Tag: Prophet

Follow Prophet Covid

Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet; don’t go astray.
Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,
Follow the prophet; he knows the way.
Follow the Prophet, Children’s Songbook #110
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/follow-the-prophet?lang=eng

To limit exposure to these viruses, we urge the use of face masks in public meetings whenever social distancing is not possible. To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.
The First Presidency Urges Latter-day Saints to Wear Face Masks When Needed and Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-message-covid-19-august-2021

October 22, 2021

2021 BYU University Conference

3 August 2021, BYU University Conference ¹

The Second Half of the Second Century

BYU Annual University Conference
August 23, 2021
By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Someone once told me that the young speak of the future because they have no past, while the elderly speak of the past because they have no future. Although it damages that little aphorism, I come to you as the veritable Ancient of Days to speak of the future of BYU, but a future anchored in our distinctive past. If I have worded that right, it means I can talk about anything I want.

I am grateful that the full university family is gathered today — faculty, staff, and administration. Regardless of your job description, I am going to speak to all of you as teachers because at BYU that is what all of us are. Thank you for being faithful role models in that regard.

I can’t be certain, but I think that it was in the summer of 1948 when I had my first BYU experience. I would have been 7 years old. We were driving back to St. George from one of our rare trips to Salt Lake City. As we came down old highway 91, I saw high on the side of one of the hills a huge block “Y” — white and bold and beautiful.

I don’t know how to explain that moment, but it was a true epiphany for a 7-year-old. If I had seen that “Y” on the drive up or any other time, I couldn’t remember it. But I saw it that day, and I believe it was a revelation from God. I somehow knew that bold letter meant something special and that it would one day play a significant role in my life. When I asked my mother what it meant, she said it was the emblem of a university. I thought about that for a moment then said quietly, “Well, it must be the greatest university in the world.”

My chance to actually get on campus came in June 1952, four years after that first sighting. That summer I accompanied my parents to one of those early “Leadership Weeks,” a precursor to what is now the immensely popular “Education Week” held on campus. That means I came here for my first BYU experience 69 years ago with a preview of that four years earlier. If anyone in this audience has been coming to this campus longer than that, please come forward and give this talk. Otherwise, sit still and be patient. As Elizabeth Taylor said to her eight husbands, “I won’t be keeping you long.”

My point, dear friends, is simply this: I have loved BYU for nearly three-fourths of a century. Only my service in and testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including my marriage and the beautiful children it has given us, have affected me as profoundly as has my decision to attend Brigham Young University. In so testifying, I represent literally hundreds of thousands of other students who say the same thing.

So, for legions of us over the years, I say: “Thank you for what you do. Thank you for classes taught and meals served and grounds so well kept. Thank you for office hours and lab experiments and testimonies shared — gifts given to little people like me so we could grow up to be big people like you. Thank you for choosing to be at BYU because your choice affected our choice and, like Mr. Frost’s poetic path, “that has made all the difference.”[1]

I asked President Worthen for a sample of the good things that have been happening of late, and I was delighted at the sheaf of items he gave me — small type, single-spaced lines — everything from academic recognitions and scholarly rankings to athletic success and the reach of BYUtv. Karl G. Maeser would be as proud as I was.

But Kevin and I both know those aren’t the real success stories of BYU. These are rather, as some say of ordinances in the Church, “outward signs of an inward grace.” The real successes at BYU are the personal experiences that thousands here have had, personal experiences difficult to document or categorize or list. Nevertheless, these are so powerful in their impact on the heart and mind that they have changed us forever.

I run a risk in citing any examples beyond my own but let me mention just one or two.

One of our colleagues seated here this morning speaks of his first semester, pre-mission enrollment in my friend Wilford Griggs’s History of Civilization class. But this was going to be civilization seen through a BYU lens. So as preambles to the course, Wilf had the students read President Spencer W. Kimball’s “Second Century Address”[2] and the first chapter of Hugh Nibley’s Approaching Zion.[3]

Taken together, our very literate friend says these two readings “forged an indestructible union in my mind and heart between two soaring ideals — that of a consecrated university with that of a holy city. Zion, I came to believe, would be a city with a school [and I would add, a temple, creating] something of a celestial college town, or perhaps a college kingdom.”

After his mission, our faculty friend returned to Provo where he fell under the soul-expanding spell of John Tanner, “the platonic ideal of a BYU professor — superbly qualified in every secular sense, totally committed to the kingdom, and absolutely effervescing with love for the Savior, His students, and His subject. He moved seamlessly from careful teacher analysis to powerful personal testimony. He knew scores of passages from Milton and other poets by heart, [yet] verses of scripture flowed, if anything, even more freely from the abundance of his consecrated heart: I was unfailingly edified by the passion of his teaching and the eloquence of his example.”[4]

Why would such an one come to teach at BYU after a truly distinguished post-graduate experience that might well have taken him to virtually any university in America? Because, our colleague says, “In a coming day the citizens of Zion ‘shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy’ [Moses 7:53]. I hope,” he writes, “to help my students hear that chorus in the distance and to lend their own voices, in time, to its swelling refrain.”[5]

Such are the experiences we hope to provide our students at BYU, though probably not always so poetically expressed. Then, imagine the pain that comes with a memo like this one I recently received. These are just a half-dozen lines from a two-page document:

“You should know,” the writer says, “that some people in the extended community are feeling abandoned and betrayed by BYU. It seems that some professors (at least the vocal ones in the media) are supporting ideas that many of us feel are contradictory to gospel principles, making it appear to be about like any other university our sons and daughters could have attended. Several parents have said they no longer want to send their children here or donate to the school.

“Please don’t think I’m opposed to people thinking differently about policies and ideas,” the writer continues. “I’m not. But I would hope that BYU professors would be bridging those gaps between faith and intellect and would be sending out students that are ready to do the same in loving, intelligent and articulate ways. Yet, I fear that some faculty are not supportive of the Church’s doctrines and policies and choose to criticize them publicly. There are consequences to this. After having served a full-time mission and marrying her husband in the temple, a friend of mine recently left the church. In her graduation statement on a social media post, she credited [such and such a BYU program and its faculty] with the radicalizing of her attitudes and the destruction of her faith.”[6]

Fortunately, we don’t get many of those letters, but this one isn’t unique. Several of my colleagues get the same kind, with most of them ultimately being forwarded to poor President Worthen. Now, most of what happens on this campus is wonderful. That is why I began as I did, with my own undying love of this place. But every so often we need a reminder of the challenge we constantly face here.

Here is what I said on this subject exactly 41 years ago almost to the day. I had been president for all of three weeks.

I said then and I say now that if we are an extension of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taking a significant amount of sacred tithes and other precious human resources, all of which might well be expended in other worthy causes, surely our integrity demands that our lives be absolutely consistent with and characteristic of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. At a university there will always be healthy debate regarding a whole syllabus full of issues. But until “we all come [to] the unity of the faith, and . . . [have grown to] the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,”[7] our next best achievement will be to stay in harmony with the Lord’s anointed, those whom He has designated to declare Church doctrine and to guide Brigham Young University as its trustees.[8]

In 2014, seven years ago, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson came to campus in this same setting. His remarks were relatively brief, but tellingly he said:

“With the Church growing more rapidly in the less prosperous countries, we . . . must conserve sacred funds more carefully than ever before.

“At BYU we must ally ourselves even more closely with the work of our Heavenly Father. . . .

“A college education for our people is a sacred responsibility, [but] it is not essential for eternal life.”[9]

A statement like that gets my attention, particularly because just a short time later President Nelson chairs our Board, holds our purse strings, and has the final “yea” or “nay” on every proposal we make from a new research lab, to more undergrad study space, to approving a new pickup for the physical facilities staff! Russell M. Nelson is very, very good at listening to us. We who sit with him every day have learned the value of listening carefully to him.

Three years later, 2017, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, not then but soon to be in the First Presidency where he would sit, only one chair — one heartbeat — away from the same position President Nelson now has, quoted our colleague Elder Neal A. Maxwell who had said:

“In a way[,] [Latter-day Saint] scholars at BYU and elsewhere are a little bit like the builders of the temple in Nauvoo, who worked with a trowel in one hand and a musket in the other. Today scholars building the temple of learning must also pause on occasion to defend the kingdom. I personally think,” Elder Maxwell went on to say, “this is one of the reasons the Lord established and maintains this university. The dual role of builder and defender is unique and ongoing. I am grateful we have scholars today who can handle, as it were, both trowels and muskets.”[10]

Then Elder Oaks said challengingly, “I would like to hear a little more musket fire from this temple of learning.”[11] He said this in a way that could have applied to a host of topics in various departments, but the one he specifically mentioned was the doctrine of the family and defending marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Little did he know that while many would hear his appeal, especially the School of Family Life who moved quickly and visibly to assist, some others fired their muskets all right, but unfortunately didn’t always aim at those hostile to the Church. A couple of stray rounds even went north of the point of the mountain!

My beloved brothers and sisters, “a house divided against itself . . . cannot stand,”[12] and I will go to my grave pleading that this institution not only stands but stands unquestionably committed to its unique academic mission and to the Church that sponsors it. We hope it isn’t a surprise to you that your Trustees are not deaf or blind to the feelings that swirl around marriage and the whole same-sex topic on campus. I and many of my Brethren have spent more time and shed more tears on this subject than we could ever adequately convey to you this morning, or any morning. We have spent hours discussing what the doctrine of the Church can and cannot provide the individuals and families struggling over this difficult issue. So, it is with scar tissue of our own that we are trying to avoid — and hope all will try to avoid — language, symbols, and situations that are more divisive than unifying at the very time we want to show love for all of God’s children.

If a student commandeers a graduation podium intended to represent everyone getting diplomas in order to announce his personal sexual orientation, what might another speaker feel free to announce the next year until eventually anything goes? What might commencement come to mean — or not mean — if we push individual license over institutional dignity for very long? Do we simply end up with more divisiveness in our culture than we already have — and we already have too much everywhere.

In that spirit, let me go no farther before declaring unequivocally my love and that of my Brethren for those who live with this same-sex challenge and so much complexity that goes with it. Too often the world has been unkind, in many instances crushingly cruel, to these our brothers and sisters. Like many of you, we have spent hours with them, and wept and prayed and wept again in an effort to offer love and hope while keeping the gospel strong and the obedience to commandments evident in every individual life.

But it will assist everyone in providing such help if things can be kept in some proportion and balance in the process. For example, we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, “Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.” We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.

Musket fire? Yes, we will always need defenders of the faith, but “friendly fire” is a tragedy — and from time to time the Church, its leaders and some of our colleagues within the university community have taken such fire on this campus. And sometimes it isn’t friendly — wounding students and the parents of students who are confused about what so much recent flag-waving and parade-holding on this issue means. Beloved friends, this kind of confusion and conflict ought not to be. There are better ways to move toward crucially important goals in these very difficult matters — ways that show empathy and understanding for everyone while maintaining loyalty to prophetic leadership and devotion to revealed doctrine. My Brethren have made the case for the metaphor of musket fire, which I have endorsed yet again today. There will continue to be those who oppose our teachings and with that will continue the need to define, document, and defend the faith. But we do all look forward to the day when we can “beat our swords into plowshares, and [our] spears into pruning hooks,” and at least on this subject, “learn war [no] more.”[13] And while I have focused on this same-sex topic this morning more than I would have liked, I pray you will see it as emblematic of a lot of issues our students and community face in this complex, contemporary world of ours.

But I digress! Back to the blessings of a school in Zion! Do you see the beautiful parallel between the unfolding of the Restoration and the prophetic development of BYU, notwithstanding that both will have critics along the way? Like the Church itself, BYU has grown in spiritual strength, in the number of people it reaches and serves, and in its unique place among other institutions of higher education. It has grown in national and international reputation. More and more of its faculty are distinguishing themselves and, even more importantly, so are more and more of its students.

Reinforcing the fact that so many do understand exactly what that unfolding dream of BYU is, not long ago one of your number wrote to me this marvelous description of what he thought was the “call” to those who serve at BYU:

“The Lord’s call [to those of us who serve at BYU] is a . . . call to create learning experiences of unprecedented depth, quality and impact. . . . As good as BYU is and has been, this is a call to do [better]. It is . . . a call to educate many more students, to more . . . effectively help them become true disciples of Jesus Christ, to prepare them to . . . lead in their families, in the Church, in their [professions, and] in a world filled with commotion. . . . But [answering this call] . . . cannot be [done successfully] without His . . . help . . . I believe,” the writer concludes,” that help will come according to the faith and obedience of the tremendously good people of BYU.”[14]

I agree enthusiastically with such a sense of calling here and with that reference to and confidence in “the tremendously good people of BYU.”[15] Let me underscore that idea of such a call by returning to President Kimball’s “Second Century Address.”

Our bright, budding new Commissioner of Education, Elder Clark Gilbert, is my traveling companion today. You may be certain that he loves this institution, his alma mater, deeply and brings to his assignment a reverence for its mission and message. As part of his introduction to you, I am asking Elder Gilbert to come on campus on any calendar he and President Worthen can work out, and whether those visits are formal or casual or both, I hope they can accomplish two things: First of all, I hope you will come to see quickly the remarkable strengths Elder Gilbert brings to his calling, even as he learns more about the flagship of his fleet and why our effort at a Church Educational System would be a failure without the health, success, and participation of BYU. Second, noting that we are just a few years short of halfway through those second hundred years of which President Kimball spoke, I think it would be fascinating to know if we are, in fact, making any headway on the challenges he laid before us and of which Elder David Bednar reminded the BYU Leadership team just a few weeks ago.

When you look at President Kimball’s talk again, a copy of which will be distributed following this conference, may I ask you to pay particular attention to that sweet prophet’s effort to ask that we be unique. In his discourse, President Kimball used the word “unique” eight times, and “special” eight times. It seems clear to me in my 73 years of loving it that BYU will become an “educational Mt. Everest” only to the degree it embraces its uniqueness, its singularity.[16] We could mimic every other university in the world until we got a bloody nose in the effort and the world would still say, “BYU who?” No, we must have the will to stand alone, if necessary, being a university second to none in its role primarily as an undergraduate teaching institution that is unequivocally true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the process. If at a future time that mission means foregoing some professional affiliations and certifications, then so be it. There may come a day when the price we are asked to pay for such association is simply too high, too inconsistent with who we are. No one wants it to come to that, but, if it does, we will pursue our own destiny, a “destiny [that] is not a matter of chance; [but largely] a matter of choice; . . . not a thing to be waited for, [but] a thing to be [envisioned and] achieved.”[17]

“Mom, what is that big ‘Y’ on that mountain?”

“It stands for the university here in Provo: Brigham Young University.”

“Well, it must be the greatest university in the world.”

And so for Jeff Holland, it is. To help you pursue that destiny in the only real way I know how to help, I leave an apostolic blessing on every one of you as you start another school year. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with gratitude for His holy priesthood, I bless you personally, bless the students who will come under your influence, and bless the university as a campus-wide endeavor. I bless you that profound personal faith will be your watchword and the unending blessings of personal rectitude will be your eternal reward. I bless your professional work that it will be admired by your peers, and I bless your devotion to gospel truths that it will be the saving grace in some student’s life. I bless your families that those you hope will be faithful in keeping their covenants will be saved at least in part because you have been faithful in keeping yours. Light conquers darkness. Truth triumphs against error. Goodness is victorious over evil in the end.

I bless each one of you with every righteous desire of your heart and thank you for giving your love and loyalty to BYU. Please. From one who owes so much to this school and has loved her so deeply for so long, keep her not only standing but standing for what she uniquely and prophetically was meant to be. May the rest of higher education “see your good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.”[18] I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

[1] See Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” Mountain Interval (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1916), 9, Google Books, accessed Aug. 12, 2021.

[2] Spencer W. Kimball, “Second Century Address,” BYU Studies Quarterly vol. 16, no. 4 (Oct. 1976): 455–457, accessed Aug. 12, 2021, available at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol16/iss4/2.

[3] Hugh Nibley, “Our Glory or Our Condemnation,” Approaching Zion, vol. 9 of The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, ed. by Don E. Norton(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 1–24.

[4] Personal correspondence, August 1, 2021.

[5] Personal correspondence, August 1, 2021. Scripture quoted is Moses 7:53.

[6] Personal correspondence, June 10, 2021

[7] Ephesians 4:13.

[8] See Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Bond of Charity,” Annual University Conference, Aug. 26, 1980.

[9] Russell M. Nelson, “Controlled Growth,” BYU Leadership Meeting, Aug. 25, 2014.

[10] Neal A. Maxwell, “Blending Research and Revelation,” remarks at the BYU President’s Leadership Council meetings, 19 March 2004; quoted in Dallin H. Oaks, “Challenges to the Mission of Brigham Young University,” Commencement Address, Apr. 21, 2017.

[11] Dallin H. Oaks, “It Hasn’t Been Easy,” BYU commencement address, Aug. 14, 2014, quoted in Dallin H. Oaks, “Challenges to the Mission of Brigham Young University,” BYU commencement address, April 2017.

[12] Mark 3:25.

[13] Isaiah 2:4.

[14] Personal correspondence, June 21, 2021.

[15] Ibid.

[16] See Spencer W. Kimball, “Second Century Address,” BYU Studies Quarterly vol. 16, no. 4 (Oct. 1976): 455, accessed Aug. 12, 2021, available at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol16/iss4/2.

[17] William Jennings Bryan, Speeches of William Jennings Bryan vol. 2 (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, Co., 1913), 11, Google Books, accessed Aug. 12, 2021.

[18] Matthew 5:16; see also 3 Nephi 12:16.

References[+]

References
1	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Urges BYU to Embrace Its Uniqueness, Stay True to the Savior – https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-jeffrey-r-holland-2021-byu-university-conference#_edn11

August 24, 2021

Russell M. Nelson’s Flaming Spiral Dive Miracle
I remember vividly an experience I had as a passenger in a small two-propeller airplane. One of its engines suddenly burst open and caught on fire. The propeller of the flaming engine was starkly stilled. As we plummeted in a steep spiral dive toward the earth, I expected to die. Some of the passengers screamed in hysterical panic. Miraculously, the precipitous dive extinguished the flames. Then, by starting up the other engine, the pilot was able to stabilize the plane and bring us down safely.
Doors of Death, Russell M. Nelson, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, General Conference Address, April 1992
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1992/04/doors-of-death?lang=eng

Attention Billy L Abram
Per telephone conversation this date this is additional information on safety and compliance record summary of Sky West Airlines which we provided to you Jan 6 1977 Sky West Airlines has had 3 engine failures from Oct 17 1976 through Nov 24 1976 First incident involved Cessna 210 N30796 on Oct 17 1976 Ferry flight conducted under part 91 Investigation revealed exhaust valve failure Total time on engine 1270 hours No injuries to pilot No damage to aircraft Second incident occurred Nov 11 1976 involving Piper PA 31 N74985 Pilot experienced rough engine on scheduled flight between Salt Lake City and St George 3 passengers on board Engine was feathered and precautionary landing made at Delta Utah per instructions company manual Investigation revealed cylinder base studs sheered As result of occurrence Sky West changed maintenance procedures by checking torque studs at each 100 hour inspection No damage to aircraft No injuries to crew or passengers Third incident occurred on Nov 24 1976 involving Cessna 206 N72161 Ferry flight No passengers or cargo on board After takeoff from St George Utah pilot heard loud bang and engine stopped Made emergency landing one mile south of St George No injuries to crew or damage to aircraft Investigation revealed failure of crankshaft counter weight retaining pin After third incident Salt Lake City Gado made an indepth investigation of engine failures and maintenance practices of airline Engine failures not related even though they occurred in short timeframe No deficiencies found in maintenance practices of carrier After second incident a Lycoming service representative schooled all pilots on proper operation of Lycoming engines Found that company was operating engines in accordance with Lycoming’s recommendations All occurrences were reported on SDR’s No violations filed as result of investigations.
Civil Aeronautics Board Reports, Volume 73, By United States. Civil Aeronautics Board · 1977.
Page 1090, Sky West Airlines, Incident on November 11, 1976.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Civil_Aeronautics_Board_Reports/wNa3AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=skywest%20incidents%201976&pg=PA1090&printsec=frontcover

Other Recommended Reading:
July 23, 2021
Early

Excerpt from an February 22, 1987 Address by Ezra Taft Benson:¹

I know the special blessings of a large and happy family, for my dear parents had a quiver full of children. Being the oldest of eleven children, I saw the principles of unselfishness, mutual consideration, loyalty to each other, and a host of other virtues developed in a large and wonderful family with my noble mother as the queen of that home.
Young mothers and fathers, with all my heart I counsel you not to postpone having your children, being co-creators with our Father in heaven.
Do not use the reasoning of the world, such as, “We’ll wait until we can better afford having children, until we are more secure, until John has completed his education, until he has a better paying job, until we have a larger home, until we’ve obtained a few of the material conveniences,” and on and on.
This is the reasoning of the world and is not pleasing in the sight of God. Mothers who enjoy good health, have your children and have them early. And, husbands, always be considerate of your wives in the bearing children.
Do not curtail the number of your children for personal or selfish reasons. Material possessions, social convenience, and so-called professional advantages are nothing compared to a righteous posterity. In the eternal perspective, children–not possessions, not position, not prestige–are our greatest jewels.
Brigham Young emphasized: “There are multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what is our duty?–To prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 197).
Yes, blessed is the husband and wife who have a family of children. The deepest joys and blessings in life are associated with family, parenthood, and sacrifice. To have those sweet spirits come into the home is worth practically any sacrifice.
We realize that some women, through no fault of their own, are not able to bear children. To these lovely sisters, every prophet of God has promised that they will be blessed with children in the eternities and that posterity will not be denied them.

References[+]

References

1 Ezra Taft Benson Fireside for Parents, 22 February 1987 – https://educationforeternity.byu.edu/w_etb87.html

September 11, 2020

References
1	Ezra Taft Benson Fireside for Parents, 22 February 1987 – https://educationforeternity.byu.edu/w_etb87.html

Offspring

Excerpt from the “Affidavit of Hyrum Smith, Times and Seasons 3 (1 Aug. 1842):870–72: ¹

“AFFIDAVIT OF HYRUM SMITH.
On the seventeenth day of may, 1842, having been made acquainted with some of the conduct of John C. Bennett, which was given in testimony under oath before Alderman G[eorge] W. Harris, by several females, who testified that John C. Bennett endeavored to seduce them and accomplished his designs by saying it was right; that it was one of the mysteries of God, which was to be revealed when the people was strong enough in the faith to bear such mysteries—that it was perfectly right to have illicit intercourse with females, providing no one knew it but themselves, vehemently trying them from day to day, to yield to his passions, bringing witnesses of his own clan to testify that their was such revelations and such commandments, and that it was of God; also stating that he would be responsible for their sins, if their was any; and that he would give them medicine to produce abortions, providing they should become pregnant. One of these witnesses, a married woman that he attended upon in his professional capacity, whilst she was sick, stated that he made proposals to her of a similar nature; he told her that he wished her husband was dead, and that if he was dead he would marry her and clear out out with her; he also begged her permission to give him medicine to that effect; he did try to give him medicine, but he would not take it—on interogating her what she thought of such teaching, she replied, she was sick at the time, and had to be lifted in and out of her bed like a child. Many other acts as criminal were reported to me at the time. On becoming acquainted with these facts, I was determined to prosecute him, and bring him to justice.”

Excerpt from Sarah Pratt quoted in Wyl, W[ilhem]. [pseud. for Wilhelm Ritter von Wymetal], Mormon Portraits, or the Truth about Mormon Leaders from 1830 to 1886, Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and His Friends: A Study Based on Fact and Documents (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 60–61. ²

You hear often that Joseph had no polygamous offspring. The reason of this is very simple. Abortion was practiced on a large scale in Nauvoo. Dr. John C. Bennett, the evil genius of Joseph, brought this abomination into a scientific system. He showed to my husband and me the instruments with which he used to “operate for Joseph.” There was a house in Nauvoo, “right across the flat,” about a mile and a-half from the town, a kind of hospital. They sent the women there, when they showed signs of celestial consequences. Abortion was practiced regularly in this house.

References[+]

References
1	“Affidavit of Hyrum Smith, Times and Seasons 3 (1 Aug. 1842):870–72 – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/times-and-seasons-1-august-1842/8
2	Mormon Portraits, or the Truth about Mormon Leaders from 1830 to 1886 – https://archive.org/details/josephsmithproph01wyme

July 31, 2020

Obedience

Excerpt from an April 2013 General Conference address by Thomas S. Monson: ¹

Declared President Joseph F. Smith in October 1873, “Obedience is the first law of heaven.”

Excerpts from an October 1873 discourse by Joseph F. Smith: ²

To say I have been very much interested in the instructions that we have had at this Conference is but faintly to express my feelings. We have had much very excellent teaching, which we will do well to give heed to. I cannot believe that the congregations that have attended this Conference will cast lightly aside these teachings. Certain it is that all the preaching that can be done by those who are most competent, and most richly endowed with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will not benefit the people in the least, unless they will receive it, and will realize that the counsels which are given are designed expressly for themselves. It is not for us to say, “that does not mean me,” and “that applies to my neighbor;” or “that has reference to the doings of so and so.” We should each feel that the instructions given have direct reference to ourselves individually; that counsel or that commandment is for me, and it is for me, as a individual, to put it into practice. This is the only course that will benefit, and fit us for the responsibilities that will devolve upon us in the future. It will not do for us to say—“If brother so and so, or sister so and so, will observe and carry out that counsel, I shall be satisfied to remain as I am.” We cannot obtain blessings from God by taking this course; the only way to secure them is by diligence on our own part. When we are prepared, by our own works and diligence, to receive the blessings that God has in store for the faithful; then, and not till then, shall we receive them. It will not do for us to be satisfied for our brother to prepare himself to receive the blessings God has promised to his children, and to rest content with seeing him receive the light of truth, the blessings of the Gospel, and manifest a willingness to work righteousness in the earth. That will not reach us, only so far as we adopt his course and follow his example.
This is how I look at the requirements which God has made upon his people collectively and individually, and I do believe that I have no claim upon God or upon my brethren for blessing, favor, confidence or love, unless, by my works, I prove that I am worthy thereof, and I never expect to receive blessings that I do not merit. Who does? I do not know that anybody does, yet if we were to judge by the actions of some, we must come to the conclusion that they are satisfied by seeing others live their religion.
I love the society of the good, honorable and pure, of those who love virtue and work righteousness. To associate and be numbered with such and to have my portion and my lot with them in this life, and to live so that I can secure that association in the life to come, throughout the countless ages of eternity. I take no pleasure in the society of the wicked, for this reason—the pleasures of the wicked will cease and be forgotten, and the wicked will die and will not be regretted, their names will be cast out from the presence of God and from the things of the righteous forever and ever. I, therefore, want no part with them, but I want to cast my lot with those who are securing to themselves eternal riches and happiness. To obtain these blessings I must be found walking in their footsteps and following their examples, otherwise I shall come short.
This is how I understand the principles of the Gospel and the work we are engaged in. It is an individual work. You and I must secure the blessings of eternal lives for ourselves, through obedience and the mercy of God. We have the volition of our own wills and we can choose evil or good, the society of the wicked or that of the good; we can enlist under the banner of Christ, or under that of Belial. We have this option, and can do whichever we choose. Therefore we must look well to our ways, and see that we choose the right course, and build upon a foundation that will not wash away. We have got to learn to stand or fall for ourselves, male and female. It is true that we are taught in the principles of the Gospel that man is the head of the woman, and Christ is the head of the man; and according to the order that is established in the kingdom of God, it is the duty of the man to follow Christ, and it is the duty of the woman to follow the man in Christ, not out of him.
But has not a woman the same volition that the man has? Can she not follow or disobey the man as he can follow or disobey Christ? Certainly she can, she is responsible for her acts, and must answer for them. She is endowed with intelligence and judgment, and will stand upon her own merits as much so as the man. That is why the brethren, during this Conference, have been teaching the sisters that they must refrain from the fashions of Babylon. They must use their own judgment and agency as to whether they will obey this counsel or not. If they will not obey it, they will be responsible as much as the men are responsible for their acts. The man is responsible for the woman only so far as she is influenced by, or is obedient to, his counsels. Christ is responsible for the man so far as the man walks in obedience to the laws and commandments he has given, but no further, and so far will his atoning blood redeem and cleanse from sin; so far as they obey them will the principles of eternal life revealed in the Gospel have effect upon the souls of men, so also with women. So sisters, do not flatter yourselves that you have nothing to answer for so long as you may have a good husband. You must be obedient. Obedience is the first law of heaven. Without it the elements could not be controlled. Without it neither the earth nor those who dwell upon it could be controlled. The angels in heaven would not be controlled without it, and in fact without obedience there could be no union or order, and chaos and confusion would prevail. When we are obedient we may be guided to the accomplishment of all that is required of us by our heavenly Father, for it is on this principle that the designs and purposes of God are accomplished. The elements are obedient to his word. He said, “Let there be light and there was light.” He commanded the land and the waters to be divided, and it was so. When Christ commanded the storm to be still, and the sea to be calm, the elements were obedient to him. The earth, and all the worlds which God has made are obedient to the laws of their creation, for this reason there are peace, harmony, union, increase, power, glory and dominion, which could not exist without obedience. For the lack of obedience the whole world today lies in sin, for except the little existing among this people, obedience cannot be found on the face of the earth. Go to the religions of the day, do you find obedience manifested by the people? No, but you find man everywhere self-willed and untractable, therefore confusion and anarchy reign. It is said in the Scriptures that all things are possible with God; but he only works in accordance with the principles by which he himself is governed; and hence he cannot convince nations of the truth against their will. As the poet says—
Know this, that every soul is free, To choose his life and what he’ll be; For this eternal truth is given, That God will force no man to heaven.
He’ll call, persuade, direct aright— Bless him with wisdom, love and light— In nameless ways be good and kind, But never force the human mind.
That is the way that God deals with man, therefore I say, he cannot work with this generation. They have set him aside and made themselves supreme. They have fulfilled the words of the prophet Paul when he said, “That in the last days perilous times should come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affections, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” &c.
No one could better describe the condition of this generation, and yet light has come into the world, but it is rejected, and for this reason the world lies in sin, and under condemnation. The people of God lie under condemnation too, so far as they are disobedient to the counsels of God’s servants. We talk of obedience, but do we require any man or woman to ignorantly obey the counsels that are given? Do the first Presidency require it? No, never. What do they desire? That we may have our minds opened and our understandings enlarged, that we may comprehend all true principles for ourselves; then we will be easily governed thereby, we shall yield obedience with our eyes open, and it will he a pleasure for us to do so.
The Lord does not accept obedience from men except that which they render cheerfully and gladly in their hearts, and that is all that is desired by his servants. That is the obedience we ought to render, and if we do not we are under condemnation.
What matters what the world say in regard to us? Nothing. What do I care? Have I spent thirty years of life, with the opportunities that have been afforded me, and am yet ignorant of the way of eternal life. If I have, then I am to be pitied. “Why then,” says the blasphemer, “do you yield obedience to the servants of God?” Because it is meat and drink to me to do so. Because it is for my safety and for my best good. I ask no odds of the world. I have learned that it is the very best thing that I can do, and I should be a fool indeed not to do that which is for my best good. I intend to do it, and I do not care what the world say about me.
I am sorry to say that there are some of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, who meet with the Saints on the Sabbath and partake of the Sacrament, witnessing that they are willing to take upon them the name of Christ, and to follow him through evil as well as good report, and yet in their hearts they oppose the plans and projects of those whom they pretend to upheld and sustain. I know and could call the names of some of these men. Shame on them! I say, in the name of manhood, come out and show your colors! Say you will not be obedient, and cease to be hypocrites, cease lying in the presence of God, and trying to deceive yourselves and your brethren. Tell us what you are, take your stand where you belong, and do not deceive the unwary. You cannot deceive those who have the Spirit of God, for they can discern your hearts.
I love the cause of the Gospel. I love this people, because, of all others on the face of the earth they have enlisted under the banner of King Emanuel. They have covenanted with God to keep his commandments, and they are the most willing of any on the face of the earth to hearken to God’s inspired servants. I love them for this reason, and I want to be identified with them, not only in time but throughout eternity. Without them I would have no home, no friends. I want none without them.
Let us keep the commandments and counsels that have been given to us, let us not be hearers of the word only, but let us be doers of it as well as hearers. Let us put away the foolish fashions of the world, live up to the truth, and seek to find out God, whom to know is life eternal. The road to this knowledge is obedience to his laws and to the whisperings of the still small voice in our own hearts. That will lead us into truth if we will hearken, and do not blunt the monitor that is within us. Let us do our duty, and be for God and his kingdom. Let our motto be—“The kingdom of God or nothing.” Because in the kingdom there is everything, and outside of it nothing at all. We heard here, the other day, from the President, that the Gospel embraces everything that is good and true or desirable to the pure in heart. I have said that outside the kingdom of God there is nothing, but there is something. What is it? Disappointment, sorrow, anguish and death, and everything that will make us miserable; while everything that is good, desirable and worth possessing eternally is to be found only in the Gospel of Christ.
Says one, “Do not people who are not Latter-day Saints have a great many blessings and enjoy a great many good things?” Certainly they do, they enjoy gold, silver and worldly honors—they have a plentitude of greenbacks, houses, lands, carriages, horses, luxury and ease.
Dives had all these, in this world, while Lazarus crawled at his feet and begged for the crumbs that fell from his table; but afterward Dives lifted up his eyes in hell and saw Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom enjoying the good things that he had formerly possessed in the world, and he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to alleviate his parching tongue. But even this poor boon was denied him, he being informed that there was an impassable gulf between them; and said Abraham to Dives—(in effect), “When you were in the flesh you had Moses and the Prophets, you had the Gospel preached to you, but you rejected and refused to obey it. You had your good portion and your enjoyments in the world, now you are denied them, they are given to Lazarus.” How long do the honors, wealth, and pleasures of the worldling last? Until death claims him for its own, then he ceases to enjoy them, because he has failed to secure his title to them, they have not been sealed upon him by the authority of the Priesthood of the Son of God, which has power to bind on earth and it is bound in heaven. If they have wives and children, when death calls them they are no longer theirs, because they have not been sealed unto them by the power of God. They do not obey the truth, they do not receive the ministrations of the Priesthood, and consequently they are deprived, not only of their wealth, but of their wives and children.
We are not living only for the few miserable years that we spend on this earth, but for that life which is interminable; and we desire to enjoy every blessing throughout these countless ages of eternity, but unless they are secured to us by that
sealing power which was given to the Apostle Peter by the Son of God, we cannot possess them. Unless we secure them on that principle, in the life to come we shall have neither father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, nor friends, nor wealth nor honor, for all earthly “contracts, covenants, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, connections, and associations,” are dissolved in the grave, except those sealed and ratified by the power of God. It is said in the Scriptures that the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s, and that they are to be given to the Saints of the Most High God, and they are to possess them forever and ever.
You know that those who have not faith in the Gospel call us exclusive and uncharitable; they say—“You cast out all except those of your faith.” Then enroll yourselves under the banner of King Emanuel, to whom the earth and its fullness belong, and when it shall be given to the Saints of the Most High God, you will come in for your share, and only in that way can you do so. Obedience to the Gospel of Christ is the only way to secure blessings for the life that now is, or that which is to come. We are not talking in parables, neither are we ignorantly repeating the words of the ancient Apostles. Our declarations are founded upon modern revelation and inspiration, and we know whereof we speak. We know that angels have come to earth and that God has spoken in our day, that he has raised up Apostles and Prophets, restored the holy Priesthood, and shown himself to man and revealed his truth to those who dwell on earth. We know these things, it is this that makes us bold to declare it to the world. We are not ashamed of it, because we know it is the power of God unto salvation.
May God help us, and all who love the truth, to keep an eye single to his glory and to the building up of his kingdom on the earth, that we
may be among those who shall be counted worthy to possess the earth and its fullness forever and ever, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

References[+]

References
1	‘Obedience Brings Blessings’, April 2013 General Conference address by Thomas S. Monson – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/04/obedience-brings-blessings?lang=eng
2	Joseph F. Smith, “Discourse,” Deseret News, Nov. 12, 1873, 644., also pub. in the Journal of Discourses – https://jod.mrm.org/16/246

July 13, 2020

Questions Raised

Excerpt from a New York Times Opinion article published August 18, 2012, ‘Why Race Is Still a Problem for Mormons’: ¹

The church could begin leaving those problems behind if its leaders explained that their predecessors had confused their own racist views with God’s will and that the priesthood ban resulted from human error and limitations rather than a divine curse. Given the church’s ecclesiology, this step would be difficult.
Mormons have no reason to feel unusually ashamed of their church’s past racial restrictions, except maybe for their duration. Their church, like most other white American churches, was entangled in a deeply entrenched national sin.
Still, acknowledging serious errors on the part of past prophets inevitably raises questions about the revelatory authority of contemporary leaders. Such concerns, however, are not insurmountable for religious movements. One can look to the Bible for countless examples of patriarchs and prophets who acknowledged grave errors and moral lapses but still retained the respect of their people.
Likewise, the abiding love and veneration most Latter-day Saints have for their leaders would readily survive a fuller reckoning with their human frailties and flaws. The Mormon people need not believe they have perfect prophets, either past or present.

:::

Excerpt from a September 17, 2019 BYU Devotional address by Russell M. Nelson: ²

My dear young friends, exaltation is not easy. Requirements include a focused and persistent effort to keep God’s laws, and rigorously repenting when we don’t. But the reward for doing so is far greater than anything we can imagine, because it brings us joy here, and “never-ending happiness” hereafter.
Thus, our commission as Apostles is to teach nothing but truth. That commission does not give us the authority to modify divine law.
For example, let’s consider the definition of marriage. In recent years, many countries, including the United States, have legalized same-sex marriage. As members of the Church, we respect the laws of the land and abide by them, including civil marriage. The truth is, however, that in the beginning—in the beginning—marriage was ordained by God! And to this day it is defined by Him as being between a man and a woman. God has not changed His definition of marriage.

:::

Excerpt from a May 5 1947 Letter from the First Presidency to Virgil H. Sponberg, in Bennion papers: ³.

No special effort has ever been made to proselyte among the Negro race, and social intercourse between the Whites and the Negroes should certainly not be encouraged because of leading to intermarriage, which the Lord has forbidden. This move which has now received some popular approval of trying to break down social barriers between the Whites and the Blacks is one that should not be encouraged because inevitably it means the mixing of the races if carried to its logical conclusion.

:::

Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947: ⁴

“Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the preexistence of our spirits , the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we my be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore.
From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.
Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now God’s rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogenous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed.
We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.

References[+]

References
1	New York Times Opinion article published August 18, 2012, ‘Why Race Is Still a Problem for Mormons’ – https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/racism-and-the-mormon-church.html
2	September 17, 2019 BYU Devotional address by Russell M. Nelson – https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-09-17/president-nelson-byu-devotional-god-love-160666
3	Ref. May 5 1947 Letter from the First Presidency to Virgil H. Sponberg, in Bennion papers, quoted in Lester E. Bush, Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview, p. 42 – https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V08N01_13.pdf
4	Lowry Nelson & 1st Presidency Exchange – https://archive.org/stream/LowryNelson1stPresidencyExchange/Lowry_Nelson_1st_Presidency_Exchange#page/n5/mode/2up/search/doctrine

June 7, 2020

White

An article titled ‘The Negro Race’ by George Reynolds published and edited by George Q. Cannon in the Juvenile Instructor, October 15 1968: ¹

The Negro Race
Amongst the many causes that have contributed to change the appearance of the human family and make mankind appear to be of different races, we must consider the blessing or curse of God the greatest of all. Then add to this, difference of climate, variety of food, entirely opposite modes of life, either civilized or savage, stationary or wandering, combined with the results of the varied religions existing among men, and we shall be able to understand why there is so great a diversity in the human family.
We will first inquire into the results of the approbation or displeasure of God upon a people, starting with the belief that a black skin is a mark of the curse of heaven placed upon some portions of mankind. Some, however, will argue that a black skin is not a curse, nor a white skin a blessing. In fact, some have been so foolish as to believe and say that a black skin is a blessing, and that the negro is the finest type of a perfect man that exists on the earth; but to us such teachings are foolishness. We understand that when God made man in his own image and pronounced him very good, that he made him white. We have no record of any of God’s favored servants being of a black race. All His prophets and apostles belonged to the most handsome race on the face of the earth – Israel, who still, as represented in the scattered tribe of Judah, bear the impress of their former beauty. In this race was born His Son Jesus, who, we are told was very lovely, and ‘in the express image of his Father’s person, and every angel who ever brought a message of God’s mercy to man was beautiful to look upon, clad in the purest white and with a countenance bright as the noonday sun
When God cursed Cain for murdering his brother Abel, He set a mark upon him that all meeting him might know him. No mark could be so plain to his fellow-men as a black skin. This was the mark God placed upon him, and which his children bore. After the flood this curse fell upon the seed of Ham, through the sin of their father, and his descendants bear it to this day. The Bible tells us but little of the races that sprung from Ham, but from that little, and from the traditions of various tribes, we are led to believe that from him came the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Egyptians and most of the earliest inhabitants of Africa.
We are told in the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, that Egypt was discovered by a woman, who was a daughter of Ham, the son of Noah. This was probably the first portion of Africa inhabited by men after the flood, it being the nearest to the land (Asia Minor) where the ark rested and the children of Noah first settled. From Egypt the families of men gradually spread out to the southward, up the river Nile and along the borders of the Red Sea, and westward by the shores of the Mediterranean.
The pure Negro, as represented by the people of Guinea and its neighboring countries, is generally regarded as the unmixed descendant of Ham. Our engraving of a Negro is of this type. Their skin is quite black, their hair woolly and black, their intelligence stunted, and they appear never to have arisen from the most savage state of barbarism. But it must not be supposed that all the inhabitants of Africa are of this unmixed black class, for it is not so; some of the mountain tribes of that continent approach to nearly white. Hence, we sometimes hear travelers speak of white Kafirs, white Arabs, &c. There are also quite a number of African tribes who vary in color from olive to dark brown and reddish black. They are also as varied in their size, height and build as they are in color. We will tell you some little of two of these African races known as the Abyssinians and Kafirs
Abyssinia lies on the east coast of Africa, immediately south of Nubia, and near the mouth of the Red Sea, opposite the southern portion of Arabia. The people who inhabit this country are of various races, from tribes nearly resembling Negroes, to others who are very much like Bedouin Arabs. Some of these latter people claim to be descended from the Hebrews. We do not put much trust in this story, though King Solomon doubtless traded with them, as he established a port to carry on commerce with Africa at the northern extremity of the lied Sea. It is certainly possible that some of the Jewish traders settled in Abyssinia, and forgetful of the law of Moses, married some of the dark-skinned daughters of the land, who have the reputation of being very beautiful and finely made. In later days, after the captivity in Babylon, some of the returned Israelites may have wandered into Africa, as it is almost certain they did soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman and the scattering of the Jews. It is however, much more probable that the greater portion of those people arc the offspring of a mixed race of Arabs and of a darker people, kindred to the Negro. Traces of Arab customs, traditions, and words are prevalent all over Africa except in its extreme South-western borders. The Arabs were great wanderers and traders; Abyssinia and Nubia lie opposite their native land or the other side of the Red sea, which was by no means difficult to cross. Many of them doubtless settled on the African shore, and not being restrained by the Mosaic law of marriage, freely mixed with the people and permanently established themselves in the country. When Mohammed came, and his followers compelled adherence to their faith at the edge of the sword, Africa became the field of many of their semi-warlike, semi-religious missions. This overrunning of the country by these foreigners no doubt produced a great change in the appearance of the people, and a number of races rose up from Arab fathers and Negro mothers whose children now form a great portion of the inhabitants of the Barbary States, Nubia, Abyssinia, the North-Western coast as far south as Senegambia, and of the people inhabiting the borders of the Atlas mountains.
This is all the more probable as far as the Abyssinians are concerned, as the nearer the coast these people dwell, the nearer they approach the Arabs in type of features and general appearance, while the more inland tribes approach nearer to the Negro race.
The next people we will allude to are the Kafirs. They appear to have originally dwelt in some of the central regions of Africa near the equator, from whence they have been gradually spreading southward; as, since the discovery and settlement of southern Africa by European nations, these people have advanced considerably further southward than they were origin ally found by the early navigators. In this march southward they appear to have swept before them or engulfed the earlier inhabitants of the country, who are best seen, at the present time, in the abject Bushmen and Hottentots of the British Colony in the Cape of Good Hope. In the Kafir races are sometimes included the people who inhabit Zanzibar and Mozambique on the east coast of Africa, as also many inland tribes, in addition to the tribes of South Africa more especially known as Kafirs. If would include all these people in the Kafir race, we have a great diversity of appearance and color, from almost a negro blackness to a light shade of brown. The difference of climate in the vast extent of territory in which they dwell may in a great degree account for this. In strength, activity and mental capacity they are certainly ahead of the Negro, and their knowledge of certain Mohammedan and Jewish rites, as circumcision and cities of refuge, is held to be a proof that they had come in contact with these people, if they did not to any extent mis with them. At any rate it helps to prove their more northern origin than modern Kafir land, as we have no idea that the soldiers of the Arabian prophet pushed their conquests anything like as far south. The religion and superstitions of the Kafirs give evidence that their acquaintance with Mohammed’s doctrines was either very slight or that they have long since departed from his teachings and returned to the former heathenism, while among many of the kindred tribes of this race, dwelling further north, Mohammedanism is the prevailing faith.

References[+]

References
1	‘The Negro Race’ by George Reynolds published and edited by George Q. Cannon in the Juvenile Instructor, October 15 1968 – https://archive.org/details/juvenileinstruct320geor/page/156/mode/2up

June 7, 2020

Against Racism

Excerpt from the September 2000 Ensign magazine article by Elder Alexander B. Morrison Of the Seventy, ‘No More Strangers’: ¹

How grateful I am that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has from its beginnings stood strongly against racism in any of its malignant manifestations. President Spencer W. Kimball stated the Church’s position well: “We do wish that there would be no racial prejudice. … Racial prejudice is of the devil. … There is no place for it in the gospel of Jesus Christ” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 236–37). The Prophet Joseph Smith, who experienced more than his share of intolerance and prejudice, understood the importance of caring for, respecting, and helping others, even those we don’t agree with. Speaking of the need to provide temporal assistance to others, the Prophet explained that a member of the Church “is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all, wherever he finds them” (Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 732).

Letter from Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery on abolitionism, published in the ‘Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate’, Apr. 1836, pp. 289–291: ²

“After having expressed myself so freely upon this subject, I do not doubt but those who have been forward in raising their voice against the South, will cry out against me as being uncharitable, unfeeling and unkind—wholly unacquainted with the gospel of Christ. It is my privilege then, to name certain passages from the bible, and examine the teachings of the ancients upon this matter, as the fact is uncontrovertable, that the first mention we have of slavery is found in the holy bible, pronounced by a man who was perfect in his generation and walked with God. And so far from that prediction’s being averse from the mind of God it remains as a lasting monument of the decree of Jehovah, to the shame and confusion of all who have cried out against the South, in consequence of their holding the sons of Ham in servitude!”

A speech by Governor Brigham Young in Joint Session of the Legislature, January 23, 1852: ³

“I have this section in my hand, headed “An Act in Relation to African Slavery.” I have read it over and made a few alterations. I will remark with regard to slavery, inasmuch as we believe in the Bible, inasmuch as we believe in the ordinances of God, in the Priesthood and order and decrees of God, we must believe in slavery. This colored race have been subjected to severe curses, which they have in their families and their classes and in their various capacities brought upon themselves. And until the curse is removed by Him who placed it upon them, they must suffer under its consequences; I am not authorized to remove it. I am a firm believer in slavery.”

David O. McKay, in Llewelyn R. McKay, Home Memories of President David O. McKay (1956), p. 231: ⁴

“I emphasize Justice as an attribute of Deity, because it is the Lord who, though He “made of one blood all nations,” also “determined the bounds of their habitation.” In other words, the seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man, but goes back into the Beginning with God.”

Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947: ⁵

“Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the preexistence of our spirits , the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we my be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore.
From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.
Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now God’s rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogenous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed.
We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.
Faithfully yours,
(signed)
George Albert Smith
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
David 0. McKay”

References[+]

References
1	eptember 2000 Ensign magazine article by Elder Alexander B. Morrison Of the Seventy, ‘No More Strangers’ – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2000/09/no-more-strangers?lang=eng
2	‘Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate’, Apr. 1836, pp. 289–291, Joseph Smith Papers – http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-oliver-cowdery-circa-9-april-1836/1
3	Speech by Governor Brigham Young in Joint Session of the Legislature, January 23, 1852 – https://archive.org/details/CR100317B0001F0014
4	Letter from David O. McKay reprinted in ‘Mormonism and the Negro’, pp 22 – https://archive.org/details/MormonismAndTheNegro
5	Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947 – https://archive.org/stream/LowryNelson1stPresidencyExchange/Lowry_Nelson_1st_Presidency_Exchange#page/n5/mode/2up/search/doctrine

June 1, 2020

Little did I know

Excerpt from an April 2020 General Conference address by Russell M. Nelson: ¹

Little did I know when I promised you at the October 2019 General Conference that this April conference would be memorable and unforgettable—that speaking to a visible congregation of fewer than 10 people would make this conference so memorable and unforgettable for me.

Excerpt from an April 2020 General Conference, sustaining of Church officers: ²

It is proposed that we sustain Russell Marion Nelson as prophet, seer and revelator.

References[+]

References
1	April 2020 General Conference address by Russell M. Nelson – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts?lang=eng&video=61441943320014Mb9gU6DmKs
2	April 2020 General Conference, sustaining of Church officers – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts?lang=eng&video=61441943320014Mb9gU6DmKs

April 5, 2020

We hear him v3

April 2 2020 instagram Post, Church of Jesus Christ:¹

When we hear His servants, we hear Him.
Listen to the words of the Savior at general conference.

From the April 1942 General Conference, prophet Heber J. Grant: ²

“MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH
To the youth of the Church we repeat all the foregoing advice, but above all we plead with you to live clean, for the unclean life leads only to suffering, misery, and woe physically, — and spiritually it is the path to destruction. How glorious and near to the angels is youth that is clean; this youth has joy unspeakable here and eternal happiness hereafter. Sexual purity is youth’s most precious possession; it is the foundation of all righteousness. Better dead, clean, than alive, unclean.
Times approach when we shall need all the health, strength, and spiritual power we can get to bear the afflictions that will come upon us.”

References[+]

References
1	April 2 2020 instagram Post, Church of Jesus Christ – https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ejqIxnKRj/
2	Message of the First Presidency, Heber J. Grant. April 1942 General Conference – http://scriptures.byu.edu/#:t15:g70

April 2, 2020

We hear him v1

April 2 2020 instagram Post, Church of Jesus Christ:¹

When we hear His servants, we hear Him.
Listen to the words of the Savior at general conference.

General Conference talk given by Hartman Rector Jr., ‘Turning the Hearts’, April 1981: ²

“If children have a happy family experience they will not want to be homosexuals, which I am sure is an acquired addiction just as drugs, alcohol and pornography are. The promoters of homosexuality say they were born that way. But I do not believe this is true. There are no female spirits trapped in male bodies and vice versa. He who made them, made them male and female. Every form of homosexuality is sin said the living prophet Spencer W. Kimball.”

References[+]

References
1	April 2 2020 instagram Post, Church of Jesus Christ – https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ejqIxnKRj/
2	Turning the Hearts, Hartman Rector Jr, April 1981 General Conference – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/turning-the-hearts?lang=eng

April 2, 2020

Thus saith the lord

Excerpt from Church News, 31 July 1954, pg 10. ¹

“There are those who insist that unless the Prophet of the Lord declares, ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ the message may not be taken as a revelation. This is a false testing standard. For while many of our modern revelations as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants do contain these words, there are many that do not.”

References[+]

References
1	Reference Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, Enrichment F: “As If from Mine Own Mouth”: The Role of Prophets in the Church – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/enrichment-f-as-if-from-mine-own-mouth-the-role-of-prophets-in-the-church?lang=eng

March 24, 2020

Vainest City

Fox 13 News, February 24, 2016:¹

“Forbes Magazine ranked Salt Lake City as “America’s vainest city” in 2007. With nearly six plastic surgeons for every 100,000 people, that’s 2.5 times the national average.”

Excerpt from a 2007 Forbes article, America’s Vainest Cities: ²

As the number of cosmetic procedures nationwide continues to surge, we looked at which cities have most embraced market demand for taut faces, lush lips and flat abs. There were predictable entries like New York, Miami and Los Angeles, but also surprising ones like Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn. Most shocking of all was the town that ranked first: Salt Lake City.

True to the Faith, A Gospel Reference, pub. 2004:³

Tattooing
Latter-day prophets strongly discourage the tattooing of the body. Those who disregard this counsel show a lack of respect for themselves and for God. The Apostle Paul taught of the significance of our bodies and the danger of purposefully defiling them: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17).
If you have a tattoo, you wear a constant reminder of a mistake you have made. You might consider having it removed.
Body Piercing
Latter-day prophets strongly discourage the piercing of the body except for medical purposes. If girls or women desire to have their ears pierced, they are encouraged to wear only one pair of modest earrings.
Those who choose to disregard this counsel show a lack of respect for themselves and for God. They will someday regret their decision.
The Apostle Paul taught of the significance of our bodies and the danger of purposefully defiling them: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17).

References[+]

References
1	Vain Utah: Cosmetic surgery more popular than ever in the Beehive State – https://fox13now.com/2016/02/24/vain-utah-cosmetic-surgery-more-popular-than-ever-in-the-beehive-state/
2	America’s Vainest Cities – https://www.forbes.com/2007/11/29/plastic-health-surgery-forbeslife-cx_rr_1129health.html#41ee6fe64dec
3	True to the Faith – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith?lang=eng

February 11, 2020

Honesty

Excerpt from the 2011 Gospel Principles manual, Chapter 31: Honesty: ¹

There are many other forms of lying. When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest.

The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect, Boyd K. Packer, Address to religious educators at a symposium on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history, Brigham Young University, 22 August 1981: ²

The fact that I speak quite directly on a most important subject will, I hope, be regarded as something of a tribute to you who are our loyal, devoted, and inspired associates.
I have come to believe that it is the tendency for many members of the Church who spend a great deal of time in academic research to begin to judge the Church, its doctrine, organization, and leadership, present and past, by the principles of their own profession. Ofttimes this is done unwittingly, and some of it, perhaps, is not harmful.
It is an easy thing for a man with extensive academic training to measure the Church using the principles he has been taught in his professional training as his standard. In my mind it ought to be the other way around. A member of the Church ought always, particularly if he is pursuing extensive academic studies, to judge the professions of man against the revealed word of the Lord.
Many disciplines are subject to this danger. Over the years I have seen many members of the Church lose their testimonies and yield their faith as the price for academic achievement. Many others have been sorely tested. Let me illustrate.
During my last year as one of the supervisors of seminaries and institutes of religion, a seminary teacher went to a large university in the East to complete a doctorate in counseling and guidance. The ranking authority in that field was there and quickly took an interest in this personable, clean-cut, very intelligent, young Latter-day Saint.
Our teacher attracted attention as he moved through the course work with comparative ease, and his future looked bright indeed—that is, until he came to the dissertation. He chose to study the ward bishop as a counselor.
At that time I was called as one of the General Authorities and helped him obtain authorization to interview and send questionnaires to a cross-section of bishops.
In the dissertation he described the calling and ordination of a bishop, described the power of discernment, the right of a bishop to receive revelation, and his right to spiritual guidance. His doctoral committee did not understand this. They felt it had no place in a scholarly paper and insisted that he take it out.
He came to see me. I read his dissertation and suggested that he satisfy their concern by introducing the discussion on spiritual matters with a statement such as “the Latter-day Saints believe the bishop has spiritual power,” or “they claim that there is inspiration from God attending the bishop in his calling.”
But the committee denied him even this. It was obvious that they would be quite embarrassed to have this ingredient included in a scholarly dissertation.
It is as Paul said: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
He was reminded of his very great potential and was told that with some little accommodation—specifically, leaving out all the spiritual references—his dissertation would be published and his reputation established. They predicted that he would become an authority in the field.
He was tempted. Perhaps, once established, he could then insert this spiritual ingredient back into his work. Then, as an established authority, he could really help the Church.
But something stood in the way: his faith, his integrity. So, he did the best he could with his dissertation. It did not contain enough of the Spirit to satisfy him, and too much to have been fully accepted by his worldly professors. But he received his degree.
His dissertation is not truly the scholarly document it might have been, because the most essential ingredient is missing. Revelation is so central a part of a bishop’s experience in counseling that any study which ignores it cannot be regarded as a scholarly work.
He returned to the modest income and to the relative obscurity of the Church Educational System.
I talked to this teacher a day or two ago. We talked about his dissertation and the fact that it was never published. He has been a great influence among the youth of the Church. He did the right thing. He summed up his experience this way: “The mantle is far, far greater than the intellect; the priesthood is the guiding power.” His statement becomes the title for this talk and embodies what I hope to convey to you.
I must not be too critical of those professors. They do not know of the things of the Spirit. One can understand their position. It is another thing, however, when we consider members of the Church, particularly those who hold the priesthood and have made covenants in the temple. Many do not do as my associate did; rather, they capitulate, cross over the line, and forsake the things of the Spirit. Thereafter, they judge the Church, the doctrine, and the leadership by the standards of their academic profession.
This problem has affected some of those who have taught and have written about the history of the Church. These professors say of themselves that religious faith has little influence on Mormon scholars. They say this because, obviously, they are not simply Latter-day Saints but are also intellectuals trained, for the most part, in secular institutions. They would that some historians who are Latter-day Saints write history as they were taught in graduate school, rather than as Mormons.
If we are not careful, very careful, and if we are not wise, very wise, we first leave out of our professional study the things of the Spirit. The next step soon follows: we leave the spiritual things out of our lives.
I want to read to you a most significant statement by President Joseph F. Smith, a statement that you would do well to keep in mind in your teaching and research, and one which will serve as somewhat of a text for my remarks to you:
“It has not been by the wisdom of man that this people have been directed in their course until the present; it has been by the wisdom of Him who is above man and whose knowledge is greater than that of man, and whose power is above the power of man. … The hand of the Lord may not be visible to all. There may be many who can not discern the workings of God’s will in the progress and development of this great latter-day work, but there are those who see in every hour and in every moment of the existence of the Church, from its beginning until now, the overruling, almighty hand of Him who sent His Only Begotten Son to the world to become a sacrifice for the sin of the world.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1904, p. 2; emphasis added.)
If we do not keep this constantly in mind—that the Lord directs this Church—we may lose our way in the world of intellectual and scholarly research.
You seminary teachers and some of you institute and BYU men will be teaching the history of the Church this school year. This is an unparalleled opportunity in the lives of your students to increase their faith and testimony of the divinity of this work. Your objective should be that they will see the hand of the Lord in every hour and every moment of the Church from its beginning till now.
As one who has taken the journey a number of times, I offer four cautions before you begin.
First Caution
There is no such thing as an accurate, objective history of the Church without consideration of the spiritual powers that attend this work.
There is no such thing as a scholarly, objective study of the office of bishop without consideration of spiritual guidance, of discernment, and of revelation. That is not scholarship. Accordingly, I repeat, there is no such thing as an accurate or objective history of the Church which ignores the Spirit.
You might as well try to write the biography of Mendelssohn without hearing or mentioning his music, or write the life of Rembrandt without mentioning light or canvas or color.
If someone who knew very little about music should write a biography of Mendelssohn, one who had been trained to have a feeling for music would recognize that very quickly. That reader would not be many pages into the manuscript before he would know that a most essential ingredient had been left out.
Mendelssohn, no doubt, would emerge as an ordinary man, perhaps not an impressive man at all. That which makes him most worth remembering would be gone. Without it he would appear, at best, eccentric. Certainly, controversy would develop over why a biography at all. Whoever should read the biography would not know, really know, Mendelssohn at all—this, even though the biographer might have invested exhaustive research in his project and might have been accurate in every other detail.
And, if you viewed Rembrandt only in black and white, you would miss most of his inspiration.
Those of us who are extensively engaged in researching the wisdom of man, including those who write and those who teach Church history, are not immune from these dangers. I have walked that road of scholarly research and study and know something of the dangers. If anything, we are more vulnerable than those in some of the other disciplines. Church history can be so very interesting and so inspiring as to be a very powerful tool indeed for building faith. If not properly written or properly taught, it may be a faith destroyer.
President Brigham Young admonished Karl G. Maeser not to teach even the times table without the Spirit of the Lord. How much more essential is that Spirit in the research, the writing, and the teaching of Church history.
If we who research, write, and teach the history of the Church ignore the spiritual on the pretext that the world may not understand it, our work will not be objective. And if, for the same reason, we keep it quite secular, we will produce a history that is not accurate and not scholarly—this, in spite of the extent of research or the nature of the individual statements or the incidents which are included as part of it, and notwithstanding the training or scholarly reputation of the one who writes or teaches it. We would end up with a history with the one most essential ingredient left out.
Those who have the Spirit can recognize very quickly whether something is missing in a written Church history—this in spite of the fact that the author may be a highly trained historian and the reader is not. And, I might add, we have been getting a great deal of experience in this regard in the past few years.
President Wilford Woodruff warned: “I will here say that God has inspired me to keep a Journal History of this Church, and I warn the future Historians to give Credence to my History of this Church and Kingdom; for my Testimony is true, and the truth of its record will be manifest in the world to Come.” (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, 6 July 1877, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; emphasis added. Spelling and punctuation have been standardized.)
Second Caution
There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher of Church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not.
Some things that are true are not very useful.
Historians seem to take great pride in publishing something new, particularly if it illustrates a weakness or mistake of a prominent historical figure. For some reason, historians and novelists seem to savor such things. If it related to a living person, it would come under the heading of gossip. History can be as misleading as gossip and much more difficult—often impossible—to verify.
The writer or the teacher who has an exaggerated loyalty to the theory that everything must be told is laying a foundation for his own judgment. He should not complain if one day he himself receives as he has given. Perhaps that is what is contemplated in having one’s sins preached from the housetops.
Some time ago a historian gave a lecture to an audience of college students on one of the past Presidents of the Church. It seemed to be his purpose to show that that President was a man subject to the foibles of men. He introduced many so-called facts that put that President in a very unfavorable light, particularly when they were taken out of the context of the historical period in which he lived.
Someone who was not theretofore acquainted with this historical figure (particularly someone not mature) must have come away very negatively affected. Those who were unsteady in their convictions surely must have had their faith weakened or destroyed.
I began teaching seminary under Abel S. Rich, principal. He was the second seminary teacher employed by the Church and a man of maturity, wisdom, and experience. Among the lessons I learned from him was this: when I want to know about a man, I seek out those who know him best. I do not go to his enemies but to his friends. He would not confide in his enemy. You could not know the innermost thoughts of his heart by consulting those who would injure him.
We are teachers and should know the importance of the principle of prerequisites. It is easily illustrated with the subject of chemistry. No responsible chemist would advise, and no reputable school would permit, a beginning student to register for advanced chemistry without a knowledge of the fundamental principles of chemistry. The advanced course would be a destructive mistake, even for a very brilliant beginning student. Even that brilliant student would need some knowledge of the elements, of atoms and molecules, of electrons, of valence, of compounds and properties. To let a student proceed without the knowledge of fundamentals would surely destroy his interest in, and his future with, the field of chemistry.
The same point may be made with reference to so-called sex education. There are many things that are factual, even elevating, about this subject. There are aspects of this subject that are so perverted and ugly it does little good to talk of them at all. They cannot be safely taught to little children or to those who are not eligible by virtue of age or maturity or authorizing ordinance to understand them.
Teaching some things that are true, prematurely or at the wrong time, can invite sorrow and heartbreak instead of the joy intended to accompany learning.
What is true with these two subjects is, if anything, doubly true in the field of religion. The scriptures teach emphatically that we must give milk before meat. The Lord made it very clear that some things are to be taught selectively, and some things are to be given only to those who are worthy.
It matters very much not only what we are told but when we are told it. Be careful that you build faith rather than destroy it.
President William E. Berrett has told us how grateful he is that a testimony that the past leaders of the Church were prophets of God was firmly fixed in his mind before he was exposed to some of the so-called facts that historians have put in their published writings.
This principle of prerequisites is so fundamental to all education that I have never been quite able to understand why historians are so willing to ignore it. And, if those outside the Church have little to guide them but the tenets of their profession, those inside the Church should know better.
Some historians write and speak as though the only ones to read or listen are mature, experienced historians. They write and speak to a very narrow audience. Unfortunately, many of the things they tell one another are not uplifting, go far beyond the audience they may have intended, and destroy faith.
What that historian did with the reputation of the President of the Church was not worth doing. He seemed determined to convince everyone that the prophet was a man. We knew that already. All of the prophets and all of the Apostles have been men. It would have been much more worthwhile for him to have convinced us that the man was a prophet, a fact quite as true as the fact that he was a man.
He has taken something away from the memory of a prophet. He has destroyed faith. I remind you of the truth Shakespeare taught, ironically spoken by Iago: “Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; / ’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands— / But he that filches from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed” (Othello, act 3, sc. 3, lines 157–61).
The sad thing is that he may have, in years past, taken great interest in those who led the Church and desired to draw close to them. But instead of following that long, steep, discouraging, and occasionally dangerous path to spiritual achievement, instead of going up to where they were, he devised a way of collecting mistakes and weaknesses and limitations to compare with his own. In that sense he has attempted to bring a historical figure down to his level and in that way feel close to him and perhaps justify his own weaknesses.
I agree with President Stephen L Richards, who stated:
“If a man of history has secured over the years a high place in the esteem of his countrymen and fellow men and has become imbedded in their affections, it has seemingly become a pleasing pastime for researchers and scholars to delve into the past of such a man, discover, if may be, some of his weaknesses, and then write a book exposing hitherto unpublished alleged factual findings, all of which tends to rob the historic character of the idealistic esteem and veneration in which he may have been held through the years.
“This ‘debunking,’ we are told, is in the interest of realism, that the facts should be known. If an historic character has made a great contribution to country and society, and if his name and his deeds have been used over the generations to foster high ideals of character and service, what good is to be accomplished by digging out of the past and exploiting weaknesses, which perhaps a generous contemporary public forgave and subdued?” (Where Is Wisdom? [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955], p. 155.)
That historian or scholar who delights in pointing out the weakness and frailties of present or past leaders destroys faith. A destroyer of faith—particularly one within the Church, and more particularly one who is employed specifically to build faith—places himself in great spiritual jeopardy. He is serving the wrong master, and unless he repents, he will not be among the faithful in the eternities.
One who chooses to follow the tenets of his profession, regardless of how they may injure the Church or destroy the faith of those not ready for “advanced history,” is himself in spiritual jeopardy. If that one is a member of the Church, he has broken his covenants and will be accountable. After all of the tomorrows of mortality have been finished, he will not stand where he might have stood.
I recall a conversation with President Henry D. Moyle. We were driving back from Arizona and were talking about a man who destroyed the faith of young people from the vantage point of a teaching position. Someone asked President Moyle why this man was still a member of the Church when he did things like that. “He is not a member of the Church,” President Moyle answered firmly. Another replied that he had not heard of his excommunication. “He has excommunicated himself,” President Moyle responded. “He has cut himself off from the Spirit of God. Whether or not we get around to holding a court doesn’t matter that much; he has cut himself off from the Spirit of the Lord.”
Third Caution
In an effort to be objective, impartial, and scholarly, a writer or a teacher may unwittingly be giving equal time to the adversary.
Someone told of the man who entitled his book an Unbiased History of the Civil War from the Southern Point of View. While we chuckle at that, there is something to be said about presenting Church history from the viewpoint of those who have righteously lived it. The idea that we must be neutral and argue quite as much in favor of the adversary as we do in favor of righteousness is neither reasonable nor safe.
In the Church we are not neutral. We are one-sided. There is a war going on, and we are engaged in it. It is the war between good and evil, and we are belligerents defending the good. We are therefore obliged to give preference to and protect all that is represented in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have made covenants to do it.
Some of our scholars establish for themselves a posture of neutrality. They call it “sympathetic detachment.” Historians are particularly wont to do that. If they make a complimentary statement about the Church, they seem to have to counter it with something that is uncomplimentary.
Some of them, since they are members of the Church, are quite embarrassed with the thought that they might be accused of being partial. They care very much what the world thinks and are very careful to include in their writings criticism of the Church leaders of the past.
They particularly strive to be acclaimed as historians as measured by the world’s standard. They would do well to read Nephi’s vision of the iron rod and ponder verses 24–28.
“And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
“And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed. [Notice the word after. He is talking of those who are partakers of the goodness of God—of Church members.]
“And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.
“And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceeding fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.
“And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” (1 Nephi 8:24–28; emphasis added.)
And I want to say in all seriousness that there is a limit to the patience of the Lord with respect to those who are under covenant to bless and protect His Church and kingdom upon the earth but do not do it.
Particularly are we in danger if we are out to make a name for ourselves, if our “hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that [we] do not learn this one lesson—
“That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
“That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
“Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.” (D&C 121:35–38.)
There is much in the scriptures and in our Church literature to convince us that we are at war with the adversary. We are not obliged as a church, nor are we as members obliged, to accommodate the enemy in this battle.
President Joseph Fielding Smith pointed out that it would be a foolish general who would give access to all of his intelligence to his enemy. It is neither expected nor necessary for us to accommodate those who seek to retrieve references from our sources, distort them, and use them against us.
Suppose that a well-managed business corporation is threatened by takeover from another corporation. Suppose that the corporation bent on the takeover is determined to drain off all its assets and then dissolve this company. You can rest assured that the threatened company would hire legal counsel to protect itself.
Can you imagine that attorney, under contract to protect the company, having fixed in his mind that he must not really take sides, that he must be impartial?
Suppose that when the records of the company he has been employed to protect are opened for him to prepare his brief he collects evidence and passes some of it to the attorneys of the enemy company. His own firm may then be in great jeopardy because of his disloyal conduct.
Do you not recognize a breach of ethics, or integrity, or morality?
I think you can see the point I am making. Those of you who are employed by the Church have a special responsibility to build faith, not destroy it. If you do not do that, but in fact accommodate the enemy, who is the destroyer of faith, you become in that sense a traitor to the cause you have made covenants to protect.
Those who have carefully purged their work of any religious faith in the name of academic freedom or so-called honesty ought not expect to be accommodated in their researches or to be paid by the Church to do it.
Rest assured, also, that you will get little truth, and less benefit, from those who steal documents or those who deal in stolen goods. There have always been, and we have among us today, those who seek entrance to restricted libraries and files to secretly copy material and steal it away in hopes of finding some detail that has not as yet been published—this in order that they may sell it for money or profit in some way from its publication or inflate an ego by being first to publish it.
In some cases the motive is to destroy faith, if they can, and the Church, if they are able. The Church will move forward, and their efforts will be of little moment. But such conduct does not go unnoticed in the eternal scheme of things.
We should not be ashamed to be committed, to be converted, to be biased in favor of the Lord.
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith pointed out the fallacy of trying to work both sides of the street: “You may as well say that the Book of Mormon is not true because it does not give credence to the story the Lamanites told of the Nephites” (Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Apr. 1925, p. 55).
A number of years ago, professors from Harvard University who were members of the Church invited me to lunch over at the Harvard Business School faculty dining room. They wanted to know if I would join them in participating in a new publication; they wanted me to contribute to it.
They were generous in their compliments, saying that because I had a doctorate a number of people in the Church would listen to me, and being a General Authority (at that time I was an Assistant to the Twelve), I could have some very useful influence.
I listened to them very attentively but indicated at the close of the conversation that I would not join them. I asked to be excused from responding to their request. When they asked why, I told them this: “When your associates announced the project, they described how useful it would be to the Church—a niche that needed to be filled.” And then the spokesman said, “We are all active and faithful members of the Church; however, …”
I told my two hosts that if the announcement had read, “We are active and faithful members of the Church; therefore, …” I would have joined their organization. I had serious questions about a “however” organization. I have little worry over a “therefore” organization.
That however meant that they put a condition upon their Church membership and their faith. It meant that they put something else first. It meant that they were to judge the Church and gospel and the leaders of it against their own backgrounds and training. It meant that their commitment was partial, and that partial commitment is not enough to qualify one for full spiritual light.
I would not contribute to publications, nor would I belong to organizations, that by spirit or inclination are faith destroying. There are plenty of scholars in the world determined to find all secular truth. There are so few of us, relatively speaking, striving to convey the spiritual truths, who are protecting the Church. We cannot safely be neutral.
Many years ago Elder Widtsoe made reference to a foolish teacher in the Mutual Improvement Association who sponsored some debate with the intent of improving the abilities of the young members of the Church. He chose as a subject “Resolved: Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.” Unfortunately, the con side won.
The youngsters speaking in favor of the proposition were not as clever and their arguments were not as carefully prepared as those of the opposing side. The fact that Joseph Smith remained a prophet after the debate was over did not protect some of the participants from suffering the destruction of their faith and thereafter conducting their lives as though Joseph Smith were not a prophet and as though the church he founded and the gospel he restored were not true.
Fourth Caution
The final caution concerns the idea that so long as something is already in print, so long as it is available from another source, there is nothing out of order in using it in writing or speaking or teaching.
Surely you can see the fallacy in that.
I have on occasion been disappointed when I have read statements that tend to belittle or degrade the Church or past leaders of the Church in writings of those who are supposed to be worthy members of the Church. When I have commented on my disappointment to see that in print, the answer has been, “It was printed before, and it’s available, and therefore I saw no reason not to publish it again.”
You do not do well to see that it is disseminated. It may be read by those not mature enough for “advanced history,” and a testimony in seedling stage may be crushed.
Several years ago President Ezra Taft Benson spoke to you and said: “It has come to our attention that some of our teachers, particularly in our university programs, are purchasing writings from known apostates … in an effort to become informed about certain points of view or to glean from their research. You must realize that when you purchase their writings or subscribe to their periodicals, you help sustain their cause. We would hope that their writings not be on your seminary or institute or personal bookshelves. We are entrusting you to represent the Lord and the First Presidency to your students, not the views of the detractors of the Church” (The Gospel Teacher and His Message [address delivered to Church Educational System personnel, 17 Sept. 1976], p. 12.)
I endorse that sound counsel to you.
Remember: when you see the bitter apostate, you do not see only an absence of light, you see also the presence of darkness.
Do not spread disease germs!
I learned a great lesson years ago when I interviewed a young man then in the mission home. He was disqualified from serving a mission. He confessed to a transgression that you would think would never enter the mind of a normal human being.
“Where on earth did you ever get an idea to do something like that?” I asked.
To my great surprise he said, “From my bishop.”
He said the bishop in the interview said, “Have you ever done this? Have you ever done that? Have you ever done this other?” and described in detail things that the young man had never thought of. They preyed upon his mind until, under perverse inspiration, the opportunity presented itself, and he fell.
Don’t perpetuate the unworthy, the unsavory, or the sensational.
Some things that are in print go out of print, and the old statement “good riddance to bad rubbish” might apply.
Elder G. Homer Durham of the First Quorum of the Seventy told of counsel he had received from one of his professors who was an eminent historian: “You don’t write [and, I might add, you don’t teach] history out of the garbage pails.”
Moroni gave an excellent rule for historians to follow:
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
“But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” (Moroni 7:16–17.)
It makes a great deal of difference whether we regard mortality as the conclusion and fulfillment of our existence or as a preparation for an eternal existence as well.
Those are the cautions I give to you who teach and write Church history.
There are qualifications to teach or to write the history of this church. If one is lacking in any one of these qualifications, he cannot properly teach the history of the Church. He can recite facts and give a point of view, but he cannot properly teach the history of the Church.
I will state these qualifications in the form of questions so that you can assess your own qualifications.
Do you believe that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ personally appeared to the boy prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., in the year 1820?
Do you have personal witness that the Father and the Son appeared in all their glory and stood above that young man and instructed him according to the testimony that he gave to the world in his published history?
Do you know that the Prophet Joseph Smith’s testimony is true because you have received a spiritual witness of its truth?
Do you believe that the church that was restored through him is, in the Lord’s words, “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased” (D&C 1:30)? Do you know by the Holy Ghost that this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints restored by heavenly messengers in this modern era; that the Church constitutes the kingdom of God on earth, not just an institution fabricated by human agency?
Do you believe that the successors to the prophet Joseph Smith were and are prophets, seers, and revelators; that revelation from heaven directs the decisions, policies, and pronouncements that come from the headquarters of the Church? Have you come to the settled conviction, by the Spirit, that these prophets truly represent the Lord?
Now, you obviously noted that I did not talk about academic qualifications. Facts, understanding, and scholarship can be attained by personal study and essential course work. The three qualifications I have named come by the Spirit, to the individual. You can’t receive them by secular training or study, by academic inquiry or scientific investigation.
I repeat: if there is a deficiency in any of these, then, regardless of what other training an individual possesses, he cannot comprehend and write or teach the true history of this Church. The things of God are understood only by one who possesses the Spirit of God.
Now, what about that historian who defamed the early President of the Church and may well have weakened or destroyed faith in the process? What about other members of the Church who have in their writings or in their teaching been guilty of something similar?
I want to say something that may surprise you. I know of a man who did something quite as destructive as that who later became the prophet of the Church. I refer to Alma the Younger. I learned about him from reading the Book of Mormon, which in reality is a very reliable history of the Church in ancient times.
You are acquainted with the record of Alma as a young man. He followed his father, the prophet Alma, about, and ridiculed what his father preached. He was, in that period of his life, a destroyer of faith. Then came a turning point. Because his father had prayed for it, he came to himself. He changed. He became one of the great men in religious history.
I want to say something to that historian and to others who may have placed higher value on intellect than upon the mantle.
The Brethren then and now are men, very ordinary men, who have come for the most part from very humble beginnings. We need your help! We desperately need it. We cannot research and organize the history of the Church. We do not have the time to do it. And we do not have the training that you possess. But we do know the Spirit and how essential a part of our history it is. Ours is the duty to organize the Church, to set it in order, to confer the keys of authority, to perform the ordinances, to watch the borders of the kingdom and carry burdens, heavy burdens, for others and for ourselves that you can know little about.
Do you know how inadequate we really are compared to the callings we have received? Can you feel in a measure the weight, the overwhelming weight, of responsibility that is ours? If you look for inadequacy and imperfections, you can find them quite easily. But you may not feel as we feel the enormous weight of responsibility associated with the callings that have come to us. We are not free to do some of the things that scholars think would be so reasonable, for the Lord will not permit us to do them, and it is his church. He presides over it.
There is another part of the on-going history of the Church that you may not be acquainted with. Perhaps I can illustrate it for you.
A few years ago it was my sad privilege to accompany President Kimball, then President of the Twelve, to a distant stake to replace a stake leader who had been excommunicated for a transgression. Our hearts went out to this good man who had done such an unworthy thing. His sorrow and anguish and suffering brought to my mind the phrase “gall of bitterness.”
Thereafter, on intermittent occasions, I would receive a call from President Kimball: “Have you heard from this brother? How is he doing? Have you been in touch with him?” After Brother Kimball became President of the Church, the calls did not cease. They increased in frequency.
One day I received a call from the President. “I have been thinking of this brother. Do you think it is too soon to have him baptized?” (Always a question, never a command.) I responded with my feelings, and he said, “Why don’t you see if he could come here to see you? If you feel good about it after an interview, we could proceed.”
A short time later, I arrived very early at the office. As I left my car I saw President Kimball enter his. He was going to the airport on his way to Europe. He rolled down the window to greet me, and I told him I had good news about our brother. “He was baptized last night,” I said.
He motioned for me to get into the car and sit beside him and asked me to tell him all about it. I told him of the interview and that I had concluded by telling our brother very plainly that his baptism must not be a signal that his priesthood blessings would be restored in the foreseeable future. I told him that it would be a long, long time before that would happen.
President Kimball patted me on the knee in a gentle gesture of correction and said, “Well, maybe not so long. …” Soon thereafter the intermittent phone calls began again.
I want to tell you of another lesson I received. Many years ago, when I was a new General Authority and not very experienced, I was called to the office of the First Counselor in the First Presidency. “We find you are going to the West Coast for conference this weekend. We wonder if you would leave a day or so early to help with a problem at a mission headquarters in another city.”
A missionary had confessed to transgression, and the mission president was reluctant to take action. I was instructed to see that a court was convened and that the missionary was excommunicated.
I went, and I interviewed the elder at great length. I then went to a park to think and pray about it. It was an unusual case, most unusual. After two hours, I telephoned the member of the First Presidency from a pay telephone and told him a little of what I had learned and of how I felt about the matter. He asked what I wanted to do. Hesitantly I told him I wanted to delay, to take no action now. Then I said, “But, President, tell me to do it, again, and I will do it.”
His voice came over the telephone and seemed like thunder to me: “Don’t you go against the voice of the Spirit!”
I had learned a great lesson. I have never forgotten it, and the inspiration greatly affected the outcome when final action was taken.
Do not yield your faith in payment for an advanced degree or for the recognition and acclaim of the world. Do not turn away from the Lord nor from his Church nor from his servants. You are needed—oh, how you are needed!
It may be that you will lay your scholarly reputation and the acclaim of your colleagues in the world as a sacrifice upon the altar of service. They may never understand the things of the Spirit as you have a right to do. They may not regard you as an authority or as a scholar. Just remember, when the test came to Abraham, he didn’t really have to sacrifice Isaac. He just had to be willing to.
Now a final lesson from Church history, one that illustrates the kind of thing from the past that builds faith and increases testimony.
William W. Phelps had been a trusted associate of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Then, in an hour of crisis when the Prophet needed him most, he turned against him and joined the apostates and oppressors who sought the Prophet’s life.
Later, Brother Phelps came to himself. He repented of what he had done and wrote to the Prophet Joseph Smith, asking for his forgiveness. I want to read you the letter the Prophet Joseph wrote to Brother Phelps in reply.
I confess also that many times I have moaned in agony when I have thought of the many incidents of this kind that researchers have discovered when they have pored over the record of our history but have left them out of their writings for fear they would be regarded as not worthy of a scholarly review of Church history.
Now the letter.
“Dear Brother Phelps: …
“You may in some measure realize what my feelings, as well as Elder Rigdon’s and Brother Hyrum’s were, when we read your letter—truly our hearts were melted into tenderness and compassion when we ascertained your resolves, &c. I can assure you I feel a disposition to act on your case in a manner that will meet the approbation of Jehovah, (whose servant I am), and agreeable to the principles of truth and righteousness which have been revealed; and inasmuch as long-suffering, patience, and mercy have ever characterized the dealings of our heavenly Father towards the humble and penitent, I feel disposed to copy the example, cherish the same principles, and by so doing be a savior of my fellow men.
“It is true, that we have suffered much in consequence of your behavior—the cup of gall, already full enough for mortals to drink, was indeed filled to overflowing when you turned against us. One with whom we had oft taken sweet counsel together, and enjoyed many refreshing seasons from the Lord—’had it been an enemy, we could have borne it.’ …
“However, the cup has been drunk, the will of our Father has been done, and we are yet alive, for which we thank the Lord. And having been delivered from the hands of wicked men by the mercy of our God, we say it is your privilege to be delivered from the powers of the adversary, be brought into the liberty of God’s dear children, and again take your stand among the Saints of the Most High, and by diligence, humility, and love unfeigned, commend yourself to our God, and your God, and to the Church of Jesus Christ.
“Believing your confession to be real, and your repentance genuine, I shall be happy once again to give you the right hand of fellowship, and rejoice over the returning prodigal …
“‘Come on, dear brother, since the war is past,
For friends at first, are friends again at last.’
“Yours as ever,
“Joseph Smith, Jun.”
(History of the Church, 4:162–64.)
Brother Phelps did return to full fellowship. He was a writer of hymns. The one we sang to open this meeting, “Praise to the Man,” was written by Brother Phelps, as were “O God, the Eternal Father,” “Now Let Us Rejoice,” “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain,” “The Spirit of God Like a Fire”—to mention but a few.
Oh, how great the loss to the Church if Brother Phelps had not returned. And how great would have been the tragedy for him.
When I read about our Brethren of the past, I am overwhelmed with humility. Consider the Prophet Joseph Smith and the little opportunity he had for formal schooling. Read the letters written in his own hand, and you will know that he could not spell correctly. Oh, how grateful he must have been for a scribe. I have wept when I have contemplated what they accomplished with what little they had. I sense how grateful they were to those who stood by them.
To you who may have lost your way, come back! We know how that can happen; we have walked that path of research and study. Come help us!—you with your scholarship and your training, you with your bright, intelligent minds, you with your experience and with your academic degrees.
How grateful we are today for the many members who have special gifts and special training that they devote to the building up of the Church and kingdom of God and to the protecting of it.
May God bless you who so faithfully compile and teach the history of the Church and build the faith of those you teach. I bear witness that the gospel is true. The Church is His church. I pray that you may be inspired as you write and as you teach. May His Spirit be with you in rich abundance.
As you take your students over the trails of Church history in this dispensation, yours is the privilege to help them to see the miracle of the Restoration, the mantle that belongs to His servants, and to “see in every hour and in every moment of the existence of the Church … the overruling, almighty hand of [God]” (Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, Apr. 1904, p. 2).
As you write and as you teach Church history under the influence of His Spirit, one day you will come to know that you were not only spectators but a central part of it, for you are His Saints.
This testimony I leave, with my blessings, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

References[+]

References
1	Gospel Principles manual, Chapter 31: Honesty – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-31-honesty?lang=eng
2	The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect, Boyd K. Packer – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teaching-seminary-preservice-readings-religion-370-471-and-475/the-mantle-is-far-far-greater-than-the-intellect?lang=eng

February 7, 2020

It is the Same

Doctrine and Covenants 1:37-39: ¹

37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
39 For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen.

:::

Letter from Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery on abolitionism, published in the ‘Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate’, Apr. 1836, pp. 289–291: ²

“After having expressed myself so freely upon this subject, I do not doubt but those who have been forward in raising their voice against the South, will cry out against me as being uncharitable, unfeeling and unkind—wholly unacquainted with the gospel of Christ. It is my privilege then, to name certain passages from the bible, and examine the teachings of the ancients upon this matter, as the fact is uncontrovertable, that the first mention we have of slavery is found in the holy bible, pronounced by a man who was perfect in his generation and walked with God. And so far from that prediction’s being averse from the mind of God it remains as a lasting monument of the decree of Jehovah, to the shame and confusion of all who have cried out against the South, in consequence of their holding the sons of Ham in servitude!”

:::

A speech by Governor Brigham Young in Joint Session of the Legislature, January 23, 1852: ³

“I have this section in my hand, headed “An Act in Relation to African Slavery.” I have read it over and made a few alterations. I will remark with regard to slavery, inasmuch as we believe in the Bible, inasmuch as we believe in the ordinances of God, in the Priesthood and order and decrees of God, we must believe in slavery. This colored race have been subjected to severe curses, which they have in their families and their classes and in their various capacities brought upon themselves. And until the curse is removed by Him who placed it upon them, they must suffer under its consequences; I am not authorized to remove it. I am a firm believer in slavery.”

:::

David O. McKay, in Llewelyn R. McKay, Home Memories of President David O. McKay (1956), p. 231: ⁴

“I emphasize Justice as an attribute of Deity, because it is the Lord who, though He “made of one blood all nations,” also “determined the bounds of their habitation.” In other words, the seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man, but goes back into the Beginning with God.”

:::

Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947: ⁵

“Your position seems to lose sight of the revelations of the Lord touching the preexistence of our spirits , the rebellion in heaven, and the doctrines that our birth into this life and the advantages under which we my be born, have a relationship in the life heretofore.
From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the doctrine of the Church, never questioned by any of the Church leaders, that the Negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.
Furthermore, your ideas, as we understand them, appear to contemplate the intermarriage of the Negro and White races, a concept which has heretofore been most repugnant to most normal-minded people from the ancient patriarchs till now God’s rule for Israel, His Chosen People, has been endogenous. Modern Israel has been similarly directed.
We are not unmindful of the fact that there is a growing tendency, particularly among some educators, as it manifests itself in this area, toward the breaking down of race barriers in the matter of intermarriage between whites and blacks, but it does not have the sanction of the Church and is contrary to Church doctrine.
Faithfully yours,
(signed)
George Albert Smith
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
David 0. McKay”

References[+]

References
1	Doctrine and Covenants 1:37-39 – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/1?lang=eng
2	‘Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate’, Apr. 1836, pp. 289–291, Joseph Smith Papers – http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-oliver-cowdery-circa-9-april-1836/1
3	Speech by Governor Brigham Young in Joint Session of the Legislature, January 23, 1852 – https://archive.org/details/CR100317B0001F0014
4	Letter from David O. McKay reprinted in ‘Mormonism and the Negro’, pp 22 – https://archive.org/details/MormonismAndTheNegro
5	Letter from the First Presidency to Dr. Lowry Nelson, July 17 1947 – https://archive.org/stream/LowryNelson1stPresidencyExchange/Lowry_Nelson_1st_Presidency_Exchange#page/n5/mode/2up/search/doctrine

February 4, 2020

Salesman

The Wentworth Letter, by Joseph Smith Jr. ¹

March 1, 1842.—At the request of Mr. John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, I have written the following sketch of the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-day Saints, of which I have the honor, under God, of being the founder. Mr. Wentworth says that he wishes to furnish Mr. Bastow [Barstow], a friend of his, who is writing the history of New Hampshire, with this document. As Mr. Bastow has taken the proper steps to obtain correct information, all that I shall ask at his hands is that he publish the account entire, ungarnished, and without misrepresentation.
I was born in the town of Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, on the 23rd of December, A.D. 1805. When [I was] ten years old, my parents removed to Palmyra, New York, where we resided about four years, and from thence we removed to the town of Manchester. My father was a farmer and taught me the art of husbandry. When about fourteen years of age, I began to reflect upon the importance of being prepared for a future state, and upon inquiring [about] the plan of salvation, I [found] that there was a great clash in religious sentiment. If I went to one society they referred me to one plan, and another to another, each one pointing to his own particular creed as the summum bonum of perfection. Considering that all could not be right, and that God could not be the author of so much confusion, I determined to investigate the subject more fully, believing that if God had a church it would not be split up into factions, and that if He taught one society to worship one way, and administer in one set of ordinances, He would not teach another, principles which were diametrically opposed.
Believing the word of God, I had confidence in the declaration of James—“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” [James 1:5]. I retired to a secret place in a grove and began to call upon the Lord. While fervently engaged in supplication, my mind was taken away from the objects with which I was surrounded, and I was enwrapped in a heavenly vision and saw two glorious personages, who exactly resembled each other in features and likeness, surrounded with a brilliant light which eclipsed the sun at noonday. They told me that all religious denominations were believing in incorrect doctrines and that none of them was acknowledged of God as His Church and kingdom; and I was expressly commanded “to go not after them,” at the same time receiving a promise that the fullness of the gospel should at some future time be made known unto me.
On the evening [of] the 21st of September, A.D. 1823, while I was praying unto God and endeavoring to exercise faith in the precious promises of scripture, on a sudden a light like that of day, only of a far purer and more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room. Indeed the first sight was as though the house was filled with consuming fire. The appearance produced a shock that affected the whole body. In a moment a personage stood before me, surrounded with a glory yet greater than that with which I was already surrounded. This messenger proclaimed himself to be an angel of God, sent to bring the joyful tidings that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand to be fulfilled; that the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the gospel in all its fulness to be preached in power unto all nations, that a people might be prepared for the millennial reign. I was informed that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of His purposes in this glorious dispensation.
I was also informed concerning the aboriginal inhabitants of this country [America] and shown who they were, and from whence they came; a brief sketch of their origin, progress, civilization, laws, governments, of their righteousness and iniquity, and the blessings of God being finally withdrawn from them as a people, was [also] made known unto me; I was also told where were deposited some plates on which were engraven an abridgment of the records of the ancient prophets that had existed on this continent. The angel appeared to me three times the same night and unfolded the same things. After having received many visits from the angels of God, unfolding the majesty and glory of the events that should transpire in the last days, on the morning of the 22nd of September, A.D. 1827, the angel of the Lord delivered the records into my hands.
These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold. Each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving. With the records was found a curious instrument, which the ancients called “Urim and Thummim,” which consisted of two transparent stones set in the rims of a bow fastened to a breastplate. Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record by the gift and power of God.
In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the Tower of Babel at the confusion of languages to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country. This book also tells us that our Savior made His appearance upon this continent after His Resurrection; that He planted the gospel here in all its fulness, and richness, and power, and blessing; that they had apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists—the same order, the same priesthood, the same ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessings, as were enjoyed on the eastern continent; that the people were cut off in consequence of their transgressions; that the last of their prophets who existed among them was commanded to write an abridgment of their prophecies, history, etc., and to hide it up in the earth; and that it should come forth and be united with the Bible for the accomplishment of the purposes of God in the last days. For a more particular account I would refer to the Book of Mormon, which can be purchased at Nauvoo, or from any of our traveling elders.
As soon as the news of this discovery was made known, false reports, misrepresentation, and slander flew, as on the wings of the wind, in every direction; the house was frequently beset by mobs and evil designing people. Several times I was shot at, and very narrowly escaped, and every device was made use of to get the plates away from me; but the power and blessing of God attended me, and several began to believe my testimony.
On the 6th of April 1830, the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” was first organized in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, state of New York. Some few were called and ordained by the spirit of revelation and prophecy and began to preach as the Spirit gave them utterance. And though weak, yet were they strengthened by the power of God; and many were brought to repentance, were immersed in the water, and were filled with the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. They saw visions and prophesied, devils were cast out, and the sick healed by the laying on of hands. From that time the work rolled forth with astonishing rapidity, and churches were formed in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. In the last-named state a considerable settlement was formed in Jackson County. Numbers joined the Church, and we were increasing rapidly. We made large purchases of land; our farms teemed with plenty; and peace and happiness were enjoyed in our domestic circle and throughout our neighborhood. But as we could not associate with our neighbors (who were, many of them, of the basest of men, and had fled from the face of civilized society to the frontier country to escape the hand of justice) in their midnight revels, their Sabbath breaking, horse racing, and gambling, they commenced at first to ridicule, then to persecute, and finally an organized mob assembled and burned our houses, tarred and feathered and whipped many of our brethren, and finally, contrary to law, justice, and humanity, drove them from their habitations, who, houseless and homeless, had to wander on the bleak prairies till the children left the tracks of their blood on the prairie. This took place in the month of November, and they had no other covering but the canopy of heaven. In this inclement season of the year this proceeding was winked at by the government, and although we had warranty deeds for our land, and had violated no law, we could obtain no redress.
There were many sick who were thus inhumanly driven from their houses, and had to endure all this abuse and to seek homes where they could be found. The result was that a great many of them, being deprived of the comforts of life and the necessary attendances, died; many children were left orphans, wives [were left] widows, and husbands, widowers; our farms were taken possession of by the mob; many thousands of cattle, sheep, horses, and hogs were taken; and our household goods, store goods, and printing press and type were broken, taken, or otherwise destroyed.
Many of our brethren removed to Clay County, where they continued until 1836, three years; there was no violence offered but there were threatenings of violence. But in the summer of 1836 these threatenings began to assume a more serious form. From threats, public meetings were called, resolutions were passed, vengeance and destruction were threatened, and affairs again assumed a fearful attitude. Jackson County was a sufficient precedent, and as the authorities in that county did not interfere, they [the Clay County authorities] boasted that they would not [interfere] in this, which on application to the authorities, we found to be too true; and after much privation and loss of property, we were again driven from our homes.
We next settled in Caldwell and Daviess Counties, where we made large and extensive settlements, thinking to free ourselves from the power of oppression by settling in new counties with very few inhabitants in them. But here we were [also] not allowed to live in peace, but in 1838 we were again attacked by mobs, an exterminating order was issued by Governor Boggs, and under the sanction of law an organized banditti ranged through the country, robbed us of our cattle, sheep, hogs, etc., many of our people were murdered in cold blood, the chastity of our women was violated, and we were forced to sign away our property at the point of the sword. And after enduring every indignity that could be heaped upon us by an inhuman, ungodly band of marauders, from twelve to fifteen thousand souls, men, women, and children were driven from their own firesides, and from lands to which they had warrantee deeds—houseless, friendless, and homeless (in the depths of winter) to wander as exiles on the earth, or to seek an asylum in a more genial clime, and among a less barbarous people. Many sickened and died in consequence of the cold and hardships they had to endure. Many wives were left widows, and children [were left] orphans and destitute. It would take more time than is allotted me here to describe the injustice, the wrongs, the murders, the bloodshed, the theft, misery, and woe that have been caused by the barbarous, inhuman, and lawless proceedings of the state of Missouri.
In the situation before alluded to, we arrived in the state of Illinois in 1839, where we found a hospitable people and a friendly home, a people who were willing to be governed by the principles of law and humanity. We have commenced to build a city called “Nauvoo” in Hancock County. We number from six to eight thousand here, besides vast numbers in the county around and in almost every county of the state. We have a city charter granted us and [a] charter for a [military] legion, the troops of which now number 1,500. We have also a charter for a university, for an agricultural and manufacturing society; [we] have our own laws and administrators and possess all the privileges that other free and enlightened citizens enjoy.
Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame. It has spread with increasing rapidity. Proud of the cause which they have espoused and conscious of our innocence and of the truth of their system, amidst calumny and reproach, have the elders of this Church gone forth and planted the gospel in almost every state in the Union. It has penetrated our cities; it has spread over our villages and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, and patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates and be governed by its sacred truths. It has also spread into England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, where, in the year 1840, a few of our missionaries were sent, and over five thousand joined the Standard of Truth; there are numbers now joining in every land.
Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
[The Articles of Faith]
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on [of] hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
Respectfully, etc.,
Joseph Smith

References[+]

References

1 The Wentworth Letter, by Joseph Smith Jr. – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/07/the-wentworth-letter?lang=eng

February 4, 2020
Not a free will offering

Excerpt from the June 1980 Ensign, First Presidency Message, Marion G. Romney: ¹

Tithing is not a free-will offering; it is a debt, payment of which brings great blessings.

…

I consider the payment of tithing a sound financial investment. To those who pay their tithing, the Lord has said that he will “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

…

The payment of tithing is also worthwhile as fire insurance. Through his prophets the Lord has told us that incident to his second coming, there will be a great conflagration. Malachi thus refers to it in connection with his pronouncement about tithes and offerings.

…

I know from my own experience, and I bear you my witness, that there is a peace and a comfort and an assurance which comes to one who pays an honest tithing. If you ever come to a time when you don’t know how much you owe, pay a little more. It is better to over-pay than to under-pay.

References[+]

References

1 June 1980 Ensign, First Presidency Message, Marion G. Romney – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1980/06/concerning-tithing?lang=eng

January 5, 2020

References
1	The Wentworth Letter, by Joseph Smith Jr. – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/07/the-wentworth-letter?lang=eng

References
1	June 1980 Ensign, First Presidency Message, Marion G. Romney – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1980/06/concerning-tithing?lang=eng

Bankruptcy

Utah Ranks in the Top 10 Bankruptcy Filing States Per Capita ¹

Excerpt from the June 1980 Ensign, First Presidency Message, Marion G. Romney: ²

Tithing is not a free-will offering; it is a debt, payment of which brings great blessings.

…

I consider the payment of tithing a sound financial investment. To those who pay their tithing, the Lord has said that he will “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

…

The payment of tithing is also worthwhile as fire insurance. Through his prophets the Lord has told us that incident to his second coming, there will be a great conflagration. Malachi thus refers to it in connection with his pronouncement about tithes and offerings.

…

I know from my own experience, and I bear you my witness, that there is a peace and a comfort and an assurance which comes to one who pays an honest tithing. If you ever come to a time when you don’t know how much you owe, pay a little more. It is better to over-pay than to under-pay.

References[+]

References
1	Personal bankruptcy rate in the United States as of September 2019, by state (per 100,000 population) – statista – https://www.statista.com/statistics/303570/us-personal-bankruptcy-rate/
2	June 1980 Ensign, First Presidency Message, Marion G. Romney – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1980/06/concerning-tithing?lang=eng

January 5, 2020

The Thinking is Done

Excerpt from a Improvement Era, June 1945, Ward Teachers’ Message: ¹

“When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan — it is God’s plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God. “

Additional study:

14 Fundamentals in Falsifying the Prophet – https://rationalfaiths.com/fourteen-fundamentals-falsifying-prophet/

References[+]

References

1 Improvement Era, June 1945 – https://archive.org/details/improvementera4806unse

December 14, 2019

References
1	Improvement Era, June 1945 – https://archive.org/details/improvementera4806unse

The Debate is Over Sisters

Excerpt from a Women’s Fireside Address, General Conference, October 1978, ‘If We Want to Go Up, We Have to Get On’, Elaine Cannon: ¹

Though we are women with different cultural backgrounds clear across the span of my voice, some with varying differences in personal situations (we may even clash at times on opinions regarding temporal trends or how to bake a loaf of bread properly), my firm feeling is that we must pursue a course of a covenant people. We must secure those traditions which are sacred to good people everywhere. In each country as you hear this program by direct line, your course should become clear, your priorities ought to be known to you as a daughter of God. Personal opinions may vary. Eternal principles never do. When the prophet speaks, sisters, the debate is over. So I urge us all to provide powerful unity as women for those things we can agree upon—family, chastity, accountability to the Lord, responsibility in the community, sharing the gospel. To help us, it seems there are at least two critical areas to concentrate on—for all of us of all ages, whether we are whole or lame, at peace or troubled, privileged or seemingly deprived. The first is to strengthen self. The second is to serve the Lord by serving others. This is the way it works: We gain a personal testimony. We share it with others. We learn the principles of the gospel. We apply them as we associate with others. We keep a personal record, and we do our genealogy. And, sisters, we emphatically and happily declare, “I will be obedient! I will help strengthen others that they may be so too!”

Additional study:

14 Fundamentals in Falsifying the Prophet – https://rationalfaiths.com/fourteen-fundamentals-falsifying-prophet/

References[+]

References
1	General Conference, October 1978, ‘If We Want to Go Up, We Have to Get On’, Elaine Cannon – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1978/11/if-we-want-to-go-up-we-have-to-get-on?lang=eng

December 14, 2019

The Debate is Over

Excerpt from a First Presidency Message, August 1979, Ensign, N. Eldon Tanner (First Counselor in the Presidency): ¹

“We must turn all this about. We cannot serve God and mammon. Whose side are we on? When the prophet speaks the debate is over.”

Additional study:

14 Fundamentals in Falsifying the Prophet – https://rationalfaiths.com/fourteen-fundamentals-falsifying-prophet/

References[+]

References

1 First Presidency Message, August 1979, Ensign – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1979/08/the-debate-is-over?lang=eng

December 14, 2019
Conversation with Brigham

Brigham Young Interview by Horace Greeley (New York Tribune editor), ‘Two Hours With Brigham Young’, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 13, 1859: ¹

My friend Dr. [John M.] Bernisel, M.C. [Mormon Church], took me this afternoon, by appointment, to meet Brigham Young, President of the Mormon Church, who had expressed a willingness to receive me at 2 P.M. We were very cordially welcomed at the door by the President, who led us into the second-story parlor of the largest of his houses (he has three), where I was introduced to Heber C. Kimball, Gen. [Daniel H.] Wells, Gen. [James] Ferguson, Albert Carrington, Elias Smith, and several other leading men in the Church, with two full-grown sons of the President. After some unimportant conversation on general topics, I had come in quest of fuller respecting the doctrines and polity [organization] of the Mormon Church, and would like to ask some questions bearing directly on these, if there were no objections. President Young avowed his willingness to respond to all pertinent inquiries, the conversation proceeded substantially as follows:
H.G. — Am I to regard Mormonism (so-called) as a new religion, or as simply a new development of Christianity?
B.Y. — We hold that there can be no true Christian Church without a priesthood directly commissioned by and in immediate communication with the Son of God and Savior of mankind. Such a church is that of the Latter-Day Saints, called by their enemies Mormons; we know no other that even pretends to have present and direct revelations of God’s will.
H.G. — Then I am to understand that you regard all other churches professing to be Christian as The Church of Rome regards all churches not in communion with itself — as schismatic, heretical, and out of the way of salvation?
B. Y. — Yes, substantially.
H.G. — Apart from this, in what respect do your doctrines differ from those of our Orthodox Protestant Churches — the Baptist or Methodist, for example?
B.Y. — We hold the doctrines of Christianity, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments — also in the Book of Mormon, which teaches the same cardinal truths, and those only.
H.G. — Do you believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?
B. Y. — We do; but not exactly as it is held by other churches. We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as equal, but not identical — not as one person [being]. We believe in all the Bible teaches on this subject.
H.G. — Do you believe in a personal devil — a distinct, conscious, spiritual being, whose nature and acts are essentially malignant and evil?
B.Y. — We do.
H.G. — Do you hold the doctrine of Eternal Punishment?
B.Y. — We do; though perhaps not exactly as other churches do. We believe it as the Bible teaches it.
H.G. — I understand that you regard Baptism by Immersion as essential.
B.Y. — We do.
H.G. — Do you practice Infant Baptism?
B.Y. — No.
H.G. — Do you make removal to these valleys obligatory on your converts?
B.Y. — They would consider themselves greatly aggrieved if they were not invited hither. We hold to such a gathering together of God’s People as the Bible foretells, and that this is the place and now is the time appointed for its consummation.
H.G. — The predictions to which you refer have, usually, I think, been understood to indicate Jerusalem (or Judea) as the place of such gathering.
B.Y. — Yes, for the Jews — not for others.
H.G. — What is the position of your Church with respect to Slavery?
B.Y. — We consider it of Divine institution, and not to be abolished until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from his descendants.
H.G. — Are there any slaves now held in this Territory?
B.Y. — There are.
H.G. — Do your Territorial laws uphold Slavery?
B.Y. — Those laws are printed — you can read them for yourself. If slaves are brought here by those who owned them in the States, we do not favor their escape from the service of those owners.
H.G. — Am I to infer that Utah, if admitted as a member of the Federal Union, will be a Slave State?
B.Y. — No; she will be a Free State. Slavery here would prove useless and unprofitable. I regard it generally as a curse to the masters. I myself hire many laborers and pay them fair wages; I could not afford to own them. I can do better than subject myself to an obligation to feed and clothe their families, to provide and care for them, in sickness and health. Utah is not adapted to Slave Labor.
H.G. — Let me now be enlightened with regard more especially to your Church polity [government]; I understand that you require each member to pay over one-tenth of all he produces or earns to the Church.
B.Y. — That is a requirement of our faith. There is no compulsion as to the payment. Each member acts in the premises according to his pleasure, under the dictates of his own conscience.
H.G. — What is done with the proceeds of this tithing?
B.Y. — Part of it is devoted to building temples and other places of worship; part to helping the poor and needy converts on their way to this country; and the largest portion to the support of the poor among the Saints.
H.G. — Is none of it paid to Bishops and other dignitaries of the Church?
B.Y. — Not one penny. No Bishop, no Elder, no Deacon, or other church officer, receives any compensation for his official services. A Bishop is often required to put his hand in his own pocket and provide therefrom for the poor of his charge; but he never receives anything for his services.
H.G. — How then do your ministers live?
B.Y. — By the labor of their own hands, like the first Apostles. Every Bishop, every Elder, may be daily seen at work in the field or the shop, like his neighbors; every minister of the Church has his proper calling by which he earns the bread of his family; he who cannot or will not do the Church’s work for nothing is not wanted in her services; even our lawyers (pointing to Gen. Ferguson and another present, who are the regular lawyers of the Church) are paid nothing for their services; I am the only person in the Church who has not a regular calling apart from the Church’s service, and I never received one farthing from her treasury; if I obtain anything from the tithing-house, I am charged with and pay for it, just as anyone else would; the clerks in the tithing-store are paid like other clerks, but no one is ever paid for any service pertaining to the ministry. We think a man who cannot make his living aside from the Ministry of Christ unsuited to that office. I am called rich, and consider myself worth $250,000; but no dollar of it was ever paid me by the Church or for any service as a minister of the Everlasting Gospel. I lost nearly all I had when we were broken up in Missouri and driven from that State; I was nearly stripped again when Joseph Smith was murdered and we were driven from Illinois; but nothing was ever made up to me by the Church, nor by any one. I believe I know how to acquire property and how to take care of it.
H.G. — Can you give me any rational explanation of the aversion and hatred with which your people are generally regarded by those among whom they have lived and with whom they have been brought directly in contact?
B.Y. — No other explanation than is afforded by the crucifixion of Christ and the kindred treatment of God’s ministers, prophets, saints in all ages.
H.G. — I know that a new sect is always decried and traduced — that it is hardly ever deemed respectable to belong to one — that the Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, Universalists, &c., have each in their turn been regarded in the infancy of their sect as the off-scouring of the earth; yet I cannot remember that either of them were ever generally represented and regarded by the older sects of their early days as thieves, robbers and murderers.
B.Y. — If you will consult the contemporary Jewish accounts of the life and acts of Jesus Christ, you will find that he and his disciples were accused of every abominable deed and purpose — robbery and murder included. Such a work is still extant, and may be found by those who seek it.
H.G. — What do you say of the so-called Danites, or Destroying Angels, belonging to your Church?
B.Y. — What do you say? I know of no such band, no such persons or organization. I hear of them only in the slanders of our enemies.
H.G. — With regard, then, to the grave question on which your doctrine and practices are avowedly at war with those of the Christian world — that of a plurality of wives — is the system of your Church acceptable to the majority of its women?
B.Y. — They could not be more averse to it than I was when it was first revealed to us as the Divine Will. I think they generally accept it, as I do, as the will of God.
H.G. — How general is polygamy among you?
B.Y. — I could not say. Some of those present [heads of the Church] have each but one wife; others have more: each determines what is his individual duty.
H.G. — What is the largest number of wives belonging to any one man?
B.Y. — I have fifteen; I know no one who has more but some of those sealed to me are old ladies whom I regard rather as mothers than wives, but whom I have taken home to cherish and support.
H.G. — Does not the Apostle Paul say that a bishop should be “the husband of one wife”?
B.Y. — So we hold. We do not regard any but a married man as fitted for the office of bishop. But the Apostle Paul does not forbid a bishop from having more wives than one.
H.G. — Does not Christ say that he who puts away his wife, or marries one whom another has put away, commits adultery?
B.Y. — Yes; and I hold that no man should ever put away a wife except for adultery — not always even for that. Such is my individual view of the matter. I do not say that wives have never been put away in our Church, but that I do not approve of the practice.
H.G. — How do you regard what is commonly called the Christian Sabbath?
B.Y. — As a divinely appointed day of rest from secular labor on that day. We would have no man enslaved to the Sabbath, but we enjoin all to respect and enjoy it.
Such is, as nearly as I can recollect, the substance of nearly two hours’ conversation, wherein much was said incidentally that would not be worth reporting, even if I could remember and reproduce it, and wherein others bore a part; but as President Young is the first minister of the Mormon Church, and bore the principal part in the conversation, I have reported his answers alone to my questions and observations. The others appeared, uniformly to defer to his views, and to acquiesce fully in his response and explanations. He spoke readily, not always with grammatical accuracy, but with no appearance of hesitation or reserve, and with no apparent desire to conceal anything, nor did he repel any of my questions as impertinent. He was very plainly dressed in thin summer clothing, and with no air of sanctimony or fanaticism. In appearance he is a portly, frank, good-natured, rather thick-set man of fifty-five, seeming to enjoy life, and be in no particular hurry to get to heaven. His associates are plain men, evidently born and reared to a life of labor, a looking as little like crafty hypocrites or swindlers as any body of men I ever met. The absence of cant or shuffle from their manner was marked and general, yet, I think I may fairly say that their Mormonism has not impoverished them — that they were generally poor men when they embraced it, and are now in very comfortable circumstances — as men averaging three and four wives apiece certainly need to be.
If I hazard any criticisms on Mormonism generally, I reserve them for a separate letter, being determined to make this a fair and full expose of the doctrine and polity in the very words of its Prophet, so far as I can recall them. I do not believe President Young himself could present them in terms calculated to render them less obnoxious to the Gentile world than the above. But I have the right to add here, because I said it to the assembled chiefs at the close of the above colloquy, that the degradation (or, if you please, the restriction) of Woman to the single office of child-bearing and its accessories, is an inevitable consequence of the system here paramount. I have not observed a sign in the streets, an advertisement in the journals, of this Mormon metropolis, whereby a woman proposes to do anything whatever. No Mormon has ever cited to me his wife’s or any woman’s opinion on any subject; no Mormon woman has been introduced or has spoken to me; and, though I have been asked to visit Mormons in their houses, no one has spoken of his wife (or wives) desiring to see me, or his desiring me to make her (or their) acquaintance, or voluntarily indicated the existence of such a being or beings.
I will not attempt to report our talk on this subject, because, unlike what I have above given, it assumed somewhat the character of a disputation, and I could hardly give it impartially; but one remark made by President Young I think I can give accurately, and it may serve as a sample of all that was offered on that side.
It was in these words, I think exactly: “If I did not consider myself competent to transact a certain business without taking my wife’s or any woman’s counsel with regard to it, I think I ought to let that business alone.”
The spirit with regard to Woman, of the entire Mormon, as of all other polygamic systems, is fairly displayed in this avowal. Let any such system become established and prevalent, and Woman will soon be confined to the harem, and her appearance on the street with unveiled face will be accounted immodest. I joyfully trust that the genius of the Nineteenth Century tends to a solution of the problem of Women’s sphere and destiny radically different from this.
H.G.

References[+]

References

1 ‘Two Hours With Brigham Young’, September 17, 1859, Millennial Star – https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MStar/id/23441

November 2, 2019

References
1	First Presidency Message, August 1979, Ensign – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1979/08/the-debate-is-over?lang=eng

References
1	‘Two Hours With Brigham Young’, September 17, 1859, Millennial Star – https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MStar/id/23441

Policy

Excerpts from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Race and the Priesthood’:¹

“Church leaders believed that a revelation from God was needed to alter the policy, and they made ongoing efforts to understand what should be done.”

Excerpt from ‘Statement of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’, August 17, 1949: ²

“The attitude of the Church with reference to the Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the Priesthood at the present time. The prophets of the Lord have made several statements as to the operation of the principle.
President Brigham Young said: “Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the holy priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the holy priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to.”
President Wilford Woodruff made the following statement: “The day will come when all that race will be redeemed and possess all the blessings which we now have.”
The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the premortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality and that while the details of this principle have not been made known, the mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintain their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the Negroes.”

References[+]

References
1	Race and the Priesthood – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng
2	Ref. Letter from the First Presidency to Stewart Udall, Archive.org – https://archive.org/stream/StewartUdallConscienceOfAJackMormon/StuartUdall-OpenLetterOnRaceAndConsequencesOfConscience#page/n12/mode/1up

September 22, 2019

We will always teach truth #4

Excerpt from an address by Russell M. Nelson, September 17 2019: ¹

It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth. We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!

Excerpt from ‘Address of the Prophet—His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo’ (Sunday, May 26, 1844), shortly before his death:²

Be meek and lowly, upright and pure; render good for evil. If you bring on yourselves your own destruction, I will complain. It is not right for a man to bare down his neck to the oppressor always. Be humble and patient in all circumstances of life; we shall then triumph more gloriously. What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers. I labored with these apostates myself until I was out of all manner of patience; and then I sent my brother Hyrum, whom they virtually kicked out of doors.

Footnote 24 – LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’:³

Careful estimates put the number between 30 and 40. See Hales, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy, 2:272–73.

References[+]

References
1	Russell M.Nelson, BYU Devotional, September 17 2019 – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/love-laws-god/
2	History of the Church vol. 6, p. 411 – https://byustudies.byu.edu/history-of-the-church
3	LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo’ – https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo?lang=eng

September 18, 2019

We will always teach truth #3

Excerpt from an address by Russell M. Nelson, September 17 2019: ¹

It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth. We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!

A Discourse by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, September 21, 1856: ²

“Before I sit down, I shall offer a proposition to the congregation; though I will first say a few words concerning our religion, our circumstances, and the circumstances of the brethren and people generally that inhabit these valleys, but more especially of these that have the privilege of assembling at this Tabernacle from Sabbath to Sabbath.
If they will rightly consider their situation, they will believe for themselves that they are in a place, in a country, where they can be Saints as well as in any other place there is on the face of this earth.
True, we hear some complaints from those who lose the spirit of their religion, who turn away from us. They think that this people will suffer here. I will give you my feelings upon the subject.
There is not a hardship, there is not a disappointment, there is not a trial, there is not a hard time, that comes upon this people in this place, but that I am more thankful for than I am for full granaries.
We have been hunting during the past twenty-six years, for a place where we could raise Saints, not merely wheat, and corn. Comparatively I care but little about the wheat and corn, though a little is very useful.
It is true that this is a good country for fruits of some kinds; this soil produces as good peaches as can be raised on any soil, and also grapes, apples, and so on. But what of all that? The man, or the woman, that mainly looks after the fruit, after the luxuries of life, good food, fine apparel, and at the same time professes to be a Latter-day Saint, if he does not get that spirit out of his heart, it will obtain a perfect victory over him; whereas he is required to obtain a victory over his lusts and over his unwise feelings; and if he does not get rid of that spirit, the quicker he starts east for the States, or west for California, the better.
If we could not raise any fruit, if we could not raise an ear of corn, I should be quite thankful if we could raise the oats and the peas, and make the oat bread and the pea broth, and live on them from year to year.
I say hallelujah, this is a first-rate place to raise Saints. Let the people complain of hard times, complain of their poverty, their poor fare and their hard labor; that wood is scarce, that we have to go far for it, and have to toil so hard to raise our grain; that we lose our stock upon the prairie, that a cow is gone today, and an ox was lost last year; that if we turn out our cattle they will stray off, and we shall see them no more.
How would you feel were you in a country where you could not raise stock, except you provided comfortable shelter and an abundance of fodder for them all?
In the country where I was brought up, could you turn out a calf in the fall and have it live through the winter? There never was such a thing done, to my knowledge; and no man ever thought of such a thing as wintering a calf, unless he had a shelter prepared for it almost as warm as the rooms for the children.
I mention these things for the benefit of those here today, if any, who think that this is not a good country, and who do not really know whether they wish to stay, or whether we are right or wrong, or whether “Mormonism” is true or false.
I would advise those persons to repent of their sins forthwith, and to try with all their might to get the spirit of their religion upon them, and if they cannot do that, to take their own course and go where their hearts desire, for doubtless there is some place where you would wish to go.
Those that have the Gospel, who enjoy the Spirit of their religion, lie down in peace, and wake up full of rejoicing, full of peace, of glory, of faith and thanksgiving; this is the case with all who are full of good works.
We need a reformation in the midst of this people; we need a thorough reform, for I know that very many are in a dozy condition with regard to their religion; I know this as well as I should if you were now to doze and go to sleep before my eyes.
You are losing the spirit of the Gospel, is there any cause for it? No, only that which there is in the world. You have the weakness of human nature to contend with, and you suffer that weakness to decoy you away from the truth, to the side of the adversary; but now it is time to awake, before the time of burning.
Whether the time of burning will be this week, or the next, or next year, I do not know that I care; and I do not know that I would ask, if I was sure the Lord would tell me. But I tell you that which I do know, and that is sufficient.
I do know that the trying day will soon come to you and to me; and ere long we will have to lay down these tabernacles and go into the spirit world. And I do know that as we lie down, so judgment will find us, and that is scriptural; “as the tree falls, so it shall lie,” or, in other words, as death leaves us so judgment will find us.
I will explain how judgment will be laid to the line. If we all live to the age of man the end thereof will soon be here, and that will burn enough, without anything else; and the present is a day of trial, enough for you and me.
We have got to be rightly prepared to go into the spirit world, in order to become kings. That is, so far as the power of Satan is concerned you and I have got to be free from his power, but we cannot be while we are in the flesh.
Here we shall be perplexed and hunted by him; but when we go into the spirit world there we are masters over the power of Satan, and he cannot afflict us anymore, and this is enough for me to know.
Whether the world is going to be burned up within a year, or within a thousand years, does not matter a groat to you and me. We have the words of eternal life, we have the privilege of obtaining glory, immortality, and eternal lives, now will you obtain these blessings?
Will you spend your lives to obtain a seat in the kingdom of God, or will you lie down and sleep, and go down to hell?
I want all the people to say what they will do, and I know that God wishes all His servants, all His faithful sons and daughters, the men and the women that inhabit this city, to repent of their wickedness, or we will cut them off.
I could give you a logical reason for all the transgressions in this world, for all that are committed in this probationary state, and especially for those committed by men.
There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their sins, whereas, if such is not the case, they will stick to them and remain upon them in the spirit world.
I know, when you hear my brethren telling about cutting people off from the earth, that you consider it is strong doctrine; but it is to save them, not to destroy them.
Of all the children of Israel that started to pass through the wilderness, none inherited the land which had been promised, except Caleb and Joshua, and what was the reason? It was because of their rebellion and wickedness; and because the Lord had promised Abraham that he would save his seed.
They had to travel to and fro to every point of the compass, and were wasted away, because God was determined to save their spirits. But they could not enter into His rest in the flesh, because of their transgressions, consequently He destroyed them in the wilderness.
I do know that there are sins committed, of such a nature that if the people did understand the doctrine of salvation, they would tremble because of their situation. And furthermore, I know that there are transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to God as an offering to appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might have its course. I will say further; I have had men come to me and offer their lives to atone for their sins.
It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can never remit. As it was in ancient days, so it is in our day; and though the principles are taught publicly from this stand, still the people do not understand them; yet the law is precisely the same. There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days; and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of turtle doves, cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man. That is the reason why men talk to you as they do from this stand; they understand the doctrine and throw out a few words about it. You have been taught that doctrine, but you do not understand it.
It is our desire to be prepared for a celestial seat with our Father in heaven. It was observed by brother Grant that we have not seen God, that we cannot converse with Him; and it is true that men in their sins do not know much about God. When you hear a man pour out eternal things, how well you feel, to what a nearness you seem to be brought with God. What a delight it was to hear brother Joseph talk upon the great principles of eternity; he would bring them down to the capacity of a child, and he would unite heaven with earth, this is the beauty of our religion.
When it was mentioned this morning about seeing God, about what kind of a being He was, and how we could see and measurably understand Him, I thought I would tell you. If we could see our heavenly Father, we should see a being similar to our earthly parent, with this difference, our Father in heaven is exalted and glorified. He has received His thrones, His principalities and powers, and He sits as a governor, as a monarch, and overrules kingdoms, thrones, and dominions that have been bequeathed to Him, and such as we anticipate receiving. While He was in the flesh, as we are, He was as we are. But it is now written of Him that our God is as a consuming fire, that He dwells in everlasting burnings, and this is why sin cannot be where He is.
There are principles that will endure through all eternity, and no fire can obliterate them from existence. They are those principles that are pure, and fire is made typical use of to show the glory and purity of the gods, and of all perfect beings. God is the Father of our spirits; He begat them, and has sent them here to receive tabernacles, and to prove whether we will honor them. If we do, then our tabernacles will be exalted; but if we do not, we shall be destroyed; one of the two—dissolution or life. The second death will decompose all tabernacles over whom it gains the ascendancy; and this is the effect of the second death, the tabernacles go back to their native element.
We are of the earth, earthy; and our Father is heavenly and pure. But we will be glorified and purified, if we obey our brethren and the teachings which are given.
When you see celestial beings, you will see men and women, but you will see those beings clothed upon with robes of celestial purity. We cannot bear the presence of our Father now; and we are placed at a distance to prove whether we will honor these tabernacles, whether we will be obedient and prepare ourselves to live in the glory of the light, privileges, and blessings of celestial beings. We could not have the glory and the light without first knowing the contrast. Do you comprehend that we could have no exaltation, without first learning by contrast?
When you are prepared to see our Father, you will see a being with whom you have long been acquainted, and He will receive you into His arms, and you will be ready to fall into His embrace and kiss Him, as you would your fathers and friends that have been dead for a score of years, you will be so glad and joyful. Would you not rejoice? When you are qualified and purified, so that you can endure the glory of eternity, so that you can see your Father, and your friends who have gone behind the veil, you will fall upon their necks and kiss them, as we do an earthly friend that has been long absent from us, and that we have been anxiously desiring to see. This is the people that are and will be permitted to enjoy the society of those happy and exalted beings.
Now for my proposition; it is more particularly for my sisters, as it is frequently happening that women say they are unhappy. Men will say, “My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day since I took my second wife;” “No, not a happy day for a year,” says one; and another has not seen a happy day for five years. It is said that women are tied down and abused: that they are misused and have not the liberty they ought to have; that many of them are wading through a perfect flood of tears, because of the conduct of some men, together with their own folly.
I wish my own women to understand that what I am going to say is for them as well as others, and I want those who are here to tell their sisters, yes, all the women of this community, and then write it back to the States, and do as you please with it. I am going to give you from this time to the 6th day of October next, for reflection, that you may determine whether you wish to stay with your husbands or not, and then I am going to set every woman at liberty and say to them, Now go your way, my women with the rest, go your way. And my wives have got to do one of two things; either round up their shoulders to endure the afflictions of this world, and live their religion, or they may leave, for I will not have them about me. I will go into heaven alone, rather than have scratching and fighting around me. I will set all at liberty. “What, first wife too?” Yes, I will liberate you all.
I know what my women will say; they will say, “You can have as many women as you please, Brigham.” But I want to go somewhere and do something to get rid of the whiners; I do not want them to receive a part of the truth and spurn the rest out of doors.
I wish my women, and brother Kimball’s and brother Grant’s to leave, and every woman in this Territory, or else say in their hearts that they will embrace the Gospel—the whole of it. Tell the Gentiles that I will free every woman in this Territory at our next Conference. “What, the first wife too?” Yes, there shall not be one held in bondage, all shall be set free. And then let the father be the head of the family, the master of his own household; and let him treat them as an angel would treat them; and let the wives and the children say amen to what he says, and be subject to his dictates, instead of their dictating the man, instead of their trying to govern him.
No doubt some are thinking, “I wish brother Brigham would say what would become of the children.” I will tell you what my feelings are; I will let my wives take the children, and I have property enough to support them, and can educate them, and then give them a good fortune, and I can take a fresh start.
I do not desire to keep a particle of my property, except enough to protect me from a state of nudity. And I would say, wives you are welcome to the children, only do not teach them iniquity; for if you do, I will send an Elder, or come myself, to teach them the Gospel. You teach them life and salvation, or I will send Elders to instruct them.
Let every man thus treat his wives, keeping raiment enough to clothe his body; and say to your wives, “Take all that I have and be set at liberty; but if you stay with me you shall comply with the law of God, and that too without any murmuring and whining. You must fulfil the law of God in every respect, and round up your shoulders to walk up to the mark without any grunting.”
Now recollect that two weeks from tomorrow I am going to set you at liberty. But the first wife will say, “It is hard, for I have lived with my husband twenty years, or thirty, and have raised a family of children for him, and it is a great trial to me for him to have more women;” then I say it is time that you gave him up to other women who will bear children. If my wife had borne me all the children that she ever would bare, the celestial law would teach me to take young women that would have children.
Do you understand this? I have told you many times that there are multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what is our duty?—to prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can; hence if my women leave, I will go and search up others who will abide the celestial law, and let all I now have go where they please; though I will send the Gospel to them.
This is the reason why the doctrine of plurality of wives was revealed, that the noble spirits which are waiting for tabernacles might be brought forth.
If the men of the world were right, or if they were anywhere near right, there might not be the necessity which there now is. But they are wholly given up to idolatry, and to all manner of wickedness.
Do I think that my children will be damned? No, I do not, for I am going to fight the devil until I save them all; I have got my sword ready, and it is a two-edged one. I have not a fear about that, for I would almost be ashamed of my body if it would beget a child that would not abide the law of God, though I may have some unruly children.
I am going to ask you a good many things, and to begin with I will ask, what is your prayer? Do you not ask for the righteous to increase, while the unrighteous shall decrease and dwindle away? Yes, that is the prayer of every person that prays at all. The Methodists pray for it, the Baptists pray for it, and the Church of England and all the reformers, the Shaking Quakers not excepted. And if the women belonging to this Church will turn Shaking Quakers, I think their sorrows will soon be at an end.
Sisters, I am not joking, I do not throw out my proposition to banter your feelings, to see whether you will leave your husbands, all or any of you. But I do know that there is no cessation to the everlasting whining of many of the women in this Territory; I am satisfied that this is the case. And if the women will turn from the commandments of God and continue to despise the order of heaven, I will pray that the curse of the Almighty may be close to their heels, and that it may be following them all the day long. And those that enter into it and are faithful, I will promise them that they shall be queens in heaven, and rulers to all eternity.
“But,” says one, “I want to have my paradise now.” And says another, “I did think I should be in paradise if I was sealed to brother Brigham, and I thought I should be happy when I became his wife, or brother Heber’s. I loved you so much, that I thought I was going to have a heaven right off, right here on the spot.”
What a curious doctrine it is, that we are preparing to enjoy! The only heaven for you is that which you make yourselves. My heaven is here—[laying his hand upon his heart]. I carry it with me. When do I expect it in its perfection? When I come up in the resurrection; then I shall have it, and not till then.
But now we have got to fight the good fight of faith, sword in hand, as much so as men have when they go to battle; and it is one continual warfare from morning to evening, with sword in hand. This is my duty, and this is my life.
But the women come and say, “Really brother John, and brother William, I thought you were going to make a heaven for me,” and they get into trouble because a heaven is not made for them by the men, even though agency is upon women as well as upon men. True there is a curse upon the woman that is not upon the man, namely, that “her whole affections shall be towards her husband,” and what is the next? “He shall rule over you.”
But how is it now? Your desire is to your husband, but you strive to rule over him, whereas the man should rule over you.
Some may ask whether that is the case with me; go to my house and live, and then you will learn that I am very kind, but know how to rule.
If I had only wise men to talk to, there would be no necessity for my saying what I am going to say. Many and many an Elder knows no better than to go home and abuse as good a woman as dwells upon this earth, because of what I have said this afternoon. Are you, who act in that way, fit to have a family? No, you are not, and never will be, until you get good common sense.
Then you can go to work and magnify your callings; and you can do the best you know how; and on that ground I will promise you salvation, but upon no other principle.
If I were talking to a people that understood themselves and the doctrine of the holy Gospel, there would be no necessity for saying this, because you would understand. But many have been (what shall I say? pardon me, brethren), henpecked so much, that they do not know the place of either man or woman; they abuse and rule a good woman with an iron hand. With them it is as Solomon said—“Bray a fool in a mortar among wheat, with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.” You may talk to them about their duties, about what is required of them, and still they are fools, and will continue to be.
Prepare yourselves for two weeks from tomorrow; and I will tell you now, that if you will tarry with your husbands, after I have set you free, you must bow down to it, and submit yourselves to the celestial law. You may go where you please, after two weeks from tomorrow; but, remember, that I will not hear any more of this whining.
In the midst of all my harsh sayings, shall I say chastisements?—I am disposed, in my heart, to bless this people; and I do bless you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

References[+]

References
1	Russell M.Nelson, BYU Devotional, September 17 2019 – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/love-laws-god/
2	Journal of Discourses vol. 4, pp. 51-57 – http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/9596

September 18, 2019

We will always teach truth #2

Excerpt from an address by Russell M. Nelson, September 17 2019: ¹

It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth. We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!

Excerpt from LDS prophet Harold. B. Lee’s book Decisions for Successful Living, 1973: ²

“The privilege of obtaining a mortal body on this earth is seemingly so priceless that those in the spirit world, even though unfaithful or not valiant, were undoubtedly permitted to take mortal bodies although under penalty of racial or physical or nationalistic limitations.”

References[+]

References
1	Russell M.Nelson, BYU Devotional, September 17 2019 – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/love-laws-god/
2	Decisions for Successful Living, Harold B. Lee – https://deseretbook.com/p/decisions-successful-living-harold-b-lee-78307?variant_id=20140-ebook

September 18, 2019

We will always teach truth #1

Excerpt from an address by Russell M. Nelson, September 17 2019: ¹

It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth. We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!

Excerpt from ‘Statement of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’, August 17, 1949: ²

“The attitude of the Church with reference to the Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the Priesthood at the present time. The prophets of the Lord have made several statements as to the operation of the principle.
President Brigham Young said: “Why are so many of the inhabitants of the earth cursed with a skin of blackness? It comes in consequence of their fathers rejecting the power of the holy priesthood, and the law of God. They will go down to death. And when all the rest of the children have received their blessings in the holy priesthood, then that curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will then come up and possess the priesthood, and receive all the blessings which we now are entitled to.”
President Wilford Woodruff made the following statement: “The day will come when all that race will be redeemed and possess all the blessings which we now have.”
The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the premortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality and that while the details of this principle have not been made known, the mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintain their first estate; and that the worth of the privilege is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the Negroes.”

References[+]

References
1	Russell M.Nelson, BYU Devotional, September 17 2019 – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/love-laws-god/
2	Letter from the First Presidency to Stewart Udall (referencing the letter) – https://archive.org/stream/StewartUdallConscienceOfAJackMormon/StuartUdall-OpenLetterOnRaceAndConsequencesOfConscience#page/n12/mode/1up

September 18, 2019

Paul vs Moroni

King James Bible passages in the Book of Mormon: ¹

When entire verses are verbatim or near verbatim copies (as is often the case), only the references to the corresponding scriptures are provided.

1 Nephi (600-570 BC)
1 Nephi 1:14 “…Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty!”	Revelation 15:3 “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty”
1 Nephi 2:16 “…the mysteries of God…”	1 Cor. 4:1 “…the mysteries of God…”
1 Nephi 2:24 “…to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…”
1 Nephi 3:2 “…Behold I have dreamed a dream…”	Judges 7:13 “Behold, I dreamed a dream…”
1 Nephi 3:20 “…spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets… since the world began…”	Acts 3:21 “…spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
1 Nephi 4:13 “…It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.”	John 11:50 “…it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.”
1 Nephi 5:8 “…Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath…”	Acts 12:11 “…Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath…”
1 Nephi 5:18, 11:36, 14:11, 19:17, 22:28 “…all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people…”	Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…”
1 Nephi 6:5 “…those who are not of the world.”	John 17:14 “…they are not of the world…”
1 Nephi 7:8, 15:4 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…”	Mark 3:5 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…”
1 Nephi 10:8 “…go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight…”	John 1:23 “…I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord…”
1 Nephi 10:8 “…there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”	John 1:26-27 “…there standeth one among you, whom ye know not…whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”
1 Nephi 10:9 “…in Bethabara, beyond Jordan…”	John 1:28 “…in Bethabara beyond Jordan…”
1 Nephi 10:10 “…the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.”	John 1:29 “…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
1 Nephi 10:18 “…he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever…”	Hebrews 13:8 “…Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
1 Nephi 10:18 “…the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world…”	Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…”
1 Nephi 11:7 “…bear record that it is the Son of God.”	John 1:34 “…bare record that this is the Son of God.”
1 Nephi 11:22 “…it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts…”	Romans 5:5 “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts…”
1 Nephi 11:35, 12:9, 13:41, 14:20, 24, 25, 27 “…the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”	Revelation 21:14 “…the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
1 Nephi 12:2, 12:21, 14:15 “…wars, and rumors of wars…”	Matthew 24:6 “…wars and rumours of wars…”
1 Nephi 12:10 “…their garments are made white in his blood.”	Revelation 7:14 “…their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
1 Nephi 13:27 “…pervert the right ways of the Lord…”	Acts 13:10 “…pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
1 Nephi 13:42 “…the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.”	Matthew 19:30 “…first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”
1 Nephi 14:10 “…the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.”	Revelation 17:5 “…THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
1 Nephi 14:11 “…the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters…”	Revelation 17:1 “…the great whore that sitteth upon many waters…”
1 Nephi 15:15 “…the true vine…”	John 15:1 “…I am the true vine…”
1 Nephi 15:24 “…the fiery darts of the adversary…”	Ephesians 6:16 “…the fiery darts of the wicked.”
1 Nephi 15:30 “…ascendeth up unto God forever and ever…”	Revelation 14:11 “…the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…”
1 Nephi 16:2 “…lifted up at the last day…”	John 6:40 “…I will raise him up at the last day.”
1 Nephi 17:39 “He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool.”	Isaiah 66:1 “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool…”
1 Nephi 17:55 “…honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.”	Exodus 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
1 Nephi 20:20, 21	Isaiah 48:20, 21
1 Nephi 22:15 “For behold…the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.”	Malachi 4:1 “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up…”
1 Nephi 22:17 “…they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.”	1 Corinthians 3:15 “…but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
1 Nephi 22:18 “…blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke…”	Acts 2:19 “…blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke…”
1 Nephi 22:20 “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.”	Acts 3:22-23 “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”
1 Nephi 22:25 “…there shall be one fold and one shepherd…”	John 10:16 “…there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
1 Nephi 22:31 “…endure to the end, ye shall be saved…”	Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
2 Nephi (588-545 BC)
2 Nephi 2:4 “…the same, yesterday, today, and forever.”	Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
2 Nephi 2:6 “…full of grace and truth.”	John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth.”
2 Nephi 2:9 “…the first-fruits unto God…”	Revelation 14:4 “…the firstfruits unto God…”
2 Nephi 4:17 “…O wretched man that I am!”	Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am!”
2 Nephi 4:18 “I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.”	Hebrews 12:1 “…seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…”
2 Nephi 5:25 “…to stir them up in remembrance of me…”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…”
2 Nephi 6:6, 16-18	Isaiah 49:22, 24-26
2 Nephi 6:9 “…manifest himself unto them in the flesh…”	1 Timothy 3:16 “…God was manifest in the flesh…”
2 Nephi 7	Isaiah 50
2 Nephi 8	Isaiah 51-52
2 Nephi 9:6 “…death hath passed upon all men…”	Romans 5:12 “…death passed upon all men…”
2 Nephi 9:7 “…this corruption could not put on incorruption.”	1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption…”
2 Nephi 9:12 “…death and hell must deliver up their dead…”	Revelation 20:13“…death and hell delivered up the dead…”
2 Nephi 9:15 “…must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel…”	2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…”
2 Nephi 9:16 “…they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still…”	Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…”
2 Nephi 9:18 “…endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame…”	Hebrews 12:2 “…endured the cross, despising the shame…”
2 Nephi 9:18 “…inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world…”	Matthew 25:34 “…inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…”
2 Nephi 9:18 “…their joy shall be full…”	John 15:11 “…that your joy might be full.”
2 Nephi 9:30 “But wo unto the rich…”	Luke 6:24 “But woe unto you that are rich!”
2 Nephi 9:33 “Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart…”	Acts 7:51 “…uncircumcised in heart…”
2 Nephi 9:34, 36 “…shall be thrust down to hell.”	Luke 10:15 “…shalt be thrust down to hell.”
2 Nephi 9:39 “…to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life…”	Romans 8:6 “…to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life…”
2 Nephi 9:42 “…whoso knocketh, to him will he open…”	Matthew 7:8 “…to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
2 Nephi 9:50, 51	Isaiah 55:1, 2
2 Nephi 10:9	Isaiah 49:23
2 Nephi 10:16 “…both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female…”	Galatians 3:28 “…neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female…”
2 Nephi 10:16 “…they who are not for me are against me…”	Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me…”
2 Nephi 12	Isaiah 2
2 Nephi 13	Isaiah 3
2 Nephi 14	Isaiah 4
2 Nephi 15	Isaiah 5
2 Nephi 16	Isaiah 6
2 Nephi 17	Isaiah 7
2 Nephi 18	Isaiah 8
2 Nephi 19	Isaiah 9
2 Nephi 20	Isaiah 10
2 Nephi 21	Isaiah 11
2 Nephi 22	Isaiah 12
2 Nephi 23	Isaiah 13
2 Nephi 24	Isaiah 14
2 Nephi 25:12 “…wars, and rumors of wars…”	Matthew 24:6 “…wars and rumours of wars…”
2 Nephi 25:12 “…the Only Begotten of the Father…”	John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father…”
2 Nephi 25:13 “…rise from the dead, with healing in his wings…”	Malachi 4:2 “…arise with healing in his wings…”
2 Nephi 25:20 “…there is none other name given under heaven…whereby man can be saved.”	Acts 4:12 “…there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
2 Nephi 25:29 “..shall in nowise be cast out.”	John 6:37 “…I will in no wise cast out.”
2 Nephi 26:9 “…the Son of righteousness shall appear…”	Malachi 4:2 “…shall the Sun of righteousness arise…”
2 Nephi 26:11 “…the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man.”	Genesis 6:3 “…My spirit shall not always strive with man…”
2 Nephi 26:12 “…Jesus is the very Christ…”	John 7:26 “…that this is the very Christ?”
2 Nephi 26:13, 30:8 “…every nation, kindred, tongue, and people…”	Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…”
2 Nephi 26:16 “…shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit…that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.”	Isaiah 29:4 “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”
2 Nephi 26:25 “…buy milk and honey, without money and without price.”	Isaiah 55:1 “…buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
2 Nephi 26:30 “…except they should have charity they were nothing.”	1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.”
2 Nephi 26:33 “…bond and free, male and female…both Jew and Gentile.”	Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female…”
2 Nephi 27:2 “…they shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.”	Isaiah 29:6 “Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.”
2 Nephi 27:4 “…stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink.”	Isaiah 29:9 “Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.”
2 Nephi 27:5 “For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered…”	Isaiah 29:10 “For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.”
2 Nephi 27:15, 17 “…Read this, I pray thee…And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed.”	Isaiah 29:11 “…Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed…”
2 Nephi 27:19 “…deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.”	Isaiah 29:12 “And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.”
2 Nephi 27:23 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…”	Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
2 Nephi 27:25-34	Isaiah 29:13-23
2 Nephi 28:15 “…pervert the right way of the Lord…”	Acts 13:10 “…wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
2 Nephi 28:15 “…they shall be thrust down to hell!”	Luke 10:15 “And thou…shalt be thrust down to hell.”
2 Nephi 28:23 “…even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.”	Revelation 20:10 “…into the lake of fire and brimstone…tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
2 Nephi 28:30 “…line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little…”	Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:”
2 Nephi 28:30 “…unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.”	Matthew 13:12 “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.”
2 Nephi 29:9 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…”	Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
2 Nephi 29:11 “…out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works…”	Revelation 20:12 “…the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
2 Nephi 30:9	Isaiah 11:4
2 Nephi 30:11-15	Isaiah 11:5-9
2 Nephi 31:4 “…the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.”	John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
2 Nephi 31:5 “…to fulfil all righteousness…”	Matthew 3:15 “…to fulfil all righteousness…”
2 Nephi 31:9 “…the straightness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate…”	Matthew 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way…”
2 Nephi 31:10 “…Follow thou me.”	John 21:22 “…follow thou me.”
2 Nephi 31:11 “…repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.”	Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…”
2 Nephi 31:13 “…speak with the tongue of angels…”	1 Corinthians 13:1 “…I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…”
2 Nephi 31:14 “…can speak with a new tongue…”	Mark 16:17 “…they shall speak with new tongues…”
2 Nephi 31:15 “…He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”	Matthew 24:13 “…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
2 Nephi 31:18 “…strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life…”	Matthew 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…”
2 Nephi 31:21 “…there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved…”	Acts 4:12 “…for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
2 Nephi 32:2 “…speak with the tongue of angels…”	1 Corinthians 13:1 “…speak with the tongues of men and of angels…”
2 Nephi 32:9 “…pray always, and not faint…”	Luke 18:1 “…always to pray, and not to faint…”
2 Nephi 33:9 “…enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life…”	Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate…Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…”
Jacob (544-421 BC)
Jacob 3:11 “…that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death.”	Revelation 21:8 “…in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Jacob 5:42 “…these which have once brought forth good fruit…are good for nothing save it be to be hewn down and cast into the fire.”	Matthew 3:10 “…every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
Jacob 5:47 “…what could I have done more in my vineyard?”	Isaiah 5:4 “What could have been done more to my vineyard…”
Jacob 5:47 “…I have digged about it… and I have dunged it…”	Luke 13:8 “…I shall dig about it, and dung it:”
Jacob 5:49 “…they shall not cumber the ground…”	Luke 13:7 “…why cumbereth it the ground?”
Jacob 5:63 “…the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last…”	Matthew 19:30 “…first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”
Jacob 6:4 “…he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people;”	Romans 10:21 “…All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”
Jacob 6:6 “…today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…”	Hebrews 3:7, 8 “…To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts…”
Jacob 6:10 “…whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever…endless torment.”	Revelation 14:11 “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…”
Jacob 6:11 “…enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.”	Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate…narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…”
Enos (544-420 BC)
Enos 1:1 “…in the nurture and admonition of the Lord…”	Ephesians 6:4 “…in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Enos 1:8 “…thy faith hath made thee whole.”	Matthew 9:22 “…thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Enos 1:15 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.”	Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Enos 1:27 “…my mortal shall put on immortality…”	1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this mortal must put on immortality.”
Enos 1:27 “…Come unto me, ye blessed…of my Father.”	Matthew 25:34 “…Come, ye blessed of my Father…”
Enos 1:27 “…there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father.”	John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.”
Omni (361-130 BC)
Omni 1:26 “…endure to the end…ye will be saved.”	Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Mosiah (130-91 BC)
Mosiah 1:12 “…name that never shall be blotted out…”	Revelation 3:5 “…I will not blot out his name out of the book of life…”
Mosiah 1:17 “…to stir them up in remembrance…”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”
Mosiah 3:5 “…the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth…”	Revelation 19:6 “…the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
Mosiah 3:13 “…to every kindred, nation, and tongue…”	Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…”
Mosiah 3:17 “…there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come…”	Acts 4:12 “…salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Mosiah 3:18 “…become as little children…”	Matthew 18:3 “…become as little children…”
Mosiah 3:27 “…their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever.”	Revelation 14:10, 11 “…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…”
Mosiah 4:6 “…prepared from the foundation of the world…”	Matthew 25:34 “…prepared for you from the foundation of the world…”
Mosiah 4:9 “…believe that he is…”	Hebrews 11:6 “…believe that he is…”
Mosiah 5:8 “…There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh;”	Acts 4:12 “…there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Mosiah 5:13 “…the thoughts and intents of his heart…”	Hebrews 4:12 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Mosiah 5:15 “…ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works…”	1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…”
Mosiah 5:15 “…the Lord God Omnipotent…”	Revelation 19:6 “…the Lord God omnipotent…”
Mosiah 6:3 “…to stir them up in remembrance…”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”
Mosiah 7:30 “…they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind…”	Hosea 8:7 “…they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…”
Mosiah 10:8 “…a leathern girdle about their loins.”	Matthew 3:4 “…a leathern girdle about his loins…”
Mosiah 12:21-24	Isaiah 52:7-10
Mosiah 12:34-36	Exodus 20:2-4
Mosiah 13:12-24	Exodus 20:4-17
Mosiah 14:1-12	Isaiah 53:1-12
Mosiah 15:14 “…who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!”	Isaiah 52:7 “…him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”
Mosiah 15:29-31	Isaiah 52:8-10
Mosiah 16:2 “…the wicked be cast out…and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth…”	Matthew 22:13 “…cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Mosiah 16:3 “…that old serpent…”	Revelation 20:2 “…that old serpent…”
Mosiah 16:3 “…serpent that did beguile our first parents…”	2 Corinthians 11:3 “…the serpent beguiled Eve…”
Mosiah 16:3 “…carnal, sensual, devilish…”	James 3:15 “…earthly, sensual, devilish.”
Mosiah 16:7 “…that death should have no sting…”	1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is thy sting?”
Mosiah 16:8 “…death is swallowed up in Christ.”	1 Corinthians 15:54 “…Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Mosiah 16:9 “He is the light and the life of the world…”	John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…”
Mosiah 16:10 “…this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption…”	1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Mosiah 16:11 “If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation…”	John 5:29 “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Mosiah 16:14 “…it is a shadow of those things which are to come…”	Colossians 2:17 “Which are a shadow of things to come…”
Mosiah 18:13 “…prepared from the foundation of the world.”	Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”
Mosiah 18:21 “…one faith and one baptism…”	Ephesians 4:5 “…one faith, one baptism,”
Mosiah 18:21 “…their hearts knit together in unity and in love…”	Colossians 2:2 “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love…”
Mosiah 23:13 “…stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free…”	Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…”
Mosiah 26:27 “And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them…”	Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you…”
Mosiah 26:27 “…depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”	Matthew 25:41 “…Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
Mosiah 26:37 “…walking circumspectly…”	Ephesians 5:15 “…walk circumspectly…”
Mosiah 26:39 “…pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.”	1 Thessalonians 5:17, 18 “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks…”
Mosiah 27:29 “…the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.”	Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”
Mosiah 27:31 “…every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess…”	Philippians 2:10, 11 “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…And that every tongue should confess…”
Alma (91-53 BC)
Alma 1:25 “…stand fast in the faith…”	1 Corinthians 16:13 “…stand fast in the faith…”
Alma 1:25 “…they were steadfast and immovable…”	1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable…”
Alma 4:19 “…to stir them up in remembrance…”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”
Alma 5:15 “…this corruption raised in incorruption…”	1 Corinthians 15:42 “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:”
Alma 5:24 “…sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob…”	Matthew 8:11 “…sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”
Alma 5:27 “…garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ…”	Revelation 7:14 “…have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Alma 5:50 “…Repent…for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand…”	Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Alma 5:35 “…hewn down and cast into the fire…”	Matthew 3:10 “…hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
Alma 5:48 “…the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth.”	John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Alma 9:26 “…the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth…”	John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Alma 5:48 “…it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world…”	John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Alma 5:48 “…believeth on his name.”	John 1:12 “…believe on his name:”
Alma 5:54 “…bring forth works which are meet for repentance—“	Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”
Alma 12:15 “…bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.”	Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”
Alma 5:57 “…come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things…”	2 Corinthians 6:17 “…come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”
Alma 7:9 “…Repent ye…the kingdom of heaven is at hand…”	Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Alma 7:14 “…if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven…”	John 3:3 “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Alma 7:14 “…the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world…”	John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Alma 7:14 “…to cleanse from all unrighteousness.”	1 John 1:9 “…to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Alma 7:15 “…lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you…”	Hebrews 12:1 “…let us lay aside…the sin which doth so easily beset us…”
Alma 7:20 “…neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning…”	James 1:17 “…the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
Alma 7:21 “…he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness.”	Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still…”
Alma 7:24 “…see that ye have faith, hope, and charity…”	1 Corinthians 13:13 “…now abideth faith, hope, charity…”
Alma 7:24 “…ye will always abound in good works.”	2 Corinthians 9:8 “…ye… may abound to every good work:”
Alma 7:25 “…sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…in the kingdom of heaven…”	Matthew 8:11 “…sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”
Alma 9:20 “…every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people…”	Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”
Alma 37:4 “…every nation, kindred, tongue, and people…”	Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”
Alma 9:25 “…Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;”	Matthew 4:17 “…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Alma 10:20 “…repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”	Matthew 4:17 “…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Alma 9:26 “…his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth…”	John 1:14 “…(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Alma 10:17 “…O ye wicked and perverse generation…”	Matthew 17:17 “…O faithless and perverse generation…”
Alma 11:39 “…he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;”	Revelation 22:13 “…the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
Alma 12:8 “…resurrection of the dead…both the just and the unjust…”	Acts 24:15 “…resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”
Alma 12:16 “…a second death…”	Revelation 20:14 “…the second death.”
Alma 12:17 “…their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever…”	Revelation 14:10, 11 “…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…”
Alma 12:27 “…it was appointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to judgment…”	Hebrews 9:27 “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Alma 12:35 “…I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.”	Hebrews 3:11 “So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)”
Alma 13:9 “…priests forever, after the order of the Son…”	Hebrews 5:6 “…Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
Alma 13:9 “…full of grace, equity, and truth…”	John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth.”
Alma 13:13 “…bring forth fruit meet for repentance…”	Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”
Alma 13:15 “…this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes…”	Hebrews 7:1, 2 “…this Melchisedec…To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all…”
Alma 13:20 “…the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction.”	2 Peter 3:16 “…they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
Alma 13:22 “…glad tidings of great joy…among all his people…”	Luke 2:10 “…good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”
Alma 13:28 “…watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted…”	Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…”
Alma 13:28 “…tempted above that which ye can bear…”	1 Corinthians 10:13 “…tempted above that ye are able…to bear…”
Alma 18:13 “…said unto him, Rabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king…”	John 1:38 “…said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master…”
Alma 18:32 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart…”	Hebrews 4:12 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Alma 19:9 “…Believest thou this?…”	John 11:26 “…Believest thou this?”
Alma 19:10 “…there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.”	Luke 7:9 “…I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
Alma 21:6 “…except we repent we shall perish…”	Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Alma 25:6 “…to be stirred up in remembrance…”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”
Alma 26:5 “…thrust in the sickle, and did reap…”	Revelation 14:15 “…Thrust in thy sickle, and reap…”
Alma 26:7 “…he will raise them up at the last day.”	John 6:40 “…I will raise him up at the last day.”
Alma 30:46 “…grieved because of the hardness of your heart…”	Mark 3:5 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…”
Alma 31:11 “…they did pervert the ways of the Lord…”	Acts 13:10 “…cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
Alma 31:17 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…”	Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Alma 31:37 “…taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.”	Matthew 6:25 “…Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on…”
Alma 32:13 “…he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.”	Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Alma 32:21 “…if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen…”	Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Alma 32:38 “…and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away…”	Matthew 13:6 “And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.”
Alma 32:41 “…springing up unto everlasting life.”	John 4:14 “…springing up into everlasting life.”
Alma 34:13 “…yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle…”	Matthew 5:18 “…one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Alma 34:29 “…cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.”	Matthew 5:13 “…good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
Alma 34:38 “…worship God…in spirit and in truth…”	John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Alma 36:18 “…who am in the gall of bitterness…”	Acts 8:23 “…thou art in the gall of bitterness…”
Alma 37:15 “…delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.”	Luke 22:31 “…Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:”
Alma 37:34 “…be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.”	Matthew 11:29 “…I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Alma 38:9 “…he is the life and the light of the world…”	John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
Alma 39:9 “…the lusts of your eyes…”	1 John 2:16 “…the lust of the eyes…”
Alma 40:2 “…this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption…”	1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Alma 41:4 “…mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption…”	1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Alma 40:13 “…cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth…”	Matthew 22:13 “…cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Alma 40:14 “…fearful looking for the fiery indignation…”	Hebrews 10:27 “…fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation…”
Alma 40:25 “…then shall the righteous shine forth…”	Matthew 13:43 “Then shall the righteous shine forth…”
Alma 41:11 “…are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity…”	Acts 8:23 “…art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”
Alma 41:11 “…without God in the world…”	Ephesians 2:12 “…without God in the world:”
Alma 42:2	Genesis 3:23, 24
Alma 42:27 “…whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely…”	Revelation 22:17 “…whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Alma 43:10 “…worship God in spirit and in truth…”	John 4:24 “…worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Alma 58:40 “…stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free…”	Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…”
Helaman (52-1 BC)
Helaman 3:29 “…the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder…”	Hebrews 4:12 “…the word of God is quick, and powerful…even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit…”
Helaman 3:30 “…at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob…”	Matthew 8:11 “…shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”
Helaman 5:8 “…lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven…”	Matthew 6:20 “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…”
Helaman 5:32 “…Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…”	Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Helaman 5:44 “…that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.”	1 Peter 1:8 “…with joy unspeakable and full of glory:”
Helaman 7:28 “…except ye repent ye shall perish…”	Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Helaman 8:14 “…as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.”	John 3:14 “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”
Helaman 8:25 “…laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt…”	Matthew 6:20 “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt…”
Helaman 9:21 “…ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye stiffnecked people…”	Acts 7:51 “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…”
Helaman 10:7 “…whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…”	Matthew 16:19 “…whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Helaman 10:8 “…say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain…”	Matthew 27:51 “…the veil of the temple was rent in twain…”
Helaman 10:9 “…ye shall say unto this mountain…”	Matthew 17:20 “…ye shall say unto this mountain…”
Helaman 11:4 “…to stir them up in remembrance…”	2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”
Helaman 12:26 “…They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation…”	John 5:29 “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Helaman 13:25 “…If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets…”	Matthew 23:30 “…If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.”
Helaman 13:29 “O ye wicked and ye perverse generation…”	Matthew 17:17 “…O faithless and perverse generation…”
Helaman 13:29 “…foolish and blind guides…”	Matthew 23:16 “…ye blind guides…”
Helaman 13:29 “…ye choose darkness rather than light?”	John 3:19 “…men loved darkness rather than light…”
Helaman 14:25 “And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.”	Matthew 27:52, 53 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
Helaman 15:1 “…your houses shall be left unto you desolate.”	Matthew 23:38 “…your house is left unto you desolate.”
Helaman 15:2 “…wo unto them which are with child…”	Matthew 24:19 “…woe unto them that are with child…”
Helaman 15:5 “…and they do walk circumspectly…”	Ephesians 5:15 “See then that ye walk circumspectly…”
Helaman 16:14 “And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy…”	Luke 2:10 “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…”
3 Nephi (1-35 AD)
3 Nephi 1:13 “…the time is at hand…”	Revelation 22:10 “…the time is at hand.”
3 Nephi 1:25 “…that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled…”	Matthew 5:18 “…one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
3 Nephi 6:14 “…and steadfast, and immovable…”	1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable…”
3 Nephi 7:8 “…like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire.”	2 Peter 2:22 “…The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
3 Nephi 9:13 “…be converted, that I may heal you?”	John 12:40 “…be converted, and I should heal them.”
3 Nephi 9:15 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…”	John 14:11 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…”
3 Nephi 9:16 “I came unto my own, and my own received me not…”	John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
3 Nephi 9:17 “And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name…”	John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
3 Nephi 9:18 “I am the light and the life of the world…”	John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…”
3 Nephi 9:18 “…I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.”	Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
3 Nephi 10:4 “…how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…”	Matthew 23:37 “…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…”
3 Nephi 10:5 “…how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens…”	Matthew 23:37 “…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…”
3 Nephi 11:7 “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased…hear ye him.”	Matthew 17:5 “…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
3 Nephi 11:11 “…I am the light and the life of the world…”	John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…”
3 Nephi 11:25 “…baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…”	Matthew 28:19 “…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
3 Nephi 11:27 “…the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one…”	1 John 5:7 “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.:”
3 Nephi 11:27 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…”	John 14:11 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…”
3 Nephi 11:27 “…the Father and I are one.”	John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”
3 Nephi 11:32 “…the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent…”	Acts 17:30 “…God…commandeth all men every where to repent:”
3 Nephi 11:33 “…whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved…”	Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…”
3 Nephi 11:34 “…whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.”	Mark 16:16 “…but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
3 Nephi 11:36 “…the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.”	1 John 5:7 “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.:”
3 Nephi 11:39 “…whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.”	Matthew 16:18 “…upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
3 Nephi 12:1 “…baptize you with water…baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost…”	Matthew 3:11 “…baptize you with water…baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:”
3 Nephi 12:3-45	Matthew 5:3-45
3 Nephi 12:47 “Old things are done away, and all things have become new.”	2 Corinthians 5:17 “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
3 Nephi 12:48	Matthew 5:48
3 Nephi 13:1-34	Matthew 6:1-34
3 Nephi 14:1-27	Matthew 7:1-27
3 Nephi 15:1 “…him will I raise up at the last day.”	John 6:44 “…I will raise him up at the last day.”
3 Nephi 15:2 “…old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.”	2 Corinthians 5:17 “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
3 Nephi 15:9 “…endure to the end, and ye shall live…”	Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
3 Nephi 15:17 “That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”	John 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
3 Nephi 16:15 “…salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot…”	Matthew 5:13 “…the salt have lost his savour…it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
3 Nephi 16:18-20	Isaiah 52:8-10
3 Nephi 18:13 “…built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall…”	Matthew 7:27 “…built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell…”
3 Nephi 18:15 “…watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted…”	Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…”
3 Nephi 18:18 “…watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation…”	Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…”
3 Nephi 18:18 “…Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.”	Luke 22:31 “…Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:”
3 Nephi 18:29 “…whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul…”	1 Corinthians 11:29 “…he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself…”
3 Nephi 18:35 “…it is expedient that I should go…”	John 16:7 “…It is expedient for you that I go…”
3 Nephi 19:23 “…I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.”	John 17:20-21 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…”
3 Nephi 19:29 “…I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me…that I may be glorified in them.”	John 17:9, 10 “…I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me…and I am glorified in them.”
3 Nephi 20:16, 17	Micah 5:8, 9
3 Nephi 20:18, 19	Micah 4:12
3 Nephi 20:23-26	Acts 3:22-26
3 Nephi 21:8 “…kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.”	Isaiah 52:15 “…kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.”
3 Nephi 21:9 “…the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them…”	Isaiah 29:14 “…I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder…”
3 Nephi 21:12-18	Micah 5:8-14
3 Nephi 21:29 “…they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.”	Isaiah 52:12 “…ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.”
3 Nephi 22:1-17	Isaiah 54:1-17
3 Nephi 24:1-18	Malachi 3:1-18
3 Nephi 25:1-6	Malachi 4:1-6
3 Nephi 26:3 “…the elements should melt with fervent heat…”	2 Peter 3:12 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
3 Nephi 26:3 “…and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll…”	Revelation 6:14 “…the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together…”
3 Nephi 26:3 “…the heavens and the earth should pass away;”	Revelation 21:1 “…the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…”
3 Nephi 26:4 “…all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues…”	Revelation 11:9 “…the people and kindreds and tongues and nations…”
3 Nephi 26:4 “…stand before God, to be judged of their works…”	Revelation 20:12 “…stand before God…judged…according to their works.”
3 Nephi 26:5 “If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation…”	John 5:29 “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
3 Nephi 26:18 “…and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.”	2 Corinthians 12:4 “…and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
3 Nephi 26:19 “…they had all things common…”	Acts 4:32 “…they had all things common.”
3 Nephi 27:6 “…whoso…endureth to the end, the same shall be saved…”	Matthew 24:13 “…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
3 Nephi 27:14 “…I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me…”	John 12:32 “…I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
3 Nephi 27:29 “…ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”	Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
3 Nephi 27:33 “…Enter ye in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein…”	Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
3 Nephi 27:33 “…the night cometh, wherein no man can work.”	John 9:4 “…the night cometh, when no man can work.”
3 Nephi 28:8 “…ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality…”	1 Corinthians 15:52-53 “…in the twinkling of an eye…we shall be changed…this mortal must put on immortality.”
3 Nephi 28:10 “…the Father and I are one;”	John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”
3 Nephi 28:13 “…caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.”	2 Corinthians 12:2,4 “…caught up to the third heaven…and heard unspeakable words…”
3 Nephi 28:15 “…whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell…”	2 Corinthians 12:3 “…whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell…”
3 Nephi 28:29 “…all nations, kindreds, tongues and people…”	Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”
3 Nephi 28:31 “…all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ;”	2 Corinthians 5:10 “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;”
4 Nephi (36-321 AD)
4 Nephi 1:3 “…they had all things common…”	Acts 2:44 “…and had all things common;”
4 Nephi 1:3 “…bond and free…”	Galatians 3:28 “…neither bond nor free…”
4 Nephi 1:3 “…partakers of the heavenly gift.”	Hebrews 6:4 “…tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers…”
4 Nephi 1:30 “…were rent in twain…”	Matthew 27:51 “…was rent in twain…”
Mormon (322-421 AD)
Mormon 3:15 “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay…”	Romans 12:19 “…Vengeance is mine; I will repay…”
Mormon 3:20 “…ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ…and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;”	2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Mormon 6:21 “…mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible…”	1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Mormon 6:21 “…ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ…”	2 Corinthians 5:10 “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…”
Mormon 7:5 “…gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.”	1 Corinthians 15:54, 55 “…Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?”
Mormon 7:8 “…repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus…”	Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…”
Mormon 7:9 “…this is written for the intent that ye may believe that…”	John 20:31 “…these are written, that ye might believe…”
Mormon 8:20 “…saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.”	Romans 12:19 “…Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
Mormon 8:30 “And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.”	Matthew 24:6,7 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars… in divers places.”
Mormon 8:31 “…in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.”	Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”
Mormon 9:2 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat…”	2 Peter 3:10 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat…”
Mormon 9:9 “…God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…”	Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Mormon 9:9 “…in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?”	James 1:17 “…with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
Mormon 9:14 “…he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still…”	Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…”
Mormon 9:22-24	Mark 16:15-18
Mormon 9:27 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…”	Philippians 2:12 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Mormon 9:29 “…endure to the end…”	Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end…”
Mormon 9:29 “…will in nowise be cast out.”	John 6:37 “…will in no wise cast out.
Ether (2200-600 BC)
Ether 4:11 “…the manifestations of my Spirit…”	1 Corinthians 12:7 “…the manifestation of the Spirit…”
Ether 4:18 “…he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned…”	Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Ether 4:18 “…and signs shall follow them that believe in my name.”	Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name…”
Ether 4:19 “…the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world.”	Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…”
Ether 12:4 “…an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast…”	Hebrews 6:19 “…an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…”
Ether 12:6 “…faith is things which are hoped for and not seen…”	Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Ether 12:8 “…partakers of the heavenly gift…”	Hebrews 6:4 “…tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers…”
Ether 12:11 “…God prepared a more excellent way…”	1 Corinthians 12:31 “…yet show I unto you a more excellent way.”
Ether 12:35 “…and take away their talent…”	Matthew 25:28 “Take therefore the talent from him…”
Moroni (400-421 AD)
Moroni 6:1 “…brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy…”	Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance…”
Moroni 6:2 “…a broken heart and a contrite spirit…”	Psalms 51:17 “…a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart…”
Moroni 6:4 “…Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.”	Hebrews 12:2 “…Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”
Moroni 6:7 “…their names were blotted out…”	Revelation 3:5 “…I will not blot out his name…”
Moroni 7:1 “…faith, hope, and charity…”	1 Corinthians 13:13 “…faith, hope, charity…”
Moroni 7:6 “…it profiteth him nothing.”	1 Corinthians 13:3 “…it profiteth me nothing.”
Moroni 7:7 “…it is not counted unto him for righteousness.”	Romans 4:3 “…it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
Moroni 7:16 “…the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil…”	1 Corinthians 12:7 “…the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
Moroni 7:17 “…no man to do good, no, not one…”	Romans 3:12 “…none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Moroni 7:18 “…with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.”	Matthew 7:2 “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged…”
Moroni 7:26 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name…it shall be done unto you.”	John 16:23 “…Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”
Moroni 7:26 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask…believing that ye shall receive…”	Matthew 21:22 “…all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Moroni 7:34 “…Repent…and be baptized in my name…”	Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…”
Moroni 7:39 “…I judge better things of you…”	Hebrews 6:9 “…we are persuaded better things of you…”
Moroni 7:43 “…he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.”	Matthew 11:29 “…I am meek and lowly in heart…”
Moroni 7:44 “…if he have not charity he is nothing…”	1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.”
Moroni 7:45 “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”	1 Corinthians 13:4-6 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;”
Moroni 7:46 “…if ye have not charity, ye are nothing…”	1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.”
Moroni 7:46 “…charity never faileth…”	1 Corinthians 13:8 “Charity never faileth…”
Moroni 7:46 “…charity, which is the greatest of all…”	1 Corinthians 13:13 “…the greatest of these is charity.”
Moroni 7:48 “…love, which he hath bestowed upon all… that ye may become the sons of God…””	1 John 3:1 “…what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us… that we should be called the sons of God…”
Moroni 7:48 “…when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is…”	1 John 3:2 “…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Moroni 7:48 “…that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.”	1 John 3:3 “…every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
Moroni 8:3 “…the name of his Holy Child, Jesus…”	Acts 4:30 “…the name of thy holy child Jesus.”
Moroni 8:8 “…the whole need no physician, but they that are sick…”	Matthew 9:12 “…They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick…”
Moroni 8:14 “…in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity…”	Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”
Moroni 8:16 “…them that shall ¹pervert the ways of the Lord…”	Acts 13:10 “…wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
Moroni 8:16 “…for they shall perish except they repent…”	Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Moroni 8:16 “…perfect love casteth out all fear.”	1 John 4:18 “…but perfect love casteth out fear…”
Moroni 9:6 “…the enemy of all righteousness…”	Acts 13:10 “…thou enemy of all righteousness…”
Moroni 9:22 “…they must perish except they repent…”	Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
Moroni 10:8 “…deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God…”	1 Corinthians 12:4 “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.”
Moroni 10:8 “…And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.”	1 Corinthians 12:5-7 “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
Moroni 10:9 “…to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;”	1 Corinthians 12:8 “…to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom…”
Moroni 10:10 “…to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;”	1 Corinthians 12:8 “…to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;”
Moroni 10:11 “…to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;”	1 Corinthians 12:9 “To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;”
Moroni 10:12 “…to another, that he may work mighty miracles;”	1 Corinthians 12:10 “To another the working of miracles…”
Moroni 10:13 “…to another, that he may prophesy…”	1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another prophecy…”
Moroni 10:14 “…to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;”	1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another discerning of spirits…”
Moroni 10:15 “…to another, all kinds of tongues;”	1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another divers kinds of tongues…”
Moroni 10:16 “…to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.”	1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another the interpretation of tongues.”
Moroni 10:17 “…all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.”	1 Corinthians 12:11 “…all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”
Moroni 10:19 “…he is the same yesterday, today, and forever…”	Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Moroni 10:20 “…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.”	1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three…”
Moroni 10:25 “…there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one…”	Romans 3:12 “…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Moroni 10:31 “…awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion…”	Isaiah 52:1 “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem…”
Moroni 10:32 “…then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect…”	2 Corinthians 12:9 “…My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect…”
Moroni 10:34 “…the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead…”	Acts 10:42 “…the Judge of quick and dead.”

Further Study

Book of Mormon Origins – https://www.bookofmormonorigins.com/

References[+]

References
1	KJV in the Book of Mormon — Case closed – https://kmabom.wordpress.com/kjv-in-the-book-of-mormon-case-closed/

April 14, 2019

Editing 2

General Conference talk given by Boyd K. Packer, ‘Cleansing the Inner Vessel’, October 2010:¹

Note: Bolded are the parts of the talk given in the original address, not appearing in written format on the official LDS church website.

This general conference was convened at a time when there is such confusion and such danger that our young people hardly know which way they can walk. Having been warned through the revelations that it would be this way, the prophets and apostles have always been shown what to do.

The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith “that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.” When the keys were restored, they provided priesthood authority to be present in every home through the grandfathers, the fathers, and the sons.

Fifteen years ago, with the world in turmoil, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” the fifth proclamation in the history of the Church. It qualifies according to the definition as a revelation, and it is a guide that members of the Church would do well to read and to follow.

It states in part: “We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”

“The Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them.

“And the Gods said: We will bless them. And … we will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”

This commandment has never been rescinded.

“And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”

It is intended that we be happy, for “men are, that they might have joy.”

Lehi taught that men are free and must be “free … to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day.”

The old saying “The Lord is voting for me, and Lucifer is voting against me, but it is my vote that counts” describes a doctrinal certainty that our agency is more powerful than the adversary’s will. Agency is precious. We can foolishly, blindly give it away, but it cannot be forcibly taken from us.

There is also an age-old excuse: “The devil made me do it.” Not so! He can deceive you and mislead you, but he does not have the power to force you or anyone else to transgress or to keep you in transgression.

To be entrusted with the power to create life carries with it the greatest of joys and dangerous temptations. The gift of mortal life and the capacity to kindle other lives is a supernal blessing. Through the righteous exercise of this power, as in nothing else, we may come close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy. This power is not an incidental part of the plan of happiness. It is the key—the very key.

Whether we use this power as the eternal laws require or reject its divine purpose will forever determine what we will become. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

There is something very liberating when an individual determines of his or her own free will to be obedient to our Father and our God and expresses that willingness to Him in prayer.

When we obey, we can enjoy these powers in the covenant of marriage. From our fountains of life will spring our children, our family. Love between husband and wife can be constant and bring fulfillment and contentment all the days of our lives.

If one is denied these blessings in mortality, the promise is that they will be provided for in the world to come.

Pure love presupposes that only after a pledge of eternal fidelity, a legal and a lawful ceremony, and ideally after the sealing ordinance in the temple, are those life-giving powers released for the full expression of love. It is to be shared only and solely between man and woman, husband and wife, with that one who is our companion forever. On this the gospel is very plain.

We are free to ignore the commandments, but when the revelations speak in such blunt terms, such as “thou shalt not,” we had better pay attention.

The adversary is jealous toward all who have power to beget life. Satan cannot beget life; he is impotent. “He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” He seeks to degrade the righteous use of the life-giving powers by tempting you into immoral relationships.

The Lord used the expression “is like unto” to create an image His followers could understand, such as:

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.”

In our day the dreadful influence of pornography is like unto a plague sweeping across the world, infecting one here and one there, relentlessly trying to invade every home, most frequently through the husband and father. The effect of this plague can be, unfortunately often is, spiritually fatal. Lucifer seeks to disrupt “the great plan of redemption,” “the great plan of happiness.”

Pornography will always repel the Spirit of Christ and will interrupt the communications between our Heavenly Father and His children and disrupt the tender relationship between husband and wife.

The priesthood holds consummate power. It can protect you from the plague of pornography—and it is a plague—if you are succumbing to its influence. If one is obedient, the priesthood can show how to break a habit and even erase an addiction. Holders of the priesthood have that authority and should employ it to ~~combat~~ cast out these evil influences.

We raise an alarm and warn members of the Church to wake up and understand what is going on. Parents, be alert, ever watchful that this wickedness might threaten your family circle.

We teach a standard of moral conduct that will protect us from Satan’s many substitutes or counterfeits for marriage. We must understand that any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. From the Book of Mormon we learn that “wickedness never was happiness.”

Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn ~~temptations~~ tendencies toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone. Remember, ~~God~~ He is our Heavenly Father.

Paul promised that “God … will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” You can, if you will, break the habits and conquer an addiction and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must “watch and pray continually.”

Isaiah warned, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Years ago I visited a school in Albuquerque. The teacher told me about a youngster who brought a kitten to class. As you can imagine, that disrupted everything. She had him hold the kitten up in front of the children.

It went well until one of the children asked, “Is it a boy kitty or a girl kitty?”

Not wanting to get into that lesson, the teacher said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a kitty.”

But they persisted. Finally, one boy raised his hand and said, “I know how you can tell.”

Resigned to face it, the teacher said, “How can you tell?”

And the student answered, “You can vote on it!”

You may laugh at this story, but if we are not alert, there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature. A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance, what good would a vote against the law of gravity do?

There are both moral and physical laws “irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world” that cannot be changed. History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

Regardless of the opposition, we are determined to stay on course. We will hold to the principles and laws and ordinances of the gospel. If they are misunderstood either innocently or willfully, so be it. We cannot change; we will not change the moral standard. We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish.

“I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.”

Every soul confined in a prison of sin, guilt, or perversion has a key to the gate. The key is labeled “repentance.” If you know how to use this key, the adversary cannot hold you. The twin principles of repentance and forgiveness exceed in strength the awesome power of the tempter. If you are bound by a habit or an addiction that is unworthy, you must stop conduct that is harmful. Angels will coach you, and priesthood leaders will guide you through those difficult times.

Nowhere are the generosity and the kindness and mercy of God more manifest than in repentance. Do you understand the consummate cleansing power of the Atonement made by the Son of God, our Savior, our Redeemer? He said, “I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.” In that supernal act of love, the Savior paid the penalties for our sins so that we might not have to pay.

For those who truly desire it, there is a way back. Repentance is like unto a detergent. Even ground-in stains of sin will come out.

Priesthood holders carry with them the antidote to remove the terrible images of pornography and to wash away guilt. The priesthood has the power to unlock the influence of our habits, even to unchain from addiction, however tight the grip. It can heal over the scars of past mistakes.

I know of no more beautiful and consoling words in all of revelation than these: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”

Sometimes, even after confession and paying penalties, the most difficult part of repentance is to forgive one’s self. You must come to know that forgiveness means forgiveness.

“As often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.”

President Joseph Fielding Smith told me of a repentant woman struggling to find her way out of a very immoral life. She asked him what she should do now.

In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Lot’s wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt. Then he asked her, “What lesson do you gain from those verses?”

She answered, “The Lord will destroy the wicked.”

“Not so!” President Smith said that the lesson for this repentant woman and for you is “Don’t look back!”

Strangely enough, it may be that the simplest and most powerful prevention and cure for pornography, or any unclean act, is to ignore and avoid it. Delete from the mind any unworthy thought that tries to take root. Once you have decided to remain clean, you are asserting your God-given agency. And then, as President Smith counseled, “Don’t look back.”

I promise that ahead of you is peace and happiness for you and your family. The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is that a man and his wife and their children can be happy at home. And I invoke the blessings of the Lord upon you who are struggling against this terrible plague, to find the healing that is available to us in the priesthood of the Lord. I bear witness of that power in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

References[+]

References

1 ‘Cleansing the Inner Vessel’, October 2010 General Conference, Boyd K. Packer – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/turning-the-hearts?lang=eng

April 13, 2019

References
1	‘Cleansing the Inner Vessel’, October 2010 General Conference, Boyd K. Packer – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/turning-the-hearts?lang=eng

Editing

General Conference talk given by Hartman Rector Jr., ‘Turning the Hearts’, April 1981:¹

Note: Bolded are the parts of the talk given in the original address, not appearing in written format on the official LDS church website.

I consider it a great honor and a privilege to greet you this afternoon in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure the Lord is much concerned about the families of the earth today.

The family is the basic unit of society, and more importantly it is the basic unit of exaltation. It seems that nothing is more important to the Lord than a family. He has designed the greatest blessings for His children to be received through families, and the temple, of course, is the means of creating these eternal, exalted families.

I believe that families are under a more serious attack today than at any time since the beginning of the world, with the possible exception of the days of Noah. It must have been bad then too. Maybe we today are not quite as bad as they were. Moses recorded in the Book of Genesis: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5.) I don’t believe I have ever known anyone quite that bad, whose “every thought was evil continually.”

The Lord further indicated that all flesh was corrupt in those days, and so he brought forth the flood and destroyed all flesh except Noah and his family. Therefore, we are all descendants of righteous Noah. But the family concept is under very serious attack today all over the world.

In many countries of the world today birth control is practiced. In some countries only one child per family is permitted. This is controlled through birth control, abortion and sterilization. If a second child is born the government takes it to rear. Since the real strength of a nation is in her families, I fear that such restrictions will literally destroy these nations. A documentary for TV was produced recently where it was shown that old people are dying for lack of love and attention. It seem s that children no longer care enough for their aged parents to visit them. Well, why should they anyway. The government takes care of them so why should the children bother with that chore. Today some governments pay full time employees to do nothing but visit their old people. It appears that this is one of the hidden evils which destroy families. Children no longer have to worry about their parents in their old age, so they completely neglect them.

The Lord said from Mt. Sinai, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Ex. 20:12.) There’s precious little honor shown as children not even visit their parents. Of course we’re not lily white in this area here in the United States either. In 1980 was the year of the family here in the US of A. There were White House conferences held on the family in Maryland, Minnesota, and California, with delegates chosen from each state. In most states there was an attempt to get a resolution passed by the state convention, defining the family as any group of people living together. Not the traditional father, mother, children relationship but any group of people living together. And whom do you supposed would sponsor such a resolution. Is those who represent the so-called alternate lifestyle. Birth control is rampant. Sterilization, vasectomies increase annually. The statistics on abortion in the United States are mind boggling. For example, abortions will kill over 2 million babies in the next 12 months. Which amounts to three abortions every 60 seconds. Abortions kill more Americans in one year than all the wars did from Valley Forge to Vietnam. 8 Million American babies have been slaughtered since January the 22nd 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Over 3 million dollars of American tax payers money will be used to pay for government funded abortions this year. How frightening.

As I mentioned earlier we seem to have conditions today similar to those Noah faced; and the Lord speaks of smiting the earth with a curse, as happened at the time of the flood, and this will happen if there is not a turning of “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” (Mal. 4:6.)

There are those who feel that this turning of the hearts is strictly Elijah’s job, but in Doctrine and Covenants 98:16 [D&C 98:16] the Lord seems to give us that assignment. He said, “Seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children.”
Elijah came and delivered the keys, but the Lord looks to us to do the work. In a little plainer translation of the Malachi scripture, the Lord said:
“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.” (D&C 2:1–3; see also JS—H 1:38–39.)

We, then, are in the very serious business of attempting to save the earth or to keep it from being “wasted” when the Lord comes. I have often wondered how or why the earth would be wasted if Children’s hearts did not turn to their fathers. Today is very clear for all to see. When the Lord comes if he finds nothing but birth control, abortion, sterilization, homosexuals the earth is wasted. What was the purpose of his creation anyway. The Lord said “we would go down for there is space there, and we will take of these materials and make an earth, whereon theses” meaning all of us “may dwell.” This earth was created so God the Father would have a place to send His children to receive bodies of flesh and bones and prove themselves. If we will no longer permit the Lord to send his children to this earth, then the earth is wasted, and as in the days of the flood He will surely destroy it.
So what must we do? We must follow the living prophet, for herein is our only safety. He says, among other things:

1. Complete four-generation family records and as far beyond as you can go.

2. Write a personal and family history.

3. Perform a reasonable number of temple ordinances by attending the temple as often as is practical.

I personally believe that the writing of personal and family histories will do more to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to children than almost anything we can do. I am sure you will never turn your own children’s hearts more to you than you will by keeping a journal and writing your personal history. They will ultimately love to find out about your successes and your failures and your peculiarities. It will tell them a lot about themselves, too. They will get a great desire to raise a family of their own when they see what a great blessing they were to you.

If children have a happy family experience they will not want to be homosexuals, which I am sure is an acquired addiction just as drugs, alcohol and pornography are. The promoters of homosexuality say they were born that way. But I do not believe this is true. There are no female spirits trapped in male bodies and vice versa. He who made them, made them male and female. Every form of homosexuality is sin said the living prophet Spencer W. Kimball.

Also, I seriously doubt that you will ever turn your own heart more to your own fathers than by writing your family history. You must know a lot about them before you can write it. This will lead you to much in-depth research. I promise you will love them when you become acquainted with them. They were noble people, and they sacrificed much to give you the heritage you have today. They deserve the best you can give them, which of course is membership in the Church and the kingdom of God and the sealing of their loved ones to them.

I am convinced that these records we are commanded to write are absolutely vital, not only to the salvation of our ancestors but also to ours, for are we not to be judged out of the books which John saw were to be opened, as recorded in Revelation 20:12 [Rev. 20:12]?

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

After quoting this verse from Revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 128:7–8 [D&C 128:7–8]:
“You will discover in this quotation that the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; but the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works; consequently, the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works, and refer to the records which are kept on the earth. …

“Now, the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Or, in other words, taking a different view of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.)
Sometimes we feel we just don’t have time to write in our journals. I wonder. President Kimball stood before the World Conference on Records last August and said: “By now, in my own personal history, I have managed to fill seventy-eight large volumes, which are my personal journal. There have been times when I have been so tired at the end of a day that the effort could hardly be managed, but I am so grateful that I have not let slip away from me and my posterity those things which needed to be recorded.” (Ensign, Oct. 1980, p. 72.)

I am convinced that it is not what we have done here upon the earth that will condemn us at the last day; it is what we have not done that will ultimately stand to judge us. Why? Well the bad things we have done we can repent of and because the Lord Jesus Christ paid for these sins they will be blotted out. So they obviously won’t hurt us. The good things we have done we should record in our journals and personal history and the good things surely won’t hurt us. But the things we have not done, how do we repent of them. It’s what we should have done, and didn’t do, that will constitute our judgment.

Is there any wonder the prophet Joseph said, “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. Those saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.” (Teachings of the Prophet, p. 193.)

To become a savior on Mount Zion, then, goes far beyond the performance of the temple ordinance. It encompasses the personal and family history as well as the four-generation-and-beyond research—plus participation in the extraction program.

Of course, none of this would mean very much if we did not have a holy house in which to perform this work. In this sense, temple building then becomes the most important work of this dispensation. How glorious to live upon the earth at this time and have part in the grand work of rearing the Lord’s house in nations around the world so the saving ordinances of the gospel and the ties that bind eternal families may be made available to all the children of the earth! Surely we are the most blessed people who have ever lived, to which I bear witness in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.

Gary Bergera wrote to Elder Rector inquiring about the difference between the published version of his talk and the version reported in the Deseret News, Church News, and Salt Lake Tribune. Elder Rector replied in a hand-written note: ²

“Sometimes it is not expedient to make people angry by telling them in too plain terms what their problems are. … Also the church [is] hoping to gain entrance into communist China so didn’t want to make waves,” according to an article in Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought. “I presume a combination of things made the First Presidency decide to eliminate certain portions of my remarks even tho’ they had received and cleared the talk before it was given. It is OK. They know best. However, what was said is still true.”

(Gary J. Bergera, Letter to Hartman Rector, 11 May 1981; undated response handwritten on the bottom of the letter by Hartman Rector.)

References[+]

References
1	Turning the Hearts, Hartman Rector Jr, April 1981 General Conference – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/turning-the-hearts?lang=eng
2	The LDS conference sermon you read online may not match the words spoken from the pulpit — a look at why speeches are sometimes ‘corrected’, The Salt Lake Tribune – https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/12/17/lds-conference-sermon/

April 11, 2019

Revelation

Excerpt from a Young Adult Devotional talk by Russell M. Nelson, January 10, 2016: ¹

This prophetic process was followed in 2012 with the change in minimum age for missionaries and again with the recent additions to the Church’s handbook, consequent to the legalization of same-sex marriage in some countries. Filled with compassion for all, and especially for the children, we wrestled at length to understand the Lord’s will in this matter. Ever mindful of God’s plan of salvation and of His hope for eternal life for each of His children, we considered countless permutations and combinations of possible scenarios that could arise. We met repeatedly in the temple in fasting and prayer and sought further direction and inspiration. And then, when the Lord inspired His prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord, each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation. It was our privilege as Apostles to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson. Revelation from the Lord to His servants is a sacred process, and so is your privilege of receiving personal revelation.

Excerpt from a ‘A Message from the First Presidency’, First Presidency Shares Messages from General Conference Leadership Session, 4 April 2019: ²

At the direction of the First Presidency, President Oaks shared that effective immediately, children of parents who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender may be baptized without First Presidency approval if the custodial parents give permission for the baptism and understand both the doctrine that a baptized child will be taught and the covenants he or she will be expected to make.

A nonmember parent or parents (including LGBT parents) can request that their baby be blessed by a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder. These parents need to understand that congregation members will contact them periodically, and that when the child who has been blessed reaches 8 years of age, a Church member will contact them and propose that the child be baptized.

Previously, our handbook characterized same-gender marriage by a member as apostasy. While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of Church discipline. Instead, the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way.

The very positive policies announced this morning should help affected families. In addition, our members’ efforts to show more understanding, compassion and love should increase respect and understanding among all people of goodwill. We want to reduce the hate and contention so common today. We are optimistic that a majority of people — whatever their beliefs and orientations — long for better understanding and less contentious communications. That is surely our desire, and we seek the help of our members and others to attain it.

These new policies are being sent to priesthood leaders worldwide and will be included in online updates to our Church handbook for leaders. These changes do not represent a shift in Church doctrine related to marriage or the commandments of God in regard to chastity and morality. The doctrine of the plan of salvation and the importance of chastity will not change. These policy changes come after an extended period of counseling with our brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and after fervent, united prayer to understand the will of the Lord on these matters.

References[+]

References
1	Becoming True Millennials, Russell M. Nelson, January 10, 2016 – https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2016/01/becoming-true-millennials?lang=eng
2	First Presidency Shares Messages from General Conference Leadership Session, 4 April 2019 – https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/first-presidency-messages-general-conference-leadership-session-april-2019

April 5, 2019

Leading Faiths

Quote from Elder Alessandro Dini-Ciacci, Area Seventy as published in Mormon Newsroom, March 9, 2009: ¹

“How inspiring it was for me to witness two of the leaders of the leading faiths in the world meet together and share brotherhood,”

List of Christian denominations by number of members: ²

“Catholic Church – 1.285 billion”
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – 16.1 million”

References[+]

References
1	Elder Alessandro Dini-Ciacci, Area Seventy, Mormon Newsroom, March 9, 2009 – https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/prophet-meets-pope-francis-vatican
2	List of Christian denominations by number of members, Wikipedia – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members

March 12, 2019