in my home continent of Africa. After just 30 years, there are 300,000 Saints. In the doctrines and principles of the restored gospel, many are finding a sure anchor for their faith. Families uprooted from their rural communities in search of a better future in the towns and cities have found a new way to hold on to the strong family traditions which have come progressively under attack in this era of globalization. The Spirit of the Lord is moving powerfully among the people.

A new celestial culture is developing in homes, nurtured by the ready hearkening to the counsel of the living prophet to have daily prayer and scripture study and to meet once a week as a family in home evening. As a result, many are able to break free from the shackles of traditions that restrict the exercise of their agency.

As an illustration from personal experience, three of our children were recently married in the temple without the encumbrance of dowry, a traditional practice that drives many young men and women to live together without any legal commitment to each other. The opportunity for a temple marriage in the three temples now established in Accra, Ghana; Aba, Nigeria; and Johannesburg, South Africa, is helping to instill a fresh hope in the sanctity of marriage.

I testify of the Savior Jesus Christ, by whom we have the gospel and promise of exaltation. I testify of our living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, through whom we have the assurance of the Savior's direction for continuing to extend salvation to all. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes 1. See Moses 6:52, 57, 59.

2. See Moses 7:19-21.

3. See Genesis 6:17-22; see also Moses 7-8.

4. See D&C 84:14-15.

5. See Genesis 8:11-21; 9:8-10.

6. See Genesis 11:1-8.

7. See Ether 2:8-12; see also Ether 1:33-43; 4-6.

8. See Genesis 12-17; 22; see also Abraham 1-2.

9. Genesis 22:18.

10. See Hebrews 7:11-12, 19-22; D&C 84:24-25.

11. See Matthew 28:18-20.

12. See Matthew 20:1-16.

13. See Acts 10.

14. See Bible Dictionary, "Peter," 749.

15. See D&C 58:1-12.

16. See Jacob 5:57-68.

Gospel Principles Lesson 15: The Lord's Covenant People

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by D. Todd Christofferson
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. May I extend a warm and sincere welcome to Elder Neil L. Andersen to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He is a worthy and welcome addition.

On August 15, 2007, Peru suffered a massive earthquake that all but destroyed the coastal cities of Pisco and Chincha. Like many other Church leaders and members, Wenceslao Conde, the president of the Balconcito Branch of the Church in Chincha, immediately set about helping others whose homes were damaged.

Four days after the earthquake, Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy was in Chincha helping to coordinate the Church's relief efforts there and met President Conde. As they talked about the destruction that had occurred and what was being done to help the victims, President Conde's wife, Pamela, approached carrying one of her small children. Elder Nash asked Sister Conde how her children were. With a smile, she replied that through the goodness of God they were all safe and well. He asked about the Condes' home.

"It's gone," she said simply.

"What about your belongings?" he inquired.

"Everything was buried in the rubble of our home," Sister Conde replied.

"And yet," Elder Nash noted, "you are smiling as we talk."

"Yes," she said, "I have prayed and I am at peace. We have all we need. We have each other, we have our children, we are sealed in the temple, we have this marvelous Church, and we have the Lord. We can build again with the Lord's help."

This tender demonstration of faith and spiritual strength is repeated in the lives of Saints across the world in many different settings. It is a simple illustration of a profound power that is much needed in our day and that will become increasingly crucial in days ahead. We need strong Christians who can persevere against hardship, who can sustain hope through tragedy, who can lift others by their example and their compassion, and who can consistently overcome temptations. We need strong Christians who can make important things happen by their faith and who can defend the truth of Jesus Christ against moral relativism and militant atheism.

What is the source of such moral and spiritual power, and how do we obtain it? The source is God. Our access to that power is through our covenants with Him. A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God (see Bible Dictionary, "Covenant," 651). In these divine agreements, God binds Himself to sustain, sanctify, and exalt us in return for our commitment to serve Him and keep His commandments.

We enter into covenants by priesthood ordinances, sacred rituals that God has ordained for us to manifest our commitment. Our foundational covenant, for example, the one in which we first pledge our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ, is confirmed by the ordinance of baptism. It is done individually, by name. By this ordinance, we become part of the covenant people of the Lord and heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.

Other sacred ordinances are performed in temples built for that very purpose. If we are faithful to the covenants made there, we become inheritors not only of the celestial kingdom but of exaltation, the highest glory within the heavenly kingdom, and we obtain all the divine possibilities God can give (see D&C 132:20).

The scriptures speak of the new and everlasting covenant. The new and everlasting covenant is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrines and commandments of the gospel constitute the substance of an everlasting covenant between God and man that is newly restored in each dispensation. If we were to state the new and everlasting covenant in one sentence it would be this: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Jesus explained what it means to believe in Him: "Now this is the commandment [or in other words, this is the covenant]: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day" (3 Nephi 27:20).

What is it about making and keeping covenants with God that gives us the power to smile through hardships, to convert tribulation into triumph, to "be anxiously engaged in a good cause, . . . and bring to pass much righteousness" (D&C 58:27)?

Strengthened by Gifts and Blessings First, as we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life.1 For example, the Lord's commandments in the Word of Wisdom regarding the care of our physical bodies bless us first and foremost with "wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures" (D&C 89:19). Furthermore, they lead to a generally more healthy life and freedom from destructive addictions. Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create. Of course, age, accident, and illnesses inevitably take their toll, but even so, our obedience to this gospel law enhances our capacity to deal with these challenges.

In the covenant path we find a steady supply of gifts and help. "Charity never faileth" (1 Corinthians 13:8; Moroni 7:46), love begets love, compassion begets compassion, virtue begets virtue, commitment begets loyalty, and service begets joy. We are part of a covenant people, a community of Saints who encourage, sustain, and minister to one another. As Nephi explained, "And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them" (1 Nephi 17:3).2

Strengthened with Increased Faith All this is not to say that life in the covenant is free of challenge or that the obedient soul should be surprised if disappointments or even disasters interrupt his peace. If you feel that personal righteousness should preclude all loss and suffering, you might want to have a chat with Job.

This brings us to a second way in which our covenants supply strength - they produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord. Our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ and keep His commandments requires a degree of faith, but as we honor our covenants, that faith expands. In the first place, the promised fruits of obedience become evident, which confirms our faith. Secondly, the Spirit communicates God's pleasure, and we feel secure in His continued blessing and help. Thirdly, come what may, we can face life with hope and equanimity, knowing that we will succeed in the end because we have God's promise to us individually, by name, and we know He cannot lie (see Enos 1:6; Ether 3:12).

Early Church leaders in this dispensation confirmed that adhering to the covenant path provides the reassurance we need in times of trial:

"It was [the knowledge that their course in life conformed to the will of God] that enabled the ancient saints to endure all their afflictions and persecutions, and to take . . . not only the spoiling of their goods, and the wasting of their substance, joyfully, but also to suffer death in its most horrid forms; knowing (not merely believing) that when this earthly house of their tabernacle was dissolved, they had a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Cor. 5:1.)" (Lectures on Faith [1985], 67).

They further pointed out that in offering whatever sacrifice God may require of us, we obtain the witness of the Spirit that our course is right and pleasing to God (see Lectures on Faith, 69-71). With that knowledge, our faith becomes unbounded, having the assurance that God will in due time turn every affliction to our gain. Some of you have been sustained by that faith as you have endured those who point fingers of scorn from the "great and spacious building" and cry, "Shame!" (see 1 Nephi 8:26-27), and you have stood firm with Peter and the Apostles of old, "rejoicing that [you] were counted worthy to suffer shame for [Christ's] name" (Acts 5:41).

The Lord said of the Church:

"Verily I say unto you, all among them who . . . are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice - yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command - they are accepted of me.

"For I, the Lord, will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit" (D&C 97:8-9).

The Apostle Paul understood that one who has entered into a covenant with God is both given the faith to face trials and gains even greater faith through those trials. Of his personal "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7), he observed:

"For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

"Therefore I take pleasure in [my] infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).3

Strengthened through the "Power of Godliness" We have considered, first, the empowering blessings and, second, the endowment of faith that God grants to those who keep their covenants with Him. A final aspect of strength through covenants that I will mention is the bestowal of divine power. Our covenant commitment to Him permits our Heavenly Father to let His divine influence, "the power of godliness" (D&C 84:20), flow into our lives. He can do that because by our participation in priesthood ordinances we exercise our agency and elect to receive it. Our participation in those ordinances also demonstrates that we are prepared to accept the additional responsibility that comes with added light and spiritual power.

In all the ordinances, especially those of the temple, we are endowed with power from on high.4 This "power of godliness" comes in the person and by the influence of the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost is part of the new and everlasting covenant. It is an essential part of our baptism, the baptism of the Spirit. It is the messenger of grace by which the blood of Christ is applied to take away our sins and sanctify us (see 2 Nephi 31:17). It is the gift by which Adam was "quickened in the inner man" (Moses 6:65). It was by the Holy Ghost that the ancient Apostles endured all that they endured and by their priesthood keys carried the gospel to the known world of their day.

When we have entered into divine covenants, the Holy Ghost is our comforter, our guide, and our companion. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are "the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment" (Moses 6:61). The gifts of the Holy Spirit are testimony, faith, knowledge, wisdom, revelations, miracles, healing, and charity, to name but a few (see D&C 46:13-26).

It is the Holy Ghost that bears witness of your words when you teach and testify. It is the Holy Ghost that, as you speak in hostile venues, puts into your heart what you should say and fulfills the Lord's promise that "you shall not be confounded before men" (D&C 100:5). It is the Holy Ghost that reveals how you may clear the next seemingly insurmountable hurdle. It is by the Holy Ghost in you that others may feel the pure love of Christ and receive strength to press forward. It is also the Holy Ghost, in His character as the Holy Spirit of Promise, that confirms the validity and efficacy of your covenants and seals God's promises upon you.5

Divine covenants make strong Christians. I urge each one to qualify for and receive all the priesthood ordinances you can and then faithfully keep the promises you have made by covenant. In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth his hand to you, saying, "Here am I."

I testify that in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is found the priesthood authority to administer the ordinances by which we can enter into binding covenants with our Heavenly Father in the name of His Holy Son. I testify that God will keep His promises to you as you honor your covenants with Him. He will bless you in "good measure, pressed down, . . . shaken together, and running over" (Luke 6:38). He will strengthen and finish your faith. He will, by His Holy Spirit, fill you with godly power. I pray that you will always have His Spirit to be with you to guide you and deliver you from want, anxiety, and distress. I pray that through your covenants, you may become a powerful instrument for good in the hands of Him who is our Lord and Redeemer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes 1. The Prophet Joseph Smith observed, "As God has designed our happiness - and the happiness of all His creatures, He never has - He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of His law and ordinances" (History of the Church, 5:135).

2. Some see only sacrifice and limitations in obedience to the commandments of the new and everlasting covenant, but those who live the experience - who give themselves freely and unreservedly to the covenant life - find greater liberty and fulfillment. When we truly understand, we seek more commandments, not fewer. Each new law or commandment we learn and live is like one more rung or step on a ladder that enables us to climb higher and higher. Truly, the gospel life is the good life.

3. The Apostle James taught the same lesson:

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into many afflictions;

"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

"But let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (Joseph Smith Translation, James 1:2-4).

4. As the Prophet Joseph petitioned in the prayer dedicating the Kirtland Temple, which prayer was revealed to him by the Lord, "We ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them" (D&C 109:22).

5. In the Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer referenced earlier, the Prophet petitioned, "And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house . . . may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost" (D&C 109:14-15). The "fulness of the Holy Ghost" includes what Jesus described as "the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom; which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son" (D&C 88:4-5).

Gospel Principles Lesson 14: Priesthood Organization

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Russell M. Nelson
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: When ordained to an office in the priesthood, you are granted authority. But power comes from exercising that authority in righteousness. My dear brethren of the priesthood, though we are from many nations, we are, as Paul said, of "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." 1 But the strength of the faith within each of us is developed individually, not as a group.

For example, think of the faith of a boy, about eight years of age, who was facing an emergency operation for acute appendicitis. As he lay on the operating table, he looked up at the surgeon and said, "Doctor, before you begin to operate, will you pray for me?"

The surgeon looked at the boy in amazement and said, "Why, I can't pray for you."

Then the little fellow said, "If you won't pray for me, please wait while I pray for myself." There on the operating table, the boy got on his knees, folded his hands, and began to pray. He said: "Heavenly Father, I am only a little orphan boy. I am awful sick, and these doctors are going to operate. Will you please help them that they will do it right? Heavenly Father, if you will make me well, I will be a good boy. Thank you for making me well." He then lay on his back, looked up at the tear-filled eyes of the doctors and nurses, and said, "Now I am ready." 2

His physical recovery was complete, and his spiritual power was developing. You brethren are older and have had the priesthood conferred upon you. Your priesthood quorums provide opportunities for friendship, service, and learning. But the responsibility to develop power in the priesthood is personal. Only as an individual can you develop a firm faith in God and a passion for personal prayer. Only as an individual can you keep the commandments of God. Only as an individual can you repent. Only as an individual can you qualify for the ordinances of salvation and exaltation. And when your wife is sealed to you, her power and potential will increase yours.

I belong to a wonderful priesthood quorum. We enjoy a precious brotherhood. We pray together; we serve together. We teach, love, and sustain one another. The Twelve come from different backgrounds - business, education, law, and science. But not one was called to serve because of that background. In fact, all men called to positions of priesthood responsibility are chosen because of who they are and who they can become. 3

Throughout life you will have a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. Many of these are temporary and will be relinquished upon your release. (You probably won't object to your release from a call to pull weeds at the welfare farm.) But you never will be released from responsibilities related to your personal and family development.

When ordained to an office in the priesthood, you are granted authority. But power comes from exercising that authority in righteousness.

Responsibility to the Lord From the President of the Church to the newest deacon, we are responsible to the Lord. We are to be true and faithful and live by every principle and doctrine that He has given to us. We cannot compromise a revelation or a commandment committed to our charge. He trusts us to "build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness." 4

One day each of us will give an account to the Lord. 5 This awareness was evident in a serious conversation I had years ago with a dear friend facing the end of his mortal life. I asked him if he was ready to die. I'll never forget his answer. With courage and conviction, he said, "My life is ready for inspection."

When the Prophet Joseph Smith faced death, he said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men." 6

Now is the time to prepare for your own ultimate interview. You might ask yourself: "Do I pay tithing with a willing heart? Do I obey the Word of Wisdom? Is my language free from obscenities and swearing? Am I morally righteous? Am I truly grateful for the Atonement that makes my resurrection a reality and eternal life a possibility? Do I honor temple covenants that seal loved ones to me forever?" If you can honestly say yes, you are developing power in the priesthood.

The gift of the Holy Ghost can add to that power. Scriptures tell of people who had received the Holy Ghost but did not know it. 7 Don't let that happen to you. Cultivate that gift and qualify for this promise from God: "Speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say." 8

Personal Responsibility and Priesthood Power Priesthood authority has existed in many dispensations, such as those of Adam, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, the meridian of time, the Jaredites, the Nephites, and others. All previous dispensations were limited in time, as each ended in apostasy. They were also limited to small segments of planet Earth. In contrast, our dispensation - the dispensation of the fulness of times - will not be limited in time or place. Globally, it will host a whole, complete, and perfect union, welding together dispensations, keys, powers, and glories from the days of Adam even to the present time. 9

The Aaronic Priesthood was restored May 15, 1829, by John the Baptist; the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored shortly thereafter by Peter, James, and John. 10 Other heavenly messengers conveyed specific keys of the priesthood. Moroni held keys of the Book of Mormon. 11 Moses brought keys of the gathering of Israel and the leading of the ten tribes. 12 Elias conveyed keys of the restoration of all things, 13 including the Abrahamic covenant. 14 And Elijah conferred keys of the sealing authority. 15

You know something about keys. In your pocket there might be a key to your home or car. Priesthood keys, on the other hand, are intangible and invisible. They "switch on" the authority of the priesthood. Some keys even convey power to bind in heaven as well as on earth. 16

Joseph Smith conferred priesthood keys upon all of the Twelve. 17 Those keys have been transferred to successive leaders. Today President Gordon B. Hinckley holds authority for every restored key held by "all those who have received a dispensation at any time from the beginning of the creation." 18

With this doctrinal history in mind, it is clear that one cannot buy the priesthood. Scripture declares that "no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." 19

To bear the priesthood means you have a personal responsibility to magnify your calling. Let each opportunity to serve help to develop your power in the priesthood. In your personal grooming, follow the example of the living prophets. Doing so gives silent expression that you truly comprehend the importance of "the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God." 20

When you brethren have an opportunity to exercise the Melchizedek Priesthood, ponder what you are to do. When you lay hands upon the head of another, you are not offering a prayer, which of course requires no authority. You are authorized to set apart, to ordain, to bless, and to speak in the name of the Lord. 21 Remember His promises: "Whomsoever you bless I will bless," 22 and "I will impart unto you of my Spirit, . . . and then shall ye know . . . all things . . . pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive." 23

To magnify your callings in the Aaronic Priesthood, you young men should shape your personal efforts toward five personal objectives to:

Gain a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Be worthy of missionary service.
Keep yourself morally clean and qualified to enter the holy temple.
Pursue your personal education.
Uphold Church standards and be worthy of your future companion.

How can you remember those five objectives? It's easy. Look at your hand. Let your pointer finger point to the scriptures. From them gain a better knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then live in accord with His teachings. Let your middle finger remind you to be worthy of missionary service. Let your ring finger remind you of marriage, endowment, sealing, and blessings of the temple. Let your end finger remind you that pursuit of an education is a religious responsibility. 24 Let your thumb go up, reminding you to uphold the standards of the Church and be worthy of your eternal companion. The realization of these five objectives will bless your lives.

You bearers of the Melchizedek Priesthood should qualify for the highest degree of celestial glory. "In order to obtain [it], a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it." 25

That covenant is honored when you honor your wife. A husband's foremost priority should be the care of his wife. Be true to her. Don't ever allow your eyes to gaze upon pornography or let your language be lewd. The very choices made by reason of agency limit one's agency in the future. You cannot exercise agency and escape accountability and responsibility for each choice.

Never forget that "the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven. . . . [This power] cannot be controlled nor handled [except] upon the principles of righteousness." 26 If we abuse that power to cover our sins, to gratify our pride, to pursue vain ambition, or to control others in any degree of unrighteousness, we lose both the authority and the power of the priesthood. 27

Brethren, serve with gentleness, long-suffering, kindness, meekness, love unfeigned, pure knowledge, and charity toward all. 28 Then the "doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon [your] soul as the dews from heaven." 29

Please know of our love and gratitude for each of you. We thank you for your faith, your service, and your sustaining strength. May you, your loved ones, and your posterity be blessed by your righteous pursuit of power in the priesthood.

God lives. Jesus is the Christ. He directs His Church through His prophets and apostles. I so testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes 1. Eph. 4:5.

2. See George Albert Smith, Sharing the Gospel with Others, comp. Preston Nibley (1948), 144-45.

3. See Matt. 20:16; Matt. 22:14; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 17:14; Alma 13:3, 6, 9; 3 Ne. 12:1; D&C 3:10; D&C 52:1; D&C 95:5; D&C 121:34, 40-46.

4. Joseph Smith Translation, Matt. 6:38.

5. See Heb. 13:17; Alma 5:18; Alma 11:43; D&C 72:13-16.

6. D&C 135:4.

7. See 3 Ne. 9:20.

8. D&C 100:5-6.

9. See D&C 128:18.

10. See JS-H 1:72; D&C 27:8, 12.

11. See D&C 27:5.

12. See D&C 110:11.

13. See D&C 27:6.

14. See D&C 110:12.

15. See Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 337-38; see also D&C 27:9; D&C 110:13-16; D&C 128:21.

16. See Matt. 16:19; Matt. 18:18; D&C 124:93; D&C 127:7; D&C 128:8, 10; D&C 132:46.

17. See Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (1954-56), 3:154-56.

18. D&C 112:31; see also D&C 128:18.

19. Heb. 5:4.

20. D&C 107:3; see also Joseph Smith Translation, Heb. 7:3; Alma 13:1.

21. See D&C 1:20, 38; D&C 84:19-22, 26-27; D&C 107:18-20; D&C 124:39-46; D&C 133:6.

22. D&C 132:47.

23. D&C 11:13-14.

24. See D&C 130:18-19.

25. D&C 131:2-3; second brackets are in the original.

26. D&C 121:36.

27. See D&C 121:37.

28. See 2 Thes. 1:3; D&C 121:41-42.

29. D&C 121:45.

Gospel Principles Lesson 13: The Priesthood

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by Claudio R. M. Costa
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: As priesthood holders, we can be a powerful influence in the lives of others. Elder Andersen, in behalf of the Seventies, I would like to say to you that we love you and we sustain you with our hearts and faith.

My dear brethren, it is a sacred privilege to be part of the royal army of the Lord.1 I am humbled as I stand before you, imagining you assembled in locations throughout the world.

In the worldwide leadership training meeting held on June 21, 2003, President Gordon B. Hinckley taught us that as priesthood holders we have a fourfold responsibility. He said: "Each of us has a fourfold responsibility. First, we have a responsibility to our families. Second, we have a responsibility to our employers. Third, we have a responsibility to the Lord's work. Fourth, we have a responsibility to ourselves."2

The four areas of responsibility are vitally important.

President Hinckley said: "It is imperative that you not neglect your families. Nothing you have is more precious."3

It is our responsibility as fathers to lead our families in daily family prayer, daily study of the scriptures, and in family home evening. We must prioritize and preserve these opportunities to build and strengthen the spiritual underpinnings of our families. President Hinckley said: "Try not to let anything interfere. Consider it sacred."4

Concerning family home evening, he said, "Keep Monday night sacred for family home evening."5

Our children, just like their parents, have time demands on them in every aspect of their lives. They have activities involving church and school and friends. Many of our children are attending schools where they are the minority. Frequently the schools schedule events on Monday evenings - activities like sports, rehearsals or practices, choirs, and other events. We need to keep Monday nights free of other commitments so that we can have our family home evenings. No other activity is more important for our family.

It is during the family home evening and in other family settings that we prepare our children to receive the blessings of the Lord. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve said: "Ours is the responsibility to ensure that we have family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Ours is the responsibility to prepare our children to receive the ordinances of salvation and exaltation."6

Family home evening is a very special time for us to strengthen ourselves and each family member. It is important to include the whole family in assignments for family home evening. A child could share the Primary lesson that he or she had last Sunday. Family home evening strengthened the faith and testimony of my own family.

Daily study of the scriptures is another important family activity. I remember when my son was seven years old. He was taking a shower one night during a storm when we lost the power in our home. My wife called to him and told him to hurry to finish his shower and to then take a candle and come slowly downstairs for our family prayer. She warned him to be careful to not drop the candle on the carpet because it could start a fire and the house could burn down. Several minutes later he came down the stairs struggling to hold the candle in one hand, and with his other arm he was carrying his scriptures. His mother asked him why he was bringing his scriptures. His answer to her was "Mom, if the house burns down, I must save my scriptures!" We knew that our efforts to help him to love the scriptures had been planted in his heart forever.

Regarding our responsibility to our employers, President Hinckley said: "You have an obligation. Be honest with your employer. Do not do Church work on his time."7

He also reminded us that our employment enables us to take care of our family as well as allowing us to be effective servants in the Church.

Priesthood holders have many responsibilities and assignments. We have opportunities to visit, interview, teach, and serve people. It is our sacred responsibility to edify Church members and to help strengthen their faith and testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. We have opportunities to take care of the families whom we serve as home teachers and to teach members to provide for themselves, their families, and the poor and needy in the Lord’s way. Priesthood holders have the responsibility to motivate the youth to prepare to serve honorable full-time missions and to be married in the temple.8

President Ezra Taft Benson taught, "Priesthood holders need to provide watchcare over quorum members and their families through organized home teaching."9

We need to be concerned about each member of the Church for whom we have responsibility. Home teaching is one of our great responsibilities.

As fathers, we also have the sacred responsibility to set a worthy example for our children to help them to become better parents and leaders in their own homes. Quoting Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve: "May we ask all priesthood leaders, especially you fathers, to help prepare your sons. Prepare them both spiritually and temporally, to look and to act as servants of the Lord."10

When we receive the priesthood, we make an eternal covenant to serve others.11 As priesthood holders, we can be a powerful influence in the lives of others.

President Thomas S. Monson reminded us: "How fortunate and blessed we are to be holders of the priesthood of God. . . .

"' . . . Always remember that people are looking to you for leadership and you are influencing the lives of individuals either for good or for bad, which influence will be felt for generations to come.'"12

Our example will always speak loudly. During my years as a Church member, I have been influenced by the examples of many leaders and Church members. I remember a wonderful couple who were great examples to our family and to the entire ward. They were baptized in 1982. I was their bishop.

Celso and Irene lived quite far from the chapel. They walked 40 minutes each way to the church, and they never missed a meeting. They were always present with big smiles on their faces. It was their disposition to serve others. Celso and Irene have a son, Marcos, who was born mentally and physically handicapped. I remember well how they took such loving care of their son. In 1999 Celso had a cerebral brain hemorrhage that left his lower body paralyzed. Celso continued to come to church faithfully with his family. They were faithful in the payment of their tithing and paid generous fast offerings. Our son Moroni is now their bishop, and he shared with me that Celso and Irene continue to serve faithfully. Not only do they serve in their ward callings; they also serve faithfully as ordinance workers in the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple. They serve every Friday from early morning until night. They always contribute so willingly of their time and resources in faithfully fulfilling their Church responsibilities.

President Monson counseled: "Most service given by priesthood holders is accomplished quietly, without fanfare. A friendly smile, a warm handclasp, a sincere testimony of truth can literally lift lives, change human nature, and save precious souls."13

That is the kind of quiet service rendered by Celso and Irene.

As we consider the wise use of our time and resources to meet the needs of our families, our employment, and our Church callings, it is important to remember that every priesthood holder needs to grow spiritually. This is a responsibility we have to ourselves. And it is important to remember that we all have helpers.14 The counsel from our prophets, seers, and revelators is the most precious help that we receive.

Our Savior extended this invitation to each and every one of us individually:

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."15

When we do His work and His will, rather than our own will, we will realize that the yoke is easy and the burden is light. He will be with us always. He will reveal to us the exact portion that we need for success with our families, our career, and every responsibility that we have in His Church. He will help us to grow individually and as brethren in the priesthood.

I know that the Church is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet on the earth today. I know that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes 1. See "Behold! A Royal Army," Hymns, no. 251.

2. Gordon B. Hinckley, "Rejoicing in the Privilege to Serve," Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 22.

3. Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 22.

4. Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 22.

5. Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 23.

6. Russell M. Nelson, "Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women," Liahona, July 1999, 47; Ensign, May 1999, 40.

7. Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 23.

8. First Presidency letter, Sept. 25, 1996, "Leadership Training Emphasis."

9. Ezra Taft Benson, "Strengthen Thy Stakes," Tambuli, Aug. 1991, 6; Ensign, Jan. 1991, 5.

10. M. Russell Ballard, "Prepare to Serve," Ensign, May 1985, 43.

11. See M. Russell Ballard, "The Greater Priesthood: Giving a Lifetime of Service in the Kingdom," Ensign, Sept. 1992, 72.

12. Thomas S. Monson, "Examples of Righteousness," Liahona and Ensign, May 2008, 65–66; see also N. Eldon Tanner, "For They Loved the Praise of Men More Than the Praise of God," Ensign, Nov. 1975, 74.

13. Thomas S. Monson, "To Learn, to Do, to Be," Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2008, 62.

14. See Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 21, 2003, 23.

15. Matthew 11:29-30.

Gospel Principles Lesson 12: The Atonement

Tue, 11 May 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by M. Russell Ballard
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: If we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. This past January our family suffered the tragic loss of our grandson Nathan in an airplane crash. Nathan had served in the Russian-speaking Baltic Mission. He loved the people and knew it was a privilege to serve the Lord. Three months after I officiated at his eternal marriage to his sweetheart, Jennifer, this accident took his life. Nathan's being taken so suddenly from our mortal presence has turned each of our hearts and minds to the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. While it is impossible for me to put into words the full meaning of the Atonement of Christ, I pray that I can explain what His Atonement means to me and our family and what it might also mean to you and yours.

The Savior's precious birth, life, Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane, suffering on the cross, burial in Joseph's tomb, and glorious Resurrection all became a renewed reality for us. The Savior's Resurrection assures all of us that someday we, too, will follow Him and experience our own resurrection. What peace, what comfort this great gift is which comes through the loving grace of Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. Because of Him we know we can be with Nathan again.

There is no greater expression of love than the heroic Atonement performed by the Son of God. Were it not for the plan of our Heavenly Father, established before the world began, in a very real sense, all mankind--past, present, and future--would have been left without the hope of eternal progression. As a result of Adam's transgression, mortals were separated from God (see Rom. 6:23) and would be forever unless a way was found to break the bands of death. This would not be easy, for it required the vicarious sacrifice of one who was sinless and who could therefore take upon Himself the sins of all mankind.

Thankfully, Jesus Christ courageously fulfilled this sacrifice in ancient Jerusalem. There in the quiet isolation of the Garden of Gethsemane, He knelt among the gnarled olive trees, and in some incredible way that none of us can fully comprehend, the Savior took upon Himself the sins of the world. Even though His life was pure and free of sin, He paid the ultimate penalty for sin--yours, mine, and everyone who has ever lived. His mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish were so great they caused Him to bleed from every pore (see Luke 22:44; D&C 19:18). And yet Jesus suffered willingly so that we might all have the opportunity to be washed clean--through having faith in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized by proper priesthood authority, receiving the purifying gift of the Holy Ghost by confirmation, and accepting all other essential ordinances. Without the Atonement of the Lord, none of these blessings would be available to us, and we could not become worthy and prepared to return to dwell in the presence of God.

The Savior later endured the agony of inquisition, cruel beatings, and death by crucifixion on the cross at Calvary. Recently, there has been a great deal of commentary about this, none of which has made clear the singular point that no one had the power to take the Savior's life from Him. He gave it as a ransom for us all. As the Son of God, He had the power to alter the situation. Yet the scriptures clearly state that He yielded Himself to scourging, humiliation, suffering, and finally crucifixion because of His great love towards the children of men (see 1 Ne. 19:9-10).

The Atonement of Jesus Christ was an indispensable part of our Heavenly Father's plan for His Son's earthly mission and for our salvation. How grateful we should be that our Heavenly Father did not intercede but rather withheld His fatherly instinct to rescue His Beloved Son. Because of His eternal love for you and for me, He allowed Jesus to complete His foreordained mission to become our Redeemer. The gift of resurrection and immortality is given freely through the loving grace of Jesus Christ to all people of all ages, regardless of their good or evil acts. And to those who choose to love the Lord and who show their love and faith in Him by keeping His commandments and qualifying for the full blessings of the Atonement, He offers the additional promise of exaltation and eternal life, which is the blessing of living in the presence of God and His Beloved Son forever.

We often sing a hymn that expresses what I feel when I consider the Savior's benevolent, atoning sacrifice:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified, That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died. ("I Stand All Amazed," Hymns, no. 193)

Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, is not dead. He lives--the resurrected Son of God lives--that is my testimony, and He guides the affairs of His Church today.

In the spring of 1820, a pillar of light illuminated a grove of trees in upstate New York. Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. This experience began the restoration of powerful doctrinal truths that had been lost for centuries. Among those truths that had been dimmed by the darkness of apostasy was the stirring reality that we are all the spirit sons and daughters of a loving God who is our Father. We are part of His family. He is not a father in some allegorical or poetic sense. He is literally the Father of our spirits. He cares for each one of us. Though this world has a way of diminishing and demeaning men and women, the reality is we are all of royal, divine lineage. In that unprecedented appearance of the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove, the very first word spoken by the Father of us all was the personal name of Joseph. Such is our Father’s personal relationship with each of us. He knows our names and yearns for us to become worthy to return to live with Him.

Through the Prophet Joseph Smith came the Restoration of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ has once again revealed, through His chosen prophet, the ordinances and the priesthood authority to administer them for the salvation of all who will believe.

Another prophet in another time was shown "the nations of the earth" (Moses 7:23). "And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world" (Moses 7:67). Enoch saw also that Satan "had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he [Satan] looked up and laughed" (Moses 7:26).

With all that Enoch beheld, there was one thing that seemed to capture his attention above everything else. Enoch saw God look "upon the residue of the people, and He wept" (Moses 7:28). The sacred record then has Enoch asking God over and over: "How is it that thou canst weep? . . . How is it thou canst weep?" (Moses 7:29, 31).

The Lord answered Enoch: "Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands . . . ; unto thy brethren have I . . . also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood" (Moses 7:32-33).

Enoch saw the conditions of these latter days. He and other early prophets knew that only as we accept the Atonement in our lives and strive to live the gospel can we meet the challenges of life and find peace, joy, and happiness. Coming to understand this great gift is an individual pursuit for each child of God.

Brothers and sisters, I believe that if we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God. I believe our Heavenly Father's everlasting purpose for His children is generally achieved by the small and simple things we do for one another. At the heart of the English word atonement is the word one. If all mankind understood this, there would never be anyone with whom we would not be concerned, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or social or economic standing. We would strive to emulate the Savior and would never be unkind, indifferent, disrespectful, or insensitive to others.

If we truly understood the Atonement and the eternal value of each soul, we would seek out the wayward boy and girl and every other wayward child of God. We would help them to know of the love Christ has for them. We would do all that we can to help prepare them to receive the saving ordinances of the gospel.

Surely, if the Atonement of Christ was foremost in the minds of ward and branch leaders, no new or reactivated member would ever be neglected. Because every soul is so precious, leaders will counsel together to see that each one is taught the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When I think of Nathan and how precious he is to us, I can see and feel more clearly how our Heavenly Father must feel about all of His children. We do not want God to weep because we did not do all we could to share with His children the revealed truths of the gospel. I pray that every one of our youth will seek to know the blessings of the Atonement and that they will strive to be worthy to serve the Lord in the mission field. Surely many more senior couples and others whose health will permit would eagerly desire to serve the Lord as missionaries if they would ponder over the meaning of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who said, "If . . . 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!" (D&C 18:15; emphasis added). Not only that, but great shall be the Lord's joy in the soul that repenteth! For precious unto Him is the one.

Brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father has reached out to us through the Atonement of our Savior. He invites all to "come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption" (Omni 1:26). He has taught us that it is through our faithful adherence to gospel principles, through receiving the saving ordinances that have been restored, through continual service, and by enduring to the end that we can return to His sacred presence. What possible thing in the whole world is remotely as important as to know this?

Sadly, in today's world, a person's importance is often judged by the size of the audience before which he or she performs. That is how media and sports programs are rated, how corporate prominence is sometimes determined, and often how governmental rank is obtained. That may be why roles such as father, mother, and missionary seldom receive standing ovations. Fathers, mothers, and missionaries "play" before very small audiences. Yet, in the eyes of the Lord, there may be only one size of audience that is of lasting importance--and that is just one, each one, you and me, and each one of the children of God. The irony of the Atonement is that it is infinite and eternal, yet it is applied individually, one person at a time.

There is a level at which the child’s hymn "I Am a Child of God" (Hymns, no. 301) harmonizes with the music of eternity. We are children of God. Each one of us is precious to the point of bringing the Lord God Almighty to a fulness of joy if we are faithful, or to tears if we are not.

As the resurrected Savior said to the Nephites, so He might say to us today:

"Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.

"And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them" (3 Ne. 17:20-21; emphasis added).

Brothers and sisters, never, never underestimate how precious is the one. Remember always the simple admonition of the Lord: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Always strive to live worthy of the sacred full blessings of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our sorrow over the separation from our dear Nathan has come the peace that only the Savior and Redeemer can give. Our family has turned to Him, one by one; and we now sing with greater appreciation and understanding:

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me Enough to die for me! Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me! ("I Stand All Amazed," Hymns, no. 193)

My dear brothers and sisters, may you give to others and receive for yourselves every blessing the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ offers, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gospel Principles Lesson 11: The Life of Christ

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Thomas S. Monson
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: In a very real sense, all can walk where Jesus walked when, with His words on our lips, His spirit in our hearts, and His teachings in our lives, we journey through mortality. On a chilly December day, we gathered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle to pay honor and tribute at the funeral services for a man whom we loved, honored, and followed--even President Harold B. Lee. Prophetic in his utterance, powerful in his leadership, devoted in his service, President Lee inspired in all of us a desire to achieve perfection. He counseled us, "Keep the commandments of God. Follow the pathway of the Lord."
One day later, in a very sacred room on an upper floor of the Salt Lake Temple, his successor was chosen, sustained, and set apart to his sacred calling. Untiring in his labor, humble in his manner, inspiring in his testimony, President Spencer W. Kimball invited us to continue the course charted by President Lee. He spoke the same penetrating words: "Keep the commandments of God. Follow the pathway of the Lord. Walk in His footsteps." Today, President Ezra Taft Benson gives the same powerful counsel.
One evening, I happened to glance at a travel brochure that had arrived at my home several days earlier. It was printed in breathtaking color and written with persuasive skill. The reader was invited to visit the fjords of Norway and the Alps of Switzerland, all in one packaged tour. Yet another offering beckoned the reader to Bethlehem--even the Holy Land--cradle of Christianity. The closing lines of the brochure's message contained the simple yet powerful appeal, "Come and walk where Jesus walked."
My thoughts turned to the counsel God's prophets had provided: "Follow the pathway of the Lord. Walk in His footsteps." I reflected on the words penned by the poet:
I walked today where Jesus walked, In days of long ago; I wandered down each path He knew, With rev'rent step and slow. Those little lanes, they have not changed-- A sweet peace fills the air. I walked today where Jesus walked, And felt His presence there. . . .
I knelt today where Jesus knelt, Where all alone He prayed; The Garden of Gethsemane-- My heart felt unafraid! I picked my heavy burden up, And with Him by my side, I climbed the Hill of Calvary, . . . Where on the Cross He died!
I walked today where Jesus walked And felt Him close to me! 1
In a very real sense, all can walk where Jesus walked when, with His words on our lips, His spirit in our hearts, and His teachings in our lives, we journey through mortality. I would hope that we would walk as He walked--with confidence in the future, with an abiding faith in His Father, and with a genuine love for others.
Jesus walked the path of disappointment.
Can one appreciate His lament over the Holy City? "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" (Luke 13:34.)
Jesus walked the path of temptation.
That evil one, amassing his greatest strength, his most inviting sophistry, tempted Him who had fasted for forty days and forty nights and was "an hungered." Came the taunt: "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The reply: "Man shall not live by bread alone."
Again, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee." The answer: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Still again: "The kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them . . . will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." The Master replied, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matt. 4:2-10.)
Jesus walked the path of pain.
Consider the agony of Gethsemane. "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. . . . And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:42, 44.)
And who among us can forget the cruelty of the cross. His words: "I thirst. . . . It is finished." (John 19:28, 30.)
Yes, each of us will walk the path of disappointment, perhaps due to an opportunity lost, a power misused, or a loved one not taught. The path of temptation, too, will be the path of each. "And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves." (D&C 29:39.)
Likewise shall we walk the path of pain. We cannot go to heaven in a feather bed. The Savior of the world entered after great pain and suffering. We, as servants, can expect no more than the Master. Before Easter there must be a cross.
While we walk these paths which bring forth bitter sorrow, we can also walk those paths which yield eternal joy.
We, with Jesus, can walk the path of obedience.
It will not be easy. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." (Heb. 5:8.) Let our watchword be the heritage bequeathed us by Samuel: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (1 Sam. 15:22.) Let us remember that the end result of disobedience is captivity and death, while the reward for obedience is liberty and eternal life.
We, like Jesus, can walk the path of service.
Like a glowing searchlight of goodness is the life of Jesus as He ministered among men. He brought strength to the limbs of the cripple, sight to the eyes of the blind, hearing to the ears of the deaf, and life to the body of the dead.
His parables preach power. With the good Samaritan He taught: "Love . . . thy neighbour." (Luke 10:27.) Through His kindness to the woman taken in adultery, He taught compassionate understanding. In His parable of the talents, He taught each of us to improve himself and to strive for perfection. Well could He have been preparing us for our journey along His pathway.
Finally, He walked the path of prayer.
Three great lessons from three timeless prayers. First, from His ministry: "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." (Luke 11:2.)
Second, from Gethsemane: "Not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42.)
Third, from the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34.)
It is by walking the path of prayer that we commune with the Father and become partakers of His power.
Shall we have the faith, even the desire, to walk these pathways that Jesus walked? God’s prophets, seers, and revelators have invited us to do so. All we need do is follow them, for this is the pathway they walk.
I recall my first acquaintance with Elder Spencer W. Kimball many years ago when he served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and I served as a young bishop in Salt Lake City. One morning, when I answered my telephone, a voice said, "This is Elder Spencer W. Kimball. I have a favor to ask of you. In your ward, hidden away behind a large building on Fifth South Street, is a tiny trailer home. Living there is Margaret Bird, a Navajo widow. She feels unwanted, unneeded, and lost. Could you and the Relief Society presidency seek her out, extend to her the hand of fellowship, and provide her a special welcome?" This we did.
A miracle resulted. Margaret Bird blossomed in her newfound environment. Despair disappeared. The widow in her affliction had been visited. The lost sheep had been found. Each one who participated in the simple human drama emerged a better person.
In reality, the true shepherd was the concerned Apostle who, leaving the ninety and nine of his ministry, went in search of the precious soul who was lost. Spencer W. Kimball had walked the pathway Jesus walked.
As you and I walk the pathway Jesus walked, let us listen for the sound of sandaled feet. Let us reach out for the Carpenter's hand. Then we shall come to know Him. He may come to us as one unknown, without a name, as by the lakeside He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words, "Follow thou me," and sets us to the task which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands, and to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings that they shall pass through in His fellowship; and they shall learn in their own experience who He is.
We discover He is more than the Babe in Bethlehem, more than the carpenter's son, more than the greatest teacher ever to live. We come to know Him as the Son of God. He never fashioned a statue, painted a picture, wrote a poem, or led an army. He never wore a monarch's crown or held a scepter or threw around His shoulder a purple robe. His forgiveness was unbounded, His patience inexhaustible, His courage without limit.
Jesus changed men. He changed their habits, their opinions, their ambitions. He changed their tempers, their dispositions, their natures. He changed men's hearts.
One thinks of the fisherman called Simon, better known to you and to me as Peter, chief among the Apostles. Doubting, disbelieving, impetuous Peter was to remember the night when Jesus was led away to the high priest. This was the night when the throng "began to spit on [the Savior], and to cover his face, . . . to buffet him, . . . and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands." (Mark 14:65.)
Where was Peter, who had promised to die with Him and never to deny Him? The sacred record reveals, "And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire." (Mark 14:54.) That was the night when Peter, in fulfillment of the Master's prophecy, did indeed deny Him thrice. Amidst the pushing, the jeers, and the blows, the Lord, in the agony of His humiliation, in the majesty of His silence, turned and looked upon Peter.
As one chronicler described the change, "It was enough. . . . [Peter] knew no more danger, he feared no more death. . . . [He] rushed . . . into the night . . . to meet the morning dawn. . . . This broken-hearted penitent [stood] before the tribunal of his own conscience, and there his old life, his old shame, his old weakness, his old self was doomed to that death of godly sorrow which was to issue in a new and a nobler birth." (Frederic W. Farrar, The Life of Christ, Portland, Oreg.: Fountain Publications, 1964, p. 604.)
Then there was Saul of Tarsus, a scholar, familiar with the rabbinical writings in which certain modern scholars find such stores of treasure. For some reason, these writings did not reach Paul's need, and he kept on crying, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24.) And then one day he met Jesus, and behold, all things became new. From that day to the day of his death, Paul urged men to "put off . . . the old man" and to "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph. 4:22, 24.)
The passage of time has not altered the capacity of the Redeemer to change men's lives. As He said to the dead Lazarus, so He says to you and me: "Come forth." (John 11:43.) Come forth from the despair of doubt.
Come forth from the sorrow of sin. Come forth from the death of disbelief. Come forth to a newness of life. Come forth.
As we do, and direct our footsteps along the paths that Jesus walked, let us remember the testimony Jesus gave: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. . . . I am the light and . . . life of the world." (3 Ne. 11:10-11.) "I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father." (D&C 110:4.)
To His testimony I add my witness: He lives.

Gospel Principles Lesson 10: Scriptures

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Jeffrey R. Holland
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: We invite all to inquire into the wonder of what God has said since biblical times and is saying even now. President Monson, may I claim a moment of personal privilege? As the first of the Brethren invited to speak following your singular message to the Church this morning, may I say something on behalf of all your Brethren of the General Authorities and indeed on behalf of all the Church.
Of the many privileges we have had in this historic conference, including participation in a solemn assembly in which we were able to stand and sustain you as prophet, seer, and revelator, I cannot help but feel that the most important privilege we have all had has been to witness personally the settling of the sacred, prophetic mantle upon your shoulders, almost as it were by the very hands of angels themselves. Those in attendance at last night's general priesthood meeting and all who were present in the worldwide broadcast of this morning's session have been eyewitness to this event. For all the participants, I express our gratitude for such a moment. I say that with love to President Monson and especially love to our Father in Heaven for the wonderful opportunity it has been to be "eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16), as the Apostle Peter once said.
In general conference last October, I said there were two principal reasons The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is accused, erroneously, of not being Christian. At that time I addressed one of those doctrinal issues--our scripturally based view of the Godhead. Today I would like to address the other major doctrine which characterizes our faith but which causes concern to some, namely the bold assertion that God continues to speak His word and reveal His truth, revelations which mandate an open canon of scripture.
Some Christians, in large measure because of their genuine love for the Bible, have declared that there can be no more authorized scripture beyond the Bible. In thus pronouncing the canon of revelation closed, our friends in some other faiths shut the door on divine expression that we in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold dear: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the ongoing guidance received by God's anointed prophets and apostles. Imputing no ill will to those who take such a position, nevertheless we respectfully but resolutely reject such an unscriptural characterization of true Christianity.
One of the arguments often used in any defense of a closed canon is the New Testament passage recorded in Revelation 22:18: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of . . . this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." However, there is now overwhelming consensus among virtually all biblical scholars that this verse applies only to the book of Revelation, not the whole Bible. Those scholars of our day acknowledge a number of New Testament "books" that were almost certainly written after John's revelation on the Isle of Patmos was received. Included in this category are at least the books of Jude, the three Epistles of John, and probably the entire Gospel of John itself.1 Perhaps there are even more than these.
But there is a simpler answer as to why that passage in the final book of the current New Testament cannot apply to the whole Bible. That is because the whole Bible as we know it--one collection of texts bound in a single volume--did not exist when that verse was written. For centuries after John produced his writing, the individual books of the New Testament were in circulation singly or perhaps in combinations with a few other texts but almost never as a complete collection. Of the entire corpus of 5,366 known Greek New Testament manuscripts, only 35 contain the whole New Testament as we now know it, and 34 of those were compiled after a.d. 1000.2
The fact of the matter is that virtually every prophet of the Old and New Testament has added scripture to that received by his predecessors. If the Old Testament words of Moses were sufficient, as some could have mistakenly thought them to be,3 then why, for example, the subsequent prophecies of Isaiah or of Jeremiah, who follows him? To say nothing of Ezekiel and Daniel, of Joel, Amos, and all the rest. If one revelation to one prophet in one moment of time is sufficient for all time, what justifies these many others? What justifies them was made clear by Jehovah Himself when He said to Moses, "My works are without end, and . . . my words . . . never cease."4
One Protestant scholar has inquired tellingly into the erroneous doctrine of a closed canon. He writes: "On what biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration of God been limited to the written documents that the church now calls its Bible? . . . If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today in the church about matters that are of significant concern?"5 We humbly ask those same questions.
Continuing revelation does not demean or discredit existing revelation. The Old Testament does not lose its value in our eyes when we are introduced to the New Testament, and the New Testament is only enhanced when we read the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. In considering the additional scripture accepted by Latter-day Saints, we might ask: Were those early Christians who for decades had access only to the primitive Gospel of Mark (generally considered the first of the New Testament Gospels to be written)--were they offended to receive the more detailed accounts set forth later by Matthew and Luke, to say nothing of the unprecedented passages and revelatory emphasis offered later yet by John? Surely they must have rejoiced that ever more convincing evidence of the divinity of Christ kept coming. And so do we rejoice.
Please do not misunderstand. We love and revere the Bible, as Elder M. Russell Ballard taught so clearly from this pulpit just one year ago.6 The Bible is the word of God. It is always identified first in our canon, our "standard works." Indeed, it was a divinely ordained encounter with the fifth verse of the first chapter of the book of James that led Joseph Smith to his vision of the Father and the Son, which gave birth to the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our time. But even then, Joseph knew the Bible alone could not be the answer to all the religious questions he and others like him had. As he said in his own words, the ministers of his community were contending--sometimes angrily--over their doctrines. "Priest [was] contending against priest, and convert [was contending] against convert . . . in a strife of words and a contest about opinions," he said. About the only thing these contending religions had in common was, ironically, a belief in the Bible, but, as Joseph wrote, "the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question [regarding which church was true] by an appeal to the Bible."7 Clearly the Bible, so frequently described at that time as "common ground," was nothing of the kind--unfortunately it was a battleground.
Thus one of the great purposes of continuing revelation through living prophets is to declare to the world through additional witnesses that the Bible is true. "This is written," an ancient prophet said, speaking of the Book of Mormon, "for the intent that ye may believe that," speaking of the Bible.8 In one of the earliest revelations received by Joseph Smith, the Lord said, "Behold, I do not bring [the Book of Mormon forth] to destroy [the Bible] but to build it up."9
One other point needs to be made. Since it is clear that there were Christians long before there was a New Testament or even an accumulation of the sayings of Jesus, it cannot therefore be maintained that the Bible is what makes one a Christian. In the words of esteemed New Testament scholar N. T. Wright, "The risen Jesus, at the end of Matthew's Gospel, does not say, 'All authority in heaven and on earth is given to the books you are all going to write,' but [rather] 'All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me.' "10 In other words, "Scripture itself points . . . away from itself and to the fact that final and true authority belongs to God himself."11 So the scriptures are not the ultimate source of knowledge for Latter-day Saints. They are manifestations of the ultimate source. The ultimate source of knowledge and authority for a Latter-day Saint is the living God. The communication of those gifts comes from God as living, vibrant, divine revelation.12
This doctrine lies at the very heart of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of our message to the world. It dramatizes the significance of a solemn assembly yesterday, in which we sustained Thomas S. Monson as a prophet, a seer, and a revelator. We believe in a God who is engaged in our lives, who is not silent, not absent, nor, as Elijah said of the god of the priests of Baal, is He "[on] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be [awakened]."13 In this Church, even our young Primary children recite, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."14
In declaring new scripture and continuing revelation, we pray we will never be arrogant or insensitive. But after a sacred vision in a now sacred grove answered in the affirmative the question "Does God exist?" what Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints force us to face is the next interrogative, which necessarily follows: "Does He speak?" We bring the good news that He does and that He has. With a love and affection born of our Christianity, we invite all to inquire into the wonder of what God has said since biblical times and is saying even now.
In a sense Joseph Smith and his prophetic successors in this Church answer the challenge Ralph Waldo Emerson put to the students of the Harvard Divinity School 170 years ago this coming summer. To that group of the Protestant best and brightest, the great sage of Concord pled that they teach "that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake."15
I testify that the heavens are open. I testify that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is truly another testament of Jesus Christ. I testify that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet, a modern apostle with the keys of the kingdom in his hands, a man upon whom I personally have seen the mantle fall. I testify that the presence of such authorized, prophetic voices and ongoing canonized revelations have been at the heart of the Christian message whenever the authorized ministry of Christ has been on the earth. I testify that such a ministry is on the earth again, and it is found in this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In our heartfelt devotion to Jesus of Nazareth as the very Son of God, the Savior of the world, we invite all to examine what we have received of Him, to join with us, drinking deeply at the "well of water springing up into everlasting life,"16 these constantly flowing reminders that God lives, that He loves us, and that He speaks. I express the deepest personal thanks that His works never end and His "words . . . never cease." I bear witness of such divine loving attention and the recording of it, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. For an introductory discussion on this topic, see Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (1991), 46. The issue of canon is discussed on pages 45-56. Canon is defined as "an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture" (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. [2003], "canon").
2. See Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Paleography (1981), 54-55.
3. See Deuteronomy 4:2, for example.
4. Moses 1:4.
5. Lee M. McDonald, The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon, rev. ed. (1995), 255-56.
6. See "The Miracle of the Holy Bible," Liahona and Ensign, May 2007, 80-82.
7. Joseph Smith--History 1:6, 12.
8. Mormon 7:9; emphasis added.
9. D&C 10:52; see also D&C 20:11.
10. N. T. Wright, The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture (2005), xi.
11. Wright, The Last Word, 24.
12. For a full essay on this subject, see Dallin H. Oaks, "Scripture Reading and Revelation," Ensign, Jan. 1995, 6-9.
13. 1 Kings 18:27.
14. Articles of Faith 1:9.
15. "An Address," The Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1929), 45.
16. John 4:14.

Gospel Principles Lesson 9: Prophets of God

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by F. Michael Watson
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: The Master speaks to us through His prophet. During my growing-up years in the small farming community of Spring City, Utah, an opportunity afforded itself each summer to be with my father alone for two weeks herding sheep in the mountain range of the Manti-La Sal. On one occasion the fog rested heavily in the area to the extent that you could not see your outstretched hand in front of you, and the evening was drawing nigh.
My father suggested that I return to camp, and he would soon follow. I remember questioning how I would be able to find the camp amidst the fog. My father simply said to me, "Give the horse the reins, and he will get you to camp." Following this counsel, I loosened my grip on the reins, and with encouragement to the horse, the journey began. At times I would be struck in the face by a low-hanging limb I couldn't see or have my leg brush close to a tree. Eventually, the horse came to a complete stop, and the silhouette of the camp was in view.
Sometimes we may not always be able to immediately find the desired way before us, but the wisdom of those who have gone before, coupled with the wisdom of those who are with us still, will be our guide if we let them have the reins.
"Understandest thou what thou readest?" was the question asked by Philip of one who was diligently searching the scriptures.
The response came in the form of a question: "How can I, except some man should guide me?"1
The answer to these searching questions comes from the prophets throughout ages past who taught the importance of searching the scriptures, along with a promise: "Whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived."2
In each dispensation, the Lord has given commandments to the prophets "that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled."3 Doctrine and Covenants section 1 constitutes the Lord's preface to the doctrines, covenants, and commandments given in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. Of specific mention are verses 37-38:
"Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."
It is the voice of seven of the Lord's servants of which I speak today. In March 1970, a long hoped-for desire to be of service to the Lord's chosen servants commenced. From the very outset, opportunities were provided to be directly involved with the Brethren of the Quorum of the Twelve and subsequently with members of the First Presidency for almost four decades. It was during these formative years that an understanding of "my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled" began to swell in my heart.
Important admonition has been given in general conferences of yesteryear and will continue to be expounded by those who have the wisdom of ages past, which allows our hearts to burn within us. It will be in following such counsel that we must be strong, never give up, and endure to the end.
Let me share the direction and counsel given by these prophets of God. For example, it was President Joseph Fielding Smith who often quoted the words set forth in the 24th chapter of Psalms, wherein a question is asked, an answer given, and a blessing promised to the faithful.
The question: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?"
The answer: "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."
The promise: "He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."4
President Harold B. Lee in general conference counseled us to give heed to the words and commandments the Lord shall give through His prophet: "You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views . . . [or] your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if [we] listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that . . . 'the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory.' "5
Prior to his passing in December 1973, President Lee, speaking to an assembled group of Church employees and their families, posed the question after giving a history of the Church's welfare program: "Do you believe these prophets knew what they were talking about?" Later in the same address, concerning the Brethren's counsel to guard against the permissiveness invading the home through inappropriate literature and television, he asked, "Are you too close to the Brethren [so that you] think of them not as prophets but as men just guessing [such counsel] might be a good thing?"6
It was President Spencer W. Kimball who in his writings provided us the comforting words that there is a miracle of forgiveness and God will forgive. In another setting, concerning the unexpected challenges which we may face, President Kimball cautioned us, if individually given the power to alter life-changing moments, would we have modified the events at Carthage Jail which resulted in the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith? And more importantly, with such uncontrolled power, what might we have done in the decisive moment of Gethsemane and the words spoken, "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done"?7
Each morning in the meeting of the First Presidency, the Brethren take turns praying. I always liked to listen to President Ezra Taft Benson pray. His prayers were almost entirely in thankfulness instead of asking for blessings. Of Another Testament of Jesus Christ, President Benson reiterated the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith "that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."8 He admonished us to follow the Savior, who said, "Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."9
During his nine-month period of service as President of the Church, we all fell in love with the innate goodness of President Howard W. Hunter, who issued invitations for members of the Church to:
"Live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion He displayed. . . .
". . . Establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of their membership and the supernal setting for their most sacred covenants. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy."10
President Gordon B. Hinckley stated: "I have not spoken face to face with all of the prophets of this dispensation. I was not acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, nor did I ever hear him speak. [However,] my grandfather, who as a young man lived in Nauvoo, did hear him and testified of his divine calling as the great prophet of this dispensation."11
President Hinckley bore witness of the First Vision, when young Joseph Smith went to pray in a grove and received his answer through divine revelation from both the Father and the Son.
President Hinckley's passion with the building of temples and the sacred work performed therein will be a polar star for each of us to follow.
Our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, has reemphasized again the hoped-for desire of the First Presidency who in 1839 gave the direction we should constantly seek even today: "Upon your diligence, your perseverance and faithfulness, the soundness of the doctrines which you preach, the moral precepts that you advance and practice . . . hang the destinies of the human family."12
It is President Monson whom we sustain as the prophet, seer, and revelator and who serves as the resounding voice to the widow, the fatherless, and to all who stand in need. He has truly exemplified in his life the pattern of the Master and the sincere desire to always be found in His service. It is President Monson who is the Lord’s mouthpiece and whose counsel and direction we are admonished to follow. In a very real sense, the Master speaks to us through His prophet. I know, and have recorded in meetings of the Brethren assembled, this to be true.
As one who has been taught at the feet of living prophets and of these latter-day witnesses whom I have known and love, I testify in all truthfulness, as members of this Church heed the words and commandments the Lord gave to the prophets of the testaments and followed by the Lord's prophet even today, we will more fully understand that "surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."13
Of these truths and that God is in the heavens, that Jesus is the Christ, and of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has prophets, seers, and revelators to guide us, I bear solemn witness in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. Acts 8:30-31.
2. Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:37.
3. D&C 1:18.
4. Psalm 24:3-5.
5. Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 152; or Improvement Era, Dec. 1970, 126.
6. Harold B. Lee, Christmas devotional for employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dec. 13, 1973; in The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, ed. Clyde J. Williams (1996), 298.
7. Luke 22:42; see Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle (1972), 100.
8. History of the Church, 4:461.
9. 3 Nephi 15:9.
10. Quoted in Jay M. Todd, "President Howard W. Hunter: Fourteenth President of the Church," Ensign, July 1994, 4-5.
11. Gordon B. Hinckley, "Believe His Prophets," Ensign, May 1992, 50.
12. History of the Church, 3:395; for further information on this epistle, see Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation (1950), 48-49.
13. Amos 3:7.

Gospel Principles Lesson 8: Praying to Our Heavenly Father

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by James E. Faust
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Each of us has problems that we cannot solve and weaknesses that we cannot conquer without reaching out through prayer to a higher source of strength. *Note: Please follow Church guidelines, as listed in Gospel Principles, when using talks like this one as a supplement for the lesson: "If you have been called to teach a quorum or class . . . do not substitute outside materials, however interesting they may be. Stay true to the scriptures and the words in the book. As appropriate, use personal experiences and articles from Church magazines to supplement the lessons." (Gospel Principles, p. 2)
This morning I bear witness of the importance of prayer. Access to our Creator through our Savior is surely one of the great privileges and blessings of our lives. I have learned from countless personal experiences that great is the power of prayer. No earthly authority can separate us from direct access to our Creator. There can never be a mechanical or electronic failure when we pray. There is no limit on the number of times or how long we can pray each day. There is no quota of how many needs we wish to pray for in each prayer. We do not need to go through secretaries or make an appointment to reach the throne of grace. He is reachable at any time and any place.
When God placed man on the earth, prayer became the lifeline between mankind and God. Thus, in Adam's generation, men began "to call upon the name of the Lord." 1 Through all generations since that time, prayer has filled a very important human need. Each of us has problems that we cannot solve and weaknesses that we cannot conquer without reaching out through prayer to a higher source of strength. That source is the God of heaven to whom we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. 2 As we pray we should think of our Father in Heaven as possessing all knowledge, understanding, love, and compassion.
What is a prayer? The Savior gave us an example in the Lord's Prayer when He prayed: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
"Give us this day our daily bread.
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." 3
First, prayer is a humble acknowledgment that God is our Father and that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Second, it is a sincere confession of sin and transgression and a request for forgiveness. Third, it is recognition that we need help beyond our own ability. Fourth, it is an opportunity to express thanksgiving and gratitude to our Creator. It is important that we frequently say: "We thank Thee . . . ," "We acknowledge before Thee . . . ," "We are grateful unto Thee . . ." Fifth, it is a privilege to ask Deity for specific blessings.
Many prayers are spoken while we are on our knees. The Savior knelt as He prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. 4 But silent prayers of the heart also reach to heaven. We sing, "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed." 5 Sincere prayers come from the heart. Indeed, sincerity requires that we draw from the earnest feelings of our hearts when we pray rather than using vain repetitions or pretentious affectations such as those condemned by the Savior in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. 6 Our prayers then truly become the "song of the heart" and "a prayer," 7 not only reaching God but touching the hearts of others as well.
Jeremiah counsels us to pray with all our heart and soul. 8 Enos recounted how his soul had hungered and that he had prayed all the day long. 9 Prayers vary in their intensity. Even the Savior "prayed more earnestly" in His hour of agony. 10 Some are simple expressions of appreciation and requests for a continuation of blessings on our loved ones and us. However, in times of great personal hurt or need, more may be required than mere asking. The Lord said, "You have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me." 11 Blessings sought through prayer sometimes require work, effort, and diligence on our part.
For example, at times fasting is appropriate as a strong evidence of our sincerity. As Alma testified to the people of Zarahemla: "I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit." 12 When we fast we humble our souls, 13 which brings us more in tune with God and His holy purposes.
We are privileged to pray daily for the small and great concerns in our lives. Consider the words of Amulek, who admonished us to pray in our fields over our flocks; in our houses over our households, morning, midday, and evening; to pray against the power of our enemies and the devil; to cry unto Him over our crops; to pour out our souls in secret and in the wilderness. When we are not crying directly unto God, we should let our hearts be drawn out in prayer unto Him continually. 14
Amulek's counsel in our day might be the heartfelt prayer of a wife: "Bless Jason and keep him safe as he serves our country in this time of war." The prayer of a mother: "Please bless dear Jane that she will make the right choices." The prayer of a father: "Heavenly Father, bless Johnny in his missionary labors, that doors will be opened for him, and that he'll find the honest in heart." The lisping, basic prayer of a child, "that I won't be naughty today," or "that everybody will have plenty to eat," or "that Mommy will get well soon." These are sublime prayers that resound in the eternal mansions above. God knows our needs better than we can state them, 15 but He wants us to approach Him in faith to ask for blessings, safety, and comfort.
I have mentioned before an experience I had in the military in World War II. I hasten to say I was not a hero. But I did my duty. I endured and survived. I was assigned to a British liberty ship sailing from San Francisco to Suez. I was on that ship for 83 consecutive days except for a brief stop in Auckland, New Zealand. I was the only member of our faith on board. On Sundays I would go alone to the bow of the ship with my little set of servicemen's scriptures and songbook. Amid the howling of the wind, I would read the scriptures, pray, and sing all by myself. I did not try to bargain with the Lord, but I did pray fervently that if I could survive the war and go home to my wife and family, I would earnestly try to remain true to the sacred covenants I had made at baptism, to the oath and covenant of the priesthood, and to my temple vows.
As part of our tour of duty, our little cargo ship was ordered to tow a large, burned-out oil tanker into Auckland, New Zealand. The tanker had no power and was wallowing helplessly in the ocean. Although we never saw them, we knew enemy submarines were lurking near us. While we were pulling that ship, we were caught in a violent storm, which we later learned sank many vessels. Because of the load we were pulling, we did not have enough power to go into the giant waves head on, and our ship was thrown from side to side in the trough of the pounding seas. It would creak and groan and roll from side to side, almost capsizing on every roll. Of course I prayed, as I imagine others did. In time the storm moved away from us. I am grateful for the sustaining influence and comfort my prayers gave me then and since in other times of peril.
The Savior told us, "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed." 16 In our day, the Church urges us to have family prayer every night and every morning.
I once heard of a Primary teacher who asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.
"Yes," he replied.
"And do you always say them in the morning, too?" the Primary teacher asked.
"No," the boy replied. "I ain't scared in the daytime." 17
Fear of the dark should not be our only motivation to pray--morning or night.
Family prayer is a powerful and sustaining influence. During the dark days of World War II, a 500-pound bomb fell outside the little home of Brother Patey, a young father in Liverpool, England, but the bomb did not go off. His wife had died, so he was rearing his five children alone. He gathered them together at this very anxious time for family prayer. They "all prayed . . . earnestly and when they had finished praying, the children said: 'Daddy, we will be all right. We will be all right in our home tonight.'
"And so they went to bed, imagine, with that terrific bomb lying just outside the door half submerged in the ground. If it had gone off it would have destroyed probably forty or fifty houses and killed two or three hundred people. . . .
"The next morning the . . . whole neighborhood was removed for forty-eight hours and the bomb was finally taken away. . . .
"On the way back Brother Patey asked the foreman of the A. R. P. Squad: 'Well, what did you find?'
" 'Mr. Patey, we got at the bomb outside of your door and found it ready to explode at any moment. There was nothing wrong with it. We are puzzled why it did not go off.' " 18 Miraculous things happen when families pray together.
The Savior counseled that we should pray for those who "despitefully use" us. 19 This principle is often overlooked in our prayers. The Prophet Joseph Smith understood it clearly. His petitions were fervent, his motives pure, and the blessings of heaven regular.
Daniel Tyler, an associate of the Prophet, recalled an important occasion: "At the time William Smith and others rebelled against the Prophet [at Kirtland], . . . I attended a meeting . . . where 'Joseph' presided. Entering the school-house a little before [the] meeting opened, and gazing upon the man of God, I perceived sadness in his countenance and tears trickling down his cheeks. . . . A few moments later a hymn was sung and he opened the meeting by prayer. Instead of facing the audience, however, he turned his back and bowed upon his knees, facing the wall. This, I suppose, was done to hide his sorrow and tears.
"I had heard men and women pray--especially the former--from the most ignorant, both as to letters and intellect, to the most learned and eloquent, but never until then had I heard a man address his Maker as though He was present listening as a kind father would listen to the sorrows of a dutiful child. Joseph was at that time unlearned, but that prayer, which was to a considerable extent in behalf of those who accused him of having gone astray and fallen into sin, [was] that the Lord would forgive them and open their eyes that they might see aright--that prayer, I say, to my humble mind, partook of the learning and eloquence of heaven. There was no ostentation, no raising of the voice as by enthusiasm, but a plain conversational tone, as a man would address a present friend. It appeared to me as though, in case the vail were taken away, I could see the Lord standing facing His humblest of all servants I had ever seen. . . . It was the crowning . . . of all the prayers I ever heard." 20
As the hour of the Savior's death and Resurrection drew near, He offered His great Intercessory Prayer. After commending His Apostles to the Father and praying for them, He then prayed for all those who would believe on Him through their word, and pleaded with the Father for all of us. He prayed that we could all be one as He is one with the Father and that the world would believe that He was sent by the Father. 21
No more poignant prayer was ever uttered than that given by the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. He withdrew from His Apostles, knelt, and prayed, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." 22 An important element of all of our prayers might well be to follow the pattern of that prayer in Gethsemane: "not my will, but thine, be done." By this, then, we acknowledge our devotion and submission to the overriding purposes of the Lord in our lives. As He said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." 23 What a glorious day it will be for each of us when we pray with confidence that "if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us." 24
I sincerely hope that as we say our daily prayers we remember to ask the Lord's blessings to continue to abide with our beloved leader, President Gordon B. Hinckley. No one fully knows, not even his counselors, how heavy his burdens are and how great his responsibility is. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. Gen. 4:26.
2. See 2 Ne. 32:9; 3 Ne. 20:31.
3. Matt. 6:9-13.
4. See Luke 22:41.
5. Hymns, no. 145.
6. See Luke 18:10-14.
7. D&C 25:12.
8. See Jer. 29:13.
9. See Enos 1:4.
10. Luke 22:44.
11. D&C 9:7.
12. Alma 5:46.
13. See Ps. 35:13.
14. See Alma 34:20-27.
15. See Matt. 6:8.
16. 3 Ne. 18:21.
17. Adapted from Tal D. Bonham, The Treasury of Clean Church Jokes, as quoted in Cal and Rose Samra, eds., Holy Humor (1997), 23.
18. Andre K. Anastasiou, in Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 26.
19. Matt. 5:44.
20. Juvenile Instructor, Feb. 1892, 127-28.
21. John 17:21.
22. Luke 22:42.
23. John 15:7.
24. 1 Jn. 5:14.

Gospel Principles Lesson 7: The Holy Ghost

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Richard G. Scott
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: By careful practice, through the application of correct principles, and by being sensitive to the feelings that come, you will gain spiritual guidance. *Note: Please follow Church guidelines, as listed in Gospel Principles, when using talks like this one as a supplement for the lesson: "If you have been called to teach a quorum or class . . . do not substitute outside materials, however interesting they may be. Stay true to the scriptures and the words in the book. As appropriate, use personal experiences and articles from Church magazines to supplement the lessons." (Gospel Principles, p. 2)
Throughout the ages, many have obtained guidance helpful to resolve challenges in their lives by following the example of respected individuals who resolved similar problems. Today, world conditions change so rapidly that such a course of action is often not available to us.
Personally, I rejoice in that reality because it creates a condition where we, of necessity, are more dependent upon the Spirit to guide us through the vicissitudes of life. Therefore, we are led to seek personal inspiration in life's important decisions.
What can you do to enhance your capacity to be led to correct decisions in your life? What are the principles upon which spiritual communication depends? What are the potential barriers to such communication that you need to avoid?
President John Taylor wrote: "Joseph Smith, upwards of forty years ago, said to me: 'Brother Taylor, you have received the Holy Ghost. Now follow the influence of that Spirit, and it will lead you into all truth, until by and by, it will become in you a principle of revelation.' Then he told me never to arise in the morning without bowing before the Lord, and dedicating myself to him during that day."1
Father in Heaven knew that you would face challenges and be required to make some decisions that would be beyond your own ability to decide correctly. In His plan of happiness, He included a provision for you to receive help with such challenges and decisions during your mortal life. That assistance will come to you through the Holy Ghost as spiritual guidance. It is a power, beyond your own capability, that a loving Heavenly Father wants you to use consistently for your peace and happiness.
I am convinced that there is no simple formula or technique that would immediately allow you to master the ability to be guided by the voice of the Spirit. Our Father expects you to learn how to obtain that divine help by exercising faith in Him and His Holy Son, Jesus Christ. Were you to receive inspired guidance just for the asking, you would become weak and ever more dependent on Them. They know that essential personal growth will come as you struggle to learn how to be led by the Spirit.
What may appear initially to be a daunting task will be much easier to manage over time as you consistently strive to recognize and follow feelings prompted by the Spirit. Your confidence in the direction you receive from the Holy Ghost will also become stronger. I witness that as you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear.
Spirituality yields two fruits. The first is inspiration to know what to do. The second is power, or the capacity to do it. These two capacities come together. That's why Nephi could say, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded."2 He knew the spiritual laws upon which inspiration and power are based. Yes, God answers prayer and gives us spiritual direction when we live obediently and exercise the required faith in Him.
Now I share an experience that taught me a way to gain spiritual guidance. One Sunday I attended the priesthood meeting of a Spanish branch in Mexico City. I vividly recall how a humble Mexican priesthood leader struggled to communicate the truths of the gospel in his lesson material. I noted the intense desire he had to share those principles he strongly valued with his quorum members. He recognized that they were of great worth to the brethren present. In his manner, there was an evidence of a pure love of the Savior and love of those he taught.
His sincerity, purity of intent, and love permitted a spiritual strength to envelop the room. I was deeply touched. Then I began to receive personal impressions as an extension of the principles taught by that humble instructor. They were personal and related to my assignments in the area. They came in answer to my prolonged, prayerful efforts to learn.
As each impression came, I carefully wrote it down. In the process, I was given precious truths that I greatly needed in order to be a more effective servant of the Lord. The details of the communication are sacred and, like a patriarchal blessing, were for my individual benefit. I was given specific directions, instructions, and conditioned promises that have beneficially altered the course of my life.
Subsequently, I visited the Sunday School class in our ward, where a very well-educated teacher presented his lesson. That experience was in striking contrast to the one enjoyed in the priesthood meeting. It seemed to me that the instructor had purposely chosen obscure references and unusual examples to illustrate the principles of the lesson. I had the distinct impression that this instructor was using the teaching opportunity to impress the class with his vast store of knowledge. At any rate, he certainly did not seem as intent on communicating principles as had the humble priesthood leader.
In that environment, strong impressions began to flow to me again. I wrote them down. The message included specific counsel on how to become more effective as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. I received such an outpouring of impressions that were so personal that I felt it was not appropriate to record them in the midst of a Sunday School class. I sought a more private location, where I continued to write the feelings that flooded into my mind and heart as faithfully as possible. After each powerful impression was recorded, I pondered the feelings I had received to determine if I had accurately expressed them in writing. As a result, I made a few minor changes to what had been written. Then I studied their meaning and application in my own life.
Subsequently I prayed, reviewing with the Lord what I thought I had been taught by the Spirit. When a feeling of peace came, I thanked Him for the guidance given. I was then impressed to ask, "Was there yet more to be given?" I received further impressions, and the process of writing down the impressions, pondering, and praying for confirmation was repeated. Again I was prompted to ask, "Is there more I should know?" And there was. When that last, most sacred experience was concluded, I had received some of the most precious, specific, personal direction one could hope to obtain in this life. Had I not responded to the first impressions and recorded them, I would not have received the last, most precious guidance.
What I have described is not an isolated experience. It embodies several true principles regarding communication from the Lord to His children here on earth. I believe that you can leave the most precious, personal direction of the Spirit unheard because you do not respond to, record, and apply the first promptings that come to you.
Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.
The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions, such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride. When such influences are present, it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeno pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Sin is addictive; self-degenerating; conducive to other strains of corruption; deadening to spirituality, conscience, and reason; blinding to reality; contagious; destructive to mind, body, and spirit. Sin is spiritually corrosive. Unrestrained it becomes all-consuming. It is overcome by repentance and righteousness.
I share a warning. Satan is extremely good at blocking spiritual communication by inducing individuals, through temptation, to violate the laws upon which spiritual communication is founded. With some, he is able to convince them that they are not able to receive such guidance from the Lord.
Satan has become a master at using the addictive power of pornography to limit individual capacity to be led by the Spirit. The onslaught of pornography in all of its vicious, corroding, destructive forms has caused great grief, suffering, heartache, and destroyed marriages. It is one of the most damning influences on earth. Whether it be through the printed page, movies, television, obscene lyrics, vulgarities on the telephone, or flickering personal computer screen, pornography is overpoweringly addictive and severely damaging. This potent tool of Lucifer degrades the mind and the heart and the soul of any who use it. All who are caught in its seductive, tantalizing web and remain so will become addicted to its immoral, destructive influence. For many, that addiction cannot be overcome without help. The tragic pattern is so familiar. It begins with curiosity that is fueled by its stimulation and is justified by the false premise that when done privately, it does no harm to anyone else. For those lulled by this lie, the experimentation goes deeper, with more powerful stimulations, until the trap closes and a terribly immoral, addictive habit exercises its vicious control.
Participation in pornography in any of its lurid forms is a manifestation of unbridled selfishness. How can a man, particularly a priesthood bearer, not think of the emotional and spiritual damage caused to women, especially his wife, by such abhorrent activity?
Well did inspired Nephi declare, "And [the devil] will . . . pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, . . . and thus [he] cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell."3
If you are ensnarled in pornography, make a total commitment to overcome it now. Find a quiet place; pray urgently for help and support. Be patient and obedient. Don't give up.
Parents, be aware that the addiction of pornography can begin with youth at a very early age. Take preventative action to avoid that tragedy. Stake presidents and bishops, warn of this evil. Invite anyone you consider captured by it to come to you for help.
An individual with foundation standards and an enduring commitment to obey them is not easily led astray. Someone who is increasingly repulsed by grievous sin and who exercises self-restraint outside human influence has character. Repentance will be more efficacious for such an individual. A feeling of remorse after a mistake is a fertile soil wherein repentance can flower.
Have patience as you are perfecting your ability to be led by the Spirit. By careful practice, through the application of correct principles, and by being sensitive to the feelings that come, you will gain spiritual guidance. I bear witness that the Lord, through the Holy Ghost, can speak to your mind and heart. Sometimes the impressions are just general feelings. Sometimes the direction comes so clearly and so unmistakably that it can be written down like spiritual dictation.4
I bear solemn witness that as you pray with all the fervor of your soul with humility and gratitude, you can learn to be consistently guided by the Holy Spirit in all aspects of your life. I have confirmed the truthfulness of that principle in the crucible of my own life. I testify that you can personally learn to master the principles of being guided by the Spirit. That way, the Savior can guide you to resolve challenges of life and enjoy great peace and happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, ed. G. Homer Durham (1943), 43-44.
2. 1 Nephi 3:7.
3. 2 Nephi 28:21.
4. See D&C 8:2.

Gospel Principles 6: The Fall of Adam and Eve

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Joseph Fielding Smith
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Joseph Fielding Smith was long noted for the depth of his knowledge of the gospel and the scriptures. He served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for more than 55 years before he was sustained as a counselor in the First Presidency in October 1965 and then as Church President in 1970. In October 1967, he spoke of the blessing for mankind that is known as the Fall of Adam. *Note: Please follow Church guidelines, as listed in Gospel Principles, when using talks like this one as a supplement for the lesson: "If you have been called to teach a quorum or class . . . do not substitute outside materials, however interesting they may be. Stay true to the scriptures and the words in the book. As appropriate, use personal experiences and articles from Church magazines to supplement the lessons." (Gospel Principles, p. 2)
An October 1967 general conference address; subheads added; punctuation, capitalization, and spelling modernized.
When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was in the presence of God our Eternal Father. He talked with the Father and the Father with him. But something happened, and it had to happen: Adam partook of certain fruit. My Bible, the King James Version, [speaks in a commentator's note] of Adam's Fall [as] "man's shameful fall." Well, it wasn't a shameful fall at all.
Adam came here to bring mortality upon the earth, and that resulted in the shutting out from the presence of the Eternal Father of both Adam and Eve and their posterity. The Son of God comes upon the scene from that time henceforth as our Redeemer. . . . It is the Savior who stands between mankind and our Heavenly Father. . . . The Son is the mediator between mankind and the Eternal Father. You seldom hear a prayer that isn't offered to our Heavenly Father in the name of His Beloved Son, and that's right. Christ came into this world to represent His Father. He came into this world to teach mankind who His Father is, why we should worship Him, how we should worship Him. He performed the greatest work that was ever performed in this mortal world by the shedding of His blood, which paid a debt that mankind owes to the Eternal Father, and which debt we inherited after the Fall of Adam.
They Opened the Door Adam did only what he had to do. He partook of that fruit for one good reason, and that was to open the door to bring you and me and everyone else into this world, for Adam and Eve could have remained in the Garden of Eden; they could have been there to this day, if Eve hadn't done something.
One of these days, if I ever get to where I can speak to Mother Eve, I want to thank her for tempting Adam to partake of the fruit. He accepted the temptation, with the result that children came into this world. . . . If she hadn't had that influence over Adam, and if Adam had done according to the commandment first given to him, they would still be in the Garden of Eden and we would not be here at all. We wouldn't have come into this world. So the commentators made a great mistake when they put in the Bible . . . "man's shameful fall."
Well, that was what the Lord expected Adam to do, because that opened the door to mortality; and we came here into this mortal world to receive a training in mortality that we could not get anywhere else or in any other way. We came here into this world to partake of all the vicissitudes, to receive the lessons that we receive in mortality from or in a mortal world. And so we become subject to pain, to sickness. We are blessed for keeping the commandments of the Lord with all that He has given us, which, if we will follow and be true and faithful, will bring us back again into the presence of God our Eternal Father, as sons and daughters of God, entitled to the fulness of celestial glory.
Privileged to Be Mortal That great blessing of celestial glory could never have come to us without a period of time in mortality, and so we came here in this mortal world. We are in school, the mortal school, to gain the experiences, the training, the joys, and the sufferings that we partake of, that we might be educated in all these things and be prepared, if we are faithful and true to the commandments of the Lord, to become sons and daughters of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ; and in His presence to go on to a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever, and perhaps through our faithfulness to have the opportunity of building worlds and peopling them.
Brethren and sisters, let's thank the Lord, when we pray, for Adam. If it hadn't been for Adam, I wouldn't be here; you wouldn't be here; we would be waiting in the heavens as spirits pleading for somebody . . . to pass through a certain condition that brought upon us mortality.
We are in the mortal life to get an experience, a training, that we couldn't get any other way. And in order [for us] to become gods, it is necessary for us to know something about pain, about sickness, and about the other things that we partake of in this school of mortality.
So don't let us, brethren and sisters, complain about Adam and wish he hadn't done something that he did. I want to thank him. I am glad to have the privilege of being here and going through mortality, and if I will be true and faithful to the covenants and obligations that are upon me as a member of the Church and in the kingdom of God, I may have the privilege of coming back into the presence of the Eternal Father; and that will come to you as it will to me, sons and daughters of God entitled to the fulness of celestial glory.

Gospel Principles Lesson 5: The Creation

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Russell M . Nelson
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Grand as it is, planet Earth is part of something even grander—that great plan of God. Simply summarized, the earth was created that families might be. *Note: Please follow Church guidelines, as listed in Gospel Principles, when using talks like this one as a supplement for the lesson: "If you have been called to teach a quorum or class . . . do not substitute outside materials, however interesting they may be. Stay true to the scriptures and the words in the book. As appropriate, use personal experiences and articles from Church magazines to supplement the lessons." (Gospel Principles, p. 2)
We will long remember this inspiring conference in the new Conference Center. Not long ago, there was only a deep hole in the ground where this building now stands. We have watched its construction with interest and awe.
The process of construction is truly inspiring to me. From conception to completion, any major building project reflects upon the work of the Master Creator. In fact, the Creation -- of planet Earth and of life upon it -- undergirds all other creative capability. Any manmade creation is possible only because of our divine Creator. The people who design and build are given life and capacity by that Creator. And all materials used in the construction of an edifice are ultimately derived from the rich resources of the earth. The Lord declared, "The earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things." 1
It is difficult for mortal minds to comprehend the majesty of the Creation. It is much easier for us to think about good things to eat or fun things to do. But I would like to stretch our minds to think of things beyond our easy grasp. The creation of man and woman was wondrous and great. 2 So was the creation of the earth as their mortal dwelling place.
The entire Creation was planned by God. A council in heaven was once convened in which we participated. 3 There our Heavenly Father announced His divine plan. 4 It is also called the plan of happiness, 5 the plan of salvation, 6 the plan of redemption, 7 the plan of restoration, 8 the plan of mercy, 9 the plan of deliverance, 10 and the everlasting gospel. 11 The purpose of the plan is to provide opportunity for the spirit children of God to progress toward an eternal exaltation.
Components of the Plan The plan required the Creation, and that in turn required both the Fall and the Atonement. These are the three fundamental components of the plan. The creation of a paradisiacal planet came from God. 12 Mortality and death came into the world through the Fall of Adam. 13 Immortality and the possibility of eternal life were provided by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 14 The Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement were planned long before the actual work of the Creation began.
While visiting the British Museum in London one day, I read a most unusual book. It is not scripture. It is an English translation of an ancient Egyptian manuscript. From it, I quote a dialogue between the Father and the Son. Referring to His Father, Jehovah -- the premortal Lord -- says:
“He took the clay from the hand of the angel, and made Adam according to Our image and likeness, and He left him lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into him. And He heaved sighs over him daily, saying, 'If I put breath into this [man], he must suffer many pains.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be an advocate for him.' And My Father said unto Me, 'If I put breath into him, My beloved Son, Thou wilt be obliged to go down into the world, and to suffer many pains for him before Thou shalt have redeemed him, and made him to come back to his primal state.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be his advocate, and I will go down into the world, and will fulfil Thy command.' " 15
Although this text is not scripture, it reaffirms scriptures that teach of the deep and compassionate love of the Father for the Son, and of the Son for us -- attesting that Jesus volunteered willingly to be our Savior and Redeemer. 16
The Lord God declared, "This is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." 17 He who, under direction of the Father, had created the earth, subsequently came into mortality to do the will of His Father 18 and to fulfill all prophecies of the Atonement. 19 His Atonement would redeem every soul from the penalties of personal transgression, on conditions that He set. 20
Phases of the Creation Each phase of the Creation was well planned before it was accomplished. Scripture tells us that "the Lord God, created all things . . . spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth." 21
The physical Creation itself was staged through ordered periods of time. In Genesis 22 and Moses, 23 those periods are called days. But in the book of Abraham, each period is referred to as a time. 24 Whether termed a day, a time, or an age, each phase was a period between two identifiable events -- a division of eternity. 25
Period one included the creation of atmospheric heavens and physical earth, culminating in the emergence of light from darkness. 26
In period two, the waters were divided between the surface of the earth and its atmospheric heavens. Provision was made for clouds and rain to give life to all that would later dwell upon the earth. 27
In period three, plant life began. The earth was organized to bring forth grass, herbs, trees, and vegetation -- each growing from its own seed. 28
Period four was a time of further development. Lights in the expanse of the heaven were organized so there could be seasons and other means of measuring time. During this period, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth were placed in proper relationship to one another. 29 The sun, with its vast stores of hydrogen, was to serve as a giant furnace to provide light and heat for the earth and life upon it. 30
In period five, fish, fowl, and "every living creature" were added. 31 They were made fruitful and able to multiply -- in the sea and on the earth -- each after its own kind. 32
In the sixth period, creation of life continued. The beasts of the earth were made after their kind, cattle after their kind, and everything which "creepeth upon the earth" -- again, after its own kind. 33 Then the Gods counseled together and said: "Let us go down and form man in our image, after our likeness. . . .
"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." 34 Thus, Adam and Eve were formed. 35 And they were blessed to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and 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." 36
The seventh period was designated as a time of rest. 37
The Creation Testifies of a Creator I testify that the earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not happen by chance. It did not come ex nihilo (out of nothing). And human minds and hands able to build buildings or create computers are not accidental. It is God who made us and not we ourselves. We are His people! 38 The Creation itself testifies of a Creator. We cannot disregard the divine in the Creation. Without our grateful awareness of God's hand in the Creation, we would be just as oblivious to our provider as are goldfish swimming in a bowl. With deep gratitude, we echo the words of the Psalmist, who said, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." 39
Purpose and Destiny of the Earth This earth is but one of many creations over which God presides. "Worlds without number have I created," He said. "And I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten." 40 Grand as it is, planet Earth is part of something even grander -- that great plan of God. Simply summarized, the earth was created that families might be. Scripture explains that a husband and wife "shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation." 41
And as part of the planned destiny of the earth and its inhabitants, here our kindred dead are also to be redeemed. 42 Families are to be sealed together for all eternity. 43 A welding link is to be forged between the fathers and the children. In our time, a whole, complete, and perfect union of all dispensations, keys, and powers is to be welded together. 44 For these sacred purposes, holy temples now dot the earth.
Though our understanding of the Creation is limited, we know enough to appreciate its supernal significance. And that store of knowledge will be augmented in the future. Scripture declares: "In that day when the Lord shall come [again], he shall reveal all things --
"Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof --
"Things most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven." 45
Yes, further light and knowledge will come. The Lord said, "If there be bounds set to the heavens or to the seas, or to the dry land, or to the sun, moon, or stars --
"All the times of their revolutions, all the appointed days, months, and years, . . . and all their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed in the days of the dispensation of the fulness of times." 46
Eventually, "the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory." 47 At the Second Coming of the Lord, the earth will be changed once again. It will be returned to its paradisiacal state and be made new. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. 48
Our Responsibilities Meanwhile, brothers and sisters, we should understand our significant responsibilities. Both the creations of God and the creations of man teach us the importance of each component. Do you think that the absence of one piece of granite from the face of this building would be noticed? Of course it would!
So it is with each son or daughter of God. We cannot let "the head say unto the feet it [has] no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?" 49 Just as "the body [has] need of every member," 50 so the family has need of every member. All members of a family are to be linked, sealed, and "edified together, that the system may be kept perfect." 51
The Creation, great as it is, is not an end in itself but a means to an end. We come to the earth for a brief period of time, endure our tests and trials, and prepare to move onward and upward to a glorious homecoming. 52 Our thoughts and deeds while here will surely be more purposeful if we understand God's plan and are thankful for and obedient to His commandments. 53
As beneficiaries of the divine Creation, what shall we do? We should care for the earth, be wise stewards over it, and preserve it for future generations. 54 And we are to love and care for one another. 55
We are to be creators in our own right -- builders of an individual faith in God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and faith in His Church. We are to build families and be sealed in holy temples. We are to build the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. 56 We are to prepare for our own divine destiny -- glory, immortality, and eternal lives. 57 These supernal blessings can all be ours, through our faithfulness.
I testify that God lives! Jesus is the Christ and Creator! He is Lord over all the earth. He has established His Church in these latter days to accomplish His divine purposes. Joseph Smith is the great prophet of the Restoration. President Gordon B. Hinckley is His prophet today, whom I sustain with all my heart, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. D&C 104:17.
2. See Russell M. Nelson, "The Magnificence of Man," Ensign, Jan. 1988, 64-69; "We Are Children of God," Ensign, Nov. 1998, 85-87.
3. See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 349-50, 365.
4. See 2 Ne. 9:13; Alma 34:9; Abr. 3:22-27.
5. See Alma 42:8, 16.
6. See Jarom 1:2; Alma 24:14; Alma 42:5; Moses 6:62.
7. See Jacob 6:8; Alma 12:25-34; Alma 17:16; Alma 18:39; Alma 22:13; Alma 29:2; Alma 34:16, 31; Alma 39:18; Alma 42:11-13.
8. See Alma 41:2.
9. See Alma 42:15, 31; 2 Ne. 9:6.
10. See 2 Ne. 11:5.
11. See Rev. 14:6; D&C 27:5; D&C 36:5; D&C 68:1; D&C 77:8-9, 11; D&C 79:1; D&C 84:103; D&C 99:1; D&C 101:22, 39; D&C 106:2; D&C 109:29, 65; D&C 124:88; D&C 128:17; D&C 133:36; D&C 135:3, 7; D&C 138:19, 25; JS-H 1:34.
12. Latter-day revelation affirms that Michael (known also as Adam; see D&C 27:11; D&C 107:54; D&C 128:21) participated in the process of creation as well.
13. See 2 Ne. 2:25; Moses 6:48; JST, Gen. 6:49, The Holy Scriptures: Inspired Version.
14. See 2 Ne. 2:21-28.
15. "Discourse on Abbaton by Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria," in Coptic Martyrdoms etc. in the Dialect of Upper Egypt, ed. and trans. E. A. Wallis Budge (1914), 482. Timothy, archbishop of Alexandria, died in a.d. 385. Brackets are included in Budge's English translation.
16. See John 3:16; John 10:14-15, 17-18.
17. Moses 1:39.
18. See 3 Ne. 27:13.
19. For a comprehensive study of the prophecies of prophets pertaining to Christ, see D. Kelly Ogden and R. Val Johnson, "All the Prophets Prophesied of Christ," Ensign, Jan. 1994, 31-37; Liahona, Apr. 1994, 10-18.
20. See 2 Ne. 9:20-27; Mosiah 26:21-23; D&C 138:19.
21. Moses 3:5; see Moses 6:51.
22. See Gen. 1:5-2:3.
23. See Moses 2:5-3:3.
24. See Abr. 4:8-5:3.
25. Abraham likened one day in the Lord's time to 1,000 years (see Abr. 3:4).
26. See Gen. 1:1-5; Moses 2:1-5; Abr. 4:1-5.
27. See Gen. 1:6-8; Moses 2:6-8; Abr. 4:6-8.
28. See Gen. 1:9-13; Moses 2:9-13; Abr. 4:9-13.
29. See Gen. 1:14-19; Moses 2:14-19; Abr. 4:14-19.
30. See Henry Eyring, "World of Evidence, World of Faith," in Of Heaven and Earth: Reconciling Scientific Thought with LDS Theology, ed. and comp. David L. Clark (1998), 59.
31. Abr. 4:20-21.
32. See Gen. 1:20-23; Moses 2:20-23; Abr. 4:22-23.
33. See Gen. 1:24-31; Moses 2:24-31; Abr. 4:24-31.
34. Abr. 4:26-27.
35. Note that the Lord called the first man and woman "Adam" (see Gen. 5:2; Moses 6:9).
36. Gen. 1:28; Moses 2:28; see also Abr. 4:28; JST, Gen. 1:30.
37. See Gen. 2:1-3; Moses 3:1-3; Abr. 5:1-3.
38. See Ps. 100:3.
39. Ps. 104:24.
40. Moses 1:33; see also D&C 76:23-24.
41. D&C 49:16.
42. See D&C 128:15.
43. See D&C 2:2-3; D&C 49:17; D&C 138:48; JS-H 1:39.
44. See D&C 128:18.
45. D&C 101:32-34.
46. D&C 121:30-31.
47. A of F 1:10.
48. See Rev. 21:1; Ether 13:9; D&C 29:23-24.
49. D&C 84:109.
50. D&C 84:110.
51. D&C 84:110; see also 1 Cor. 12:14-26.
52. See Ps. 116:15; Alma 42:8.
53. See D&C 59:20-21.
54. The Lord has entrusted us to care for the earth. He said: "It is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures. I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine" (D&C 104:13-15; see also Rev. 7:3).
55. See John 13:34-35; John 15:12; Rom. 12:10-13:8; Gal. 5:13; 1 Thes. 4:9; 1 Jn. 3:11-4:12; Mosiah 4:15; D&C 88:123.
56. See JST, Matt. 6:38 (KJV, Matt. 6:33, footnote a).
57. See Rom. 2:7; D&C 75:5; D&C 128:12; D&C 132:19-24.

Gospel Principles Lesson 4: Freedom to Choose

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by D. Todd Christofferson
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard. *Note: Please follow Church guidelines, as listed in Gospel Principles, when using talks like this one as a supplement for the lesson: "If you have been called to teach a quorum or class . . . do not substitute outside materials, however interesting they may be. Stay true to the scriptures and the words in the book. As appropriate, use personal experiences and articles from Church magazines to supplement the lessons." (Gospel Principles, p. 2)

During World War II, President James E. Faust, then a young enlisted man in the United States Army, applied for officer candidate school. He appeared before a board of inquiry composed of what he described as "hard-bitten career soldier[s]." After a while their questions turned to matters of religion. The final questions were these:
"In times of war should not the moral code be relaxed? Does not the stress of battle justify men in doing things that they would not do when at home under normal situations?'
President Faust relates:
"I recognized that here was a chance perhaps to make some points and look broad-minded. I knew perfectly well that the men who were asking me this question did not live by the standards that I had been taught. The thought flashed through my mind that perhaps I could say that I had my own beliefs but did not wish to impose them on others. But there seemed to flash before my mind the faces of the many people to whom I had taught the law of chastity as a missionary. In the end I simply said, 'I do not believe there is a double standard of morality.'
"I left the hearing resigned to the fact that [they] would not like the answers I had given . . . and would surely score me very low. A few days later when the scores were posted, to my astonishment I had passed. I was in the first group taken for officer’s candidate school! . . .
"This was one of the critical crossroads of my life."1
President Faust recognized that we all possess the God-given gift of moral agency -- the right to make choices and the obligation to account for those choices (see D&C 101:78). He also understood and demonstrated that, for positive outcomes, moral agency must be accompanied by moral discipline.
By "moral discipline," I mean self-discipline based on moral standards. Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard. It rejects the self-absorbed life in favor of developing character worthy of respect and true greatness through Christlike service (see Mark 10:42-45). The root of the word discipline is shared by the word disciple, suggesting to the mind the fact that conformity to the example and teachings of Jesus Christ is the ideal discipline that, coupled with His grace, forms a virtuous and morally excellent person.
Jesus's own moral discipline was rooted in His discipleship to the Father. To His disciples He explained, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4:34). By this same pattern, our moral discipline is rooted in loyalty and devotion to the Father and the Son. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that provides the moral certainty upon which moral discipline rests.
The societies in which many of us live have for more than a generation failed to foster moral discipline. They have taught that truth is relative and that everyone decides for himself or herself what is right. Concepts such as sin and wrong have been condemned as "value judgments." As the Lord describes it, "Every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god" (D&C 1:16).
As a consequence, self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments. One columnist observed that "gentlemanly behavior [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. . . .
"Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we've become."2
In most of the world, we have been experiencing an extended and devastating economic recession. It was brought on by multiple causes, but one of the major causes was widespread dishonest and unethical conduct, particularly in the U.S. housing and financial markets. Reactions have focused on enacting more and stronger regulation. Perhaps that may dissuade some from unprincipled conduct, but others will simply get more creative in their circumvention.3 There could never be enough rules so finely crafted as to anticipate and cover every situation, and even if there were, enforcement would be impossibly expensive and burdensome. This approach leads to diminished freedom for everyone. In the memorable phrase of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, "We would not accept the yoke of Christ; so now we must tremble at the yoke of Caesar."4
In the end, it is only an internal moral compass in each individual that can effectively deal with the root causes as well as the symptoms of societal decay. Societies will struggle in vain to establish the common good until sin is denounced as sin and moral discipline takes its place in the pantheon of civic virtues.5
Moral discipline is learned at home. While we cannot control what others may or may not do, the Latter-day Saints can certainly stand with those who demonstrate virtue in their own lives and inculcate virtue in the rising generation. Remember from Book of Mormon history the young men who were key to the Nephite victory in the long war of 66 to 60 b.c. -- the sons of the people of Ammon. Their character and discipline were described in these words:
"They were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.
"Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him" (Alma 53:20-21).
"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them" (Alma 56:47).
"Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually" (Alma 57:27).
Here we find a standard for what should happen in our homes and in the Church. Our teaching should draw upon our own faith and focus first and foremost on instilling faith in God in the rising generation. We must declare the essential need to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before Him in soberness, or in other words, with reverence. Each must be persuaded that service and sacrifice for the well-being and happiness of others are far superior to making one's own comfort and possessions the highest priority.
This requires more than an occasional reference to one or another gospel principle. There must be constant teaching, mostly by example. President Henry B. Eyring expressed the vision we strive to attain:
"The pure gospel of Jesus Christ must go down into the hearts of [our children] by the power of the Holy Ghost. It will not be enough for them to have had a spiritual witness of the truth and to want good things later. It will not be enough for them to hope for some future cleansing and strengthening. Our aim must be for them to become truly converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ while they are with us. . . .
"Then they will have gained a strength from what they are, not only from what they know. They will become disciples of Christ."6
I have heard a few parents state that they don't want to impose the gospel on their children but want them to make up their own minds about what they will believe and follow. They think that in this way they are allowing children to exercise their agency. What they forget is that the intelligent use of agency requires knowledge of the truth, of things as they really are (see D&C 93:24). Without that, young people can hardly be expected to understand and evaluate the alternatives that come before them. Parents should consider how the adversary approaches their children. He and his followers are not promoting objectivity but are vigorous, multimedia advocates of sin and selfishness.
Seeking to be neutral about the gospel is, in reality, to reject the existence of God and His authority. We must, rather, acknowledge Him and His omniscience if we want our children to see life's choices clearly and be able to think for themselves. They should not have to learn by sad experience that "wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10).
I can share with you a simple example from my own life of what parents can do. When I was about five or six years old, I lived across the street from a small grocery store. One day two other boys invited me to go with them to the store. As we stood coveting the candy for sale there, the older boy grabbed a candy bar and slipped it into his pocket. He urged the other boy and me to do the same, and after some hesitation we did. Then we quickly left the store and ran off in separate directions. I found a hiding place at home and tore off the candy wrapper. My mother discovered me with the chocolate evidence smeared on my face and escorted me back to the grocery store. As we crossed the street, I was sure I was facing life imprisonment. With sobs and tears, I apologized to the owner and paid him for the candy bar with a dime that my mother had loaned me (which I had to earn later). My mother's love and discipline put an abrupt and early end to my life of crime.
All of us experience temptations. So did the Savior, but He "gave no heed unto them" (D&C 20:22). Similarly, we do not have to yield simply because a temptation surfaces. We may want to, but we don't have to. An incredulous female friend asked a young adult woman, committed to living the law of chastity, how it was possible that she had never "slept with anybody." "Don't you want to?" the friend asked. The young woman thought: "The question intrigued me, because it was so utterly beside the point. . . . Mere wanting is hardly a proper guide for moral conduct."7
In some cases, temptation may have the added force of potential or actual addiction. I am grateful that for an increasing number of people the Church can provide therapeutic help of various kinds to aid them in avoiding or coping with addictions. Even so, while therapy can support a person's will, it cannot substitute for it. Always and ever, there must be an exercise of discipline -- moral discipline founded on faith in God the Father and the Son and what They can achieve with us through the atoning grace of Jesus Christ. In Peter's words, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9).
We cannot presume that the future will resemble the past -- that things and patterns we have relied upon economically, politically, socially will remain as they have been. Perhaps our moral discipline, if we will cultivate it, will have an influence for good and inspire others to pursue the same course. We may thereby have an impact on future trends and events. At a minimum, moral discipline will be of immense help to us as we deal with whatever stresses and challenges may come in a disintegrating society.
We have heard thoughtful and inspired messages during this conference, and in a moment President Thomas S. Monson will provide concluding words of counsel. As we prayerfully consider what we have learned and relearned, I believe that the Spirit will shed further light on those things that have particular application for each of us individually. We will be fortified in the moral discipline needed to walk uprightly before the Lord and be at one with Him and the Father.
I stand with my brethren and with you, my brothers and sisters, as a witness that God is our Father and that His Son, Jesus, is our Redeemer. Their law is immutable, Their truth is everlasting, and Their love is infinite. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. James E. Faust, Stories from My Life (2001), 2-3.
2. Walter Williams, "Laws Are a Poor Substitute for Common Decency, Moral Values," Deseret News, Apr. 29, 2009, A15.
3. Speaking some years ago to members of the legal profession, President James E. Faust cautioned: "There is a great risk in justifying what we do individually and professionally on the basis of what is 'legal' rather than what is 'right.' In so doing, we put our very souls at risk. The philosophy that what is legal is also right will rob us of what is highest and best in our nature. What conduct is actually legal is, in many instances, way below the standards of a civilized society and light years below the teachings of the Christ. If you accept what is legal as your standard of personal or professional conduct, you will deny yourself of that which is truly noble in your personal dignity and worth" ("Be Healers," Clark Memorandum, spring 2003, 3).
4. "Bishop Fulton John Sheen Makes a Wartime Plea," in William Safire, sel., Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, rev. ed. (1997), 478.
5. Editorial writers at the Wall Street Journal once observed:
"Sin isn't something that many people, including most churches, have spent much time talking about or worrying about through the years of the [sexual] revolution. But we will say this for sin: it at least offered a frame of reference for personal behavior. When the frame was dismantled, guilt wasn't the only thing that fell away; we also lost the guidewire of personal responsibility. . . .
"The United States has a drug problem and a high-school-sex problem and a welfare problem and an AIDS problem and a rape problem. None of this will go away until more people in positions of responsibility are willing to come forward and explain, in frankly moral terms, that some of the things that people do nowadays are wrong" ("The Joy of What?" Wall Street Journal, Dec. 12, 1991, A14).
6. Henry B. Eyring, in Shaun D. Stahle, "Inspiring Students to Stand Strong amid Torrent of Temptation," Church News, Aug. 18, 2001, 5.
7. Sarah E. Hinlicky, "Subversive Virginity," First Things, Oct. 1998, 14.

Gospel Principles Lesson 3: Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Dallin H. Oaks
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Our Savior is the light of the world. We should live so that we can be enlightened by his Spirit, and so that we may hear and heed the ratifying seal of the Holy Ghost. My dear brothers and sisters, I rejoice with you in the privilege of coming together on this beautiful Sabbath day to worship our Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ and to be instructed by their servants.
The Book of Mormon tells of the resurrected Lord visiting some of the people of the Americas. Clothed in a white robe, he descended out of heaven. Standing in the midst of a multitude, he stretched forth his hand and said:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
"And behold, I am the light and the life of the world" (3 Ne. 11:10-11).
He has repeated this declaration in many modern revelations (see D&C 12:9, D&C 39:2, D&C 45:7). In harmony with his words, we solemnly affirm that Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God the Eternal Father, is the light and life of the world.
Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world because all things were made by him. Under the direction and according to the plan of God the Father, Jesus Christ is the Creator, the source of the light and life of all things. Through modern revelation we have the testimony of John, who bore record that Jesus Christ is "the light and the Redeemer of the world, the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.
"The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him" (D&C 93:9-10).
The Light of the World Jesus Christ is the light of the world because he is the source of the light which "proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space" (D&C 88:12). His light is "the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (D&C 93:2; see also D&C 84:46). The scriptures call this universal light "the light of truth" (D&C 88:6), "the light of Christ" (D&C 88:7; Moro. 7:18), and the "Spirit of Christ" (Moro. 7:16). This is the light that quickens our understanding (see D&C 88:11). It is "the light by which [we] may judge" (Moro. 7:18). It "is given to every man, that he may know good from evil" (Moro. 7:16).
Jesus Christ is also the light of the world because his example and his teachings illuminate the path we should walk to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Before Jesus was born, Zacharias prophesied that the Lord God of Israel would visit his people "to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide [their] feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:79).
During his ministry Jesus taught, "Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you" (3 Ne. 18:16). Later, he told his Apostles, "Hold up your light that it may shine unto the world," adding, "Behold, I am the light which ye shall hold up--that which ye have seen me do" (3 Ne. 18:24). He taught the Nephite multitude, "Ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do" (3 Ne. 27:21).
The Savior emphasized the close relationship between his light and his commandments when he taught the Nephites, "Behold I am the law, and the light" (3 Ne. 15:9).
The Psalmist expressed that relationship: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105).
As the Lord led Lehi and his people out of Jerusalem, he said, "I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments" (1 Ne. 17:13).
As we keep the Lord's commandments, we see his light ever brighter on our path and we realize the fulfillment of Isaiah's promise, "And the Lord shall guide thee continually" (Isa. 58:11).
Jesus Christ is also the light of the world because his power persuades us to do good. The prophet Mormon taught: "All things which are good cometh of God; . . .
"Wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God" (Moro. 7:12-13). Mormon's words anticipate what the Lord later told Moroni while he was compiling the Book of Mormon: "He that believeth these things which I have spoken, . . . shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good.
"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. . . . I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world" (Ether 4:11-12; see also D&C 11:12).
And so we see that Jesus Christ is the light of the world because he is the source of the light that quickens our understanding, because his teachings and his example illuminate our path, and because his power persuades us to do good.
The Life of the World Jesus Christ is the life of the world because of his unique position in what the scriptures call "the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death" (2 Ne. 11:5).
Jesus taught: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. . . .
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:9-10).
Later, Jesus explained to his Apostles, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
We come to the Father through the life-giving mission of the Son in two ways. In each of these ways, Jesus Christ is the life of the world, our Savior and our Redeemer.
Through the power and example of the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ, all mankind will be resurrected (see 2 Ne. 9:7, 12). Our mortal life came into being because of his creative act. Our immortal life has now been assured because the Resurrected Lord has redeemed us from death. According to the plan of the Father, the Son was "the firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:18). "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22).
Jesus Christ is also the life of the world because he has atoned for the sins of the world. By yielding to temptation, Adam and Eve were "cut off from the presence of the Lord" (Hel. 14:16). In the scriptures this separation is called spiritual death (see Hel. 14:16; D&C 29:41).
The atonement of our Savior overcame this spiritual death. The scriptures say, "The Son of God hath atoned for original guilt" (Moses 6:54). As Paul taught the Saints in Rome: "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Rom. 5:18). As a result of this atonement, "men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression" (A of F 1:2).
Our Savior has redeemed us from the sin of Adam, but what about the effects of our own sins? Since "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23), we are all spiritually dead. Again, our only hope for life is our Savior, who, the prophet Lehi taught, "offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law" (2 Ne. 2:7).
In order to lay claim upon our Savior's life-giving triumph over the spiritual death we suffer because of our own sins, we must follow the conditions he has prescribed. As he has told us in modern revelation, "I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
"But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I" (D&C 19:16-17).
Our third article of faith describes the Savior's conditions in these words: "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
In the words of our Savior, recorded in the Book of Mormon as he taught the people on this continent, "And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved" (3 Ne. 23:5).
In summary, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, is the life of the world because his resurrection and his atonement save us from both physical and spiritual death. Jacob rejoiced in this gift of life: "O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit" (2 Ne. 9:10).
I wish that everyone could understand our belief and hear our testimony that Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, is the light and life of the world.
Our Savior and Our Redeemer Some who profess to be followers of Christ insist that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not Christians. Indeed, there are those who make their living attacking our church and its doctrines. I wish all of them could have the experience I shared recently.
A friend who was making his first visit to Salt Lake City, called on me in my office. He is a well-educated man and a devout and sincere Christian. Although we have not discussed this with each other, we both know that some leaders of his denomination have taught that members of our church are not Christians.
After a short discussion on a matter of common interest, I told my friend I had something I would like him to see. We walked over to Temple Square and into the North Visitors' Center. We viewed the pictures of Bible and Book of Mormon Apostles and prophets. Then we turned our steps up the inclined walkway to the second level. Here Thorvaldsen's great statue of the risen Christ dominates a setting suggestive of the immensity of space and the grandeur of the creations of God.
As we emerged and beheld this majestic likeness of the Christus, arms outstretched and hands showing the wounds of his crucifixion, my friend drew a sharp breath. We stood quietly for a few minutes, enjoying a reverent communion of worshipful thoughts about our Savior. Then, without further conversation, we made our way down to the street level. On the way we walked past the small diorama showing the Prophet Joseph Smith kneeling in the Sacred Grove.
As we left Temple Square and took our leave of one another, my friend took me by the hand. "Thank you for showing me that," he said. "Now I understand something about your faith that I have never understood before." I hope that every person who has ever had doubts about whether we are Christians can achieve that same understanding.
We love the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah, our Savior and our Redeemer. His is the only name by which we can be saved (see Mosiah 3:17, Mosiah 5:8; D&C 18:23). We seek to serve him. We belong to his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our missionaries and members testify of Jesus Christ in many nations of the world. As the prophet Nephi wrote in the Book of Mormon, "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Ne. 25:26).
As we state in our first article of faith, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." [A of F 1:1] God the Father, the great Elohim, the Almighty God, is the Father of our spirits, the framer of heaven and earth, and the author of the plan of our salvation (see Moses 1:31-33; Moses 2:1-2; D&C 20:17-21). Jesus Christ is his Only Begotten Son, Jehovah, the Holy One and God of Israel, the Messiah, "the God of the whole earth" (3 Ne. 11:14). As the Book of Mormon declares, "Salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:18; see also Moses 6:52, 59). The scriptures proclaim and we reverently affirm that Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world.
What does this knowledge mean to Latter-day Saints? (We call ourselves "Saints" because this is the scriptural term for those who have sought to make their lives holy by entering into covenants to follow Christ.)
Our Savior is the light of the world. We should live so that we can be enlightened by his Spirit, and so that we may hear and heed the ratifying seal of the Holy Ghost, which testifies of the Father and the Son (see D&C 20:26). We should study the principles of his gospel and receive its ordinances. We should keep his commandments, including his two great commandments to love God and to love and serve our neighbors (see Matt. 22:36-40). We should be faithful to the covenants we have made in the name of Jesus Christ.
Our Savior is also the life of the world. We should give thanks for his absolute gift of immortality. We should receive the ordinances and keep the covenants necessary to receive his conditional gift of life eternal, the greatest of all the gifts of God (see D&C 14:7).
In short, Latter-day Saints invite each other and all men and women everywhere to "come unto Christ." As a prophet has told us in the Book of Mormon: "I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved" (Omni 1:26).
May God bless all of us to come unto Christ. I testify that he is our Savior and our Redeemer, the light and the life of the world, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gospel Principles Lesson 2: Our Heavenly Family

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:00:00 -0700

by Quentin L. Cook
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Even though our journey may be fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious. This mortal life can constitute a difficult journey, but the destination is truly glorious. Christ expressed this to His disciples: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."1
My objective, this afternoon, is twofold: first, to address some stumbling blocks to faith; and second, to describe how our Father's plan is big enough for all His children.
During the past two years in the United States and across the world, there has been a dramatic increase in the discussion of our faith and beliefs. This is not new; it has happened periodically throughout the history of the Church.
In 1863 Charles Dickens, the English novelist, went on board the passenger ship Amazon, which was bound for New York. His purpose was to report on the Latter-day Saint converts who were emigrating to build up the Church in the American West. There had been thousands of converts who had already emigrated, and much had been written, particularly in the British media, about them and their beliefs. Most of what was written was unfavorable.
"I went on board their ship," wrote Dickens, "to bear testimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully believed they would; to my great astonishment they did not deserve it."2
After observing and mingling with the converts, Dickens was impressed with them and described these English converts, most of whom were laborers, as being "in their degree, the pick and flower of England."3
There have been two contrasting reports with respect to the Church. On one hand, righteous members and the way they live their lives have generally been reported on favorably. Those who know Latter-day Saints personally or have the opportunity to observe them up close have the same view that Charles Dickens reported almost 150 years ago.
Because of the uplifting doctrine of the Restoration, members rejoice in the gospel and find joy and satisfaction in the Church. We are viewed favorably when we live the teachings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. When members don't live the teachings, it can be a stumbling block to those who do not belong to the Church.4
Unlike the favorable reports on righteous members, descriptions of the Church and its doctrine have often been untrue, unfair, and harsh. It should be acknowledged that some descriptions of Christianity in general have also been very harsh.5
This attitude toward our doctrine does not come as a surprise. In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord indicated that there would be some who "lift up their voices and curse God,"6 and some "turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men."7
Recent bus ads in London demonstrate the polarization that exists concerning religion in general. Some atheists, agnostics, and nonbelievers paid to display large posters on red double-decker buses in London that said, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Opposing ads by Christians asserted, "There definitely is a God," followed by uplifting messages.8
Nonbelievers find it hard to accept the miracles of the Old and New Testaments and the Savior's virgin birth and Resurrection. They view these events with the same skepticism as the appearance of God the Father and Jesus Christ to the Prophet Joseph Smith. They are not open to the possibility of a heavenly plan presided over by a supreme being. They do not have faith.9
My principal concern is for the honorable people on the earth who are open to religious faith but have been discouraged or confused by incorrect doctrine. For instance, with respect to the doctrine that revelation still exists, some very good people have been confident that the Church could not be true because they have been taught, and therefore believe, that the heavens are closed and there will be no additional revelation, no scripture, and no pronouncements from heaven. Let me emphasize that this widely held belief is not scriptural, but it is a stumbling block to some.10
In a recent best-selling book, the author uses as his principal analogy the interesting fact that for centuries all Europeans believed that all swans were white. It wasn't until the discovery of Australia that swans of a different color were discovered. The author uses this analogy to help explain events which have actually occurred but were not expected.11 As I thought about this analogy, I realized that many people have refused to seriously investigate the Church because they believe there can be no revelation in this dispensation. One convert, who is now serving as a mission president, describes how difficult this was for him when he was investigating the Church. He said, "I had been taught all my life that there would never again be prophets and apostles here upon the earth. So to accept Joseph Smith as a prophet created a large stumbling block." However, when he prayed, he states, "I received a witness that in fact the gospel had been restored to the earth and that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God."12
For many of these people who are open to religious faith, one issue has been particularly troubling. They have had a difficult time reconciling the correct doctrine that we have a loving Father in Heaven and the incorrect doctrine that most of mankind would be doomed to eternal hell.
This was an issue with my great-great-grandfather Phineas Wolcott Cook. He was born in 1820 in Connecticut. In his diary he notes that he had made a covenant with the Lord to serve Him if he could find the right way. He attended many churches and at one was asked to "testify [and] join the church [and] be a Christian." His response was he "could not tell which one to join, there were so many." He continued to investigate several churches. One doctrine was of particular significance to him. He explained: "Sometimes they found fault with me because I wanted a more liberal salvation for the family of man. I could not believe the Lord had made a part to be saved and a great part to be damned to all eternity."13 Because of this doctrine, he allowed his name to be taken off the records of one Protestant religion. When the LDS missionaries taught him the true doctrine of the plan of salvation in 1844, he was baptized.
Phineas's faith in the loving mercy of the Lord and His plan of happiness has been shared by many honorable men and women, even when the teachings of their own churches were very bleak.
The Anglican church leader and classical scholar Frederic Farrar, the author of The Life of Christ, lamented in lectures in Westminster Abbey that the common teachings of the Protestant churches with respect to hell were incorrect. He asserted that a definition of hell which included endless torment and everlasting damnation was the result of translation errors from Hebrew and Greek to English in the King James Version of the Bible. Farrar also noted the overwhelming demonstration of a loving Father in Heaven throughout the Bible as additional evidence that the definitions of hell and damnation used in the English translation were incorrect.14
Lord Tennyson in his poem "In Memoriam" expressed his heartfelt sentiment after noting that "we trust that somehow good will be the final goal of ill." He continued:
That nothing walks with aimless feet; That not one life shall be destroy'd, Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete.15
At the time Joseph Smith received revelations and organized the Church, the vast majority of churches taught that the Savior's Atonement would not bring about the salvation of most of mankind. The common precept was that a few would be saved and the overwhelming majority would be doomed to endless tortures of the most awful and unspeakable intensity.16 The marvelous doctrine revealed to the Prophet Joseph unveiled to us a plan of salvation that is applicable to all mankind, including those who do not hear of Christ in this life, children who die before the age of accountability, and those who have no understanding.17
At death, righteous spirits live in a temporary state called paradise. Alma the Younger teaches us "paradise [is] a state of rest, a state of peace, where [the righteous] shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow."18 The unrighteous spirits dwell in spirit prison, sometimes referred to as hell.19 It is described as an awful place, a dark place where those fearful of the "indignation of the wrath of God" shall remain until the resurrection.20 However, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all spirits blessed by birth will ultimately be resurrected, spirit and body reunited, and inherit kingdoms of glory that are superior to our existence here on earth.21 The exceptions are confined to those who, like Satan and his angels, willfully rebel against God.22 At the resurrection, the spirit prison or hell will deliver up its captive spirits. Jesus came into the world "to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness."23
The Savior said: "Let not your heart be troubled. . . . In my Father's house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare a place for you."24 A succinct summary is provided in the book of Moses: "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."25
After all the Savior has suffered for mankind, it is not surprising that in speaking of existing churches in the First Vision, He would instruct Joseph to "join none of them, for they were all wrong."26 The Savior subsequently ushered in the Restoration of His true doctrine with respect to the plan of salvation and other saving principles such as the doctrine of Christ.27
But notwithstanding the significance of our doctrinal differences with other faiths, our attitude toward other churches has been to refrain from criticism. They do much good. They bless mankind. Many help their members learn of the Savior and His teachings.
A reporter for the Washington Post visited one of our Church meetings in Nigeria. The reporter interviewed one new member and told of his conversion. The reporter states:
"[He] said . . . he jumped off a city bus and walked into the [LDS Church building]. . . . He immediately liked what he heard inside [the chapel], especially that no one preached that people of other faiths were going to hell."28 This echoes the feeling of numerous converts to the Church since its organization.
Our leaders have consistently counseled us "to live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. There is so great a need for civility and mutual respect among those of differing beliefs and philosophies."29
It is equally important that we be loving and kind to members of our own faith, regardless of their level of commitment or activity. The Savior has made it clear that we are not to judge each other.30 This is especially true of members of our own families. Our obligation is to love and teach and never give up. The Lord has made salvation "free for all men" but has "commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance."31
The desire of our hearts, of course, is not only to acquire salvation and immortality but also to attain eternal life with a loving Father in Heaven and our Savior in the celestial kingdom with our families. We can obtain eternal life only through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.32 The Savior said, "For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me."33
Those early European converts that Dickens met on board the ship Amazon had overcome many stumbling blocks. They had a testimony that revelation comes from heaven and that prophets and apostles are again on the earth. They had faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
They had come to understand the sublime destination that was in store for them. They were not fearful of the arduous journey they were undertaking, and their ultimate destination was not really the Salt Lake Valley. Their true destination was paradise followed by exaltation in the celestial kingdom.
That is why Latter-day Saints then and now sing the last verse of "Come, Come, Ye Saints" with faith and expectation.
And should we die before our journey’s through, Happy day! All is well! We then are free from toil and sorrow, too; With the just we shall dwell!34
A loving Father has provided a comprehensive and compassionate plan for His children "that saves the living, redeems the dead, rescues the damned, and glorifies all who repent."35 Even though our journey may be fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious.
I rejoice in the great plan of salvation that is big enough for all of our Father in Heaven's children. I express gratitude beyond my ability to articulate for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I bear my witness of Him in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. John 16:33; emphasis added.
2. Charles Dickens, "The Uncommercial Traveler," All the Year Round, July 4, 1863, 449; see also David M. W. Pickup, The Pick and Flower of England (2001), 2.
3. All the Year Round, July 4, 1863, 446.
4. See Alma 4:10.
5. See Paul Johnson, "Militant Atheism and God," Forbes, Oct. 8, 2007, 27; John Gray, "Faith in Reason: Secular Fantasies of a Godless Age," Harper's Magazine, Jan. 2008, 86.
6. D&C 45:32.
7. D&C 45:29.
8. William Lee Adams, "Christians and Atheists Battle in London Bus Wars," Time, Feb. 8, 2009, www.time.com.
9. See Luke 18:8.
10. Some have mistakenly cited Revelation 22:18, but this has reference to the book of Revelation, not the Bible as a whole. See also Deuteronomy 4:2.
11. See Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007), xvii-xxviii.
12. Gary G. Ely, May 16, 2008, conversation preparatory to his service as president of the Colorado Denver North Mission.
13. In Newell Cook McMillan, comp., The Life and History of Phineas Wolcott Cook (1980), 19-20.
14. See Frederic W. Farrar, Eternal Hope (1892), xxxvi-xlii. For an expanded discussion of this topic, see H. Wallace Goddard, "God's Plan--Kinder Than We Dare to Expect," Meridian Magazine, www.ldsmag.com/myth/060217plan.html.
15. Poems of Tennyson, ed. Henry Frowde (1907), 387-88.
16. See Frederic W. Farrar, Eternal Hope (1892), xxii.
17. See D&C 29:46-50; 137:7-10.
18. Alma 40:12.
19. See 2 Nephi 9:10-14; D&C 76:84-86.
20. Alma 40:14.
21. See D&C 76:89.
22. See Isaiah 14:12-15; Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:7-9; D&C 76:32-37.
23. D&C 76:41; see also 1 Corinthians 15:22.
24. John 14:1-2.
25. Moses 1:39.
26. Joseph Smith--History 1:19; see also v. 20.
27. See 2 Nephi 31:2-21; see also Hebrews 6:1-2; 2 John 1:9-10; 3 Nephi 11:30-40.
28. Mary Jordan, "The New Face of Global Mormonism," The Washington Post, Nov. 19, 2007, p. A01.
29. Gordon B. Hinckley, "This Is the Work of the Master," Ensign, May 1995, 71.
30. See Luke 6:37.
31. 2 Nephi 26:27.
32. See D&C 93:1.
33. D&C 93:20.
34. "Come, Come, Ye Saints," Hymns, no. 30.
35. Orson F. Whitney, Saturday Night Thoughts (1921), 323.

Gospel Principles Lesson 1: Our Heavenly Father

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:00:00 -0700

by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
source: MormonLife.com
Mormon Life says: Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is continually growing and becoming better known throughout the world. Although there will always be those who stereotype the Church and its members in a negative way, most people think of us as honest, helpful, and hardworking. Some have images of clean-cut missionaries, loving families, and friendly neighbors who don't smoke or drink. We might also be known as a people who attend church every Sunday for three hours, in a place where everyone is a brother or a sister, where the children sing songs about streams that talk, trees that produce popcorn, and children who want to become sunbeams.
Brothers and sisters, of all the things we want to be known for, are there attributes above all others that should define us as members of His Church, even as disciples of Jesus Christ? Since our last general conference six months ago, I have pondered this and similar questions. Today I would like to share with you some thoughts and impressions that have come as a result of that inquiry. The first question is:
How Do We Become True Disciples of Jesus Christ? The Savior Himself provided the answer with this profound declaration: "If ye love me, keep my commandments."1 This is the essence of what it means to be a true disciple: those who receive Christ Jesus walk with Him.2
But this may present a problem for some because there are so many "shoulds" and "should nots" that merely keeping track of them can be a challenge. Sometimes, well-meaning amplifications of divine principles--many coming from uninspired sources--complicate matters further, diluting the purity of divine truth with man-made addenda. One person's good idea--something that may work for him or her--takes root and becomes an expectation. And gradually, eternal principles can get lost within the labyrinth of "good ideas."
This was one of the Savior's criticisms of the religious "experts" of His day, whom He chastised for attending to the hundreds of minor details of the law while neglecting the weightier matters.3
So how do we stay aligned with these weightier matters? Is there a constant compass that can help us prioritize our lives, thoughts, and actions?
Once again the Savior revealed the way. When asked to name the greatest commandment, He did not hesitate. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," He said. "This is the first and great commandment."4 Coupled with the second great commandment--to love our neighbor as ourselves5--we have a compass that provides direction not only for our lives but also for the Lord's Church on both sides of the veil.
Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk.
When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden.
Why Should We Love God? God the Eternal Father did not give that first great commandment because He needs us to love Him. His power and glory are not diminished should we disregard, deny, or even defile His name. His influence and dominion extend through time and space independent of our acceptance, approval, or admiration.
No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God!
For what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do.
What we think and do determines who we are--and who we will become.
We are created in the image of our heavenly parents; we are God's spirit children. Therefore, we have a vast capacity for love--it is part of our spiritual heritage. What and how we love not only defines us as individuals; it also defines us as a church. Love is the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ.
Since the beginning of time, love has been the source of both the highest bliss and the heaviest burdens. At the heart of misery from the days of Adam until today, you will find the love of wrong things. And at the heart of joy, you will find the love of good things.
And the greatest of all good things is God.
Our Father in Heaven has given us, His children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend. Under His direction the Great Jehovah created this wondrous world we live in. God the Father watches over us, fills our hearts with breathtaking joy, brightens our darkest hours with blessed peace, distills upon our minds precious truths, shepherds us through times of distress, rejoices when we rejoice, and answers our righteous petitions.
He offers to His children the promise of a glorious and infinite existence and has provided a way for us to progress in knowledge and glory until we receive a fulness of joy. He has promised us all that He has.
If all that is not enough reason to love our Heavenly Father, perhaps we can learn from the words of the Apostle John, who said, "We love him, because he first loved us."6
Why Does Heavenly Father Love Us? Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount--that is the measure of God’s love for you.7
God does not look on the outward appearance.8 I believe that He doesn't care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.
He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our resume but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God's love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.
What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us.9
How Can We Increase Our Love of God? Since "God is love,"10 the closer we approach Him, the more profoundly we experience love.11 But because a veil separates this mortality from our heavenly home, we must seek in the Spirit that which is imperceptible to mortal eyes.
Heaven may seem distant at times, but the scriptures offer hope: "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."12
However, seeking God with all our hearts implies much more than simply offering a prayer or pronouncing a few words inviting God into our lives. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments."13 We can make a great production of saying that we know God. We can proclaim publicly that we love Him. Nevertheless, if we don't obey Him, all is in vain, for "he that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."14
We increase our love for our Heavenly Father and demonstrate that love by aligning our thoughts and actions with God's word. His pure love directs and encourages us to become more pure and holy. It inspires us to walk in righteousness—not out of fear or obligation but out of an earnest desire to become even more like Him because we love Him. By doing so, we can become "born again . . . [and] cleansed by blood, even the blood of [the] Only Begotten; that [we] might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory."15
My dear brothers and sisters, don't get discouraged if you stumble at times. Don't feel downcast or despair if you don't feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible--and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you.
How Can We Hear the Father's Voice? As you reach out to your Heavenly Father, as you pray to Him in the name of Christ, He will answer you. He speaks to us everywhere.
As you read God's word recorded in the scriptures, listen for His voice.
During this general conference and later as you study the words spoken here, listen for His voice.
As you visit the temple and attend Church meetings, listen for His voice.
Listen for the voice of the Father in the bounties and beauties of nature, in the gentle whisperings of the Spirit.
In your daily interactions with others, in the words of a hymn, in the laughter of a child, listen for His voice.
If you listen for the voice of the Father, He will lead you on a course that will allow you to experience the pure love of Christ.
As we draw near to Heavenly Father, we become more holy. And as we become more holy, we will overcome disbelief and our souls will be filled with His blessed light. As we align our lives with this supernal light, it leads us out of darkness and toward greater light. This greater light leads to the unspeakable ministerings of the Holy Spirit, and the veil between heaven and earth can become thin.
Why Is Love the Great Commandment? Heavenly Father's love for His children is the core message of the plan of happiness, which plan is made active through the Atonement of Jesus Christ--the greatest expression of love the world has ever known.16
How clearly the Savior spoke when He said that every other commandment hangs upon the principle of love.17 If we do not neglect the great laws--if we truly learn to love our Heavenly Father and our fellowman with all our heart, soul, and mind--all else will fall into place.
The divine love of God turns ordinary acts into extraordinary service. Divine love is the motive that transports simple words into sacred scripture. Divine love is the factor that transforms reluctant compliance with God's commandments into blessed dedication and consecration.
Love is the guiding light that illuminates the disciple's path and fills our daily walk with life, meaning, and wonder.
Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship.
Love is the way of the disciple.
I testify that God is in His heaven. He lives. He knows and loves you. He is mindful of you. He hears your prayers and knows the desires of your heart. He is filled with infinite love for you.
Let me conclude as I began, my dear brothers and sisters: what attribute should define us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Let us be known as a people who love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and who love our neighbor as ourselves. When we understand and practice these two great commandments in our families, in our wards and branches, in our nations, and in our daily lives, we will begin to understand what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus the Christ. Of this I testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. John 14:15.
2. See Colossians 2:6.
3. See Matthew 23:23.
4. Matthew 22:37, 38.
5. See Matthew 22:39.
6. 1 John 4:19.
7. See Isaiah 54:10; Jeremiah 31:3.
8. See 1 Samuel 16:7.
9. See D&C 88:63.
10. 1 John 4:8.
11. See Romans 5:5; 1 John 4:7, 16.
12. Jeremiah 29:13.
13. 1 John 5:3; see also 2 John 1:6.
14. 1 John 2:4; see also Isaiah 29:13.
15. Moses 6:59.
16. See John 15:13.
17. See Matthew 22:40.

Joseph Smith Teachings Lesson 16: Revelation and the Living Prophet

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:24:00 -0600

source: MormonLife.com
Not long after our friend Carolyn Rasmus joined the faculty of Brigham Young University, a group of her new teaching colleagues invited her to join them on a Saturday hike in the mountains above Provo. Carolyn was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but she had felt particularly welcome in her new circle of associates. She eagerly joined them for the climb. As the sun steadily rose, so did the hikers on the mountainside. Then, as the ten o'clock hour approached, the group began to find places to sit down. Carolyn thought, "This is wonderful. How did they know I needed the rest?" and she, too, looked for a comfortable spot to stretch out. But the participants seemed unusually earnest about this particular break, some pulling out pencils and notebooks while one intently dialed a transistor radio. What then happened would be a turning point in her life forever. One of her friends said, "Carolyn, we need to explain something. This is the first Saturday in October, and for us that means not only lovely weather and bright fall foliage, but it also means a general conference of the Church. As Latter-day Saints, wherever we are or whatever we are doing, we stop and listen. So we are going to sit here among the oak and the pines, look out over the valley below, and listen to the prophets of God for a couple of hours." "A couple of hours!" thought Carolyn. "I didn't know there were prophets of God still living," she said, "and I certainly didn't know there were two hours' worth!" Little did she know that they were going to stop again at two o'clock that afternoon for another two hours and then invite her to tune in at home for four more the next day. Well, the rest is history. With the gift of a leather-bound copy of the scriptures from her students, the love of friends and families in the LDS ward she began to attend, and spiritual experiences we want all who make their way into the light of the gospel to have, Carolyn was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church. The rest is, as they say, history. With her introduction to general conference that day sitting high atop Y Mountain, Sister Rasmus had seen her own personal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophetic invitation: "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."1 We are coming to the close of another marvelous general conference. We have been blessed to hear messages from our leaders, including and especially President Gordon B. Hinckley, the man we sustain as God's oracle on earth, our living prophet, seer, and revelator. As prophets have done in dispensations from Adam down to the present day, President Hinckley has figuratively gathered us in a kind of global equivalent of the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, has loved us and taught us and bestowed upon us his blessing.2 I think it is safe to say that the prayer all the brethren and sisters have had as they have spoken this weekend is that general conference will have been as uplifting, and if needful as life-changing for each of us as it was for Sister Rasmus and countless thousands of others who semi-annually respond to our LDS hymn, "Come, listen to a prophet's voice, and hear the word of God."3 In my own expression of testimony and gratitude for the messages and meaning of general conference, may I suggest three things these twice-yearly gatherings declare to all the world. First, they declare eagerly and unequivocally that there is again a living prophet on the earth speaking in the name of the Lord. And how we need such guidance! Our times are turbulent and difficult. We see wars inter-nationally and distress domestically. Neighbors all around us face personal heartaches and family sorrows. Legions know fear and troubles of a hundred kinds. This reminds us that when those mists of darkness enveloped the travelers in Lehi's vision of the tree of life, it enveloped all of the participants--the righteous as well as the unrighteous, the young along with the elderly, the new convert and seasoned member alike. In that allegory all face opposition and travail, and only the rod of iron--the declared word of God--can bring them safely through. We all need that rod. We all need that word. No one is safe without it, for in its absence any can "[fall] away into forbidden paths and [be] lost," as the record says.4 How grateful we are to have heard God's voice and felt the strength of that iron rod in this conference these past two days. Not often but over the years some sources have suggested that the Brethren are out of touch in their declarations, that they don't know the issues, that some of their policies and practices are out-of-date, not relevant to our times. As the least of those who have been sustained by you to witness the guidance of this Church firsthand, I say with all the fervor of my soul that never in my personal or professional life have I ever associated with any group who are so in touch, who know so profoundly the issues facing us, who look so deeply into the old, stay so open to the new, and weigh so carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully everything in between. I testify that the grasp this body of men and women have of moral and societal issues exceeds that of any think tank or brain trust of comparable endeavor of which I know anywhere on the earth. I bear personal witness of how thoroughly good they are, of how hard they work, and how humbly they live. It is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it. It is true light shining in a dark world, and it shines from these proceedings. Secondly, each of these conferences marks a call to action not only in our own lives but also on behalf of others around us, those who are of our own family and faith and those who are not. This morning President Hinckley movingly reminded us that this is the 150th anniversary of those handcart companies that, as general conference was convening in October of 1856 here in the Salt Lake Valley, were staggering through the last freezing miles of Nebraska and were soon to be stranded in the impassable snows of the high country of Wyoming. He quoted to us President Brigham Young's inspiring general conference message to the Saints, simply "go and bring in those people now on the plains."5 As surely as the rescue of those in need was the general conference theme of October 1856, so too is it the theme of this conference and last conference and the one to come next spring. It may not be blizzards and frozen-earth burials that we face this conference, but the needy are still out there--the poor and the weary, the discouraged and downhearted, those "[falling] away into [the] forbidden paths" we mentioned earlier, and multitudes who are "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."6 They are all out there with feeble knees, hands that hang down,7 and bad weather setting in. They can be rescued only by those who have more and know more and can help more. And don't worry about asking, "Where are they?" They are everywhere, on our right hand and on our left, in our neighborhoods and in the workplace, in every community and county and nation of this world. Take your team and wagon; load it with your love, your testimony, and a spiritual sack of flour; then drive in any direction. The Lord will lead you to those in need if you will but embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been taught in this conference. Open your heart and your hand to those trapped in the twenty-first century's equivalent of Martin's Cove and Devil's Gate. In doing so we honor the Master's repeated plea on behalf of lost sheep and lost coins and lost souls.8 Lastly, a general conference of the Church is a declaration to all the world that Jesus is the Christ, that He and His Father, the God and Father of us all, appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith in fulfillment of that ancient promise that the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth would again restore His Church on earth and again "come in like manner as [those Judean Saints had] seen him [ascend] into heaven."9 This conference and every other conference like it is a declaration that He condescended to come to earth in poverty and humility, to face sorrow and rejection, disappointment and death in order that we might be saved from those very fates as our eternity unfolds, that "with his stripes we are healed."10 This conference proclaims to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people the loving Messianic promise that "his mercy endureth for ever."11 To all of you who think you are lost or without hope, or who think you have done too much that was too wrong for too long, to every one of you who worry that you are stranded somewhere on the wintry plains of life and have wrecked your handcart in the process, this conference calls out Jehovah's unrelenting refrain, "[My] hand is stretched out still."12 "I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them," He said, "[and even if they] deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, ... if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts."13 His mercy endureth forever, and His hand is stretched out still. His is the pure love of Christ, the charity that never faileth, that compassion which endures even when all other strength disappears.14 I testify of this reaching, rescuing, merciful Jesus, that this is His redeeming Church based on His redeeming love, and that, as those in the Book of Mormon declared, "there came prophets among the people, who were sent from the Lord [to speak it]. ... [Yea,] there came prophets in the land again."15 I testify that President Gordon B. Hinckley is in every way, from head to toe, such a prophet, one whose life and voice we cherish and for whom we have prayed so much. He will now conclude this semiannual gathering. For such a blessing--and all these blessings and so many more-- I give personal thanks at general conference time, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes 1. Isaiah 2:3. 2. See D&C 107:53-56. 3. "Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice," Hymns, no. 21. 4. 1 Nephi 8:28; see also vv. 23-24. 5. Deseret News, Oct. 15, 1856, 252; see also LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcarts to Zion (1960), 120-21. 6. D&C 123:12. 7. See D&C 81:5. 8. See Luke 15. 9. Acts 1:11. 10. Isaiah 53:5. 11. See Psalm 136:1. 12. See Isaiah 5:25; 9:17, 21. 13. 2 Nephi 28:32. 14. See Moroni 7:46-47. 15. Ether 7:23; 9:28.