Elder Christofferson Called As The New Apostle

Back at the end of January, when President Hinckley passed away, it was quite a new experience for me.  During the course of my life, there have now been 5 different prophets to lead the church.  There was President Kimball (I was 4 when he died), President Benson, President Hunter, President Hinckley and now President Monson.  I remember hearing on the news that President Benson has passed away, but I was only 13 years old, so I don’t really remember the process that the Church went through to replace him with President Hinckley.

Now that I am a little (or a lot) older, I understand the process of calling new prophets a lot better than I did when I was 13.  There is, and always has been, a process and an order to how the Church goes about calling new prophets.  This process is done through inspiration from the Lord.  Personally, I don’t doubt this process and I know that’s it’s all done by inspiration from the Lord.  It could be done in no other way.

A couple of days ago, I was just randomly reading the article in the Salt Lake Tribune about the recent calling of Elder Christofferson to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  The article itself wasn’t anything spectacular or anything, but it was the reader comments that caught my attention.

Now before I go any further, I just want to say that I am very aware of how imperfect I am.  And in no way do I try to judge others and what they do within their own lives.  Everyone on Earth has a completely different set of circumstances and we all deal with our own trials in our own ways.  But in the comments of this article, I found a point of view that I’ve never really come across before.

There is a poster that goes by “LDS mom” and I just want to post some of her comments first.

I noticed the new YW president is Pres. Monson’s daughter…….. sigh….. I don’t understand why the GA’s are usually wealthy, white LDS who live in or around SLC? I can’t help but think Pres. Monson may be playing favorites. 
   
   Dissapointed…

This lady, “LDS mom” has about 6 other posts that I can no longer access.  But to start it all off, she was talking about how Elder Christofferson being called as an apostle was “just another white rich guy from Salt Lake City”, and she also talked about how “ashamed she was in her church sometimes.”  And so another poster kind of called her out and basically asked her why she was still an active member of the Church if she didn’t believe that it was the Lord inspiring the calling of new apostles.  He made a very good point, I thought.

And so this is what she wrote as a reply:

Relocated Southerner,
   I find no sin in questioning my religion… I find no doctrine in the standard works that says we are not allowed to question teachings or programs or people…. on the contrary, as a LDS I have always believed ferverenty that we are to question, think deeply and ponder….. to follow the status quo and to fail to think for one self is truly the prototype of “sheeple”…. God would have us be an intelling people, a people who think and ponder & pray.
   Shall I be condemened because I question things?
   Did not J.Smith question the standar quo of religious doctrines of his day? Shall he be called a heretic?
   
   For the poster who clarified that it is Sis. Dibb who is Pres. Monson’s daughter – thank you for the clarification! I feel much better knowing that she is not the President of the YW but counselor. 
   
   Sincere regards to ya’ll

Like I said, there are other posts prior to these that are all along the same lines.  And the point of view that this lady has just boggles my mind.  I cannot wrap my head around where she is coming from.  

I understand that the testimony of every single member of the Church isn’t always at it’s strongest point.  Heck, mine sure has had it’s ups and downs, even recently.  But I always thought and assumed that if a member had a serious question about the inspiration of the Church’s leaders, they would just not go to church and basically become inactive.  I’ve met tons of members who don’t believe that there is a true prophet on the Earth today and that the 12 apostles are called of God.  And without fail, these members have all fallen away and are usually inactive.  It just makes sense that if you don’t know or at least believe that God calls His servants, especially those who lead and run this Church, you would not want to be involved and active in the Church.

Am I way off about this?  I mean, I don’t bring all this up to criticize this mystery lady who lives somewhere in Utah.  I just don’t really get where she is coming from, especially in that last comment.  Like she says, it doesn’t hurt one bit to question what you believe and why.  Sure, everyone needs to find their own way to the truth in life.  But in a Church that is built on modern-day inspiration and revelation, doesn’t it make sense that most of it’s active members likewise believe that God uses inspiration to call the Prophet and the 12 apostles, not to mention stake presidents, bishops, young women’s presidents, etc.  Who are we, as lowly beings, to question the inspiration of the Lord?

All I bring this up to say is this: that I know that the Lord leads His church on the Earth today.  I know that even though most of the 12 apostles are “rich, white men”, that they are inspired men and they are called of God.  I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet back in 1820.  And yes, he was questioning some of the beliefs of the churches at that time, but this is because these beliefs were wrong.  That is the main difference between him questioning the Methodists, and an LDS person today questioning whether or not calling Elder Christofferson to the Quorum of the Twelve is inspired.  We know what the truth is and where to find it.  Back in his day, Joseph Smith did not have that luxury.

Lastly I just want to mention one thing about the term “blind obedience”, which Mormons are accused of all the time.  ”LDS mom” might even think that “blind obedience” is what everyone in the Church does and not her.  Elder R. Conrad Schultz said this in an article written in 2002:

One of the sneaky ploys of the adversary is to have us believe that unquestioning obedience to the principles and commandments of God is blind obedience. His goal is to have us believe that we should be following our own worldly ways and selfish ambitions. This he does by persuading us that “blindly” following the prophets and obeying the commandments is not thinking for ourselves. He teaches that it is not intelligent to do something just because we are told to do so by a living prophet or by prophets who speak to us from the scriptures.

Our unquestioning obedience to the Lord’s commandments is not blind obedience. President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught us about this in the April 1983 conference: “Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. … We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.”

Sorry this is so long people, this is what has been on my mind on this Sunday.

Jesus of Nazareth

Throughout my life I have accumulated a lot of different quotes and material that I would term my “favorite” this or that.  I have quite a few favorite scripture passages that “speak” to me and help me remember what’s really important in life.  

Tonight I was watching a few videos from past conferences, just trying to spiritually prepare a bit for conference weekend, and one of my favorite talks popped into my head.  I want to share one of the most powerful passages from this talk.  The talk is called Jesus of Nazareth, and it was written by President Spencer W. Kimball and printed back in 1981.  The whole article is pretty extensive and talks a lot about Jesus’ earlier life and leading up to his crucifixion.  The following passage is so true and quite moving as well:

A price was on his head. Physical violence confronted him always. People were enjoined to reveal his whereabouts so he could be put to death. The specter of death preceded him, sat with him, walked with him, followed him.

How difficult it must have been for him, who could wither a fig tree with a single command, to restrain himself from cursing his enemies. Rather, he prayed for them. To retaliate and fight back is human, but to accept indignities, as did the Lord, is divine. He permitted himself to be kissed by the known traitor, yet did not resist. And when he was captured, he did not permit his loyal Apostle Peter to defend him, though that worthy man was willing to die fighting for him.

With twelve legions of angels at his command, he yielded himself and disarmed his courageous Apostles at his side. He accepted this manhandling and the indignities without retaliation. Had he not said, “Love your enemies”? (Matt. 5:44.)

In quiet, restrained, divine dignity he stood when they cast their spittle in his face. He remained composed. Not an angry word escaped his lips. They slapped his face and beat his body. Yet he stood resolute, unintimidated.

Literally did he follow his own admonition when he turned his other cheek to be also slapped and smitten. And yet, he did not cringe, gave no denials, offered no rebuttals. When false witnesses were paid to lie about him, he condemned them not. They twisted his words and misinterpreted his meanings, yet he was calm and unflustered. Had he not taught, “Pray for them which despitefully use you”? (Matt. 5:44.)

He who created the world and all that is in it, he who made the silver from which the pieces were stamped which bought him, he who could command defenders on both sides of the veil—stood and suffered.

What dignity! What mastery! What control! Even when he, the perfect, the sinless, the good, the Prince of Life, the Just, was weighed on one side of the scales against the murderer, the seditionist, the insurrectionist, Barrabas—and Barrabas won, thus winning his liberty at the price of Christ’s crucifixion—yet the Savior said not a word of condemnation to the magistrate who made the unjust decision.

I will read through this passage from time to time to remind me about what really truly matters in this life.  And it always brings me back to my religion, my family and the rest of my loved ones.  And that’s pretty much it.  It’s nice when we can be reminded of that lesson every now and again.  I know that I sure need reminding…

 

This Easter Morn

Good morning all.  Happy Easter to everyone too.

It’s kind of crazy but I woke up this morning thinking about the Lord, about Easter Sunday, about why we really “celebrate” this “holiday.”  When you grow older, Easter is no longer all about easter egg hunts and spending Sunday afternoon dying the easter eggs.  This sort of thing is perfectly fine for kids, though.

You get older, though, and you realize what Easter is all about.  Easter is such a special time to remember the Lord, what He did for all of us when He died for us, and the miracle that He performed when He resurrected himself to complete the Atonement.

I’m so grateful for the Gospel, for the things that I know to be true about life, the Lord, and the reason we’re all here on Earth.   I know that there is a reason for all of it.  I know that it’s not by chance that we are here.  This life is more than just about how much money we can make, how much “fun” we can have with the vain things of this world, or how popular we get with our friends around us.  There is so much more.

So I woke up thinking about a young single adults fireside that I went to back on August 26, 2007.  I went with my buddies Corey and Nate, and Nate’s girl Stephanie.  It was a packed house, but we were lucky enough to find some seats, while a lot of the people in the back were standing the whole time.  The message that Elder Richard G. Scott delivered that night was one of love and peace.  It was about the single adults of the Church and dating.  It dealt with some real pertinent issues that apply to situation that many of the young single people of the Church find themselves in.

A lot of his message was talking about dating and how, as young people with our futures ahead of us, we need to start getting out there in the world.  We need to start settling down and making a home.  We need to move, however slowly and steadily, towards that goal of marriage and a family.  (Of course, this isn’t word for word, but this is the impression that I got of what he was telling us.)

At that time in my life, last summer, I was really struggling with some things in my life.  There were two statements that Elder Scott made that I wrote down, almost word-for-word.  And they seemed very personal to me at that time.  The Spirit was obviously telling me to listen.  I wrote them down.

The first statement is a statement that Elder Scott wrote down in his journal, early on in his life.  The statement was this: If I lost everything and everyone that was dear to me…if I lost everything and everyone that I appreciate and love in my life,  would I still know that God lives and is real, and that Jesus Christ is my Savior?

The second thing that Elder Scott said that I was urged to write down, was regarding prayer and receiving answers to our prayers.  He said that the Lord will always answer us.  That is not in question at all.  We just don’t know when those answers will come.  Sometimes we will have to go and search out the answer from the Lord.  We may have to work for the answer. 

Those are two pretty heavy statements, and statements that had a profound effect on me then as well as they do now.  I would truly hope that if I did somehow lose everybody and everything that mattered to me in my life right now, that I would still have faith in the Lord, and know that God lives. I have faith that I would still know these things in my heart.  It’s hard to say what would happen if somehow it actually happened that I lost all that was dear to me, but I don’t think that was the overall point to what Elder Scott was saying.  At least for me.

I think he was saying that we need to work on having faith that is so strong, that if something horrible ever happened in our lives, and we lost some of the people we love, that we would endure and still have faith strong enough to know that God is God, and that Jesus’ Atonement is real.

So Happy Easter Sunday folks.

His Grace is Sufficient For Us All

I had the chance to catch up with my buddy Corey this past Monday and to hang with him a little bit. It was good times had by all. We got to talking on Monday night a little bit. We were just talking about random things and what was new in each other’s lives. After spending the night talking about life and stuff like that, I found myself being very grateful for a whole lot of the blessings in my life.

I am very thankful for my family and friends. I am thankful for the love that I have in my life. I am very grateful to have my future wife Jamie in my life as well. She helps me so much through the stress that comes each day. It seems that lately we’ve had lots and lots of stress and drama to deal with. We’re both still standing, thankfully.

I think most of all, I am thankful for the Lord and what He has done for me and for us all. During the past year of my life, I have gone through some trials that I never thought would be part of my life. I have learned that no one is perfect, and it’s such a waste of time to pretend like you are perfect. I am so grateful that Jesus died for the things that I have done wrong in this life. Now surely, there will be lots of stuff I do in the future that will add to my list of shortcomings and imperfections, but I hope not too much. I guess that’s the main goal of each new day, at least for me personally.

It’s funny how real the Atonement is when you really need it. You can grow up for many years and never fully realize it’s power. I know because I have done that very thing.  I was born into the Church, and have never seen the Atonement as real as I see it today.  For better or worse, I am so thankful that I’ve been taught that lesson, or at least a portion of it. I’m glad that I know that even though here on Earth, we do a lot of things wrong, there is a way to be completely forgiven. There is a way to be restored to the presence of the Lord. Part of this lesson was taught to me in my reading of the Book of Mormon. I was listening to a audio talk by Jack R. Christiansen, who is an LDS speaker. He quoted two verses in the Book of Mormon regarding Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. In the Book of Mormon, at one time, Ammon and the sons of Mosiah go about trying to destroy the church, and in Mosiah 28:4 it says this:

“And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever. “

The part of that verse that is most powerful to me, is the description of how bad these guys were. The word ‘vile’ is always used in a pretty strong manner.

Knowing what that verse says about Ammon and the sons of Mosiah, Jack Christiansen goes on to quote another verse from later in the Book of Mormon. He cites Alma 48: 18. Now this verse is referring to a man named Captain Moroni when it’s talking about “he”, but it mentions Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. It reads:

“Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.”

So basically, we learn that even though Ammon and the sons of Mosiah had spent part of their lives doing lots of horrible bad things, they were able to be forgiven, and later in their lives, they were referred to as ‘men of God.’ Folks, it’s hard to relay to you the effect this concept had on me when I heard it. It still hits my soul with power that is hard to describe. I know it’s true, I really do. I know that God will forgive us no matter what we do! It’s pretty amazing if you think about it.

Here is a great quote from the apostle Boyd K. Packer about repentance:

“The discouraging idea that a mistake (or even a series of them) makes it everlastingly too late does not come from the Lord. He has said that if we will repent, not only will He forgive our transgressions, but He will forget them and remember our sins no more. Repentance is like soap; it can wash sin away. Ground-in dirt may take the strong detergent of discipline to get the stains out, but out they will come.” (Packer said this in a talk called “A Few Simple Lessons, New Era, August 2002.)

Anyway, it’s late. I’m hitting the sack.

Welcome To This Blog

So I’ve decided to start another blog.  I’ve decided to start this separate blog so that I have a place to write about strictly topics to do with the LDS church and my life as a Mormon.

I’ve found that lately, I have felt like writing about my faith and my daily experience with it.  So I made up this blog, since the other one usually tends to talk more about more worldly and trivial things. 

I feel that I’m at a place in my life where I finally need to shape up and get things together.  It’s a shame that I have to make a point to say that, but hey we’re all at different places in life, and so here I am.

For those of you who are readers over at The Life of Drew, I will be sure and direct you over here when I feel it’s necessary.

Anyway, just lettin’ y’all know.  Catch you later.