Student Married Wards

D&C 51:17- "let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good."

In the Institute manual, I found a very insightful explanation of this verse:

"People who locate in a home or apartment knowing that they will move to another in a short time may have a tendency to neglect Church attendance and other responsibilities.  They rationalize, "well, we won't be here long."  The Lord wanted the Saints to live the gospel and share it in Ohio as though they were to be there for a long time."


This application is very appropriate to our lives and our ward.  We have a lot of members that don't seem to come as much because they don't see this as a "real" ward.  They feel like they could just as well go to whatever ward is most convenient for them or go with their family or simply not go at all "because I'll be graduating soon and then life gets easy."  This verse shows that the Lord wants us to live every day with an eternal perspective.

All that the Father hath

Romans 8:17-"if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"
Hebrews 1:2-"his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things"


Sorry, I've been kind of busy on Sundays so I haven't been able to write the last two weeks.  This blog is coming from something I discovered in the scriptures while waiting for Erica in the Provo Temple lobby.

In these verses we see that it is part of God's plan for us to inherit the same estate he now possesses.  We see that Christ became an heir of all things and that we are joint-heirs with Christ.  Now that it is clearly established that we have the ability to inherit Godhood, the more important question is, how do we inherit all that the Father hath?

There may be many answers to this question (for instance the term "child of God" is sometimes used in a more exclusive sense than simply a pre-mortal Child or physical creation of God), but the answer I found given most succinctly is D&C 84:35-39, "And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me...and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood."  So the "oath and covenant of the priesthood" is the key to exaltation.  A deeper comprehension of man's divine potential will enhance our understanding of the priesthood and in turn this increased knowledge of the priesthood will expound our relationship with God.

Finally, there is an essential clause included in Romans 8:17 where Paul explained-"if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."  Furthermore, the Lord says in D&C 50:28-"But no man is possessor of all things except he be purified and cleansed from all sin."  Christ's Atonement obviously is the foundation to our exaltation.  One way to "receive me [Christ]" is to "suffer with him" by implementing his Atonement in our lives through repentance so we are "purified and cleansed from all sin". 

The Atonement- Part 3- The Greatest "Nevertheless"

D&C 19:19- Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.
    This verse immediately follows the Lord's description of his Atoning suffering.  He described how it was more agonizing than anyone could ever endure and live.  After such an incomprehensible statement the next word the Lord uses is "Nevertheless."  What an amazing manifestation of eternal perspective.  "Nevertheless" literally means that what follows is never less important, or in other words, that what follows is of greater importance than what preceded.  So what followed this "nevertheless"?  The Lord pronouncing that "glory be to the Father".  Here the Lord once again demonstrates His infinite humility in recognizing that although he accomplished something more difficult than anyone could even imagine, still all the glory was for his Father for it was His plan and His will. In other words, even though Christ had just described himself as "God, the greatest of all" and His infinite suffering, he reiterated his prayer in the Garden, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."  Never before was there a nevertheless that was more substantial and eternally necessary. 

Line upon Line

D&C 76:76- "These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness."
Revelation 12:1-"a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet"

   As I listened to General Conference this weekend a thought came to my mind.  Often in the Church when explaining why to other Christians why ours is the only true Church and why we need the Book of Mormon and such we say, "your Church has a portion of the light, while ours has the fulness of the gospel which is found in the Book of Mormon."  Lots of people I have said this to have responded with, "how can we only have some of the light? We believe in Christ and have the Bible, that is the only truth you need."  We try to explain to them that what they have accepted is intended to inspire them to keep learning and eventually embrace the whole truth of the restored gospel.  Just yesterday a thought came to my mind to help explain this.
    In science (particularly Chemistry) it is not uncommon for a principle to be taught as truth that really isn't true or that doesn't demonstrate the whole picture.  As you learn more and more you discover that there is more to be understood (for instance, the atom).  It is much the same way with other religions, be they Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.  They all have true principles, such as: love, family, faith, charity, etc.  Some even teach true doctrines, such as: repentance, baptism, Christ's sacrifice, the final judgment, etc.  However, they are all damned (for the real definition of damnation is to hinder your progress, thus even a Terrestrial Glory falls under this category) because they don't accept continuous revelation.  We don't teach Christians to abandon their belief in the Bible and Christ or tell Muslims to forget about the Abrahamic Covenant, instead we show them that their religions are stepping stones to the ultimate source of living waters, Christ and his true gospel.  All religions are good in the sense that they all help people escape the Telestial realm of stealing, murdering, and other grievous sins, but they are limiting when someone says "we have received, and we need no more!" for behold "wo be unto him" (2 Nephi 28:29).  Just as the moon only reflects a portion of the light of the sun, so the Terrestrial churches only reflect a portion of the light of the Celestial Church of the First Born.  I don't know about you, but for how dark the world is right now, I'd rather have the noonday sun guiding me than the moonlight.