In 1830 the church was brand new and something extremely difficult happened. An issue occurred which would forever shape church government. This issue would establish a pattern, God’s pattern, of order.
An extremely faithful member of the Church, in fact one of the 8 witnesses of the Book of Mormon, started to receive revelations on the gathering of Zion. This member was Hiram Page. He was faithful to the church and would never deny the Book of Mormon’s authenticity. It was not surprising that many church members believed the revelations Hiram Page received. Why wouldn’t they? He was a faithful member. He was one of the 8 witnesses, a blessed individual that saw and beheld the gold plates.
The issue was, if Hiram Page could receive revelation for the entire church, then who couldn’t receive revelation for the entire church? You’re seeing where this is going. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would go the way of all other sects of Christianity: chaos.
There must be order in God’s system. God could not have every person claiming revelation for His Church. It’s important to note, personal revelation is an important part of our mortal journey. Personal revelation is also critical in God’s church. Revelation cannot be received by an individual pertaining to the entire church or to guide those in a higher position of authority. Without this rule, there would be complete confusion, as there started to be when Hiram Page reported his revelations.
When this problem arose, Joseph Smith was in the most difficult of positions. How did he correct this issue without seeming authoritarian and dictatorial? He needed Hiram Page, Oliver Cowdery (who supported Hiram’s revelations), and all church members to understand the significance of this issue.
Joseph Smith met with the congregation and explained revelations received prior to Hiram’s revelations. Joseph Smith had documented the Lord’s commandments in Doctrine and Covenants sections 20 and 21. He now learned that many members of the new church didn’t understand these doctrines and principles of church government.
The history states that Joseph Smith joined with the people and explained the revelations in Doctrine and Covenants 20 and 21 in detail. He used simple language and explained what it actually meant. In what could have been a contentious and ugly situation, church members, Oliver Cowdery, and Hiram Page himself left understanding the error of their ways. This was a prophet of God explaining God’s order. All present accepted.
This is the way it should be.
I would like to compare this to something I learned when reading about how “retired” Pope Benedict XVI… retired. I didn’t understand how this could be and wanted to research to see what happened.
Instead of commenting on what I learned about Pope Benedict’s retirement, I want to comment on something else I came across. An article I read talked about how the current Pope Francis has considered relaxing priestly celibacy rules and how “retired” Pope Benedict came out publicly against this.
Does this not present a problem? What if the current Pope did make a decree and the “retired” Pope publicly voiced his disagreement with it? Would there be another branch of Catholicism? One following current Pope and one following retired Pope?
I can’t understand it. There can’t be confusion in God’s kingdom. While men are imperfect, God can’t have questions of authority in His church. Otherwise, there is complete chaos.
These stories of how two issues were handled strengthened my testimony of the importance of authority. I believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s Church restored to the earth, and as such, it must have order. As I study Priesthood authority and how the church functions with millions of members across the entire globe, I’m blown away at how seamlessly it all works.
Joseph Smith foresaw General Authority Seventies when the church was a couple dozen members. Now as the Church grows and there are 12 quorums of the Seventy, anyone who doesn’t believe this church to be divinely guided must marvel at Joseph Smith’s foresight.
The truth is it wasn’t Joseph Smith’s foresight, it was God’s foresight. This church is divinely guided, divinely structured, and divinely governed. My testimony of this grows daily as I understand the structure of the church better and see how the Lord guides His Kingdom.
I had a dream last night. In it I was going down a stream. I had the feeling of leaving civilization for the wilderness. I came to a cliff. I climbed to the top and on the precipice there was a small and shabby tent erected. I went inside and there was an old prophet. I spoke with him.
A new prophet came. The new prophet was well dressed and well-kept, not like the old prophet living in a tiny tent on the edge of a cliff. The new prophet was respected, and I knew he came from a comfortable home. He was well regarded by society and lived comfortably in the world. He was told he had to take the place of the old prophet and live there in the wilderness, in a tent.
When I woke up from this dream, I had a feeling it was important, but I couldn’t figure out why.
What was this dream telling me?
I write down all my dreams. But this one felt important.
Was Russell M. Nelson the new prophet? Was he of the world? Was he flawed? What was the dream telling me?
As I meditated in the morning, I continued to ponder this question. On my drive into the office, I prayed to know if there was something I was supposed to glean from this dream. I asked specifically that if there was something important that I was supposed to learn to please allow my reading for the day to guide my mind to understanding.
I’m in Mosiah chapter 3 and Doctrine and Covenants section 133 respectively in my daily scripture study. A few hours later I was reading verse 71, exactly where I’d left off the day prior, of section 133, which reads:
“Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received them not.”
Alongside D&C I’m reading a commentary. The commentary for verse 71 said:
Why Are the Prophets Rejected?
President Spencer W. Kimball commented:
“Various excuses have been used over the centuries to dismiss these divine messengers. There has been denial because the prophet came from an obscure place. ‘Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ (John 1:46.) Jesus was also met with the question, ‘Is not this the carpenter’s son?’ (Matt. 13:55.) By one means or another, the swiftest method of rejection of the holy prophets has been to find a pretext, however false or absurd, to dismiss the man so that his message could also be dismissed. Prophets who were not glib, but slow of speech, were esteemed as naught.…
“We wonder how often hearers first rejected the prophets because they despised them, and finally despised the prophets even more because they had rejected them. Even so, why else is the record of rejection so complete? The cares of the world are so many and so entangling, even very good people are diverted from following the truth because they care too much for the things of the world.…
“Sometimes people let their hearts get so set upon things and the honors of this world that they cannot learn the lessons they most need to learn. Simple truths are often rejected in favor of the much less-demanding philosophies of men, and this is another cause for the rejection of the prophets.
“But while there are various excuses for rejection, there’s a certain cause for this sad record. It must not be passed over: the cares of the world, the honors of the world, and looking beyond the mark are all determined by a persuasive few who presume to speak for all.…
“The holy prophets have not only refused to follow erroneous human trends, but have pointed out these errors. No wonder the response to the prophets has not always been one of indifference. So often the prophets have been rejected because they first rejected the wrong ways of their own society.
“These excuses for rejection of the prophets are poor excuses. The trouble with using obscurity as a test of validity is that God has so often chosen to bring forth his work out of obscurity. He has even said it would be so. (See D&C 1:30.) Christianity did not go from Rome to Galilee; it was the other way around. In our day the routing is from Palmyra to Paris, not the reverse. Just because something is in our midst does not mean that we have been in the midst of it. We can daily drive by a museum or an art gallery but know nothing of what is inside.
“The trouble with rejection because of personal familiarity with the prophets is that the prophets are always somebody’s son or somebody’s neighbor. They are chosen from among the people, not transported from another planet, dramatic as that would be!…
“Of course, rejection of the holy prophets comes because the hearts of people are hardened, as people are shaped by their society. Yet even when the hardening is swift, it can also be subtle. Who, for instance, a scant twenty years ago would have foreseen the massive use of abortion in society today? Like all the diseased doctrines of the devil, the practice is pleasing unto the carnal mind.
“Prophets have a way of jarring the carnal mind. Too often the holy prophets are wrongly perceived as harsh and as anxious to make a record in order to say, ‘I told you so.’ Those prophets I have known are the most loving of men. It is because of their love and integrity that they cannot modify the Lord’s message merely to make people feel comfortable. They are too kind to be so cruel. I am so grateful that prophets do not crave popularity.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1978, pp. 115–16; or Ensign, May 1978, pp. 76–77.)
It wasn’t until the very end of that statement from Spencer W. Kimball that it hit me, and I remembered – I asked for guidance in what I read today to help with my dream. I dreamed of prophets, now I was reading a long commentary from a prophet about why prophets are rejected.
I thought back on my dream. I had correctly believed that Russell M. Nelson was the “new prophet.” What I incorrectly interpreted was that Russell M. Nelson was “of the world” or wrong in some way. My dream gave me a feeling that he was flawed. That he was attached to the comfortable home and respectful world he lived in.
After reading that comment from Spencer W. Kimball, I realized there was no flaw in Russell M. Nelson.
The attacks on prophets are starting to escalate in our current society. See the recent backlash against Jeffrey R. Holland as an example.
The eternal and correct view of prophets on gender, marriage, and the importance of the family is under attack. Prophets will not deny truth. They will continue to speak truth even as they are rejected by the world.
Nobody embodies a “loving man” more than Jeffrey R. Holland. If you’ve ever watched one of his tear-filled and tear-jerking General Conference addresses, you know that the man emanates love for us, for followers of Jesus Christ and for all of God’s children.
“Those prophets I have known are the most loving of men. It is because of their love and integrity that they cannot modify the Lord’s message merely to make people feel comfortable.”
No statement has ever fit Jeffrey R. Holland more accurately.
I started making connections between my dream and what it was trying to tell me, so I went back and re-read where I was at in Mosiah 3:18, 19 (the verses I read before D&C that day). It reads:
18 “For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
19 “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
“And the infant perisheth not that dieth in infancy.”
“but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children.”
“For the natural man is an enemy to God.”
“And becometh as a child.”
“even as a child doth submit to his father.”
“Who, for instance, a scant twenty years ago would have foreseen the massive use of abortion in society today? Like all the diseased doctrines of the devil, the practice is pleasing unto the carnal mind. Prophets have a way of jarring the carnal mind.”
I think my dream was reminding me what I already know to be true. We are in the time where our society has fully rejected the prophets. The attack on them is going to increase. Russell M. Nelson has been a respected heart surgeon, kind, gentle, grandfatherly figure. I believe we are quickly approaching the time that he will be cast into the wilderness and hated by a world that has always hated prophets. I believe this is what my dream was telling me.
Those of us with faith in Jesus Christ and His anointed servants must keep firm in our faith in Him, and in His servants. Don’t be shaken by the attacks on His chosen servants. If you do, your faith in Him (Jesus Christ) can be shaken next. Trust in whom He has chosen. Follow them as you follow Him. The Lord’s prophets will not lead us astray. Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s anointed and he is our prophet. As the world turns on Jesus Christ’s prophet, we must support and protect him from a world that will hate what he and our Lord stand for.
For more on this topic, I read this blog post that elaborates on the dangers of choosing what we do and do not want to believe from prophets. Click the image below to read the post:
I recently went about educating myself on the current conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. It was briefly a popular subject in the news recently. Then, as the news is wont to do, the next hot topic came, and we didn’t hear about this issue anymore. That doesn’t mean this is no longer an issue, only that we’re not hearing about it as much. This problem has been ongoing for decades.
First, a disclaimer before broaching this subject: what is happening in the Middle East is a complex issue today, has been for a very long time, and will continue to be. As is often the case in multi-decade feuds between different cultures, this isn’t a simple movie plot – bad guys vs good guys. No superlatives will properly express how complex this issue is, so I won’t use any. I’ll leave it at the statement: this is a complex issue.
Before I get into this complex issue, I must state something of vast importance. It is important we don’t hate anyone, on either side. That includes hating the Jews, which is becoming a “hip” thing to do lately. It is of critical importance that we don’t completely vilify and blame the Jewish people for the atrocities that have been performed. Yes, atrocities are being performed. But, if we hate and vilify and discriminate against the Jewish people for the acts of a few or even of many, we are doing exactly what we’re so angry at the Jews for. We are mistreating people. Whether people are right or wrong, mistreating them is never an acceptable response.
A little historical background on what has happened and has been happening in Israel/Palestine, for those like me who have kept themselves blissfully ignorant of the topic.
At the end of World War II many Jewish people were displaced, their homes destroyed, they had nowhere to go. As these refugees wondered where they should go, a natural gathering to their ancient homeland started to occur. The only problem was their homeland was already home to a new group of people. The area of “Israel,” the land gifted to Abraham and his Jewish descendants by God, had become Palestine. New people had been living there for centuries.
The Bible has long prophesied of the gathering of Jews back to their homeland. The 20th Century has seen many Jewish people gather back to the land of Israel, making it a nation again, for the first time in 2,000 years. Did this gathering fulfill prophesy? In part. That prophesy won’t be completely fulfilled until Christ returns and shows the Jewish descendants of Abraham the prints in his hands and feet and they accept the Lord as their Christ.
Since we are witnessing, in our time, a prophesy fulfilled only in part, it’s obvious why this topic is so important to study and understand. It fascinates me that something prophesied of for centuries has been happening right before our eyes, in our time, our parents’ time, and our grandparents’ time. Yet we all act like this isn’t a big deal. Prophesy fulfilled in the dispensation of the fullness of times. Another reminder of the significance of the time we now find ourselves in.
When I heard of the issues in Israel, I realized I needed to pay attention. I’m aggressive in my avoidance of news and current affairs. I know I should do better. When I heard about Israel in the news, and as a studier and believer of the Bible, I was ashamed and embarrassed to be so ignorant on such an important topic. My ignorance needed to be rectified. The events in the Middle East are prophetic and important. Which led to my study of the subject.
What has happened as part of this 20th century gathering is what has happened anytime a people travels to an inhabited land in hopes of making it their own. This mass migration of the Jewish people back to Israel/Palestine has led to war, contention, and oppression. The Jewish people have established a Jewish state: Israel exists again. This establishment has shown little regard for the previous inhabitants. As the Jews have established some dominance and control in the region, naturally they exert some pressure on the previous people. The oppressed from history and particularly World War 2 have become the oppressors. Due to a lot of outside support, the Jewish state of Israel has been given much leeway in human rights violations. Public opinion has always been on the side of Israel, largely due to the support of Bible believing Christian countries (see documentary The Occupation of the American Mind).
There is wrongdoing on both sides. The Jewish people/Israel are not blameless. The Arabs/Palestine are not blameless. There is blood on the hands of both sides. This is in large part what makes this issue so complex. When conflict becomes decades of conflict, an eye for an eye becomes 100,000 eyes for 100,000 eyes.
That’s the million-foot view. The difficulty I’ve found in researching this subject is the bias you get from both sides. I’ve found it difficult to find completely impartial, factual, and historical information. The best and most impartial documentary I’ve watched so far is Two Blue Lines. That’s where much of my thoughts on this topic will come from. That documentary really made me think about this problem from different angles.
My hope is that I can give some thoughts on this issue, in the simplest and most layman terms, to help others realize how important it is we pay attention to what’s happening in the Middle East. Instead of saying too much in a breakdown of this topic, I’ll just share some interesting thoughts that developed from the documentaries I’ve watched. At the end of this, I’ll list out these documentaries if you’d like to further educate yourself on the important events happening in Palestine.
One topic that developed in the documentary Two Blue Lines was the idea that the Jewish people had become grounded in the land and not in the people. I believe it was a Jewish rabbi that pointed out it isn’t the land of Israel that makes Judaism, it is the people, no matter where they are. He talked about how Judaism is confused. God wants love. Judaism is one with all people. Judaism should be love and peace and brotherhood. What’s happening in the nation of Israel is the people are becoming grounded in land, and not religion. They have linked themselves to the earth, to something temporal. Judaism is more than a land, it is bigger. Judaism has survived as a people, a religion, and a culture through centuries of persecution and attempts at eradication because of their strong roots in God. Jews believe they are God’s chosen people. Rooting themselves to the land of Israel weakens what has always been their strength. The issue in Israel has become a people linked to a land instead of to God.
As a studier of the Bible, I realized I fell into this grounded in land and not in people thinking. My first thought (when completely ignorant of the issue) was – “of course the Jews are coming back to Israel by any means necessary. The Bible said it was rightfully theirs, the Bible tells us they would return to it, of course this is happening.” That, though, doesn’t excuse oppressive or unloving behavior. Prophesy told us the Jews would be scourged from generation to generation for what was done to Jesus Christ (2 Nephi 25:16), this didn’t make the Holocaust rightful in anyway. In a similar way, just because the Jewish return to Israel was prophesied doesn’t make Jewish mistreatment of Palestinians acceptable.
Other thoughts, mostly from Two Blue Lines and The Gatekeepers:
This is quickly going to become a more relevant issue in the United States.
A girl talked about how the Jews are repeating history. Similar to what was done to them so recently in the Holocaust they are now doing to others. She talks about how it’s hard to stop because it’s not one person, it’s like a movement. It’s gaining momentum and it’s happening.
One Jewish lady said that history will not look kindly on what is happening in Israel. Live by the sword die by the sword. They are committing war crimes. History takes note. Maybe not today, but one day. She said this ~30 years ago. We’re seeing that day come. As mentioned, the public shift against the Jews and the state of Israel is happening now, right before our eyes.
A fascinating point was made about segregation. Israel was established in 1948. At that time, they modeled after and looked up to the United States which was the pinnacle of the western world. At that time the US was still a segregated country. 70 years later Israel hasn’t had a civil rights movement. They still live in segregation, but instead of black people being discriminated against it’s Palestinians who are being mistreated. For a real-world picture of this watch the fictional movie A Borrowed Identity.
These are quotes from individuals In Two Blue Lines
“It’s clear that there will not be peace if we continue to demolish innocent peoples’ houses….”
“What is more dangerous is what this (mistreating Palestinians) does to Israeli people… as Israeli soldiers and citizens we become, from year to year, more animals.”
“What’s worse is what is being done to Israeli people, we are becoming animals.”
The Gaza Strip (the most fought over land in possibly all the world) is the size of Mobile Alabama with 10x the population.
As you watch this, don’t villainize the Jewish people. Then you are perpetuating the evil. Understand they are confused, and they are wrong. They do need to be held accountable. It needs to stop. They need to stop treating others how they have been treated. They need to treat others how they WANT to be treated.
One individual pointed out that the Palestinians don’t have a state or an army. This “war” is against a people. You can’t have ethnic democracy, or “Jewish democracy.” Either you believe in democracy, or you believe in a Jewish state.
From The Gatekeepers – all former Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service, think the FBI) leaders were unanimous; Israel must talk with the terrorists. They must talk with anyone that might talk to them. Peace cannot come through military or tactics or fighting or intelligence. Another of the Shin Bet leaders, the oldest one in the last 7 min of the documentary talked about how the occupation is making young Israelis cruel. They’re becoming like Germany when they occupied territories. Not how Germany was towards the Jews, but how they were to all the others they occupied (Polish, Danish, Norwegians, etc.). He said, “We win every battle, but we lose the war.”
That’s some of what I learned from conflicts in the Middle East. I’ll now present some scriptural evidence of the prophesy being fulfilled.
From a commentary on Doctrine and Covenants section 133 (items in parentheses are my own insertions): “The Gentiles who obeyed the Gospel were commanded (v. 12) to gather in Zion (Utah/America), and those of the house of Judah were to flee to Jerusalem (seen in 20th century, as discussed) (v. 13). This is in harmony with the prediction of Isaiah and Micah, that out of Zion (America) shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord (Bible) from Jerusalem (Micah 4:2). For from both these centers the Lord shall judge. Jerusalem shall be re-built and become a holy city, the capital for Judah, and Zion shall be the capital and city of our God, for Ephraim and his fellows (why so many of the tribe of Ephraim are already in America). Both shall be seats of government in unison with each other, and the Lord shall dwell in both.” (Smith and Sjodahl commentary).
Zechariah 14:1-5 reads:
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
This what the Jews expected from their Savior, the Messiah. They expected a warrior. A soldier to redeem them from the occupation of the Romans. Instead, they got the Lamb of God. That phrase had largely been removed from their scripture. Search for it in our current Old Testament and you will not find “Lamb of God” referenced. Why? Because it did not fit the image the Jewish people wanted from their King. They wanted and expected a king more akin to David, not Solomon.
Zechariah 14:1-5 is a yet to be fulfilled prophesy. As I heard of the hate and vitriol being pointed towards the Jews in the news and on social media, I realized it was starting. It’s long been a question: with the state of Israel so favored worldwide, how would this prophesy come to be? When would the armies encompass them about? As we see time and time again, political alliances and mutually beneficial allegiances turn quickly when public opinion starts to turn. Public opinion against the nation of Israel is changing right before our eyes. Prophesy is beginning to take its shape.
54 And he (Christ) said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
The Jewish people must turn to their Savior and accept that He has already come before them. They can’t rely on alliances with the United States any longer. They must trust in the Lord their God. They are the chosen of the Lord, even despite their great mistakes. He still loves them; they are still His people. They must turn to Him and trust in Him. Political alliances are fickle. The Lord’s covenants with the people of Israel are eternal.
Tragedies have occurred in the Palestine/Israel conflict on both sides. Inhumane treatment abounds. The opposite of love has been shown for God’s children. We are all God’s children. The Jewish people know this. They must turn from their obsession in obtaining their homeland and instead make the world a promised land. They must repent for the sins of few or many. They must correct wrongs currently being done in the Middle East. When they do this, they will continue to have the favor of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one can come against them.
For more on the signs of the Second Coming see this link:
About the media’s influence on America determining how we view this issue and ultimately whose “side” we end up on because of that media influence.
Two Blue Lines (2015)
Can be found for purchase on Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, Apple TV.
Best, most impartial documentary I’ve seen.
A Borrowed Identity (2015)
Can be found for purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
Fictional account of a Palestinian living in occupied territory. This one teaches less general facts as it’s not a documentary, but teaches a lot, nonetheless. It gives a real life feel to how this has impacted individual, real people, for generations.
The Gatekeepers (2012)
Can be found on Hulu, Starz, Amazon Prime Video, and others.
Documentary of the intelligence agency in Israel. Very powerful.
The Holy Ghost is the Holy Spirit; he is the Holy Spirit promised the saints at baptism, or in other words the Holy Spirit of Promise, this exalted name-title signifying that the promised receipt of the Holy Spirit, as on the day of Pentecost, is the greatest gift man can receive in mortality.
Bruce R. McConkie
I recently read this quote and the truth of the statement hit me. This seemed a fitting thought after last week’s post talking about the gift the gospel has been in my life. I believe that quote is a powerful reminder for those of us who have been blessed with this great gift. The gospel is a blessing in part due to this great gift, the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I can’t wait to teach Ivy of this most extraordinary gift and to watch her receive it for herself. I know the Holy Ghost is a guiding force and has blessed my life more than I will ever understand while on this earth. One day I will know.
I’m grateful for this constant companion (D&C 121:46), this friend, this comforter. I am never alone when the Holy Ghost is within me. What a blessing that gift is. The greatest in this life.
I was meditating and thanking God for all He has given me in this life. It was the day after Thanksgiving. I had just watched Ivy with so much love around her, as detailed in Love has Afforded Me Much. Ivy was surrounded by aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins, second cousins, great uncles, great aunts and the list goes on. She was receiving so much love.
That visual again brought me to realizing and remembering that was me 30 years ago. I was the one having love poured out on me. It brought me to a repeated thought: what did I do to deserve this?
What did I do to deserve the family I was born into? Now, how lucky I am to be one half of the uniting of two families – the Quackenbushes and the Cannons. How blessed will Ivy be from a life of love from those two extended families she’s been born into?
How blessed have I been from being born into the Leaches and the Quackenbushes? An un-quantifiable amount of blessed.
Where does that blessing come from? Where does it stem from? What was the catalyst of this blessed, love-filled life I’ve been given? The catalyst, the starting point, is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Three of my four grandparents converted to the church. My fourth grandparent came from a faithful family back to the days of Joseph Smith. I am forever grateful for my grandparents and the generations of love and family they’ve created.
A similar story can be said from Beth’s side of the family, the Cannons and Vauterlauses.
The thought that occurred to me while meditating, to add to how Love has Afforded me Much, was this: I started to pray to God to please bless all those who didn’t have all the love Ivy had on Thanksgiving Day. All those who don’t have great family dynamics, who feel lonely, who feel lost, who feel afraid; I asked God to let them feel His love. I asked Him to spare no angels in pouring out blessings on those who don’t feel loved in this world.
Then it occurred to me. Love has Afforded me Much. God has given me a surplus of love. A love I can’t quantify. It’s my responsibility to share that excess of love I’ve been blessed with, with God’s children, my brothers and sisters across the globe. I pray that I can share the love that’s been given to me with those around me.
I believe the greatest thing I can do to share that love, the greatest thing any one of us can do that have been given (Luke 12:48) so (D&C 82:3) much (Boyd K. Packer), is to share the source of that love. The source of that love is Jesus Christ, His Gospel, His Church. It is our responsibility to share with others what has blessed us so.
Love is important. Supporting someone, listening to someone, loving someone, these are all noble. But what of generational love? What of the love that permeates through families – of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren? That’s what my grandparents created. That love started with missionaries sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with three of my grandparents, and with the gospel being shared to one of my Great Great Grandparents by Joseph Smith.
I am grateful for this Church. I am grateful for the blessing it has been to me and my family. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me this greatest of all blessings. I feel a noble responsibility, a beautiful weight to share it with others. My wish is that the world can accept Jesus Christ and experience the love he has to share.
I love Jesus Christ, and I am forever grateful to Him.
No Coincidences 