The Savior’s Testimony of the Book of Mormon

At a recent session of Stake Conference, the mission president’s wife pointed out that none other than Jesus Christ himself bore powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The Lord said, speaking of the prophet Joseph:

And he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true. (D&C 17:6)

Agency Isn't Free

We use the term “free agency” frequently to describe our exercise of choice in mortality. But nowhere in the scriptures is the word “agency” modified by the adjective “free.” The phrase “free agency” never appears. “Agency” is the Lord’s term for the right to choose. Most of the world does not understand the simple word or its eternal implications. In fact, agency is a concept and doctrine only found in the restored gospel.

A Gospel of Wings

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, in his article, “The Abundant Life,” in the May 2006 Ensign said the following:

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a religion of mourning and gloom. It is not a gospel of chains but a gospel of wings [italics added}.

The Last Full Measure of Devotion

Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service members who died while in military service. First enacted by formerly enslaved African-Americans to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars. Over the years, it has come to include all our departed loved ones. We visit graves, decorate them in various ways with flowers and other momentos, and pause for a few minutes to remember them.

The Fellowship of His Suffering

Elder Neal A, Maxwell, in his book, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, has a chapter called “The Fellowship of His Sufferings.” The title is taken from Philippians 3:10:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings …

The Master Potter

Elder Heber C. Kimball was a blacksmith and a potter by trade. He earned his living by the sweat of his brow. But being a potter requires considerable perseverance and knowledge. In Elder Kimball’s time, the only way to learn such a skill was as an apprentice to someone who had mastered the craft, and it is usually a hard-won skill, requiring many hours of practice and failure, before mastery comes. For some few, however, it comes naturally, less a skill than a talent.

Missing Things

Many times, we are confronted, even ridiculed, by those who would draw us into the “great and spacious building” that Lehi saw in his dream. The place where, they tell us, all of the good things of the earth can be found. Sometimes, perhaps, we even find ourselves yearning for those things.

Forgiveness – The Balm of the Gospel

We sometimes find ourselves wronged by another. It may be unintended or purposeful. It may be small or very significant. It may be easy to forgive or very difficult to overcome. Whatever the offense, when we lack the ability to forgive, we enter the realms of Satan, the fallen son of the morning, who could not forgive his Father and Brother for their rejection of his flawed plan for our salvation. Because of his rancor and hatred, he suffers eternally, as do all of those spirits who supported him in the pre-existence. Holding grudges, festering our souls with hatred, resentment, and bitterness draws us inexorably away from the path that will return us to the presence of our Father and Elder Brother.

Touch Our Eyes That We May See

Father, let thy light divine
Shine on us, we pray.
Touch our eyes that we may see; [emphasis added]
Teach us to obey.
Ours the sacred mission is
To bear thy message far.
The light of faith is in our hearts,
Truth our guiding star.
(chorus of The Light Divine, Hymns, Pg 305)

The Savior healed many and various infirmities, but not all, because He had certain criteria for performing a healing miracle. He always ascertained that those he healed had the faith to be healed, or at the least that someone close to them possessed the necessary faith. As always, He had a deeper purpose, and eternal purpose, for his miracles. Certainly, one of his objectives was to relieve physical suffering. He healed the lame, the blind, the deaf, those with diseases, those with evil spirits, those with various ills of body and mind, and even raised the dead. Compassion and love also motivated Him.

Run, Henry, Run!

In June of 1974, I completed my Bachelors degree and entered Officer Training School (OTS) – the culmination of nine years of night school and one final year of full-time college attendance at Air Force expense. The Air Force had a program called the Bootstrap Commissioning Program (BCP) that offered a commission to those on their second or later enlistment who had accumulated 3 years of college, as selected by a BCP board of senior enlisted folks and officers. I was blessed to be selected. Selection meant that the Air Force would pay for my fourth year of college and give me a commission if I successfully completed OTS.

Rose Lake

In 1959, when I was about sixteen years old, living in northern California, our brave explorer leaders organized a wonderful trip for us to Rose Lake. The lake is well above the timberline in the high Sierras, almost due east of Merced and maybe 40 miles south of Yosemite National Park. It is surrounded by national forest lands and other national parks.

Wells and Cisterns

A cistern is a tank used for holding water – captured water from a spring, or stored rainwater. They were used extensively for storing water for drinking and for other uses in both old and new testament times.. Sometimes they were placed on a hill so that gravity could force the water to run into a home or irrigation plot, but most often, they were passive holding tanks from which the water was lifted with a bucket.