Developing a Personal Relationship with the Savior

Developing a Personal Relationship with the Savior
George Pace, 1975

George W. Pace was assistant professor of religion at BYU when
this devotional address was given on 15 July 1975.
Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.

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Brother and sisters, this is a delightful experience for me today. I don’t know when I’ve been more terrified and frightened. I feel a little like the cowboy who rode into town and shot up the place and jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions. But I hope with all my heart that I might have that presence of mind and that presence of Spirit which will allow me to share with you some of the feelings and the ideas I have relative to developing a personal relationship with the Lord.

I appreciated the introduction this morning. There happen to be on the stand two men who have been the two most effective teachers in my life. I wouldn’t want to embarrass them by calling them by name, and so I won’t mention President Robert K. Thomas and Dean Chauncey C. Riddle. As a young freshman at BYU, I took my English class from Brother Thomas. He touched my heart, set my spirit on fire, and I determined in my heart I was going to do everything I could to measure up to the kinds of things he suggested we could measure up to. As the years have slipped by, I have had the opportunity of being continually fed by Brother Riddle and stimulated by his insight into the gospel.

I’m also grateful that I can have my wife here today. I appreciate her so much. Brother Thomas indicated that we anticipate the coming forth of our tenth child, which will make our third son. (Should he be a girl, it’s because you laughed.) On the basis of the number of children we have, I have concluded that to offset the power of women in our household I’d have to have another 113 sons.

Not long ago I was with my wife in Carson’s Market, we were getting some groceries, and I was negotiating with a local banker so we could swing the deal. Truman Madsen came up behind us, we got to chatting, and I said, “Have you ever met my wife?”

He said, “No, I don’t believe I have, but I would like to,” so I introduced them. Then he said, “How many children do you two have?”

I said, “We have nine.”

The next thing I heard, and I think everyone in the store heard it, was Truman saying, “Eighty-one months of pregnancy!” My wife and I have never viewed it in quite that perspective; consequently we collapsed. But we are delighted with the beautiful experience of having a family.

Testimonies of the Savior

Having this opportunity today brings back a lot of fond memories. My heart has really been touched over the years as I’ve had the opportunity of hearing men speak at BYU devotionals. I’ll never forget, as a young man, listening to the great prophet David O. McKay as he gave a stirring sermon on the bread of life. How it touched my heart. How stimulated I was by what he had to say about the Savior. How I hoped with all of my heart that somehow the Savior might become my bread of life, that somehow I might be able to partake of his divine nature, that somehow I might be able to take advantage of my membership in the Church and ultimately put on the nature of Christ and become like him. In fact, over the years, of all the ideas and all the concepts I have been exposed to, none has touched my heart, none has stirred me with such great determination to try to do the things that I felt the Lord would have me do as much as those ideas that pertain directly to the living reality of the Savior.

I remember one occasion at Salt Lake City in old Barrett Hall. I was going on a mission. There were about 250 of us listening to different Brethren speak. Finally, at a particular hour, one stood and spoke. I had a testimony at that time. I knew that Jesus was the Christ. I knew that the Church was true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that this Church was headed by prophets. But on that occasion, without fanfare, without visual aids, quietly and powerfully, he shared with us his feelings about the Lord. I vowed in my heart that someday I too would know the Lord even as he. As a result of that one talk I set out on a quest to know the Lord and to know him well–a quest which has changed my life more than any other effort.

I think of a beautiful experience of Elder Melvin J. Ballard which occurred while he was serving as a mission president in the northwestern states. He had gone over to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation to take care of mission business. He and his counselors had fasted that they might solve some problems that had come into existence on the reservation. After much fasting and prayer, and after making the best decisions they could, Brother Ballard then got on the train to go back to Portland, Oregon. In the dreams of the night, he found himself in what I would assume to be the Salt Lake Temple. He was in conversation with a group of men. After a period of time an individual came over to him and said that it had been requested of him to go to an adjoining room to meet another individual. Brother Ballard said he opened the door to this adjoining room, and as he looked into the room, he saw seated upon a raised platform the most glorious person he had ever seen. As he entered the room this individual arose and smiled and softly spoke his name. Brother Ballard said that this individual came right up to him and put his arms around him and embraced him and kissed him. Brother Ballard at that moment felt a love so intense that he thought the very marrow of his bones would melt. He said he then fell at the feet of this individual, and, seeing the wounds, he knew he was in the presence of Jesus Christ. Throughout the rest of his life he bore powerful witness to the effect that he would be pleased to give all he had and all he could ever hope to have if he could have the privilege of dwelling in the presence of Christ forever. Brothers and sisters, how that touched my heart.

I was standing in a beet field on another occasion in Idaho, doing some irrigating. I pulled out of my pocket a crumpled piece of paper and read the account of Lorenzo Snow having the opportunity of being visited by the Master in the Salt Lake Temple. As I read that account, there came to me an assurance that that indeed did occur, that Lorenzo Snow did see the living Christ, that he did converse with him, that he obtained knowledge and power and understanding from him. Again, how my heart was touched with that particular experience.

As I have attempted to understand what the role of the Church is, my feeling is that the fundamental message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to declare that Jesus Christ lives, that he is indeed the Son of God, that he has appeared in our day, that men and women today can know him, that they can know him better than they know anyone else on the face of the earth, that he can have a greater impact on their lives than the combined influence of anybody else. I believe with all of my heart that this is the fundamental message: that in the Master strength can come, that in him men and women can become all that they were potentially created to become–that is, very gods. But it’s through a personal relationship with the Savior that that’s accomplished.

I love Joseph Smith. I’m grateful for his mission. I revere his name. Oh, I would some day that I might be sufficiently faithful to be able to walk up to him and shake his hand and express appreciation for what he has done. That appreciation would be housed in the framework, “Joseph, through you, through the Restoration, through the grace of our Heavenly Father and his Christ in raising you up, you placed me in a position where I might know who the Master is. Oh, I rejoice for your mission, for your calling, for the role that you performed so marvelously as a prophet.” I feel the spirit of Joseph Smith moving to and fro in our day, in effect tapping men and women on the shoulder and saying, “Would you, too, discover who he is? Would you, too, learn how to communicate with him as I did and do? Would you feel his power? Would you become filled with his love as I have? Would you know that in all I did, the reason I did it is so that I might be a living witness that he lives?” In fact, Joseph summed it up so beautifully: “This is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!” (D&C 76:26). The purpose of the programs of the Church, the purpose of the ordinances and the principles, and everything that is done in the church and kingdom of God, will only find its creative fulfillment if members somehow will accept the challenges that they can know who the Lord is and that they can have a marvelous relationship with him.

The Savior’s Example

Many people have had a great influence in my life, for which I am grateful. I can’t help but think of President Joseph Fielding Smith. On one occasion he was asked, “Who, President Smith, has had the greatest influence in your life of anyone?” Very quickly President Smith came back with, “Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has had the greatest influence in my life.” Oh, again, brothers and sisters, what a delight to belong to a church and a kingdom that testify so vividly and so powerfully of the possibility of a personal relationship with the Creator of this earth, a relationship that will give us the power and the ability to accomplish everything that the Lord would have us accomplish. I don’t know that we could ever adequately express the gratitude that ought to be in our hearts for that restored knowledge, for that available power, for that available relationship with the Lord.

Brigham Young once said:

The greatest and most important of all requirements of our Father in heaven and of his Son Jesus Christ, is . . . to believe in Jesus Christ, confess him, seek to him, cling to him, make friends with him. Take a course to open and to keep open communication with your Elder Brother or file-leader–our Savior.[Journal of Discourses, 8:339]

Then I think, brothers and sisters, of the great apostle Paul, about the mightiest missionary that the world has ever seen. He was a man trained in the ways of the world, having been taught by great teachers–a man who had a marvelous mind but who was touched by the finger of the Lord and as a result of that experience summed up his feelings about life. In speaking to the Corinthians, he said, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

I’m sure I echo your feelings when I share with you the feelings that came to me as I read with real intent for the first time the Book of Mormon. Oh, how Nephi came alive! It was as though Nephi were telling me in person, “George, I want you to know that I’ve seen the Lord. I want you to know that I’ve talked with him, that my spirit has been carried away on high mountains, that I have been filled with his power, that it was through him I’ve been able to accomplish the things I’ve been able to accomplish.” Along with that witness I felt so strongly coming from him, I also felt I could hear him say, “George, I want you to know that you, too, can know him as I do. I want you to know that the reason I have written and testified of these things is so that you might determine to your heart that ultimately your relationship with the Master will be even as mine. That is the purpose of my intent, to testify of the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Brothers and sisters, how touched I have been by Nephi’s testimony.

In the Book of Mormon, Moroni, after speaking about the mansions that are prepared on high and the great love of the Lord, wants to emphasize to us that he knows whereof he speaks, and he attempts to do that by speaking of judgment day and his personal relationship with the Lord:

Then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another . . . concerning these things . . . .

And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written.[Ether 12:39, 41]

Christ the Center of the Church

Now, brothers and sisters, recognizing that the Savior is the center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that everything points to him, I should like to share with you a scripture that has triggered many insights in my life. Nephi says, “Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him” (2 Nephi 11:4). In other words, brother and sisters, as we take a look at the scriptures, every major experience that God has had transpire between him and us is to typify or point to Jesus Christ.

Let me refer first to the law of sacrifice that was given to Adam. Everything in the law of sacrifice was to point the minds of the children of God to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to help them appreciate and realize that somehow (and we don’t totally understand how) there is no remission of sins, there is no breaking of the bands of death, there is no possible way men and women can overcome the effects of the Fall and become clean and filled with his Spirit save it be through the shedding of blood. The sacrificing of all of those animals from the time of Adam to the time of Christ was to help men and women realize that ultimately in a person, in a man, in a divine being, would come the source of redemption as he, even Christ, shed his blood.

I think of the experience of Abraham, commanded to offer up his son, Isaac. On many occasions I have gathered one at a time my young sons on my lap. As I held them, in my mind I recounted the experience of Abraham offering up his son. I have felt deeply the personal implications of Abraham having been commanded to do that. I have felt, by the quiet witnessings of the Holy Ghost, the overwhelming impact of what it meant for the Father to send his Son. Much of that impact has come as I have studied and reflected and prayed on that great experience of Abraham offering up his son Isaac.

I think, brothers and sisters, of Moses standing on a mountain (actually an elevated piece of land) high enough that everyone could see him. Poisonous serpents had gone among the children of Israel; many were losing their lives because of the bite of those poisonous serpents. Moses, standing on this piece of elevated land somewhat parallel to the piece of elevated land where the Master would hang on the cross, spoke for and in behalf of Jehovah. He invited everybody to look at him, to listen to his words spoken under the inspiration of the Lord. He asked them to look at the rod and the brazen serpent that was on the rod, and he promised that if they would look they would be saved. Again, the lesson that incident teaches is that only in the Master, only in looking to him, only in being respectful of his anointed, only in recognizing that his prophets speak in his behalf and being respectful of what they have to say and doing it, can we through Christ be saved.

I think of the manna coming down from heaven, typifying the ultimate bread of life which would come in the form of Christ. Our manna today can be seen in the form of the sacrament. Oh, the power that will flow from the Master, the divine nature that will come from him into our lives, the changes that will come through that simple ordinance, the sacrament, if we can catch the significance of the life and the mission of the sacrifice of one Jesus Christ.

Church Ordinances to Lead to Christ

Now, brothers and sisters, in the Doctrine and Covenants is a particularly significant scriptures relative to the goal of the Church which I would like to share with you. I, like you, am appreciative of the good lives of men and women across the width and breadth of the earth. I’m grateful for their feelings for the Lord, grateful for their willingness to live and abide by the light that they have. But, brothers and sisters, our witness to the world concerning an understanding and comprehension of the life and the mission of Christ, compared to the understanding that the world has, is the difference between the brightness of the sun and the moon. This is why the Church was restored. Again, with all due respect and feeling for what the Christian world has, I know how much more comprehension and power could be theirs if people would accept the message of the Restoration. I think this message is beautifully portrayed in the following verses:

And this greater priesthood [speaking of the Melchizedek Priesthood] administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. [D&C 84:1920]

The Church today says that through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the priesthood the very key to the knowledge of God has been brought back to the earth. Once again men and women can know who the Lord is and can relate with him in a total and complete kind of way, but they can’t relate with him save they obtain through the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ the power of godliness. It’s for this reason, brothers and sisters, that we go forth teaching the world that no one–be he ever so good–will ever know fully the hands of one who has divine authority, save he enters the waters of baptism through the hands of one who has divine authority, save he searches the scriptures and humbles himself and seeks mightily for a revealed knowledge and understanding of the Lord so that he might exercise faith in him.

Every ordinance in the gospel is a channel of power to us if, as we function in those ordinances, we develop in an ever-increasing way a personal relationship with the Lord. But those ordinances won’t change our lives unless we know who he is. They can’t touch us in the manner they ought to do unless somewhere along the line he really comes alive. The power of redemption isn’t in the ordinances per se; the power of redemption isn’t in the Church per se. The ordinances and the Church are a means to an end, channeling the power that can flow from the Master. The degree to which you and I know him and relate with him and give our lives to him is the degree to which that power will flow through the ordinances and principles. Oh, brothers and sisters, I know that’s true. I know we’re finally saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, but we must have the ordinances.

We have a divine organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If we’ll see the Church as a means to and end and simultaneously look to the Lord with all of our hearts, then every ordinance that we participate in will be a blessing, will lift us, will change us, will qualify us to become more and more like the Lord. However, some of the time we find ourselves getting caught up in the machinery of the Church. Some of the time we get caught up in the theology of the Church, in the programs. Some of the time, because we get caught up in those things, we fail to realize that, unless somewhere along the line the image of the Savior becomes emblazoned on everything we see and everything we do, then the great purpose for that divine organization and its divine principles will be nullified.

Let me liken membership in the Church to the possession of a beautiful, powerful car. In fact, it’s the finest car money can buy. We love to get in it and drive around; there is a great deal of satisfaction in just owning it. We obtain so much satisfaction in possessing the car that we fail to realize the car was given to us as a means to an end, not an end in itself. It was given to us to make the most important journey in our lives. SO it is with the Church. It’s a beautiful, successful organization capable of bringing many blessings into our lives, but the main reason we were given the Church is so that we might make the journey from where we are to where the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is, that we might learn who he is and exercise a mighty faith in him!

What a challenge to make sure we realize the Church must be a divine launching pad to Christ, that the Church is a means to an end, that it may be possible to be converted to the Church without being converted to the Lord, but it’s never possible to be converted to the Lord without being converted to the Church. If you go all the way to the Lord, you’ll see the Church is the only means whereby ultimate redemption will come to the world–the only means.

Spiritual Rebirth

The fundamental process by which the Lord and his divine church can accomplish their destined purpose is through the scriptural doctrine of being born again. If an individual will enter the waters of baptism and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and then with all his heart search the scriptures and serve in building the kingdom–recognizing his dependency on the Lord even to the point of having a broken heart and contrite spirit–then the heavenly element of the Holy Ghost will cleanse him of his sins and free him from ignorance. His body will be clean and a veritable temple for the Spirit to dwell in constantly. As the full experience of being “born again” transpires, one becomes a son or daughter of Christ, having been spiritually begotten of him. In fact, brothers and sisters, that’s the time when the Lord really becomes personal, because marvelously enough, amazingly enough, through the ordinances and the principles and this experience of being born again, you and I can partake of the divine nature of Christ. We can have his image engraved upon our countenances. Through that process we then stand in a position to solve our problems, to free ourselves from our personality idiosyncrasies, to discover who we really are. We can pick up a sense of destiny. Through that experience, brothers and sisters, there will be no question in our minds that in Christ we can find the solutions to every problem that comes into our lives and that in him we can do everything he asks us to do. In that experience we will see the Lord as the fountain of all righteousness.

The gospel, in a sense, is composed of two different kinds of truth. There is what we refer to as the doctrine of Christ, that is, those principles and ordinances we need to know and participate in to become clean from sin and to partake of the special powers of the Atonement. It is the doctrine of Christ that is distinctive to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The second dimension of truth in the gospel is the moral and ethical truths, which truths are found essentially in every great and good system of thought on earth. When the prophets speak of the “power of godliness” that’s available in the gospel, they are referring to the doctrine of Christ. If we, having obtained testimonies of the gospel, will immerse ourselves in the doctrine of Christ–that is, resolve to comprehend by revelation the meaning of the first principles and their relationship to Christ–then we will acquire, as an endowment from the Spirit, a celestial dimension of moral and ethical character. However, if after acquiring our testimonies we then spend endless hours in a humanistic, secular approach to living the good life we can never–worlds without end–go above or beyond the development of a terrestrial character.

Some of the time I am deeply troubled in my heart when I see members of the Church approach the gospel as though it were simply a moral and ethical system. True, it is a moral and ethical system, but it’s also much more than that. As President J. Reuben Clark put it powerfully in 1938 in Aspen Grove:

We use the tithes of the Church to carry on the Church school system, and these are impressed with a holy trust. . . . The tithing represents too much toil, too much self-denial, too much sacrifice, too much faith, to be used for colorless instruction of the youth of the Church in elementary ethics. . . . Students fully sense the hollowness of teachings which would make the gospel plan a mere system of ethics, they know that Christ’s teachings are in the highest degree ethical, but they also know they are more than this. [The Charted Course of the Church Education, 8 August 1938]

Years ago President McKay, as a young member of the Sunday School general board, was going over to the islands. The evening before arriving he stood on the deck of the ship and marveled at the beauty of God’s handiwork. The clouds overhead were tinged in pink, and the islands in the distance were like velvety diamonds. He said, “Is there anything more beautiful than this?” As he thought about it, he said, “Yes, there is something more beautiful than this. The character of men and women who know who Christ is is more beautiful than this. The innocence that you see in children’s eyes is more beautiful than this.” That night, after he retired, he saw in the dreams of the night what he referred to as the eternal city. He said he saw people dressed in long, white, flowing robes, moving along through a gate into that heavenly city. Off to one side he saw the Master, even Christ. He was some distance away, but he couldn’t see the Savior’s features clearly and wondered who these people were who were moving in through the gate. As though his mind were being read by the Lord, the Lord raised his hand and drew his attention to the writing of the gate: “These are they who have overcome the world–who have truly been born again.”

President McKay in general conference in 1960–speaking to members of the Church, those who had gone down into the waters of baptism and had had hands laid on their heads but who perhaps for one reason or another hadn’t persisted in paying the price to grow and develop in the endowments of the Spirit so that it could be said of them that they were truly born again–said:

May God grant that . . . members of the Church everywhere resist temptations that weaken the body, that destroy the soul, that we may be born again; that our souls might bask in the light of the Holy Spirit, and go on as true members of the Church of Jesus Christ until our mission on earth is completed.[Conference Report, April 1960, p. 29]

What a challenge! From my perspective, brothers and sisters, just from what I see, I think the greatest need in the Church is for the members of the Church to be truly born again, to be quickened by that heavenly element of the Holy Ghost, to grow in the stature of Christ, to acquire his qualities and his characteristics–as Peter put it, to partake of his divine nature.

In that setting, then, could I share with you a quote of Brigham Young’s about what would happen if we tried with all of our hearts to live under the influence and power of the Holy Ghost? (I remember hearing President McConkie say it ought to be the goal of all members of the Church to so live as to have the Spirit with us at all times.) President Young made a statement that I would like to read because of the simplicity of the message. (Jacob 4 says that the Jews tended to look beyond the mark and therefore had the simplicity of the gospel taken away from them, and they stumbled.) Brigham recorded a dream in which he went to visit Joseph Smith, who said:

Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice; it will teach them what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the Kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the spirit of the Lord from all spirits; it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the kingdom of God. Tell the brethren if they will follow the spirit of the Lord, they will go right. Be sure to tell the people to keep the spirit of the Lord; and if they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are all disorganized and in great confusion. [“Journal History,” 23 February 1847]

What a beautiful experience, brothers and sisters, testifying again that the fundamental process by which human nature is changed is really quite simple. This process consists of having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, forsaking our sins, keeping the commandments, being filled with the Spirit, partaking of the divine nature of Christ, really becoming like him–the greatest personality of all. If we want to change our personalities, if we want to come alive, if we want to get excited about who we are, why not touch home base with the greatest personality of all, even the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Finally, it’s only he who can change human nature. Oh, it’s true we can change human behavior, but changing human behavior is a lot different form changing human nature. Only the blood of Christ can place us in a position to have our nature changed.

Personal Knowledge of the Savior

Brothers and sisters, for several years I have read this particular verse: “Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall se my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1). I’ve heard the Brethren bear witness to the truths of that particular statement. I’ve pondered in my mind what it meant. I know how careful one needs to be in seeking for certain experiences, but as I read that scripture, and as I look at my involvement in the Church and the involvement of those that I have great respect for, I see men and women who in their minds and in their hearts are convinced that ultimately they can know the Lord fully and totally. Ultimately they can see him. They know that he lives by the whisperings of the Spirit.

Because they know that he lives, they’re pleased to forsake their sins, to come to him, to obey his voice, to do all of the things that he would have them do, but there’s a lively hope in their hearts and ultimately they will see him. Brothers and sisters, I believe in the ideal with all of my heart. I believe that there’s something lifting, something tremendously soul-transforming that occurs to us when we determine in our hearts that someday we’re going to know the Lord, that we’re going to see him, that sometime we’re going to have a total and complete relationship with him, and that someday we’ll be able to stand up and say we have a perfect knowledge that he lives. By the time that we can bear that testimony, we can rest assured that he has worked a mighty work in us, that he has changed us, that we will have been transformed into his image.

In conclusion, I’m convinced in my own mind that the great key by which we can obtain the power and develop the relationship with the Lord that he would have us have is prayer. Some years ago I read this inspiring statement of Joseph Smith’s: “It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another” (Documentary History of the Church, 6:305). One that occasion there came a witness to my soul that it is possible to converse with the Lord as one man converses with another. We can call upon the Father through Christ and have a marvelous relationship with the Lord. Knowing Joseph couldn’t lie, I determined in my heart that I would try to develop that kind of communication.

Could I, brothers and sisters, bear witness to you that I know that if every day with great fervor and great determination we will go to the Lord in mighty prayer, lifting up our voice, pleading with him that we might be filled with his Spirit and that we might be instruments in his hands to bless and to strengthen and to build his kingdom, if we will go to him with the kind of intensity that will suggest that we want that more than anything in life–then gradually, beautifully, quietly, the Holy Ghost will distill upon our hearts that strength, that peace, those qualities and characteristics that will enable us to do his work. Oh, I know that is true! I know it with all of my heart. I know even as I know that God lives, that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayer, that personal revelation is real, that the veil can become thin so that you and I can see mighty things, that he’s pleased to bare his arm, even Jehovah, so that we might know he is a god of power and that in him we can accomplish all of the things he would have us do. Oh, I know that with all of my heart.

Joseph Smith, on one occasion while he was away from home and away from his wife, wrote in a letter to Emma:

My situation is a very unpleasant one although I will endeavor to be contented the Lord assisting me. I have visited a grove which is just back of the town almost every day where I can be secluded from the eyes of any mortal and there give vent to all the feelings of my heart in meditation and prayer. I have called to mind all the past moments of my life and am left to mourn and shed tears of sorrow for my folly in suffering the adversary of my soul to have so much power over me as he has had in times past, but God is merciful and has forgiven my sins and I rejoice that he sendeth forth the Comforter unto as many as believe and humble themselves before him. I was grieved to hear that Hiram had lost his little child. I think we can in some degree sympathize with him but we all must be reconciled to our lots and say the will of the Lord be done. Sister Whitney wrote a letter to her husband which was very cheery and being unwell at the time and filled with much anxiety it would have been very consoling to me to have received a few lines from you. But as you did not take the trouble I will try to be contented with my lot knowing that God is my friend. In him I shall find comfort. I have given my life into his hands. I am prepared to go at his call. I desire to be with Christ. I count not my life dear to me only to do his will. [6 June 1832, Chicago Historical Society]

In a sense, brothers and sisters, there’s really only one principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that’s faith in Jesus Christ. In a sense there’s only one law, and that’s obedience to Jesus Christ. And in a sense, there’s really only one endowment, and that’s charity, the pure love of Christ. I know with all my heart that–if we will take advantage of our membership in the Church and will search the doctrine of Christ, serving the Lord with all of our hearts, carrying a heavy load of responsibility as we try to climb the mountain of spirituality–as time goes on the living reality of the Savior will be the greatest reality in our lives, and we will see him as the center of all things. He will be the home of our heart, and in him we will have the ability to help Zion put on her lovely garments. As the Savior said, “Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine to the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up” (3 Nephi 18:24). May we do that in his power. May the Lord bless you that you might grow and increase in the knowledge and stature of him after whom this Church is named and through whom we can have the power ultimately to become sanctified and perfected. I say this humbly and express appreciation for being with you today in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Cardston Temple Vision - World War III

Cardston, Alberta Canada December 14, 1933 Robert W. Smith, Esq. Salt Lake City, Utah Dear Brother Smith: I am pleased to answer your letter of December 1st-first as to the letter of a non-member who wrote of "impressions" received while going through the Temple before it was dedicated, the truth of which letter you ask me to verify and which I am pleased to do. It was a Quaker lady who was a magazine writer from eastern Canada. She has some relatives in Lethbridge, about 60 miles from Cardston; and being so deeply impressed on her first visit, she had them bring her a second time -this time I was acting as guide. She would sit in each room and never said a word to any in the company, but seemed to be in deep meditation all the time. When she reached her own home several weeks after, she wrote this letter which has caused so much comment all over the Church. We have never been able to understand how she seemed to know so much about our faith and our belief in our future life and works after death. I never learned her real name. She visited us along in 1921. I have never heard from her since that time, but the letter is genuine, and of her own "impressions!" received while in the Temple while on the two visits she mentions. Sincerely your Brother, 0/S Elder J. Wood, Pres. Alberta Stake This is her actual letter of her visions: We have been to the Temple erected by your church wherein are to be performed the sacred rites in accordance with your faith. The first time I was strongly impelled to describe to you my impressions. I did so but before the completion of the letter, I received some news that so affected me that acting upon the spur of the moment, I destroyed the document in its entirety. The continued feeling within me of dissatisfaction as to something left undone, coupled with the desire upon the part of the members of my household who had not visited the temple, led to our second visit to Cardston, in which you so kindly consented to accompany us, notwithstanding the inclement weather and personal inconvenience to yourself which the journey entailed. It was because of this and many other evidences of your friendship that has given me the privilege to presume to bother you with what after all may be foolish fantacies of a too impressionable mentality. To me it does seem so, for never before in my life have such powerful impressions been infringed upon my inner consciousness as during my visit thru the Temple. Especially was this true at our second visit. The impressions of our first visit were repeated with such overwhelming intensity and variety of detail that I must positively inform you of my experience. It seems to me it were a sacred duty upon my part to do this, and knowing as I do that your friends will lightly ridicule what to me is a personal matter, I am going to give you in detail my experience in the hope, that if it is well, maybe it is something more than imagination, that you and others of your faith may wisely analyze and correctly use whatever may be gleaned from this letter. A fortress in time of storm, was the first thought that shaped itself in my mind with my first view of this ancient, yet modern temple; mellowed with the spiritual usage of ancient civilization and customs, yet alert, virile, and watchful. A grand, solemn, strong, beautiful, useful house of spiritual progression which seemed to be the embodiment of architectural expression of ancient civilization and glories suddenly re-incarnated and for a future and higher civilization than our own. Strength and beauty exaggerated the more flimsy houses and buildings of the town and gave a painfully obvious example of how the soul within is expressed thru the material body, either in the individual or nation, or a race, either in the man or his architecture. Try how I would I could not get away from the feeling that the town itself was inferior to the latest building, so new and yet so old. Even the electric lights failed to change this thought, that the Temple and the town represented two different epochs of humanity’s spiritual development expressed in architecture. The town embodied the present epoch, science, art, invention harnessed purely for trade or commerce, irrespective of past or future development. The Temple embodies the accumulated knowledge of the ancient world combined with the modern inventions of science and inspiration as the road to a higher future development so near at hand. Let me put it down even another way. There is a place called Cardston. A Temple linking the past with the present has been built at Cardston and the town has become a collection of flimsy huts nestling at the foot of the Temple which will continue to function for the spiritual purposes for which it is raised. Just as the exterior impressions compared with the present and future epochs so did the interior also reflect comparison. Of the beautiful and artistic effects I need not dwell; abler pens can describe the interior from this viewpoint. Sufficient for me to say that the shape of the Temple is a cross, that each apartment is symbolical in artistic and structural effects of some stage of humanity's progress thru the ages. In fact, everything physical is a stepping stone to spiritual progress as such is typified in these ceremonies. All this was kindly and intelligently explained to us by Mr. Duce on one occasion and by Mr. Wood on the second visit; but I am afraid I was very indifferent and inattentive upon both occasions, for which I tender them my sincere apologies. I had no intentions of being rude or discourteous, but from the moment of entering the Temple until leaving, I was placed in the position of having, as it were, to listen to and grasp a dual narrative all the time, with the result that so engrossed was I at times that I am afraid I was so absent-minded as to appear inattentive if not positively stupid. I have stated that my impression of the exterior of the building was that of a place of waiting for a higher civilization than our present one. This would suggest a condition of emptiness, but that is not what I mean. An ordinary newly erected building has no atmosphere at all until it has been inhabited some time; after which, it has, as it were, a living atmosphere. What kind of an atmosphere this is, is largely determined by the spiritual development and thought of the persons using and inhabiting the building. This applies especially to places of worship or consecration, and is very noticeable to a sensitive person. Sometimes such an atmosphere is agreeable, exalting, etc.; sometimes very much the reverse, depending upon the spiritual harmony or otherwise of the persons under this atmospheric rule; but was not so as far as it was concerned while outside the Temple. I could not understand the overwhelming scene of ancient atmosphere which the building actually possessed in its very granite blocks in spite of the fact that I know a few months previous these stones had been laid, yet the feeling of age predominated. I dismissed the feeling as well as I could by thinking that the place of the structure was responsible for the suggestion of age, but when I entered the Temple, how quickly I found there was nothing to suggest to me that present atmosphere of which I have spoken, but was it empty? Emphatically no! Time and again as I listened to the speaker explaining some phase of the building or its meaning, I would be seeing beyond him some illustration of kaleidoscopic nature, depicting what he was describing, only more completely and vividly. The characters were so plain to me that I required all my self control to keep silent from room to room. This continued and only ceased when we were out in the frost and snow once more. There was no set plan for presenting these pictures to me. It seemed as if when I thought something mental, a picture instantly presented itself in explanation of some word of the conductor, which would have the same effect. I was not afraid, only awed by the wonder of it all and the fearful impressive feeling that I received which seemed to imbed every little detailed scene into my brain, from which it will ever remember and record; and vivid as all of it was, these incidents herein related are the ones upon which I received instructions. The scenes which I observed of an historical character seemed chiefly to verify and amplify the speaker's outline of past history, and so I do not feel impressed to record such, except to state that the same patriarchal characters whom I observed directing and influencing the early movements of the Church, were the same down through every age and epoch, and as the scenes advanced to more modern times, I saw among these spiritual characters and counselors, persons whose features I had previously observed as being in the material body on other historical occasions. It seemed as though the temple was filled with the actual spiritual bodies of these previous leaders of your church, each seeming to have the work that person was engaged in whilst in the flesh. In that temple I saw persons who were leaders of your church, during its march across the American desert now engaged in helping these higher patriarchs under whose orders they seemed to be working. It was these latter spiritual leaders, if I may use that term, who seemed to be instructed to show me the scenes here recorded. I can give no time as to the happening, except that the impressions I received were of actual present or immediate future. I saw first a brief but comprehensive sketch of the present state of the world, or as you would term it, the Gentile Kingdoms. Each country in turn was shown, its anarchy, hunger, ambitions, distrusts and warlike activities, etc., and in my mind was formed from some source the words, "As it is today with the Gentiles." I saw international war again break out with its center upon the Pacific Ocean, but sweeping and encircling the whole globe. I saw that the opposing forces were roughly divided by so-called Christianity on the one side, and by the so-called followers of Mohammed and Buddha on the other. I saw that the great driving power within these so-called Christian nations, was the Great Apostasy of Rome, in all its political, social and religious aspects. I saw the worldwide dislocation and devastation of production and slaughter of people occur more swiftly and upon a larger scale than ever before. I saw an antagonism begin to express itself from those so-cal1ed Christian nations against your people. I saw those with a similar faith to yours in the far east begin to look toward Palestine for safety. I saw the international world war automatically break down, and national revolution occur in every country, and complete the work of chaos and desolation. I saw geological disturbances occur, which helped in this work as if it were intended to do so. I saw the Cardston Temple preserved from all of this geological upheaval. I saw the international boundary line disappear as these two governments broke up and dissolved into chaos. I saw race rioting upon the American continent on a vast scale. I saw hunger and starvation in this world; I saw disease produced by hunger, strife and chaos complete the end of this present order or epoch. How long these events were in reaching this consummation I do not know, but my impression was from the outbreak of the international war these things developed into a continuous procession, and almost ran concurrently, as it is with a sickness, the various symptoms are all in evidence at one and the same time, but in different stages of development. My intensified thought was "What of the Church," if such is to become of the Kingdoms of the earth? Was immediately answered by a subconscious statement. "As it is in the church today," and I saw these higher spiritual beings throughout the length and breadth of the air, marshalling their spiritual forces, and concentrating them upon the high officials of your church upon earth. I saw the spiritual forces working upon those officers, impressing and moving them, influencing and warning them. I saw the spiritual forces begin to unfold these things into the minds of your elders and other high officials, especially during their spiritual devotions and official duties, and those activities which exalt the mind of the individual or groups. I saw the impressions take hold and inspire the more receptive and spiritual men, until it was all clearly revealed to them in the way the spiritual patriarch desired. Again I seemed to hear the words, "As it will be." I saw the high officials in council, and under inspired guidance issue instructions to your people to re-consecrate their lives and energies to their faith, to voluntarily discipline themselves, by abstaining from all those forms of indulgence which weaken the body, sap the mentality and deaden the spirit, or waste the income. I saw further on, instructions given whereby places of refuge were prepared quietly but efficiently by inspired elders. I saw Cardston and the surrounding foothills, especially north and west, for miles, being prepared as a refuge for your people quietly but quickly. I saw elders still under divine guidance, counseling and encouraging the planting of every available acre of soil in this district, so that large supplies would be near the refuge. I saw the church property under cultivation of an intensified character, not for sale or profit, but for the use of the people. I saw artesian wells and other wells dug all over that territory so that when the open waters were polluted and poisoned that the people of the church and their cattle should be provided for. I saw the fuel resources of the district develop in many places and vast piles of coal and timber stored for future use and building. I saw the territory carefully surveyed and mapped out, for the camping of a great body of the people of the church. I saw provision also made for a big influx of people who will not at first belong to the church, but who will gather in their tribulation. I saw vast quantities of surgical appliances, medicines, disinfectants, etc., stored in the temple basement. I saw inspiration given the elders whereby the quantity, quality and kind of things to be stored were judged, which might not be attainable in this territory in time of chaos. I saw defensive preparations working out the organizations of the camps on maps. I saw the mining corridors used as places of storage underground: I saw the hills surveyed and corrals built in sequestered places for cattle, sheep, etc., quietly and quickly. I saw the plans for the organization of the single men and their duties, the scouts, the guards, the nurses, the cooks, the messengers, the children, the herders, the temple guards, etc.. I saw these things going on practically unknown to the Gentile world, except the Great Apostasy, whose knowledge and hatred is far reaching, in this day of its temporary power. This was going on piece by piece as the Elders were instructed so to do. I saw the other officials obeying the inspired instructions, carrying their message and exhorting the people to carry out, from time to time the revelation given them, whilst all around throughout the Gentile world the chaos developed in its varying stages, faction against faction, nation against nation, but all in open or secret hostility to your people and their faith. I saw your people draw closer and closer together, as this became more tense and as the spiritual forces warned them through the mouth of your elders and your other officers. I saw the spiritual forces influencing those members who had drifted away, to re-enter the fold. I saw a greater tithing than ever before. I saw vast quantities of necessaries supplied by members whose spiritual eyes had been opened. I saw a liquidation of properties and effects disposed of quietly but quickly by members of the church, as the spiritual influences directed them. I saw the inspired call sent forth to all the church, to gather to the refuges of Zion. I saw the stream of your people quietly moving in the direction of their refuge. I saw your people moving more quickly and in larger numbers until all the stragglers were housed. I saw the wireless message flashed from Zion's refuge to Zion's refuge in their several places that all was well with them, and then the darkness of chaos closed around the boundaries of your people, and the last days of tribulation had begun. Sols Caurdisto

"Fear is a telestial emotion. Duty is a terrestrial emotion. Love is the celestial emotion."

Spiritual and Temporal Security

Spiritual and Temporal Security Elder Joseph L. Wirthlin First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric Joseph L. Wirthlin, Conference Report, April 1950, pp. 132-137
My dear brothers and sisters, we have enjoyed a great abundance of the Lord's spirit during this great conference. All of the previous speakers have been richly endowed with it, and I pray it may be the source of my inspiration.
The Lord Jesus Christ declared,
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).
SECURITY
This statement of the Savior's involves two objectives to be achieved: first, spiritual security through seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and second, temporal security to be added unto us through our efforts.
The word security has become one of the most used and abused words in the vocabulary of many people. The dictionary defines it as the apprehension of one's well being as to the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, and shelter—a guarantee from want.
In the beginning, when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he had temporal security. All of the necessities of life were made available by the Lord; but after the fall he was forced into the cold and dreary world with the mandate from the Lord, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread (Gen. 3:19), placing squarely upon his shoulders the responsibility of providing himself with temporal security.
In the minds of holy men there have always been two categories of security, spiritual and temporal. Without the spiritual phase, temporal security could not be achieved. It was a sacred undertaking wherein the blessings of the Lord were needed. Involved in it were holy practices such as prayer, divine principles of faith, thrift, integrity, and endless effort. It demanded supplication to the Lord for his blessings; and at the harvest time the firstlings of the flock and the best of the fields were brought and burnt as offerings of gratitude and thanksgiving to the Lord, representing a great achievement in that a man of his own faith, works, and with the help of the Lord, had provided himself shelter, food, clothing, and the comforts of life, with some marginal reserves to provide for himself and family during periods of illness and in his declining years.
Abraham, beloved of the Lord, had great wealth represented in herds and fields. He had cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10), and yet with all this wealth he labored diligently for spiritual security. His herds were driven up to the land of Melchizedek, the high priest, where they were tithed, returning to the Lord that which belonged to him.
REJECTION OF THE LORD
After Israel had made the long trek from Egypt to the Promised Land, being ruled by the Lord through his servants, the prophets, for generations, the people arose and cried, give us a king to judge us that we may be like all the nations, that our king may go before us and fight our battles. Samuel, the Prophet, in deep sorrow went to the Lord saying, "They have rejected me." But the Lord said unto Samuel,
. . . Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
And he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your men servants and your maidservants, and your godliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day (1 Sam. 8:7,11,13-18).
ISRAEL IN BONDAGE
The battles of the people were not represented only in physical combat with the enemy but also in the struggle for security. Israel had forsaken the Lord: Israel had softened in faith and had been disobedient; Israel was indolent. And they gave up their sons and daughters to the king and his officers. The king took over all of their resources, and the price they paid for a king was their freedom. Under this arrangement the kings of Israel prospered, but the people were downtrodden and found themselves in bondage. The kings forgot the spiritual phase of security; they forgot the Lord. Saul counseled the sorcerer rather than the Lord. David fell from grace because of a grievous sin he committed. Solomon sought after other gods. Dissension rent the kingdom in twain, and a powerful nation took Israel into captivity. This is the history of a nation that rejected the Lord's way of achieving temporal and spiritual security.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Does history repeat itself? Yes. Today the term security is best defined in the promises of economic kings and politicians in the form of doles, grants, and subsidies made for the purpose of perpetuating themselves in public office, and at the same time depleting the resources of the people and the treasury of the nation. The word security is being used as an implement of political expediency, and the end results will be the loss of freedom, and temporal and spiritual bankruptcy. We have those among us who are calling for an economic king, and the voice of the king replies in promises wherein the individual is guaranteed relief from the mandate given to Adam, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Gen. 3:19). Disobedience to this mandate involves the penalty of loss of free agency and individuality, and the dissipation of the resources of the individual. These economic rulers have advocated, and do practice a vicious procedure called the "leveling down process," which takes from the man who has achieved and distributes to those who are not willing to put forth like effort. Taxation is the means through which this "leveling down process" is implemented. Taxes in the United States during the last decade have increased five hundred percent. If such increases continue, it will mean final confiscation of the property of the people.
CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN
A clear-cut example of the promises of economic kings to the people, with all of the penalties involved, stands out in the case of Great Britain. Great Britain, with fifty years of rule over the seas of the earth, the sun never setting upon her empire, finds herself now in a convulsion of spiritual, political and temporal bankruptcy. She has a king, but he is merely a symbol of her past greatness; but the people, like those of Israel, cried for a new king, an economic king, and the king has responded with the rule of dictatorship, bringing deterioration to the character of the individual, loss of ambition, freedom, individual progress through the right to work when and where he would, and regimentation. The people are forced to heed the call and feel the iron hand of the dictator. Above all, they have lost their free agency. The British people are but mere cogs in the great machine of socialism. The state is paramount; the citizen has been subdued. Their resources have been absorbed, the treasury of the government depleted, and had it not been for the generosity of this great republic, where a few of the fundamentals of freedom, personal initiative, and free enterprise remain, Great Britain would have been but a memory. Just as it was in Israel, so will it be with Great Britain—dissension, division, and communistic captivity.
CONTROLLED ECONOMY
What does this mean to you and to me? We have those among us, too, who over the years have cried for a controlled economy. We have those among us who give succor and support to such a plan, which plan of controlled economy involves the same theories and false philosophies that ruined Israel and are now destroying Great Britain. Economic kings have responded to the call of some people, promising them security against want for their votes. In the attempt to meet the desires of these people, the treasury of this great nation is being depleted, and it covers deficit spending with promissory notes. Expansion of this disastrous policy will deprive American citizens of their God-given freedom, the right to work when and where they will, freedom of speech, freedom of the press—and who knows but what some day the right to worship God according to the dictates of one's conscience may be taken away. It is destroying, and will continue to destroy, the very fundamentals upon which this nation and its people have found prosperity and genuine security. These are not idle words, but the counsel and the words of the Lord as they have been revealed to this nation through prophets and the founding fathers of this great republic. For one hundred and twenty years modern-day Samuels have pleaded with the people to preserve the fundamentals of temporal and spiritual security by being obedient to the gospel, through work, being thrifty and staying out of debt, and above all by remembering the Lord. We have continually been counseled to conserve our resources to provide temporal security during periods of sickness, unemployment, and the days of old age. This people has been taught by the prophets of God that to waste the bounties of the earth is a sin, and surely there is a penalty therefore. The Lord cannot bless an individual or a nation with the bounties of the earth and have that individual or nation deliberately and wantonly waste them, without the law of retribution of want and famine being imposed.
WELFARE PROGRAM
Economic kings have advocated the doctrine that those in distress should be provided for abundantly with no obligations on the part of the recipients, but the Lord has revealed through his prophets a great welfare plan which does not rob individuals in distress of their freedom, personal initiative, and the right to work. In the welfare program the individual is the objective, and through the generosity and cooperative efforts of the membership of the Church, the individual is assured of temporal security, not as a dole or as a gift, but as a bridge to cover the gap of unemployment or illness until the individual can again stand upon his own feet and work out his temporal security. It is required of him that during this period of assistance from the welfare program he shall give freely of his labor, if physically fit, in the production of the things he needs, and out of it all he becomes one of the independent sons of the Lord, having not only received but having also given.
PROMISES KEPT
Modern-day Israel should heed the admonitions of the living oracles of God and close their ears to the teachings of false prophets, remembering always that the Lord has made definite promises to this people, a covenanted people, through his servants, the Apostles and the Prophets. The Lord declared through the Prophet Brigham Young:
If the Latter-day Saints will walk up to their privileges, and, exercise faith in the name of Jesus Christ, and live in the enjoyment of the fullness of the Holy Ghost constantly day by day, there is nothing on the face of the earth that they could ask for, that would not be given to them. The Lord is waiting to be very gracious unto this people, and to pour out upon them riches, honor, glory, and power, even, that they may possess all things according to the promises he has made through his Apostles and Prophets (Discourses of Brigham Young, 1925 edition, page 241; 1943 edition, page 156).
There may be those of little faith who will cry out that circumstances and situations arise wherein the people cannot help themselves, but again the Prophet Brigham Young declared in the name of the Lord:
When a person is placed in circumstances that he cannot possibly obtain one particle of anything to sustain life, it would then be his privilege to exercise faith in God to feed him, who might cause a raven to pick up a piece of dried meat (1 Kgs. 17:4,6) from some quarter where there was plenty and drop it over the famishing man. When I cannot feed myself through the means God has placed in my power, it is then time enough for him to exercise his providence in an unusual manner to administer to my wants. But while we can help ourselves, it is our duty to do so. If a Saint of God be locked up in prison, by his enemies, to starve to death, it is then time enough for God to interpose, and feed him (Ibid., 1925 edition, pp. 240-41; 1943 edition, p. 155).
THE LORD PROVIDES
The Lord keeps his promises in this day as well as in the days of old Israel. When Israel was making the trek from Egypt to the Promised Land and circumstances arose where there was no food in the camp of Israel, the Lord caused the quail to come into Israel's camp in great abundance providing them with meat, and the next morning manna was on the ground to provide bread (Ex. 16:12-15). The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), for within the memory of all of us is the story of the pioneers who had planted crops which promised a bounteous harvest, but clouds of crickets flew over the valley settled upon the crops and commenced to devour them. The hearty pioneers, men and women, went to work with fire and water to destroy the plague; but their efforts were in vain. Then one of the great fundamentals of spiritual security, faith in God and supplication to him for assistance, was implemented by the people. Upon their knees in the fields, in their homes, and in the houses of worship they pleaded for the Lord's help. The answer was readily given in the form of myriads of sea gulls who settled upon the fields destroying the crickets, and the crops were saved.
SECURITY IN GOSPEL
Economic kings cannot answer the prayers of the people, for they are but false prophets. They are comparable to the gods of Baal, whose false prophets forced the people to lay upon the altar of sacrifice their resources and their right to worship the true and Living God. In return the people were rewarded with slavery and subjection. Security, spiritual and temporal, can only be found in the restored gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through revelations, both ancient and modern, the Lord's word is infallible, and his promises are kept when predicated upon faith and obedience. The Lord declared through the Prophet Joseph Smith in Section 27, verses 15 to 18, of the Doctrine and Covenants:
Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.
Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you:
Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also (D&C 27:15-18).
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness: and all of these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).
May the Lord bless us in the achievement of spiritual and temporal security to the end that we might enjoy a place in his celestial kingdom, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The most expensive thing you can own is a closed mind

One consistency that I have found is that people who are not afraid to fail have always been the most successful. Fear can paralyze you from allowing new ideas to fully be processed and thereby new opportunities missed. If it is free to explore a new idea or listen then listen. What is the worst that can come from it perhaps some hours or even days lost at the worst? Most of us spend that much time in front of the television. God put us here to accomplish great things and in order to do that we must seek wisdom. You can never see the light with closed eyes. So be vigilant in seeking knowledge and the things beyond your current understanding

Waking Up To Secret Combinations: An LDS Perspective on Conspiracy

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Darren Andrews   

Most of us seem content to accept the world largely in the way it is presented to us by what passes as the mainstream of society. Conspiracy, despite its overwhelming historical precedence, is often dismissed as non-existent or, at best, limited to small or foreign groups [1].

Consequently, when a discussion in a Church class arises upon the subject of secret combinations, such organizations as the Mafia, Ku Klux Klan and terrorist groups often end up on the blackboard.

While it is true, no doubt, that many of these groups conspire, and some do great evil, do they actually fit the full description of what we know about secret combinations?

In trying to answer this we need to understand what the scriptures tell us about such oath-bound societies, as well as review the words of Church leaders on the issue.

What Do The Scriptures Teach Us About Secret Combinations?

Secret combinations existed both in the Old and New World in ancient times. Below is a list of some of the things we learn from the scriptures concerning the nature, purpose and methods of these secret combinations:

1. Cain founded the first secret combination and became known as Master Mahan.[2]This title and the oaths and covenants were passed down to subsequent leaders of the secret combination (Moses 5: 31, 49;Helaman 6:30).

2. Secret combinations are “most abominable and wicked above all” in the sight of God (see Ether 8:18).

3. Secret combinations are Satanic in nature, receiving revelation from, and being founded and held up by, the devil (Moses 5:29–30; 2 Nephi 26:22; Helaman 6:26; 3 Nephi 6:28; Ether 8:16, 25) who transforms himself into an angel of light and stirs up men to contention whereby wickedness and thus secret combinations increase (2 Nephi 9:9; Helaman 6:21; 3 Nephi 7:7).

4. Secret combinations administer secret ancient oaths handed down from Cain (Ether 8:15–16), taken by swearing by the God of heaven, the heavens, the earth, the throat and the head (Moses 5:29–30;Ether 8:13–14).

5. The manner of their oaths and combinations are had among all people (Ether 8:20).

6. Secret combinations have secret signs and words (Helaman 6:22), protect one another (Helaman 6:21, 23), and mingle into society in a manner whereby they cannot be found (Helaman 1:12).

7. Members of secret combinations are punished by the combination if they reveal the wickedness of their co-conspirators (Helaman 6:24; Ether 8:14).

8. One of the purposes of secret combinations is to murder (Moses 5:31; Helaman 2:8); they also seek to murder the prophets of God (Alma 37:30). These combinations cause slaughter (3 Nephi 1:27, 2:11), war and millions of deaths; the Jaredites and Nephites being destroyed because of them (Helaman 2:13–14;Ether 8:21).

9. Secret combinations are established to rob and get gain (Moses 5:31; Helaman 2:8). The Book of Mormon refers to them as “robbers” over fifty times, which suggest that theft was their chief activity or the activity for which they were most notorious.

10. Gadianton Robbers prefer to plunder rather than working for themselves (3 Nephi 4:1–5).

11. Members of secret combinations regard each other as brethren and appear to have a communal attitude toward property (3 Nephi 3:6–7).

12. The teachings and practices of the robbers are tempting and corrupt the hearts of the people as they spread, eventually even seducing most of the righteous into believing in their works, partaking of their spoils, and even becoming involved in their secret murders and combinations (Helaman 6:38; Ether 9:6).

13. Pride, the desire for money, and seeking the praise of man make people susceptible to uniting with secret combinations; such go on to murder, plunder, and bear false witness against their neighbor (Helaman 7:21, 25–26).

14. Secret combinations help those who seek for power to gain power as well as to murder, plunder, lie and commit wickedness and whoredoms (Ether 8:16).

15. Secret combinations keep the people in darkness (Ether 8:16) and use fair promises to lead people away (Ether 8:17).

16. Secret combinations flourished first in the more settled parts of the land (Helaman 3:23) and among the wicked (Helaman 6:38; 4 Nephi 1:42).

17. One of the purposes of secret combinations is to gain power (Helaman 2:8; Ether 8:23, 11:15) by usurping power and authority over the people (Helaman 7:4). They seek to gain sole power over the government and, in the Book of Mormon, were successful in doing so (Helaman 6:39).

18. Secret combinations retain power so that they and their supporters may get gain and glory, and so that they may more easily steal, commit adultery, kill and do according to their own will (Helaman 7:5).

19. Secret combinations break the laws of God and the laws of their country (Helaman 6:23).

20. Secret combinations stir up rebellion (Ether 11:15) and dissent, and use lies and flattery to lead people to join with them (3 Nephi 1:28–29), targeting the rising generation (3 Nephi 1:29–30).

21. The members of secret combinations believe their secret works and society to be good (3 Nephi 3:9).

22. Secret combinations pretend to act on behalf of their people in reclaiming their rights (3 Nephi 3:10), believing they have been wronged and hating the righteous (3 Nephi 3:4).

23. Secret combinations seek to overthrow government (3 Nephi 7:6), establish kings – or oligarchies (see Mosiah 29:21–22) – and destroy the liberty of a republic (3 Nephi 6:30, 7:10); the king-men believe they have the blood of nobility (Alma 51:21).

24. Secret combinations, once in government, lay aside the commandments of God, corrupt righteous laws, and administer no justice to the people (Mosiah 29:22; Helaman 7:4), condemning the righteous for their righteousness, allowing the guilty to go free because of their money (Helaman 7:5).

25. Secret combinations shed the blood of the saints and oppress them (Helaman 6:39; 3 Nephi 6:29;Ether 8:22), threatening not only the rights and liberty of the people but also the Church (3 Nephi 2:12).

26. When any society has suffered such combinations to spread over them they will be destroyed (Ether 8:22).

27. One of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to show us the work of ancient secret combination so that we may repent and suffer not that these same murderous combinations should get above us (Ether 8:23), and that we should awake to a sense of our awful situation when we see these things among us (Ether 8:24).

28. Speaking of a secret combination built up by the devil, the master of lies, in our day, the Book of Mormon tells us that those who build it up do so to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations and countries (Ether 8:25).

29. In the last days the gentiles shall build up secret combinations which shall spill the blood of the saints and seek to destroy the people (2 Nephi 26:22; Ether 8:25; Mormon 8:27).

30. Preaching the word of God destroys secret combinations (Helaman 6:37).

What Have Church Leaders Said About Secret Combinations?

What do we know about secret combinations from latter-day prophets, seers and revelators? It’s interesting in reading these how they generally give a very different view than the one commonly held by members of the Church. The following quotations are in chronological order (titles added):

• A secret band will sap the strength of America in the last days

“I have seen the end of this nation and it is terrible. I will tell you in the name of the LORD that a secret band will sap the life of this nation.”(Moses Thatcher, from an address given at the Franklin Ward, Franklin, Idaho, June 16, 1882 and entered into the Historical Record thereof)

• We are in the midst of great propaganda and even the elect are being deceived

“We are in the midst of the greatest exhibition of propaganda that the world has ever seen. Just do not believe all you read or hear. The elect are being deceived.” (J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, October 1941)

• A global tyranny to be established by stealth in the last days

“Satan…[plans] to destroy liberty and freedom ~ economic, political, and religious, and to set up in place thereof the greatest, most widespread, and most complete tyranny that has ever oppressed men. He is working under such perfect disguise that many do not recognize either him or his methods.” (First Presidency, General Conference, October 1942)

• Government & Church to suffer “vacant places” due to the Conspiracy

“If the conspiracy comes here it will probably come in its full vigor and there will be a lot of vacant places among those who guide and direct, not only this government, but also this Church of ours.” (J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, April 1944)

• Satan has control now and is guiding the governments of the world

“Satan has control now. No matter where you look, he is in control, even in our own land. He is guiding the governments as far as the Lord will permit him. That is why there is so much strife, turmoil, confusion all over the earth. One master mind is governing the nations. It is not the President of the United States…it is not the king or government of England or any other land; it is Satan himself.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, pp. 314-315)

• Socialism-communism is a conspiracy

“…we should accept the command of the Lord and treat socialistic communism as the tool of Satan. We should follow the counsel of the President of the Church and resist the influence and policies of the socialist-communist conspiracy wherever they are found–in the schools, in the churches, in governments, in unions, in businesses, in agriculture.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference, October 1961)

• A vast, worldwide secret combination to seek to overthrow all lands

“Concerning the United States, the Lord revealed to his prophets that its greatest threat would be a vast, worldwide ‘secret combination’ which would not only threaten the United States but also seek to ‘overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations…’(Ether 8:25)” (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference, October 1961)

• A deliberate conspiracy to destroy the U.S. Constitution exists

“And do not think that these usurpations, intimidations, and impositions are being done to us through inadvertence or mistake; The whole course is deliberately planned and carried out; its purpose is to destroy the Constitution and our constitutional government; then to bring chaos, out of which the new Statism with its slavery is to arise, with a cruel, relentless, selfish, ambitious crew in the saddle, riding hard with whip and spur, a red-shrouded band of night riders for despotism.” (J. Reuben Clark, jr.,Church News, September 25, 1949)

• Socialist-communist conspiracy at work both at home and abroad

“Our priceless heritage is threatened today as never before in our lifetime: from without by the forces of Godless Communism, and at home by our complacency and by the insidious forces of the Socialist-Communist conspiracy, with the help of those who would abandon the ancient landmarks set by our fathers and take us down the road to destruction. It was Alexander Hamilton who warned that ‘nothing is more common than for a free people, in times of heat and violence, to gratify momentary passions, by letting into the government, principles and precedents which afterwards prove fatal to themselves.’ (Alexander Hamilton and the Founding of the Nation, p. 462.)” (Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference, April 1968)

• There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon

“This most correct book on earth states that the downfall of two great American civilizations came as a result of secret conspiracies whose desire was to overthrow the freedom of the people. “And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking,” says Moroni, “and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.” (Eth. 8:21.) Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God’s work, but it has singled out the greatest threat as the great conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon –it is a conspiracy fact. And along this line I would highly recommend to you the book None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen.” (Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference, April 1972; book recommendation added by Ezra Taft Benson during talk after he discovered a Russian delegation was in attendance. Not included in the prepared or text archives of the talk).

• Modern founders of secret works arose about same time as Restoration

“It is well to ask, what system [referring to Isaiah 29:15–16] established secret works of darkness to overthrow nations by violent revolution? Who blasphemously proclaimed the atheistic doctrine that God made us not? Satan works through human agents. We need only look to some of the ignoble characters in human history who were contemporary to the restoration of the gospel to discover fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. I refer to the infamous founders of Communism and others who follow in their tradition…” (Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning, Conference, October 1979)

• Gadianton robbers fills the seats in many governments

“Gadianton robbers fill the judgement seats in many nations. An evil power seeks to overthrow the freedom of all nations and countries.” (Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, speaking in the April 1980 General Conference)

• We must recognize, address and quit building up secret combinations

“…the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time…Now, we have not been using the Book of Mormon as we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our children to Christ. Our families may be corrupted by worldly trends and teachings unless we know how to use the book to expose and combat falsehoods in socialism, rationalism, etc…The situation in the world will continue to degenerate unless we read and heed the words of God and quit building up and upholding secret combinations, which the Book of Mormon tells us proved the downfall of ancient civilizations.” (Ezra Taft Benson, First Presidency Message, Ensign, January 1988).

• A specific secret combination is increasing its global dominion

“[Wickedness] is more highly organized, more cleverly disguised, and more powerfully promoted than ever before. Secret combinations lusting for power, gain, and glory are flourishing. A secret combination that seeks to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world.” (Ezra Taft Benson, I Testify, Conference, October 1988).

• Modern-day Gadianton Robbers seek to bring down the Church, woo the people with sophistry and take control of society

“It is the terrorist organizations that must be ferreted out and brought down. We of this Church know something of such groups. The Book of Mormon speaks of the Gadianton robbers, a vicious, oath-bound, and secret organization bent on evil and destruction. In their day they did all in their power, by whatever means available, to bring down the Church, to woo the people with sophistry, and to take control of the society. We see the same thing in the present situation.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference, October, 2001)

• Evil schemers promote heavy taxation, false promises, loose morals, war

“The Book of Mormon narrative is a chronicle of nations long since gone. But in its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, it is as current as the morning newspaper and much more definitive, inspired, and inspiring concerning the solutions of those problems. I know of no other writing which sets forth with such clarity the tragic consequences to societies that follow courses contrary to the commandments of God. Its pages trace the stories of two distinct civilizations that flourished on the Western Hemisphere. Each began as a small nation, its people walking in the fear of the Lord. But with prosperity came growing evils. The people succumbed to the wiles of ambitious and scheming leaders who oppressed them with burdensome taxes, who lulled them with hollow promises, who countenanced and even encouraged loose and lascivious living. These evil schemers led the people into terrible wars that resulted in the death of millions and the final and total extinction of two great civilizations in two different eras.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, First Presidency Message, Ensign, August 2005)

Is History An Accident?

Accidentalism is the view of history taught today in most schools. This portrays history as largely a series of unrelated events. Another view, and one posited in this article, is what has been called the conspiratorial view of history. This latter teaches that history is largely a series of related events. Today many people view conspiracy as something strange, on the fringe or to be dismissed, and that those who speak of conspiracy must be a little crazy or extreme. This is a very perplexing viewpoint because it is a matter of historical record that conspiracy has been with us from the beginning. Plots, intrigues and secret combinations have plagued government and societies at large from the beginning of time. Small groups or families conspired in ancient Rome, they conspired among the city-states of Renaissance Italy and in the churches and towers of medieval Europe. Plays, movies and books have been made about them. Nations, and civilizations, have risen and fallen due to the events enacted by such conspiratorial groups.

As Latter-day Saints we do not subscribe to accidentalism. We believe that the hand of Providence has helped shaped out world and that, among other things, the Lord guided the events in this world to bring about the circumstances where religious freedom was sparked leading eventually to a free nation under God wherein the Restoration could begin. However, we sometimes have a harder time believing that the non-accidental view of history also includes events inspired of the devil such as the events leading to the Great Apostasy. We should not be oblivious or stand in denial of such a view of history, or of the existence and nature of secret combinations. We need to, as Moroni put it, wake up to our awful situation.

What Now?

It has been said that the revelations of God provide the answer to all questions. We often forget this and are quick to base our views purely upon what the world teaches us about history, politics, science and other important subjects.

With this is mind, we should prayerfully ponder and read what the scriptures and Church leaders have said touching on the topics of liberty, government, agency, secret combinations, and so forth. The amount of material on these topics may surprise you if you have not looked into it before. As far as talks by leaders of the Church are concerned, you might want to start by visiting www.ldsfreedomportal.net which lists (and links to) many important addresses by Church leaders.

If you really want to look into things a bit deeper then I would recommend the following books for your primer reading list – most of which have been recommended by Church leaders:

None Dare Call It Conspiracy (Gary Allen) – recommended in Conference by Ezra Taft Benson
The Naked Communist (W. Cleon Skousen) – recommended in Conference by David O. McKay
The Naked Capitalist (W. Cleon Skousen) – important sequel to The Naked Communist
The 5000-Year Leap (W. Cleon Skousen) – perhaps the most well-read LDS work on liberty
The Elders of Israel and the Constitution (Jerome Horowitz) – Recommended in Conference by Ezra Taft Benson
The Book of Mormon and the Constitution (H. Verlan Andersen) – LDS General Authority and very close friend to Ezra Taft Benson
The Moral Basis of a Free Society (H. Verlan Andersen)
An Enemy Hath Done This (Ezra Taft Benson, compilation of political speeches)
The Law (Frederic Bastiat) – not an LDS author but quoted heavily by Ezra Taft Benson

Notes

[1] Doctrine & Covenants 38:28–29 appears to refer to this preconception.

[2] The word Mahan is of uncertain origin but the footnotes to Moses 5:31 suggest that the root of the word (“maha”) can be rendered as “mind”, “destroyer”, or “great one”. Matthew M. Brown favours the “destroyer” meaning (see “Girded about with a Lambskin”, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Volume – 6, Issue – 2, Pages: 124-151, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 1997). Depopulation, through various means, seems to be a strong theme in conspiratorial agendas. Joseph Smith, commenting on government and tyrants, once said that “The greatest acts of the mighty men have been to depopulate nations and to overthrow kingdoms; and whilst they have exalted themselves and become glorious, it has been at the expense of the lives of the innocent, the blood of the oppressed, the moans of the widow, and the tears of the orphan.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Five 1842-43, p.248). This gives even more weight to the meaning of Mahan as “destroyer”.