My favorite person from The Book of Mormon

Love this picture of Jesus

I think my favorite person from The Book of Mormon would have to be Jesus Christ. I mean he did come and visit the people in the Americas. So that is an obvious no brainer... But for the sake of going in depth into the Book of Mormon, I'll talk about someone else.



So after that being said I would have to say that my favorite person (like so many other people) is Captain Moroni. Captain Moroni was a boss. He was appointed the leader of the Nephite army when he was just 25. Think about that. Being responsible for the lives of an entire army when you are 25 years old. When I turn 25, I'm gonna be in school worried about what classes I need to pass to get a degree to start work.



Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty



So with this trust that was put on Captain Moroni also came great power. I mean think about it, he was the Commander of an entire army of men, who would lay down their lives with him. I think the greatest part about Moroni is that he was given this power and yet it didn't get to him. You know the saying "Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts", well that was not the case for Moroni.

Joseph Smith's Vision

When Moroni was out with his army, they had been fighting the Lamenites for a long while and he needed supplies from the cities. But they were not getting the help they desperately needed. And in an epistle to Pahoran he says this "Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country"(Alma 60:36). He is, in my opinion, the 2nd best example of what a man should be like. Even Moroni, while he was putting the plates together and reflecting on what Moroni was like said "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto ^aMoroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the ^bdevil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."(Alma 48:17). What bigger or better complement could a person give another than that? Especially coming from Mormon, the Prophet in charge of collecting and putting the plates together.

The Book of Mormon is full of great men. It is rich with the history, stories, and accounts of those who inhabited the Americas 600 BC to about 400 AD. This record was translated by the gift and power of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you have read this and want to learn more and talk to me directly, click my facebook link and shoot me a message!

God is great! Come and investigate the claims that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints makes.

DO NOT take away from or ADD to.....

OK, so there are people who have legitimate concerns about the Book of Mormon because it "adds" to the bible, and according to Revelations, that is a BIG no no... Well first off, we "Mormons" believe the Bible to be the word of God. So yes we agree with that statement in the Bible... So now let me explain this... (this is all basically being taken from a talk given by Elder Holland an Apostle)

If you will just imagine with me that we are watching all the chaos that is happening when Christ returns to Jerusalem. There is a HUGE gathering for the Passover (a major religious holiday for the Jews). The Pharisees and the Sadducees have just stirred the Jews into a blood thirsty frenzy, and caused a very strict to the rules Jewish people, to completely forget/ignore the proper channels which they were supposed to go through to have a trial, and illegally condemned Christ to death.

So, Christ is crucified and His followers are sent into hiding. Then, the rest of the bible happens. First, we have the acts of the apostles. They go and preach repentance and baptism. We have the account of Saul, who is visited by Christ Himself, and sent to preach. After the acts, we have all of Paul's epistles to people. Along with epistles written by Timothy, James, John, Peter, Jude, and the revelation given to John.

Today, we are lucky enough to have these books from these great men. These epistles were all written at different times and different places. And eventually these epistles all came together, gathered by I don't know who, and put into a volume, and labeled the Bible!

So the scripture in Revelations that says not to take away from or add too is clearly talking about the book of Revelations itself. It was not a declaration for the rest of time saying that the windows of Heaven are shut and no more revelation will be given. On the contrary, the Bible itself says that whenever a man speaks under the influence of the Holy Ghost, it is scripture.

The windows of Heaven are open. God speaks! not spake. And His mouthpiece is the Prophet Thomas S Monson today! If you do not think that there is a need for a Prophet, look at Amos 3:7 and see what that says.

I know that God lives and loves us. That He loves us so much that He sent His only son to suffer, bleed, and die for all of us.

PS: Here is a link to Elder Holland's talk... it'll make more sense than I can http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/my-words-never-cease?lang=eng&query=add+bible#4

Christ and the Restoration

"He is not here: for he is risen" (Matt 28:6)

Jesus Christ was resurrected that first Easter morning and has shown Himself to both His disciples in Jerusalem and in the Americas. He later returned to America, this time with His Father to Palmyra New York and they showed themselves to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

         I had an interesting conversation with a woman on her doorstep the other day. She told me that she did not believe that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and that there is no need for a Prophet today. That a Prophet will not give you salvation. And I agree with the last sentence. That a Prophet can not give me salvation. Because salvation only comes in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Jesus has taught us that we must do certain things to inherit the Kingdom of God. That we must be baptized (John 3:5) Also, He taught that the saving ordinance of baptism must be performed by one who holds the authority (priesthood) to do so. And because the priesthood was taken from the earth shortly after the Saviors death and resurrection, there was a need to restore those keys and priesthood. Thus, God would need to call another Prophet to restore what once was lost for us to receive the ordinance of baptism.

The Priesthood is on the earth today. It has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and will not be taken again. The sky is blue and the church is true.

A Testimony

Well I thought it would be a good idea to follow up my last series of posts with something that the others were lacking.... SIMPLICITY!.. You can really go into great details about the Gospel. You can prove points up and down, using the scriptures and even scientific studies and books, but that will not build a "testimony". A testimony is yours. It is what you think, feel, believe, and know. And it is my testimony that Jesus is the Christ. That He is the one who came into the world to fulfill the words of ALL the other Prophets before Him. That He took upon Himself, not only the sins of the world, but ALL the pains, sufferings, and afflictions, both physical and emotional that ALL mankind would endure. Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world. He is the "Bread of Life" and the "Fountain of Water" that is springing up into everlasting life. I know, because of recorded history, study and prayer, that He was literally resurrected from His borrowed tomb, and that He broke the bands of death for His people.

I believe in miracles and that there are miracles all around us. I believe that we can be the miracle for someone else. That if we will live according to the principles set forth in doctrine given by Christ that He can and will help us find those in need. Just like the Good Samaritan, we can be a miracle to someone else. And if we look close enough, we will see God's hand in our lives. We will see the path that we've taken and how we've been guided to those who changed, and will change the course of our lives. I love being a missionary and spreading the Good Word!

Revealed Truth and Science Pt 4: Time, Light, Health, and Conclusions!

Time
         Time, according to science, goes in one direction. Although not understood, it is now known to be a relative thing. That is, we measure time by our clocks, but objects moving relative to us will have clocks that measure time more slowly. The faster they are moving, the more slow time becomes relative to us. This concept was first suggested scientifically by Einstein in the early 1900s. The same concept can be found in Abraham 3. (Abr 3:3-10) This was first published in the spring of 1842 in Nauvoo in the Times and Seasons.The Prophet Joseph Smith had little formal education, yet the concepts of relativistic time in this chapter of the Book of Abraham were first discovered scientifically about 65 years later!
          What the revelations teach us about time is that it is measured differently throughout the universe, the one day with God is as one thousand years with man (II Peter 3:8; Abr 3:4). Moreover we are taught that time is only measured unto men (Alma 40:8, Rev. 10:6). From these we can learn that since all things are present before God (Doctrine and Covenants 38:2, 130:7), and God is not constrained by time as are we.

Light
          Science can provide extensive information about light, what it is, how it works, etc. Yet, when it comes time to describe it in detail, science will tell you that it is sometimes found as a particle of light (a photon) and other times we found as a wave. It takes elegant mathematics and impressive theories to correlate these two concepts.
           Revealed truth gives even more added dimensions, suggesting that light "quickeneth our understandings" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:11), is knowledge, truth, spirit and intelligence (Doctrine and Covenants 84:45). So we know from this that light comes in many forms, has great power, can permeate the souls of men, and is a carrier of knowledge and power. In addition, judging from the appearance of the Angel Moroni to the Prophet Joseph (Joseph Smith- History- v. 43), light can also be a transporter of angels- or at least is associated with such transport. Science still has a long way to go in this arena.

Health
          Here we must go to Doctrine and Covenants section 89, where we find that if we eat right, and don't use coffee, tea, alcohol or tobacco, we will have "health in our navel and marrow to our bones..... and shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint." (Doctrine and Covenants 89: 18-20 (Given in 1833))
          Health in your navel. Science has learned relatively recently (within the last 50 years) that alcohol and other drugs can cross the placental membrane deeply affecting fetuses. What does health in you navel mean? I believe it means that we will have healthy babies by restricting our intake of the harmful substances defined in this revelation.
          Marrow to our bones. In the last two decades scientists have come to understand that the entire immune system of the body is dependent upon the health of the bone marrow, where all of the factors needed for the immune system have their start. Bone marrow health is negatively affected by alcohol and tobacco.
          Run and not be weary and walk and not faint. Only in the last few years have scientist found out that a key enzyme in a cascade mechanism needed to provide energy for muscles is made inoperative when caffeine is present. So in the presence of caffeine, the body fails to break down the sugar storage molecules (glycogen) necessary to give us what is often termed, "second wind". Hence if we use caffeine, we run and are weary and walk and faint.

Conclusions!
             These are just a few examples to illustrate differences and agreements between science and revealed truth. There are many more that could be discussed in addition. Perhaps the take-home message is that science and revealed truth go hand in hand. The only time there is controversy is when science exceeds its scope or supposed Gospel scholars exceed theirs. From my standpoint, I like to wait and watch. Science keeps coming around with more and more factual material which continues to validate the revealed truths of the Gospel.
              It is my testimony that Gospel truths are eternal, and the more that science prove the facts and unveils the governing laws, the closer these concepts come to harmonize with the Gospel truths.

Modern day Moses

The world is an ever changing place. There is a consistant change in technology, science and morals to name a few. But God has promised us that He is "a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever". So if God is the same yesterday, today and forever, then why wouldn't He have a prophet on the earth today? Well we do.
Through Joseph Smith, the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth(Resoration). And what I mean by living gospel is the priesthood. The authority to act and do in Christ's name. That authority was given to Joseph Smith by the "laying on of hands"(1 Tim 4:14) by heavenly messengers. And since that time there have been Prophets on the earth, leading, guiding, and directing all those who will listen to their counsel.
One specific thing that has been given to us since the "Restoration" is the "Word of Wisdom". In the revelation given to Joseph Smith was promised that if we refrained from tobacco, alcohol, tea, coffee and other illegal drugs, we "^ashall receive ^bhealth in their navel and marrow to their bones... And shall ^arun and not be ^bweary, and shall walk and not faint." And this was given in the 1830s. Before modern technology and before we knew about the health benefits of avoiding those substances. Heres a website that i pulled up, check out the first two things they talk about(http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/prevention/086.html)

Anyways, my point is that we need Prophets. We need someone called and ordained (1 Tim 2:7) to give us guidance in the last days. Because Satan has such a powerful grip on the world, we need one to help us follow the narrow path that leads to eternal life (2 Nephi 31:18). "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat". Because the path to destruction is wide, we need to be very cautious to walk the narrow path. And because the world has changed so much in the last 15 years, let alone 2000, isn't there a great need for a prophet? There is, and he is here. His name is Thomas S Monson and he leads us through these perilous times. Follow his counsel and you will experience greater joy than you have ever known. I know that God loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us that we might live. I know that Thomas S Monson is called of God to be His instrument in these days. And these things i know through study and much prayer. And you can too. Just ask God if what you've read today is true, and He will answer because you are His child and He loves you.