Monday, July 25, 2011

How to Do Missionary Work

  • Don't get angry
    • “a soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1)
    • I have sometimes allowed myself to become angry when I have felt that others were attacking the Church or my belief in Jesus Christ. When the anger stayed, none of those discussions went well. At least one of those angry discussion has made it more awkward to talk about the gospel with some that are close to me. It is awkward for them to ask questions and it is awkward for my wife and I to talk to them about the things that are most important to us.
    • Doctrine and Covenants 38:41
      41 And let your preaching be the warning voice, every man to his neighbor, in mildness and in meekness.
    • Elder Neil L Anderson, It’s a Miracle, April 2013 General Conference
      We respect each person’s choice and timing. The Lord said, “Let every man choose for himself.”
      26 A person’s lack of interest need not diminish our bonds of friendship and love. Whether or not the invitation is accepted as you invite others to “come and see,” you will feel the approval of the Lord and, with that approval, an added measure of faith to share your beliefs again and again.
  • Prepare
  • Be a Good Example
    • President Boyd K Packer, The Reason for Our Hope, General Conference October 2014
      "But no matter how large the organization of the Church becomes or how many millions of members join our ranks, no matter how many continents and countries our missionaries enter or how many different languages we speak, the true success of the gospel of Jesus Christ will be measured by the spiritual strength of its individual members. We need the strength of conviction that is found in the heart of every loyal disciple of Christ."

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Marriage

What Marriage Is

Elder Dallin H Oaks, Followers of Christ, General Conference April 2013
“Jesus taught that God created male and female and that a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife (see Mark 10:6–8).”

1 Corinthians 11:11

11Nevertheless neither is the aman without the woman, neither the bwoman without the man, in the Lord.

Abraham 5:18

18Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall acleave unto his wife, and they shall be bone flesh.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “No Other Gods,” Ensign, Nov. 2013, 73.

“We know that the marriage of a man and a woman is necessary for the accomplishment of God’s plan. Only this marriage will provide the approved setting for mortal birth and to prepare family members for eternal life.”

How To Make It Work

Elder Valen V Cordo, The Language of the Gospel, April 2017 General Conference
"The happiness of our spouse is more important than our own pleasure."

Elder L Whitney Clayton, Marriage: Watch and Learn, April 2013 General Conference
"I have observed that in wonderful, happy marriages, husbands and wives treat each other as equal partners. Practices from any place or any time in which husbands have dominated wives or treated them in any way as second-class partners in marriage are not in keeping with divine law and should be replaced by correct principles and patterns of behavior."
...
They keep their social media use fully worthy in every way. They permit themselves no secret Internet experiences. They freely share with each other their social network passwords. They do not look at the virtual profiles of anyone in any way that might betray the sacred trust of their spouse. They never do or say anything that approaches the appearance of impropriety, either virtually or physically. Watch and learn: terrific marriages are completely respectful, transparent, and loyal.”

Matthew 7:12

12 Therefore all things whatso ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Nurturing Marriage,” 37, 38.

“expressions of love and appreciation do more than acknowledge a kind thought or deed. … As grateful partners look for the good in each other and sincerely pay compliments to one another, wives and husbands will strive to become the persons described in those compliments.”
“Above all, do not be selfish! Generate a spirit of selflessness and generosity. Celebrate and commemorate each day together as a treasured gift from heaven.”

1 Corinthian 13:11

  11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Doctrine and Covenants 90:24
 24Search adiligentlybpray always, and be believing, and call things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the dcovenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.

Doctrine and Covenants 108:7

 7Therefore, astrengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “How Do I Love Thee?” (Brigham Young University devotional, Feb. 15, 2000), speeches.byu.edu.

“True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ’s great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.”

Elder David A. Bednar, “More Diligent and Concerned at Home,” Ensign,Nov. 2009, 17, 18.

"[expressions of love and gratitude] do not need to be flowery or lengthy. We simply should sincerely and frequently express love.”
 “We should remember that saying ‘I love you’ is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to show it. We need to both express and demonstrate love.”

Husband's Responsibilities

President Henry B. Eyring, “Families under Covenant,” Ensign, May 2012, 64.
“It will take faith and humility to put her interests above your own in the struggles of life,”
"Age and illness may increase your wife’s needs. If you choose even then to put her happiness above your own, I promise you that your love for her will increase.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Nurturing Marriage,” Ensign, May 2006, 37.

"brethren, your foremost priesthood duty is to nurture your marriage—to care for, respect, honor, and love your wife. Be a blessing to her and your children.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women,” Ensign, May 1999, 39.

“Be considerate and kind in the tender intimacies of your married life. Let your thoughts and actions inspire confidence and trust. Let your words be wholesome and your time together be uplifting. Let nothing in life take priority over your wife—neither work, recreation, nor hobby.”

Elder Richard G. Scott, “The Eternal Blessings of Marriage,” Ensign, May 2011, 95.

“Do you tell your wife often how very much you love her? It will bring her great happiness. I’ve heard men tell me when I say that, ‘Oh, she knows.’ You need to tell her. A woman grows and is greatly blessed by that reassurance. Express gratitude for what your spouse does for you. Express that love and gratitude often.”

Ephesians 5:25

  25 Husbandslove your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Charity






Moroni 7:47
  47 But acharity is the pure blove of Christ, and it endureth cforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.


Sister Silvia H. Allred - General Relief Society Presidency, The Essence of Discipleship, April 2011 General Conference
From the beginning of time, the Lord has taught that to become His people we need to be of one heart and one mind. 1 The Savior also explained that the two great commandments in the law are “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “love thy neighbour as thyself.” 2 Lastly, soon after the Church was restored, the Lord commanded the Saints to “visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief.” 3
What is the common theme in all these commandments? It is that we must love one another and serve one another. This is, in fact, the essence of discipleship in the true Church of Jesus Christ.
...
“When love becomes the guiding principle in our care for others, our service to them becomes the gospel in action. It is the gospel in its finest moment. It is pure religion.”



Mosiah 4:26-27
26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.
27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.



Moroni 10:20-21
 
20Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.

 21And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.



Matthew 22:37-40
37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

John 13:34-35
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.



TEACHING, NO GREATER CALL: A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR GOSPEL TEACHING, LESSON 4: SEEKING THE GIFT OF CHARITY
“Charity is a gift that you can receive as you pray to be filled with love, as you give service, and as you look for the good in others.”

Man's Potential

2 Corinthians 3:1
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

1 John 3:2
2 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.

Elder Dallin H Oaks, Followers of Christ, General Conference April 2013
From modern revelation, unique to the restored gospel, we know that the commandment to seek perfection is part of God the Father’s plan for the salvation of His children. Under that plan we are all heirs of our heavenly parents. “We are the children of God,” the Apostle Paul taught, “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16–17). This means, as we are told in the New Testament, that we are “heirs … of eternal life” (Titus 3:7) and that if we come to the Father, we are to “inherit all things” (Revelation 21:7)—all that He has—a concept our mortal minds can hardly grasp. But at least we can understand that achieving this ultimate destiny in eternity is possible only if we follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, who taught that “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). We seek to follow Him and become more like Him, here and hereafter.”


Mark 9:23
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.



Elder O Vincent Haleck, Having the Vision to Do, General Conference April 2012
What did He see in Peter, James, and John and the other Apostles that prompted Him to act to invite them to follow Him? Like His vision of them, the Savior has a great vision of who we can become. It will take the same faith and courage the first Apostles had in order for us to refocus on the things that matter most in bringing lasting happiness and great joy.
“When we study the life of our Savior and His teachings, we see Him amongst the people teaching, praying, lifting, and healing. When we emulate Him and do the things we see Him do, we begin to see a vision of who we can become. You will be blessed with insight through the help of the Holy Ghost to do more good. Changes will begin to come, and you will bring a different order to your life that will bless you and your family. “



2 Peter 1:3-4
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
  4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.


President Dieter F Uchtdorf, You Matter to Him, October 2011 General Conference
“Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.”


Philippians 2:5-9
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:


Revelation 21:7
7 He that aovercometh shall binherit call things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my dson.


Romans 8:16-17
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.


Acts 17:23,29
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
-He explains to them the “unknown god”. He explains that we are his children and thus being so, he can not be of stone or gold or whatever. I would add to those in our day I would add tot he point that Paul makes about we being his offspring and thus He can not be intangible matter either. We are His offspring. Our offspring begin as less developed versions of ourselves that have the potential to grow and learn to be adults.


Revelation 3:21
 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.


Ephesians 4:11-14
 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;


Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Challenge to Become", General Conference, October 2000
"The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and teachers were given that we may all attain 'the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13). This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something."
"From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become."something."


3 Nephi 27:27
  27 And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.


Moroni 7:47
  47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.


My Thoughts
Man is the one who has put barriers between himself and God. He is the one that has put the limitation on God that he can not raise up his children to be equals with Him and He still be God.

The father lost nothing by Christ being a god also, because they are one. We are told to be one even as the father and son are one. We are told to be perfect as Christ is perfect. You can argue what the word perfect means and what it means to be one, but with God all things are possible. Including creating me with the capability to grow to be more than I am.

I loose nothing by my child growing into a functional adult through their hard work and my assistance, molding, and nourishing. If fact that is one of my greatest desires and arguably my primary work. I also find nothing offensive in them having the desire to be an adult like me.

Love


Moroni 7:47
  47 But acharity is the pure blove of Christ, and it endureth cforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.


Sister Silvia H. Allred - General Relief Society Presidency, The Essence of Discipleship, April 2011 General Conference
From the beginning of time, the Lord has taught that to become His people we need to be of one heart and one mind. 1 The Savior also explained that the two great commandments in the law are “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “love thy neighbour as thyself.” 2 Lastly, soon after the Church was restored, the Lord commanded the Saints to “visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief.” 3
What is the common theme in all these commandments? It is that we must love one another and serve one another. This is, in fact, the essence of discipleship in the true Church of Jesus Christ.
...
“When love becomes the guiding principle in our care for others, our service to them becomes the gospel in action. It is the gospel in its finest moment. It is pure religion.”