There is a bigger lesson!

Today in our Sunday School class we discussed Zion's Camp. Zion's Camp was an expedition of approximately 225 Latter Day Saints or Mormons, mostly men, led by Joseph Smith, from Kirtland, Ohio to Clay County, Missouri during May and June 1834 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain the homes and land from which the Saints had been expelled by non-Mormon settlers.

 

" The Lord commanded Joseph Smith to gather a group of men to march from Kirtland to Missouri to help the Saints who had been driven from their lands in Jackson County. When Zion’s Camp reached eastern Clay County, Missouri, in late June 1834, a mob of over 300 Missourians came out to meet them—intent on their destruction. Under the direction of the Prophet Joseph, the brethren set up camp at the junction of the Little and Big Fishing Rivers.

The mob began to attack with cannon fire, but the Lord was fighting the battle of the Saints. Clouds quickly began to form overhead. The Prophet described the circumstances: “It began to rain and hail. … The storm was tremendous; wind and rain, hail and thunder met them in great wrath, and soon softened their direful courage and frustrated all their designs to ‘kill Joe Smith and his army.’ … They crawled under wagons, into hollow trees, filled one old shanty, etc., till the storm was over, when their ammunition was soaked.” After experiencing the pelting of the storm all night, “this ‘forlorn hope’ took the ‘back track’ for Independence, to join the main body of the mob, fully satisfied … that when Jehovah fights they would rather be absent. … It seemed as if the mandate of vengeance had gone forth from the God of battles, to protect His servants from the destruction of their enemies.”

When it became apparent that a mob army was confronting the Saints and that Governor Dunklin would not keep his promise to help them, the Prophet prayed for instruction from the Lord. The Lord told him that conditions were not then right for the redemption of Zion. The Saints had much to do to prepare their personal lives in order to build Zion. Many of them had not yet learned to be obedient to the things the Lord required: “Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer” (D&C 105:5–6).

The Lord instructed that Zion’s Camp should not pursue its military objective: “In consequence of the transgressions of my people, it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season for the redemption of Zion—That they themselves may be prepared, and that my people may be taught more perfectly” (D&C 105:9–10). The brethren in Zion’s Camp were honorably released, and the Prophet returned to Kirtland.

 

After the camp had traveled nearly 1,000 miles to Fishing River, near Jackson County, the Lord revealed that the Saints would have to wait for the redemption of Zion. Soon afterward, the Prophet disbanded the camp. The event is not without detractors, who say that Joseph Smith accomplished nothing that he set out to do. Fourteen men were killed. Others say that  Zion's Camp was a refining for those who participated. Many future leaders of the church came from those who marched with the prophet Joseph Smith.

 

One of the obvious lessons of Zions Camp is obedience. Many criticized the Prophet Joseph Smith. There was dissension not only in Missouri, but in Kirtland, Ohio as well. Some even left the church or sought position and power. We talked about obedience in class today and as we did I shared a personal family experience, that I think was a defining moment in my, if not our lives.

 

When our youngest daughter Ashlyn was turning eight she and we desired that she would be baptized in the Provo River behind our cabin in Woodland, Utah. We consider our "Pine Valley" a sacred spot and many ancestors and progeny have been baptized in the river. The baptism required the approval of our local church leaders and when we approached them we were told that church policy did not permit baptism outside of approved church facilities. To say the least we were very disappointed and I would even say disheartened and sad. We were not mad, but had a difficult time understanding why our son was able to be baptized there and Ashlyn was not.

 

Steve and I talked and decided that we could approach this in two ways. We could complain and criticize our leaders or we could teach and follow the principle of obedience. Either may potentially set up a life long pattern that would be either divisive or strengthening. We decided we would follow the counsel of our leaders and we would teach obedience and faith. Ashlyn was baptized in the font in our stake center.

 

We have rarely talked about this experience, but we are facing a similar experience with one of our grandchildren and I have rethought over and over again our choices at the time.

 

Today when I shared the experience, without naming names or specifying the situation, I told those in the class that our decision to teach the principle of obedience was actually a very spiritually freeing experience. We did not criticize, we did not question. Steve and I discussed the response and we did as we were told to do. In  fact, we chose to look for positives to make this experience as sacred as it should be. I have no regrets and I am sure we have all been blessed by the path we chose.

 

After Sunday School, a former Bishop in our ward and the one that counseled us at the time, tapped me on the shoulder and told me he had been talking to his family members at a recent reunion about our family. He said he did not know if this was the experience I was referring to, but he did say that he was sad himself that he could not grant our request, because he knew how sacred our valley was. He said that he remembers my husband, who had approached him with the request, saying we will do whatever we are directed to do (not a direct quote). "Yes," I told him," that was the same experience I was referring to." We were not angry, but very sad, but we believed and still believe that our covenants should direct our decisions and that the lesson of obedience and not being critical of  our leaders was the bigger lesson at the time and still is. I don't even know how much Ashlyn remembers the experience, but she has always been an obedient child, at least in a gospel sense, and usually in a "child" sense. She is a spiritually deep daughter who understands who she is and has faith in what the Lord has in store for her. She is much more faithful than I, and I hope that those blessings she has been given are due in a small part because at an early age we taught her the principle of obedience, by our desire to follow the counsel of a dear friend and Bishop. Some say that religious people sometimes follow blindly the teachings of leaders, and yes, there may be some who do, but as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we choose to follow with an abiding faith and a deep testimony that we are being lead by a prophet of God who receives revelation from our Father In Heaven to guide his church here upon the earth and leaders who, although human and not perfect, are ordained to lead and guide us.

 

“Brethren, some of you are angry with me, because you did not fight in Missouri; but let me tell you, God did not want you to fight. He could not organize His kingdom with twelve men to open the Gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless He took them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham” (History of the Church, 2:182).

 

When Brigham Young, my husband's third Great Grandfather, returned to Kirtland after Zion’s Camp, he was asked, “What have you gained by this journey?” He replied, “Just what we went for; … I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of [this] County” (in Journal of Discourses, 2:10).  We will all be tried and tested, even in the little things. How we react to it is the basis for our character and the stepping stones of our faith. This I Believe as well!

Don't Look Back ....We Believe In Eternity!

Our youngest daughter Ashlyn was married in the Salt Lake Temple the end of December 2015 to Scott. We believe that when a couple is married or "sealed" in a temple by one who has had the Holy Priesthood conferred on him and therefore has the authority to marry not just for time but also  for eternity. We will be married or sealed to our spouse forever if we honor covenants or promises that we make in the temple. Scott's uncle, Elder Brent Nielsen who is a member of the Mormon Church First Quorum of Seventy performed the sealing. I have been to some very thoughtful, inspiring sealings but Elder Nielsen took about 30 minutes to teach all of us about the temple and the Plan of Salvation, that we also refer to as the Plan of Happiness. I wasn't able to take notes as I was seated next to the Bride, but I tried to write what I remembered later. He taught so beautifully and so simply and couched his teachings in words that we could talk about outside the temple.

He first said that as you leave the temple today, you are now in that, "lone and dreary world,"  and the first thing that Satan did was to try and instill embarrassment, guilt and fear into the hearts of Adam and Eve, and in turn us. The opposite of fear is faith. In the garden, according to Abraham, Adam and Eve were both naked and were not ashamedl Genesis tells us that after eating the forbidden fruit, they knew they were naked and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, because they were afraid. FEAR! If you have faith you will not fear and vice versa.

Eve with her driving maternal instincts and qualities, made all her decisions based on her children. Adam had to learn that from her. Elder Nielson told the men to value their wives and their concerns and opinions.

Genesis said that the Lord made coats of skin for Adam and Eve and he clothed them. They were given their temple endowments or part of them before the Lord exiled them into the lone and dreary world to till the ground and face all the associated problems and hardships that accompany mortality. Genesis says, "Cursed is the ground FOR THY SAKE." In my mind the trials and sorrows we face in this life, "are for our good," or for our growth. It is and they are part of the plan, but as we leave the temple or live in mortality we do not have to face any of those challenges alone. Adam and Eve did not leave alone and did have children to share those joys and experiences, both good and bad. Elder Nielsen reminded us that we have Peter, James and John with us today, but their names are Thomas, Deiter and Henry. We sometimes forget or don't see clearly enough who these men really are. They are here to bring us back to our Father. We should study their lives and their words, as is the case with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland who I quote below.

I do not have complete notes, but one of the last things Elder Nielsen told us was that when Adam and Eve left the presence of the Lord or the garden they did not look back. I am not sure where that came from, because I have read Genesis and Abraham and do not find that, but he referenced Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, “Remember Lot’s Wife”: Faith Is for the Future given January 2009 , which I have abridged. The entire text is online

It is Luke 17:32, where the Savior cautions, “Remember Lot’s wife.”“Escape for thy life,” the Lord said, “look not behind thee . . . ; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17; emphasis added).
The scriptures tell us what happened at daybreak the morning following their escape:
The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;
And he overthrew those cities. [Genesis 19:24–25]
Then our theme today comes in the next verse. Surely, surely, with the Lord’s counsel “look not behind thee” ringing clearly in her ears, Lot’s wife, the record says, “looked back,” and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Apparently what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. As Elder Maxwell once said, such people know they should have their primary residence in Zion, but they still hope to keep a summer cottage in Babylon (see Larry W. Gibbons, “Wherefore, Settle This in Your Hearts,” Ensign, November 2006, 102; also Neal A. Maxwell, A Wonderful Flood of Light [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1990], 47).
                                                                                                                                               In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin.  

The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot’s wife is to say that she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Apparently she thought—fatally, as it turned out—that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind.
 

I was told once of a young man who for many years was more or less the brunt of every joke in his school. He had some disadvantages, and it was easy for his peers to tease him. Later in his life he moved away from his community. He eventually joined the army and had some successful experiences there in getting an education and generally stepping away from his past. Above all, as many in the military do, he discovered the beauty and majesty of the Church and became very active and happy in it.
Then, after several years, he came back to the town of his youth. Most of his generation had moved on, but not all. Apparently when he returned quite successful and quite reborn, the same old mind-set that had existed before was still there, waiting for his return. To the people in his hometown he was still just old “so and so”—you remember the guy who had the problem, that idiosyncrasy, this quirky nature, and did such and such and such and such. And wasn’t it all just hilarious?

Well, you know what happened. Little by little this man’s Pauline effort to leave that which was behind and grasp the prize that God had laid before him was gradually diminished until he died about the way he had lived in his youth. He came full circle: again inactive and unhappy and the brunt of a new generation of jokes. Yet he had had that one bright, beautiful midlife moment when he had been able to rise above his past and truly see who he was and what he could become. Too bad, too sad, that he was again to be surrounded by a whole batch of Lot’s wives, those who thought his past was more interesting than his future. Yes, they managed to rip out of his grasp that for which Christ had grasped him. And he died even more sadly than Miniver Cheevy, though as far as I know the story, through absolutely no fault of his own.  

I remember one fall day—I think it was in the first semester after our marriage in 1963—we were walking together up the hill past the Maeser Building on the sidewalk that led between the President’s Home and the Brimhall Building. Somewhere on that path we stopped and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Life that day seemed so overwhelming, and the undergraduate plus graduate years that we still anticipated before us seemed monumental, nearly insurmountable. Our love for each other and our commitment to the gospel were strong, but most of all the other temporal things around us seemed particularly ominous.
On a spot that I could probably still mark for you today, I turned to Pat and said something like this: “Honey, should we give up? I can get a good job and carve out a good living for us. I can do some things. I’ll be okay without a degree. Should we stop trying to tackle what right now seems so difficult to face?”
In my best reenactment of Lot’s wife, I said, in effect, “Let’s go back. Let’s go home. The future holds nothing for us.”
Then my beloved little bride did what she has done for 45 years since then. She grabbed me by the lapels and said, “We are not going back. We are not going home. The future holds everything for us.”
She stood there in the sunlight that day and gave me a real talk. I don’t recall that she quoted Paul, but there was certainly plenty in her voice that said she was committed to setting aside all that was past in order to “press toward the mark” and seize the prize of God that lay yet ahead. It was a living demonstration of faith. It was “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).   

To all such of every generation, I call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come.”  

Perhaps at this beginning of a new year there is no greater requirement for us than to do as the Lord Himself said He does: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42).
The proviso, of course, is that repentance has to be sincere, but when it is and when honest effort is being made to progress, we are guilty of the greater sin if we keep remembering and recalling and rebashing someone with their earlier mistakes—and that “someone” might be ourselves. We can be so hard on ourselves, often much more so than with others!   

Dismiss the destructive and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family and your friends and your neighbors. God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go. That is the thing Lot’s wife didn’t get— 

Now, like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies of the Book of Mormon, bury your weapons of war, and leave them buried. Forgive, and do that which is harder than to forgive: Forget. And when it comes to mind again, forget it again.    - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

A good message for all of us. A good message for new members. A good message for a new bride and groom, along with all the other messages that have been given by so many for so many years.

What is My Dialogue !

I was visiting my daughter in California in mid-February. When I asked what time church was she informed me that it was stake conference and we would go to the Santa Monica Stake Center. I didn't know at that time that it was a televised stake conference for all the western area, including California, Oregon and Washington. I wish I had notes of all the talks, and I did take some, but missed many parts of Elder Renlund's talk. I was going to stay and ask the stake president if there would be written or televised copies released, but Stephanie told me not to bother him with stupid requests ... I never thought my requests were ever stupid. She shamed me into leaving, but I did bother Elder Anderson on Sunday and asked him if he knew how to get copies of that talk. He told me that sometimes notes are made available and to call and ask. Now I really did feel stupid, but pursued and was told that there would be no notes made available, but he had posted , on facebook, some of the passages that had been requested or that he found might be useful. Below are copies of his post.

They had a dialogue, a way of sharing what they believed in a very kind, direct way, and it always and will always be based in continuing revelation. Obviously I believe, but I need a dialogue. What is my version of revelation? What do I say to others?  Again, how do I say, what I believe.

I remember one Sunday Fast and Testimony meeting in our church where members are able to stand and talk about what they believe my amazing, good neighbor, Richard "Dick" Monson got up and very powerfully recited the short history of Joseph Smith. What a powerful dialogue? We all were drawn to the truth through him.

A month ago in our women's meeting, that we call, "Relief Society, my neighbor Jen talked about serving a mission in Brazil and said that she missed sharing her own dialogue, where she would bear testimony of the individual nature of the Father of the Son... "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (JS - H 1:17)

A children's version of that event is written in our children's magazine, "The Friend." .... "14-year-old Joseph Smith was confused about which church he should join. On a beautiful spring morning, he went to a grove of trees to pray. A pillar of light descended, and Joseph “saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS—H 1:17). https://www.lds.org/friend/2005/05/sharing-time-this-is-my-beloved-son-hear-him?lang=eng 

In the same article. " President Gordon B. Hinckley has said he hopes each one of us can “simply, quietly” testify of the Restoration," just what Elder and Sister Renlund did. Here are those facebook postings.

Elder Dale G. Renlund and Sister Ruth Renlund

ELDER DALE G. RENLUND https://www.facebook.com/DaleGRenlund/ 

My wife and I once visited a university in Athens, Greece. As part of that visit, we were taken on a sightseeing tour. While we were actually inside the Parthenon, our hostess, a graduate student in archaeology, said, “Next, I would like to take you to my favorite coffee house in all of Athens.”

My wife said that we would love to go with her, but she said, “Please don’t be offended if we don’t drink the coffee.”

Our hostess asked, “You don’t drink coffee?”                                                                                                           

 “No,” we answered.

“Why not?” she asked.

As I was formulating a response, my wife said, “The short answer is this: In 1820, a young man by the name of Joseph Smith went into a grove in upstate New York to pray. He wanted to know which church he should join. There he saw God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joseph was told he should join none of the churches. But he was told that through him, the Church Jesus had established while He was on the earth would be restored. The restoration would be through a process of revelation. And it is through revelation that we know that we shouldn’t drink coffee. My husband will now explain it to you further.”

How do we really explain ourselves? How do we explain anything that we do or believe if we do not go back to the Sacred Grove and establish the principle of revelation, that God reveals His will to prophets in this day and age? We obey because we have understood through the Holy Ghost something of eternal import. The reason you and I observe the Word of Wisdom, obey the law of chastity, and keep other commandments is because of revelation.

 This past Sunday, I participated in a satellite broadcast for stakes in the North America Northwest and West Areas of the Church. One thing I felt impressed to share was a bit of advice from my wife, Ruth. She was a plaintiff’s attorney for 23 years. She was always working with others who strongly held different opinions than she. I was impressed by how two lawyers who were fierce adversaries in the courtroom could sit down calmly together and eat lunch. She said that she had learned early in her career to disagree without being disagreeable. She might say to opposing counsel something like, “I can see we are not going to agree on this issue. I like you. I respect your reasoned opinion. I hope you can offer me the same courtesy.” Most often, this allowed for mutual respect and friendship.

Our Church doctrine does not lend itself well to sound-bite debate and argument. But if we are allowed the opportunity to explain our belief in living prophets, the plan of salvation, and the ultimate destiny of all of Heavenly Father’s children, others will at least understand why we believe as we do, even if they disagree. After offering such an explanation and respectfully listening to another’s opposing viewpoint, it might be wise to say to someone who disagrees something like, “I can see we are not going to agree on this issue. I like you. I respect your reasoned opinion. I hope you can offer me the same courtesy.”

All will receive according to what the they are willing to receive/based on their level of obedience. If we don't want to obey we won't want higher degrees of glory. Satan has thrown down plan stoppers since the world began. Marriage w earth laws won't last in eternity since it isn't done w Gods law. It's a plan stopWe may on occasion find ourselves in uncomfortable situations where we differ in doctrine with our acquaintances, friends, and family members. But the doctrine can never be used to justify treating others with anything less than respect and dignity. We can stand firm in our beliefs and have a loving relationship with those who hold differing opinions. It is never an either-or choice. We love and live our doctrine, and we love those who do not live it. We need not create false dichotomies. The late Elder Marvin J. Ashton shared this insight from an inspired leader: “The best and most clear indicator that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat other people.”

 

He Is Not Here ... He Is Risen

Easter Sunday is a beautiful day, ALWAYS! It is Church, the sacrament, music and lessons about the Atonement and the Resurrection of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the beginning of a season that brings new life and reminds us that HE too brought new life for all of us, renewing of our spirit and our bodies.

Our local newspaper editorial today stated, " The celebration of Easter focuses on this most fundamental belief of Christianity. It is founded in hope, and the strength of this faith is evidenced by the daily acts of those who are striving to become more like Jesus. Easter embodies this hope and faith, which is why it rightly holds such a unique place of importance among Christian believers."

In the past two weeks Steve and I have been to a viewing for our cousin Audy's beautiful wife Ashlee who succumbed finally after a seventeen month battle with colon cancer. She was 33 and leaves her husband and three small children. From the viewing we left on an eighteen hour drive to Edmonton, Alberta,  Canada to visit my Auntie Marguerite who is 97 years old and slowing withering on a hospital bed, because she fell at home and was alone on the floor for three days, and since being in the hospital has refused to or isn't capable of eating. She told me she just isn't hungry and nothing tastes good, yet she desires to get up and walk again. My plea and her doctor's plea to her was, "You have to eat!" They bring food that someone would have to feed to her and just leave it. We arrived home late Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday attended the reception and wedding of our niece and the next day the funeral of our aunt and uncle who died within days of each other after having been married sixty years. So many emotions and so many individual situations. From the beginning of life to the end of mortality on many different levels. We rejoiced that Ashlee, Marlene and Budge were out of pain. Ashlee's husband just posted a comment of their young daughter when asked by her counselor how she felt about her mother's death. This sweet, beautiful child said, " I am happy. She is with Heavenly Father in heaven and has no more pain." Lessons from a child! These are the ups and downs of this life and we will all have them. Not always easy to understand the whys and wherefores, but one thing I know is that my Savior's atonement covers all and as President Jackson said this morning in our Easter service, "In the world there will be sorrow but there is sufficient grace for every trial of mortality. No one here has put himself behind the outreach of his hand. There is a night to endure the weeping, but in the morning there is hope ..." (the end might be paraphrased)

Which brings me back to the "whys"of this post. I have looked forward to today for a number of weeks as I knew Elder Neil L. Anderson, an apostle and a fellow ward member was going to speak on Easter Sunday.  How could that not be an amazing spiritual  Easter feast. The Bishop came to the Primary class, that Steve and I teach, and told us and the children that Elder Anderson had just told him that he was preparing and praying to know what the Lord would want him to share with us. I do not know Elder Anderson and his wife Kathy well, but I love them anyway because I have watched the way they treat the people among us and have listened to him speak on numerous occasions and I was excited for this message.

What I didn't know was that our neighbor and Stake President (a leader over many congregations), President Chris Jackson and Sister Anderson would also be sharing their thoughts and feelings. A delightful surprise for me. Did I already say, "I love Easter!"

I couldn't take a lot of notes, because I have a hard time taking notes and paying total attention to what is being said, but, yes, I am a note-taker and love to reread anything that may not be published, partly because I do not have a very good memory. So some points follow ... what you can always remember is how you felt. That is the better part.

"Christ suffered for our pains so that he may succor us in our pains. He descended  below all things so he could comprehend all things. I know with a perfect sureness that he lives. We should pray for the  second coming. It will be breathtaking ... then he will stand in the midst of his people. He felt our suffering and we can feel his peace. HE is not absent from his Prophet or his Apostles. I am his witness." (Just portions in rough note form).

When Elder Anderson said that he knew with a perfect sureness that he lives, it pierced my own consciousness. The spirit witnessed to me the truth of what he was saying.

Elder Anderson also quoted from a talk he gave last April (I think). I think this is the quote,

Our faith grows as we anticipate the glorious day of the Savior’s return to the earth. The thought of His coming stirs my soul. It will be breathtaking! The scope and grandeur, the vastness and magnificence, will exceed anything mortal eyes have ever seen or experienced.

In that day He will not come “wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger,”²³ but He will appear “in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels.”²⁴We will hear “the voice of the archangel, and … the trump of God.”²⁵ The sun and the moon will be transformed, and “stars [will] be hurled from their places.”²⁶ You and I, or those who follow us, “the saints … from [every quarter] of the earth,”²⁷ “shall be quickened and … caught up to meet him,”²⁸  and those who have died in righteousness, they too will “be caught up to meet him in the midst … of heaven.”²⁹

Then, a seemingly impossible experience: “All flesh,” the Lord says, “shall see me together.”³⁰ How will it happen? We do not know. But I testify it will happen—exactly as prophesied. We will kneel in reverence, “and the Lord shall utter his voice, and all the ends of the earth shall hear it.”³¹ “It shall be … as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder.”³² “[Then] the Lord, … the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people.”³³

There will be unforgettable reunions with the angels of heaven and the Saints upon the earth.³⁴ But most important, as Isaiah declares, “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God,”³⁵ and He “shall reign over all flesh.”³⁶

In that day the skeptics will be silent, “for every ear shall hear … , and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess”³⁷ that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

Today is Easter. We rejoice with Christians all over the world in His glorious Resurrection and in our own promised resurrection. May we prepare for His coming by rehearsing these glorious events over and over in our own minds and with those we love, and may His prayer be our prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”³⁸ I testify that He lives. “Come, O thou King of Kings.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well, a few other quotes that I read today in an article, "A cloud of witnesses at Easter," by Daniels Peterson in the Deseret News that continued to proclaim the Easter events that we celebrate.

Prophet Joseph Smith, the first president of the LDS Church, and Sidney Rigdon following their February 1832 vision of the three degrees of glory: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God …” (see Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-23

 President George Q. Cannon, speaking during the 1893 dedicatory services for the Salt Lake Temple, testified of having “seen and conversed with Christ as a man talks with his friend, ‘face to face.’”“I know that God lives,” he wrote in the Deseret Evening News on Oct. 6, 1896. “I know that Jesus lives; for I have seen him. … I testify to you of these things as one that knows — as one of the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 Elder David B. Haight, an apostle from 1976 until 2004, missed general conference in April 1989 because of a life-threatening health crisis that required a serious operation. In the October conference of that year, however, he reported on what had happened when he lost consciousness during his illness.
“The terrible pain and commotion of people ceased. I was now in a calm, peaceful setting; all was serene and quiet. … I heard no voices but was conscious of being in a holy presence and atmosphere. During the hours and days that followed, there was impressed again and again upon my mind the eternal mission and exalted position of the Son of Man. … I was shown a panoramic view of His earthly ministry. … I was being taught, and the eyes of my understanding were opened by the Holy Spirit of God so as to behold many things. … During those days of unconsciousness, I was given, by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, a more perfect knowledge of His mission. … I cannot begin to convey to you the deep impact that these scenes have confirmed upon my soul” (see “The Sacrament — and the Sacrifice,” Liahona, April 2007).

President Jackson, Sister Anderson, Elder Anderson, Prophet Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, President George Q. Cannon, Elder David B. Haight all witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, among the cloud of witnesses. He lives. I know this to be true. THIS I BELIEVE! I will now participate in my last Easter tradition, the watching of a simple film that I have always watched with my children, "Easter Dream." It is not the clip below, but enjoy the clip below. I love the message.

 

One night Holy and Bright ...

Come and gather 'round at the table

In the spirit of family and friends
And we'll all join hands and remember this moment
'Til the season comes 'round again

Let's all try to smile for the pictures

And we'll hold it as long as we can
May it carry us through should we ever get lonely
Til the season comes round again

One night holy and bright

Shining with love from our hearts
By a warm fire let's lift our hands high
And be thankful we're here 'til this time next year

May the new year be blessed with good tidings

'Til the next time I see you again.
If we must say goodbye, let the spirit go with you
'Til the season comes 'round again.

And we'll love and we'll laugh in the time that we have
Til the season comes round again




Every Christmas season this Kenny Rogers song gets played over and over again. I used to be a huge Kenny Rogers fan.

 Wherever or whatever family is or isn't it brings tears to my eyes. My children would say that everything brings tears to my eyes, but these tears are spiritual tears of GREAT JOY! I always tell my children and our extended family that, "It's all about the family." It is why we attend blessings, baptisms, weddings, funerals. It is why we go to support children and grandchildren and cousins etc. at numerous activities. Our extended family have been so supportive of our children's activities. "Family is Everything," both at the immediate time and in the broader context of the Plan of Happiness. We don't and can't loose family, so we develop patience and kindness and patience and empathy and patience and love. We overlook faults, big and bigger. We help move each other over and over again. We pray for each other and we should watch over each other. We cease to find fault and are quick to forgive. We do not take offense easily, even if we are right and the other person wrong. Family. It is why we go to the temple. It is why we try to be and do "good", so that we can be together as a family forever.  It is why we celebrate with each other and it is why I make a big deal of those celebrations. Every holiday is a reason to rejoice, but Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving are the ones I love most. Actually I have said I love Thanksgiving the most because it is not about anything except gratitude, but Christmas and Easter are about Him and he is the Most.

I decorate and decorate for Hallowe'en, but it is not in the same league!

In our instance it is why we take care of the ranch, so we will continue to have a vestige where we can meet and sing and eat and laugh and worship and work, so we develop strong relationships that will last for eternity. Bless C.B. Stewart and Lester Franklin Hewlett for the vision they had. Although not perfect, we feel like it is our " Heaven on Earth" and worth preserving, even if it takes a little sacrifice on our part.

My own family has lived  a great distance from me for all of my adult life, in fact, more accurately, I have lived a great distance from my family, but I feel so strongly about family that I have always tried to maintain a correspondence with them. I am not very good about it, but I honor my own heritage and those aunts, uncles and cousins who are part of my family branch and tree. My own brothers and sister have tried to support my own children at major events in their life, even though the distance be long.

"And we'll love and we'll laugh in the time that we have, Til the season comes round again"
That "one night holy and bright" is about the Savior and the Savior is about families. They "carry us through should we ever get lonely." It is the Plan. THIS I BELIEVE!