Comforter

The New Testament is a wonder. It gives so many promises, which is amazing since it is in itself a fulfillment of so many promises.

One of the greatest promises it makes is to send us a Comforter. Jesus says this to his Apostles on his last night of mortal life.

"Comforter" has a lot of significance for us in modern times. With all the stress and dissonance in modern life, one thinks of a comforter as a counselor or a friend in times of need, a shoulder to cry on. Another meaning for it is a warm blanket one keeps folded until needed.

Comfort fills a need, but the most interesting thing about the Comforter that Christ mentioned is that it fills a need that most people don't realize they have, though so many are aching for it. It is the need for a connection to God.

The Comforter is actually the Holy Ghost, and it was os important that it be given to the early Church upon Christ's Ascension because it would allow the Church to grow and aid member's souls through revelation and assurance. In the 1st Century, both Jews and Christians were harassed and murdered. Members of the Church today don't usually encounter that problem, but the significance and need for the gift of the Holy Ghost is just as important. Satan's efforts to confuse and destroy are even more forceful than the efforts of the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Roman Empire to destroy the Primitive Church.

The gifts of the Spirit are vast and endowed with force by God's grace when the gift of the Holy Ghost is given by confirmation. This gift is immeasurable, and unending.

John's Insights

I guess I should say, "My Insights", though I would not have acquired what I have learned from John's Gospel if he had not written it.

Here are a few favorite spots of mine:

Many go to great lengths to question Jesus' divinity, where in the first chapter of John, he is mentioned as having a special relationship with God in 4 different ways:

1:1,14 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

1:4-9 - "That was the true Light, which lighteth cevery man that cometh into the world."

1:29,36 - "And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!"

1:34 - "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."

Jesus is the Word

Jesus is the Light

Jesus is the Lamb of God

Jesus is the Son of God

What's more, Jesus' own testimony that he is God's Son appears in almost every chapter:

2:16 "And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise."

3:13-18, 35-36 (Check it out)

4:25-26 "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all

things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."

5:17-31 (Read it)

That's all I'm giving you. You'll have to look for his words in chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and the rest.

No other book among the Four Gospels is so thick with these divine confirmations.

I'm glad we were able to study it this semester.

I know that the Bible and the testimony of John are true and I thank God with all thanksgiving for them.

MOA

Here's the link to the artwork exhibited in Types and Shadows at the BYU Museum of Art. It's a fabulous exhibit of religious artwork.

For our New Testament class, we made a field trip to the MOA to see the new Types and Shadows: Intimations of Divinity exhibit. It was enlightening! All of the pieces carried deep meaning, shadows of sometimes clear, sometimes elusive truths and figures.

I'll try to include some of my favorite selections on this post so you can get a glimpse of the variety of visual effects

employed in these beautiful pieces of artwork.

The first one is done by Young, called "Man of Sorrows". We noted the stark contrast between his clearly clean, unbroken body and physical constitution, while showing in his face a deeply penetrating grief. Christ bore our sins and weakness in his cross, and yet he remains perfect and unstained.

Here on the right is Poynter's "The Prodigal's Return". It shows the remorse in a lost son after wasting his father's years and fortune, begging for forgiveness, while also showing clearly how hurriedly a very loving father embraces and supports that son without reserve. There is no grudge, no hate, no coldness from God if we are sincere in our repentance.

This last one is Job, poor Job, who lost everything, but was faithful and humble all the way through, though his friends also went against him through his hardest trials. This view of his sorrows perfectly matches aspects of Christ's suffering, where his friends also did not stand by him.

This visit was enlightening, refreshing, and inspiring. I love art in all its forms, and I pray that we can all enjoy it more and more.

Hymns

We had a fabulous experience last night. We saw two free concerts put on by the BYU School of Music. The first was a graduate recital for a franch horn player, who played with piano and a string quartet. The second was a longer, more bodacious composition recital for a faculty organist. He composed pieces for the oboe, for 8 flutes, and for the piano and violin, but most impressive was that that he played himself on the organ. One of those sections was a series of choral preludes, variations on the arrangements of "Sabbath Day", "The Lord My Pasture Will Prepare", and "Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise" after we sang as an audience the first verse from each. It was beautiful. Christian hymns abound with symbolism, praise and doctrinal teaching about the Savior and his Gospel.

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

This hymn is from Colossians 1:15-20. I didn't know until it was recently taught in my New Testament class that early Christian hymns are quoted in some sections of the New Testament. This one in particular speaks of Christ's qualities: in the spitting image of His Father, the first creation of the Father, the Head of His Church, the first resurrected, the Savior of the world through the shedding of His own blood on the cross for the redemption of all creation.

So much is taught in our hymns, so much good. Check out LDS hymns at www.lds.org/churchmusic/ . Check it out!

Matthew's insights

The book of Matthew writes heavily on the completion of prophecy through Jesus' works. It also includes heavy use of Jesus prophesying of his own future.

Among these prophecies are some important ones concerning his own death:

MAT 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

MAT 17:22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

MAT 17:23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

MAT 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

MAT 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

He wanted his disciples to understand the importance of his sacrifice, and the necessity of it, and that he would be resurrected after effecting the Atonement.

Records

This week our religion class had the opportunity of touring the Crandall Historical Printing Museum, always advocated by our professor. Since I had visited twice before, I didn't visit it this week, but I will make some new obsevations based on what I have learned since that time. I have learned that writing and copying before the printing press was tedious, it was arduous, and fraught with undiscoverable errors. I am so grateful for technology that still is constantly improved as we open new insights into our history. Here is my post with details from my earlier visit in February:

Oh, wow, have we been blessed. This past week, to expand on our knowledge of Church history through the ages and the works of God throughout it all, we visited the Crandall Historical Printing Museum. (See their website) It was a fabulous experience that taught us a ton about how God's hand has moved through history, inspiring the works of many important men.
We started in a room with a replica of Gutenberg's printing press, and we saw how the first instruments were made that made printing possible. We saw how his press revolutionized the world and brought about the Renaissance. Next we entered a room where we could see a replica of a printing press from the American Revolution era, and learned how the printing of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and The Declaration of Independence among other publications were the real reason that the colonies could be united under the strength of wise individuals seeking freedom, like Benjamin Franklin. Following that, we entered a room that let us envision the exact print shop that was used by Joseph Smith, Jr., the first modern prophet, to publish 5000 of the first copies ever printed of the Book of Mormon. It was amazing to feel the spiritual energy and amazement as we saw that the process could all work out in the Lord's time.
Today, it amazes me that my thoughts, words, and testimony of this true gospel can be processed and broadcast to an unlimited number of viewers at no extra cost. Type has come a very long way. I'm grateful for this gift of the Internet, and all the inspired advanced that make such things possible. I know that all this was not just a natural process of man, but foreseen and foretold by God through his prophets, and through this and other media will all people hear the word of God and be given the choice to live. Have any questions inside you? Find the answers: www.mormon.org

Birth

Now to make a comparison. Some Christians may know that the content of the books of Matthew and Luke are more similar between them than any other two books in the bible, which leads us to believe that they come from much of the same source material, though their differences are notable and the style and themes in each set them apart as masterpieces.

One marked difference between the two is the birth narrative of both books, taking place in the first two chapters of each book.

First an analysis of Matthew:

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

(A genealogy is given from Abraham to Joseph, Jesus' step-father, to whom the angel Gabriel appeared in a vision, saying of Mary...)

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

...

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem

These passages start an illustration of a few common themes in Matthew as it talks about the birth of Jesus and the attention he received:

1. Showing through genealogy that Jesus is the heir of the throne of the King of the Jews, that he is inheritor of the high priesthood.

2. Showing through prophecies and fulfillment of prophecies that Jesus is the Promised Messiah.

Luke's narrative has a particular singularity: It chronicles not only the time before his birth in more detail, but as well as the time directly after his birth, AS WELL AS the parallel and slightly previous story of the prophecies of, conception of, and the birth of John the Baptist! Luke fit a lot into the 132 verses that comprise his first two chapters.

In the end, both stories provide vivid detail into highlights of the Savior's infancy, and his family connection to John the Baptist, and prophecies that frame the whole experience.

We're expecting a baby, and we'll find out the gender soon. Joseph and Mary, Zacharias and Elizabeth were some the extremely lucky few in ancient times to find out their babies' gender before birth. What a miracle!

Luke

I will take this blog to focus on Luke from the content and contet of the New Testament that we learned in class this past week. The Gospel of St. Luke is the third one in the New Testament. It is commonly believed that Luke was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He was a physician who most likely attended to the apostles, and particularly traveled with Paul for a time, learning the stories of Jesus also through interviewing eyewitnesses and leaders of the Church.

He is mentioned by name only in the epistles of Paul, and it is clear from the style of writing and introductions that he wrote both the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Evidence from the time of the apostles indicates that the longest standard scroll for writing was about 38 feet in length from one end to the other, and that would be rolled up. Since both books are about 20,000 Greek words long, it is deduced that Luke had to use up a full scroll for each book, and that is the reason neither of the books is any longer.

We know that Luke spent time on the road with Timothy and Paul. We also know that he spent at least two years in Galilee with James the lesser, an apostle and half-brother of Jesus. This is probably why he knew so well the stories of Jesus' birth and youth, and learned of John the Baptist, too.

Luke wrote a true history, a biography, from birth to death and detailed the resurrection and ascension. He likely got his ability for history and details from his profession, where history is important, and so are the details.

One of the greatest applications of this to present day is the work of so many great scholars, compiling the truth of decades past through the publication of the Joseph Smith papers. This is their website: http://josephsmithpapers.org/Default.htm

What it contains is a detailed account in its different volumes of so many things the modern prophet and teacher touched throughout his time on Earth as the Lord's servant. Here's an excerpt:

The Joseph Smith Papers will be a comprehensive edition of extant Joseph Smith documents featuring complete and accurate transcription with both textual and contextual annotation.

They will present the earliest handwritten and published texts of the foundational documents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Joseph Smith’s revelations and translations. The Papers will provide insights into Joseph’s life and times through his correspondence, journals, discourses, court cases, and business dealings. In addition, the Papers will contain minutes of important church councils, reproductions of the scriptural canon as it existed during Joseph Smith’s lifetime, official histories, and records pertaining to church institutions that were under Joseph Smith’s direction or that reflect his personal instruction and involvement.

May we all learn more and more of this truth as it relates to us, and appreciate the records we have in ancient and modern scripture and history. Let's also keep a record.

Rescue

What do we know about Jesus' death based on the knowledge from the book of Mark? We know this:

• The dinner Jesus was having with his apostles was probably a Passover dinner, but there was no lamb being eaten, which is a symbol of him being the one whose body (meat, bread) that was broken, his the blood (wine) that was poured.

• “Remember” was always a word used in connection with the Passover. Beforehand, and even for modern Jews, it meant to remember the past in the Exodus from Egypt and God's miracles in saving his chosen people. Now, it meant remember the future and ever-present Atonement, a spiritual exodus as Jesus takes us from the world of sin, filing our lives with miracles wrought as reward of our faith.

• They sang at the dinner, likely the same hymn still sung: Psalm 118, which was a prophecy of the Atonement, where Jesus was singing about himself and the deeds he would carry out in the next few hours.

• He was taken up on a cross to be killed. Being hung alive til dead was a punishment common in many ancient civilizations. Nut just the Romans, but the Jews, too. It describes in Deuteronomy 21 that those hung on a cross would be cursed, hated of God, guilty of sin. Paul elaborates on this fact, helping us to understand, though the Jews did not, that Christ was cursed for our sakes, and suffered to take the punishment for us who are guilty, and whose sins are hated of God.

Now in these last days, the Church of Jesus Christ continues to be led by prophets and apostles. Similarly, many have died in the cause of truth, sealing their testimony in blood with their martyrdoms. Such ones like Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who led the Church just as it was restored to the earth, proclaimed firm testimonies that continue to be rejected among most their native culture, but is being embraced as the Spirit witnesses its truth to millions around the globe.

Amazement

Tonight I will focus on our second topic in my New Testament class. We learned in class an interesting association! Our teacher emphasized how in many verses of Mark the people are utterly "astonished"/"amazed" and so forth at Jesus Christ's behavior, most particularly at certain ways that he acts in contrary to the predominant mannerisms of the time among Jews.

Many of the leaders of the time cultivated a hyper conservative interpretation of the Law (in the Holy Scriptures) in Jerusalem and the surrounding Jewish towns. The main groups of religious leadership (remembering that the prophets had ended with Malachi) were the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes. Especially the Pharisees tried to define religious requirements so ultra conservatively that they even considered it "unlawful" to heal on the Sabbath or expound on doctrine with one's personal conviction.

Such are a few examples:

Mark 1:22 - And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. (because at the time, when reading in the synagogue, a rabbi would possibly read the scripture and then quote the words from other texts or rabbis, but Jesus, after reading Isaiah, spoke directly that the prophecy was fulfilled in Him)

Mark 5:42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. (because He rose the girl from the dead!)

One thing that was especially amazing was that he touched her dead body, something that was considered a most unclean act, when he rose her from the dead. Truthfully, even though he healed on the Sabbath and many were shocked at his audacity, he was humble about it, trying hard to let them know how they needed to change their way of thinking, and remember to focus on the Truth and on his mission.

The Church in modern times has been involved in some things that “astonish” even many of its members. It's true that many of the members of the Church were surprised to see such a calm organization organizing and funding rallies and communications to support Proposition 8 in California, and other initiatives over the years in many states. Generally the Church of Jesus Christ stays out of political issues, but the subject of preserving marriage between one man and one woman is not a question of debate for God nor his followers.

While I know that such divisive issues will continue to surround us in the coming years, we can realize that after the astonishment should come a desire to share our wonder, search for truth, and broadcast love.

Witnesses

I'm back, let's hope for good. Now I'll be working with a group topic from my New Testament class about the ancient Church of Jesus Christ, comparing it to a current event in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You might know that I know that they are one Church and the same Christ. Our topic for this week is the nature of witnesses in the New Testament within the gospels. Our teacher focused on how the way the gospels are written, with special attention given to certain characters within the story, shows evidence of its truthfulness. It names people who could have likely been interviewed based on their presence in other writings, and it leaves out the names of people who were never interviewed, who couldn't have met up with the author later and thus could not have given their view of what happened surrounding Jesus.

Witnesses are an especially important part of the production of a Testament (the roots for both words are the same in most contexts). Without them, there is almost no way that a body of scripture could be made. The New Testament is in essence a primary source document, written by people who were there, or spoke directly to those that were, even though the book has been copied, translated and changed many dozens of times. The story of Jesus in Mark is what we've focused on first, and our professor pointed out that even though Mark (probably the “John Mark” in Acts) was not there personally for many of the stories, he knew Simon Peter, the senior apostle, and many of the other leaders of the ancient Church. Having their personal stories of what they saw and heard with their own senses can help the reader understand the life of the Savior better than just a novel's version. In fact, 'hearing' the testimonies of Christ's followers can speak through the Holy Spirit to our hearts that these things are true and having the Spirit, we can understand the correct interpretation of the words of the scriptures.

M. Russell Ballard, an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in his commencement address for BYU graduates in August: “Whenever you are having a conversation about the Church, you should try to make this a point. We follow Jesus Christ. We try to live as He taught. That’s the basis of our faith and our lives. This is the strongest non-defensive position you can take. You don’t have to defend or justify anything when you are basing your position on the teachings of the Son of God, and the fact that you are doing your best to keep His commandments.” I add my witness to his that when members of the church start the conversation, when they share their testimonies and spiritual experiences when appropriate (not as the world sees, but as God does), only good will come and all will be edified by what they learn. Truth.

Graduation

This is finals week at BYU. No, I am not graduating yet. I would like to simply mention how amazing it is that as people we can start somewhere, and through a constant effort can get somewhere else. We can graduate.

The Savior graduated. He was a mortal man, but through his breathtaking death and incomprehensible resurrection, he became immortal. He expects us all to do the same: to die, and rise again, alive in physical and spiritual bodies forever in God's presence.

But just to bring it closer to home, let me say many fear their failures and fear that they'll have to pay for them for eternity... but every bit of knowledge that we master is a graduation, every sin we overcome is a graduation, and every soul that we help is a graduation. Level by level we go and grow, until we make it to the final graduation. That's how the righteous see the final judgment at God's feet. For the righteous it's a bestowal of amazing gifts, a fabulous and eternal reunion of body and spirit, of family and friends. There is no fear in that last moment in time for the righteous, it's only rejoicing.

You might think that in this life it's not necessary to work hard at being good, but just look once again at the examples we have: Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and yes, Joseph Smith, Jr., and knowing the true history of their lives, you can see that they deserve a fabulous destination. The truth is that once we start on the path to correct living by ourselves, God always stretches out a helping hand.

Callings

One beautiful and true thing about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that sets it apart from all other denominations and faiths in the world is that the entire membership can be given tasks to aid in the perpetuation of programs, activities, and christian practices. Not only this, but that these responsibilities can, and most often are, actually callings. This means that God inspires his faithful priesthood leaders at all levels of the Church to choose specific people for specific responsibilities within a unit of the Church.

I know that this happens. The prophets and apostles call certain people, like mission presidents and missionaries, and temple presidents. Members of the seventy call stake presidencies, Members of stake presidencies call bishoprics, who in turn call leaders in all organizations within a ward or branch, and these are only a fraction of examples of callings done in the church.

I recently was called as an executive secretary to my ward. That means I get to coordinate appointments between the members and the bishopric, and help the congregation run as it should, helping dozens of people to fulfill their respective responsibilities. Such coordination and unity, and volunteerism in the church is why many leaders have tied the word deseret, from a Jaredite (civilization chronicled in the Book of Mormon) word for beehive or honey bees. Everyone in the Church works together for mutual benefit and perfection through Christ.

Many callings are accompanied by ordinations, a bestowal or transferring of keys and powers from one priesthood holder to another. Joseph Smith was called by God, and was directed by revelation to call and ordain twelve apostles in these modern times. Subsequent reorganizations of the Twelve, and the Seventy (also mentioned in the Old and New Testaments) were always done by revelation, as recorded in D&C 102:1 - "This day a general council of twenty-four high priests assembled at the house of Joseph Smith, Jun., by revelation, and proceeded to organize the high council of the church of Christ, which was to consist of twelve high priests, and one or three presidents as the case might require." [emphasis added]

God's church is living. All others are like pictures in frames, that lack a dimension to be vivid and effective without living and constant revelation that permeates God's church from the top-down at every level and location.

Fountains of Knowledge

Let me tell you about a few fountains. Many are as real as the waterfalls in the wild or the public water works. I'm not talking about the fountain of youth. Youth is in your heart. There are fountains of truth. The original, the purest, is our Heavenly Father, whose messages have flowed down through his servants, primarily through the life of the Living Water, Jesus Christ.

Some noticeable fountains for the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, besides ancient scriptures, are other churches. The original Saints of the recently restored Church had almost always come from other churches. These influences aided perpetually in creating a well-rounded, intellectual church, accepting of converts from every background. And up to modern times, Sunday services in the LDS church resemble those of most Christian churches, with prayers, hymns with accompaniment, Sunday School, and frequent social activities.

To this day, the Church promotes peace between faiths, and does not ever single out other denominations or their doctrines.

To emphasize how much he appreciated and valued members of other faiths, Joseph Smith said:

"The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for my brethren. If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a 'Mormon', I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves."

As the Lord's Prophet treasured and upheld their beliefs, so do I.

Eternal Love

For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, temples are very important. So important in fact, that details about them might be more guarded by members than secrets of national security. This is not because God is merely afraid of bad people stealing words and ceremonies from the temple to use against the church, though that is certainly an unfortunate and despicable practice done by many. The main concern for God is something very simple: God's laws are eternal. He has a plan for His children involves more than just being baptized and following Jesus. His plan involves covenants, or mutual promises, so grand and special, that only the people of His church striving to live their purest can partake in them. These are done in the Lord's house... the temple.

The words of the Lord in these ceremonies involve everything that a person needs to know and understands so that they might truly live spiritually inspired and protected in this life and live in the highest heaven with God and become like Him after one's death and resurrection. They are sacred. In fact, one might say that they are sacred, but not secret. God wants all of His beloved children to come back, to repent, and enjoy the spiritual blessings He has all set up. The importance of these blessings, though, is such that only people worthy to enter into a piece of heaven on earth (God's house, the temple) may witness and receive such things. That said, our Father in Heaven is far from happy with those who attempt to publish or expose the most holy of holy things, such as the contents of the temple and the ceremonies only practiced therein.

Many things are open to the public. In fact, every time a temple of the Church is built, there is an open house directly following its completion, where the Church publicizes and invites all respectful visitors to walk through all the rooms of the beautiful temple and learn about their general functions. After a few weeks of this, the temple is dedicated by a prophet of the Lord and its doors are closed to all but those church members that are found worthy to enter by the Lord's appointed servants. Thereafter, the importance of the temple is such that most members are encouraged to live worthily and to attend and perform saving ordinances (ceremonies) for themselves and for their ancestors as often as their means permit.

Now there are more than 120 temples in the world, scattered over every continent. We are privileged where we live to actually live down the street from one. It is beautiful, sacred, and bears the same nameplate as the others built in this modern age, just as was displayed in the ancient temples: House of the Lord, Holiness to the Lord. Though many people in many industries in the public eye seek to vilify the Church or religion in general, my family, my friends, and I seek to venerate, uphold and keep sacred the eternal truths of the temple, the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and our very own invaluable souls.

Mission History

We had a treat this week of witnessing part of an awesome symposium on the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the topic of preserving church history. We got to learn what efforts have been made in South America in preservation, though the Church has been growing there in most areas for less than 50 years, and those that are saving old records of special events to the members are not trained historians, but regular members and local leaders concerned about preserving a legacy.

Preserving history has always been important to God, who has mandated the recording of his revelations since the beginning. As far as we know, one of the first records of anything being written was God himself taking Moses aside in the wilderness, and writing His commandments on stone tablets, and giving them to Moses for law, but as a great example as well. And isn't it obvious that it is important for Him since have the Bible today, even though no original documents prevail? The Bible is a long history, a chronology of social, political, and spiritual events.

Just as preserving history in ancient times was important as an eternal principle, it was important to the Restored Church when in April of 1830, as one of the Lord's first directives to the newly organized church, He revealed: "Behold, there shall be a record kept among you..." (D&C 21:1). Since then, He has called historians to keep the records of everything that is done officially in His church.

Even today we are called to keep a record, write a journal, remember what's up and what we are learning in this human experience. It shows that we appreciate our experience. I know that God lives and evidence of his love is all around. Principally it's in the records that have been kept that tell us how Christ gave his life out of love for us, and in the beautiful families that God has established to raise us righteously. So in the end, remember, history means everything that's happened, and someday today's textbooks will look like memos compared with the worlds of libraries that God's knowledge will reveal to his faithful children.

Printing Perfection

Oh, wow, have we been blessed. This past week, to expand on our knowledge of Church history through the ages and the works of God throughout it all, we visited the Crandall Historical Printing Museum. (See their website) It was a fabulous experience that taught us a ton about how God's hand has moved through history, inspiring the works of many important men.

We started in a room with a replica of Gutenberg's printing press, and we saw how the first instruments were made that made printing possible. We saw how his press revolutionized the world and brought about the Renaissance. Next we entered a room where we could see a replica of a printing press from the American Revolution era, and learned how the printing of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and The Declaration of Independence among other publications were the real reason that the colonies could be united under the strength of wise individuals seeking freedom, like Benjamin Franklin. Following that, we entered a room that let us envision the exact print shop that was used by Joseph Smith, Jr., the first modern prophet, to publish 5000 of the first copies ever printed of the Book of Mormon. It was amazing to feel the spiritual energy and amazement as we saw that the process could all work out in the Lord's time.

Today, it amazes me that my thoughts, words, and testimony of this true gospel can be processed and broadcast to an unlimited number of viewers at no extra cost. Type has come a very long way. I'm grateful for this gift of the Internet, and all the inspired advanced that make such things possible. I know that all this was not just a natural process of man, but foreseen and foretold by God through his prophets, and through this and other media will all people hear the word of God and be given the choice to live. Have any questions inside you? Find the answers: www.mormon.org

How Much I Love My Wife

It's true. She's a gem. We got married almost two months ago and have already been through a few jams. Although there have been tiny struggles, we are extremely happy at the point we are at and are working hard for a big bright future. Now let's apply that to doctrine and history. To highlight the comparable elements, we were married in a temple.

Temples are very special places. God first ordered his people to construct special places from the time of Adam, mandating him and his sons to build altars and offer sacrifices and prayer by them. This practice and commandment continued for thousands of years, and when Moses liberated the Hebrew slaves from Egypt and they were organized again in their twelve tribes for the trip to the promised land, God gave more instruction. He ordered Moses to build a tabernacle, or a "floating temple" of sorts, fully collapsible using many tents and curtains, while still employing altars and sacred areas. This was so that they could worship while on the move, on their trek back to Israel. When the Israelites were established and prosperous under the reigns of King David and his son King Solomon, the Lord ordered Israel to build a temple. It was possibly the grandest, most luxurious building ever constructed, taking many years and large amounts of precious cloth, stones and metals to complete. In every instance, God commanded them to build these structures to that He (God) could have a house. It was meant to always be clean, majestic, and the very best His people could portray to glorify their Father.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we also build temples. We are commanded by God through his authorized servants (prophets, apostles) in these days to do so. And so, in 1836, the first new temple in these last days was completed and dedicated. It was there that Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, accepting the temple, as recorded in Doctrine & Covenants Section 110.

After Christmas, but before New Year's, we were married in a temple. It was a special ceremony that God has revealed again in our days that a man and a woman can be married, or sealed, by His authority forever, not just "til death do us part." It is pure, sacred, personal, and special. Now we are honoring covenants that we made in that ceremony to seek our eternal happiness mutually.

The gospel has always beena fabulous blessing in our lives.

Drawing Parallels-

I've instantly decided to run a mini-series through my blog, drawing specific parallels through the doctrine, the history, and the present reality we all are here to experience. Some of these parallels will be direct and so you probably shouldn't read any deeper into them than is written here. Other parallels will be more deep, and they will have a strong bearing on the subsequent posts, and you are free and invited to do further study and see how they can apply to your life. Again, any mention of world events or of historical events is not to invite discussions of politics or opinions of any sort. Here, I don't talk about opinions, but about the truth: what was, is and always will be. I'm here to speak from my heart... about truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let's start with today. President Obama mentioned in his first media press conference that if the US Government does not stimulate the economy with billions of dollars, then there could be permanent damage to certain sectors, and by consequence, the livelihoods of thousands or millions of people for many years to come.

Just to compare it to something important in doctrine (true religious teachings)... we are here on earth, and all throughout the history of it, God has helped man when He has had spiritual need. Since the beginning, He announced that He would send Jesus Christ, His son, to earth to save us from the sin (imperfection) that keeps us from returning to Him. In Amos 3:7 (KJV) it states: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." So when He tells prophets what to tell us (the rest of His children) he's trying to save us from permanent damage to our souls if we continue to sin or reject His gospel, the only hope for stimulating our spiritual growth, and getting to go live with him in Heaven.

Now in history, in April 1836, something amazing happened in Kirtland, Ohio as is described in Doctrine & Covenants Section 110. Just like something amazing happened in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ appeared gloriously to a modern prophet named Joseph Smith, Jr. He spoke with him just as he had thousands of times with hundreds of his prophets over the millenia, telling them what we need to know to get closer to him, to happiness, and to heaven. I know that this is true, and I know that anyone can ask God about it to know the same.

Lessons learned

We can all draw parallels from history. One for example: I have a huge life ahead of me. I'm almost halfway through the first third of college. Most people don't do the last two-thirds, which I am deliberating doing, MA and Ph.D. Many do so, and end up teaching. That can be done. It seems something daunting and far, like someday going back to where I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ in Peru. I just got back last August. My wife (then my fiance) was VERY happy about that.

I compare it to the experience an ancestor of mine had in the early years of the modern organization of the Church. I know that this Church was founded anciently, in the seeds of the adoration of Adam and Eve, and that it's the same church, same gospel, every nook and cranny, as what Jesus taught, not missing a thing. We learned in Doctrine and Covenants class this past week about the difficulties my ancestors faced while trying to reach what for them was certainly the promised land. Human frailties and imperfections got in the way, but they reached their goal, as far as they could project. They just needed to persevere, pray, and hope. I will do all those things, and I WILL reach my goals.

The truth is... God always has more in store for us than we ever can imagine for ourselves. He really does love us, wants us to excel, and He'll take us higher than we can think to fly.

Matter Enough

How is it that I can start something without knowing what effect it will have in the long-term? I guess that's where my faith comes in. I have faith in many things, but strangely enough, I am just as excited about the things that I already surely know. These things matter... a TON. Let me give you a few examples:

I know that God is a real, loving Father of all of us. That's right... us! First, I heard this from my family, who took care of me and loved me and helped me grow to the man I am. Then I studied it in such places as the Holy Scriptures, books that are not only sacred to me because of the peace I receive from them, but more are really sacred because God gave them to us, every bit :). One volume of modern scripture that I know came from God is called The Doctrine and Covenants (D&C). It is published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I quote a couple verses from it that I studied recently in a university class about these scriptures:

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; for, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him."

That scripture refers to Jesus Christ by the way. Pretty cool, huh? We all have souls, and He (God) thinks that pretty special. We're great in his sight. It doesn't matter how bad or poor or disfigured we may be in body or mind, our souls are worth a lot to him, and that's why Christ suffered so much. It was for us, so that if we try, we can go back someday :).

So, you can tell. I love our God. These are matters of the Spirit, because I know that God lives and loves us all. I will take time on this blog to address many matters, ranging from things that matter to many, or just things that matter to me. As for now, I'll just sum up with one of the things that matters the most. Spirit.