Masks A G A I N ! Not really.

 Derek Larsen told me they are not Zooming sacrament meeting any more, but rather Youtubing it. I clicked on the Bishop’s hot link from his weekly newsletter and it took me right there! So cool.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXmPechgtwgJnB6sg9Zbwqw

Sunday, 8/15/21 Hello Brandon! Notice, no longer BMX. Here is my latest exchange with KJ:Sunday, Aug 8 · 2:26 AM\Did u know Saturday is his birthday?\Sunday, Aug 8 · 4:22 PM\Thank you so much!\I will celebrate 🎉 it for him in some way.V\Sunday, Aug 8 · 5:30 PM\👌🎉\Friday · 8:28 PM\I took brenda&one of his good college friends on a 300 mile road trip for a surprise visit today. He was certainly surprised. Was asleep when we got there. We visited till noon... sent him back for lunch... then visited till 2. Could have stayed longer but Lanora had to be in ivins to work by 4:30. I think he was very happy. He said he got your letter. Did u get a notice about the music he never got? Did they refund it.  One guard told him they might let him have it if it was sent to Garfield & they spoke to the mail room. . Let me know if you heard anything.\8:33 AM\What a big long day for you!\Good job!\That huge long 💌 letter was a question mark. Would they print it all off?\Looks like they did. I shrank the font to tiny size to take less room.\God bless you.\V

@ So congrats! You had a big long birthday visit! Isn’t it nice to be loved and cared for! God bless you and God bless them. @ I have been having fits about the first presidency asking us to wear masks again. Man does RMN ever keep getting involved in our lives! I am not used to the prophet doing this. @ On Sat. Aug 7 Roger Eves and I went to the hospital to give Jeff Whipple a blessing at the request of Pres Kent Perkins. It took some perseverance! per·se·ver·ance/ˌpərsəˈvirəns/noun\persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.\"his perseverance with the technique illustrates his single-mindedness"\Similar:\persistence\tenacity \determination\resolve\resolution\resoluteness @ Remember we are allowed to brag on ourselves when we do hard things. @ They made us wear masks at the hospital and hand disinfectant! I was pleased to get a pastel yellow mask. I haven’t seen that color before and low and behold, when I got ready for church and to lead the music I tucked it into my church bag so I could match my silky canary tie! @ Roger is OCD and he believes that the hymn books should be stored on their backs!!!! I agree with him but. . . he goes around to every bench and turns them all on their backs when he gets to church each week!  Oh my crud. . . that really is OCD. So funny. Not me. I would get permission from each of the bishops to make an announcement in their ward about helping preserve the books by storing them on their backs. @ Anyway, I asked Roger what the deal was with wearing masks in church today and he responded: I already went into the bishop’s office and asked him because I have to know. @I was anticipating the bishop’s announcement. It did not come until after the opening song. He did a fantastic job. He emphasized that we all have different situations and he wanted to be sensitive to all our lives and families. And that more than anything he did not want it to become divisive. di·vi·sive/dəˈvīsiv/adjective\tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people.

"the highly divisive issue of abortion"\Similar:alienating\estranging\isolating\schismatic

Discordant\disharmonious @ He even had us imagine the feelings we might have if we were the ones who chose to wear masks, or not! He wanted us to allow each their own choice and not to be judged by it. @ Brilliant! That is warding off the temptations of Satan isn’t it! I found myself trying to classify people by whether or not they wore masks last time. @ So after the meeting I went to the Choir director and said, Just imagine what would happen to our newly resurrected choir if we were mandated to wear masks? She said after I repeated it twice and she had a chance to think about it: WE could still have choir practice. [After studying it last time, that was something no one thought was a good idea. :)] @@@ New topic: So Brandon, I weighed 208lbs this morning. Compared to 275 in March that is a huge improvement. But I have been sitting at ~210 for the last 6 weeks. I have a 2inch thick layer of fat around my middle and nothing is happening to it. Admittedly, I have not been doing 48 hour fasts once or twice each week. Am I going to just have to live with this? Or am I going to have to go back to those huge fasts to take any more off? Now for the good news. . . I haven’t gained any of it back even though I have been eating twice a day. When I come home from FSC I just feel so much more comfortable having a little something. Yesterday I added pickled caraway seeds to my can of cold spinach for my snack. It was more interesting.

12 August 2021 - Salt Lake City First Presidency MessageThe First Presidency Urges Latter-day Saints to Wear Face Masks When Needed and Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19“We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders”

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-message-covid-19-august-2021

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent the following message on Thursday, August 12, 2021, to Church members around the world:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We find ourselves fighting a war against the ravages of COVID-19 and its variants, an unrelenting pandemic. We want to do all we can to limit the spread of these viruses. We know that protection from the diseases they cause can only be achieved by immunizing a very high percentage of the population.

To limit exposure to these viruses, we urge the use of face masks in public meetings whenever social distancing is not possible. To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated. Available vaccines have proven to be both safe and effective.

We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders. Please know of our sincere love and great concern for all of God’s children.

The First Presidency

Russell M. Nelson

Dallin H. Oaks

Henry B. Eyring

 

Sun. 8/15/21 Hello Brandon, That sign says Coral Desert Rehabilitation. That is where Jeffery Whipple is today. He and Robyn compose one of my ministering families. A week ago Friday, Robyn came home from work at 2 pm and found him on the floor and couldn’t rouse him nor lift him into a chair or onto a bed. She called the Hoppies, old neighbors, and they helped her. When he couldn’t respond to anything she dialled 911 and off the ambulance to him to the hospital. By the time we gave him the blessing at 8pm Saturday he was thinking and processing and responding again. They don’t know what caused the seizure/ stroke-like responses. @ Guess what they call a secretary that works in the administration building at DSU? Answer: an administrative assistant. When people ask Robyn what she does and she responds with those words, doesn’t it just make you mind fuzz? It does me. What’s wrong with being a secretary? ARgh! @@@1-When did JS receive section 87? 2-Why was it not included in the first editions of the D&C? 3-What can we do to offset a warring world? Here is a great RiC article. Revelations in Context. These are connected to most sections of the D&C which we are studying this year and I absolutely love them. Canadian Mareea and I studied 85-87 on Friday night and I couldn’t help but share this insight with our SS class at the beginning of Derek Larsen’s lesson today.

 

Peace and War\D&C 87\Jed Woodworth\

Andrew Jackson

A few days before Christmas 1832, Latter-day Saints in Kirtland came in from the cold, damp air to sit by the light of their warm, flickering fires. They opened up their local paper, the Painesville Telegraph, to find alarming news. Seven hundred miles to the south, the legislature of South Carolina, a state within the United States, had declared “null and void” taxes placed on imported goods by the federal government. This move created a “nullification crisis” that challenged the right of the federal government to enforce its own laws. War loomed on the horizon.1

 

These tariffs had been established to protect northern manufacturers from foreign competition. Southern farmers found them unfair. Why should they pay more for goods their region did not produce?2 Andrew Jackson, the president of the United States, issued a proclamation in which he warned that South Carolina’s rejection of federal tariffs was an act of rebellion that could end in bloodshed. South Carolina promptly responded by preparing for war.3 Compromise seemed nowhere in sight. The accounts read by Kirtland residents sounded the war drum: “Let one menacing Federal bayonet glitter upon our borders,” one account read, and it will be a “war of sovereigns.”4

 

The Christmas Day Revelation

Joseph Smith followed this conflict closely through the newspapers that passed into Kirtland. He appended a note in his history about the people of South Carolina “declaring their state, a free and Independent Nation” and the “proclamation against this rebellion” given by President Jackson.5 And then, following these lines, Joseph inserted what he called “a prophecy on war,” a revelation he dictated to his clerk Frederick G. Williams on Christmas Day 1832, just days after the startling news appeared in the Kirtland papers. That revelation is known today as Doctrine and Covenants 87.

 

Without ever mentioning President Jackson by name, the prophecy on war made the president’s conditional promises inevitable. President Jackson had predicted that armed conflict would result if South Carolina continued to insist on its own sovereignty. According to President Jackson, South Carolina had said through its actions: “Peace and prosperity we will deface; this free intercourse we will interrupt; these fertile fields we will deluge with blood.”6 Yet, if South Carolina backed down, the deluge could be avoided. In Joseph Smith’s prophecy, however, bloodshed was a foregone conclusion. “The wars that will shortly come to pass beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina,” the revelation said, “will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls.”7 The revelation foreshadowed no peaceful resolution.

 

Destruction was not a new theme in Joseph Smith’s revelations. The Lord had already warned of a time when famine, pestilence, and tempests would befall the world’s inhabitants.8 The revelations taught that widespread destruction would precede the Lord’s Second Coming, and the frequency of references to destruction in the revelations prompted many Latter-day Saints to conclude that the Second Coming must be imminent.9

 

Doctrine and Covenants 87 only heightened expectations that the Second Coming was not far away. Other revelations located destruction in an indeterminate time and place: Destruction would happen “before this great day,” referring to the Second Coming, or would occur among “all nations.”10 War and rumors of war would be “in your own lands,” the revelations said, and “in foreign lands.”11 Doctrine and Covenants 87, by contrast, tied destruction to specific places and events in a contemporary landscape: South Carolina and its rebellion were singled out by name. Conflict involved more than just warring nations. It would also involve oppressed groups—“slaves” and “remnants”—rising up against their masters and overseers.12

 

The reference to slaves inserted Doctrine and Covenants 87 directly into the conflict over federal power. In the run-up to the crisis, South Carolinians had argued that the federal tariffs were intentionally designed to subvert the slave-labor farming economy that dominated the American South. States that stood to benefit from the tariffs, including Ohio, had all made slavery illegal. Joseph Smith’s prophecy on war recognized these geopolitical rifts and tied them to the wars inevitably to follow: “The Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain.”13 In 1832, Europe depended on southern cotton for its textile industries. Great Britain seemed a likely ally for South Carolina’s cause.

 

Crisis Averted

To the great surprise of all, the nullification crisis ended almost before it began. In February 1833, President Jackson orchestrated a lowered, compromise tariff, asserting the rights of the federal government while satisfying the demands of states-rights secessionists. Crisis was averted, peace had returned to the land, and President Jackson basked in what may have been his greatest triumph as president.14

 

The peaceful resolution of the crisis pleased everyone but the most ardent firebrands. As a follower of Christ, Joseph Smith loved peace and welcomed compromise, and he looked forward to the return of the Prince of Peace and His peaceful millennial reign. But the dire predictions contained in the prophecy on war, tied as they were to contemporary events, must have puzzled Joseph. The death and misery of many souls did not occur. The Southern states continued to be divided against the North over the question of slavery, but the slaves did not rise up against their masters, and South Carolina did not call on Great Britain for help.15 Anyone looking for the fulfillment of the revelation in 1833 would have been disappointed.

 

Joseph Smith seemed reluctant to spread news of his prophecy on war too widely. Even before the crisis had been averted, he told a newspaper editor that he was sure “not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation.”16 But he did not get any more specific than that. He did not mention South Carolina in his later teachings and sermons. When he compiled his revelations for publication in 1835, Joseph withheld Doctrine and Covenants 87 from the collection. After the nullification crisis ended peacefully, it seemed best to set the revelation aside during his lifetime.17

 

Joseph was sure of his prior revelations. He had felt the voice of God speak through him before and had seen those words come to pass. He must have wondered if this revelation was a case of false prophecy. Or, if the prophecy was true, what would God have Joseph do now that peace, even if temporary, had been achieved?

 

Holy Places

Doctrine and Covenants 87 did not radically reorient Joseph Smith’s approach to life. He did not hide in a bunker or otherwise drop out from public view, waiting for the end. Even before President Jackson’s successful resolution of the crisis, when war still looked likely, Joseph quietly opened a school for elders who would soon go out into the world as missionaries. The School of the Prophets, as Joseph called it, met with a small group of Latter-day Saint men in the Newel K. Whitney storehouse in Kirtland.

 

In the school, Joseph taught students how to “speak in the name of God.”18 He encouraged the men to purify themselves so that God’s Spirit could help them find and teach the elect. Those who kept the Word of Wisdom, Joseph taught, would run and not be weary and walk and not faint.19 President Jackson had sought to avert destruction through diplomacy. Joseph taught that the “destroying angel” could be avoided through righteous living.20

 

Joseph never shied away from warning the world of the cataclysms to come. But that was not the point of his message. He was not a doomsayer prophet, content with predicting only misery and woe.21 At the end of Doctrine and Covenants 87, the Lord told the Saints how to respond to such troubling prophecies. They were not to live in fear or abandon their current endeavors. They were to “stand … in holy places and be not moved.”22

 

A few days after Doctrine and Covenants 87 was received, Joseph Smith received another revelation, in which the Lord commanded the Saints to build a temple in Kirtland (Doctrine and Covenants 88). This revelation, like the prophecy on war, spoke of the destructions to come. Yet it also spoke of an important work the Saints were to perform. They were not to sit passively, awaiting Christ’s return while the world fell apart all around them. Nor were they simply to preach, as the doomsayers did. They were to build new structures, new institutions, new “holy places.” Always obedient to his revelations, Joseph opened the School of the Prophets, as the revelation enjoined him to do. Later that summer he would break ground for the temple.

 

Down to the end of Joseph’s life, it would be the “holy places,” temples and schools, that would most capture his attention. Experience taught him to put little faith in the power of diplomacy, as Andrew Jackson did. Joseph knew from the all-too-frequent moves the Saints were forced to undertake how tenuous peace could be. Despite the conflict that surrounded them, the Saints could always find peace in the process of creating and inhabiting holy places.

 

Conclusion

Three decades after Doctrine and Covenants 87 was received, South Carolina rebelled again. Convinced that Abraham Lincoln’s election as U.S. president spelled trouble for the institution of slavery, the state legislature voted to secede from the United States. South Carolina’s move triggered a war between North and South. Much death and misery resulted. Southerners called on Great Britain for help. Slaves rose up against their masters. All the while, the Saints, now in their new mountain home in the West, toiled away on the foundations of yet another holy place—the Salt Lake Temple.

I hope you easily found the answers to questions 1 and 2. I don’t particularly like the 5 word answer to question #3 and it takes a bit of talking about and processing to really understand how potent it is: “stand ye in holy places”.

@ I was trying to find Robyn Whipple’s name on DSU campus. I ran across some professor evaluations. Gary Caldwell retired last year and I shared these with him. Notice how old they are.

A beam of light

  

The St. George Independence Day parade was held a day before July 4 this year and included 73 entries with the theme "'Where Liberty dwells, there is my country' - Ben Franklin." 

The parade began on Tabernacle Street and 200 West with Stephen Wade and the St. George Marine Corp leading the procession. The community gathered along the sidewalks and streets where candy and water guns were aimed from the parade vehicles at the crowds.  

“The parade was beautiful. It was awesome to see everybody out here and being patriotic,” Parade-goer Robin White said. White enjoyed seeing the Adaptive Ops which is an organization that works to prevent human trafficking.

Firetrucks, law enforcement vehicles and ambulances received standing ovations and applause from parade attendees throughout the parade.

“Betsy”, the largest flag ever flown, appeared with several members of the Boy Scouts carrying the 400-pound American Flag. “Betsy” was part of the St. George 4 of July celebration at Town Square Park that started at 5:30 p.m. Did you see that flag? Holy Moly! Soo cool! 

Charles Dowding\470K subscribers\Small residues of this persistent product are now present in many composts, even "organic" ones. I show how to check for their presence by growing bean and pea seedlings.\Testing like this is called a bio-assay, and is more effective than laboratory testing, partly because the amounts of active compounds are so tiny. Many lab tests show as "negative", when poison is there and causing damage. 7/9/21 Friday, Hello BMX, The above Youtube summary/video is almost a relief to see. I typed in “Compost Herbicide” and discovered a ~score of people who have documented the same issues I had with my potted seedlings and compost this spring. I am not unique. A whole bunch of others have discovered this same issue/problem. How interesting. Who would imagine that compost, even labeled organic in the store!, could be contaminated? Amazing! Charles Dowding lives and gardens in England. But this video was fantastic, especially at double, 2x, speed. :)

Correspondence with Inmates

You can email inmates at  gcjailinmate@gmail.com.  

No written letters or cards will be accepted, they will be returned.  Money orders, money grams and cashiers checks can be sent to Garfield County Inmate Accounting.  Please put the inmate's name and number on the MEMO line.

Tuesday, 7/13/21 Good morning BMX, Kent Perkins is my EQ president. He visited with me on Friday night to let me know what he knew about my assignment to check on Jeff Whipple all week. July 11-17. He flattered me at the end by saying not only was I willing but I was performing this duty with such an exemplary attitude. I thanked him for being our EQ figurehead. He teased me by saying he wasn’t sure how he felt about me labeling him that. Ever since I have been trying to figure out a better name for what he does. I have decided the best I can do is to call him our EQ stationmaster. I looked up depot and terminus and terminal, all of which sort of describe how assignments go in and assignments go out. In construction the person in charge of the job site is called the superintendent. Anyway, in our busy ward our RS & EQ presidents end up being spiritual station masters. :) Kent mentioned how they helped Johnsons and Cranes move in with in a week of each other and sure enough Ryan Johnson was there to help with Cranes! @@ Something I can do to help lift people is to compliment them.

Sunday · 4:12 PM 

K

 

I 💘 loved your first two questions.

 

What do we hope to find in the church?

 

What do we have to offer as saints?

 

I felt for your struggle with technology hurdles!

 

The quorum was calm as you worked to eventually get it up and running. I think we must be getting accustomed to those technology issues.

 

What a sweet spirit of brotherhood your lesson brought to the quorum today.

 

Magnificently done. What a sweet tone your voice, questions, and admiration (tom lamb) brought to the room.

 

Thank you for sharing this gift with us.

V

 Sunday · 5:49 PM 

👍😀

 Monday · 3:52 PM 

Vern. Brother Gibbs is in the hospital with covid. Not sure if he can have visitors but his room is 268.

 

 

Monday, Apr 19 · 12:08 PM [bmx, you may remember this first part from before. -v]

Dear Tom,     I have been wondering for weeks why half my plants died when I put them in pots and then why they were stunted and didn't progress. Saturday I think I finally figured it out. City Compost!  I have even replanted the pots where the seedlings died with big fresh healthy seed. Only one tough germination out of 40! That city compost kills or stunts everything! (After pondering for weeks that is the best I can come up with.) I am so sad. There is probably poisonous oleander in it or something. So it makes a great weed suppressant but a terrible potting mix. Putting it on the surface of my garden beds would be great. And maybe next year, after it has lost some of its potency it would be good to mulch it in. @ I used 50% garden soil and 50% city compost for my little pricking out pots. ☹️ I thought I was so smart and saving so much money. Over and over I have examples of stunted and dead. ARGH! And row after row I used it as an absorbent mulch, not even mixing it in, under my rows.  Live and learn. PS. So if only 2 of your 6 cukes germinated and then those 2 stay stunted. . . don't fret, it isn't your fault.  Next, I gave Sister Kunzler, who spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday, a new little chocolate cherry tomato plant. She said she attended a sacrament meeting in the RS room because she did not want to report on the stunted plant I gifted her.  So sad.  Well thanks for experimenting with me. Love you. Vern

 Sunday · 3:58 PM [as you can see by the time, this is the first one I wrote Sunday afternoon. I don’t usually do this but I felt inspired/ motivated. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if more of us did stuff like this? -v]

Dear Tom!

 

Kent taught EQ today from Elder Gong’s conference talk. There was a brotherhood feeling there. He did a magnificent, spiritual job.

 

I asked Greg Brailsford who he was referring to near the end of the lesson, that would sometimes call him at 8 am about a construction need this ministering sister has. At other times he calls at 7 pm at night for something similar. . ." can you meet me over there? "

 

 He showed on this hand how bent over this brother was and then asked what motivated someone to do things like this?

 

Love of God, and love of fellow man was the answer we arrived at .

Greg helped me figure out it was you!

 

I don't know why you didn't come to mind.

 

The next time you study Elder Gong's talk, which was my favorite of all, consider that you are that Samaritan in Kent's mind.

 

So sweet.

V

 Sunday · 9:48 PM 

Thanks for the info. I am sorry I wasn't there. Kent is a good man. By the way my cucumber plants have made it. They have some buds on them so I might get some fruit.

 

Hello Bmx, Wouldn’t you like it if you wanted to know who to choose and a beam of light shone on their head? Sister Connie Schroath had her husband pass away 2 years ago and I reach out and support and complement her when it is convenient. She carries around an oxygen pump and tubes go up her nose. She played the organ on July 4th, Sunday since Heidi C was out of town and we don’t have anyone else who plays right now. 

1. 1. Oh say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
   What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
   Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
   O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
   And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
   Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.
   Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
   O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

2. 2. On the shore, dimly seen thru the mists of the deep,
   Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
   What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
   As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
   Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
   In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;
   ’Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
   O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

3. 3. Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
   Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
   Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
   Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
   Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
   And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
   And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
   O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave! We sang My Country Tis of Thee to sing at the end of the meeting :) @ I have not been exercising at all and waving my arm to lead the music got tiring that day. Well it looks like Connie may be helping out in the future. And she asked if I would send her the list of hymns for the next 3 months. I used to keep it a secret that I had the whole year already done! But since I have been in for over a decade I guess I can let the secret out. I sent her the rest of the year. :)  Here is our exchange:Hello Wonderful Connie!\I love to tell stories. Here comes one.

 

I am so so grateful you felt inspired to suggest my name to the bishop all those years ago. I was quite intimidated by the new calling. And yet it fits me perfectly. 

 

One. I love recognition and I get recognized every single week!

 

Two. I love to sing and I can sing loud. Now I can encourage others from up front and not in back.

 

Three. I get to see everyone. And sitting on the stand doesn't leave any of my family members sitting alone in the audience.

 

Four. Mitch Six teased me into wearing a sports coat every week when he was our HCouncilman.

 

Five. I got to practice leading music.

 

Next. I asked Hal Stead for his list of music that first year. I have continued using his format ever since. There may even be some songs that are the same. When I have had the courage and interest I have put in my own choices.

 

As Heidi and I were visiting a couple of months ago I invited her to make suggestions again. She took me up on it. Sometimes I have chosen hymns that were way too hard to play and so having her input is so welcome.

 

Just like I have sent you the rest of the year's schedule below. . . I sent her a copy so she could  modify it in any way she wished.

 

The reason I tell you that is, these may change. Either of you may make adjustments of course!

 

ok. Story over. I love you. God bless you!

Connie Schroath	12:27 PM (9 minutes ago)
to me

It truly was inspiration when I did that!  There was a beam of light over your head as we sat in Sunday School!  Thanks for the list.  I'll let you know if I have any suggestions!

phone call from CUCF

 Who owns J Dawgs?\owner Jayson Edwards\J Dawgs was founded in June 2004 by owner Jayson Edwards. Edwards was attending BYU and he found that he was left craving the good hot dogs he had enjoyed while serving as an LDS missionary in Toronto, Canada.\@@@The RS President’s husband, Jeff Buckway spent over an hour cutting polishes at our ward picnic in the park, so they would look like J Dawgs. I finally got around to looking it up today. :)I hadn’t ever heard of them before.

Southern Parkway-SR7 @@@6/22/21 Tuesday Hello bmx, I just got my first call from Brandon P Smith CUCF-Gunnison, Ut. Perhaps HF had a hand in it! I had just turned my ringer on about 15 minutes earlier because I had asked Louis to call me about using his Traegar grill for cooking 40 lbs of chicken leg quarters. Can you tell I wasn’t depressed when I came up with the grill possibility? Brandon ponderizes each week and here is the scripture he recited today. He liked the Lord God Omnipotent part: 15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.Mosiah 5:15\This year’s Mutual theme teaches us how to stay firm in the gospel.\15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.\Steadfast\Stead means place; it is related to the word stand.\Fast means fixed or firm; think of the word fasten.\So, steadfast means something like “standing firmly in place.”\Immovable\\“Those who stand firm, steadfast, and immovable are given great inner hidden powers and unseen strengths. They will be endowed with full and potent spiritual resources.”\President James E. Faust (1920–2007), Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “Stand Up and Be Counted,” New Era, Aug. 1990, 6.\Abounding\Abounding—having in large numbers or great quantity\Good Works\How can your life be “always abounding in good works”? Here are a few ideas:\Pray for opportunities to serve others, and then look for those opportunities.\Write in your journal each day the things you did that were kind, helpful, or spiritually uplifting.\On a Sunday, make a list of good things you think you could accomplish that week. Put the list where you can see it every day to remind yourself of your goals, and then review the list on the following Sunday to see how you did.\Good Works\“When faith springs up in the heart, good works will follow, and good works will increase that pure faith within them.”\President Brigham Young (1801–77), Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997), 57.\Omnipotent\Omnipotent—all-powerful\Seal you his\In ancient times, a seal (usually a signet ring or small stone with writing on its surface) was pressed into soft clay or wax to leave a mark of ownership or authenticity on an object or document.\King Benjamin used this image in Mosiah 5 after discussing how we can become the children of Christ and take upon us His name through covenant (like we do when we are baptized or partake of the sacrament). He then says that our faith and good works will enable Christ to “seal [us] his.” The Apostle Paul taught that the Holy Spirit gives us this seal of approval (see 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30).\https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2008/01/line-upon-line-mosiah-5-15?lang=eng  -Jan 2008 

 

Friday, 6/25/21 Hello BMX, I have not done any 48 hour fasts this week nor last week. I am not as weak! And more motivated. :) Life seems so much better/happier when I have a little energy! @ Sometimes I listen to GCTAlks over and over until I have sucked every ounce of spiritual nourishment out of them. I make special note of talks that wash me with “Chills and thrills”/ goosebumps. This talk by TSM gave me chills and thrills 6 times the first time I listened. The second time I listened I got none. It goes to show that it is also a state of mind and heart and not just the potency of the talk! :)

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1990/04/my-brothers-keeper?lang=eng

My Brother’s Keeper Thomas S. Monson\Second Counselor in the First Presidency

The Holy Bible is an inspiration to me. This sacred book has inspired the minds of men and has motivated readers to live the commandments of God and to love one another. It is printed in greater quantities, is translated into more languages, and has touched more human hearts than any other volume.

Particularly do I enjoy reading from the book of Genesis the account describing the creation of the world. Ponder the power of that culminating declaration: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them.” (Gen. 1:27–28.)

Joy turns to sadness as we learn of Abel’s tragic death at the hands of his brother Cain. Chapters of counsel, lessons for living, guidance from God are found in one brief verse: “And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9.)

These two significant questions are asked, then answered, in themes taught throughout the scriptures. One such example is found in the life of Joseph and his brothers. We will recall that Joseph was especially loved by his father, Jacob, which occasioned bitterness and jealousy on the part of his brothers. There followed the plot to slay him, which eventually placed Joseph in a pit without food and without water to sustain life. Upon the arrival of a passing caravan of merchants, Joseph’s brothers determined to sell him rather than to leave him to die. Twenty pieces of silver extricated Joseph from the pit and placed him eventually in the house of Potiphar in the land of Egypt. There Joseph prospered, for “the Lord was with Joseph.” (Gen. 39:2.)

After the years of plenty, there followed the years of famine. In the midst of this latter period, when the brothers of Joseph came to Egypt to buy corn, they were blessed by this favored man in Egypt—even their own brother. Joseph could have dealt harshly with his brethren for the callous and cruel treatment he had earlier received from them. However, he was kind and gracious to his brethren and won their favor and support with these words and actions:

“Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. …

“And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

“So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. …

“Moreover [Joseph] kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.” (Gen. 45:5, 7–8, 15.)

They had found their brother. Joseph in very deed was his brothers’ keeper.

In the touching account of the good Samaritan, Jesus teaches vividly the interpretation of the lesson, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 19:19.) Answered effectively is the haunting question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

An entire vista of opportunity is unfolded to our view when we contemplate the magnitude of King Benjamin’s admonition, recorded in the Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17.)

Just last week the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve were provided the opportunity to view the new Church-history exhibit situated in the museum just west of Temple Square. I loved the replica of the entry to the Fourth Ward—one of the original wards in the valley. I noted with keen interest the lighted map which plotted the pioneer trek from Nauvoo. However, my heart was truly touched when I gazed at an actual handcart displayed in a place of honor. The handcart communicated to me a silent yet eloquent account of its long and momentous journey.

Let us for a moment join Captain Edward Martin and the handcart company he led. While we will not feel the pangs of hunger which they felt or experience the bitter cold that penetrated their weary bodies, we will emerge from our visit with a better appreciation of hardship borne, courage demonstrated, and faith fulfilled. We will witness with tear-filled eyes a dramatic answer to the question “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

“The handcarts moved on November 3 and reached the river, filled with floating ice. To cross would require more courage and fortitude, it seemed, than human nature could muster. Women shrank back and men wept. Some pushed through, but others were unequal to the ordeal.

“‘Three eighteen-year-old boys belonging to the relief party came to the rescue; and to the astonishment of all who saw, carried nearly every member of that ill-fated handcart company across the snow-bound stream. The strain was so terrible, the exposure so great, that in later years all the boys died from the effects of it. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child, and later declared publicly, “That act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant, and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.”’” (LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcarts to Zion, Glendale, Calif.: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1960, pp. 132–33.)

Our service to others may not be so dramatic, but we can bolster human spirits, clothe cold bodies, feed hungry people, comfort grieving hearts, and lift to new heights precious souls.

Junius Burt of Salt Lake City, a longtime worker in the Streets Department, related a touching and inspirational experience. He declared that on a cold winter morning, the street cleaning-crew of which he was a member was removing large chunks of ice from the street gutters. The regular crew was assisted by temporary laborers who desperately needed the work. One such wore only a lightweight sweater and was suffering from the cold. A slender man with a well-groomed beard stopped by the crew and asked the worker, “You need more than that sweater on a morning like this. Where is your coat?” The man replied that he had no coat to wear. The visitor then removed his own overcoat, handed it to the man and said, “This coat is yours. It is heavy wool and will keep you warm. I just work across the street.” The street was South Temple. The Good Samaritan who walked into the Church Administration Building to his daily work and without his coat was President George Albert Smith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His selfless act of generosity revealed his tender heart. Surely he was his brother’s keeper.

In December of 1989, the beautiful and long-awaited Las Vegas temple was dedicated in inspiring sessions, which continued for three days. The messages and music in the dedicatory sessions lifted each heart heavenward and prompted the listener to keep the commandments of God and to emulate the example of righteous living taught by Jesus of Nazareth. Thoughts of self yielded to consideration for others. One sermon stressed the injunction of the Lord as recorded in Matthew:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:19–21.)

After the session during which this passage of scripture had been presented, a handwritten letter, carefully tucked away in a sealed envelope, was handed to me by an usher. May I share with you the contents of this touching letter:

“Dear President Monson:

“My husband and I feel the completion and dedication of this beautiful Las Vegas Nevada Temple is the finest gift we could receive during this sacred season. Temples are such a sweet gift to all the world; and as you spoke of righteous Saints who are worthy to obtain the blessings of the Lord’s house but lack the financial means to attend a temple, our hearts were so touched.

“President Monson, there must be a family somewhere who needs to attend the temple, because as my dear companion and I spoke of our great joy during this special Christmas season, we both commented as to how any store-bought gift would pale in comparison to what we have received in these dedicatory services. Instead of spending our budgeted Christmas funds for some gift from a local store, we would like to give you this $500 to help some family waiting to be endowed and sealed for all eternity. We appreciate your assisting us in our gifts to each other this year.”

The letter was unsigned. The givers remain anonymous. Perhaps today this brother may be viewing this session of general conference. If so, he may be pleased to learn that this gift has made it possible for a worthy family from the Villa Real District of the Portugal Porto Mission to journey to the temple and receive their precious temple blessings. To the unknown givers of this priceless gift I extend my thanks for being your brother’s keeper. I have the inner feeling that your Christmas season was marked by joy and filled with peace.

We have no way of knowing when our privilege to extend a helping hand will unfold before us. The road to Jericho each of us travels bears no name, and the weary traveler who needs our help may be one unknown. Altogether too frequently, the recipient of kindness shown fails to express his feelings, and we are deprived of a glimpse of greatness and a touch of tenderness that motivates us to go and do likewise. Genuine gratitude was expressed by the writer of a letter received recently at Church headquarters. No return address was shown, but the postmark was from Portland, Oregon:

“To the Office of the First Presidency:

“Salt Lake City showed me Christian hospitality once during my wandering years.

“On a cross-country journey by bus to California, I stepped down in the terminal in Salt Lake City, sick and trembling from aggravated loss of sleep caused by a lack of necessary medication. In my headlong flight from a bad situation in Boston, I had completely forgotten my supply.

“In the Temple Square Hotel restaurant, I sat dejectedly, cheekbones propped on fists, staring at a cup of coffee I really didn’t want. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a couple approach my table. ‘Are you all right, young man?’ the woman asked. I raised up, crying and a bit shaken, and related my story and the predicament I was in then. They listened carefully and patiently to my nearly incoherent ramblings, and then they took charge. They must have been prominent citizens. They spoke with the restaurant manager, then told me I could have all I wanted to eat there for five days. They took me next door to the hotel desk and got me a room for five days. Then they drove me to a clinic and saw that I was provided with the medications I needed—truly my basic lifeline to sanity and comfort.

“While I was recuperating and building my strength, I made it a point to attend the daily Tabernacle organ recitals. The celestial voicing of that instrument from the faintest intonation to the mighty full organ is the most sublime sonority of my acquaintance. I have acquired albums and tapes of the Tabernacle organ and the choir which I can rely upon any time to soothe and buttress a sagging spirit.

“On my last day at the hotel, before I resumed my journey, I turned in my key; and there was a message for me from that couple: ‘Repay us by showing gentle kindness to some other troubled soul along your road.’ That was my habit, but I determined to be more keenly on the lookout for someone who needed a lift in life.

“I wish you well. I don’t know if these are indeed the ‘latter days’ spoken of in the scriptures, but I do know that two members of your church were saints to me in my desperate hours of need. I just thought you might like to know.”

What a touching account. There comes to mind the experience of Jesus, when ten lepers were cleansed.

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

“And fell down on his face at his feet. …

“And [Jesus] said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:15–16, 19.)

The desire to help another, the quest for the lost sheep, may not always yield success at once. On occasion progress is slow—even indiscernible. Such was the experience of my longtime friend Gil Warner. He was serving as a newly called bishop when “Douglas,” a member of his ward, transgressed and was deprived of his Church membership. Father was saddened; Mother was totally devastated. Douglas soon thereafter moved from the state. The years hurried by, but Bishop Warner, now a member of a high council, never ceased to wonder what had become of Douglas.

In 1975, I attended the stake conference of the Parleys stake and held a priesthood leadership meeting early on the Sunday morning. I spoke of the Church discipline system and the need to labor earnestly and lovingly to rescue any who had strayed. Gil Warner asked to speak and then outlined the story of Douglas. He concluded with the question, “Who has the responsibility to work with Douglas and bring him back to Church membership?” Gil advised me later that my response to his question was direct and given without hesitation: “It is your responsibility, Gil, for you were his bishop, and he knew you cared.”

Unbeknownst to Gil Warner, Douglas’s mother had, the previous week, fasted and prayed that a man would be raised up to help save her son. Gil discovered this when he felt prompted to call her to report his determination to be of help.

Gil began his odyssey of redemption. Douglas was contacted by him. Old times, happy times, were remembered. Testimony was expressed, love was conveyed, and confidence instilled. The pace was excruciatingly slow. Discouragement frequently entered the scene; but, step by step, Douglas made headway. At long last prayers were answered, efforts rewarded, and victory attained. Douglas was approved for baptism.

The baptismal date was set, family members gathered, and former bishop Gil Warner flew to Seattle for the occasion. Can we appreciate the supreme joy felt by Bishop Warner as he, dressed in white, stood with Douglas in water waist-deep and, raising his right arm to the square, repeated those sacred words, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (D&C 20:73.)

He that was lost was found. A 26-year mission, marked by love and pursued with determination, had been successfully completed. Gil Warner said to me, “This was one of the greatest days of my life. I know the joy promised by the Lord when He declared, ‘And if it so be that you should labor all your days … and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!’” (D&C 18:15.)

Were the Lord to say to Gil Warner today, as He said to Adam’s son long years ago, “Where is Douglas, thy brother?” Bishop Warner could reply, “I am my brother’s keeper, Lord. Behold Douglas, thy son.”

May all of us who hold the priesthood of God demonstrate by our lives that we are our brothers’ keepers, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.