What Do Mormons Believe? – Page 48 – "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

Agency in the Eternities

Q. Why didn’t God create all His children to be like Christ?
This is a very good question, if we are all God’s children and He has created us, why do we have imperfections and Christ did not have any? Also related to this question is another we received, “Do Mormons believe that some people are better than others?” To answer these questions, I would like to go far back to before this world was created, when we all lived as spirits in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

First of all, it is important that we believe that God did not create us out of nothing, but rather He organized our intelligence into a spirit body. We do not know the nature of this intelligence, but it is an eternal part of our nature and being.

To the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord said, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 That is to say, the Lord knew Jeremiah even before his birth. He knew his strengths, his weaknesses, his personality and his potential. That also means that Jeremiah, as all the rest of us, had developed those traits by that point.

Bruce R. McConkie (1915-1985) of the twelve apostles wrote the following about how we came to be as we are:

“All the spirits of men, while yet in the Eternal Presence, developed aptitudes, talents, capacities, and abilities of every sort, kind, and degree. During the long expanse of life which then was, an infinite variety of talents and abilities came into being. As the ages rolled, no two spirits remained alike. Mozart became a musician; Einstein centered his interest in mathematics; Michelangelo turned his attention to painting. Cain was a liar, a schemer, a rebel. … Mary and Eve were two of the greatest of all the spirit daughters of the Father. … And so it went through all the hosts of heaven, each individual developing such talents and abilities as his soul desired.” (The Mortal Messiah, 4 vols. (1979–81), 1:23.)

It then follows that each individual chose a path before this life and through diligence and care to follow our Father’s guidance, each individual grew to varying degrees. The reason, then, that Christ is perfect and was able to fulfill His Father’s will perfectly in carrying out the Atonement was because He used his agency, or ability to choose, more wisely than others. He became like His Father.

The Book of Abraham gives a rare description of Jesus in the pre-earth life:

“And there stood one [Christ] among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” Abraham 3:24-25

That ability to choose is still available for us in this life and is the very reason that we are here. Every day we have the choice between following our Savior, Jesus Christ, and otherwise. Thus, through our choices, one person can excel in music, another in athletics, another in science and another in kindness, love or patience. Others can choose not to excel or to develop traits of laziness, procrastination and anger. Our options and potentials are limitless in either direction and everyone has parts of both.

The atonement of Jesus Christ plays the greatest part in our development. It is through His grace that we can correct our faults and that He can heal our wounded hearts. And then through His guidance, we will grow and choose the good, better, and best things in our lives.

Prophetic Prophets

I have been amazed as I have reviewed the addresses from our prophets and apostles during last General Conference (October, 2008). The Salt Lake City Temple They spoke right to the difficulties that were coming with the economic crisis and the backlash against the church for proposition 8. Even though I have long believed that they can see “down the hall and around the corner”, re-reading and listening to their talks confirmed it for me yet again.

And so I thought, these inspired men are such a blessing and a resource in my life–everyone should know what they are saying. Which, obviously, is the point of broadcasting General Conference. For those of you who are interested in what modern-day prophets and apostles are advising, here is a summary of the things that they have really emphasized lately:

Stay out of debt. Ezra Taft Benson spoke about this back in 1987! They have been warning us to avoid unnecessary debt for decades. Hmm, do you think they anticipated the calamitous financial crash of 2008? You betcha. It takes years to get out of debt, once you have accumulated it, so they gave us plenty of time to be free of it. Unnecessary debt is consumer debt. They say that the only things that are okay to take out loans for are school and a home. You should buy everything else when you can afford to buy it.
Stay away from pornography. The apostles and prophets started emphasizing this before the internet really made its public debut. David B. Haight spoke about it in 1984, referencing the magazines, books and movies that were addictive and destructive. Since then there has been a steady crescendo both in intensity and occurrence in warning people to stay away from pornography. “Avoid pornography as you would a plague” is sound advice. So many homes are broken by this addiction. It destroys relationships.
Store a year’s supply of food and have extra money on hand for hard times. The prophet and apostles have stressed self-sufficiency for, well, forever. They have advised us to accumulate everything that we would need for a year or more. Recently, with the talk of an upcoming flu pandemic, they have really stressed at least putting away a 3-month supply of food (the time it would take for the quarantine to be lifted). This is seriously important advice. EVERYONE needs to put away enough to live on for three months. Do it. Whether you are Mormon or not.
Be modest. Modesty in dress and speech and action demands respect and honor. This counsel is directed mostly at teens, but everyone benefits from this counsel. So many women are treated as objects both by men and other women–girls are advised to take back their self-respect by not presenting themselves as just a “body” to be admired, but a mind, heart, and soul–a complete person. Modesty protects. “Modest” doesn’t mean wrist and ankle-length clothing (though, undeniably, that is modest), it means covering your shoulders and cleavage. Not wearing anything too high (much above the knee) or too low or too tight (all of this applies to boys too). Tattoos and multiple piercings are also in this category. Any time you wear something that attracts all of a person’s attention to your body, that is immodest.
Law of Health (Word of Wisdom). This has been reiterated since the time of Joseph Smith. The Word of Wisdom has been addressed on this blog before, but basically there are do’s and don’ts. Do: eat healthy foods, in their season, and in moderation. Don’t: Drink strong drinks (alcohol), hot drinks (coffee and tea), or use drugs unwisely (legal and illegal). If you want to be healthy, follow this counsel and add to it exercise and preventative check-ups.
Family time. The family is the central unit of society and of the church. Church leaders have encouraged us to have “Family Home Evenings” once a week (Mondays), family prayer and scripture study daily, and engage in family activities often. Nothing comes before the family (except our own personal relationships with God), not even Church activities or functions. Have family dinners as often as possible. Talk to your children/parents openly. Doing so will strengthen your family which will, in turn, help school work, self-esteem, friendships, trust, careers–everything. When a family is strong and children know that they can rely on their parents, that relieves a great burden from them and they can use their energy to excel.

There are more, but these are the things that our prophets have been advising us to do with the most fervor lately. They may seem like common sense, but how many of them do you really do? Those who follow this counsel are blessed to be happy, healthy, and prepared for the future. I encourage you to do it too. And if it seems unlikely that we would have a contemporary prophet in our time, remember that that is what Noah’s contemporaries thought too. And look where it got them.

Giving Thanks

Gratitude “…live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which the Lord doth bestow upon you.”
Alma 34:38

A grateful heart is among the greatest of attributes that we can learn in this life. Everything we have should be received with gratitude and thanksgiving. The words, “Thank you,” though simple, can mean more than anything else we can say. Jesus Christ gave an example by giving thanks to the Father before feeding the four thousand and at the last supper. Remember that of the ten lepers cleansed by His power, only one returned and he was blessed all the more.

“And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.”
D&C 78:19

All of us have the ability to be more grateful for all things we receive, even though sometimes we must look for things for which we can be grateful. The more we look, the more we realize how much we receive from God and how dependent we are on Him. We can never repay all He has done for us, but we can live in gratitude for everything He gives us. When we live in such a way, our lives become fuller and even more blessed. So rather than complain of lack, let us give thanks for abundance. Give thanks to parents, to children, to siblings, to friends, to God and to everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What Can’t Mormons Do? Part 3: The Sabbath Day

Mount Sinai, where Moses received the ten commandments. It’s an odd thing to consider that of the great Ten Commandments that the God of Israel gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, the one He chose to expound upon the longest is also perhaps the most disregarded in our modern society:

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.”

The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew verb shavat, meaning to cease or stop. The primary purpose of the Sabbath is to be a pause amid the constant rush of life: a day to stop and get your bearings. A day of rest, of course, doesn’t mean to lie around the house all day. The Sabbath is a day to worship God in church, to partake of the Lord’s sacrament, to visit friends and family, to read good books and hear good music. Because we are only instructed to “keep it holy,” every Mormon family observes the Sabbath a little differently. But there are some commonalities: it is not a day to play sports, for instance, or go shopping, go boating, or spend money. Some families choose to forego television or movies or other media, in favor of spending quality family time together.

The move from an agrarian society to an industrialized world has changed the appeal of the ancient practice of the Sabbath. For the majority of Mormons, at least in the United States, the change from weekday to the Sabbath is not quite, to borrow a phrase from Herman Wouk, “the old dramatic plunge from gloom, trouble, penury, and crisis to peaceful and graceful pleasure.” Rather than the much needed privilege of rest it has historically been, the Sabbath Day is now almost viewed as an inconvenience—a painful restriction on a day otherwise useful for work or recreation.

But by making a conscious decision to consecrate one day per week to your Creator, you can have what the Sabbath offers: a serene peace amid a crazy bustling world. I love my Sabbath. Admittedly, when I was a child, I saw it as a day of “can’t”—the only day I wasn’t allowed to play sports, or go swimming, or watch movies. But now I have come to need it. I’m so busy with school and work and an almost frantic need to have fun, the Sabbath has become an oasis of peace for me. You may ask: “How do you keep competitive in business, work, or school when you’re losing an entire day every week?” Here’s my answer: I’ve been doing this my whole life and it’s just the opposite. Sure, as a biochemistry researcher it’s often hard to delay or pause a multi-day experiment mid-run to observe the Sabbath. But whether as a function of the weekly restoration to mind and body, or as a blessing from God, I know that I’m more productive during the week for it, and I’ve never felt at a disadvantage. I’ve come to trust in the words of Isaiah:

Isaiah 58:13 “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Do you feel like you don’t spend quality time with your family? Keep the Sabbath Day. Do you feel constantly overcome by deadlines? Keep the Sabbath Day. Are you tired of the frantic commercialism and materialism in the world? There’s no better way to escape a hectic life than donating one day of your week to the Lord. It works.

<<Part 1: The Word of Wisdom>> <<Part 2: The Law of Chastity>>

A Zion People

Enoch's whole city became Zion and they were removed from the earth. A scriptural favorite of mine is the seventh chapter in the book of Moses wherein the prophet Enoch receives a powerful vision of the Earth and its inhabitants. Multiple times in this chapter, Enoch asks, even pleads with the Lord, “When will the Earth have rest?” referring to the great wickedness that was rampant in his day and up through the ages. In response to his cry, the Lord showed him the coming of Jesus Christ and then on to the end of the world. Enoch was told,

“And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten…and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City…and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem” Moses 7:62

Throughout the ages the idea of Zion has been cherished in the scriptures as the place where the saints dwell. The psalmist described it as “the perfection of beauty” (Psalms 50:2) and the prophet Isaiah called it, “The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 60:14).” While Zion can be considered an actual, geographical place, it also can refer to the state of heart in which the people of God live on this earth and because of its state of purity and unity of purpose before the Lord, it is the goal and dream of all the righteous to this day.

“And the Lord called his people ZION because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18).

As it was their desire of old, it is our desire today to attain such unity. The Lord requires His people to be undivided; how else can they accomplish the great tasks He has in mind for them? Their hearts must be knit together and they must love and care for one another. How is it that we can accomplish this in our own lives? It is when we serve our God and our neighbor and are charitable toward them. Remember, the first great commandments are to love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength and then to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is crucial for this creation of Zion out from Babylon (or the world). It is through the application of gospel truths that people will be changed individually and collectively to live harmoniously as God desires for us. To this end, missionaries around the world are teaching this gospel and inviting people into Christ’s fold.

This endeavor will not be fully accomplished before the second coming of Jesus Christ but the growth will continue and fill the whole world until we are prepared to be blessed with the presence of Jesus Christ.

One of the wonderful talks given this past general conference was by Elder D. Todd Christofferson entitled, “Come to Zion” and is very much worth reading.

“Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion – The pure in heart; therefore, let Zion rejoice” (D&C 97:21).