Sacrament Meeting talk

 Sacrament Meeting talk, February 26, 2023
    I was raised in a tiny farming-logging community in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state.  My family was split on the subject of religion.  My father had been born in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, and his parents had migrated to the Northwest when his was a tiny boy.  His father’s family, the Lewises, were not very religious.  His mother came from a Primative Baptist tradition, a religion common in the South, which had a strong Calvinist leaning.  My mother was from an Latter-day Saint family that had migrated from Utah some years before to satisfy her grandfather’s entrepreneurial ambitions to build a large logging, lumbering business.  My parents had married during the early days of the great depression and we lived on a small farm on which my father eeked out a living with odd jobs and a little dairy operation.
    The nearest branch of the LDS church was in Hood River, Oregon, at least an hour and half or so drive over bad mountain roads and we did not have the cars or money to make the trip.  Plus my mother didn’t drive.  We attended the only church nearby, a small non-denominational Sunday school, loosely connected to the Presbyterians, having a Bible emphasis.
    When I was about 7 years old, something happened that had very significant effect on my life.  My mother had a subscription to one of the Church magazines and saw a note that Deseret Book was republishing a little book for children about the Book of Mormon that William A. Morton had written many years before and that her mother had read to her when she was little.  It was called “Mother Stories From the Book of Mormon.”  She felt that she needed help in exposing my little sister and I to the beliefs of her family’s church.  She wrote to her father who had retired and relocated to Utah.  She asked if he would buy a copy and send it to her, which he did.  
    I remember a day when I was sitting beside my mother, leaning against her arm, as she read to my little sister and me these Book of Mormon stories.  At one point she paused and said the Lord has promised that He will testify through the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon and the gospel are true.  She asked if we had ever felt such promptings of the Holy Ghost.  I started to say, “No, I don’t think I have ever felt any of these things” when the most unusual feeling came over me.
    A warmness and excitement came into my heart and breast that I had never felt before and I felt a sort of thrill go up and down my spine.  I came to recognize there feelings as being like those described by the two disciples of the Lord in Luke 24:32, “did not our hearts within us burn?”  
    Seven years old.  I had a witness of the Spirit and my own conviction that the Book of Mormon was true.  
    I looked forward to when I would have my eighth birthday and could be baptized, but it didn’t happen.  My father maintained that my sister and I could join the Church when we were grown and could decide for ourselves.  My 9th birthday passed.  In my nightly prayers, I asked to be able to be baptized, but still nothing happened.  
    Years went by.  When I reached early high school age, a school teacher who I greatly admired and who was a committed churchman, asked me if I would like to be baptized in the Presbyterian Church.  I thanked him, but said “No.  I intend, when I can, to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
    The Church grew closer to us.  Hood River became a ward and they were blessed to be able to build a Utah-type ward house.  A Sunday school and then a branch was established in White Salmon, a hour drive away, which we attended once or twice a year.  The branch president assigned himself as our home teacher.  He started to make monthly visits.  At age 15 when I started to have summer jobs with local farmers, I paid him my tithing.
    The day after I graduated from high school, President Burles showed up at our house.  He had an invitation for us.  He said that the branch had reserved the Hood River baptismal font for a branch baptismal service next Saturday at 5 pm.  Would my sister and I like to come and be baptized?  My mother somehow got approval from my dad, and we made the drive and were baptized.  I was 17.  It was so wonderful.  I recall that for a week or so it seemed like I was walking in the air without my feet touching the ground.
    I was a pretty good student and had been looking at attending college.  I had a scholarship offer from Washington State.  As soon as I had been baptized, the Spirit began to whisper strongly that I needed to go to school where I could learn more about being a member of the Church.  So I dropped plans to attend Reed College, Lewis and Clark, or Washington State, and came to BYU.  There I learned much more about our religion and especially I increased my appreciation and understanding of the Book of Mormon.
    Next, I began to have a strong sense of gratitude and that I needed to return something back to my Heavenly Father.  I determined to serve a mission.  As a young, new, Naive and inexperienced missionary serving in Minnesota and Manitoba, Canada, I had a couple of experiences that suggested that among ordinary members of our Church at that time there were some problems in our usage of the Book of Mormon and other modern scripture.  I recall my experienced companion teaching a Plan of Salvation lesson, and he apologized to the investigator for using modern scripture to teach about our premortal existence, as if our modern scriptures were inferior to or inappropriate to teach our doctrines to non-members.  
    Shortly after that, a second new missionary experience occurred as we met a Protestant man who asked sort of loaded question about what our Church believed about salvation by grace.  My experienced companion responded that we believed that we will all be resurrected through the grace of Christ but we have to earn our salvation.  I quietly thought, “But what about forgiveness?”  Through this and other experiences I concluded that there was a time in the Church when ordinary members often had a shallow understanding of the work of Christ and of his atonement.  Sometimes this understanding seemed to based more on staking out a position different than beliefs of other churches as opposed to the real, true doctrines contained in our Latter-day scriptures.  For example, professor Robert Millet tells a story when as a teenager growing up in the Bible-belt South, he asked his father who was at the time a Latter-day Saint Branch President whether we believed in the grace of Christ.  His dad said “No.”  Brother Millet then ask asked “Why not?”  And the answer was “Because they do.”
    Just after that time, there was a wonderful prophetic correction that in my opinion has made a very significant correction in and through the use and study of the Book of Mormon in the Church.  In the 1986 General Conference, the then prophet of the Lord, Ezra Taft Benson, recalled verses from a 1832  revelation in section 84: “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.  And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.  And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon...” (D&C 84: 54-57)
    President Benson stated his long standing belief that the Church was still under some condemnation for taking the Book of Mormon too lightly.  He announced that the Lord had revealed to him the need to reemphasize the Book of Mormon.  This was the time that the Church began to emphasize the four year cycle of the study of all the Latter-Day Saint scriptures in our Church meetings, seminary and institutes.  President Benson also gave the challenge, which our President Nelson has repeated, “Nothing opens the heavens quite like ... daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon...”

    I believe that especially since that 1986 challenge from our prophet, the church as a whole has made significant progress in its utilization and study of the Book of Mormon.  The Book of Mormon also has become much more central in our missionary teaching efforts.  Ordinary members also have gained a much greater appreciation for Christ and a fuller understanding of his atonement and how to access its blessings.
    I am grateful that, first, the Book of Mormon provide a strong spiritual witness to me, and to us all, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that our Church is the restored Church of Jesus Christ, and second, that the Book of Mormon is the greatest scriptural witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  It is extremely Christ-centered.  Or as a pair of Catholic scholars concluded after they studied the Book of Mormon, “It has a very high Christology.”  Our mission president in Raleigh North Carolina challenged his missionaries to read from a clean copy of the Book of Mormon and mark every reference to the Savior.  Our missionaries found that they needed to mark almost every page in the entire book.
    The Book of Mormon is the best of all sources in this world for learning the doctrines of Christ’s atonement.  We have been taught that the 1st principles of the gospel are faith and repentance.  Read Alma 32 to really know about faith and how to grow it. “But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.”
    What about repentance?  When I was called as bishop, one of the first things I noticed was that there was a cabinet in the Bishops office with several copies of a book by Pres Kimball, which prior Bishops had purchased to give to persons who had come to their office to confess serious sins and seek forgiveness.  I found a preference for using the Book of Mormon to teach this process.  The repentant Alma the younger in Alma 36, in the midst of his extreme feelings of guilt, recalled his father’s teachings about Christ’s atonement and prayed, “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me...”  And at that very moment, he reported “when I thought this, I could remember my pains [of guilt] no more... And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain...”
    Lehi described the very purpose of our lives: “men are that they have joy”
    Even the sacred and exalting doctrines of the temple are found in the teachings of Jacob and King Benjamin and Christ himself when he taught them at the temple in Bountiful, recorded in 3rd Nephi.
    The several blessings for us of the atonement of Christ are described in great detail:
    The Resurrection in Alma 40: “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.”
    Redemption from sin 3 Nephi 27: “[The Savior says] whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.”
    Strengthening blessings, Alma 7: “[Christ] will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”
    Perfecting blessings: “Come unto Christ, that ye may be perfected in him” “what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am”...and  “that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we may be like him...”
    I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is truly foundational for our faith in Christ and his restored gospel.  In the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen

Easter Message

 Easter Message by Robert Lewis,
April 17 Taylorsville Gardens Ward Sacrament Meeting talk.

    When Bro. Stone asked me to prepare this talk, he pointed me toward an address by Pres. Nelson two years ago in April conference, “Hear Him,” in which he presented a proclamation by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles entitled  “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World.”  This proclamation was issued at the time which marked the 200 year anniversary of the visit of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith, calling Joseph as the prophet of the Restoration, the beginning the work of this dispensation in which all gospel keys and powers would be restored in order to gather scattered Israel in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  
    Also as a part of this restoration process, this month is also the 192nd anniversary on April 6th of the re-establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth.
    So April is a great month of celebrations.
    Of even more significance and giving us even more reason for celebration, this is the very week of the Hebrew holiday of Passover, which was also the time at which our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered, was crucified, died, and rose from the dead, working out the centerpiece of the whole gospel plan, the atonement, enabling what Alma called, the “great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:10) to be fully effective and fully available to all of us.
    Happiness.  Joy.
    In lives which are often filled with misery, anxiety, loss and grief, pain, weakness, failure, betrayal, guilt, conflict, the power and blessing and joy of the atonement of Christ shines through.  In fact, Father Lehi in the Book of Mormon concludes that the purpose of our whole earthly existence, the primary objective of the whole gospel plan and its atonement, is joy:  “Men are that they might have joy” he said. (2 Nephi 2:25)
    Happiness.  Joy.  
    Let’s look further at joy in our existence through the lens of the marvelous atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, which were are celebrating this very Easter day.  Several Church authorities and authors have suggested that there are at least four major blessings that derive from the atonement of Jesus Christ.  These are the resurrection, forgivenesss, strengthening, perfecting.  Let us consider the happiness and joys that come through each of these blessings:
    First, the joys of the blessing of Resurrection: All human kind will suffer physical death, but Christ broke the bands of death, the restrictions and limitations of death, to provide the blessing of the resurrection.  I am grateful for the present joys of a physical body and the prospect of having this body and physical capability eternally through the blessing of the universal resurrection provided by our Savior.  For me there was joy in running, of playing in a good basketball game, in putting on a backpack and hiking in the High Uintas with my scouts when I was scoutmaster, for the joy of seeing the God of Nature’s beautiful creations, flowers, birds and animals, mountains, streams, lakes, sunsets.  
    There is joy in hearing great music.  Many years ago, as a young, newly baptized Latter-day Saint from a distant place, I had the joy of singing in a choir for General Conference.   I also was especially joyful when as a young member of a BYU choir performing Handel’s Messiah, I was taught about the atonement, while singing the frivolous and lightminded “all we like sheep have gone astray-uh-aye-aye” immediately followed by the somber, dissonant  and agonizing “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all.”
    I am grateful for the joys of human relationships, of marriage, of family, of children, of grandchildren, of hugs, thank yous, of seeing others’ growth and progress and I am grateful for Christ’s  “loosening of the bands of death” (Alma 7:12) with the prospect of all these bodily joys continuing forever and ever and in a heavenly environment, through the resurrection and other blessings of the atonement.
    Second, the joys of the blessing of Forgiveness:  I am grateful for the joy of having the Spirit return after I have sorrowed and made a decision to repent.  I am grateful for peace of conscience, for the joy of having guilt pardoned and washed away.  I am grateful for the wonderful joy of having resolved a problem with another person and restored a damaged relationship that I have harmed by my own mistake.  I am grateful for the joy of a heart changing.  I am grateful for the joy I feel when I am clean before the Lord.  I feel joy when I have carried out some duty to the best of my ability.  I feel joy when I have passed some test successfully, such as reporting to the bishop about my tithing status each year, or renewing my temple recommend, or taking the sacrament with a clean feeling and with gratitude that I can somehow be counted as a disciple of Jesus Christ, along with all of you.  
    I am grateful for the joy of anticipating an eventual reunion with my Heavenly Parents, through the redeeming and forgiving power of the atonement of Christ.
    Third, I am grateful for the Strengthening joys of the atonement, the promised succoring for my pains and infirmities and sickness promised by Alma in the Book of Mormon.  Alma says, speaking of Christ, 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 ... he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.  (Alma 7:11-12).
   Succor meaning relief or support in times of distress or affliction.  
    My afflictions and infirmaties may arise from my own weaknesses and mistakes, or from others’ actions, or simply be from the nature of this fallen world, the co-mingling of evil and good in the experiences of this world, but I am grateful that through the atonement of Christ and the gifts of his Holy Spirit, that there are means provided, even joys, in enduring and overcoming the hard things of this life.
    I recall an experience I had as a young father.   With my first wife, JoAnn, we were expecting a baby.  He was born, a beautiful little boy, whom we named Michael.  We brought him home, but he did not seem to be thriving.  JoAnn determined to take him back to our Dr.  I went to work at my office in downtown Salt Lake.  Midmorning, I received a call from JoAnn, saying “meet me at Primary Children’s Hospital.  Michael has serious heart problems.”
    At the hospital we learned that the problems with Michael’s heart were congenital and his very life was threatened.  The doctors wanted to operate the very next morning to bring at least partial relief.  JoAnn wanted to stay with him through the night, and felt the need to return home before that to get cleaned up and prepare for the night.  She suggested that I go home to be with the our older kids and then return to the hospital early evening while she went home to make preparations to stay the night.
    So I went home midafternoon.  My mind was in such turmoil and my heart was heavy with worry.  The older kids were OK so I decided a walk around the block might be helpful.  When I was about half way around the block, I had a strange experience.  Something in my heart had changed.  My mind was still registered the shock and worry and agony, but in my heart I was at peace.  “God knows and is in charge and things will work according to plan.”  
    I thought, “How can this be?  My mind is still in turmoil, but my heart is at peace.”  I experienced such a strong sense of spiritual support and strengthening and succor which continued, and allowed me to function and be a strength to my family in the challenging days and years that followed.
    Finally, I am grateful for the joys associated with the Perfecting power of the atonement, the joys of progressively mastering the divine nature, potentially of becoming like our Savior:
“Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)  Also, “...that when he (Christ) shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may be purified, even as he is pure.” (Moroni 7:48)
    I am grateful for the joy of learning to appreciate Christ’s virtues and perfections as a example.
    I am grateful for the joy of being chastened and stretched by the Spirit so I can improve.
    I am grateful for the joy of feeling the call of the temple and to feel God’s love in the temple, the joy of learning to worship God in the temple.
    I am joyful through the temple to deepen my understanding of the higher laws of the gospel, the Savior’s perfecting and sanctifying laws, those that define and reflect divine nature that I need to emulate and acquire.
    I am grateful through the temple to enjoy a greater sense of His hope for me, to feel He knows me personally, to somehow feel the Savior’s embrace, and the evidences of His sacrifice for me.
    I feel an incomprehensible joy in contemplating eternal companionship and relations with those persons I have learned on earth to love the most.
“And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.” (D&C 130:2)
    With all my heart I testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored in our day and the power of his atonement to bless us as we follow him.  In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

God as our Divine Father

    One of the great doctrines of the Restorations brought back to us through the prophet Joseph Smith is that in His relationship to us, God is paternal.  He is not primarily a sovereign, a king, a ruler, a master.  Our relationship to Him in familial.  We are His children, spirit sons and daughters.  (See Doctrine & Covenants 76:24, Moses 3:3-5, 6:51, Abraham 3:22, The Family: A Proclamation to the World).   His motivations toward us are primarily that of a Divine Parent.  I think of the motivation and love I experience as a father, a grand-father, and now as a great-grandfather.  I have hopes for my descendants, that each will achieve his or her highest potential and make their best personal contributions to life around them, as they develop their talents and values, as they give service, as they meet challenges, as they themselves establish family relationships and contribute to the lives of others.  I sense this is the best in myself, even with my imperfections, and that the highest calling a man may receive is that of Father.  Of course, our Heavenly Father is perfect in his fatherly hopes and desires for us.
    Many years ago, in preparing a paper for a BYU religion class, I noticed evidence for the above in the teachings of Christ in the four synoptic gospels of the New Testament, by the language he used when he referred to God our Heavenly Father. There were times when there was a marked difference in the names or titles he used in referring to God.  It appeared that often when he was addressing persons who were antagonistic to him, scribes, Pharisees, etc., he typically referred to deity as “God.”  But when he was with his apostles or other persons who were responsive to him, he tended to call God “Father.”
    This difference seems to me to suggest that Christ was teaching a higher concept of life and religion to his followers, concerning the nature of God and our relation to him and having an emphasis on love and family and the source of our greatest joys both in time and in eternity.
    In comparing this distinction in the four synoptic gospels, the difference is most pronounced in the book of Matthew.  Matthew was one of Christ’s original apostles and was with the Savior throughout his ministry.  This difference is less pronounced in Mark and Luke, both of whom we understand had less personal contact with Christ while living, and who wrote their summaries from a somewhat third-hand position.  In the book of John, the use of the parental name for God, “Father,” is dominant.  We understand that John was writing from the vantage point of a very close and caring relationship with the Savior and seems to recognize and define the fatherly role of God as primary.  Here is what I found in the four gospel writings:

The Book of Matthew
Term    Followers    Not Sure    Antagonists    Total
“Father”    18             0                0                    18
“God”         4             1                9                    14

The Book of Mark
Term    Followers    Not Sure    Antagonists    Total
“Father”      2             0                0                       2
“God”       15             2              15                     32

The Book of Luke
Term    Followers    Not Sure    Antagonists    Total
“Father”      4             0                0                       4
“God”       21           13              19                     53

The Book of John
Term    Followers    Not Sure    Antagonists    Total
“Father”    20          10              14                      44
“God”         1            2                4                        7

Totals for all Synoptic Gospels
Term    Followers    Not Sure    Antagonists    Total
“Father”    44          10              14                      68
“God”       41          18              47                    106

    Note: References by Christ to his personal father,  i.e., “my Father,” are not included.

A Theology of Family Love

    I am summarizing some ideas about the Latter-day Saint theology of family love.  Our human and more especially our family connections encompass a significant part of the eternal products of our mortal experience.
    “What we are most certain of, is that “Our natural affections... are the cement of all virtuous and heavenly society”[from Orson Pratt].  Ultimately we understand God’s nature, and human salvation, to be the simple amplification of that which is most elemental, and most worthwhile, about our life here on earth.  The divine nature of man, and the divine nature of God, are shown to be the same– they are rooted in the will to love, at the price of pain, but in the certainty of joy.  Heaven holds out the promise of a belonging that is destined to extend and surpass any that we have ever known in this wounded world.
    “So we learn, and we love.  What we have learned, and how we have loved, endure.  These are the two constants in our continuing existence.” (Terryl and Fiona Givens, The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life, Salt Lake City: Ensign Peak, 2012, 105-106)
    The family is the critical laboratory for learning and establishing loving interpersonal  relationships.  The Givens suggest how Restoration scriptures document this concept in a way that resonates deeply in my soul, especially as I contemplate my own family and its individual members:
    “Jesus named love of God first in the hierarchy of heavenly commands, with love of others second (Matt 22:38-39).  Yet, when Enoch [in Moses 7] asks a weeping God the Father... the cause of His tears, His answer has three astonishing dimensions.  The first appears when God prefaces His response by reciting the two great commandments in reverse order.  “Unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandments, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father.”  The second [dimension] is that though God’s children have clearly broken both commands, God’s grief is over their violation of the second.  He is not weeping because they have failed to worship, honor or obey Him: “Behold, they are without affection, and hate their own blood.”  Third, His tears flow, indeed , “the whole heavens shall weep over them... seeing these shall suffer.”  Three times the account affirms, and Enoch marvels, that God’s weeping is over human “misery.”
    “These verses are the clearest prism through which to see our Divine Parents’ true nature  and greatest concern.  It is not for themselves, for Their glory, or for Their priority in our hearts that they labor.  Their greatest longing made manifest in those verses accords with the deepest desire we know as parents... that our children live in love and harmony with one another.  That we would be jealous of our children’s love for each other is simply perverse.  Love in a community of perfect sociability is not competitive– it is mutually reinforcing.  How could we have missed this lesson?  To serve each other is to serve [God]...  To succor the thirsty or feed the hungry is to succor Christ, to feed Christ.  We may make distinctions, but God does not.  We cannot contribute to the heavenly community, the Zion of perfect sociability, if our relationships with each other are fractured...” (Fiona and Terryl Givens, All Things New, Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between, Faith Matters Publishing, 2020, 143-144)
    “In Enoch’s vision, heaven shocks by its familiarity.  God it would appear, is first and foremost a relational Being, and the heaven toward which we aspire consists of loving relationships that are eternal... When God created man and women, he brought them together.  That a man should cling to his wife and she to him, on the way to becoming “one flesh,” was a pattern and order He established...  It was... a sacramental union established in paradise, and anticipated no end.  Marriage is a heavenly order, modeled on a divine template– a relationship that may be sealed on earth, in order to be “bound in heaven.”  “Divine families encircled by the fire and light are the very essence of life and eternal life; without them this earth– indeed this cosmos– will have missed the measure of its creation.” [Truman Madsen quote]
    “We pass through birth and death as individuals.  But the years in between are filled with the unceasing search for community, for companionship, for intimacy...  Affection, friendship, romance, and charity [storge, philia, eros, and agape, Greek words encompassing our English word love]... dominate our social existence, revealing our lives to be an ongoing, comprehensive effort to find and secure relationships and connections on every conceivable level.
    “Relationships are the core of our existence because they are the core of God’s, and we are in His image.  God’s nature and life are the simple extension of that which is most elemental, and more worthwhile, about our life here on earth...”  (Terryl Givens, The God Who Weeps, 106-109)
    And the highest, most significant ordinances of the restored Church, temple sealings,  bind together loving families, husbands and wives, parents and children, across the generations, for the eternities.
    Speaking more broadly, elements of family connection help define our entire religious commitment.  In our church, why do we call each other Brother or Sister?  Because we by baptism have each become new creatures or Covenant Children of Jesus Christ.  As King Benjamin states,
    “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.” (Mosiah 5:7)
    Therefore, we have entered by adoption into the family of Christ.  He is our covenant or spiritual father, and we have acquired a multitude of spiritual brothers and sisters.  Our relationships with these covenantal siblings should model and follow after the best of our nuclear or biological family connections.
    Our scriptures also suggest an even broader church, and, by implication, family connection.  Beyond our institutional church, there may exist a larger holy invisible church of God, in the wilderness.   “Holy men [and women] that ye know not of"(D&C 49:8), persons that might fit under a broadly defined “Church of the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 14:10), who are kept from the fulness of God’s truth, only because “they know not where to find it”  (D&C 123:12).
    President Dallin Oaks has suggested that this broader church encompasses those who believe in God and seek to serve Him according to their best understanding. (“Witnesses of God”, devotional address, Brigham Young University–Idaho on February 25, 2014.)  And President Russell M. Nelson has urged us to “expand our circle of love to embrace the whole human family.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Blessed Are the Peacemakers,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002)

Steps in Reconversion

     According to a recent Deseret magazine article, Don Bradley was a religious historian and scholar, who had been raised in the Church but who somehow lost his faith at about age 29 but recently regained it.  He left the Church for a time but has now returned in full faith.  As he describes his return, there were four progressive steps and insights that were stages in his reconversion:
1. An awareness of how infinitesimal were the odds that the earth and life upon it could have existed by chance, and God’s existence was the most convincing explanation.
2. At the time of the death of a dear relative, reconnecting to Christ as the source of a universal resurrection.
3. Recognizing Joseph Smith as a sincere seeker after truth and a magnanimous soul.
4. Experiencing that forgiveness, love, and fellowship are basic in the Lord’s Church.

Defining the term "God" in Latter-day Saint theology

     In Latter-day Saint theology and usage, the term “God” may refer to more than one heavenly being.

1.  Heavenly Father, God the Creator
          He a single being, sometimes called by the name Elohim in a Latter-day Saint context (although that name may not be personal but a description of His status– it is a plural noun meaning Gods, or possibly God of Gods, or Head of the Gods, majesty, or supreme or mighty one).  This name is used to reference God over 2,000 times in the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament).  He is the father of our spirits, and the earthly father of Jesus Christ.

   He is to be the recipient of our prayers, as instructed by Jesus Christ.
   But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  (Matthew 6:6)

    And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
    And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven...  
(Luke 11:1-2)

2. Jesus Christ, God the Son, God the Redeemer
          Jehovah is a name Latter-days Saints apply to the premortal Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the God of Israel.  Most Biblical scholars believe this name (also transliterated as Yehowah) to be a hybrid form that first appeared in the Middle Ages.  It was derived by combining the Hebrew consonants (YHVH, later rendered in the Latin alphabet as JHVH) with the vowels of Adonai (The Lord).  The latter was the name the ancient Hebrews used to avoid the too frequent use of the more sacred name for their God.  In the Hebrew Bible, the personal name of God, YHVH or Yahweh, appears over 6,800 times, but in the King James the name Jehovah appears only 7 times.

3. God the Holy Ghost, God the Testator

4. The Godhead
    This group of three beings constitute a Heavenly Presidency or “Board of Directors” made up of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Sometimes the Godhead as a body is described by the singular term “God”, and sometimes each individual is described themselves as God, as above.  In the scriptures, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost also often speak for and in the name of the Father, so it is not always readily apparent in the scriptures which member of the Godhead is speaking.

    We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. (Article of Faith 1)
    And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.  (2 Nephi 31:21)
    Which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. (D&C 20:28)
    And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
    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 130:21-22)
    ...the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.
    And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.  (3 Nephi 11:27, 36)

5. The Parental Partnership of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother

    This is demonstrated by these creation scriptures:

    And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...:
    So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  (Genesis 1:26-27)
    ...And this was the book of the generations of Adam, saying: In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
    In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God.  (P. of G. P., Moses 6:8-9)

6. An exalted, post-mortal being with eternal family relationships (usually we do not capitalize the “g”)

    They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.
    They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—
    They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
    And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the corder of the Only Begotten Son.
    Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—
    Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
    And they shall overcome all things.  (D&C 76:54-60)
    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 shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths...  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 fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
    Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.   (D&C 132:19-20)

Temple participation is a great blessing

 Dear Bishop and others:
    Here is a little informal report about the ward temple night on Wednesday this week.  There were 9 ward members in attendance, from four families, Sister Lewis and I, the Stamms, the Tanner Petersons, and the Seelys plus Richard.  The session went well and we felt a nice sense of love and fellowship in this little group.  Someone saw the Fultons in the temple doing Initiatories at this same time, but reported that they said they had forgotten the ward event and were there doing their own thing.
    A total of 72 persons were in attendance at the scheduled 6:40 pm session, so we counted 20 empty seats.  The Seely’s had forgotten to get appointments until the night before, and when they logged on to the scheduling program there were still 5 listed vacancies, and they took three of these seats.  We understand that the on-line scheduling program cuts off appointments at about 85, so we are guessing that there were about 10 “no-shows” for the session whose seats might have been filled at that very time.  The Fultons probably could have attended the session if they had asked permission when they arrived.  That might have been the case for others from the ward who might have made a last minute choice to attend.  Certainly, if ward members had made appointments when the temple night was first announced, perhaps 40 or 50 persons or more from our ward could have reserved spots and enjoyed the session together.
    Wendy and I made our appointments about 5 weeks ago on the same day that we first learned that the ward had scheduled this activity.  At that time most all of the seats were yet unreserved.
    It was a little surprising to consider who was not represented at the session.  There were no members of the Bishopric (or wives).  As far as we know, none of the attendees were members of our Ward Council (or spouses).  There were no members of the Elders Presidency (or wives).  There was one member of the Relief Society Presidency, Sister Peterson.  I was the only member of the ward Temple and Family History Committee present.
    In the ward Temple and Family History Committee we have applauded the choice to schedule a ward temple night and have proposed that this be done quarterly or more often.   It is concerning that apparently the word of the scheduled temple night did not get out to ward members sufficient to take action.  Do we need to find more ways to publicize ward sponsored events?  Or do we need more reminders?  We also wonder why this event was not better supported by those in leadership callings?  What else might have held persons back?  Do families need help with child care?  Transportation?  Understanding how to use the on-line temple appointment program?
    Temple participation is a great blessing that we all need. [e-mail from about Sept 2022]

Most Contraversial, Least Confrontational

     When Dalles Jenkins, the producer of the movie series “The Chosen,” was asked about the Church, he made an interesting and insightful response.  Jenkins is an intense and committed Evangelical Christian, but had been dealing with our Church as he used our Goshen, Utah Jerusalem sets for some of his movies.  Acknowledging that many of the Latter-day Saints he had become acquainted with in this endeavor were true Christians and in the face of some criticism from some of his fellow Evangelicals, he stated that their Church was, compared to other churches, “the most controversial, but the least confrontational.”
    In similar fashion, I was reminded of the response of our Church to the recent negative and deceptive Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.”  Rather than argue over the falsehoods, the Church put out a press release that said, “Read the real Book of Mormon.”
    Most controversial– This probably says more about our Evangelical critics that it does about our church.  Perhaps Jenkins had to say this to fend off criticism he has received for working cooperatively with the Church to film some recent episodes of The Chosen.
    Least confrontational– Perhaps this indicates the high level of security in their faith possessed by members of the Church he has worked with on this project.

All About Family

       I love the ideas about family in a small set of verses in the Book of Isaiah:
      “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
      “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." (Isaiah 58:11-12)
      In our Lewis family, we often recite what we call our Lewis Family Creed: “We seek successive generations of grandparents, parents and children who are grounded in the Gospel of Christ and sealed in his holy temple.”  Here is the original Lewis Family Creed in its full form: “Raise up the foundation of many generations.  We seek successive generations of grandparents, parents, and children who are grounded, rooted, settled, and established (Ephesians 3:16-19) in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sealed in His Holy Temple.”
      To “raise up the foundations of many generations”, have the faith and courage to marry and build a family.  Find your Rebecca or your Isaac (Julie Beck CES talk, Aug. 4, 2009), who is your eternal marriage and family partner.  Try your best to establish and possess a family culture which emphasizes Godly qualities such as compassion, appreciation, and forgiveness (Elder Bragg 2017 Conference talk) and in which people thrive and are motivated to be their best.
      Sometimes people wander away from the way of God.  If needed in your generation, be an Abraham or Sarah and seek again, for your own family, “the blessings of the fathers” and your “appointment unto the priesthood.” (Abraham 1:2,4)   
      Sometimes families fracture or sever relationships.  Be a “repairer of the breach” in your family and establish and maintain caring, supportive relationships with all.  
      In some families, bad choices are learned and repeated in successive generations.  Be a “restorer of paths to dwell in” by erasing toxic practices or attitudes in your family line in your generation.

On Our Progress Toward Eternity, the Gardening Metaphor

    I have come to believe that there are two components or levels that exist in the relationship we have as individuals with our Heavenly Father and our standing with Him.  I see this as analogous to growing a garden.  
    First, in a garden one must prepare the soil including pulling or removing weeds that may encroach upon the garden space.  In a characterlogical sense, pulling weeds might be called repentance.  The initial process for our coming to God is to arrive at a belief in him and his commandments, recognize those areas in which we fall short, make needed changes (repentance), and be baptized.  This step entitles us to membership in His Church, to the forgiveness for the sins we have committed, and to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost will then confirm the remission of our sins and bless us in a great many other ways, including support for all the steps in our progress toward God.
    We will never outgrow the need to continue to pull weeds (repent) as we make mistakes or as we deepen our understanding of Heavenly Father’s commandments.  And as we do this, the companionship of the Holy Ghost will continue with us and testify of our continuing standing with God as being in a state of grace or forgiveness.
    This initial step on the strait and narrow path is foundational for all other kinds of spiritual growth.  It is described by the prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon as planting the seed of faith (Alma 32:28) and confirming that this was a “good seed” (Alma 32:30-32).  But that is just a successful beginning.  According to Alma, there is a second process that the gardener must undertake to reap the fruit of this initial planting.  Otherwise, “if you neglect the tree and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root, and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it... it withers away and ye pluck it up and cast it out.” (Alma 32:38)
    So, there exists a second process that is required so as create “a tree springing up unto everlasting life,” in order for us to reap and feast upon the fruit of our spiritual gardening.
     “But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
     “And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.” (Alma 32:41-42)
    This is the process of full salvation (or better stated, exaltation), the progressive development available to each of us to become “a just and holy being,” as Joseph Smith taught in the Lectures on Faith.  It is learning how to become “partakers in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), and to acquire the very characteristics of Christ, “but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3, also see Moroni 7:48)
    There is often a difference in the way that these two processes are expressed.  The first might be thought of as represented by the Ten Commandments, the majority of which are presented as “Thou Shalt Nots,” while the second is generally stated more positively as “Thou Shalts”, succinctly defined by Christ as the Great Commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart...[and] thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt 22:37-39).  This difference is suggestive of the Mosaic law as opposed to the higher law of Christ and also of the distinction between the Aaronic priesthood or preparatory gospel and that which is administered by the Melchizedek priesthood:
     “And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
     “Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
     “And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
     “For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.”  (D&C 84:19-22)
    Regarding the second process, there are specific laws and principles which allow us to master and incorporate into our very being the essential characteristics that encompass the two broad Thou Shalts of the Great Commandment.  These detailed instructions are found in the principles or laws, ordinances and covenants of our temple endowment.  President Ezra Taft Benson has taught, “The celestial kingdom, residence of God, our Eternal Father, is comprised of men and women who have complied with divine law...  They are just men [and women] made perfect through the mediation and atonement of Jesus Christ... They are obedient to celestial law...  Celestial laws, embodied in certain ordinances belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, are complied with by voluntary covenants.  The laws are spiritual.  Thus, our Father in Heaven has ordained certain holy sanctuaries, called temples, in which these laws may be fully explained, the laws include the law of obedience and sacrifice, the law of the gospel, the law of chastity, and the law of consecration.” (Ezra Taft Benson, A Vision and Hope for the Youth of Zion, April 12, 1977 BYU address)
    So, the progressive mastery of these highest celestial laws, aided by the Spirit and supported by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, constitute the second component of our progress toward a divine destiny.  In our quest for spiritual development and progress, we must both pull the weeds that sprout and grow in our personal garden and we must also plant and nourish our tree of eternal life.

Some Speculations about Our Temple Endowment

     I have concluded that our temple endowment is very important and is designed by our leaders under inspiration to provide the necessary and sufficient tools, understanding, and most importantly, the spiritual growth required to become Christ-like and live ultimately in celestial glory.  Along with temple sealings, these Melchizedek Priesthood ordinances manifest and are enabling to us to access the power of godliness (D & C 84:19-21).  The high celestial laws associated with covenants of the endowment ceremony are the very attributes of Christ that will allow us to live eternally with him.
     These temple ordinances have been a regular part of the spiritual offering of the restored Church since its early history and been administered to thousand, perhaps millions, of living persons and also for many more individuals who have died.  There is a  question one might ask about prophets ancient and more modern as to how they themselves participated in and perhaps acquired the understanding to administer these ordinances which we understand to be essential.  This especially might be asked in regard to prophets who were heads or instigators of new dispensations or who lived as many of the Old Testament prophets did in a time when the Aaronic Priesthood administered the Church, making the Melchizedek Priesthood ordinances and instruction to not be routinely available though the currently existing Church structure.  Most of the ideas that follow come from a presentation by Stephen Smoot in a 2021 Interpreter Foundation conference on the Book of Moses.
     1. The Divine Council, Heavenly Ascension, and other prophetic Revelatory Experiences
     Ancient Israelites believed that God resided in heaven, surrounded by his heavenly council, a variety of heavenly beings, sons of god (Psalms 89:7, Job 38:7), gods (Psalms 58:1, 82:1, 97:7, 138:1), the stars (38:7), members of the council of God (Job 15:8), members of the assembly of holy ones (Psalms 89:5-6, Job 5:1), and angels.
     The divine council in ancient Israel could admit mortal prophets with whom were shared heavenly secrets (Amos 3:7) and with whom God consulted regarding earthly affairs or commissions to carry out the will of the council (Gen. 1:26, I Kings 22:19-23, Job 1-2, 15:8, Psalms 82, Isaiah 6:1-8).  In becoming members of God’s council, Old Testament prophets become in effect angels (messengers).  Several prophets experienced divine theophanies or “heavenly ascension” experiences that introduced them into the divine council: Micaiah (1 Kings 22), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), Zechariah (Zechariah 1,3), Daniel (Daniel 7-8), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:16-22).  
     Some of the “heavenly ascensions” of these prophets occurred on or from “exceedingly high mountains” (for example, see Moses 1:1, 1 Nephi 11).  Also see the Mount of Transfiguration experience of the former-day First Presidency Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17).  The scriptures identify other intense but parallel experiences of ancient prophets , Abraham (several occasions Abraham 1, 3, 4), Jacob (being shown the heavenly ladder/staircase/covenant path, Genesis 28), Lehi (1 Nephi 1), Nephi (1 Nephi 11-14).  Recognize that it was not unusual for prophets to not provide all the details of their  revelatory experiences (see for example 1 Nephi 14:25-30), so many details and specifics of the experiences may have been withheld.
     The prophet Joseph Smith referenced such a divine council in his King Follett discourse, “The head God brought forth the Gods in grand council... The grand counsellors sat in yonder heavens, and contemplated the creation of worlds that were created at that time.”  There are references to such a council in each of our standard works, although we might believe that the purposes and membership of the council might differ from the ancient Israelite view, in that at the large pre-mortal council just prior to the start of our earth we all participated and sustained the Father’s plan for mortal life.
      2. The Divine Council and Heavenly Ascensions in relation to the temple
      The Divine Council and prophetic Heavenly Ascension experiences were both symbolically linked to the temple in ancient temple rituals.  These tended to portray a figurative journey into the presence of God.  Elder Bruce R. Mcconkie’s Temple doctrine of “Three Pillars of Eternity”:
1) Understanding the Creation of this world
2) Understanding the Fall, and the challenges, purposes, and blessings of mortal life.
3) Accessing the Atonement of Christ, including instruction and covenants to lead us in the process of mastering the specific celestial laws or principles that will enable us to grow to be like Christ and achieve exaltation and eternal life.
     John Welsh and other scholars have suggested that there are also scriptural passages that specifically cover these three Pillars of Eternity.  They have called the passages “Temple Texts”.
Specific examples are 1) the Book of Moses in the Pearl of  Great Price, 2) Christ’s sermon at the Temple in 3 Nephi 12-14, and 3) King Benjamin’s sermon at the temple recorded in Mosiah 2-5.
     Brother Smoot suggests that these prophetic Divine Council or Heavenly Ascension experiences might include or serve as an ancient counterpart to the our current temple endowment and described them using the term “proto-endowment”, “Proto”, meaning original, earliest or foremost model.
     3. Was the First Vision a proto-endowment for Joseph Smith in some sense?
     Note that in the 1835 account of Joseph’s First Vision, when he received his prophetic call, he described seeing many angels in addition to the Father and the Son.  
     It seems reasonable that Joseph would have received the Three Pillars instruction and preparation.

Broken Fragments of Mormonism Joseph Smith Quote

 If we turn our attention to the present religious world, what do we see? men holding communion with God, and receiving revelations from God, verily nay! the heavens to them have become brass, and God's mouth is closed; nay worse; the idea of revelation is scouted by them, and those who would believe in it are branded as impostors; and they virtually cut themselves off from all communication with, or from, God, and can know nothing of or about God, "but what they know naturally, as brute beasts," as saith the apostle. What sort of a spectacle does the Christian church present at the present? Torn, and split up, divided, and disjointed by the fiery zeal of religious bigots, and hypocritical partizans [partisans], it presents a picture of ruin and desolation; like a forest torn by a mighty tempest, or uprooted by a furious whirlwind, that once stood in grandeur and majesty, and its beautiful foliage was admired by every observer; but now its withered leaves, its broken boughs, and shattered limbs, are the sad memorials of its overthrow and destruction. Or like some ancient palace that stood proudly aloof from other inferior buildings, magnificently adorned with all the beauty of ancient architecture; its towers, and columns, and statuary, and beauty, was the pride of princes, and its strength and fortresses bid defiance to the hand of the desolator; but the revolution of ages have despoiled the noble edifice; the corroding hand of time has destroyed its beauty, and all that is left of its former magnificence is here and there a few broken fragments, that very imperfectly shew [show] to the enquiring [inquiring] traveler the ruins of its former splendour [splendor], and ancient glory. So stood the church, once indeed beautiful, pure and intelligent;-clothed with the power and spirit of God; endowed with the gift of the Holy Ghost; possessed of prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, helps, governments, tongues, interpretations, gifts, visions, and the ministering of angels; having the heavens opened, the purposes of God unfolded, the future destiny of man made known, and "life and immortality brought to light." Basking in the beams of eternal truth, and holding communications with God and angels, it stood proudly erect, in the strength of Israel's God; it was sustained by the mighty hand of Jehovah, and was indeed "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;" but ah! alas! a change has come over the dream; the flower has been nipt [nipped] in the bud; its glory has departed; the deadly influence of heresy has penetrated to its very vitals. The withering power of priestcraft has disrobed it of its beauty; and disjointed by sectarian strife, and schismatic influence, it lays in broken fragments scattered, rent, and disjointed; with nothing to point out its original, but the shattered remnants of its ancient glory, on which are scarcely traceable any of the marks of its former magnificence, or original grandeur. And how can it be otherwise? when men are destitute of revelations from God, and absolutely deny the principle.

Times and Seasons MARCH 15, 1842   p.136
http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n09.htm

Church Growth and Progress

       I find statistics about the growth of the Church interesting, especially comparisons between the time I was baptized and came to Utah for college with the present.  There is amazing progress.  Using statistics published 14 May 2022 in the Church News, in 1954-55 Church membership was well under 2 million, compared to the 2021 figure of 16.8 million.  We have moved from 9 to 170 dedicated temples.  In 1954 there were approximate 3,000 wards and branches, which has increased now to over 31,000 and the number of stakes has increased from just over 180 to about 3,500.
        While we probably never will have in this dispensation the majority of people as members, except perhaps in Utah, Tonga, and Samoa, there has been huge progress in achieving Nephi’s Book of Mormon prediction: “And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth...” (1 Nephi 14:12).

The Reverse Ministering Program

      We have discovered a possible new feature of the ministering program of the Church.  We call it Reverse Ministering.  It might be called into play in a situation in which persons who are assigned to minister to us by the Relief society or Elders Quorum have not contacted us for a long time.
      It works like this:
1. Learn who has the ministering assignment for ones self or family.
2. Reach out to them in person, by phone, or text, etc., with kindness and interest.
3. Given them birthday wishes, wish them well, congratulate them on some accomplishment, or whatever else positive that seems natural at this time.
4. Continue to make these kinds of contacts.
5. If they ask, give them updates about your family or personal happenings.
6. Don’t let on that you know of their ministering assignment to yourself or family.
      Wendy has been doing this with a sister for some time that LDS Tools App on Wendy’s  phone says is Wendy’s ministering sister.  The sister recently asked Wendy, “Are you my ministering sister?” 
      Wendy responded in the negative and said that she was just calling her as a friend, but in her mind she thought that if this sister is ever asked to account for her assignment to work with Wendy, she will now have some things to report.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

     I want to describe some value instruction I received from my mother.  Its something I would like to communicate to family members.  It is something with which I struggled a bit regarding its application, but also have a profound appreciation for this standard and strategy for living.
    This is it.  As a boy my mother taught me that I should never, never, never point a gun at another human being.  Not in my thoughts, not in my words, not even in pretense or simulation in my actions.  Little boy games of cops-and-robbers, war, or cowboys-and-Indians were totally unacceptable, as were any kind of games that simulated killing or hurting human beings.
    This seemed to be an application of the commandment that one should not kill or the higher law prohibiting anything like it.  The underlying principle seemed to be to have a profound respect for life and to avoid anything that even suggested causing hurt.
    I pondered other applications of this principle.  
    What about going to war?  I was close to being drafted into the military when I was college age.  I wondered if I could kill if I were in the service.  Our scriptures seem to say that a people would be justified in fighting if they are attacked but should never be the instigators, so I suppose I would do what was necessary for our country in the latter case, but with reluctance.
    What about arming myself with a gun to protect myself and our family?  I have never felt comfortable with the use of guns, so I guess we will just take our chances.
    What about killing animals?  My family owned a .22 caliber rifle a part of my growing up time.  We lived on a farm.  My father used the gun only when we had a farm animal ready to be butchered for food for our family, and seemed a little uncomfortable with its use.  I think he loved his animals and it hurt to lose one, even though our family had limited resources and he was responsible to provide for our necessities.
    What about eating meat?  The scriptures justify eating a limited amount of meat and in my judgement animal protein is a part of a healthy diet.  However, animals should be treated humanely, and suffering avoided or minimized in the process.  Their flesh should not be wasted.
    What about hunting?  That has had no interest to me, but I suppose that in earlier years I would have done it reluctantly to provide for my family.  I would not hunt for sporting purposes.
    What about fishing?  Earlier in my life I wondered if I should avoid fishing, but took up the practice as I became involved in scouting.  It seemed to be helpful for relationship-building with the boys.  My rule was: “If you catch ‘em, you eat ‘em.”  Do not waste food.  Try to minimize suffering by the fish.
    What about killing noxious animal life?  Joseph Smith instructed the men of Zion’s Camp to not kill rattlesnakes, but move them our of the way.  Ordinarily I would take a “live and let live” approach to any animals, insects, etc. that come my way.  Avoid dangerous critters, of course.  But probably those that come into our living spaces, i.e., flies, mosquitos, spiders, for example, and pose some problems with cleanliness and or biting, must be dealt with.

A Temple for Jerusalem

     As quoted by Givens, devout Jews of today express this yearning for the temple three times a day with this prayer: “Find favor, O Lord our God, in our people Israel and in their prayer, and restore the Temple service to the innermost chamber of our House.  May you accept Israel’s burnt offerings and prayer with love and grace, and may the service of your people Israel be ever pleasing to you.  May our eyes see your return to Zion in mercy.  Blessed are you, O Lord, who restores your presence to Zion.” (Jon Levenson, Sinai and Zion: an Entry into the Jewish Bible, San Francisco, Harpers, 1985, 181.  Cited by Terryl Givens, 2nd Nephi, a Brief Theological Introduction, Provo, Maxwell Institute, 2020, 33)\
    After nearly two millennia of absence and wandering and persecution, the Jews were restored in 1948 to at least a portion of the land of their father Abraham’s inheritance, including the capital city of their ancient homeland. Now, some 74 years later, their prayers still petition God for the second critical feature of their promised land of Zion– the temple.  We would say to them, “Listen to the next conferences of the Church of Jesus Christ, and pay particular attention to the announcements by the Prophet Russell M. Nelson.  Your day may soon come.”  May I add, "along with Elko, Nevada, Casper, Wyoming, and Bentonville, Arkansas."

The Ned Utley Rule

     Ned Utley was a neighbor, a wise old Scoutmaster, and my First Counselor when I was Bishop, 1998-2003.  He reported that during his young adult years, he and his wife had had a period in which they were not active in the Church.  This led to his discovery of a rule, that he strongly recommended that others not follow.  He said they missed going to church one week.  The next week they had some reason for not attending again.  The following week, he said, they didn’t even think about going.
    Ned’s rule and warning was: “It only takes two weeks to become inactive in the Church.”

Come Follow Me studies this year--the Old Testament and the Temple

     I still can picture the striking image of my mission president, Paul C. Child, standing at the pulpit at a missionary conference, speaking of temple doctrines, and patting his Bible like it was an old beloved friend, saying, “Elders, the other churches don’t know it, but its all here.”  That is, that the Old Testament is just full of information and instruction about temple work that can be applied to our understanding today.  
    In my personal history, I wrote about some of the ways I was influenced by President Child.  President Child was a model of in-depth scripture study, filling his standard works with cross-references and notes.  He had served in a bishopric and a stake presidency with Harold B. Lee in the 1920s.  As missionaries we heard that as these men served together, they “lived in an era when persons could take their scriptures with them to the [Salt Lake] temple.  They viewed the endowment as a fifth standard work and studied it in connection with their scripture study.  They left their scriptures in their lockers while going through a session and then were able to arrange for a place to study together [in the temple].  Part of their study, according to...our missionary lore, was to cross reference the temple endowment wording with the other standard works.” (pp. 132-133)
    President Child’s claim seemed creditable to me.  I wonder what we will find in our Come Follow Me studies of the Old Testament scripture this coming year.

The Wonderful Doctrine of Pre-Mortal Existence

     Although I was not privileged to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ until I was a late teenager, I grasped and believed the concept that we all lived as pre-existing spirits before our earthly births.  It has long been my conviction that our doctrine of pre-mortal existence is an essential answer to questions that people have about God’s justice in the differences in the circumstances and conditions under which people are born into this world.  I also recall having experiences which seemed to confirm some kinds of “deja-vu” memories of a prior existence. 

     Although all orthodox Christian churches have denied the doctrine of pre-mortal existence since the time of Augustine in the fourth century AD, there is evidence of such a belief among ancient Hebrews, early Christian fathers, a handful of dissident religionists, and Romantic era poets, including Blake, Shelley, Byron, Coleridge, and Wordsworth.  As a young man, I memorized these powerful lines from Wordsworth:

         Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

         The soul that rises with us, our life’s star,

         Hath somewhere else its setting, and cometh from afar, 

         Not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness,

         But trailing clouds of glory do we come 

         From God who is our home. (William Wordsworth, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from  Recollections of Early Childhood”, from Poetical Works, 460-462)

      In fact, there is enough content about pre-existent life from all these and other sources for Latter-day Saint scholar Terryl Givens, to write a 388–page book on this very subject. (Terryl L. Givens, When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal Existence in Western Thought, Oxford University Press, 2010.)

      Here are some thoughts about premortal existence, both from the standpoint of our personal intuitive experiences that support the doctrine itself and how such memories confirm our understandings of gospel principles:

      “How can I know my real self?  Your maximum unfolding depends partly on not yet knowing your infinite past; but also it depends on knowing what is deepest within you, while in mortality.  Such a learning process recollects more than it researches.  It is less discovery than recovery...

      “One begins mortality with the veil drawn, but slowly he is moved to penetrate the veil within himself...As one moves through life, half-defined recollections and faint but sometimes vivid outlines combine to bring a familiar ring to our experience...One has sacred moments in relation to persons, places, and situations which bear the subtle stamp of prior awareness, however elusive...One hears truths expressed, “hidden from before the foundation of the world,” and is pulled to them with overwhelming gratitude.  Jesus Christ, who promised He would bring all things to our remembrance, defined this and more when He said, “My sheep know my voice.””  (Truman G. Madsen, Eternal Man, Deseret Book, 1966, 6-7, 56-59)

      “All those salient truths which come home to us so forcibly to the head and to the heart seem but the awakening of the memories of the spirit.”  (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 1916 (1969 edition), 13)

      “It was in our first estate that we were first taught the saving principles of the gospel.  Gospel principles no more originate in this life than we do.  We first learned them in Heaven.  They are godly principles, and they are thus the principles by which our Eternal Father sought to raise his children.  This is why they have such a strong ring of familiarity when taught to us in this life.  We know and recognize the truths of salvation as we do an old friend.  Missionary work is not a matter of conversion– meaning that those being taught must always reverse their course or exchange old views for new ones– but instead a matter of remembering or awakening to truths once known and lived.  Embracing the gospel is part of the process of returning home.  There is a nostalgic spirit about it.  It centers in family and friends.  It centers on a mutually shared responsibility.  The gospel covenant rings true to our soul’s memory because we know of it already... (Robert L. Millett and Joseph Fielding McConkie , Our Destiny: The Call and Election of the House of Israel, Leatherwood Press LLC, Sandy, UT, 2006, 43/First published by Bookcraft, Salt Lake, UT, 1993)

Answering intellectual critics

    I would like to share a faith-promoting story with you from the experiences of Richard Bushman, eminent historical scholar, author of the pre-eminent biography of Joseph Smith, faithful Latter-day Saint, that you might find interesting and useful.  Brother Bushman was educated at Harvard a number of years ago, where he experienced almost universal anti-religious attitudes and pressure.  As an undergraduate he struggled somewhat with his own faith, but particularly with how to respond to the anti-religious pressures and questions from other students and also from faculty members.
    Eventually he decided it was not his own faith that was lacking but that he lacked the words to communicate his faith in this academic setting.  Then an answer came to his mind.  The next time someone badgered him about his faith, and asked him how he could possibly believe in Joseph Smith, he answered, “I find that when I live the Mormon way, I am the man I want to be.”  This response totally and permanently quieted the questioner.
    It seems to me that this response which seems to emphasize one’s faith helping to advance them toward or to achieve one’s own potential for good, might even change the conversation to a point of testimony.  If the questioner wants to pursue the conversation further, the points of discussion that would seem to follow would be details of how one’s faith or religion accomplishes these ends, for example, positive personal relationships, strong marriage and family, healthful living, giving service, feelings of peace and comfort, etc.  Then might come the golden missionary question, “How would you like to have these blessings in your life?”

Consecrated Discipleship

          Bruce and Marie Hafen have described a name for a higher level of devotion in the Church, that of being a consecrated disciple of Christ.  “We talk often about the difference between being “active” and “less active” in the Church.  Perhaps we should talk more about the additional distinction between being active in the Church and being a truly consecrated disciple.  Being active is of course a significant indicator of progress.  Yet it is only the emerging stage of our discipleship, the Aaronic Priesthood level, not yet the more mature Melchizedek Priesthood level of spiritual development.” (Bruce C. Hafen and Marie K. Hafen, The Contrite Spirit: How the Temple Helps Us Apply Christ’s Atonement, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2015) 216, also referencing the teachings of Neal A. Maxwell and D&C 84)
         What might be the meaning of this descriptive title, consecrated disciple?  First, the word disciple was often used in the New Testament to identify persons who became followers of the Savior and learners of his doctrines and instructions.  The word is derived from the Latin “discipulus” which means a learner or pupil.  It suggests an ancient educational model in which individuals attach themselves to another person who is an expert or master of a particular craft or field of study for the purpose of themselves mastering that area of expertise or discipline.  It resembles the master-apprentice relationship for learning such things as plumbing, or violin making, or ballet dancing.  In this case, the Savior is the Master and we are the apprentices learning to incorporate his celestial laws into our nature and being that will enable us ultimately to live with him and our loved ones in his celestial kingdom.
         The word consecrated identifies the greatest and perhaps most comprehensive of the celestial laws propounded in our temple ceremonies, “the law of consecration, which means dedicating their time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed them to building up Jesus Christ’s Church on the earth.  (General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 27.2.0)  In some contexts, the word consecration refers to sharing material resources with the poor and needy.  But in general, the word consecrate means to dedicate, to make holy, or to set apart for righteous purposes.  Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: “We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God.” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Consecrate Thy Performance,” Ensign, May 2002, 36.)  Consecration is the covenant God makes “with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

What is Fascism?

     While there is a concerted effort by some parties to use the term Fascist to negatively brand right-wingers, here is a brief summary drawn to some extent from a book called Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg which was interesting to me as it compared Marxism, Mussolini’s Italian Fascism, Nazism, with American liberalism/progressive thought as promoted in various ways by Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, FDR, Kennedy, Johnson, the Clintons, Obama,, and even to some extent George Bush.  He argued that all of these political views had large similarities, and were generally left wing, socialist movements, except that the American versions were a lot milder and nicer.
    Some characteristics of these movements:
– Utopian, have a faith that the ideal society can be achieved.
– Very negative about currently existing circumstances and systems (blame “the system”, “the establishment”, “capitalists”, “the rich”, certain races, or other specific groups for society’s ills), and campaign for change.  (Right wingers can also have these attitudes, for example, the federal government "swamp" (Trump).
– Have a sort of elitist view of themselves as having the right answers to society’s problems/superior values, etc., entitling them to be in charge of the country.
– Belief that government, particularly federal, intervention of the right sort could bring about the ideal society (strongly in favor of planned economies, for example).
– Make the needs of individuals subservient to the common good (the state or government).
– Tend to put down religion as a threat to the common good and try to substitute in its place the elevation of the state as the object of some form of worship (may have their own “scriptures”, “saints”, icons, etc., require a sort of faith commitment), which might appear to be a sort of quasi or godless religion in its own right.
– Tend to promote/legislate eugenics (abortion is a manifestation), “good” health practices, racial preferences (the race may differ).  Most have been anti-Semitic.
– Distrust or ignore democratic institutions or constitutional constraints when they get in the way of desired outcomes.
– See immutable forces (evolutionary concepts applied to societies and government) at work that lead to (their definition of) societal progress.  Some examples: worker classes will inevitably rise up to throw of their capitalist masters (Marx), “the arc of history bends toward freedom” (Obama), when people have a choice they will inevitably choose a democratic government (Bush).

Our Study of the Book of Mormon

    In the 1986 General Conference, the prophet of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson, called upon these verses from a 1832  revelation to Joseph Smith and “reiterated his long standing belief that the Church was under condemnation for taking the Book of Mormon too lightly and announcing that the Lord had revealed the need to reemphasize the Book of Mormon” (citing Noel B. Reynolds, 1999,  “The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon in the Twentieth Century. BYU Studies Quarterly, Vol. 38, Issue 2, Article 2)
    “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.  And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.  And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon...” (D&C 84: 54-57)
    I find it more than a little disconcerting that a problem that existed in the 2 year old church had not been fully corrected in the course of 152 years, although Brother Reynolds does point to significant recent changes occurring.  Reviewing his report, it appears that church members might have utilized the Book of Mormon in two significant ways.  First, the Book of Mormon serves as a token or object providing proof of the Restoration, as a source and focus of testimonies of the Church and the work of the prophet Joseph Smith.  Second is the use the Book in the study of Godly doctrines to support the faith and to perfect the lives of the Saints.  Apparently, the deficiency was largely in the second area.
    Here are several analyses or comparison studies regarding Book of Mormon usage and emphasis in the Church: (as given by Reynolds, and by Terryl L. Givens “By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion,” Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 241-242; also Feeding the Flock, Oxford, 2017, pp. 267-269)  Until the 1960s,  BYU and the LDS institutes of religion only occasionally featured the Book of Mormon in their curricula.  Early (1832-38) Church publications such as the Evening and The Morning Star and the Messenger and Advocate the ratio of Bible references to Book of Mormon references averaged nineteen to one and in the Elder’s Journal the ratio was as high as forty to one.   A very low percentage of early LDS speeches and writings overtly encouraged the study or distribution of the book.  A study of scriptural references in general conference shows Book of Mormon citations hovering around 12 percent of total scripture citations until President Benson s 1986 challenge to the Church.  Book of Mormon citations jumped to 40 percent over the next year then leveled off at about the 25 percent mark– almost twice the earlier rate.   Early 20th century missionary teaching plans only briefly mentioned the Book of Mormon.  The Bible was the primary source for instruction on standard religious questions.
    Givens concludes:
    “As historian/sociologist Thomas O’Dea humorously– but accurately summarizes: “The Book of Mormon has not been universally considered by its critics as one of those books that must be read in order to have an opinion of it.”
    “But the same was true to some degree of its proponents.  On the one hand, the Book of Mormon set the stage for the entire revitalized program of covenant theology that Joseph Smith would lay out... At the same time, Joseph is not known to have given a single discourse on [this] scripture or any of its passages, and in writing an outline of church doctrine he quoted at great length from Luke, Acts, Isaiah, and Hebrew to teach the fundamentals of repentance, baptism, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.”  (By the Hand of Mormon, p. 86)
    I had a couple of experiences as a very new missionary that reinforced in my mind problems in our usage of the Book of Mormon and our other modern scripture.  As an experienced companion was teaching the Plan of Salvation lesson, he apologized to the investigator for using P of GP Book of Abraham verses to teach the premortal existence, as if our modern scriptures were inferior to or inappropriate for use with non-members. 
    A second new missionary experience occurred as we met a Protestant man who asked sort of loaded question about what our Church believed about salvation by grace.  My experienced companion responded that we believed that we will all be resurrected through the grace of Christ but we have to earn our salvation.  Through this and other experiences I concluded that there was a time in the Church when ordinary members often had a shallow understanding of the work of Christ and of his atonement.  Sometimes this understanding seemed to based more on staking out a position different that beliefs of other churches as opposed to the real doctrines contained in our Latter-day scriptures.  For example, Robert Millet tells a story when as a teenager growing up in the Bible-belt South, he asked his father who was at the time a Latter-day Saint Branch President whether we believed in the grace of Christ.  His dad said “No.”  Brother Millet then ask asked “Why not?”  And the answer was “Because they do.”
    I conclude now that since the time of President Benson’s warning and challenge, we as members of Christ’s church have grown much in our understanding of Jesus Christ and his gospel and atonement through our increased study of the Book of Mormon.
    Regarding the two ways for the use of the Book of Mormon referenced above, in its frontpiece, the Book of Mormon states its purpose to show “...the covenants of the Lord...and to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God...”   According to many reviewers, the Book of Mormon has a very high Christology (the study of the nature of Jesus Christ and his work of salvation).  Givens (By the hand of Mormon, p. 199)  cites a review that concluded that the Book of Mormon contains “a reference to Christ every 1.7 verses, or once every two sentences,” much more frequently per verse than even the New Testament.  Our second mission president made an assignment to the young missionaries to read the entire Book of Mormon marking every reference to the Savior.  When completed, their conclusion was that there were very few pages out of the 540 lacking a mark, and thousands of references to the Savior. 
    Concerning his work of salvation, the most essential elements are clearly and strongly taught in the Book of Mormon, superior to any other scripture, and may be identified as:
1) The resurrection, overcoming physical death: Alma 11: 42-45, 40, Mosiah 15:20-24, 16:7-8.
2) Redeeming blessings, forgiveness or remission of our sins:  2 Nephi 31, Mosiah 4, Alma 42.
3) Strengthening blessings, as we cope with life’s afflictions, adversity, and unfairness:
Alma 7:11-12, 36:3, 2 Ne 2:2, 3 Ne 19:23, Jacob 6:5, Mos. 24:13, Ether 12:27
4) Perfecting blessings, to help us overcome our weaknesses and imperfections and endow us with holy and divine qualities prepared to live in the eternities with God and our families:  2 Ne: 1:15, 25:23, 31:20, Jacob 6:4, Alma 37:34, Hel 3:35, Moroni 7:48, 8:25-26, 10:32.
(see, Bruce and Marie Hafen, “The Contrite Spirit: How the Temple Helps Us Apply Christ’s Atonement”, Salt Lake, Deseret Book, 2015 chapters 3-5, Tad Callister, “The Atonement of Jesus Christ”, April 2019 conference address and “The Infinite Atonement, Salt Lake, Deseret Book, 2000, Dallin H.Oaks, “What Has Our Savior Done for Us?”, April 2021 conference address)

The Prophet Elijah and our Ward Temple and Family History Coordinating Committee

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    On Sunday, I was sustained in our ward to a new calling which they designated as “Family History Consultant.”  Our Bishopric is reworking the callings in our ward for our Family History Committee.  I looked up what was written in the new Church Handbook on the web and there were three pages of direction regarding what was designated as Temple and Family History efforts in a ward.  I assume this is what our bishopric is organizing (or reorganizing).  In this three pages of material, there are job description for a ward Temple and Family History leader and for Temple and Family History Consultants, and specific instructions for developing a ward temple and family history plan, and for membership in and the conducting of ward temple and family history coordination meetings.
    I made an immediate connection of this information about the ward organization with the content of an article in the Church News this week.  We were informed that there are three essential executive councils at the general church levels headed by apostles and reporting directly to the First Presidency, the Missionary Executive Council chaired by Elder Uchtdorf, the Priesthood and Family Executive Council chaired by Elder Cook, and the Temple and Family History Executive Council chaired by Elder Bednar.  The first council oversees the Church’s missionary work.  The second oversees our efforts to “perfect the saints” including the work of the Relief Society, Children and Youth programs, Sunday School, integrated curriculum and Come Follow Me efforts.  The third council is responsible for everything pertaining to temple and family history work.
    According to Elder Cook, each of these three councils derives their focus based on specific keys that were restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836.  
    “Moses conferred the keys of the gathering of Israel, Elias conferred the “keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham,” and Elijah conferred the keys of sealing.”
    “Today... the Church is organized with three executive councils that are based on these three keys that were restored.”
    “The keys of the gathering of Israel operate within the purview of the Missionary Executive Council.  The keys “of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” – of fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant – function in the Priesthood and Family Executive Council.  And the sealing keys are found in the  Temple and Family History Executive Council.”  (Church News, Vol. 91, No. 30, July 24, 2021, pp. 5-7)
    It is exciting to think that the little ward Temple and Family History Coordinating Committee to which I will belong appears to be a perfect counterpart to Elder Bednar’s general church level council with keys that flow directly out of Elijah’s appearance in 1836 in the Kirtland Temple.

Foundational Values, the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule

    In my thoughts and writings, I continue to explore my childhood relationships with Evangelical Protestantism, standing as I did and continue to do so as a committed Latter-Day Saint.  The teachings of the former have always occupied a sort of ambivalent, sometimes even a love-hate place in my life.  Lately however, I have developed an increased appreciation for the positive side of what I learned from my boyhood association with the little church at Glenwood, Washington.  
    I think that the emphasis there on believing and living the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule was significant in reinforcing for me a major value foundation in my life.  They were and are really important to me.  I have always accepted them as basic and unbending as to how I should conduct my life.  They define basic moral values and provide a standard for successful and caring interpersonal interactions.
    Let me repeat them:

 The Ten Commandments 

    1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
    2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
    3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
    4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
    5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
    6. Thou shalt not kill.
    7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
    8. Thou shalt not steal.
    9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
    10. Thou shalt not covet.     [Exodus 20]

The Golden rule

    "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
[Matthew 7:12]

 
    I am grateful for those in my youth who so strongly accentuated these basic virtues.