Anyway, this past Sunday the concluding speaker was speaking about the role of parents (tied into Mother’s Day) and he shared a quote from President Faust. I called what I described above as “parental hypocrisy”:

When parents try to teach their children to avoid danger, it is no answer for parents to say to their children, “We are experienced and wise in the ways of the world, and we can get closer to the edge of the cliff than you.” Parental hypocrisy can make children cynical and unbelieving of what they are taught in the home. For instance, when parents attend movies they forbid their children to see, parental credibility is diminished. If children are expected to be honest, parents must be honest. If children are expected to be virtuous, parents must be virtuous. If you expect your children to be honorable, you must be honorable.

James E. Faust, “The Greatest Challenge in the World—Good Parenting,” Ensign, Nov 1990, 32

As is often the case, someone else comes up with a better way to explain the way that I feel. We really do need to practice what we preach. Our kids know when we are genuinely concerned about their exposure to something, and when we are just making excuses. If we want our children to trust us and our decisions, we need to be honorable in all things. It isn’t always easy, but it will make a different in the long run.

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“If we use our time properly, the things that don’t matter will fall out of the way or we’ll find a way to get things done. We won’t feel like we’re busy. If we find that we are busy, it is because we are focusing on the wrong things.”

I think that is one of the most profound things she has ever said, and I totally agree. If I feel myself getting bogged down with things, it is almost always because I am focused on things that don’t really matter. On the other hand, I can have a really “busy” week of Church things (my wife out on a Tuesday for a Relief Society activity, my wife out Wednesday for a YW activity, my teaching Institute on Wednesday, Ward Temple Night on a Thursday, etc), but it doesn’t feel busy. It just feels like life, and it is a good life.

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Note: This image has a copyright from Lucasfilm, but I can’t find it on their site to link to. I found this recently on my hard drive as I was cleaning up.

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My favourite quote from this week was one from President Faust about the Holy Ghost:

“The Spirit of the Holy Ghost is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world. It can be more mind-expanding and can make us have a better sense of well-being than any chemical or other earthly substance. It will calm nerves; it will breathe peace to our souls. This Comforter can be with us as we seek to improve. It can function as a source of revelation to warn us of impending danger and also help keep us from making mistakes. It can enhance our natural senses so that we can see more clearly, hear more keenly, and remember what we should remember. It is a way of maximizing our happiness”

James E. Faust in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 41; or Ensign, May 1989, 32–33

What a powerful statement! I haven’t wasted my life in “riotous living”, but I certainly can tell the difference between having the Spirit with me and being left alone. I can definitely testify that the Holy Ghost is indeed the greatest guarantor of inward peace. The enlightenment and pure intelligence it bestows are worth any sacrifice it takes to live worthy of His companionship.

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• When we speak of qualifying for the blessings of eternal life, we mean qualifying for the blessings of eternal families. This was Christ’s doctrine, and this is some of what was restored that had been lost—understanding and clarity about family. Without these blessings, the earth is wasted…
  The promises of the children made to the fathers was that their hearts would turn to their fathers. Their hearts would be turned to the blessings of eternal life that they could have. This is talking about temple blessings—temple ordinances and covenants without which “the whole earth [is] utterly wasted.”
  So, if we teach about what is in every section of the Doctrine and Covenants, if we teach so that our students know all the rivers in the Book of Mormon, if they can name all the prophets of the Old Testament, if they can describe to you the pioneer trek and the history of the Latter-day Saints in the restored times but they don’t understand the promises made to the fathers and their part in it, it is “utterly wasted.” I would submit that all of our teaching is utterly wasted if they don’t understand the context that all of this is taught within.
• Korihor was an anti-Christ. Anti-Christ is antifamily. Any doctrine or principle our youth hear from the world that is antifamily is also anti-Christ. It’s that clear. They need to know
  that if it’s antifamily, it’s anti-Christ. An anti- Christ is antifamily.
• Teach the students so that they don’t misunderstand (3 times she used the phrase)
1. Let’s go to the question “What is it we hope this rising generation will understand and do because of what you will teach them?” Teach so they don’t misunderstand that every doctrine, every principle, everything you’re teaching leads them to the fulness of the gospel.
2. So, what I submit to you as one of your responsibilities—besides teaching those doctrines so your students don’t misunderstand
3. Your role in this is to teach them so they don’t misunderstand, to be very clear on key points of doctrine, which you find in the proclamation on the family.
• When speaking of Isaac and Rebekah, she said: She needed to see that her righteous son got the blessings. Rebekah used her influence to see that the priesthood blessings and keys passed to the righteous son. It’s a perfect example of the man who has the keys and the woman who has the influence working together to ensure their blessings.

Powerful, but great, stuff!

Note: If you would like to read the talk, you can download a PDF of the talk here.

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O the depravity of my people! They are without order and without mercy. Behold, I am but a man, and I have but the strength of a man, and I cannot any longer enforce my commands.

And they have become strong in their perversion; and they are alike brutal, sparing none, neither old nor young; and they delight in everything save that which is good; and the suffering of our women and our children upon all the face of this land doth exceed everything; yea, tongue cannot tell, neither can it be written.

And now, my son, I dwell no longer upon this horrible scene. Behold, thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling; and their wickedness doth exceed that of the Lamanites.

That line “past feeling” reminds us of what Nephi said to his brothers in 1 Nephi 17: 45:

Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.

That phrase “past feeling” is great. You can look at it in so many ways. The student manual for the Book of Mormon institute course had a great quote about this from President Packer:

“The world grows increasingly noisy. Clothing and grooming and conduct are looser and sloppier and more disheveled. Raucous music, with obscene lyrics blasted through amplifiers while lights flash psychedelic colors, characterizes the drug culture. Variations of these things are gaining wide acceptance and influence over our youth. . . .

“This trend to more noise, more excitement, more contention, less restraint, less dignity, less formality is not coincidental nor innocent nor harmless.

“The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer.

“Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit”

President Boyd K Packer in Conference Report, Oct. 1991, 28; or Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22

When I read that, it totally made me think of the Internet. The Internet is so distracting for people. There is definitely “less restraint” and “less dignity” in the way many people communicate with each other. It can definitely be a tool of Satan to distract us from better things. I found it interesting that the quote is from the fall of 1991, about 3 years before the Internet started to be accessible by vast numbers of people. I guess that is yet another reason why we need prophets, seers and revelators!

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A good (and inspirational) video that will introduce you to them is on YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video served as a good reminder that there are lots of good people in the world doing very good things.

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• Jeremiah 18 – the potter made something that wasn’t good, and tried again. We are like this in the Lord’s hands. We are also like this in our mother’s hands. They build us and shape us and help us become who we are
• No particular verse was given, but one person talked about the women in Christ’s life
• 1 Nephi 1: 1 – hopefully we can all say we were born of goodly parents
• Joseph Smith – History 1: 20 – after having the First Vision, Joseph Smith went home. As Elder Bednar said, Joseph’s mother was in the right place at the right time asking the right questions

I thought it was interesting that no one mentioned the strippling warriors and how their mothers had taught them.

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There was lots of eternal truths spoken during the conference, but one of the “truest” things said was just an unscripted throw-away line. Brother Adrián Ochoa spoke during the Priesthood Session. The talk was called Aaronic Priesthood: Arise and Use the Power of God. About halfway through the talk, he mentions that the Church has a section of their web site where you can hear stories about youth. The official transcript records it this way:

You can find some of these stories and many others like them on the Church’s youth website, youth.lds.org. By the way, the Internet, social media, and other technologies are tools the Lord has placed in your hands to help you exercise your priesthood duties and extend the influence of truth and virtue.

However, that’s not what he said exactly. If you watch the video of the talk, you’ll see that he says the following (it starts at about 8:45):

You can find some of these wonderful stories and many others like them on the Church’s youth web site. Just Google it. Be careful. By the way, the Internet, social media, and other technologies are tools the Lord has placed in your hands to help you exercise your priesthood duties and extend the influence of truth and virtue.

Google it, and be careful

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-S

Number: 9-21-22-23

Refile:     X__   

Reason: New Calling

Priesthood Resume

Planet: Earth

Earth Year A.D. 1823

Name: Moroni ben Mormon

Date of Mortal Birth: A.D. 4^th Century

Date of Mortal Death: A.D. 5^th Century

Nationality: Nephite

Hemisphere: Promised Land

Tribal Identity: House of Joseph

Education Experience and Degrees:

1. Elementary education in various Nephite schools
2. Advanced training in scripture, history, language and engraving
3. Language proficiency:
   1. Hebrew (native tongue)
   2. Reformed Egyptian (language of the plates)
   3. Jaredite (studied the writings of Ether)
   4. Spanish and Portuguese (worked with Columbus and his crews)[1]
   5. English (worked with U.S. revolutionary officers)[2]
   6. Adamic (language of heaven)
4. Degrees attained:
   1. Elementary grades – army schools and elementary schools
   2. Advanced degree – school of technology
   3. Highest degree attained to date: Celestial degree with highest honours

Military Experience:

1. Raised in a military setting – son of Mormon, Nephite commander-in-chief
2. Active duty (Nephite regular army)
3. Considerable combat experience
4. Highest rank attained: major-general
5. Led 10,000 troops at Cumorah; responsible simultaneously for a large civilian population
6. Special advisor to American Revolutionary forces, A.D. 18^th Century

Church Callings and Responsibilities:

1. Called to ministry
2. Assistant to the Church President
3. General Authority – Prophet, seer and revelatory
4. Scripture writer – engraved Mormon 8-9 and Moroni 1-10 on the plates of Mormon (contain several visions of the latter days); wrote the sealed portion of the plates of Mormon (several hundred pages) which contains the spiritual experiences of Mahonri Moriancumer; given a superior rating
5. Abridger – Jaradite record (book of Ether)
6. Archivist – responsible for golden plates; length of service: fourteen hundred years and continuing to serve
7. Dedicated several temple sites
8. Present keys: keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim
9. Present calling: guardian angel of America

Travel:

1. Mortality – Traveled extensively throughout the promised land, including New York via Utah overland; also traveled throughout Zarahemla, Bountiful and Desolation
2. Postmortal – Considerable Atlantic and Caribbean Sea travel (assisted Columbus in discovering America; guided Columbus’s vessels to designated haven); traveled with the Revolutionary Army troops while assisting them in establishing the United States of America
3. Air Travel – Many round trips between heaven and earth fulfilling his various responsibilities

Philosophies of Education:

               Moroni emphasizes the scriptures, assured of their divinity. His pupils must read them prayerfully and seek answers through authorized channels. Moroni utilizes a variety of approaches, but favours face-to-face contact, narration, field trips, and hilltop instructions. Moroni reasons well with his pupils. If it is deemed wise, he uses extraordinary methodology to arouse attention and to maintain it.

New Assignment:

Teach Joseph Smith (prophet designate of the last dispensation) the gospel. Specifically, teach him what the Lord is going to do, and how and in what manner His kingdom is to be conducted in the last days.

Future Assignments:

1. Archivist – sealed plates (continuing)
2. To deliver the sealed portion to the Prophet for translation
3. The fifth angel of the Apocalypse
4. A prominent angel at Adam-ondi-Ahman
5. Guardian angel of America (continuing)
6. Angelic aide to the Nephites and Lamanites
7. Services at the judgment bar

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