Revelation
The Character of God
Last evening I was told that my granddaughter, Maddie, has been asked by a Protestant pastor to preach in his service next Sunday. This came about because she and her missionary companion had done a follow-up contact to a man who had previously requested a Book of Mormon. The man turned out to be a pastor, and invited them to come back for dinner.
Read MoreThe Deacon’s Quorum President
By Danny Kerns,
About his son, Chance, the quorum president
The twelve-year-old boy walked into Sacrament meeting and yelled, “He’s a bully!” His ward didn’t think twice about the outburst, and the parents soon had him calmed down. His name is Sterling, and he is autistic. During that meeting one of the bishop’s counselors noticed Sterling’s parents looked more haggard than usual. Out of concern, he later mentioned it to the bishop. The bishop explained that they were becoming more concerned with his increasing outbursts. The counselor had sat in on many Deacons Quorum and Sunday School classes with Sterling and his father, who was always quick to curb any outbursts or off-topic tangents. However, the counselor noticed that everyone, including himself, walked on eggshells around Sterling. The result of which was zero interaction between him and his peers.
Personal Revelation
Usually the revelations that come to me are flashes of inspiration. They are bits of light and knowledge that come as I write. They are thoughts that I’ve never had before. Or sometimes they are thoughts that I should do something, especially something that I should do for someone else. Very occasionally the revelation is a dream or an inaudible, but very plain, voice. It is these experiences that I would like to record here.
Read MoreAngels and Sunrises
The calendar says that yesterday was the first day of spring, but I’ve always thought that the first day of spring was supposed to be today. I must take note this morning of the time and position of the sunrise.
Read MoreYou Have Enough
I’ve complained to my wife that I need more scripture. At the approach of each general conference I wonder if President Nelson might announce the publication of the Brass Plates, or of the writings of Joseph which were on the other papyrus which was discovered with the Egyptian mummies, or perhaps he’ll announce the publication of some other ancient scripture that we have been promised to someday have. I have even prayed for additional scripture.
Read MoreLadders
President Russell M. Nelson says that “most people do not embrace … truth–either because they do not know where to look for (it) or because they are listening to those who do not have the whole truth or because they have rejected truth in favor of worldly pursuits.” (Ensign, May 2020, 89).
Read MoreConference Notes, Quotes, and Thoughts
1. The audio was eight seconds ahead of the visual transmission for our Saturday afternoon session. That caused a most unfortunate result. President Oaks was conducting the sustaining of officers. Because of the delay, as he asked for any negative votes, the First Presidency all raised their hands each time. At the top of my page of notes I wrote: “When we are slow to react, we may lose the opportunity, and may even bring about the opposite result of what we had hoped.”
Read MoreTrain Wreck
I must record two politically-motivated dreams that I’ve had this week.
The first was early Tuesday morning (4 February 2020). Iowa had held its first-in-the-nation caucus the evening before. In the dream I saw a line of ceramic tiles gaily cartwheeling on their corners down a railroad track. They represented the Trump train.
Revelation and the Temple
When you go to the temple with an open heart, wanting to learn, and seeking whatever knowledge the Lord desires to give you, you can’t help but receive revelation. The revelations you receive come through the Holy Ghost as little bursts of pure knowledge. They don’t come as grandiose, panoramic views such as those received by Enoch, the brother of Jared, Nephi, or Moses. Those revelations to those chosen prophets had special purposes. For the rest of us, instruction normally comes “here a little, and there a little.”
Read MoreTriad of Truth
In the April 2012 general conference Elder L. Tom Perry commented that neither the Bible nor the Book of Mormon is sufficient alone. That made me wonder if the two of them together are sufficient without the words of our modern prophets. My answer is no.
Read MoreTurning Up the Lights
Joseph said that he went to the woods “on the morning of a beautiful, clear day.” He may have knelt in the shade; but if it was cool, and since he was obviously enjoying the feel of the spring day, he probably knelt in the sunshine.
Read MoreWhat’s the Value of the Holy Ghost?
While on company assignment a few days ago, Tory Baxter stopped at a service station in an out-of-the-way place to use the rest room. While there, the Holy Ghost told him that he was going to be asked to help someone, and that he was not to do so. As he went back to his vehicle he was approached by a clean-cut young man carrying a gas can. The young man explained that he had run out of gas down the road and needed a ride back to his car. Tory told him that he was driving a company car, that it was against the rules to have unauthorized passengers in the car, and that he, therefore, couldn’t help him.
Read MoreTemples and Temple Work
Before I get into bed at night, I always kneel and have prayer. As part of my prayer last Saturday night I prayed specifically for direction about the lesson on knowledge that I’d be teaching the High Priests the next day. I thus went to bed thinking about the lesson, and about our need to be in daily pursuit of the acquisition of knowledge. My body and mind relaxed, and I rested through the night.
Read MoreListening for the Spirit
John Burroughs, the naturalist, was once walking through a busy city park when he heard the beautiful song of a bird. He stopped to listen. As he did so he noticed that none of his companions nor anyone around him had heard it. He took a coin from his pocket and tossed it in the air. When it hit the pavement with a metallic ring, every head turned. That was a sound to which their ears were attuned.
Read MoreNot Coincidental
Yesterday (5 May 2019) Marjorie and I left early to go to stake conference in La Grande. We had been asked to arrive an hour early so that the visiting area authority
Read MoreGet The Spirit
On a Saturday evening in March, Brother Quebbeman, the stake executive secretary, called to inform me that President Chadwick wanted to come see me Sunday at 3:00.
Read MoreJoseph Smith, The Prophet
I was born in 1947, just over 100 years after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I didn’t know him in life, and I never knew anything about him for the first 20 years of my life
Read MoreWrought Upon
Some people get “wrought up” about things. As I started another reading of the Book of Mormon several days ago, I noticed a related phrase I’d never tuned into before,
Read MorePresident Nelson
We were privileged on 16 September 2018 to attend a special gathering of Latter-day Saints in the Safeco Stadium in Seattle where President Henry B. Eyring
Read MoreThe Fourth Dimension
Aaron gets excited about new ideas and new inventions that come to his mind. They’re generally on a level that my mind can’t come to grips with.
Read MoreAfter the Manner of Men
Nephi was not a natural man. Neither was he an unnatural man. He might more properly be called a supernatural man.
Read MoreFormulas For Life
“Repentance needs to be done one step at a time. Humble prayer will facilitate each essential step.
Read MoreThe Superlative Book
The 1981 Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants states that “…this book (is) of great value…
Read MoreThere is Always More
As a teenage boy, Nephi heard his father, Lehi, tell about an important dream he had had about the tree of life. Nephi pondered over what his father had said. He sincerely wanted to know what the dream meant, and to know what impact it might have in his own life.
Read MoreListening for the Spirit
John Burroughs, the naturalist, was once walking through a busy city park when he heard the beautiful song of a bird. He stopped to listen. As he did so he noticed that none of his companions nor anyone around him had heard it. He took a coin from his pocket and tossed it in the air. When it hit the pavement with a metallic ring, every head turned. That was a sound to which their ears were attuned.
Read More