Saturday, December 3, 2016

Adultery

Sister Linda S Reeves, The Great Plan of Redemption, October 2016 General Conference
“Sometimes serious transgression leads to divorce, and depending on circumstances, that might be necessary. But to this man’s amazement, his wife embraced him and dedicated herself to helping him in any way that she could. Over time, she was able to fully forgive him. She had felt the healing power of the Savior’s Atonement for her.”

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Death

President Thomas S Monson, The Perfect Path to Happiness, October 2016 General Conference
"We are blessed to have the truth. We have a mandate to share the truth. Let us live the truth, that we might merit all that the Father has for us. He does nothing save it be for our benefit."

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Gates of Heaven

Elder Marion G Romney, "Temples—The Gates to Heaven", Ensign March 1971
"Pondering upon the subject of temples and the means therein provided to enable us to ascend into heaven brings to mind the lesson of Jacob’s dream. You will recall that in the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis there is an account of his return to the land of his father to seek a wife from among his own people. When Jacob traveled from Beersheba toward Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot of a ladder that reached to heaven where the Lord stood above it. He beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord.

"Because he had met the Lord and entered into covenants with him there, Jacob considered the site so sacred that he named the place Bethel, a contraction of Beth-Elohim, which means literally 'the House of the Lord.' He said of it: '… this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' (Gen. 28:17.)

"Jacob not only passed through the gate of heaven, but by living up to every covenant he also went all the way in.
...
"Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob. Even more, they are also the gates to heaven for all of our unendowed kindred dead. We should all do our duty in bringing our loved ones through them."

Jacob's Ladder

Elder Marion G Romney, "Temples—The Gates to Heaven", Ensign March 1971
"Pondering upon the subject of temples and the means therein provided to enable us to ascend into heaven brings to mind the lesson of Jacob’s dream. You will recall that in the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis there is an account of his return to the land of his father to seek a wife from among his own people. When Jacob traveled from Beersheba toward Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot of a ladder that reached to heaven where the Lord stood above it. He beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord.

"Because he had met the Lord and entered into covenants with him there, Jacob considered the site so sacred that he named the place Bethel, a contraction of Beth-Elohim, which means literally 'the House of the Lord.' He said of it: '… this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' (Gen. 28:17.)

"Jacob not only passed through the gate of heaven, but by living up to every covenant he also went all the way in.
...
"Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob. Even more, they are also the gates to heaven for all of our unendowed kindred dead. We should all do our duty in bringing our loved ones through them."

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Infant Death

11 And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.
12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Heavenly Mother


President Dieter F Uchtdorf, A Yearning for Home, October 2017 General Conference
"I believe that every man, woman, and child has felt the call of heaven at some point in his or her life. Deep within us is a longing to somehow reach past the veil and embrace Heavenly Parents we once knew and cherished."

Spencer W. Kimball, “Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters,” Ensign, Nov. 1978, 105
God is your Father. He loves you. He and your mother in heaven value you beyond any measure. … You are unique. One of a kind, made of the eternal intelligence which gives you claim upon eternal life.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf, O How Great the Plan of Our God!, October 2016 General Conference
"I remember trying to draw the plan of salvation on a blackboard in a classroom of our chapel in Frankfurt, Germany. I made circles that represented premortal life, mortality, and the return to our Heavenly Parents after this life."
...
"Brothers and sisters, we are eternal beings, without beginning and without end. We have always existed.1 We are the literal spirit children of divine, immortal, and omnipotent Heavenly Parents!"
...
"When we passed through the veil and entered this mortal life, we knew that we would no longer remember the life before. There would be opposition and adversity and temptation. But we also knew that gaining a physical body was of paramount importance for us. Oh, how we hoped that we would quickly learn to make the correct choices, withstand the temptations of Satan, and eventually return to our beloved Parents in Heaven."

Monday, July 18, 2016

Sanctification

"Additionally, the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier13 who cleanses and burns dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire."
...
"In the process of coming unto the Savior and spiritual rebirth, receiving the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost in our lives creates the possibility of an ongoing cleansing of our soul from sin. This joyous blessing is vital because 'no unclean thing can dwell with God.'"
...
"Please consider that the emblems of the Lord’s body and blood, the bread and the water, are both blessed and sanctified."
...
"To sanctify is to make pure and holy. The sacramental emblems are sanctified in remembrance of Christ’s purity, of our total dependence upon His Atonement, and of our responsibility to so honor our ordinances and covenants that we can 'stand spotless before [Him] at the last day.'"
...
"And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins."


3 Nephi 27:20
 20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.



Saturday, January 30, 2016

The Godhead

God the Father presides over and directs the other two.


God the son is the creator and authority over this earth and things pertaining to it. He is the Redeemer of this earth. He give immortality to all through resurrection. He gives eternal life to all those that repent and accept him daily.

God the Holy Ghost testifies of the father and the son. He testifies of all truth. He comforts. He teaches. He is differentiated as ghost or spirit because he is the only member of the Godhead who does not have a physical body.

The Holy Ghost


Elder Dallin H Oaks, The Godhead and the Plan of Salvation, General Conference April 2017
“The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost, also referred to as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Comforter. He is the member of the Godhead who is the agent of personal revelation. As a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22), He can dwell in us and perform the essential role of communicator between the Father and the Son and the children of God on earth.”

Doctrine and Covenants 88:66
66 Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.

My thoughts
{
People try to say that God is only a spirit based on what they read in John 4:24
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

DnC 88:66 seems to add a different dimension to that.  His voice is a spirit, that spirit being the Holy Ghost.

The Joseph Smith Translation also clarifies this.  His translation gives that verse as John 4:26:
26 For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth.
}

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Personal Progression / Self Improvement

Elder James E Faust, “Some Great Thing”, October 2001 General Conference quoting Elder Henry B. Eyring, “Waiting upon the Lord,” Brigham Young University 1990–91 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, 22
A story shared by our beloved associate, Elder Henry B. Eyring, illustrates this principle of commitment still further. This story is about his father, the great scientist Henry Eyring, who served on the Bonneville Stake high council. He was responsible for the welfare farm, which included a field of onions that needed to be weeded. At that time, he was nearly 80 and suffering from painful bone cancer. He assigned himself to do weeding even though the pain was so great that he pulled himself along on his stomach with his elbows. The pain was too great for him to kneel. Yet he smiled, laughed, and talked happily with the others who were there that day weeding that field of onions. I now quote what Elder Eyring said of this incident:
“After all the work was finished and the onions were all weeded, someone [said to] him, ‘Henry, good heavens! You didn’t pull those weeds, did you? Those weeds were sprayed two days ago, and they were going to die anyway.’
“Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a great joke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been sprayed and would have died anyway.
“… I [asked] him, ‘Dad how could you make a joke out of that?’ …
“He said something to me that I will never forget. … He said, ‘Hal, I wasn’t there for the weeds.’”

The War In Heaven

Teachings of Presidents of the Church:  Ezra Taft Benson Chapter 3, Freedom of Choice, an Eternal Principle
“The war that began in heaven over this issue is not yet over. The conflict continues on the battlefield of mortality.”

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Fatherhood

Elaine S. Dalton, Love Her Mother, October 2011 General Conference
By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion, and devotion. She will learn from your example what to expect from young men and what qualities to seek in a future spouse. You can show your daughter by the way you love and honor your wife that she should never settle for less. Your example will teach your daughter to value womanhood. You are showing her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father, who loves her.”

A Theodore Tuttle, The Role of Fathers, October 1973 General Conference
"The father is the protector of the home. He guards it against the intrusion of evil from without. Formerly he protected his home with weapons and shuttered windows. Today the task is more complex. Barred doors and windows protect only against the intrusion of a corporeal creature. It is not an easy thing to protect one’s family against intrusions of evil into the minds and spirits of family members. These influences can and do flow freely into the home. Satan can subtly beguile the children of men in ways we have already mentioned in this conference. He need not break down the door.

"Fathers, you will have to live close to the Lord. Develop a sensitivity to the impressions of the Spirit.

"There is yet another intrusion into the home that needs to be mentioned. It is an unwise father who carries to his family his daily business cares. They disturb the peace existing there. He should leave his worries at the office and enter his home with the spirit of peace in his heart and with the love of God burning within him. If there is friction, his presence should soothe it. If there is turmoil, he should resolve it."



A Theodore Tuttle, The Things That Matter Most, Ensign December 1971 
“We chase mechanical rabbits, too.

“We chase paychecks, and don’t give a second look to the glint of the rising sun on a snow-topped peak.

“We chase our way through the appointments of a crowded desk calendar, and fail to take time to chat with the next-door neighbor or to drop in on a sick friend.
“We chase social pleasures on a glittering noisy treadmill—and ignore the privilege of a quiet hour telling bedtime stories to an innocent-eyed child.
“We chase prestige and wealth, and don’t recognize the real opportunities for joy that cross our paths. …”
The world is full of foolish schemes. They contravene and hinder the purposes of the Lord. Some seek to change the God-given roles of the sexes. Some invite mothers to leave the home to work. Others entice fathers to find recreation away from their families. These questionable practices weaken the home!


"Some fathers provide a good house, clothing, cars, and food, and forget what real fatherhood is. Fatherhood is a relationship of love and understanding. It is strength and manliness and honor. It is power and action. It is counsel and instruction. Fatherhood is to be one with your own. It is authority and example.”