Mormon

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Holiness to the Lord

I thought I would write a little entry about working in the open house for the new Twin Falls Temple.  What an opportunity that was!  You meet all types with the open house.  I thought I would describe a few.

One lady was totally amazed that there was not a portrait/painting of Joseph Smith in the entire building.  There is actually one in one of the counselor’s offices with Joseph on a horse overlooking the building of the Nauvoo Temple.  But it has to do with the building of the Lord’s house, rather than the emphasis being on Joseph.  There are others in the painting.  Anyhow, somehow the notion of our worshiping Joseph Smith continues to go on.

A good Catholic was surprised by how similar the LDS faith is to his own.  While current Catholic faith does not hold that a living person can do anything for a deceased person (other than the Savior’s vicarious work) it was not always so.  One used to be able to pay indulgences and do other things in behalf of the dead.  Anyhow, so they were not unaccustomed to the idea of proxy work for the dead.  In our little talk, it was basically the idea of revelation and a prophet as opposed to the role of the Pope.

Amanda and I both worked mostly on the cleaning crews.  I did haul quite a bit of ice, water, and cookies during my time.  You would not believe how quickly the railings get dirty!  I could pull some great grime from the railings from time to time.  It was really pretty disgusting!

The kids always lean up against the glass in the baptistry.  There is a constant job!  It was fun.  We had it pretty easy.  We had heard some stories of the early days of the open house where people would bring dirt in their pockets to drop on the floors.  Apparently some had deliberately plugged up toilets and other silly little things.  We did not see anything of that sort.

A good man in my ward did tell me about taking water bottles out to the protesters.  The man responded that he had the ‘living waters’ and was not in need of his water.  So the good brother set it down on the grass and said just in case he needed it, it was there.  Then the guy commented that if he touched the bottle they would call the cops on him because he was encroaching the private property line.  You know, for those who ‘love us’ as much as they say they do, they sure do like to argue and raise a little contention.

We were able to wander around a little bit.  That was quite a bit of fun.  Dad told me stories about wandering much more than I could have hoped for with the time and cleaning that needed to be done.  It turned out to be a great experience.  I just wish I could be here for the dedication.  I will definitely attend when we get back to this area in the future.  I cannot wait.

Anyhow, just a closing though.  I have thought quite a bit over the years about the phrase, “Holiness to the Lord”.  I am still not totally sure of what it means.  Is it a desire and wish the Lord to be more holy?  That seems absurd to me.  Is the house supposed to represent some of the holiness of the Lord?  That doesn’t seem to fit at all either.  It really is only a hollow shell without his Spirit.  It seems to be more of a personal directive, command, even hope that we would rise up to a call to be holy.  Such as a hosanna is a deep shout of adoration from all the deepest portions of our soul, so should the utterance of “Holiness to the Lord” somehow tremble our most distant bowel.  That an awe, a work, a desire, a wish, all seem to be wrapped up in the saying.  It isn’t something we should read or even pass lightly by, it is an expression that conveys a deep connection to that which is holy.  That our soul should be in line with that holiest thought and feeling before entering that dedicated place.  That is what it seems to mean, at least to me.

Taken in light that in Zion even the horses bells would have “Holiness to the Lord” written on them, I am not so sure that is a literal meaning.  But that all things would be consecrated, worked, done in a reverence of holiness.  While I am saddened so many of our historic buildings are disappearing, and especially those with the words written on them, it should not need to be written.  But in our day and age, it seems all the more needed.  For surely, only the most faithful would be willing to inscribe it upon the buckles of their shoes, their door head, or the bells of their horse.

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What Temple Work Means to Me by Rosa (Nelson) Jonas Andersen

(I have maintained punctuation and spelling)

I was asked to talk a few minutes on what temple work means to me.  This I shall do to the best of my ability.  First I shall talk about the book called ADDED UPON.  No doubt most of you have read this book.  If you haven’t it would be well worth your time to do so.  We all know we existed spiritually before we came to this earth.  Two people, a man and a women, were chosen to come to this earth to fulfill a mission here and take up a body.

They came, the woman was born in Denmark.  The man was born on a farm in America.  The woman, named Ensign emegrated to America.  When she got here she got work on a farm doing house work.  One afternoon while working, a man came to the door and asked if he might have something to eat.  While he was eatin they began to chat, she found out that his name was Rupert and that he was looking for work, that he prefered doing farm work.  Later when the farmer came into the house Ensign told him about Rupert.  Rupert was immediately hired as the farmer needed help badly.  The young couple became friendly, fell in love and after a summer of courtship they were married in the temple.  Rupert had some land of his own, left to him by his father.  They made a home on this land and raised a nice family.  During the winter Rupert did work in the mines in order to get extra money.  They lived happily together for some time.  Finally one winter day Rupert was killed in the mines leaving Ensign alone on this earth to finish raising her family.  The children grew up one by one.  They married leaving Ensign alone, after a few years called home.

Rupert was there to met Ensign, they knew each other, they could remember before they came down to earth, how at that time they wondered if they would be to gether on this earth.  They had been, they smiled at each other and were content.

This story causes me to think of my parents life, being like unto it.  My mothers parents emigrated from Sweeden.  Mother was one of the first baby girls born in Logan Utah.  When she was nine years of age her mother died.  Later grandfather remarried, marrying a woman with a large family.  After a time mother was forced to earn her own living wherever she could get work.

She found employment in Pocatello Idaho.  There she worked at a boarding house waiting on tables.  Here she met Joseph S Jonas, like Rupert and Ensign one summer of courtship and they were married.  Father being a Rail Road man they moved from one place to another.  They too raised a family of seven children, four girls and three boys.  Along about the spring of 1910 we were living at Thorp Kittitas Co. Washington.

One night after a terrible storm a flood came causing much damage.  Trapping many people in their homes.  Being R. R. man father was called upon to help rescue these people, and through the wet and exposure he suffered in helping these people he became very sick and was in the hospital for six months, with rhumitisum and pneumonia.  He was so sick he had to be turned on sheets.  He was a staunch catholic and did not believe in mormonism.

While father was in the hospital mother took us little ones and went to visit her brother August Nelson who lived in Salt Lake City.  Through the worey for father and we little ones mother became very nervous, her heart became affected and she became very ill.  One night she passed away from a heart attack, if it had been now days I do believe she could of been helped, by the wonderful medicines we now have to work with.  But we children didn’t know what to do.  We were left alone in the care of her older brother with no mother, and father so desperately sick.

We feared father was too sick to receive bad news and were afraid a shock like this would prove fatal to him.  So we told him nothing about mothers death.  After the funeral I went to visit my father at the hospital who was still in Washington.  Father a catholic and mother a L. D. S.

At heart like Rupert and Ensign they were meant for each other, for mother’s spirit did not loose any time singling her mate out.  For when I entered the room father said “well she is gone isn’t she?”  I said what do you mean?”  Father said “your mother she came to my bed side at 15 min. to ten on the night of Dec. 23, I know all about it.  This is proof to me that they were meant for each other.  So I am having my mother sealed to my father for all time and eternity, as my father since that time has pass away to be with my mother.  I know they met in the hereafter recognised each other, and will be happy when I get their temple work done.

It was while we children were staying at mothers br4others home in Salt Lake City that we were babtized into the mormong church.  The Lord works in a natural way, he braught us back to where mother left off as a girl.  There most of us lived untill we were fully grown, married in the temple and went on missions.  But father would not accept.

My baby brother Joseph when he grew older went back to his father and tried to convert him to the mormon religion, but to no avail.

Years went by and father became ill again.  I sent for him to come to my home.  He lay desperatly ill for days.  The night before hr died he was so very ill, he called me to come saying “Rose offer a word of prayer for me” I knew then the hard shell about father had soffened, as even that much to his mormon daughter was a great deal for dad.  I prayed for him, but he passed away the next night.

I am thankful to my heavenly father there is a plan whereby we children who were left, were able to have these two people united in eternal marriage with their children sealed to them.  I feel with in my self they are happy and satisfied.  May I ever be worthey of entering into their presence when it is my turn to answer Gods call, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Death and the bells tolling

Today I finished about half of Ernest Hemingway’s famous “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and have found it fascinating so far.  Interestingly, as he has gone through different aspects of the community uprising against the fascists, I wondered about my own capacities to deal with such things.  What if I was on the side of those being abused and slaughtered for my beliefs?  Would I die with ‘dignity’ as some of the captured fascists do not do?  Would I be prepared to be caught up in death just as the priest is?  Would the planes, the sounds of planes, ring to me as instruments of death or the roaring of death?  I really don’t know.

Looking into my life, I do not feel like one who is afraid of much.  I feel a tinge of fear with heights, especially as the chance of being exposed to fall increases.  However, I have always thought myself as one who when the fall was actually in process, would enjoy the fall.  That would be of course if it was long enough for me to realize I was falling and had the chance to enjoy it.  Then again, I will probably never have the chance.

War is such an interesting crucible of the soul.  I honestly don’t believe I would have the capacity to force my view, opinions, or ideology on anybody else.  I could see myself defending myself, even in guerrilla warfare or some type of underground.  Then again, I always wondered about even my feelings then.  How much were the German Saints to uphold and sustain their government?  I remember several people showing me an article about an LDS individual who helped develop torture techniques for the German government.  It was his job.  Where is the separation?  Where do we draw the line to where we begin civil disobedience?

We don’t seem to quibble much over speeding when it really can be deadly, and yet we insist we are to support a President whose war we may not support.  Do I go to jail or do as my draft card tells me to do in Vietnam?  Do we do as Schindler’s Jews and deliberately undermine quality control or give our all to our employer?  Even if what they do is not correct?  Do we just go along with the status quo or think twice about it?  Do I build or buy a large home when entire countries are basically homeless by our standards?  Do I buy that jet ski when the money could fund the entire education for another individual?

I really don’t see myself getting caught up in a mob but would I put my life on the line to oppose a mob?  Would I stand idly by while a mob worked their vicious course?  Do I defend my life, liberty, and family or do I fall to my knees before the enemy like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies?  Do I lay down my weapon rather than shed the blood of a brother?  Do I do, as America seems to do, and draw a line in the sand daring anyone to step over it, willing to fight to the death?  Or do I take a magnanimous approach to all I associate with, whether I agree with them or not?

There are so many questions of scenarios with which I hope I am never faced.  However, I want to make sure my mind is settled if the situation should ever arise.  What if I was called to go behind the enemy lines and blow up a bridge?  Would I be willing to kill myself rather than be captured?  Would I be willing to blow up a bridge when I know I will die in the process?  Robert Jordan is so completely against suicide and yet he may have to do the very thing.  (Ironic Hemingway works through this scenario and then does the deed himself years later.)

To take it a step further, while we may not personally be engaged in a civil war, are we still taking part of a war unknowingly.  President Hinckley mentioned a number of times how the War in Heaven has continued to this day.  This war is ongoing and are we having to face spiritually many of the same questions I have been posing?

“Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power.  I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people.  Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart,…” (Alma 10:5-6).

Do I find myself like Amulek?  Doing things which I know I should not, claiming ignorance?  When I should be doing something differently.  Do I stand by while my place of business is actually robbing from the widow?  I know it is wrong, but do I do nothing about it because ‘I would not know’.  Do I not say something while my neighbor does something that is actually ‘oppressing the hireling’?  Do I stand by while the mob, which could resemble the economy, ‘grinds the face of the poor’?  These are questions we all have to ask ourselves.  I seem so worried about if I can afford another car while people are worried about their next meal.  Can I be so hard in my heart?

Should I be blowing up these enemy bridges so the imps of evil cannot reach the battlefront where my children may have to fight?  Do I let them march right into my home through the television?  Do I let the propaganda distill upon the minds of others through the melodies and sounds of music?  Not only as an individual, but as families and communities?

I really don’t know the answers to these questions.  But Amulek gives us the answer of where to start to make sure we are right.

“Yea, and I will say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction, yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword.  But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared;…” (Alma 10:22-23).

Prayer is a great place to start.

As to the death aspect, would we be willing to lay down our lives?  Latter-day Saints seem to have such an interesting set of perspectives.  We for the most people are a very peace loving people.  We should be the first to always seek peace first, which I believe generally we are.  Mobs and uprisings are unheard of among the LDS.  But, when it comes time, our view of death also changes our determination.  When we feel called upon to fight, to lay down our lives if necessary, we do so (or should) gladly.  After all, we should have no fear of death.

“Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.  The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.  Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not be so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought to be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.”  (Alma 11:42-44)

I guess the real question through all of this that weighs on me is this.  Do we go on like we are and wait for it all to work out in the resurrection?  Or, do we rise up and do something about our current state?  Do we fight for it?  Where the answer lies, I really do not know.  All I know, John Donne had it correct, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

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Lighter Burdens

This weekend as my cousin, May, and I drove back from General Conference there were quite a few things I was thinking as we talked about a whole host of subjects.  One of them did have to do particularly with one of our latest readings going through the BOM.  I openly admit I am a couple of chapters behind where I should be, but nothing not easily caught up.

I have always thought about the people of Alma and their being persecuted by Amulon.  It was so bad at one point that individuals were put to death if they were caught praying.  Our society is no where near this bad, but I suppose it could get that way if we are not diligent.  At any rate, it would probably be just as successful as the Amulonites were with regard to Alma’s people.  They still cried out in their hearts and sent their silent prayers to heaven.  They were still heard, much to the dismay of Amulon.

Anyhow, their prayers brought some pretty good benefits.  “And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.”

Those are all great words, and very hopeful, but it is the next two verses that really seem to ring true.  “And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.  And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”  (Mosiah 24:13-15)

To those who are feeling burdened, lay more faith on the line and send more prayers to heaven.  Relay that message and call down the blessings of heaven into your life.  Of course, it would have to be done with real sincerity, purpose, and intent.  Otherwise it is just the spoiled child asking another gift.  As I have written previously, it isn’t always the cure is to be had, or the struggle removed, but an effectual struggle is to be made.  This seems to go along with that entry and that line of thought just the same.  The burden may remain, but the gift is given to continue with it, but that its effects may be removed from you.

Indeed, it goes with Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  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.”

Somehow it doesn’t always seem the burden is removed, but our focus changes in such a way we forget it, or it really is not felt anymore in our life.  How much does this relate to a bad marriage?  How much does this relate to an illness?  How much does this relate to an nagging temptation?  I don’t really know.

One thing I do know is this, the Prophets of God are upon the earth.  The messages are always timely and important.  Attending conference with a virtual non-member changed most aspects of my viewing pleasure.  It opened whole new doors and changed much of the focus.  I recognized how very alive the Spirit is in some people’s lives and they don’t even recognize it, especially my own.  Next, I learned how terrible some people feel and are doing in life despite the fact they look happy.  Last, I certainly do not understand all the ways of God.  The things or comments doing most of the teaching would certainly never have been my guess.

I know when I put my trust in God, my life is happier, my burdens lighter, and my eternity aglow.

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Effectual Struggle

There was a time in the mission when I was really struggling with some things.  It was not one thing in particular, but with a whole host of different little things combined.  Add to that all the concerns and prayers for investigators and it can become a bit much at times.  It was during one of these times I had a pretty significant experience.
We had been out tracting all morning.  It was sometime probably about March of 1999.  I am too lazy to go find the date in my journal.  But it had been drizzling on and off all morning.  We actually came back with a pretty good list of call backs but I still had a number of things weighing on my mind.  There was one in particular with relation to my companion.  I want to make it known we did not have any big issues, but some things he did brought out inadequacies in myself, I believe in no fault of his own.  I was struggling how to overcome some of these feelings and disappointments.
The morning had been spent on exchanges with a Canadian, Elder Morton.  We returned for lunch and I was so exhausted and stressed under the weeks of dealing with things I went upstairs and plopped on my bed to take a quick kip.  However, as I laid there, I just keep rehashing things.  It was then I just stopped, opened my eyes, and asked, “What am I supposed to do?”
There I laid pondering that phrase when I very distinctly heard a scripture pop into my mind.  It was not an audible voice but I reopened my eyes to make sure nobody was there.  I laid there alone on the bottom bunk wondering what in the world the scripture said.
The scripture was Mosiah 7:18.
My first reaction was, “What in the world is in chapter 7 of Mosiah?”  I had no clue what was even going on in the chapter, which piqued my interest all the more.
I rolled out of my bed and located some scriptures to look up the verse.
“And it came to pass that when they had gathered themselves together that he spake unto them in this wise, saying: O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made.”
It was absolutely powerful.  Somehow, the words seem to answer exactly what it was I was asking.  They hit me as they say, like a ton of bricks.  Every single time I read this chapter I think of this experience.  Every time when it seems difficulties just won’t go away, I seem to remember this scripture.  This is my comfort scripture you can say.  Regardless of what burdens we are under, lift up your head and be comforted.  The time is not far ahead when these things will no longer be.  Whether in death, release, or in the deliverance from the scenario, an end will come.  Then a warning, a suggestion, a plea for endurance because still an effectual struggle is to be made.
It is not enough just to wait it out.  A struggle must still be made.  We must continue working through things, not just give up.  The verses go on…
“Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God.  In that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them.  And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is because of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage.”  (Mosiah 7:19-20)
The Lord has done so much good in our lives, don’t lose sight at the moment.  God’s promises always come true.  They will always ring in a new day, eventually.
Looking back, I can see how much this has come to pass.  As I have made the eventual struggle ever since, I find my blessings are becoming greater and greater.  I feel more and more in tune.  I see miracles all about me in my life.  Who really could ask for anything more?  I haven’t really been through a whole lot in my life either.  Some would disagree with me, but I keep pressing forward and making the effectual struggle.  Somehow everything works out right.  I have been fortunate it has all worked out for me in this life.  I fear there are many who it does not work out for in this life.
Some of my blessings are being realized in the past week.
This past weekend, the effectual struggle of helping out friends, listening to friends, continuing to foster friendships in the difficulty of school and university, and especially with friends after marriage opened doors for me.  I was invited to Vernal to spend time with three other friends who all lived on Darwin Avenue in Logan.  Anna, Allen, and Brad.  Anna, for all intents and purposes, is an old girlfriend.  I certainly don’t see it that way with a negative connotation.  However, both of us struggling through despite some awkward times, proved to be a foundation and grounding point where we can move on and have become great friends.  Allen, another individual I got to know fairly well, but never as well as I would have liked, through the struggle of maintaining contact, proved to be a great deal of fun, mutual respect, and some business dealing.  Brad, the struggle to maintain contact has turned into a bond and friendship I have never heard of between any other two missionary companions.  That relationship has affected so much of our daily lives I am not sure I could even begin to define its influence.
We meet up for a weekend together in Vernal.  It was a blast.  We hiked canyons and climbed cliffs.  We sought out petroglyphys and outlaws.  We toured Ashley Valley’s water treatment facility.  We enjoyed meals, told jokes, and explored museums.  What a blast.  All from the effectual struggle of not feeling adequate or capable of reaching out to effectively connect with others.
That commitment has gone even further.  I have maintained relationships with parents of many friends I went to high school.  Sometimes, I am not even in contact with the friend anymore, but am still with the parents.  One such relationship was with a girl named Nicole.  Again, a girlfriend by world standards, but we really just enjoyed ourselves.  That ongoing friendship not only with Nicole, but with her parents may turn out to bring other opportunities (perhaps business too) now.  Who would have ever thought that the parents who called every 10 minutes while we clasped to brick ledges holding on to our lives (all in complete safety) would become fast friends?  Who would have thought the parents of a girl whose piano bench I would break early one morning by sharing it with my date would spend hours with me showing my photos of their safari to Africa and motorcycle trip through New Zealand?
These are just a couple of examples on my effectual struggle to be better at reaching out, maintaining relationships, and remembering others would have blessed me in so many ways.  What is especially true is I am seeing some of these blessings while yet in mortality.  That too, is probably another blessing of making the effectual struggle.
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Procrastination??

One of the greatest defects of all mankind is that of procrastination.  Our propensity to give into it has been a struggle down through the ages.  Our day is no different, in fact, our comfortable and easy life probably makes it more likely.  There is the classic quote by Spencer W. Kimball about procrastination, but I am too lazy to look it up now.  I will do it later.
Fortunately, I have not been afflicted much with the dreaded disease.  I get a bit antsy if something needs to be done.  In fact, I would be one of those who would border on the workoholic side more.  Always something more to be done and just not enough time to do them all.
All I know is if I have the mentality that it doesn’t need to be done now, then I delay it.  If I can switch it in my mind to be done soon, then it will fall into a queue and I continue working until the queue is finished.  Somehow, I generally don’t tend to see things as being a ways off.  Which I think makes a marked difference between me and the next man.  I believe I can have a state now, and will work towards it.
The same applies for me in the gospel.  Many, many talk about when the Savior returns.  Then we will have to live the law of consecration.  Then we will get the temple work in full gear.  Then we will live all the celestial laws.  Then we will be more proactive in missionary work.  Then I will repent.  Then I will believe.  Then we will work on learning the scriptures more fully.  Then we will do this, then we will do that, then we whatever it is we will do.  In reality, it is a bunch of hokum.  The scriptures tell us so.
“And now, as I have said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness, wherein there can be no labor performed.”  (Alma 34:33)
Those who procrastinate will find themselves not knowing what they need to do.  Not having experienced what they will have need to experience.  They will be in darkness.  As Joseph Smith said, “Hell is not knowing.”  Don’t say you will change.  Why will you change then?  Why not now?  Remember Lazarus, even if one should come back from the dead, they will not believe.  Jesus already came back from the dead and yet we still don’t act, we still don’t live our faith, we still don’t believe.  Nothing will change then.
“Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God (or start coming closer to my God), Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.”  (Alma 34:34).  Why would the millennium be any different?  If not doing it now, why then?
“But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain (Pleasure?  Comfort?  Relaxation?  Work is an eternal principle.  Rest is in the after life.  Joy is for this life.); and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity (Sin is waste.  Waste of time – killing time especially.  Waste of learning.  Waste of work.  Waste of intelligence.  Waste of eternity), which is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.” (Helaman 13:38)
Is it any wonder why the Lord makes the following statement?  “Hearken, O ye people of my church, and ye elders listen together and hear my voice while it is called today, and harden not your hearts.”  (D&C 45:6).  Today is the day of salvation.  Not tomorrow.  “Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day of the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.  For after today cometh the burning – this is speaking after the manner of the Lord – for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.  Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today.”  (D&C 64:23-25).
Wow, if that is not harsh and clear enough, we are certainly beyond feeling.  Very clearly the Lord states tomorrow is for the wicked.  Today, if we believe, we will labor.  There are no tomorrows in the Gospel.  Today we work.  Today we sacrifice.  Today we repent.  Today we build.  Today we lift.  Today we teach.  Today we convert.  Do not ever allow yourself to fall to the belief in tomorrow.  Those who look to tomorrow will be burned.
The probationary games goes forward.  Working today, with a hope in the mansions of the Father.  Tomorrow for all intents does not exist.  What we are going to do tomorrow doesn’t matter really.  Tomorrow may not arrive and today has been wasted.
Here is the verses that triggered this little soapbox.  I think it applies just as fully.
“Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, (let’s include the deacons, the children, the Relief Society, the Apostles, the Seventies, the High Priests, and even those not in the church) did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given;  persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was.  And after this manner did they teach them.”  (Jarom 1:11)
“And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.”  (Mosiah 3:13)
We are to be acting as if he is already among us.  He has come, more than once.  Although not to the whole world in the big wrapping up scene yet, ye will.  But to us, he has already come and that is how we are to be acting.  We are to be keeping his commandments now.  We are to be living a Christian life now.  We are to be building Zion now.  As the scripture above stated, we are supposed to be coming out of Babylon now.  Not at some future time.  I made covenants in the temple to live the law of consecration now.  I have covenanted to live the laws of the celestial kingdom now.  Not at some future time when we imagine they will be dictated to us.  They already have.
“And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.”  (D&C 105:5)
We have to live the celestial laws to have Zion.  We have to have Zion for the King to take his throne to rule forever.  Zion will not be raised up and then we will try to live accordingly.  We have to be living accordingly to receive Zion.  Even the Lord said so.
“Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now.”  (D&C 105:2)
We may have already been redeemed if we were not procrastinating.  If were were living as if he were already here.  Let’s get to work.  Today.  With President Kimball, let’s DO IT!
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Dusk memorization

I have always felt a bit of an affinity for Jacob.  Of all the books in the Book of Mormon, this one seems to feel the most familiar, the one that speaks most directly to me.  If there is ever a book I just want to go back and read again and again, it is his.  I thought I would share some personal stories that relate to some of the chapters I read this evening.
“But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart.  Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.  O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his life; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.” (Jacob 3:1-2).
These two verses have always stood out to me.  I am not entirely sure why.  They just always have.  Indeed, enough that I have attempted several times over the years to commit them to memory.  Oddly, I have not been able to retain them.
During the summer of 2004 it was my goal to memorize a new scripture every day.  I failed miserably but I made a valiant attempt.  There are probably 20-30 verses that by the end of the summer I had committed to memory.  These two were two of them.  The next summer when I started spraying lawns again, I started by trying to recite all the scriptures I learned the previous summer.  Only 3 verses from the previous summer did I really retain.  I will perhaps get to them in another blog.  They are only in the next chapter.
However, again in 2005 I set out to memorize the scriptures from the previous summer and to add some more.  I remember distinctly walking through the yard of the Oliverson Family in Whitney/Glendale area outside of Preston, Idaho.  They have a massive lawn which must be over an acre.  As I walked back and forth across the lawn, I recited these two verses over and over again.  I carried a note card in my pocket with them written on it which I had to reference often to begin.  By the end of the lawn I had it set to memory.
I have to paint some of the picture.  It is nearing dusk and I was worried I may not finish the lawn in time.  I did finish in time and went on to spray the Hardcastle residence as well.  The sun was setting slowly, and you cannot necessarily speed up spraying a lawn.  To do so would be to apply less chemical and cheat the lawn owner.
I worked my way back and forth across the lawn like a dutiful farmer.  I was pretty sure nobody was home.  With the pump running on the truck, I could recite the scriptures out loud with little fear of anyone hearing me.  I must have painted quite the picture in the sunset.
There are other stories similar to this one.  For some reason I cannot still recite the words to the verses, but I can tell you probably three locations on where I know I worked on memorizing the verses.  Odd isn’t it?
What do the verses say.  They seem to explain the individual basis of the gospel for every person.  Pray, with faith, and all will turn out for the right.  But that just isn’t enough.  We must not just pray with faith and hope it will turn out right.  Nope, we are to pray and to receive the word of God.  It seems to me that when we receive of the word of God and then feast upon that word, which is also the love of God (as Lehi and Nephi’s dreams tell us).  This is expressly available to all who are pure in heart.  I find myself in a longing for this.  Mormon or not, these words are true.  Look to God, pray, and receive of his love.  We may, if we will be firm in our minds and devotion, forever.  How beautiful is that?
All the rest come after that.  If we try to do it a different way, it will be incorrect.  You can be baptized a hundred times and without learning to commune with heaven, it won’t do much good.  After all, if we haven’t learned to commune with heaven, what good is the Gift of the Holy Ghost?  What good is the endowment if we don’t learn how to communicate with the angels now?
There was no miracle at the Oliverson Home, except perhaps in my heart.  Those verses have yet to be fully committed to memory, but somehow their intent and meaning burn in my heart.  That is more important anyway.
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Witness of the book

Perhaps I may be a little crazy.  I believe we fully and completely are enabled to witness miracles in our day.  Just like the days of old, it seems the miracles are probably all around us.  I always take the scriptures to mean that if we are in tune it isn’t that more miracles will happen to us (although faith may lead us to ask for more and receive more) but that we will more more recognizing of the miracles about us.  Hence, the great crime in seeking signs.  There are those always looking for signs to confirm or denounce their course of action.  Those people are like the waves of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.  But those who live by faith will not be seeking for signs, but will recognize them all about them.  We have one such miracle happening nearly every day around us.
“And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth.” (2 Nephi 27:11).
I just never got this verse until my latest reading.  Even then, I may not still get it.  However, how in the world does the most vile of sinners read this book by the power of Christ?  Now, those who are familiar with it know this scripture is talking about the Book of Mormon.  The whole chapter and some previous talk about the coming of the Book of Mormon coming forth.  Viola!  The whole miracle of the book coming forth is by the power of Christ.  There is no other way this book could possibly exist except by the power of Christ.
Every day, wherever a page of the Book of Mormon is read, even when a Book of Mormon is trashed, it is by the power of Christ.  The mere existance of the book is a testimony of Christ working in our day.  It is not that the book will be read through the power of Christ like I had always thought, but it will be read, dropped, burned, ripped, coveted, loved, cherished, and hated all by the power of Christ.  Everything that happens to it is by the power of Christ which made it available to us.
It goes on more.  It will be through the power of Christ that all things are revealed.  It isn’t necessarily by a prophet, capital P or not.  It isn’t necessarily through the Priesthood, the church, or even the kingdom of God.  Just the fact that knowledge, history, wisdom, and all these things are flooding the earth is a continuing testament of the Son of God.
The next verse goes back to the Book of Mormon.
“Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the man of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the world, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witness shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein. And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his owrd unto the children of men; for the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead.” (2 Nephi 27:12-13).
This is jumping back to references in Isaiah.  The book should whisper from the dust and the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead.  What a strange and interesting idea.  I haven’t a clue what it all means.
What we do know is there are witnesses to the book who are faithful.  I always wondered why there were not more recent witnesses to the plates.  There was a time when I prayed to become a witness to the plates and the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.  However, it seems these witnesses are to speak as if it were from the dead.  It takes faith to believe the testimony of a deceased person.  Just like Lazarus wanting to go back from the dead to warn his brothers.  If they won’t believe Moses or Joseph Smith, why would they believe a modern or living individual.  It doesn’t seem as necessary.  As I say that, I have no doubt there are those who have received such a witness in our day, but they are not called upon to bear that witness.  Just like Mary Whitmer, or Vilate Kimball, they receive witnesses for their own testimony but not to share with the world at large.
I may show some ignorance of church history, beyond their testimony written in ink, the extent to which the three or eight witnesses were called to bear that testimony also seems limited.  Martin Harris and Joseph Smith seem to be the only ones who went out of their way to share the testimony with others.  Many of them served as missionaries, some went on to convert some very notable names in the church, but I am not aware of them going out of their way beyond being questioned about their witness of the Book of Mormon.
Many receive the witness of the Book of Mormon but how many actually receive the vision, hefting, dream of the plates?  I don’t know?  Does it matter?  After all, the testimony of the Spirit is all that is important.
Then again, do we really need to see the plates.  If we have the Spirit of God, we will recognize the miracle of the cheap missionary handout version sitting in the glove compartment of the car.  If we have the Spirit of God, we will already have a witness of the Book of Mormon, whether or not we have a witness of the plates upon which they rested.