General Conference Synopsis: More Diligent and Concerned at Home

The Church’s General Conference (a meeting that is broadcast from Salt Lake City to all over the world) was in October.  It is in October and April every year.  Maybe you are thinking to yourselves “what, exactly, do the prophets and apostles have to say in our day?”  Well, here is a snippet.

Elder David A. Bednar
Elder David A. Bednar

Elder David A. Bednar talked about how we can do better in our families to teach, love and discipline effectively and sincerely.

Here is one of my favorite parts of the talk:

As our sons were growing up, our family did what you have done and what you now do. We had regular family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Now, I am sure what I am about to describe has never occurred in your home, but it did in ours.

Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected.

Today if you could ask our adult sons what they remember about family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening, I believe I know how they would answer. They likely would not identify a particular prayer or a specific instance of scripture study or an especially meaningful family home evening lesson as the defining moment in their spiritual development. What they would say they remember is that as a family we were consistent.

Sister Bednar and I thought helping our sons understand the content of a particular lesson or a specific scripture was the ultimate outcome. But such a result does not occur each time we study or pray or learn together. The consistency of our intent and work was perhaps the greatest lesson—a lesson we did not fully appreciate at the time.

In my office is a beautiful painting of a wheat field. The painting is a vast collection of individual brushstrokes—none of which in isolation is very interesting or impressive. In fact, if you stand close to the canvas, all you can see is a mass of seemingly unrelated and unattractive streaks of yellow and gold and brown paint. However, as you gradually move away from the canvas, all of the individual brushstrokes combine together and produce a magnificent landscape of a wheat field. Many ordinary, individual brushstrokes work together to create a captivating and beautiful painting.

Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results. “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33). Consistency is a key principle as we lay the foundation of a great work in our individual lives and as we become more diligent and concerned in our own homes.

Here are some links to read the talk, listen to it, or watch him as he gave it.

Hearing the words of the Lord’s prophets and apostles strengthens my faith and helps me live my life in accordance to God’s will for me.  I hope you’ll take some time to listen to a talk or two as well.  Here is a link to the whole conference.

Simple Inspiration

For school, I had a comprehensive final in Bio-Chemistry.  After months of intense studying, the date of the big test was finally here.  Throughout the semester, my wife and I had been praying that I’d have a clear mind on the day of the test and that I’d remember the things that I had studied.

My test strategy is to go through the whole test and answer all the questions, and then go through again and double check them as I transfer my answers to the scan-tron.    I came to a particular question where I was able to narrow it down to two answers.  Initially I had marked “e” being pretty confident with my choice.  But when I came upon it for the second time, I had a distinct thought, “No, that’s not correct”.  Then I suddenly remember the things I learned when I studied the topic earlier.   I changed my answer to “d” and I got the question right.

I thought about my experience throughout the day.  I know that God does answer our prayers.  We believe to receive answers for our questions, we must do our part.  We must study it in our minds and then ask God if it’s right.  If it is, we will feel that in our hearts and in our minds that it is right. (see D&C 9:8 & Moroni 10:3-5)

Does God still speak to us today?

First Vision

While preparing for a class, I came across this talk given by Hugh B. Brown, a member of the First Presidency of our church, who passed away some years ago.  It details a conversation that he had with a member of the British House of Commons and a former justice of the supreme court of Britain regarding our belief in the reality of modern-day prophets.

I will never understand why people reject the doctrine of God still being able to call prophets.  He has always done so and will continue to do so.  I firmly declare that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that there is a prophet today who speaks for God.  Prophets are essential to us knowing who God and Jesus Christ are—their characters and their teachings that will bring salvation.  You too can know of this truth if you will sincerely ask God in prayer with faith to act.

“[This man] called me on the phone one day and asked if I would meet him at his office and explain some phases of my faith. He said, “There is going to be a war [World War II], and you will have to return to America, and we may not meet again.”

When I went to his office, he said he had been intrigued by some things I had told about my church. He asked me if I would prepare a brief on Mormonism and discuss it with him as I would discuss a legal problem. He said, “You have told me that you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that you believe that God the Father and Jesus of Nazareth appeared to him in vision.

“I cannot understand,” he said, “how a barrister and solicitor from Canada, a man trained in logic and evidence and unemotional cold fact, could accept such absurd statements. What you tell me about Joseph Smith seems fantastic, but I wish you would take three days at least to prepare a brief and permit me to examine it and question you on it.”

I suggested that, as I had been working on such a brief for more than 50 years, we proceed at once to have an examination for discovery, which is briefly a meeting of the opposing sides in a lawsuit where the plaintiff and defendant, with their attorneys, meet to examine each other’s claims and see whether they can find some area of agreement and thus save the time of the court later on.

I began by asking, “May I proceed, sir, on the assumption that you are a Christian?”

“I am.”

“I assume that you believe in the Bible—the Old and New Testaments?”

“I do!”

“Do you believe in prayer?”

“I do!”

“You say that my belief that God spoke to a man in this age is fantastic and absurd?”

“To me it is.”

“Do you believe that God ever did speak to anyone?”

“Certainly, all through the Bible we have evidence of that.”

“Did he speak to Adam?”

“Yes.”

“To Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and to others of the prophets?”

“I believe he spoke to each of them.”

“Do you believe that contact between God and man ceased when Jesus appeared on the earth?”

“Certainly not. Such communication reached its climax, its apex at that time.”

“Do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God?”

“He was.”

“Do you believe, sir, that after the resurrection of Christ, God ever spoke to any man?”

He thought for a moment and then said, “I remember one Saul of Tarsus who was going down to Damascus to persecute the saints and who had a vision, was stricken blind, in fact, and heard a voice.”

“Whose voice did he hear?”

“Well,” he said, “the voice said `I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.'”

“Do you believe that actually took place?”

“I do.”

“Then, my Lord”—that is the way we address judges in the British commonwealth—”my Lord, I am submitting to you in all seriousness that it was standard procedure in Bible times for God to talk to men.”

“I think I will admit that, but it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.”

“Why do you think it stopped?”

“I can’t say.”

“You think that God hasn’t spoken since then?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“May I suggest some possible reasons why he has not spoken. Perhaps it is because he cannot. He has lost the power.”

He said, “Of course that would be blasphemous.”

“Well, then, if you don’t accept that, perhaps he doesn’t speak to men because he doesn’t love us anymore. He is no longer interested in the affairs of men.”

“No,” he said, “God loves all men, and he is no respecter of persons.”

“Well, then, if you don’t accept that he loves us, then the only other possible answer as I see it is that we don’t need him. We have made such rapid strides in education and science that we don’t need God any more.”

And then he said, and his voice trembled as he thought of impending war, “Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why he doesn’t speak.”

My answer was, “He does speak, he has spoken; but men need faith to hear him.”

(President Hugh B. Brown, Conference Report, October 1967, Third Day—Morning Meeting 118.)

The Saved Little Toaster

Last spring I participated in a program between Brigham Young University students (even though I go to Utah State University — go Aggies!) and some Evangelical Christian students from Wheaton College in Illinois.  The Evangelical students came to Utah during their spring break and toured Utah to get a feel for the culture and religion here, and to give us Mormons the same opportunity with them.  I came away from each discussion enlightened.  During their stay, they even arranged a private visit with Elder D. Todd Christofferson, one of the twelve Apostles.  I was so jealous.

One of the questions that often came up during their visit was whether Mormons believed our works saved us or the grace of Jesus Christ did.  They made an interesting observation: when challenged with this question, each latter-day Saint (even General Authorities) responded with one of two answers.  1) We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.  2) Works are necessary for salvation.

On the face of it, we seem confused.  To many Christians, statements 1 and 2 are mutually exclusive; for us they fold nicely into each other.

A toaster: a modern kitchen marvel.Consider a toaster.  It has two slots, a mechanical tab, some knobs to control heat levels, heating coils, and a plug connected to the outlet.  The toaster was a wedding gift you gladly accepted from your brother; your dad’s present was to pay your first month of rent, including utilities.  You use your toaster every morning.  Drop in two limp, damp pieces of bread, push the lever down, and wait 35 seconds; then, crispy, deliciously crunchy toast pops out as if by magic!  Spread the butter on thick and enjoy.

As you feast, you make two statements to your new spouse, who does not notice any contradiction:

1) This toast was made through the generous gift of loving relatives.

2) It took some effort on my part (albeit not much) to make the toast.

We certainly can’t take the credit for the toast.  The same effort applied to an empty counter top, or to an unplugged toaster would result in disappointment.  (Maybe the bread would become “crunchy” in the sense of getting stale, but I don’t think that’s what we want).  In the same vein, we fully recognize that living by the law of Moses, or adhering to empty ritualistic tradition without a Messiah will never work.  This is why we respond with number 1.

We also know that we can’t expect the toaster to do everything for us, either.  Much of the joy of eating breakfast comes from taking the time to handcraft it.  Your brother knows that while designing and building a fully-automated toast-producing machine is possible, it isn’t what you need or want.  Besides, there’s still the matter of lifting it to your mouth and chewing.  Surely, you wouldn’t eat pre-chewed toast!  Our purpose on earth is growth, and that requires us to step up to the plate and show our willingness.  Our faith in Christ is manifest to Him by our (imperfect and small) effort.  This is why we give response number 2.

The toaster and its connection to the wall outlet represent the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ.  He offers it to all of us.  Please receive His help gratefully and often.  He loves you, so He will not force your hand.  Insert the bread of faith, and press down the mechanical tab of repentance to unlock the power of forgiveness and blessing that awaits you.  Repentance and righteous living may seem tough at first, but He has made it much easier.  In fact, he has made it possible.

“If ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits” (Book of Mormon, Helaman 14:13).

Do Mormons believe in the rapture?

Q. Do Mormons believe in the rapture?

A. If you asked a Mormon about the rapture, you might not get a clear answer.  The word, “rapture” isn’t part of our vocabulary in this context, and you won’t hear a lesson about it on Sunday.  As far as my research goes, there isn’t a consensus among other Christians concerning what the rapture is either, but the basic idea is that righteous individuals will experience Heavenly glory at an event where they encounter Christ.  And yes, we believe that will happen.

Do we believe in the popular idea that all or even some of the righteous souls on this earth will all be taken away permanently, leaving the rest behind?  No, this earth is God’s creation and He will not abandon it.  In fact, quite the opposite will occur, and the earth will be burned at His coming (Nahum 1:3-5).  This is a crucial part in returning the earth to a state like the Garden of Eden which is described by John as a “new heaven, and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1) and is symbolic of our personal conversion (Noah’s flood = Baptism.  Renewal of the earth by fire = Baptism by fire and spirit. John 3:5).  The righteous will be spared during this period and will live on the newly cleansed earth during the Millennium of Christ’s reign.  The righteous that will be spared will be the honest and just people of the earth, not members of any specific church.  This includes all people who are honest, chaste, and live according to their own level of light.

Prior to this renewal, God will be pouring as much light, truth and spirit onto the earth for our benefit.  This is to help all to endure what may be termed the “tribulation,” another word not found in our vocabulary in this context.  This coincides with our belief concerning the increasing wickedness and suffering that will exist before Second Coming of Christ.  With God’s help, it is and will continue to be possible to be happy in spite of what is happening around us.  And also because of God’s help, it is our responsibility to search out those in need of a caring heart.

The subject of the Second Coming is extremely complex in its details and yet very simple by nature.  One could focus intently on every sign, every prophecy and every scripture and still miss the very point of the matter, that is, that Christ is returning and we must be ready to receive Him.  Study the scriptures and the words of the prophets for yourself to learn about His gospel.