Category Archives: Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings

LDS youth excited, ‘anxiously engaged’ in new church curriculum

Posted on April 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment

come_follow_me_header

First off, let me say that I really don’t mean for this post to be negative. I think the new youth curriculum is a step in the right direction. However, we are still teaching youth, so there are always going to be challenges…

As I’m sure everyone knows by now,  in January of this year the youth (Sunday School classes, Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings, and YW classes) started using a new curriculum called Come, Follow Me. The old manuals were dated and had stories and analogies that the youth just couldn’t relate to. If you stuck to the material (like some teachers feel you have to do), then the youth weren’t interested. If you chose to go off on your own, that would work, but it was a lot more work. The new material is based on recent talks by General Authorities and a lot of the Mormon Messages for Youth videos. The material is current, and the youth are to be more involved in the lessons.

Recently KSL TV in Salt Lake City had an article and video about how youth are excited about the new curriculum. As I watched the video, I thought to myself, “Yeah, right!” (said with a sarcastic tone). The experience we’ve had around here is not quite like the video is describing. Don’t get me wrong. I love the YM that I work with and my wife loves the YW she works with (she is the YW President), but the youth are far from excited about much Church-related things these days. That to me is the big challenge. Our youth have at most 10 members attending their high school of 1,000 people. They are surrounded by people who swear, look at pornography, drink, are sexually active, and more, and it is hard. I think they ultimately want to do what is right, but they sometimes seem beaten down by the realities of life.

This isn’t to say that I’m giving up. Far from it. But I just wanted to post something in case there are other leaders out there frustrated. Sometimes we hear these glowing stories about how a new program is working miracles, but when we look at our own experiences we haven’t seen the success. I’m confident that as I continue to prepare lessons, treat the YM with respect, and love them, that they will be able to feel the love of God through me. That can only be a good thing!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Youth

Tagged , , , , , , ,

183rd Annual General Conference – Post-conference notes

Posted on April 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment

183rd_annual_general_conference_screenshot

Well, 10 hours are done (10 3/4 hours if you count The World Report). Usually there is a session that I love, and maybe a session that I find kind of dull. For this conference, there wasn’t one particular session that was my favourite. Each session had a speaker or two that I really enjoyed. This probably made it easier for me to stay away; I didn’t fall asleep during any of the sessions :-)

Online there has been all sorts of buzz about having women pray at General Conference. It wasn’t really something that was on the radar for me, but if it helps some people then it’s all good. I certainly see no reason why women can’t pray or speak in General Conference or any other meeting.

Ultimately probably the most interesting thing for me was that our Stake President was called to be an Area Authority. President David P Homer is a good man. He was serving as a bishop at the same time that I was when Elder Russell M Nelson came to our Stake Conference. I didn’t really know Bishop Homer very well, but my brief interactions with him were positive. Elder Nelson was inspired to call him to be the Stake President, and he has served faithfully for 5 1/2 years. I emailed him yesterday and told him that I was sure he’d inspire many people.

So that’s it. Conference is done. Hopefully we’ve all heard something that is making us think more deeply about our faith and our commitment. I definitely have some things I need to review.

Read the recaps and other notes from the 183rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Religion and Spirituality, Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

183rd Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session

Posted on April 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment

183rd_annual_general_conference_screenshot

After the morning session of General Conference I watched The World Report (I like their new logo and theme). I then had a nap for about an hour. I awoke to some of the Bible videos being played. I haven`t seen them before, and they looked pretty good.

Well, here we go with the final session…

President Dieter F Uchtdorf conducted

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang  Come, Ye Children of the Lord

Sister Carol M Stephens offered the invocation

The choir sang Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

Elder Jeffrey R Holland

  • All things are possible to him that believeth
  • When facing the challenge of faith, the father in the scripture exerts his faith first, then acknowledges his weakness
  • The size of your faith is not the issue; it is the integrity you show when your faith is tested
  • When questions arise, don’t start your quest by saying you don’t have faith
  • Be as candid as you need to be, but if you need to be healed, don’t let your questions stay in the way of faith and its miracles
  • Imperfect people are all God has to work with (other than Jesus)
  • When doubt comes, do not be afraid to ask for help

Elder Dallin H Oakes

  • Come, Follow Me
  • All of the messages in conference help us to follow Christ
  • He compared many things that Christians do and how we fit that description

Elder Christoffel Golden Jr

  • We are to inherit all that the Father has

The choir and congregation sang Now Let Us Rejoice

Elder Enrique R Falabella

  • There is no special school for parenting, but we have our homes
  • Marriage in the temple is for time and all eternity
  • “In order to contend, you always need two people, and I will never be one of them”
  • “I need you to hug me”
  • A child who sings is a happy child
  • I love the Book of Mormon and my Savior Jesus Christ
  • It is not enough to know the scriptures; we have to live them

Elder Erich W Kopischke

  • We all want acceptance
  • Unfortunately we sometimes try to get acceptance from the wrong sources

Elder Bruce D Porter

  • The apostles didn’t know that the Passover meal was the Last Supper
  • We need not fear the future
  • God is with us

Elder D Todd Christofferson

  • Spoke about how Jesus Christ is our Redeemer

President Thomas S Monson

  • Study the messages given at conference
  • We are a world-wide church
  • Be tolerant and kind
  • May we ever follow his example
  • Be aware of the needs of those aware us

The choir sang Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing

Elder Larry Y Wilson offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 183rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Religion and Spirituality, Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon Church Music, Mormon General Conference, Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

183rd Annual General Conference – Sunday Morning General Session

Posted on April 7, 2013 by | Leave a comment

183rd_annual_general_conference_screenshot

The two General Conference Sundays have to be the best Sundays of the year! We can sleep in a bit, spent time together as a family, go for a walk, and listen to the beautiful music of Music and the Spoken Word together. This morning was particularly great as the weather was beautiful. Spring is truly here!

We don’t usually hear or watch Music and the Spoken Word (unless it is before General Conference). Their performance of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty was fantastic. They also sang I Feel My Savior’s Love and my kids sang along. That was pretty nice to hear my kids singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir :-)

We’re hoping for a great session of conference to top it all off.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir saing Go Forth With Faith to open the session

President Henry B Eyring conducted

The choir sang Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise

Elder Steven E Snow offered the invocation

President Dieter F Uchtdorf

  • We sometimes feel as if we are surrounded by darkness
  • Darkness exists, but we don’t want to dwell there
  • Light also exists, and we should dwell there
  • God’s light is real
  • The darkness may not dissipate at once but it will eventually
  • With Christ darkness cannot success
  • Darkness cannot gain victory over the Light of Christ

The choir sang Come, Follow Me

Elder Neil L Andersen

  • The mortal life of Jesus Christ was full of miracles
  • We are few in number, but we are still filling the whole earth
  • Our day is a remarkable time of miracles

Sister Rosemary M Wixom

  • Everyone can increase a child’s confidence and faith
  • Don’t let technology get in the way of talking to your children
  • Disconnect each day

The choir and congregation sang Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah

Elder L Whitney Clayton

  • We can learn a lot from watching and learning from others
  • He has seen the following common characteristices of successful marriages
    1. Both husband and wife hold their marriage is a priceless treasures
    2. Faith
    3. Repentance and humility
    4. Respect
  • Marriage is a gift from God
  • The quality of our marriage is a gift to God

Elder L Tom Perry

  • Secularism is beginning to be the norm
  • Next to life itself, free agency is God’s greatest gift to mankind
  • Men are free according to the flesh
  • Obedience to law is liberty

The choir sang Where Love Is

President Thomas S Monson

  • Truth is knowledge of things as they were, are, and are to come
  • Answers come as we are obedient to the commandments of God
  • Told a good story about he and a friend trying to clear a field by burning it
  • Be obedient

The choir sang Come, Come Ye Saints

Elder O Vincent Haleck offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 183rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Religion and Spirituality, Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon Church Music, Mormon Church Scripture, Mormon General Conference, Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

183rd Annual General Conference – Saturday Morning General Session

Posted on April 6, 2013 by | Leave a comment

183rd_annual_general_conference_screenshot

As mentioned in my Pre-conference notes, I had to watch this session at work. I got called out of my office at about 11:45, and didn’t get back to my desk until almost 12:30. I was surprised to note how anxious I was to get to my computer and watch conference. I felt like I was missing something. Then throughout the session, I kept getting calls. Usually I can just sit there and watch, but not today. There must have been something that the Adversary didn’t want me to hear!

I thought it was interesting that the Church is promoting the #ldsconf hashtag

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang Redeemer of Israel

President Dieter F Uchtdorf conducted

The choir sang In Hymns of Praise

Elder Randall K Bennett offered the invocation

President Thomas S Monson

  • Traveled to Germany, Alberta, Idaho in the last 6 months (the last two to dedicate temples)
  • Didn’t attend cultural celebration in Calgary as it was Sister Monson’s birthday
  • President Uchtdorf dedicated to Honduras to dedicated a temple
  • Announced new temples in Cedar City Utah and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • In October changes to missionary age announced
  • As of April 4, 65634 full-time missionaries
  • More than 20,000 more have received their call
  • 6,000 are in process
  • 58 new missions
  • We were invited to donate to the general missionary fund of the church

The choir sang Hark, All Ye Nations!

President Boyd K Packer (he looked good, but spoke from his chair and had oxygen tubes in his nose)

  • In 1992 he turned 68
  • He shared a short poem he wrote at that time (he updated it at 78 and again at 88)
  • He is getting older. Although he loses physical ability, there are “great spiritual gains” that come with age
  • We need to protect our homes
  • The priesthood has been given to protect the home
  • There are few things more powerful than the prayers of a righteous mother

Bishop Dean M Davies

  • Talked about earthquakes in California
  • We must build on sure foundations in order to be safe
  • Just as buildings use the right material, we need to be built properly spiritually
  • We wouldn’t knowingly build our homes on sand

Sister Elaine S Dalton

  • spoke about the first line in the YW theme… we are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love him
  • we need to understand who we are and whose we are
  • we must never lose sight of the strength of the women
  • we need virtue to be a vital value in society

The choir and congregation sang Let Us All Press On

Elder Craig A Cardon

  • The Savior forgives sin on earth, not just in the eternities
  • In this forgiveness the enabling power of the Atonement helps us
  • False faith does not justify sin
  • “I will be merciful unto your weakness”
  • He knows our weakness
  • “Notwithstanding your sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you”
  • The Savior wants to forgive

Elder M Russell Ballard

  • “And worlds without number have I created”
  • The Milky Way is just one of 200+ billion galaxies
  • It is impossible to fathom
  • The power by which these were created is the priesthood
  • The source of this power is God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ
  • Men administer the priesthood but they are NOT the priesthood
  • Just as a woman cannot have a child without a man, a man can’t properly use his priesthood without a woman
  • Shared an analogy of growing a tomato plant, it’s potential, and what happens when it is neglected
  • Those who hold the priesthood but don’t honour it will wilt spiritually
  • Spoke of the recent Worldwide Leadership Training videos about the role of priesthood and strengthening the family

The choir sang Faith

President Henry B Eyring

  • This is His church and we take His name upon us as we enter the Church
  • “I will encircle thee in the arms of my love”
  • Recounted much of the life of Christ
  • Great blessings come from faithful service
  • Christ has shown us how to hear our Heavenly Father
  • He bore powerful witness that he knows Christ lives as surely as if he were there

The choir sang My Redeemer Lives

Sister Jean A Stevens offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 183rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Religion and Spirituality, Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon Church Music, Mormon Church Priesthood, Mormon Church Scripture, Mormon General Conference

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Youth Chosen Topic – Word of Wisdom

Posted on April 2, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Yesterday was a 5th Sunday. In most wards this means that all of the MP/RS are together. Lately our youth have been included, not because the topics are particularly relevant, but just because. This is my first 5th Sunday since becoming the YM President, so my wife (she’s the YW President) and I decided to have the youth together on their own. Our presidencies had surveyed the youth over the previous few weeks about challenges that youth face. The overwhelming choice was Word of Wisdom, so we decided to spend our time discussing that. It was a tough choice to go with since it was Easter Sunday, but since they chose it, we went with it.

neweralp.nfo-o-12d5

One of our YW conducted, a YM played the piano, and we sang Called To Serve. I then did a bit of an intro and another leader then led a discussion about how the Word of Wisdom affects them and coming up with strategies to help them.

Here are my notes for the intro:

  • The Word of Wisdom was NOT given by way of commandment
  • It is a principle with a promise
  • Similar to Prohibition in the 1920′s, there was a temperence movement in the US around Joseph Smith’s time and it is likely that some early church members (or at least their families) were participants
  • There is also a suggestion that Emma Smith didn’t think that the men who attended the School of the Prophets should be chewing tobacco
  • Possibly affected by these circumstances, Joseph Smith prayed about this and received a revelation
  • It was affirmed by many leaders over the years, but wasn’t really a commandment
  • After arriving in the Salt Lake valley, the members committed to live it, but still didn’t follow through
  • During the following years they were persecuted because of polygamy, and had other focuses
  • In the 1890s apparently James E Talmage (the author of Jesus the Christ) had some sort of anxiety (“nerves”) problem and his doctor suggested he smoke to calm his nerves. The First Presidency said he could.
  • By around the turn of the century as polygamy was less of an issue the Word of Wisdom became more prominent, particularly during Joseph F Smith‘s time as President of the Church
  • In 1906 the church officially started using water instead of wine in the Sacrament
  • In 1915 church leaders were instructed not to ordain men to the priesthood or give temple recommends to people who didn’t follow the Word of Wisdom
  • In 1933 the Church Handbook of Instructions listed it as a requirement

I then spoke for just a few more minutes about some a few reasons why we follow the Word of Wisdom. I generally tried to “defend” against some of the arguments that might be out there against the Word of Wisdom.

  • Some people might say that they used to drink in the bible.
    There are all sorts of things that were done before that we don’t do now
  • Some people might say that having to follow the Word of Wisdom takes away their freedom
    I believe it gives us freedom. We are free from addiction, guilt and the consequences that come from not following this principle. My wife shared a story about a friend of hers who as a teenager got drunk at a party and ended up having a baby. The girl gave the baby up for adoption and stayed active in the church. In the later years she wanted to serve a mission but couldn’t. She had no idea. There are obviously more details of this story, but the point was that there are consequences to our actions and we don’t always know what those consequences are or how they will manifest themselves
  • It wasn’t given as a commandment
    This may be true, but it has essentially become a commandment. Many of our modern-day prophets have told us to follow it. We need to be faithful and try following it so we can realize the promises

The last point I tried to make was about how it gives us an identity. God’s covenant people have always had certain characteristics or observances that identified them as such. What did circumcision have to do with whether or not the people of Israel followed the Lord? Not much (that I can think of), but that gave them an identity and set them apart from others. The same could be said about certain clothing, Sabbath Day observance, and so on. Polygamy used to be our identity, and as it wound down, observance of the Word of Wisdom geared up. Now we are known around the world for it.

I took about 10 minutes and then the other leader took about 20 minutes to discuss other Word of Wisdom related things with them. The meeting definitely could have been better (it’s hard getting teenagers to be engaged and contribute), but overall it wasn’t bad. Some good points were made, and you could tell that some of them were definitely listening.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Religion and Spirituality, Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Youth

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

We Are the Architects of Our Own Happiness – Bishop Gérald Caussé

Posted on March 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

I’m months behind in posting this…

Bishop Gérald Caussé, 1st Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric spoke at a CES Devotional back in November. He spoke well (his accent is awesome) about happiness.

Here are my notes:

  • Told story of how he visited Salt Lake City as a young man
  • Life holds lots of surprises
  • Youth is the perfect time to make personal plans
  • Have dreams for the future
  • Life is full of uncertainty; surprises will pop up in your path
  • Uncertainty can led to fear
  • There is a different path than fear and self-indulgence
  • Things good and challenging will happen to you
  • You have control of your own happiness
  •  Principles of Happiness
    1. Recognize your personal worth
      • Each of us has unique worth
      • We are nothing, but we are important to God
      • We are not forgotten
    2. Become who you are
      • If you were to receive a letter form yourself in the past, what would it say?
      • Are we becoming who we wanted to become
      • Brigham Young said the greatest lesson we can learn is to know ourselves
      • We have to know ourselves in order to know god
    3. Trust in God’s promises
      • President Monson has said that the future is as bright as your faith
      • Re-read your patriarchal blessing
      • Reflect on the personal promises in it to you
      • After you have done all in your power, if you don’t get the results you expected, accept God’s will
      • All things are for our good
      • The promises of the Lord help us to get to our final destination
  • If you live in harmony with His gospel, your future will be bright
  • Have goals and work hard at them, and then let Him lead you
  • Trust yourself

→ Leave a comment

Posted in General Religion and Spirituality, Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,