Just for fun...

Mormon Symchronized swimmers. This was pretty funny!

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=f86qKQJg3Z8

God Bless America

Yesterday my friend Marika and I were talking - musing about how horribly wicked our country is- how immoral, and disobedient to seemingly all of God's commandments.

We were talking about this verse- which talks about this country :

2 Ne. 1: 7

7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever.

So- what do you think? Do the people of this country serve the Lord according to the commandments which he as given? Or- is it full of iniquity? Are we cursed or blessed?

I thought at the time, "both"- and today, I was reading in 3 Nephi- chapter 19- where Christ is speaking:

29 Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them.

Perhaps our intercessor, our advocate with the father, our Savior Jesus Christ doesn't necessarily ask the father that blessings be showered on this great country, as there are so many in it that are so far from him, and do not think of him, or believe in him. But I know there are many- in many different churches across our nation that believe in Christ, that read of him, that pray to him. There are so many out there that care more of Christ than the "world". I am sure that he is still our advocate, and he will continue to be, so long as we continue to believe and have faith in him. And perhaps today he might say the same: "I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith."

Painting by Mitchell Tolle

The Voice of God

Don't you love 3 Nephi 11? The voice of God explained and Jesus actually ministering to the people who looked forward to his coming for so long. What could be better that this?

One thing I noticed this past time I read it was the fact that these people, who were "more righteous", and obviously humbled could not understand the voice. Even in that state, they could not understand what he was saying until they (vs 4) "opened their ears to hear it."

As I study the scriptures I find myself getting stuck on a certain idea, and everything for the next couple of reads will apply to that because it makes sense. As I was reading the next few chapters I noticed how many times he healed people who could not hear, and could not see. I saw the symbolism of this, to be healed by Jesus to be able to hear the word of God. Did that make sense?

In chapter 17:18 Jesus says on day we will see eye to eye.

In chapter 19:32-35 explains what can happen when our ears are opened and we do see eye to eye. "and tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be written by man the words which he prayed."

I don't know exactly how to open my ears... Perhaps Christine can explain that-she is a lot more spiritual than me... but I do know Christ can heal my deaf ears, and when I do, I will be able to understand incredible things, things I can't even explain because they are so absolutely wonderful.

What can we exercise faith in?

In an e-mail a friend of mine asked me this question. I thought I would put it here so I could keep a copy of it, and get any feedback from 'yall :)

I was thinking about > you last week. You gave a lesson in the Young Women one time and you > talked about faith. You said something you learned on your mission > that you can't have faith in people or something like that. If you > remember can you explain it to me again? I really liked the way you > put it.

My response:

About the whole faith thing-

Let me tell you a quick story. While on my mission, my companion and I were teaching a guy, "Paco"- he said that he would come to church, over and over, and hadn't. On fast Sunday, after committing him to come, we fasted for Paco to come to church. He didn't show. My companion was VERY upset. She said, "I had so much faith in Paco- how could he have not come?" This immediately sounded off to me, I thought, "You can't have faith in Paco- you can only have faith in Christ."- and from there I started to study.

I will use the bible dictionary- in pieces:

Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true.

OK- so you can only have faith faith in things that are "true".

All true faith must be based upon correct knowledge or it cannot produce the desired results.

OK- so faith must be based on correct knowledge.

In Moroni 7, Mormon explains how to receive "every good thing"

ie- how can I get Paco to come to church?

20 And now, my brethren, how is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?

21 And now I come to that faith, of which I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby ye may lay hold on every good thing.

His first clue- he says it is by faith.

22 For behold, God aknowing all things, being from beverlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent cangels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.

God's knowledge of all things is one reason we can have faith in him.

If God TOLD us that Paco was coming to church (through personal
revelation-) THEN we could believe (have faith) that he would come.

We can have faith in the ministering of angels. Through the
ministering of angels we have the priesthood. We can have faith in the
power of the priesthood.


If we received a priesthood
blessing wherein we were told Paco would come to church, THEN we could have
faith that he would come.

23 And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come.

If the prophet or one of the apostles, who are called and set apart as prophets
told us that Paco would come to church, THEN we could have faith that he would
come.

25 Wherefore, by the ministering of aangels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ.

"every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God"- these words are
found in the scriptures. If in the scriptures we were promised that Paco
would come to church, we could have faith in the promises made in the
scriptures.

The word faith is kind of like the word "love" it has more than one meaning, and can be a little overused. But- if we expect there to be power associated with our faith, it must be centered in Jesus Christ. (not in people)

We have hope or confidence in people, but there is no power to having "faith" in people.

And so, because we had no witness through personal revelation, no ministering angel, no promise in a priesthood blessing, no promise from a prophet, or in the scriptures- we had nothing but hope to go on with Paco. Faith needs one of those anchors to have power. We can have faith that if we pay our tithing, the windows of heaven will be opened- why- promises in the scriptures. We can have faith in the promises in our patriarchal blessings- why- the priesthood. We can exercise faith in promises made by prophets and apostles, living and those in the scriptures, but we can not have faith in people.

We can know that Heavenly Father heard our prayers. We can know that he loves us and he loves Paco. But Paco has his agency.

That was probably a longer explanation than you wanted- :)- I just kept going :) I hope it was clear.

Yeahh for Prop 8!

My Bishop forwarded this talk that I thought I would pass along. It was given 30 years ago- but totally part of our current events with Propsition 8- prophetic counsel. I went to the victory party last night with my good friend Michal. I thought it was a little ironic that my date for the party was female- :)

Today I am very relieved :) Although there is a part that won't be truley relieved until all the counting is done.






A devotional > talk that was given to the students of BYU in 1978 by Elder Neal A. > Maxwell.



"Discipleship includes good citizenship; and in this connection, if you are careful students of the statements of the modern prophets, you will have noticed that with rare exceptions--especially when the First Presidency has spoken out--the concerns expressed have been over moral issues, not issues between political parties. The declarations are about principles, not people, and causes, not candidates. On occasions, at other levels in the Church, a few have not been so discreet, so wise, or so inspired. But make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters; in the months and years ahead, events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions (see 1 Kings > 18:21). President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had "never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional, or political life" (CR, April > 1941, p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. We are now entering a period of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: we shall see in our time a maximum if indirect effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism that uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of Western civilization to shrink freedom even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage."

Today I am so grateful.

YES on 8!

What can I say- vote YES on Prop 8!

3 Nephi 17 Behold Your Little Ones

3 Nephi 17 has always been one of my favorite chapters- for obvious reasons. Who couldn't love the mental picture of Christ showing such personal love and attention for each little child. It reminds me that he loves my little children as well. I don't trust anyone to walk my children across a parking lot. I can't imagine that anyone is as concerned about them as I am- but I know that Christ is.

11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.

12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him

15 He himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;

17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.

19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.

20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.

21 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.

22 And when he had done this he wept again;

23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.

President Hinkley said this on the subject of children:

Once when our grandchildren were small, my wife and I took some of them to the circus. I recall that I was more interested in watching them and many others of their kind than in watching the man on the flying trapeze. I looked at them in wonder as they alternately laughed and stared wide-eyed at the exciting things before them. And I thought of the miracle of children who become the world’s constant renewal of life and purpose. Observing them in the intensity of their interest, even in this atmosphere, I felt my mind revert to that beautiful and touching scene recorded in the book of 3 Nephi when the resurrected Lord took little children in His arms and wept as He blessed them and said to the people, “Behold your little ones” (3 Nephi 17:23).
It is so obvious that the great good and the terrible evil in the world today are the sweet and the bitter fruits of the rearing of yesterday’s children. As we train a new generation, so will the world be in a few years. If you are worried about the future, then look to the upbringing of your children. Wisely did the writer of Proverbs declare, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
When I was a boy, we lived on a fruit farm in the summer. We grew great quantities of peaches. Our father took us to tree pruning demonstrations put on by the agricultural college. Each Saturday during January and February, we would go out to the farm and prune the trees. We learned that by clipping and sawing in the right places, even when snow was on the ground and the wood appeared dead, we could shape a tree so that the sun would touch the fruit which was to come with spring and summer. We learned that in February we could pretty well determine the kind of fruit we would pick in September.
E. T. Sullivan once wrote these interesting words: “When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.”1
And those babies, I should like to add, will become forces for good or ill, depending in large measure on how they are reared. The Lord, without equivocation, has declared, “I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40).