Scripture Insight: D&C 29:34-35

34 Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.

35 Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.

From the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History: Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual: Lesson 14: The Law of Consecration:

Explain that the principles of the law of consecration have not changed since it was revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. However, the application of those principles changes from time to time.  The current prophet helps us understand how to apply these principles in our day.

Discussion
I was studying the Sunday School one week in preparation for Sunday and came across the above scripture. I had to stop and take a step back for a moment to more fully comprehend it because something was not adding up for me. Now I know the scripture is true because it was revelation received for these latter days and is included in the canonical works of the church. I have a strong testimony of that. So I know if there is any discrepancy with these and other teachings, the fault is on me and my lack of understanding.

But I confess I was perplexed at first with the scripture. I understood the principle it was outlining perfect. My difficulty came in the history of its application which when looking at the surface level of the evidence seems to contradict it (i.e, changes with Blacks receiving the priesthood, the support and then non-support of polygamy, etc.). Again, because I know the scriptures to be true that this could not be the case.

I decided to return to the manual and continue studying so my mind could wrestle with that one in the background. No sooner do I return to studying the manual do I come across the second bit which is also included above. These made it abundantly clear where my lack of understanding was. What seemed like a contradiction in statement is perfectly explained in three simple sentences (one really if you look at the highlighted portion).

Study Recap: The Lord Offers Everyone a Way Back from Sin by Robert D. Hales

Title: The Lord Offers Everyone a Way Back from Sin
Author: Robert D. Hales of the Seventy
Source: October 1976 General Conference
Link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/10/the-lord-offers-everyone-a-way-back-from-sin?lang=eng

Rating: 4/5


Favorite Points

• The message I am sharing with you today is that the gospel protects us and that the gospel principle of repentance has the ability to restore us if we have committed a sin.
• "Satan is insidious. He leads a person away from the righteous way of living and little by little tempts them into greater and greater wrongs."
• “After my confession the bishop commended me on taking the first step toward returning to my Heavenly Father and outlined additional steps to prepare me for the day when I would realize that I had truly been forgiven. He emphasized that he, himself, could not forgive me. That was the Lord’s decision. He helped me to understand that I could be forgiven, that my Heavenly Father loves me, that I could gain an awareness of my future goals and not constantly condemn myself all of my life, thus halting my eternal progression."
• "Do not be misled by the superficial moral codes of our day. They are Satan’s most persuasive tools. They have no eternal significance."
• Finally, the greatest of all blessings: the forgiveness of the Lord. We no longer look back with depression and hurt, but forward to the future with hope and joy and love for God, self, and all mankind.
• The depth of our repentance must be as deep as the sin we have committed. There is no easy way. It hurts, but it also cleanses.
  
  
  NOTE: All quoted portions above are from a letter that was read and are not direct words by Robert D. Hales.
  

Missionary Story Monday: Carpet

I served my mission in Mexico. I loved it there and the people. They have a rich culture and the best food in the world (plus Coke with sugar instead of corn syrup). But one thing they don't have: carpet. I saw carpet a total of two times during my entire mission.

The first time I came across it was in my first area at the church building. I was serving in a small branch and some how they had gotten a building built even though they had fairly low numbers. And not only did they have this nice, big building, but there were two parts of it that had carpet. One part was on the stage in the sacrament hall. The other was this small little room that could barely hold one table and a few chairs. Not sure how, but that became the "missionary room." This carpet was course, rough, and industrial strength but I loved every fiber of it.

Fast forward more than a year later in my second area. My companion from Idaho and I are knocking doors and this elderly gentleman invites us in. We're talking with him when we see that one of the rooms in the house has carpet. and not just any carpet, the lush, soft, "I just want to take a nap on it" stuff. We were mesmerized. My companion and I looked at each other and then to the guy. I asked, "sir, would you mind if we touched your carpet?"

The guy just looked at us kinda funny and said, "You can walk on it if you like" and shrugged his shoulders like what are these two gringos smoking.* But my companion and I were beyond caring what this guy thought of us because we were ecstatic! It was like Christmas come early! Now our shoes were extremely dirty because of where we were serving so we took them off before walking on this heavenly piece of joy. It was like walking on clouds. It is one of the best memories I have from my mission.

*the guy never invited us back

Happy Mother's Day!

Please enjoy the following images to have a good laugh and better enjoy this wonderful day for those women that are so special to each of us!

More Truth Bombs, this time from Elder Boyd K. Packer

I came across the other day while studying the Sunday School lesson and like what was said:

Elder Boyd K. Packer said that we should be reverent in the chapel so we do not intrude “when someone is struggling to feel delicate spiritual communications.” He also cautioned that reverence “does not equate with absolute silence. We must be tolerant of little babies, even an occasional outburst from a toddler being ushered out” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1991, 28; or Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22).

 My favorite part of this is the highlighted portion at the end: "being ushered out." It's a nice way of saying we will be tolerate of babies/toddlers making noise...especially as you take them out when they reach that one point. Don't be those parents who keep their kids in the meeting because you don't want to miss anything or you think its teaching them an important lesson. Its not, you just making everyone else have a headache and not feel the Spirit. Look again at the beginning of the quote.

I also like how he said "toddler" and "little babies" but not "children." He's implying that you need to have them in check by a certain age. Teach them to be reverent because at a certain point that noisy hullabaloo* is not cool.

*How awesome is this word? It just came to me out nowhere as I was typing and I never use that word. 10 points to me though for how awesome it is and using it.

Study Recap: The Unique Message of Jesus Christ by Elder Robert D. Hales

Title: The Unique Message of Jesus Christ
Author: Elder Robert D. Hales
Source: April 1994 General Conference
Link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1994/04/the-unique-message-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

Rating: 1/5*


Favorite Points

• For the rest of my sojourn here in mortality, I will have the opportunity to bear testimony as a special witness of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 *This appears to be the General Conference when Elder Hales was called to be an apostle given that the majority of the talk centered on that.

Study Recap: “Settle This in Your Hearts” by Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Title: “Settle This in Your Hearts”
Author: Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Source: October 1992 General Conference
Link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/10/settle-this-in-your-hearts?lang=eng

Rating: 5/5

Favorite Points

• Instead, these comments are for the essentially “honorable” members who are skimming over the surface instead of deepening their discipleship and who are casually engaged rather than “anxiously engaged.” (D&C 76:75; D&C 58:27.)
• Though nominal in their participation, their reservations and hesitations inevitably show through. They may even pass through our holy temples, but, alas, they do not let the holy temples pass through them.
• Some regard themselves as merely “resting” in between Church callings. But we are never in between as to this soaring call from Jesus: “What manner of men [and women] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.” (3 Ne. 27:27; see Matt. 5:48; 3 Ne. 12:48.)
• All are free to choose, of course, and we would not have it otherwise. Unfortunately, however, when some choose slackness, they are choosing not only for themselves, but for the next generation and the next. Small equivocations in parents can produce large deviations in their children!
• While casual members are not unrighteous, they often avoid appearing to be too righteous by seeming less committed than they really are—an ironic form of hypocrisy.
• Some of these otherwise honorable members mistakenly regard the Church as an institution, but not as a kingdom. They know the doctrines of the kingdom, but more as a matter of recitation than of real comprehension.
•  One common characteristic of the honorable but slack is their disdain for the seemingly unexciting duties of discipleship, such as daily prayer, regular reading of the scriptures, attendance at sacrament meeting, paying a full tithe, and participating in the holy temples.
• When the determination is first made to begin to be more spiritually settled, there is an initial vulnerability: it is hard to break with the past. But once we begin, we see how friends who would hold us back spiritually are not true friends at all. Any chiding from them reflects either resentment or unconscious worry that somehow they are being deserted. 
• In any attempt to explain to them, our tongue is able to speak only “the smallest part.” (Alma 26:16.) We continue to care for them, but we care for our duty to God more.
• Brigham Young counseled candidly: “Some do not understand duties which do not coincide with their natural feelings and affections. … There are duties which are above affection.” (Journal of Discourses, 7:65.)
• Some would never sell Jesus for thirty pieces, but they would not give Him their all either!
• One might share talents publicly yet privately retain a particular pride.
•  Still others find it easier to bend their knees than their minds. Exciting exploration is preferred to plodding implementation; speculation seems more fun than consecration, and so is trying to soften the hard doctrines instead of submitting to them.
• Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!
• When, at last, we are truly pointed homeward, then the world’s pointing fingers of scorn can better be endured. As we come to know to Whom we belong, the other forms of belonging cease to mean very much.
• For now, consecration may not require giving up worldly possessions so much as being less possessed by them.
• A little criticism of the Brethren, which seems harmless enough, may not only damage other members but can even lead to one’s setting himself up as a substitute “light unto the world.” (2 Ne. 26:29.)
•  

Dropping Truth Bombs as Only a Prophet Can

I was studying the Sunday School lesson for this week and came across this powerful quote that I felt impressed to share:

President Spencer W. Kimball, the 12th President of the Church, said: “We do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. It is an individual responsibility, and regardless of what is said from the pulpit, if one wishes to worship the Lord in spirit and truth, he may do so by attending his meetings, partaking of the sacrament, and contemplating the beauties of the gospel. If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No one can worship for you” (“The Sabbath—A Delight,” Ensign,Jan. 1978, 4–5).

Study Recap: Spirituality by Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Title: Spirituality
Author: Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Source: October 1985 General Conference
Link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1985/10/spirituality?lang=eng

Rating: 5/5


Favorite Points

• As faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a distinctive way of looking at life. We view our experiences in terms of eternity.
•  To be spiritually minded is to view and evaluate our experiences in terms of the enlarged perspective of eternity.
• Each of us has a personal lens through which we view the world. Our lens gives its special tint to all we see. It can suppress some features and emphasize others. It can also reveal things otherwise invisible. Through the lens of spirituality, we can know “the things of God” by “the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:11.)
• As the Apostle Paul taught, such things are “foolishness” to the “natural man.” He cannot see them “because they are spiritually discerned.” (See 1 Cor. 2:14.)
• How we interpret our experiences is also a function of our degree of spirituality. Some interpret mortality solely in terms of worldly accomplishments and possessions. In contrast, we who have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ should interpret our experiences in terms of our knowledge of the purpose of life, the mission of our Savior, and the eternal destiny of the children of God.
• Spirituality is not a function of occupation or calling. A scientist may be more spiritual than a theologian; a teacher may be more spiritual than an officer. Spirituality is determined by personal outlook and priorities. It is evident in our words and actions.
• ...we should not be so occupied with what is routine and temporal that we fail to cherish those opportunities that are unique and spiritual.
• Many Esaus have given up something of eternal value in order to satisfy a momentary hunger for the things of the world.
• The Roman soldiers of Pilate provided an unforgettable illustration of the different perspectives of the carnal mind and the spiritual mind. During a tragic afternoon on Calvary, a handful of soldiers waited at the foot of a cross. The most important event in all eternity was taking place on the cross above their heads. Oblivious to that fact, they occupied themselves casting lots to divide the earthly property of the dying Son of God.
• Jim, you don’t understand,” President Dunn replied. “You see, I’m raising boys, not cows.”
• What we see around us depends on what we seek in life.
• The enemies of the young prophet, Joseph Smith, hounded him to get possession of the golden plates from which he was to translate the Book of Mormon. They sought the golden plates to get money, not a message. The temporal value of the plates had a price; their spiritual value was priceless.
• Materialism, which gives priority to material needs and objects, is obviously the opposite of spirituality.  
• There is nothing inherently evil about money. The Good Samaritan used the same coinage to serve his fellowman that Judas used to betray the Master. It is “the love of money [which] is the root of all evil.” (1 Tim. 6:10; italics added.)
• As faithful Latter-day Saints, we can bear the death of loved ones because we have faith in the resurrection and the eternal nature of family ties. We can repent and rise above our mistakes and inadequacies because we know that our Savior “suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.” (D&C 19:16.)
• Seen with the perspective of eternity, a temporal setback can be an opportunity to develop soul power of eternal significance. Strength is forged in adversity. Faith is developed in a setting where we cannot see what lies ahead.
• Spirituality is not acquired suddenly. It is the consequence of a succession of right choices. It is the harvest of a righteous life.
• Through the lens of spirituality, we see all the commandments of God as invitations to blessings.
• To the faithful, spirituality is a lens through which we view life and a gauge by which we evaluate it. The Apostle Paul expressed this thought in two of his letters:
  
  
  “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18.)
  
  
  “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
  “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:5–6.)

Missionary Story Monday: The Fogotten Book of Mormon

One day in my second area my companion and I had just left the apartment in the morning to start working and hadn't even made it to the end of the street when my companion realized he forgot to bring his Book of Mormon to give away. We stopped for a second and debated whether or not to go back for it. I had extra in my bag so we didn't need them. We also gave away few of them per day because not many people knew how to read so they didn't want to accept them.

But something told us to go back and we did. So we go back, get them, and then head back out again. As we reach the street corner and are prepared to cross to the other side we see this lady standing there looking at us timidly. I could see her mustering up the courage to say something to us. She finally found her voice and called us over (we would had gone over anyway with that type of body language). Turns out she had spoken to missionaries before and had been looking for us. She was walking down the street that day and saw us as we came to the corner. She baptized two weeks later along with her two kids.

Now I often think what would have happened if we didn't turn back that day to get my companion's Book of Mormon. Our paths wouldn't have crossed with that sweet sister and her family could have been delayed in getting the gospel. I'm grateful to our Heavenly Father and all the little things that He puts is place so that His purposes can come to pass.

FYI: we never ended up needing that extra Book of Mormon we went back for.