The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon has a very radical history.  Its origins are shrouded with divine intervention or audacious falsehood, depending on who you speak to.

The story according to Joseph Smith begins when he was 17 and living in Palmyra, New York.  He felt terrible for some of his youthful follies, and so, as he prayed to God he received a visit from an angel named Moroni.  Moroni gave Joseph several instructions during that visit and among those was to inform him that at a hill nearby his home, there was a record of the ancient American inhabitants that the Lord would command him to translate.  Moroni left and then returned a second time that night, repeating what he’d said before with some additional instruction.  He left and returned a third time, saying the same things as his last visit with even more additional instruction.

The next morning, Joseph was visited a fourth time with the same circumstances and was instructed to tell his father everything that Moroni had told him.  After hearing all these things, Joseph’s father told him that it came from God and that he needed to obey the angel.

When Joseph went to the hill, he found the record Moroni had told him about, and seeing that they were written on gold plates, he thought about how this gold could really help his family in their indigent circumstances.  God didn’t like that attitude very much.  Moroni appeared again, and in more words than I am giving, Joseph was forbidden from translating for four years.  During that time, he was told to grow up and set his heart only on the things of God and then he would be worthy to translate the golden plates.

Four years later, Joseph received the plates with special instructions to keep them hidden from the world because there were wicked men who sought to destroy the work of God.  But if Joseph did everything in his power to keep the plates safe, God would take care of the rest.  The plates stayed hidden and protected, and Joseph was able to complete the translation of the plates, and through same miracle, was able to publish the record as The Book of Mormon, named after a prophet-historian in the scripture.

The golden plates were taken up by Moroni once the translation was completed and nobody besides Joseph ever saw the plates except on two separate occasions.  The first time, three of Joseph’s friends (Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris) heard the voice of the Lord and were shown the golden plates in a divine manifestation.  The second occasion, the plates were shown by Joseph Smith by eight men—Joseph’s father, two of his brothers, four from the Whitmer family, and Hiram Page.  While none of them heard a voice or saw angels, they were allowed to touch and handle the plates.  The testimonies of both the Three and the Eight Witnesses are published as part of The Book of Mormon, as well as Joseph’s testimony as to how he received it.

The golden plates were taken by the angel Moroni and nobody has claimed to have seen them since.  The Book of Mormon was published in 1830, and shortly afterwards, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established.

This is only a summary of what took place over several years, but in essence, it’s what happened.

Of course, most of the world gets about ten seconds into that story and say, Yeah right.  You expect us to believe that something like that happened in our day and age?

To which I say, Many of us believe that the Red Sea was parted to let the Israelites cross on dry land.  Next to that, being commanded to write a book doesn’t quite stretch my credulity.

One of the best criticisms I ever heard on the Book of Mormon was when a gentleman asked me what happened to the gold plates Joseph Smith translated from.  “The angel Moroni took it up with him.”

“That’s rather convenient for you, isn’t it?”

I bit my tongue.  Frankly, it would have been more convenient to have the gold plates with us to verify that part of Joseph Smith’s story, but even then, I doubt it would make that great a difference in convincing anybody of our claim to hold the full and restored gospel of Christ.  That belief has only come by prayer and listening to the Spirit, as far as I’ve ever witnessed.

Of course, there’s the familiar charge of Joseph Smith being a liar and a fraud.  There’s no evidence that the Book of Mormon wasn’t just pulled out of a hat, and there’s even historical records stating that Joseph Smith used a hat during translation (one of the quirkier aspects to the story, I will gleefully admit.)  And, the truth is, Joseph Smith couldn’t prove anything to anybody.  We have to take his word on it that what he said was true.

But what about the Three and Eight Witnesses?  In my not-so-humble opinion, they are the best argument for the Book of Mormon’s veracity.  All 11 of these men claimed to have seen the golden plates, and in the case of the Eight, they physically handled them, while the Three claimed to have had a miraculous vision accompanying their witnessing of the plates.  All of the Three and three of the Eight (Hiram Page, Jacob Whitmer, and John Whitmer) were excommunicated or had their records removed from the Church, nearly all at the same time.

These were all men who had been close friends with Joseph at the beginning of the Book of Mormon translation.  They had all been prominent members of the Church and had suffered much the same things Joseph had in the early days of building Zion.  However, because of their own prideful ambitions, they were cut off entirely.

Oliver Cowdery had been one of Joseph’s closest friends and was instrumental in assisting Joseph during the bulk of translation.  After the excommunication, he went into law and became a very successful lawyer—and one of Joseph’s most bitter enemies until the end of Joseph’s life.  And yet… during a trial, one of Oliver’s opposing attorney’s made a snide remark about the Book of Mormon, and Oliver went on record defending his vision of the golden plates.

(On a sidenote, Oliver let go of his animosity after Joseph was murdered.  He became so incensed at the legal injustice taking place that he volunteered to go to Washington DC at his own expense to demand justice for the crime committed by the mob.  He lost, but was eventually rebaptized with the Saints and stayed faithful till his death.)

Martin Harris was often in trouble in the Church, despite his enormous influence and aid in the early days, especially financially backing the Book of Mormon publication.  He lived a long life and often bore testimony about his experience in seeing the golden plates.

David Whitmer was excommunicated and never returned, as is the case with his brothers and brother-in-law in the Eight.  He was hurt and never more a friend to Joseph Smith.  And yet, seven years before he died, he had 21 upstanding citizens in his community sign and witness an affidavit he made proclaiming his testimony of the golden plates and the truth of the Book of Mormon.  This was decades after his excommunication and he had no intention of returning.  He was bitter about Joseph, and yet he never stepped down from his testimony of the golden plates and was the most public about this.

John Whitmer was excommunicated and Jacob Whitmer and Hiram Page voluntarily had their records removed.  They never went back, and on their deathbeds, each proclaimed that they had seen the plates and that they knew it came from God.

I’m happy that the other five witnesses (Christian Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jun., Joseph Smith, Sen., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel H. Smith) all stayed in the Church until they died and stayed true to their testimonies of the golden plates and the Book of Mormon.  But it endlessly fascinates me that six others found cause to leave it all behind.  Their departures weren’t amicable.  It was horrendous, awful, deeply antagonistic.  They had so much animosity towards Joseph Smith, Jun., and if at any time, they could have said it had all been a lie.  If it was a lie, they had nothing to gain by affirming the Book of Mormon was a true book.  And yet they stuck to their story to the end.

I can’t understand why they would do that unless it had been real.

Regardless, this has led me to think much about how I feel about the Book of Mormon.  The title page of the Book of Mormon lays out that its purpose is “to the convincing of Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD” and the book is quite frankly the main reason I ever came to believe in God.

See, I was born and raised Latter-day Saint, but that has never been a guarantee that I was going to stay.  Freedom to choose is given such a high place of respectability in the Church that nobody interferes even when the choice is to go against the Church and what it stands for, and this has been the case since its foundation.  Many people joined and were baptized and no small number of them left soon after, and this trend goes on today.

When I was a teenager, I had gotten so angry about the personal traumas and injustices that had happened to me for so much of my life that I didn’t see any evidence that there was a God there.  I certainly couldn’t tell you what the Spirit felt like, what the purpose of prayer was, or why there was so much emphasis on things like Sabbath worship or Priesthood.  What was it all for when clearly none of that had affected my life in any way for the better?

On my mom’s advice, though, I decided not to call it crap until I actually read my scriptures.  It’s funny; I have been reading since I was two (no lie) and read anything that my hands could touch and yet I’d never read any books of scripture all the way through.  And it was a challenge.  It took me a year-and-a-half to get through the Book of Mormon once.  Since then, I’ve read it well over a dozen times and certain passages well over a hundred.

Some of my most valuable lessons came from the Book of Mormon.  The passage that changed my life most is found in Jacob 2, when Jacob’s people began going off the deep end.  In the few years they had lived in their promised land, they had been blessed with gold, silver, and all the treasures in the earth, and because some of them had more than the other, they let themselves become prideful, wearing fine clothes and beginning to persecute those that were poorer than they were, creating an awful inequality among themselves.  They had taken their eye off the Lord and this caused Jacob to cry:

“O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination.  And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!  Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.  But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.  And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.” (Jacob 2:16-19)

I had read these words many times before, but when I came across them at age 20, I cried because I knew that I had been focused so on my own gain and status all my life until that point.  In a lot of ways, I consider that moment to be the true beginning of my conversion to God, where it wasn’t just that I believed he was there but that I understood what was expected of me and the kind of man that He wanted me to become.

It goes back to Christ’s saying, “No man can serve two masters… Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:24)  It hit me then and continues with me now that the “love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10) and I made a decision that if gaining wealth should ever cause me to lose the love of my fellow man, then I pray I’m never rich.  I would rather be a poor man all the days of my life and still have charity for my brothers and sisters on earth than to be wealthy and think myself better than another.  Anytime I catch myself with such pride and ambition, I shudder and ask if this is what I want to be, and I say, “No.”

Why stop there, though?  Jacob certainly didn’t.  In the same sermon, after all the chastisement of the inequality of wealth and the pride that came from that, he went on to an even more serious charge, breaking the law of chastity.  He was especially harsh on the men, and Jacob in his calling as prophet, repeated what the Lord said in this:

“For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands.  And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts… Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren [a nation Jacob’s people were on bad terms with].  Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you.  And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.” (Jacob 2:31-32, 35)

I certainly find this passage applicable to many of the problems we see in our society today, especially in the home.  I could use this opportunity to comment on how this is a general warning to all, but I can only think of how it affected me.  A reason I take the law of chastity seriously is that not only do I know how it would break the heart of the woman I will someday marry if I ever chose not to live it, it’s clear that God will hold me accountable for how I treat my wife.

Those few verses alone taught me more about my responsibilities as a husband than any other single thing ever have.

And as a final lesson I learned, I’ll finish with my favorite story from the Book of Mormon, and involves the Lamanites that were mentioned earlier.  The Lamanites were an awful, awful people.  They were lazy but very warlike, unbothered by murders and their own selves.  At one point, some missionaries decide to go among the Lamanites and teach them the gospel of Christ, to see if they can bring at least one soul to repent.  The timing is sketchy, but I assume that over a period of months and probably years, the missionaries were so successful that they were baptizing by the thousands.

One missionary, Aaron, taught the king of all the Lamanites, and I am a huge fan of this king.  When the king is first introduced, he tries to kill Aaron’s younger brother but because of unfavorable circumstances, relents.  In fact, he was so impressed with Aaron’s brother that he was excited to hear about this gospel of Christ, and after Aaron shares what he knows, the king declares:

“…what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day?  Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.” (Alma 22:15; emphasis added)

I added the italics because this highlights what God’s blessings are worth.  I don’t know whether the king ever heard about Jacob’s sermon, but he lived that counsel, “before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.”  In the world, you can’t gain more than your own kingdom, and this king wanted to trade that for a chance to be in God’s kingdom.  Is there any greater sacrifice than that?

Yes, there is, because this story isn’t done.  After the king is baptized, many people in his country listen to the preaching and are baptized.  The king dies and passes the kingdom onto his son, and it’s not long afterwards when the nonbelieving Lamanites become angry with the believers.  Through some pretty awful political machinations, the nonbelievers took up their swords and prepared to go to war with the believers.

Bear in mind, the believers had been warlike people and many of them were murderous fiends before they accepted the gospel.  They were no strangers to death.  So when the nonbelievers came to war, the believers knew what was at stake.  But because of the gospel they’d accepted, and knowing the sins they had committed before, they were loath to go to war.  They did not feel right killing their brethren, even though it would be self-defense.  They took their swords and buried them, saying, “…if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved.” (Alma 24:16)

Then they really put themselves to the test.  When the nonbelievers came against them, the believers knelt down and prayed.  The unbelieving Lamanites came on them and killed 1,005 of the believers that day, and the whole while that this was going on, the believers “would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword—” (Alma 24:23)  I’ve never read anywhere else of anybody subjecting themselves so perfectly to the evils of this world with more confidence than these martyrs, save it be Christ himself.  This action alone makes them the most Christlike people you will find in any scripture that I know of.

Many of the killers were so touched by this sacrifice that they also gave up their swords and were baptized.  That the believers welcomed them into their society makes this one of the most understated and perfect acts of forgiveness I could ever imagine.

There are times I wonder whether I’m sacrificing enough or forgiving enough of another, and when I place myself against this standard, I know that I have a long way to go.  But I’m happy that there is this story to guide me and inspire me to become who I want to be.

It also makes me grateful to have the Book of Mormon in my life.  I would not believe in Christ without it, and because of it, I have known how to feel the Spirit work in my life and I have been witness to miracles because of the gospel that it brought to me.  Without it, I certainly would not have brought myself to write these monthly essays.

And most of all, I believe the Book of Mormon is a true book and that its purpose is to bring one closer to Christ.  That testimony is worth more to me than the whole world.

Temple Sealings and the Atonement

I’m in the Elder Quorum’s presidency at my church, which is a leadership role over the men.  Any presidency in my church typically consists of a president and two counselors, and I am one of those counselors.

I bring this up because I was going to write about something else this Sunday, but on the first Sunday of every month, the presidency is responsible for teaching the Elders, and this month was my turn.  I was given free rein to discuss anything I wanted with the men and halfway through the preparation, I realized that that lesson was what I was going to publish this month.

A lot of this was triggered by one of Christ’s sermons in John 14,

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that were I am, there ye may be also.  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” (John 14:2-4)

There’s some fun imagery going on here.  “In my Father’s house are many mansions” set up a fun visual of God having this grand building covering these millions and billions and trillions of mansions like a giant tent.  But because I can never leave well enough alone, I went searching the dictionary for clarification, and found a less common definition of house meaning a family, especially one goes for generations both past and future.  House, then, has similarities with clan.

So if I reread it as, “In my Father’s family are many mansions,” this adds a new dimension to Christ’s mission.

Another thing to take note, there is no doubt of where Christ will be.  He is in his Father’s house; unlike us, he has never been on shaky ground; there is and always has been a place for him there.  What Christ is doing is so utterly selfless, he spends his time making room for us and that we will be in the same place as he is.  And it’s not a trailer home or apartment that he’s preparing, he is putting us into mansions.  Eternity is grand and it’s his purpose to put us there.

Too often, I feel, we overlook what the reward of our righteousness is.

Christ also makes the bold claim that we know the way that he goes or are on the path.  Well, he was speaking to the disciples, but considering that we’ve walked with him the best we can through study as the disciples did who actually walked with him, I feel comfortable applying his statement to us.

Yet, right in the next verse, Thomas comes to contradict the Lord, saying, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest: and how can we know the way?  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:5-6)

Christ could not have been more plain before Thomas spoke up, but then, the gospel itself is so plain and clear, and yet the majority of us struggle to comprehend the simple concepts of the gospel message.  I believe this is because we forget so quickly and easily that Christ embodies it all, as he had to remind Thomas of in the previous verses.

What is the gospel?  “Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.  And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.” (3 Nephi 27:13-15)

The gospel is no more and no less than the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and all the principles and ordinances of the gospel are the steps we take to apply the Atonement to ourselves and allow him to save us in his eternal glory.

When I think of baptismal ordinance, the symbols of baptism are centered in Christ’s Atonement.  Paul speaks loud and clear on this subject:

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:3-6)

In simpler language, baptism is a symbol of Christ’s death and resurrection.  When we are buried under the water, we are symbolizing Christ’s death by crucifixion and his burial, and when we arise from the water, it is a symbol of his resurrection.  And in another sense, it also has an additional representation of his Atonement in that when we are baptized, we slay our old man, or bury our sins and are washed clean and rise from the water pure and new because of his grace and atoning sacrifice.

The sacrament ordinance, where we take the bread and water, is a symbol of his Atonement, in that the emblem of bread represents Christ’s body that he sacrificed for us, and the water being a symbol of the blood he shed for us.  It’s a weekly reminder of the Atonement and also has great cleansing power.  For myself, there are few occasions that I feel nearer to the Savior than when I have taken the sacrament worthily and with full purpose of heart.

With all this thoughts about the how the ordinances remind us of Christ, I asked my class the question: How do temple sealings represent Christ’s Atonement?

The highest ordinance that we perform in all of our temples is the sealing ordinance.  In a basic sense, the sealing is the Latter-day Saint marriage covenant, where husbands and wives are sealed for time and for all eternity.  Being married in the temple is a big deal for us.  Civil marriages are fine, but if I may quote a line from the comic Fables, “All contracts end with death.”

In the Lord’s rather lengthy revelation to Joseph Smith on marriage, “All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to held this power…are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.” (D&C 132:7, emphasis added)

Basically, all marriage contracts in the world are made in the world, but when they aren’t sealed, the covenant doesn’t continue past death or into resurrection.  To be sealed, though, is to have that marriage last not just for our time on earth but through the eternities.

“And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.” (D&C 132:19, emphasis added)

There’s more there than I’m going to discuss in this post, but I wanted to give you the full verse in this case, because this outlines entirely what the temple sealing is about.  To be sealed is not just about being married for eternity, it is about obtaining all the exaltation and glory that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wish to give us.  It’s a treasure beyond price.

So I thought that my question was a fair one to consider and not one that many of us in the Church think about: how do the sealings remind us of Christ’s Atonement?

I had written some of my thoughts on that, but the class came up with some very intriguing ideas I hadn’t considered.  Those included:

1)      Atonement can be broken down into at-one-ment, or specifically being at one with God.  The sealing can remind us of symbolically of Christ, for as Adam said of marriage, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen 2:24, emphasis added)
            As well, Jesus intercessory prayer speaks much of the doctrine of becoming one with him as he is one with the Father.

2)      Christ refers to the Church as being his bride in Revelations, in his parables, and also in modern revelation, which I’ll quote here:  “That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners; And be adorned as a bride for that day when though shalt unveil the heavens… that thy glory may fill the earth;” (D&C 109:73-74)

Those were the standouts and I wish that I had thought of those myself but I’m very grateful that I have such a good class that brought to my attention what I couldn’t do alone.  But here are a couple of my inspirations:

1)      It has always been most thought-provoking to me the role altars play in the temple ceremonies, and no less so in the temple sealing.  Altars anciently were holy places that the saints of God would offer their sacrifices to him, all the way back to the days of Adam.  To sacrifice was a commandment from God after the Fall and casting them out from the Garden of Eden.  No explanation was given at the time of the commandment, but “…after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?  And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.  And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.” (Moses 5:6-7)
            Altars were the place of offering sacrifice to the Lord, much in the way that Christ offered himself in sacrifice.  These days, we are not commanded to sacrifice by the shedding of blood, as Christ was the infinite sacrifice.  But we are asked to “offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (3 Nephi 9:20)  And when we come to the altar at the sealing, are we not offering our whole lives, not only to the Lord but to our spouses for all eternity.  Symbolically, aren’t we showing that we will sacrifice and offer ourselves entirely for the other person, just as Christ offered himself entirely for us?

2)      We believe the sealing to be an eternal covenant, contract, oath, and law.  And how does that not bring to mind the Savior’s Atonement?  “For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice…And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.” (Alma 34:10, 14)

Alma once taught that “all things denote there is a God” (Alma 30:44) and it is my opinion that all things can teach us about the nature of God if we’re willing to open our hearts and ask him to reveal to us how these things can be. 

Before I finish, I’ll have to leave a more personal note than I usually attach to these essays of mine. 

I have never been married and at this time and I currently have no prospects.  I would love for it to happen, but until it does, I take my opportunities to improve myself as much as I can so that I’m a good prospect.

Part of that has been observing other marriages (of which there are not few in this world) and I’ve seen what works and what hasn’t.  I’ve been fortunate that my parents have had a good marriage; I don’t know if they noticed, but I have been scrutinizing their relationship for years and they’ve set a pattern I hope to follow. 

I’ve paid a lot of attention to the marriages that have failed or had extreme difficulties, and the thing that concerns me greatly is how often pornography has been involved in one way or another.  We’re warned all the time about this plague every General Conference the Church has.  Because of how common and easy it is to access, it has a powerful, invasive force in entering and ruining the lives of those addicted to it.  If you’re not involved, don’t get involved ever.  If you are, seek help.  Ecclesiastical leaders are there to help; I know that the Church’s bishops and branch presidents are there to help those struggling morally and spiritually with anything to deal with the law of chastity. 

With all things in the gospel, these things are only there to help you gain the greatest peace and joy that can be offered here and now, and in the eternities.

From Abinadi's Sermon

At least half of the Book of Mormon is filled with sermons given by prophets, or sermons are quoted from prior prophets, or perhaps a mixture of both. Among my favorites is Abinadi’s sermon to King Noah.

King Noah is not to be confused with the Noah who built the ark. King Noah was a wicked man ruled by his appetites and passions, who advertised and encouraged his subjects to follow him in his debaucheries. His priests were all corrupt and had twisted the scriptures so much as to have no understanding about what the Law of Moses taught or what prophets like Isaiah were teaching about the coming of Christ.

Abinadi was commanded by God to preach the gospel one last time to King Noah and his priests and warn them that if they didn’t repent, destruction was coming. And because I believe in spoilers, I’ll let you know now that after he finished his sermon, all but one of Noah’s priests pressed the king to kill Abinadi, and so Abinadi was burned to death—and much unhappiness followed these wicked people.

Abinadi’s full available sermon can be found in Mosiah 12-16. In it, he discusses the Ten Commandments, the mission of Christ, explains the prophecies of Isaiah, salvation of little children, and the effect the resurrection has on mankind. Most of it fairly straightforward stuff.

But there’s been one section of the sermon that has confused me for years, ever since I was in high school seminary. It is in the beginning of Mosiah 15, where it talks about how Christ is both the Father and the Son:

“I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people. And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and the Son—And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people…even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.” (Mosiah 15:1-5, 7; emphasis added)

This business of Christbeing and becoming the Father and the Son was very troubling to me in light of the Latter-day Saint view of the Godhead. We don’t believe in one God that has three different personalities or phases; our belief is in three distinct persons who are one God in purpose. In Joseph Smith’s First Vision, he was visited by “two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:17; italics in the original document) Just from that, we already believe that God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, are two distinct beings.

We learn about the Godhead’s state of existence in later revelation, and learn that “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the holy Ghost could not dwell in us.” (D&C 130:22)

They have their own individual functions in our salvation, which Paul beautifully describes in closing his epistle, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” (2 Cor. 13:14; emphasis added) I could go into how each function is important, but that is better saved for another time.

The point I’m trying to make is that even though they are separate beings does not contradict them being one. Christ’s intercessory prayer made that very clear to me; as he prays for the Twelve and the saints, he prays, “…for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one…” (John 17: 20-23)

Christ prayed that the Twelve and the saints would be one in the same way that he and our Heavenly Father were one; not in becoming the same being, but rather being one in purpose, or being agreed or unified in the mission to bear witness and to help bring about the salvation of mankind.

It was a very clear doctrine to me. But now I read Abinadi’s sermon, and now Christ is being called both the Father and the Son. Something was not making sense with my own doctrine.

Fortunately, I came across a statement from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve made in 1916. This was reprinted in the April 2002 Ensign, under “The Father and the Son.” Actually, the best thing I could suggest is to read this article, as it answers this question better than I could. It’s pretty easy to find on www.lds.org.

The summary is that while God the Father is the literal father of our spirits and the Father of both Christ’s spirit and physical body, Christ also bears the title of Father as well as Son. And in Abinadi’s sermon, the important thing to remember is that when he talks about God, he is referring strictly to Christ.

Let’s look at verse 2 in Mosiah 15: “…because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God…” Okay, that one is self-explanatory. God conceived Christ, therefore he must be the Son. Here’s where it gets fun: “…having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—”

In the 1916 statement, a term is introduced called “divine investiture.” The example used in the statement is the angel from Revelations. When the holy messenger appears, the Apostle John bows and begins to worship, but the angel forbids him to do so as he is merely his fellow-servant. But then the angel speaks to John as if he were Christ, telling John, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” (Rev. 22:13)

The angel was divinely invested, or given the right, to represent Christ before John. In much the same way, Christ has been given his own divine investiture, or right, to represent our Heavenly Father and speak in the Father’s own words. It’s yet another way showing how they are one, or unified, in all that they do.

(Of course, because I can’t leave any stone unturned, I have to take a small tangent in what this verse teaches about Christ. Christ has subjected the flesh to the Father’s will. The easy explanation is that he was obedient entirely to his Father, which is true enough. But remember, every reference Abinadi makes about God is specifically referring to Christ, and this one can teach us much about ourselves.

The “flesh” is also referred to as the “natural man,” or our mortal desires and appetites. In King Benjamin’s sermon, he says, “…the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord…” (Mosiah 3:19)

Our fleshly or natural desires are to feed the physical, mental, and emotional appetites that the body hungers for. We are born in a fallen condition and so was Christ. The condescension of God was that Christ was born into a fallen state, with a mortal body that was subject to death and the same appetites that we deal with. If it weren’t, I can’t imagine that Satan would have even bothered to tempt him on those several occasions. A great difference between us and Christ is that where we have to put off the natural man and become a saint through the Atonement, Christ needed no atonement. If you replace one word in the Abinadi verse, it can read like so,“having subjected the flesh to the will of [Christ], being the Father and the Son.”

Christ used his own agency to command, like the God he is. He was not mastered by the flesh as we so often are; he was the master.)

Moving onto verse 3, we see that Christ is “The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God…”

What is the power of God? The Priesthood. Latter-day Saints make a large deal about priesthood, because it is only by God’s power that anything has any eternal permanence or force. We call it the Melchizedek priesthood because Melchizedek was such a righteous high priest within the priesthood order, but we know that “before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.” (D&C 107:3; italics in original)

The Priesthood belongs to Christ, and it was by his Priesthood that he was conceived. Christ can rightfully be called the Father because it was and is his power for all eternity.

“…and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and the Son—”

Because he was born, he had to be the Son. This does not require great explanation. However, I hope this helps make clear how where before, Abinadi talked of Christ being the Father and the Son, in this verse, it’s shown how the priesthood also let Christ become the Father and the Son.

Or maybe I irreparably confused you. That does happen a bit.

The point is, it should be clear that “they are one God” because Abinadi has been talking about the same person the entire time; he’s just been referring to Christ by two distinct titles. It also should make clear how in verse 7, “the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father”shows how the flesh of Christ was completely swallowed by his undeviating purpose to save all mankind. Christ, as always, is the master.

Another way that Christ is the Father is shown in verse 4, that Christ is “the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.” Jesus Christ is Jehovah, who created heaven and earth in the Genesis account and the other revealed scriptures we have of the Creation. He is the Father of the world in which we live and the one in which we will go to after this life.

This wraps up the doctrine that confused me. My trouble had been in understanding how Christ could be both Father and Son, and these little discoveries helped me understand and draw a little closer to him.

But there is always one more thing to learn. In this case, it’s another way that Christ claims the title of Father, and is frankly, the most marvelous to me. Abinadi explains this a little later in his sermon:

“And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.” (Mosiah 15:10-11)

Those who accept the Atonement of Christ, they who have faith in him and repent, become his seed. In short, Christ is the Father of the righteous.

There’s an interesting principle of adoption that seems to be in place here and it only seems fair. As our Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, and our mortal fathers would be the fathers of our physical bodies, those who reach out for the Atonement accept Christ as their father as well. Just thinking of our baptismal covenants, one of the promises we make is to take Christ’s name upon ourselves; yet another way that we become one with him. Certainly binding ourselves to Christ through this covenant would mean entering his family of the righteous.

Christ himself said,“In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe in my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.” (Ether 3:14; emphasis added.)

Lehi's Vision

One of the Book of Mormon’s most famous passages is the Vision of the Tree of Life, found near the beginning of the book.  The prophet Lehi gathers his family together to tell them of a dream he had had, and in this meeting, he says:

“…methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.  And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.  And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.  And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.  And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.  And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.  And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.   And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted.  Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.  And as I partook of that fruit thereof it filled my sour with exceedingly great joy…

“…and I beheld a rod of iron, and it…led to the tree by which I stood.  And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood…and I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood…and it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.  And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the rod of iron; and the did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree…and I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld… and great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.  And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.  And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” (1 Ne. 8:4-28)

I’ve grown up with this story.  I used to watch a short animated movie about this vision.  As I grew older, I would get to read further ahead in the story where Lehi’s son, Nephi, would pray for an interpretation of the dream and he would receive his own vision that among other things, included that interpretation.

This story is often used to descride our journey through life and the need to stick with our values, but I believe that there is more to it than that.  I believe that Lehi's dream can teach us much about the temples and the plan of salvation that is taught therein.  Let's focus on the plan of salvation first.

Going back to the creation, when God created Adam and Eve, he planted a garden in Eden for them to live.  “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:9; italics added)

At the time, Adam and Eve were given a commandment not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  They could have any other fruit in the garden, but that tree they were warned that if they ate, they would die.  Satan, who “sought to destroy the world,” (Moses 4:6) would speak by the mouth of the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve into partaking the fruit.  They did and as a result, were subject to death and cast out from the Garden of Eden.  And here’s the interesting part, God “placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Gen. 3:24; italics added)

It’s fascinating to me how before the Fall, Adam and Eve were only forbidden the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but after the Fall, on top of being cast out, there was an especial emphasis not just forbidding but barring them from the tree of life.  They couldn’t partake of that fruit if they tried.  I won’t go into why this happened, at least not today, but suffice it to say that “as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.  And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord;” (Alma 42:6-7)

Looking at Lehi’s vision, there was a great concourse of people making their way to the tree of life, all of them undoubtedly the posterity of Adam and Eve.  There was a path to the tree but because of the mists of darkness, they lost the path and were lost.  This represents our own fallen state.  In our mortal life, the way to the tree of life is barred from us and despite our own best judgments and wandering, we are still subject to death, both physical and spiritual.

Thus enters the rod of iron.  The rod leads along the path to the tree of life, and even though the people could not see the rod, if they held onto it the whole way, they would arrive.  And what does the rod of iron represent?  In Nephi’s vision, he said, “…I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him.  And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God…” (1 Ne. 11:24-25)

Holding onto the word of God is what leads us through the mists of darkness and to the tree of life.  But what is the word of God?  Usually, when this subject comes up in Sunday school, the answers run the gamut from whisperings of the Holy Ghost to scriptures, but I was convinced there was a deeper meaning to this, and I found it in these here:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

“I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was; therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—the light and the Redeemer of the world;” (D&C 93:7-9)

Taking these scriptures and Nephi seeing the Son of God before finding the interpretation, I believe there is a case for the rod of iron being a symbol of the Savior.  If Lehi’s vision can be viewed as a representation of the plan of salvation, the rod of iron couldn’t be anything else.  The Fall is upon all mankind and the only way out of it is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22)

Holding onto the rod of iron then means holding onto Christ during this mortal probation.  This plays well into the vision; after all, the scripture never says that the people ever saw the rod while they were traveling, just that by holding it, it guided them to where they were supposed to go.  So, too, with rare exceptions does anybody ever get to see Christ in mortality, and even for those who do, it’s merely temporary and they must continue their journey by faith.  The obvious question then should be: how do we hold onto Christ while we live?

It took me a little while to see the connection, although the Fourth Article of Faith helped to clear it: “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

I added the italics above because this was the crucial connection.  Baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost are the two ordinances, or sacred ceremonies, members of the Church take part of.  These ordinances are covenants, or contracts, that we make with God.

Baptism is essential to returning to live with God.  In it, we covenant and promise that we will take Christ’s name upon us, always remember him, and keep his commandments.  In return, God promises to bless us with his Spirit, which will bind us to him.  Binding ourselves to the Lord by being baptized is how we hold onto the iron rod and that will put us on our way to the tree of life.

Is that all that required?  No!  While I can’t emphasize the importance of baptism by water and the Spirit enough, it is not an end in itself but the start of the journey.  The Fourth Article states that these are the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel.  By saying they are the first, there leaves an implication that there must be second—or perhaps I should say further—principles and ordinances of the Gospel.

Where are these to be found?  In the temples.

The temple has many sacred ordinances and ceremonies, among them washings and anointings, an endowment, and sealings.  These are all ordinances of salvation.  They are not things we talk about outside of the temple, or we do so with great reverence and care, for these covenants are matters of heaven and not for the world.  There are things we are obligated not to discuss outside of temple walls.  However, this talk is about what Lehi’s vision teaches us about the temple, and in particular, the endowment ceremony.  From here on, though, I rely entirely on scripture, as I have before.

What is the endowment ceremony?  It is a dramatic instruction of the plan of salvation, teaching us about where we came from, why we’re here, and where we’re going after this.  It’s a journey from Creation until we return to our Heavenly Father in his celestial glory.  As Gordon B. Hinckley, the fifteenth president of our Church said, “[The temples] are houses of instruction.  They are places of covenants and promises.  At their altars we kneel before our God, our Creator, and are given promise of His everlasting blessings.”

Brigham Young, the second president of the Church, would say of them, “Then go on and build the temples of the Lord, that you may receive the endowments in store for you, and possess the keys of the eternal Priesthood, that you may receive every word, sign, and token, and be made acquainted with the laws of angels, and of the kingdom of our Father and our God, and know how to pass from one degree to another, and enter fully into the joy of your Lord.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 395-396)

The endowment, I believe, is a gift of knowledge that binds us even more to Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” (John 14:6) just as the rod of iron is the only way that leads to the tree of life.

Christ’s Atonement, or his sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Crucifixion, pay for our sins and make us clean and able to return to God.  The covenants we make, and this includes our endowments, bring us to him so that we can have the Atonement work in our lives.  As Alma said, “Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.” (Alma 13:11)

There’s a fascinating symbol at play here, in that the righteous’ garments were washed white because of Jesus’ sacrifice.  I didn’t know this, but “endow” comes from the Middle English word “endouen.”  Another word that stems from “endouen” is “endue,” which means literally “to put on (a garment) (Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4^th Edition)

From the garments we promise to wear throughout our lives as a reminder of our temple covenants, to putting off our worldly attire and dressing all in white while in the temple, the clothes we wear is a symbol of Christ’s Atonement for us.

When the prophet Jacob spoke about what happens after the resurrection, he said, “Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.” (2 Ne. 9:14)

To me, the clothing we wear in the temple has always borne a weight of glory and majesty, and or pureness and equality.  I now contrast this with the apparel of those who were in the great and spacious building of Lehi’s dreams.  It is written that their clothing was exceedingly fine, which when I read carries a feeling of wealth and prestige, but also haughtiness and vanity.  All these things are short-lived and benefit none, least of all themselves.

In Nephi’s vision, he first sees Christ slain because the people of the world took him and judged him, and they killed him on the cross.  And after Christ is gone, the world gathers to fight against his twelve apostles.  And after Nephi witnesses this, the multitude of the earth are in a great and spacious building, and the angel who is with Nephi in the vision says, “Behold the world and the wisdom thereof;” and Nephi says, “And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world;” (1 Ne. 11:35-36)

The great and spacious building is set up opposite to the tree of life, just as the world is set up against the Savior.  Part of life’s test is in deciding which group we will be party to, and we can only choose one.  Jesus himself said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  (Matt. 6:24)  (Mammon is a word meaning riches, which is certainly what the world continually strives for.)

The world mocks the saints as those in the great and spacious building mocked those eating the fruit of the tree.  It’s important to note those who cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.  These are not weak people.  They held onto the rod and made their way through the mists of darkness.  In the plan of salvation, these are those who made their covenants with Christ, who had their endowments and learned how to attain celestial glory.  The fruit of their labors was in their grasp.  But because they could not endure the mocking of the world, they cast it aside and wandered into strange paths and were lost.

This is a clear warning to us who have had these ordinances given to us.  Is all accomplished because we made it to the tree of life?  No.  This scripture is telling us that if we do not live up to the covenants which we have made before God, we are in Satan’s power.

The choice is before us as the prophet Joshua put it before the children of Israel: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh. 24:15)

I know whom I wish to serve.  Because I know what the tree of life is.  In Nephi’s vision, he witnessed the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, and the angel asked him if he knew what the tree meant.  Nephi answered, “Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.” (1 Ne. 11:22)

We can go further than that.  What is the love of God?  “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)

“…for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

The tree of life represents God, as much of the iron rod does, for Christ and his Atonement saves us from the Fall to live with him in eternal celestial glory.  That is the reward of the righteous.

And what is the reward of the wicked?  There is a symbol that is often overlooked by almost all in the great and spacious building, and if it hadn’t been my obsession with the works of Hugh Nibley, it would have been lost on me.  Lehi saw the great and spacious building as if it was built high in the air.

In Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, we read, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” (Eph. 2:2, italics added)

Satan’s power is considered to be that of the air.  The air is formless, empty, and holds nothing.  In its full power, it tears and rends.  This is in stark contrast to Christ, who in Ephesians is referred to as the chief corner stone of the foundation of the church.  As the prophet Helaman said to his sons, “…remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his might winds, (please note Satan’s symbol being the air) yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” (Hel. 5:12)

Because Christ is our rock, he will always support us.  But Satan does not support his own, and as Nephi saw, the great and spacious building, that which stood high in the air “fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great.” (1 Ne. 11:36)

There is so much more that could be said.  As I said before, I didn’t include all of the details of Lehi’s dream nor what they meant.  I’ve some inkling as to how they fit into the plan of salvation and what the temples teach us, but because my time is short and this is long enough, I’d encourage you to read 1 Ne. 8 and 11 yourselves and ask the Spirit to reveal to you what these scriptures teach.  The more I go over them, the more depth and beauty that I find in these passages.

October Conference 2012

This is the first time in years that I haven't seen all five sessions of Conference.  I'd be disappointed except that Saturday was the first time I got to spend a day with my family in a long while.  It ended up taking the entire morning and a good chunk of the early afternoon.  When I got home for the day, my roommates informed my immediately about the change happening to missionary service: men leaving at age 18 and women at 19.

I'm honestly really excited about this change and I sure do see the inspiration behind it.

But a lot is already going to be said about that for several years to come I'm sure, and nobody's interested in my opinion on that.

The thing that mattered most to me was the one talk I caught at the Saturday afternoon session: Elder Oaks sermon on the children of the world.  Of all the talks given that day and all Sunday, this was the one that touched my heart the most.

He used example after example of all the trials and sufferings that children go through everyday in our world.  And so many of the trials are because of the things that the grownups, we who have an obligations to protect and care for them, are hurting them.  It brought a whole new meaning to the scripture for those who offend these little ones, that it would be better to have a millstone tied about their neck.

It's reminded me that every decision I make that will affect the society I live in, the question I should always ask is, "Will this help or hurt the children?"  I feel that of all our duties, this will always come first and fulfilling that obligation, we'll be able to meet all our other requirements.