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.