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COME LISTEN TO A PROPHET'S VOICE, AND HEAR THE WORD OF GOD

9/28/2021

I know the topic for today was supposed to be about what happens to us after we die. I promise that I will get to that soon. But I decided to step off the track today to talk about something else that I hope will be of interest to my readers: prophets.

What is a prophet? I like the definition given in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1 : one who utters divinely inspired revelations: such as
a: the writer of one of the prophetic books of the Bible
b: one regarded by a group of followers as the final authoritative
revealer of God's will

When we think of the Judeo-Christian prophets, the names Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, etc. come to mind. So, what was so special about these guys? Well, according to the Old Testament, they represented and spoke for God. Many people have the idea that God wants to keep Himself hidden and keep His will and His plans secret, but that just isn’t true. Although, to a certain degree He is hidden from most of the world, He really does want all of His children to find Him. And He really does want to share His will with us. Each of us can receive personal revelations from God, for our own lives. But, in order to avoid confusion, when God has a message or instructions for all of His children, He gives that message to His prophet, His mouthpiece. In his day, Moses was that mouthpiece. And whenever Heavenly Father plans to do something important for us, He tells His prophets first, so they can let us know. The Old Testament prophet Amos wrote:

  Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

That is what God did for His prophet Abraham, for Moses, for Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and all the others. The people of God had no excuse for not obeying His word, because prophets walked among them, as the mouthpieces of God, to let them know exactly what He expected of them. And why did God do this? To oppress them? To punish them? No! He loved them and he wanted to turn them into a holy people prepared to enter into His presence, to see Him and be with Him. Unfortunately, the people of that time simply would not overcome their sinfulness, and they were unsuccessful in truly becoming God’s people.

Finally, God sent His own Son to try and turn His people around, and they simply killed Him. Before He was killed He called more prophets, the 12 men we know as the Apostles; He called another 70 besides the 12. And despite their best efforts, over time these men were all killed as well, and their message mostly rejected. A form of Jesus’ teachings remained, but over time, those teachings were changed, or dropped completely, until the church became something totally unrecognizable as what Jesus had organized. The writings of the Apostles make up what is known today as the New Testament. After their deaths, Heavenly Father declined to send more prophets to this earth, for a time.

So, God loved the people of the Old Testament. He loved the people of the New Testament. Doesn’t He love us who are living in the 21st century? If so, why don’t we have prophets to guide as in former times? Well, as a matter of fact, we do.

I have already told you about Joseph Smith, and his mission. I also mentioned that he was killed at a very young age. But God did not leave us without a prophet after Joseph. Since the time of Joseph Smith, there have been living prophets on the earth again. There is a prophet today, and his name is Russell M. Nelson. There are also twelve apostles, who have been called as special witnesses of Jesus Christ. They are also considered to be prophets. There are more serving in positions known as “the Seventy”, and they are also prophets. Here is a link to photos of all of the church leadership, plus short bios for each one:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/global-leadership-of-the-church?lang=eng

Twice a year, the whole world has the opportunity to hear these prophets speak, and to know exactly what God expects of us, and what His plans are for this world.

This coming weekend is the next opportunity to hear these leaders speak. They speak at a General Conference, which is broadcast worldwide. There are five two-hour sessions:

            Saturday 10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 6:00 PM, Mountain Daylight Savings Time
            Sunday 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM, MDT

The Prophet, President Nelson, usually opens the conference with a short greeting, and then speaks at the Saturday 5:00 session, and then again at the Sunday 9:00 session. He also is the closing speaker on Sunday afternoon.

What kinds of things does he talk about? Well, just like Moses, he is the Lord’s mouthpiece today, and he tells us what Heavenly Father expects of us, specifically in our day. The following video is a talk by President Nelson from the April 2021. It will give you an idea of what to expect from a prophet of God:

youtu.be/-VGCEQLzITk

If you are interested in hearing more of what goes on at these conferences, here is a link to the broadcast of the entire April 2021 General Conference.

www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/saturday-morning-session?lang=eng

President Nelson is not the only speaker during this general conference. Each of the apostles will speak. Many members of the Seventy will speak. And some of the leaders of the general women’s and children’s organizations will also speak. If you are looking for spiritual knowledge and wisdom, or just an amazing spiritual experience, this is the place to be. You don’t need to go anywhere; you can watch it on TV or on your computer. Here is the link for this Saturday and Sunday:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10?lang=eng

I hope you’ll join us. The following Monday, in my blog post, I will discuss some of the messages presented over the weekend. Then, on Monday, October 11, I will return to the topic of the third of three important questions: “Where am I going?”

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WHY ARE WE HERE?

9/21/2021

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So, what were we talking about last week when we left off? Oh yeah, the purpose of our life on earth. To recap:

In order to become like our Heavenly Father, we had to leave His presence to be tested. If we failed, we would never be able to enter His presence again.
We are unable to remember our pre-mortal life with Our Heavenly Father.
We needed to gain a physical body, like His but imperfect, in order to have physical experiences, and to be tested,

Well, it all sounds a little tough. Some of us began to have some doubts about whether we wanted to do this or not. And remember, we had a choice; we didn’t have to come to this earth to be tried and tested. We could remain spirit beings as long as we wanted. Some people, disillusioned with their own lives, have been heard to claim, “I never chose to be born!” Well, they kinda did, even if they don’t remember.

Now, if we thought this all sounded too difficult, it’s because the best part of the plan had yet to be presented to us. We were worried because, all of us, without exception, would make mistakes, a poor choice or two. Upon doing so, we would immediately be divorced from God, never able to return to His presence. When we died, we would lose our bodies and become spirits again. But then we would not even be able to return to the idyllic existence that we had before mortal life. We would be locked out of God’s presence forever, a true Hell. None of us would be capable of returning on our own.

So now, what? And why did all of us now living, or who have ever lived, decide to jump into the deep end anyway and take our chances? Because of God’s love, he provided a way back to Him, even for His seriously imperfect children. Here is a short video that helps us to better understand God’s love for us:

https://youtu.be/l2ExYfqXBx0

A SAVIOR
Heavenly Father knew that we were incapable of returning to him once we left His presence. He knew we would sin, and thus be impeded from ever returning. It doesn’t sound like much of a plan, does it? We must attempt to become like Our Heavenly Father, knowing that left on our own we were guaranteed to fail; guaranteed to end up worse than when we started. But then Heavenly Father presented the final part of His plan, one that would make it possible to return to him, in spite of our imperfections; the only way to bridge that gap between Heaven and Hell. Heavenly Father would send a Savior to Earth, One who was actually capable of living a sinless life, a God Himself. And being sinless, He would be able to take upon Himself the consequences of all of our sins, take away our burdens.

We as spirits were excited about this plan! But who among us was capable of executing it? Who among us was capable of living a sinless life, of paying for everyone else’s sins? Who among us was not just a spirit, but a God? Only One.

The oldest, most ancient of the Spirits came forward, accepted God’s Plan, and offered Himself to be the Savior. He would accept and execute every facet of God’s plan and give God all the glory. His name was Jehovah. After His birth, he would be known to us as Jesus.

Jehovah had been at Heavenly Father’s side, well, forever. He was the first of God’s Spirit creations and had become a God Himself (keep in mind that “God” is not a name, although we have become accustomed to using it as such. It is a title.), even though he did not as yet have a body. He was the only Spirit capable of performing such a task, and we were overjoyed to have Him. I don’t think that anyone of us understood exactly what this would entail, the awful suffering and sacrifice that would be experienced by Him, for each of us. I still cannot comprehend it, and I’m not sure I ever will.

In this act of redemption that we did not understand fully, Jehovah would provide for each of us one free gift, and one for which we would have to pay a small portion of the purchase price – not the same price that He would have to pay, but something that we were actually capable of paying. The free gift was that of a perfected body. Although each of us must die, one day we will each be resurrected to a body that is perfect, or in other words, free from the infirmities and limitations of mortality. Everybody! Good and bad. Saint and sinner. Everybody.

But that gift still does not guarantee a ticket back into the presence of God. It does not guarantee Eternal Life. For that gift, each of us must pay a comparatively small price. We must do as the ancient prophets and apostles and Jesus taught – repent. Although not the same price that Jehovah would pay, not an easy one either. It would require some effort on our part. If we didn’t do it, even having perfected bodies, we would never be allowed back into the presence of Our Heavenly Father again, regardless of His infinite love for us.

Now it was starting to sound like a pretty good plan. We all would have a chance to become like Our Heavenly Father. That would have been great if that had been the end of it. But, no matter how good something may seem, there is someone always willing to throw a monkey wrench into it. And that monkey wrench-thrower was a spirit whose name was Lucifer.

Lucifer was also an old soul. He is referred to in Holy Scripture as a “son of the morning” meaning that he was also one of Heavenly Father’s earliest creations. He had also progressed a great deal, but unlike Jehovah, he was not a god.

Lucifer was not wild about one part of Father’s plan. He was “concerned” that many would be lost if offered the choice to repent or not. And he was right; that’s how agency works. He volunteered to go to Earth instead of Jehovah, and he would make sure that everyone complied, that everyone obeyed, or repented when they failed to obey. He promised not to lose a single soul and would return 100% of Father’s spirit children to him, ready for Eternal Life. But he would not do it for free. In exchange, He wanted the credit, the glory. He wanted to take Father’s place, since his plan was obviously so much better than Father’s and therefore he was just so much smarter. Isaiah wrote a little about this event:

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Old Testament, Isaiah 14:12-14)

Sounds like Lucifer’s plan had some good points, right? I am mean, is choice all that important, if we were guaranteed a way back to Heavenly Father? Why is choice important? Watch this short presentation to help understand why Lucifer’s plan was a non-starter for us:

https://youtu.be/GtKUAI2Ss8I

Father was not willing to give away our right to choose, since that was the very basis of determining who would be worthy of Eternal Life; who would actually choose it over the alternatives. So, He said no. He rejected Lucifer’s plan.

Now, Lucifer should have just accepted this decision, and gotten with the program. But he didn’t. Instead, he began to show his true colors. He got angry. He knew that others agreed with him and his plan. They sided with Lucifer, and soon Heavenly Father had a full-blown rebellion on His hands. There were not just a few that sided with Lucifer. The scriptures tell us that he succeeded in drawing away one third of the spirits from Heavenly Father. One third! John the Revelator taught:

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth . . . (Revelation 12:3-4)

Much of what John wrote in the Book of Revelation is figurative and often difficult to understand. A revelation to Joseph Smith clarified this passage, as well as the one in the next paragraph:

36 . . . for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;
37 And they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels;
38 And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell.
(Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-38)

The apostle John also tells us that there was war in Heaven. I have no idea what such a war would entail. Spirits have no bodies to wound or blood to spill. Spirits cannot be killed. All we really know is that Father prevailed, and Lucifer and his followers were cast out of His presence. They lost forever the opportunity to be tested and to receive bodies. They were doomed to remain spirits forever. They lost the opportunity for Eternal Life. John wrote:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (New Testament, Revelation 12:7-9)

In verses 9, above, John said that God cast them down into the Earth. Poor translation. That is where we get the old tale that Hell and the devil and his followers are down below us, underground. It should have been translated to read that they were cast down onto the Earth. They are here with us to this day, all around us. They are Satan and his followers. They are the unseen spirit world, and there are a lot of them. So, what exactly are they doing here? They are trying to influence us, to drag us down, to take away from us what was taken from them – the chance to receive eternal life. Misery loves company.

So, the purposes of our earthly life are 1) to receive a mortal body and learn how to properly use it, to make us complete souls, spirit and body, just like Heavenly Father, and 2) to test us; to see if we will be obedient in all things, and thus worthy to receive Eternal Life. Satan’s mission is to get us to defile and misuse these bodies, and to get us to violate the commandments whereby we may gain Eternal Life.

So, what comes after we complete this test called mortal life? We’ll talk about that next time, on September 27, 2021. See you then!

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THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

9/13/2021

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Back to one of my very first questions. Do you remember? “Why should any of this be important to me? Why should it make a difference?” Well, let me tell you.

Joseph Smith was only 14 years old when he had his first vision, and 17 years old when he had the second. That is when he began his heavenly training for the work that God had for him to do, which was, restore lost truths and restore his church which had been lost for centuries. All of this was necessary for the benefit of all mankind, and to prepare us for the imminent return of Jesus Christ to the earth. He was 21 when he finally received the gold plates into his possession and began the work of translating them. He was 23 when the first printing of the resulting “Book of Mormon” was made available to the world. He was 24 when, under the direction of God, he organized the restored church. During all of this he continued to be educated from on high, in visions and visitations, and by a Spirit-guided study of the Bible and Book of Mormon.

He learned a lot during his short life and passed much of that knowledge on to the rest of the world. And he was able to finally and accurately respond to three very important questions that people have been trying to understand, well, forever.

            1-Where did I come from?
            2-Why am I here?
            3-Where am I going?

These are the three most basic existential questions about the purpose of human life.

WHERE DID I COME FROM?

Many religions try to explain our beginnings with answers such as these:

1-We are a creation of God, for his pleasure and good will, or,
2-We lived previously and were reincarnated after dying.

These are just a couple of explanations. There are probably almost as many attempts at explanation as there are religions. There is also a purely scientific view, which tells us that before conception we did not exist, and when we die, we will cease to exist.
But what did Joseph learn from God and His messengers? That we are eternal beings; we have always existed, and we always will; there is no end, to anybody. There is only an end to this mortal existence.

There are many passages in the Bible, Old and New Testaments, that seem to contradict the teaching that we were created in the womb. In the Book of Job, God asks Job if he knows where he was before the creation of the world.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?(Job 38:4-7)

Who were all these sons of God shouting for joy, before he laid the foundations of the earth?

God told the prophet Jeremiah that He knew him before he was born:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

Apparently, the teaching that we existed before being born was a common one in the time of Christ, based on this question asked of Jesus by His disciples:

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?(John 9:2)

How could being born blind be a result of sin, unless he lived and sinned before he was born?

The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, made it clear that God knew us before we were born:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)

In his Epistle to the Ephesians Paul stated that we were chosen by God before he created the world:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)

These scriptures, although pointing to a life before this earth life, are somewhat vague; they don’t really give us much detail or explanation. Maybe this is why the teaching has been lost through the ages. Maybe this is why a restoration of lost gospel principles was needed; why a “Joseph Smith” was needed.

A Book of Mormon prophet named Alma teaches the following about those who receive the priesthood:

And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works. . .(Alma 13:3)

So not only are spirits alive before being born, but they are also called and prepared for certain works and missions, based on their faith and good works - before their birth!
Book of Mormon prophet Samuel talks about returning to the presence of God via the redemption of Christ:

But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord. (Helaman 14:17)

To be brought back means that we must have been there previously. If not, Samuel would have simply said,” . . . bringeth them into the presence of the Lord.”

Although these Book of Mormon references are a little less vague than those of the Bible in speaking of a pre-mortal existence, they still don’t give us a lot of detail. This is a really good example of why it is so important to have living prophets like Moses or Abraham, instead of just ancient scripture which people can interpret and twist to suit their own pre-conceived notions.

In later revelation from God, Joseph learned a great deal more about our existence in the presence of God before being born as mortal beings. In a revelation received from Jesus Christ in September 1830, he learned that:

            1-we lived before the creation of the world,
2-we had agency, or in other words, freedom to choose, to follow good or evil, and,
3-A full one-third of all of the spirits that existed before the creation rejected God and followed Satan, hence Satan and his angels (Yep, Satan is also real, and he existed, just like us, before this mortal life. He at one time was one of us. Forget about that nonsensical image of a red monster with horns and a pointed tail. If you saw him, you would not be able to distinguish him from another human being!)

And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;

And they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels;

And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell.

And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves. (Doctrine & Covenants, Section 29:36-39)

Speaking of marriage, and its importance to His plan, God said to Joseph in May 1831:

Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation;

And that it might be filled with the measure of man, according to his creation before the world was made.

So, if we were created even before the world existed, why don’t we remember it? Why don’t we remember anything previous to this life? Very few people remember even as far back as their infancy. Here is a short video presentation that helps to explain this concept.

https://youtu.be/I3g2xMjHbqA

So, what are we doing here, or rather, what are we supposed to be doing here? What exactly is the purpose of this life?

WHY ARE WE HERE?

If we lived in the presence of God before being born into this physical earth life, why would we want to leave? Why in Heaven’s name (pun intended) would we want to leave Heaven! We lived in the presence of Our Heavenly Father. We loved Our Heavenly Father, but we noticed something very different about him. He had a physical body; we did not. We were created spiritually and did not possess physical bodies. His body was perfect, and glorified. He could experience things that we could not. We desired to have those experiences. And God wanted us to have those experiences.

As parents, we want our children to grow up and be like us. Not exactly like us, but having healthy bodies, two legs, two arms, two eyes, etc. We want them to experience the good things that we experience. Our Father in Heaven was no different, except that he loved us even more than we love our own children. He wanted us to experience the same happiness that He experienced.

So, He presented His Plan to all of His spirit children. He wanted us to be like Him, glorified physical body and all. But remember, God is powerful; all-powerful. He is all-knowing. We, spirits, although created by a perfect being, were not perfect (still aren’t). Once again, parents, think about your own children. You love them all, very much. But do you feel the same about giving the keys to the car to each one? Some you probably trust more than others. Do they all have the same abilities, same talents, all the time? Are they all equally wise? Would you feel comfortable about leaving anyone of them home alone for a week? I’m guessing not. I’m not saying that they are bad children! I’m just saying some are more trustworthy than others, some will always make the right choices even when Mom and Dad are not around. Some, regardless of our love, just never quite develop the ability to always choose the right, or the wise, thing.

Heavenly Father wanted to give that gift of eternal life to ALL of His children (I don’t want to get into this too much now but I will in a future discussion: Eternal Life and immortality are not the same thing. Eternal Life means living the same type of life that God lives, having the same types of experiences, and having the ability to do great things and have great experiences, eternally.) But great blessings include great responsibilities. Although Father knew already which of His children would likely be successful in this regard, He does not play favorites. He does not predestinate. All of His children were blessed with the right to choose; choose to accept His plan or not. Choose to make correct choices, or not.

We were excited about this plan, or at least most of us were; to be like Him, to have His experiences. To inherit eternal life. We said, “YES!”. But, there was a condition. This would not be easy. In fact, there were several conditions. First, we would have to leave His presence, and those who failed, would never be allowed back into His presence, ever again. Remember, God is perfect. Perfect beings cannot exist in the presence of imperfection, or rather, imperfection cannot survive in the presence of perfection. We were perfect in the sense that we were at the time incapable of committing sin. We didn’t even know what sin was. We were innocent.

Second, we would not only leave His presence physically, but we would leave it mentally as well. As we were born into earth life, we would lose any memory of our previous life with God. Wasn’t it much easier to clean your bedroom with Mom standing over you, or at least with your bedroom door open, and she passing by frequently to make sure you were doing your job? What would happen if Mom told you to clean your room, then left. Would you still clean your room? Maybe, maybe not. What if in time you forgot what she said, or you just decided it wasn’t that important? It would all depend on you, what kind of person you are. And that was the real test. God knew who we were, but still he wanted each of us to choose the right for ourselves.

Third, to pass through physical experiences we need physical bodies. We couldn’t have a glorified body like Heavenly Father. Our bodies were imperfect. Really imperfect! Some of us would go through life with few physical challenges, some with enormous challenges. Some would suffer with great pain and sickness. Some might only live a few minutes, and then die. The great thing is that each of us passes through a test that is tailor-made for each of us, in accordance with our needs. Some would have great material advantages; others would be born into abject poverty. Some would be enormously intelligent, and others, well, not so much. Others might have debilitating mental disorders. But each of us would be tested according to the abilities that we had, and of course, dependent on our individual spiritual needs. Hence the saying, “Where much is given, much is required.”

Well, so far, this all sounds like a lot to take in. But wait! There’s more! And I will talk about it next Monday, September 20, 2021. Hope to see you then.

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HOW TO KNOW FOR YOURSELF

9/6/2021

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Before moving on to an explanation of the basic teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, remember that I said that anyone can know for themselves if what I have written in my first four posts are true. The key to that knowledge is found in the Book of Mormon itself. As far as I am aware, no other book has a similar promise in it.

In the very last chapter of the Book (It is divided up into chapters and verses, just like the Bible.), the Book of Moroni (yes, the same one who appeared to Joseph to tell him about the gold plates.) Chapter 10, verses 3-5, it reads:

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

So how do you find out if it is true? Ask God, just as Joseph Smith did. He got his answer. I got my answer. You can get yours, too. But you have to do it the way the Lord instructs us. You must,

Be sincere. Don’t do it just because someone asks you to. Do it because you really want to know.
Have real intent. That means that you are not just a curiosity seeker but intend to accept and follow it if and when God answers you.
Have faith in Christ. In other words, believe that he will answer you, one way or another, without skepticism.

And how exactly will he answer you? Will he appear to you like he did with Joseph Smith? It’s possible, but unlikely. One of the purposes for our life on this earth (which I will discuss in more detail later on) is to develop faith. Faith is not simply a blind belief as you may have been led to understand. It is a strong belief in something that is true, and which becomes a principle of great spiritual power as it is developed. For this reason, only a handful of people have experiences similar to Joseph Smith’s, and they then often record them and publish them to the world – so others can believe on their words and develop that faith. Eventually, all who develop that faith will have the experience of meeting God face to face, whether in this life, or in the next. It is an experience which is sacred and personal, and if it happens in this life it is usually not shared with others.

So, how will he answer? In my experience, God has answered different people in many different ways. But a good rule of thumb can be found in one of the revelations given to Joseph Smith, which can be found in another book of modern scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants. It is divided in Sections rather than chapters, each section containing one or more revelations. In Section 8, the Lord says:

. . . assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive. . .

. . . Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation. . .

Therefore this is thy gift; apply unto it. . .

. . . Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith. Trifle not with these things; do not ask for that which you ought not.

And in Section 9, the Lord continues:

. . . you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong. . .

So, after you have studied it out in your mind (thought about it, pondered it), you ask if it is right or true, and you will feel it “in your mind and in your heart”; He will cause that your bosom will burn within you (a very warm feeling, not just in your mind, but an actual physical reaction), and you will feel that it is right.

This may still sound a little vague. How does it work in actual practice? Let me share with you my personal experience. It happened when I was 20 years old.

I began an intense study of the religion that I had belonged to for the first 20 years of my life, wanting to know for myself if it was true. I read the Book of Mormon. I’ll talk more in depth about the Book of Mormon, and what exactly it is, in a later post. Suffice it to say now that it is an important book of scripture for Latter Day Saints which accompanies the Bible and is just as important to us as the Bible.

I started reading the Book of Mormon. I read and studied and pondered for a long time every day. I didn’t just read - I studied, I thought about what I was studying, and then I prayed about it, fully expecting to get an answer. Some people have reported miracles. Some say that they have heard voices, or in some very rare instances actually received a visit from a heavenly messenger. Many have dreams and visions. But the most common answer comes in the form of that warmth accompanied with a peaceful assurance of the truth of that matter which they are praying about.

As I studied and prayed, I received no answer at all, no confirmation. I fasted. In other words, along with prayer I went without food and water for a 24-hour period. This is a common biblical practice and is also practiced in other religions as a way to focus the mind on matters of the spirit. Nothing seemed to be working. Then, two weeks after I began my search I awoke one morning and began to pray, and I heard a voice. To this day, I don’t know if it was a real voice, a physical voice or just something that spoke so loudly in my mind that it seemed to me to be a real physical voice. Have you ever had that happen? It’s an interesting experience. It is not a sign of psychosis! The voice said to me, “You know it's true! You have always known it was true.” And at that exact moment, I did, and I knew that I had. All doubt fled. It was like a flood of water washed over me in an instant, and took away all my doubts and fears, and left me having more certainty about something than I had ever felt about anything else. And of course, along with this “knowing” came the warm physical feeling, not just in my bosom, but throughout my body. It was overwhelming, almost taking away my energy to do anything else.

I sat in my room for a long time, basking in the moment and pondering the experience. I continued to study over the next several days, and had the scriptures opened up to me in a way that had never happened before, and I gained great new insights and knowledge. I read the four gospels of the New Testament from beginning to end, for the first time, and had an amazing experience that changed me in yet other miraculous ways. Within a few weeks, I was a totally different person than I had been most of my life; much different than the person that many of you knew as a teenager. The whole “born again” experience is real; I lived it; I know.

Now, I would like to invite all who have read these first few posts in this blog, to try to find out for yourself if the things that I have written about are true. This may be a new kind of experience for you, or it may be something you have heard all your life and just never really applied it. Or it may be that you have had this experience, long ago, and you just drifted away, and allowed yourself to forget the experience or to even doubt that it ever actually happened. Try it again. You can get that feeling back again. The experience that I had? I have relived it over and over again in my life, and that is how I have continued forward in faith, in the face of many challenges to that faith. Every time I read the Book of Mormon, I ask God to confirm its truthfulness to me again, AND HE DOES! EVERY TIME!

I am not someone who is comfortable talking about my religious beliefs or experiences, to people who do not believe as I do. To be honest, I am a bit of a wimp about it. I know how many people feel when they hear these kinds of things. They will think that I am some kind of a fanatic, that I am a nut. And I don’t take rejection well; I want to be liked. I have unfortunately lost friends because I spoke to them about my beliefs and invited them to learn about them. So, as important as my beliefs are to me, I avoid talking about them with others; I never bring them up, and I am perfectly happy with people not knowing how deeply held those beliefs are. Because, you see, I have passed the point of just believing; I now know; there is absolutely no doubt. And that is exceedingly difficult for many people to understand or accept (although in a future post, I will talk about how unbelief becomes doubt, becomes belief, becomes faith, becomes certainty, and finally becomes perfect knowledge).

But recently, I have felt strongly that I need to write this down, to publish it for all to see and know who I really am. This is my declaration to the world of what I know to be true, and my invitation for all to know it as well. I have rarely been able to do this face to face, but I can write it, because I am not looking you in the face right now, seeing the incredulity in your eyes, the smile that comes from thinking I am a funny fool. I’m just looking at my computer screen, trying to imagine how this will go over once I actually publish it. It’s easier that way because I really am a coward. I don’t want to be laughed at. And even if people don’t make fun of me, like I said, I don’t handle rejection well. The thought of not being taken seriously, or of someone mocking my beliefs, really bugs me.

So here it is, my inner thoughts laid bare for the world to see and judge. If it has been of any interest to you, if you felt anything good while reading it, come back. I am not finished. My next posts will include more of the teachings the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Some of you may think these doctrines strange; many of you will feel that they are things that you have always believed, and just never knew of a church that actually taught them as truth. I hope you will join me again on Monday, September 13, 2021. Until next time.

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