"The Priesthood Is Not So Much A Gift As It Is A Call To Serve"

I love General Conference!  It is always a true spiritual feast that I can literally feel all through my body and soul.  The messages really do come from Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost.  People are saying the words, but you can feel the inspiration and the Spirit.

I especially look forward to the Priesthood Session.  We usually get poked with a sharp stick, as my friend Gary McKell would say.  The stick of a call to duty, to do better, especially at being mindful for the women and children that bless us so much.  And the spirit is always very strong.

There is always an enthusiastic choir of fairly young men to get things going.  Today it came from the Salt Lake University Institute, another time it might be MTC missionaries (but they sang this afternoon this time) or the BYU mens' choir.  Today's group was just as wonderful as any of them.  They started out with "Jesus Savior Pilot Me".  After the opening prayer they continued with "Carry On".  Not only were they good, it turns out they were very appropriate for the theme of the meeting, which then began with ...

(what follows are highlights of thoughts that touched me)

Elder David A. Bednar

"If at this moment we were asked to state in one sentence what is unique what would our answer be?" Quoting President McKay, he said it was priesthood of Christ restored! Priesthood is how God acts through men to save souls.

The Priesthood is inherently active, not passive!  The Priesthood covenant requires worthiness and also doing our duty.

He shared a lesson learned from his nonmember father. We Priesthood holders are not inherently different from other people, but because we have God's priesthood, we should act differently.

Sisters yearn for men with not only Priesthood authority, but also Priesthood power. The power that comes from leading and living actively in righteousness.

Brother Richard Edgley, released today as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

Discussed the challenges less active members face in coming back to full activity.

Many want to return but are afraid. Rescuing one person often means rescuing many generations to come.

Brother Adrian Ochoa, counselor in general Young Men's presidency

Quoted Elder Holland from last conference, "We are at war!" Stand up boldly for what you know is true!

Asked Aaronic Priesthood quorum presidencies to raise the Title of Liberty in their quorums!

Quoted President Monson, Never underestimate the far reaching impact of your testimony!

The choir and congregation then stood to sing "Ye Elders Of Israel".  

President Uchtdorf

Importance of taking the assignment of issuing callings seriously. Show respect. Explain it's importance. Let the flame of enthusiasm be evident!

It is vital to catch the vision of why we do what we do, not just the what and how.

There are times we must walk into the darkness in faith!  Said with much passion and enthusiasm!

Beware of conflicting priorities! The fact that something is good is not enough!

Quoted Thomas Edison, "The value of an idea is in the use of it!"

Plead with God for guidance in your daily life! Promised us He will not leave us alone if we do this!

Do the right things even when they are hard!

Bore fervent testimony of the reality of the restoration of Christ's church and Priesthood power to the earth!

President Eyring

Discussed the sacred sealing power, and its blessing to families.

Keys of the sealing power is held personally by the Prophet. We use them as he authorizes and sanctions it.

"It is the will of the Lord to strengthen family units."  Quoted President Joseph Fielding Smith April 1972 general conference

Gave 4 steps to lead in righteousness in the home:

1.     Gain and keep a witness that the Prophet holds sealing keys today.

2.    Pray for your wife's love, put her happiness above your own.

3.    Salvation is a family affair. Children need to be reassured they are loved and wanted...often!

4.    Lead your family in the Lord's way when discipline is needed.  Control our tempers and our pride.

Bore witness that President Monson holds and exercises priesthood keys today

President Monson

Heartfelt, "Brethren, how good it is to be with you today!"

How blessed we are to live in these last days when we have the Priesthood.  The Priesthood is not so much a gift as it is a call to serve!

The call of duty came to Adam, to Noah, Abraham, Samuel, Lehi, Nephi

Quoted 1 Nephi 3:7.  Will we murmur like Laman or answer the call like Nephi ?

Duty is joy!

Let us be worthy to serve!

Miracles are everywhere around us!

Related powerful war story of young man using priesthood to command fallen comrade to stay alive until medical help could be obtained.

Repeated one of his favorite quotes "Do your duty. Leave unto the Lord the rest."

Brethren, the world is in need of our help!

Let us be willing and worthy to serve! Follow in the footsteps of the Master!

  

Salt Lake Institute men's choir sang the closing song "Dear to the heart of the Shepherd" the spirit was even stronger than the words.

I know there was even more here than what I wrote, and hope you will help me remember what else was said and felt tonight!

So much good, I could not note it all ... What did you hear that especially moved you?

Belief In God Compared To Gravity - Equally Important to a Peaceful Society?

A friend of mine recently quoted Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Frederick P. Rose Director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium: "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."


Pure scientific facts are indeed true whether or not you believe them.  But I respectfully and thoughtfully ask those who believe science and religion truth to be mutually exclusive to seriously consider that pure religious facts are also true whether or not you believe them.  Pure being the key word here.  Scientists are trained to be skeptical and to test and prove all assertions before accepting them as fact.  We humans are still learning new scientific facts, and just because there are some we have not yet proven does not immediately prove they are not true.  Likewise, just because we do not understand all that God knows, does not immediately disprove the value of religion.


Given this backdrop, I was especially excited to watch the YouTube recording of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of The Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, speaking to Harvard Law School students this past week.

Less than a minute into his presentation, Elder Holland shared a profound quote from a 19th century cleric:  “The loss of popular respect for religion is the dry rot of social institutions. The idea of God as the Creator and Father of all mankind is in the moral world, what gravitation is in the natural; it holds all together and causes them to revolve around a common center. Take this away, and men [and women] drop apart; there is no such thing as collective humanity, but only separate molecules [of men and women drifting in the universe] with no more cohesion [and no more meaning] than so many grains of sand.”[i]

Much more is available on the internet on Elder Holland's talk. I would encourage you to start by looking at  http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/harvard-hosts-mormon-apostle.  He does a wonderful job of explaining how Mormons are indeed Christians, that we believe that the Church that Christ personally established has been restored.  Our differences with other Christians center around not believing in some of the compromises reached in the 4th and 5th centuries, when Mormons believe that core principles of the Christian Church were changed by men.

Going back to the quotation, please take a moment to seriously it.  Hasn't the loss of popular respect for religion had precisely the impact on society and all of our lives that was predicted?  Please take a moment to ponder that question, and then comment to share your thoughts on it with the rest of us.  Thanks! 

Gold Flecks and Silage Pits

The Redlands California Temple as it looked this morning

Are you curious what gold flecks, loving the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, and silage pits have in common?  I was asked last night to present this talk to the High Priests group in church tomorrow.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on why Elder Ballard chose to relate these items to each other.


As for me, I thought it was brilliant!


http://brightcove.lds.com.edgesuite.net/assets/general-conference/2011-april/2011-04-2090-elder-m-russell-ballard-64k-eng.mp3

Elder Richard G. Scott on Personal Revelation ... twice

I have often wondered how I could tell the difference between an inspired impression from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost and something I thought of myself and felt good about.  Somewhere over this past weekend I heard it said at church that Elder Scott had asked this very question in a meeting once, and after some detailed group discussion, gave the answer that there is no difference, if you are keeping the commandments your good thoughts do come from the Lord.

The more I thought about that, the more I wanted to know if Elder Scott had really said it, or if he was misquoted somehow.  My search for an answer led me to two of his General Conference talks, one given in April 2007 (http://goo.gl/ohaEP), the other in October 2009 (http://goo.gl/nzrUh).  I never found the exact quote, but these two gems gave me great insight in to what he describes as the struggle to receive personal revelation ... and a good deal of comfort that Nephi's testimony that "the Lord ... giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" specifically applies to the commandment to pray ... and to work to hear and understand the answers we receive.

What Elder Scott says is far more instructive than anything I will write here, and I urge you to click on each of the links above to his talks, slowly allowing what the Lord said through him to sink deeply into your soul.  What I will write here is simply my own study notes.  The purple highlights are what I have marked in his talk, the other comments are my personal thoughts on those highlights.

• "Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father."

• Don’t worry about your clumsily expressed feelings. Just talk to your compassionate, understanding Father. You are His precious child whom He loves perfectly and wants to help. As you pray, recognize that Father in Heaven is near and He is listening.  Read that thought a few times ... it is so comforting!

• A key to improved prayer is to learn to ask the right questions. Consider changing from asking for the things you want to honestly seeking what He wants for you. Then as you learn His will, pray that you will be led to have the strength to fulfill it.   This concept is also very sobering to contemplate.

• Should you ever feel distanced from our Father, it could be for many reasons. Whatever the cause, as you continue to plead for help, He will guide you to do that which will restore your confidence that He is near. Pray even when you have no desire to pray. 

• I have learned much about prayer by listening to President Hinckley offer supplications in our meetings. You can also learn from him by carefully studying the exceptional public prayer he offered at the conclusion of the October 2001 conference for Father’s children throughout the world. He prayed from his heart, not from a prepared manuscript. (For convenience that prayer is reproduced at the end of this message.)  Be sure to click on "show references" at the end of the talk so that you will see this special, emotional prayer, given at General Conference held three weeks after the horrible events of September 11, 2011.

• Study that prayer [President Hinckley's], and you will find that there are no vain repetitions, no posturing to impress others, as sometimes occurs. He combines simple words eloquently. He prays as a humble, trusting son who knows well his beloved Father in Heaven. He confides in the certainty that His answer will come when most needed. 

• Seldom will you receive a complete response all at once. It will come a piece at a time, in packets, so that you will grow in capacity. As each piece is followed in faith, you will be led to other portions until you have the whole answer. 

• However, His answers will seldom come while you are on your knees praying, even when you may plead for an immediate response. 

• Hence, you should find periods of quiet time to recognize when you are being instructed and strengthened. His pattern causes you to grow.

•  Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. Your character will grow; your faith will increase. There is a relationship between those two: the greater your faith, the stronger your character; and increased character enhances your ability to exercise even greater faith.

• On occasion, the Lord will give you an answer before you ask. This can occur when you are unaware of a danger or may be doing the wrong thing, mistakenly trusting that it is correct.  Elder Scott continues this thought later in his talks.  I consider it to be part of the answer to whether our "good feelings" that may not always be accompanied by "burning in the bosom" are of God.  If we follow in good faith the still, small promptings we receive, He will not let us proceed too far down the wrong course of action without giving a warning prompting -- which still leaves it up to us to be quietly listening for.

• "life will be easier when you accept that what God does in your life is for your eternal good."

•  Obey the Master’s counsel to “study it out in your mind.” Often you will think of a solution; as you seek confirmation that your answer is right, help will come. It may be through your prayers, or as an impression of the Holy Ghost, and at times by the intervention of others.  The thought occurs to me that if we want the Lord's help in our own prayers, we should be willing to let him use us, through service, to be the answer to others' prayers.  This goes back to the encouragement Elder Scott gives us to ask in prayer what Heavenly Father's will is for us rather than for what we think we want.

• After quoting D&C 9:8-9 about the experience of Oliver Cowdery trying to translate without "studying it out in [his] mind", Elder Scott continues with:  Then the answer comes as a feeling with an accompanying conviction. The Savior defines two separate ways: “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost.”Answers to the mind and heart are messages from the Holy Ghost to our spirits. For me, response to the mind is very specific, like dictated words, while response to the heart is generalized, like a feeling to pray more.Then the Lord clarifies, “But if [what you propose] be not right you … shall have a stupor of thought.” That, for me, is an unsettling, discomforting feeling.

• Actually, He will reply in one of three ways. First, you can feel the peace, comfort, and assurance that confirm that your decision is right. Or second, you can sense that unsettled feeling, the stupor of thought, indicating that your choice is wrong. Or third—and this is the difficult one—you can feel no response.

• What do you do when you have prepared carefully, have prayed fervently, waited a reasonable time for a response, and still do not feel an answer? You may want to express thanks when that occurs, for it is an evidence of His trust. When you are living worthily and your choice is consistent with the Savior’s teachings and you need to act, proceed with trust. As you are sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit, one of two things will certainly occur at the appropriate time: either the stupor of thought will come, indicating an improper choice, or the peace or the burning in the bosom will be felt, confirming that your choice was correct. When you are living righteously and are acting with trust, God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision.   This is very reassuring to me.  At the same time it is very challenging, because it clearly puts the burden on each of us individually to "live righteously and act with trust".  Hence the need to study and pray deeply and daily, finding the quietest spot and time we can.  What a blessing the temple is in this regard ... I don't know that we can go too often.  With the strength gained from daily devotionals and a constant quiet prayer in our hearts, it is easier to find sin repulsive and to make correct choices in life.  

In his October 2009 talk, Elder Scott addresses the impact of sin on personal revelation:

• I share a warning. Satan is extremely good at blocking spiritual communication by inducing individuals, through temptation, to violate the laws upon which spiritual communication is founded,  Earlier in his talk he noted ...

• When such influences are present, it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeño pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Going now to the beginning of this October 2009 talk, Elder Scott adds additional counsel to that given in his earlier talk:

• Elder Scott quotes John Taylor relating an experience with Joseph Smith ... "he told me never to arise in the morning without bowing before the Lord, and dedicating myself to him during that day."

• I am convinced that there is no simple formula or technique that would immediately allow you to master the ability to be guided by the voice of the Spirit. 

• They [Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ] know that essential personal growth will come as you struggle to learn how to be led by the Spirit.  This is yet another way Satan can get us to wander in the mist of darkness saying "the struggle is too hard".  It isn't!  Heavenly Father is there with us and will never ask us to do something without providing the way to do it ... including this.

• I witness that as you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear.

• Spirituality yields two fruits. The first is inspiration to know what to do. The second is power, or the capacity to do it. These two capacities come together. That’s why Nephi could say, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.”

• As each impression came, I carefully wrote it down. ... After each ... impression was recorded, I pondered the feelings I had received to determine if I had accurately expressed them in writing. As a result, I made a few minor changes to what had been written. Then I studied their meaning and application in my own life.  Subsequently I prayed, reviewing with the Lord what I thought I had been taught by the Spirit. When a feeling of peace came, I thanked Him for the guidance given. I was then impressed to ask, “Was there yet more to be given?” ...[there was] ... Had I not responded to the first impressions and recorded them, I would not have received the last, most precious guidance.  Here is another thought worth reading and rereading carefully.

• I believe that you can leave the most precious, personal direction of the Spirit unheard because you do not respond to, record, and apply the first promptings that come to you.

• Have patience as you are perfecting your ability to be led by the Spirit. By careful practice, through the application of correct principles, and by being sensitive to the feelings that come, you will gain spiritual guidance. 

• Sometimes the impressions are just general feelings. Sometimes the direction comes so clearly and so unmistakably that it can be written down like spiritual dictation.

• I bear solemn witness that as you pray with all the fervor of your soul with humility and gratitude, you can learn to be consistently guided by the Holy Spirit in all aspects of your life. 

Returning to Elder Scott's earlier (April 2007) talk, he concludes with this reminder of the important role that sincere gratitude plays in prayer and in life,

An important aspect of prayer is gratitude. Jesus declared, “And in nothing doth man offend God … save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.” When we contemplate the incomparable gift of prayer and the limitless blessings that flow from it, honest appreciation fills our mind and heart to overflowing with thanksgiving. 

I am very grateful for the prompting I had to search for the answer to my question ... and that opportunity I received to prayerfully study and ponder this precious apostolic counsel as a result.  This means so much to me ... I hope it also does to you.

Jesus lives! And we can help Him help us.

Listening on today's walk ...

"You are my hands"  - http://t.co/MYJDYtx

True words from President Dieter Uchtdorf (April 2010 General Conference).  It comes from a sign placed by a statue of Jesus Christ after World War II damage left the hands too damaged to repair.  It was decided to leave the statue without hands to permanently remind us of the horrors of war ... but with the sign.

Jesus lives!  And we can help Him help us.

Celebrate Easter in August with beautiful music - http://t.co/4TFDvIi

Ezekiel Prophesies of the Book of Mormon, A Wonderful Additional Testament of Jesus Christ

In the past two days my scripture reading has taken me to Ezekiel 37-38 and to 3 Nephi 15-16.  Especially when reading the chapters in Ezekiel, I found the LDS Institute of Religion student manual very helpful (see http://institute.lds.org/manuals/old-testament-institute-student-manual-2/ot-in2-08-jer-ez-27.asp).

Sections 27-20 through 27-27 of the manual discuss Ezekiel 37-38.  Among other things, there are prophecies about writing on the "stick of Judah" and the "stick of Joseph" (Ezekiel 37:16) and the symbolism of these sticks being joined together.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe this is a prophecy of the coming forth of the Bible and the Book of Mormon to both testify of Christ.  There is also a discussion in the student manual that some bible scholars believe the word "stick" should be interpreted as "'rod or scepter' rather than a record of some kind".  The student manual goes on to present archaelogical findings as well as additional scriptures to discuss both points of view.  Like many prophecies, this one has dual meanings.  It is very interesting reading, I recommend it.

I also enjoyed the reminder that the Book of Mormon "will bring us to a knowledge of Christ".  President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is quoted on page 314 of the Book of Mormon Institute student manual, "The central purpose of the Book of Mormon is its testament of Jesus Christ.  Of more than 6,000 verses in the Book of Mormon, far more than half refer directly to Him."

President Packer goes on to quote a verse that is one of my favorites, "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."  (2 Nephi 25:26)

We cannot rejoice in Christ enough!  It is a true blessing to have an additional testament of Him.

Missionary calls really are inspired of God

Elder Ronald A. Rasband describes in detail how research is merged with prayer and faith to produce inspired missionary calls.  Every time.  Listen here: - http://t.co/QeKvUcY