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For a reason not usually considered, the Book of Mormon is unique among the standard works for the Church and, for that matter, any book that thus far has ever been written. This reason provides, perhaps, a major explanation for why prophets such as Ezra Taft Benson have emphasized the special need for its study by Church members and how and why its message was written specifically for our day. This reason is that the Book of Mormon is the record of a people who possessed the fulness of the Gospel (D&C 20:9; 27:5; 42:12) for over 1000 years. As such, it provides a very important model for members of the Church to follow, since we also exist in this same kind of religious setting.
I take the phrase “fulness of the Gospel” to mean:
1) Men with the authority and keys of the Melchizedek priesthood are in leadership.
2) Members are taught and understand the plan of salvation (see PREACH MY GOSPEL, 2004, pp. 55-56) as including:
–Knowledge of where we came from, why we are here, and where we will go after this life
–Knowing that a loving Heavenly Father instituted this plan to help us progress in this life, be happy, and live successfully, so that we can return to his presence and become like him
–The mission and atonement of Jesus Christ was central to the plan, overcoming physical death and providing a way for us to be cleansed and forgiven for our sins so that we can return to live with a holy God
–Forgiveness and cleansing are available through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by authoritative administrators, the receipt of the Holy Ghost, and “enduring to the end” faithfully.
3) Ordinances of salvation, including baptism, and bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost were administered, by proper authority.
Other standard works, while containing important truths, do not have this background of a people trying to live the gospel for over a millenium:
The Old Testament is mostly about a people who had rejected the fulness of the Gospel when offered it by Moses and were given, in its place, a preparatory and lesser law and structure, the Law of Moses. Only the Book of Genesis gives a brief glimpse of earlier times when the fulness of the gospel was present.
The New Testament, after the testimonies of the life and mission of the Savior, describes a kind of Kirtland Church (Reynolds, EARLY CHRISTIANS IN DISARRAY, pp 8-9), increasingly characterized by dissension and wickedness, which existed only briefly before disintegrating into full apostasy.
The Doctrine and Covenants contains revelations to modern prophets, largely in the first few years of the Restoration.
The Pearl of Great Price contains a few brief and added insights about the early times portrayed in the Old Testament.
On the other hand, the Book of Mormon gives rich detail about the efforts and struggles of individuals and groups to live the gospel as members of the ongoing Church of Jesus Christ, that we can and should relate to, as members of a church which has been administering the fulness of Gospel for over 180 years:
1) Wonderful examples of day-by-day faith, valiancy, and how these choices were made, by committed followers of the Lord, often in the face of trials and opposition (Lehi, Nephi, Abinadi, Helaman, Nephi II, Mormon, Moroni, etc., etc.).
2) The fruits of rebellion against the teachings of the Lord through his prophets and leaders, by persons who undoubtedly had been taught and/or been part of the gospel, even to the point that these persons became violent and murderous in their opposition (Laman and Lemuel, Zeezrom, Amalickiah, Zemnarihah, etc.), how as a member to deal with such opposition.
3) The process of returning to living faithfully (reactivation) on the part of members of the Church after engaging in such things as apostasy (Alma I), rebellion (Alma II), worldliness and materialism (Amulek), indifference and apathy (Enos), immorality and other serious sins (Corianton).
4) How baptized members may increase their spirituality to the point of knowing they have forgiveness and retaining a remission of their sins (the people of King Benjamin, in Mosiah 1:11; 2-5).
5) Ways to transmit the faith across generations, such as write a record of your spiritual experiences, teach from the scriptures, understand and learn from your family history, hold family councils and gatherings, give father’s blessings, be an example, bear testimony, give one-on-one counseling, give positive affirmation, be patient. (I have references for all of these)
6) Dealing with wayward children (Lehi; Alma I and Mosiah with their sons; Alma II with Corianton)
7) The covenant nature of the ordinances of salvation (Mosiah 8:8-10, 3 Ne 18:1-11).
8) Acquiring faith, hope, and charity as measures of a member’s spiritual progress (faith–Alma 32, Ether 12:6; hope–Ether 12:3, Alma 22:15-16, Moro 7:40-43, Moro 8:26; charity–Moro 7:44-48, 8:26)
9) How the Spirit is felt and experienced by a member (Alma 36, 32; 2 Ne 31, etc.)--how it can be driven away, how it can return.
10) The process and importance of true repentance, as experienced by members (Alma 34, 39, 42, etc.)
11) The need to sustain and support our leaders, to follow the prophet (many places).
12) Dealing with fighting in a war, as a member.
13) Being a missionary.
14) How the Church should function and be conducted.
15) Conducting the ordinances of salvation.
Etc.
Truly, among its many wonderful features, the Book of Mormon is a Member Manual, helping us since our baptisms 1) to progress in our personal spirituality and righteousness, 2) to bless and teach our families the Gospel, and 3) to support the growth of the Kingdom.
Wendy took her mother with her and left for most of this week for the cabin, for Girl’s Week. This is a fall get-together with a long history for Wendy, her mother and her sisters, and some aunts and cousins. This is going to be a little change of pace, as Wendy and I have not been apart much since we got married and especially while were served in NC. Wendy did a lot of preparations, so I would not suffer too much, such as loading the fridge with food. I am going to try to implement a daily schedule to exercise, work on Guy Lewis records index for an hour a day, continue to search for Lewis family records on Ancestry.com, blog and phone family, work some in the yard, and try to keep some kind of order in the house. There are grand-child soccer and football games and I have some Scout boards of review to help run on Tuesday night.
On Monday evening we did our monthly Skype visit with David, Rebecca and boys.
We saw soccer games played by Brianna, Joshua and Jeremy. The latter was a very interesting game. Matthew is the coach. A mistake was made between the Mapleton and Springville rec departments, which caused teams of Mapleton 5-6th graders to play against Springville 7-8th graders. They were playing Springville team this night whose players must have averaged being about a foot taller then them. In a prior meeting they lost to this team 12-0. Matthew had worked with them on defense in the meantime and they were able to bottle up the other team’s attack for the most part. On offense they got some scoring opportunities. We saw the last two goals which they scored on penalty kicks (6th graders tend to fall down when a boy a foot taller pushes on them when they are on a breakaway) and they won a great moral victory at 4-4. Lots of fun.
Joshua is grasping what the game is all about and played some sturdy defense.
We spent our now-again-usual long Thursday in the Provo temple. We did two endowment sessions, one on Wednesday afternoon at Provo and a second Friday mid-day at Jordan River. Earlier Friday we spent some time with Gert Foerster, our CPA, to finish our 2009 taxes (we had sent in estimated payments but he had arranged extensions until we could look at everything this summer).
Saturday, thankfully, SFCN did not broadcast the BYU-Florida State game, but I watched a lot of football including Utah’s blowout of New Mexico.
I taught the 15-16 year old’s Sunday School lesson for they last time as our replacement has now been called.
I came home from NC carrying lots of extra weight and severely out of condition. We were so busy, it was hard to schedule exercise (besides, where we lived was not a very good or safe place to walk). We were on the road a lot and eating a lot of fast food. When I stepped on the scales the morning after arriving home, I weighed 242 pounds.
I began to try to eat lighter and to avoid eating out as much as possible. We started to try to walk regularly for exercise. The first day, we walked 20 minutes, and I had to take a nap afterward to recover. Over the last three months, I have gradually been able to increase my endurance, and can now go for 60 minutes without being totally debilitated.
This morning, for the first time since we returned home, I did what was one of our favorite walks–walk northwest past the Jr. High and the cemetery to 200 E and 300 S, then south to the start of the River Bottoms Road and follow it to the turn-off road that climbs back out of the bottoms at 1400 East. I stopped in at Emilie’s for a drink of water and short visit, then returned home. The total route is about 5 miles. And I am feeling pretty good. I am now weighing in at about 227-228, which is what I weighed when I left for NC, so I am down about 15 pounds. I think that I would be healthier long-term if I got under 210, and that is my hope to achieve by the end of the year.
We have had Wendy’s mother, Annette Ridges, with us this weekend. We are giving Wendy’s sister Shannon a break. Annette is 92 years old. While she can still walk some and appears to have pretty good physical health, she is nearly blind, has very poor hearing, and considerable dementia. Once in a while her memory kicks in, but in general, there isn’t much communication anymore. When she senses she has an audience, she will sort of wake up and try to entertain people with funny statements and faces.
In regard to her attitude, her later years have been exemplary. She has not complained about her health or other problems.. She always sees the bright side and is happy and positive. She enjoys the attention of family members and others.
She was born Annette Newman Salt Lake City, 30 Apr 1918, to William Gold Newman, from Tennessee , and Elizabeth Johnson, whose family were Danish converts to the Church. She married Kenneth P. Borg, 8 Oct 1937, in the Salt Lake Temple. They had six children, a son Kenneth Jr. (b. 1939). then five daughters, Sue (b. 1941), Kathy (b. 1946), Wendy (1948), Bonnie (b.1951), and Shannon (b. 1954). All married and raised their families in Salt Lake. Ken Jr. was a dentist and all of the daughters home-makers. Ken Jr. served a mission in England and all six of the children were married in the temple.
Annette was an accomplished artist, and produced many fine oils, water colors, and sketches, particularly after her children were grown. Paintings include still-life and outdoor scenes from Utah and also Europe. One of her paintings is housed in the Jordan River Temple.
Sadly, after 33 years of marriage, Annette’s husband left his family. Annette helped to provide support by working as a floral designer and with a wedding reception center. On 4 May 1972 she married Melvin H. Ridges in the Salt Lake Temple. He was a widower and a successful insurance executive. He also had been blind since he was a young adult (his condition became evident and worsened while he was serving as a missionary), but in spite of his handicap, was a very capable and solid man. Annette and Melvin served as senior missionaries at the San Diego Visitors Center from 1979-1981. He passed away in January 1997.
We were very grateful for an invitation from Soderquists to join them for Heidi’s mission call opening last Wednesday evening. The anticipated mail arrived in South Weber early in the afternoon. Alison let us know that the Official Opening (and to the best of our knowledge, there was no unofficial prior opening) would take place at 6:30 pm on the BYU campus, on a little grassy hill (mound?) that Heidi has a particular affection for, just outside the east entrance to the Talmage Building.
Heidi was on the little hill with some friends, then Britain showed up, and after a period of time here came Alison, Quin, and all of the younger Soderquists. Britain went into the Talmage Building to get Andrew (he is working part-time in a computer lab just inside that building), and then, with the appropriate amount of drama, Heidi slowly opened the envelope, and read “Spain Bar
cellona.” There was a considerable level of whooping, hollering, and hugging. Meanwhile, Jonathan, Aaron and Chris made good use of the hill for rolling and wrestling, and Daniel found a lightpost to do pushups from.
We all finished off the evening in celebration by going to BYU Dairy’s Creamery on 9th East for ice cream. I am very proud of Heidi and wish her well on her mission.
We
had Hilary, Andrew, Olivia and Jack down for dinner Sunday evening. We helped Olivia celebrate her 8th birthday.
Uncle Rodney (Davenport) passed away last Sunday. Our experiences while attending the viewing Thursday night and at the viewing and funeral Friday were meaningful and special. One of the first things that caught our attention as we entered Wing Mortuary Thursday evening was his clarinet and saxophone sitting in their open cases. I remembered these instruments well. He left them with us in 1942 when he went to war. Having a fascination with all things musical, I had the overwhelming desire to get them out and learn to play them. I couldn’t understand why my mother wouldn’t allow this. They sat for four years in their cases in a storage area under our living room couch, without my touching them, from my fifth to ninth year, until Rodney was released from active duty and retrieved them in 1946. I never did realize my dream of being a saxophone player. Rodney was an outstanding self-taught musician, and played these instruments in the 1930-1940s “big-band” tradition of Benny Goodman or Glen Miller. According to things said at his funeral, he started a band called “The Columbians” when just out of high school which played for dances and gave performances for a number of years throughout the mid-Columbia area of Oregon and Washington. One young musician that he tutored was Doc Severinson, who later was Johnny Carson’s musical director. The family said that Severinson later invited him to join him in his band in Los Angeles, but Uncle Rodney turned him down, feeling that the life-style of this kind of professional musician was unsuitable for a family man.
The entire tenor of the funeral and our contact with family members was happy, positive, and full of love and gratitude. It was really an uplifting and spiritual experience. I came away warmed and appreciative for this part of my family, where the gospel has decidedly enriched their lives and relationships. One of the very impressive things was the total meshing of this blended family into one family, particularly as described by Kathleen Koltermann, LaRee’s oldest daughter by her first husband. Rodney and LaRee were “Dad” and “Mom” to all, and all seven children were fully brothers and sisters.
I received new insights into Rodney’s strengths, in his lovingness, steadiness and faith, but even more in seeing how that LaRee had endured the initial challenge of becoming the mother to this bunch of untamed little boys who had been without discipline and direction for at least a year after Dot’s death, to create a united and stable family in the gospel, full of good citizens and goal-oriented young persons. Dot had died unexpectedly (“She went to the hospital for an operation and never came home” said Larry in his talk) about three months before I left on my mission in 1957. I recall visiting their home in The Dalles sometime after her death and before I left for the Mission Home in October. The chaos and sense of loss in that household was absolutely heart-wrenching. I sensed that a wonderful rescue had occurred for that family, having a great deal to do with LaRee becoming a part of the family and their subsequent move to Utah. At the viewing and funeral I saw evidence that nearly all of the 42 grandchildren and 92 great-grandchildren were active and strong in the Church. What a miracle.
For me, the highlight was Larry’s closing talk at the funeral. He used two or three of his own experiences growing up to give honor to his father and also to teach and testify of Gospel truths in a very powerful way, including:
1) After the funeral, the family went home and there was a contentious argument in the living room between a Davenport relative and George and Dolly Cox, Dot’s parents, the Davenport relative trying to express his faith in God and the Cox’s denying the justice and existence of God, if he would allow such a thing to occur as the death of their daughter in these circumstances. At 10 years of age, Larry found this argument confusing and dismaying. He retreated out the house and climbed the hill behind the house to a place where he could sit among some trees and view his home in the distance. There he prayed, and received a powerful and comforting spiritual witness that his mother was alive and that she was happy. He then repeated this testimony and that Rodney was alive and with his loved ones.
2) Having now grown up active in the Church in Lehi, Larry was preparing to serve a mission and in fact had received a mission call to Sweden. He believed in God, in the Book of Mormon, and the Church, but yet had questions about whether this Church was the one true church. He had about decided that he wouldn’t go on the mission having these reservations, and about two weeks before he was supposed to leave he shared this problem with his dad. Rodney wisely turned him to the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:3-5. As they read these verses together, Rodney pointed to the words “with real intent” as being the most significant phrase in this passage, and asked him what this meant. After Larry gave a less than adequate explanation, his dad interpreted this phrase to mean that the person who was praying for knowledge must fully have the intention to act upon the understanding that the Lord would give him. Rodney suggested that Larry go back to his prayers with this understanding. Larry followed his advice and shortly was fully prepared to go on his mission, able to testify absolutely of the truthfulness of the Church. He concluded by testifying to the need for all of us go beyond believing (even the devils do that) but to act upon our beliefs and knowledge and that this will make all of the difference.
We saw: Alison, my sister Dorothy, along with Jeree and Kristine, who travel down form Ogden together, Allen Hall and his sister Phyllis along with her daughter (children of Dorothy Davenport Hall), Ed Davenport, his wife and also his sister Alice (Franklin’s children), Myron Davenport and his wife Pearl and three of their children, Ron, LouAnn, and Becky. We did not know until we saw Rodney’s obituary that his oldest son Rodney Jr. had recently died. We visited with his wife Venetta and met several of her children (they had 11) and grand-children. We had a good opportunity to become re-acquainted at the Thursday night viewing (it was less crowded and rushed) with Rodney’s children Larry, Jim, Diane, Randy, and stepdaughters Kathleen and Donna and some of their spouses.
Wendy and I drove up Diamond Fork this afternoon to see if there were fall colors. One of the brightest yellows was the bloom on the sage. And I got a shot of a butterfly on the bloom. 
arch. We love it.
For a reason not usually considered, the Book of Mormon is unique among the standard works for the Church and, for that matter, any book that thus far has ever been written. This reason provides, perhaps, a major explanation for why prophets such as Ezra Taft Benson have emphasized the special need for its study by Church members and how and why its message was written specifically for our day. This reason is that the Book of Mormon is the record of a people who possessed the fulness of the Gospel (D&C 20:9; 27:5; 42:12) for over 1000 years. As such, it provides a very important model for members of the Church to follow, since we also exist in this same kind of religious setting.
I came home from NC carrying lots of extra weight and severely out of condition. We were so busy, it was hard to schedule exercise (besides, where we lived was not a very good or safe place to walk). We were on the road a lot and eating a lot of fast food. When I stepped on the scales the morning after arriving home, I weighed 242 pounds. 
We have had Wendy’s mother, Annette Ridges, with us this weekend. We are giving Wendy’s sister Shannon a break. Annette is 92 years old. While she can still walk some and appears to have pretty good physical health, she is nearly blind, has very poor hearing, and considerable dementia. Once in a while her memory kicks in, but in general, there isn’t much communication anymore. When she senses she has an audience, she will sort of wake up and try to entertain people with funny statements and faces.
We were very grateful for an invitation from Soderquists to join them for Heidi’s mission call opening last Wednesday evening. The anticipated mail arrived in South Weber early in the afternoon. Alison let us know that the Official Opening (and to the best of our knowledge, there was no unofficial prior opening) would take place at 6:30 pm on the BYU campus, on a little grassy hill (mound?) that Heidi has a particular affection for, just outside the east entrance to the Talmage Building.
cellona.” There was a considerable level of whooping, hollering, and hugging. Meanwhile, Jonathan, Aaron and Chris made good use of the hill for rolling and wrestling, and Daniel found a lightpost to do pushups from. 
We
had Hilary, Andrew, Olivia and Jack down for dinner Sunday evening. We helped Olivia celebrate her 8th birthday.
Here are the first peaches that came from one of our two little peach trees. This is half of the crop of six, on the early Elberta tree. For several weeks we have been out to these trees at least daily to see if any peaches are ripe enough to fall off in our hand when we give them a gentle tug. Finally the payoff! 
m the early tree. So sweet, so full of flavor. Yum!
All of our Utah County families met at the Spanish Oaks reservoir in the late morning. Some of us fished. Matthew finally had some success fishing by the outlet with powerbait. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and had lunch together.
Utah Valley to the north, especially in the evening.
Uncle Rodney (Davenport) passed away last Sunday. Our experiences while attending the viewing Thursday night and at the viewing and funeral Friday were meaningful and special. One of the first things that caught our attention as we entered Wing Mortuary Thursday evening was his clarinet and saxophone sitting in their open cases. I remembered these instruments well. He left them with us in 1942 when he went to war. Having a fascination with all things musical, I had the overwhelming desire to get them out and learn to play them. I couldn’t understand why my mother wouldn’t allow this. They sat for four years in their cases in a storage area under our living room couch, without my touching them, from my fifth to ninth year, until Rodney was released from active duty and retrieved them in 1946. I never did realize my dream of being a saxophone player. Rodney was an outstanding self-taught musician, and played these instruments in the 1930-1940s “big-band” tradition of Benny Goodman or Glen Miller. According to things said at his funeral, he started a band called “The Columbians” when just out of high school which played for dances and gave performances for a number of years throughout the mid-Columbia area of Oregon and Washington. One young musician that he tutored was Doc Severinson, who later was Johnny Carson’s musical director. The family said that Severinson later invited him to join him in his band in Los Angeles, but Uncle Rodney turned him down, feeling that the life-style of this kind of professional musician was unsuitable for a family man.
