Salt Lake Tribune Tripe

By Dennis B. Horne

             The Salt Lake Tribune calls itself Utah’s “Independent Voice”. Correctly translated, what that means is “criticize the LDS Church continually, especially regarding so-called social issues.” It has been disappointing and sad to me to see it continue bashing the Church under its new Huntsman family ownership. If the Huntsman family wants to retain an honorable name and reputation, some firings need to take place.

            The Tribune’s main religion reporter, Peggy Stack, obviously has an agenda of extremist liberal social activism. Whether it is extremist feminism (ordaining women to the priesthood), or LGBT issues (gay marriage/sex), or some other false or wrong-headed liberal cause, she uses her considerably-sized pulpit to push her activist propaganda. The fact that she constantly misinterprets and misunderstands LDS doctrine while doing so doesn’t seem to bother her. And I am informed she is a member of the Church! Well…if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and your employment causes you to write things that are not honest and honorable and accurate, perhaps that person should rethink their method of earning a living. But in this case, Stack seems to feel it is better to try to change the doctrine than to report it accurately—extremist activism at work, doing great harm instead of helping. She has the pulpit and by darn she is going to use it to seek to affect public sympathy for liberal change in the Church, and, it would seem, if she has to criticize and distort and misinterpret and so forth, so be it.

            A recent example. A pro-evolution story covering a pro-evolution biologist’s pro-evolution speech at a symposium, where the biologist incorrectly stated that church members should believe in evolution—a blatant falsehood. Peggy falsely states: “The Utah-based faith takes no official stand on the question.” This is utter nonsense and I bet Peggy knows it. An apostle directly addressed her false statement three decades ago:

The Veil of Forgetfulness

by Christopher R. Greenwood

Author of A Mighty Change: The Process of Going from Good to Better

and Spiritual Atrophy

So... When We Will Remember Everything?

Sometime ago, my Dad asked me the question, “When we die, will we remember our pre-mortal existence?  If not, when will that happen?”.  The following quotes and narrative is to provide insight into that wonderful topic.  I would encourage you, however, that like all doctrine, we need to study this out, pray about it, and determine for ourselves what we believe and what we need to do additional research on.  The following paragraphs encapsulate what I have been able to find on the subject copied from a variety of resources.

We are told that we are to function in this life by faith.  If the gospel is preached in the spirit world as it is here and one remembers everything there, they could not very well exercise faith because when one has sure knowledge, it excludes the need for faith.

There is sometimes an expectation that the veil is removed when we die, an assumption that may have originated some decades ago with the landmark film, Man’s Search for Happiness. Near its conclusion, the grandfather in the film dies and his spirit is depicted emerging into a circle of loved ones who pre-deceased him. Juxtaposed over this scene the commentary mentions that the veil over our memories will be removed and that we will recall our pre-mortal existence. While it is true that we will eventually have the veil of forgetfulness removed, that does not take place when we leave mortality. Not until the day of our resurrection, when our physical and spirit bodies are inseparably joined, will our pre-existent memories be restored. And that agency seems to be necessary after death if those in spirit prison are to freely choose and accept their proxy temple work.

On October 25, 1831, during a general conference, Joseph Smith taught,

Repost: Mormon Book Bits #1: Russell M. Nelson, From Heart to Heart: An Autobiography

Editor's note: With Russell M. Nelson becoming the new president of the Church, it seems appropriate to repost the first installment of "Mormon Book Bits" by Dennis Horne.

Mormon Book Bits

#1

 Russell M. Nelson, From Heart to Heart: An Autobiography

            One of the most desirable Mormon books today is this autobiography of Russell M. Nelson (not to be confused with his biography, published years later). No one seems to know how many were printed, but the prevailing notion is around 2-300, though that number could be high. In 1989, in reply to a letter from a collector that had read a copy and found it highly enjoyable, Elder Nelson wrote the following: “I am amazed you were able to acquire a copy of From Heart to Heart. This book I prepared for the family. There are a few extra copies about, but it has been out of print for quite some time.”

It should be realized that this book was written before Russell Nelson became Elder (now President) Russel M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1979), and therefore contains no information about his service as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. Without his call to this position in the Church, the book would likely have remained a wonderful but obscure personal biography of a prominent heart surgeon and mid-level church leader, but would not have attained the status and desirability it now carries, especially for collectors of LDS biography. The lack of apostolic status at the time of publication seems to have been both a positive and a negative. Positive because the book did not have to be censored and therefore contains marvelous information only meant for family and friends. Negative because his unquestionably many edifying apostolic experiences are absent.

            One need only peruse the following sample of highlights to realize the quality of the gems found within its pages:

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

by Christopher R. Greenwood

Author of A Mighty Change: The Process of Going from Good to Better

and Spiritual Atrophy

The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter and unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever (D&C 121: 46).

    

     During the summer of 2005, my two oldest sons, Conrad and Caleb, were on a Young Men’s white-water river trip adventure in Moab, Utah.  While they were going down the fast currents of the Colorado River, a strong storm stopped them from continuing on.  As many people know, the weather in southern Utah can become very extreme and dangerous at times.  The party soon became separated.  The leaders were further up the river and out of sight, but Conrad and Caleb, as some of the oldest of the young men, “felt” that they needed to take it upon themselves at that time to bring up the tail end of the group and to ensure all were okay.  The boys made the decision to beach the rafts and take cover from the hail under a tree nearby, close to shore.  While they were under this tree, the sky got darker, the hail got worse, and the wind significantly increased.  The young men that were with Conrad and Caleb in this adventure were getting a little frightened at this awesome display of nature and began to question if they were safe or not.  At this exact point, Caleb “felt” that a prayer would be appropriate and Conrad volunteered to say it on behalf of all present.  According to Conrad, during the prayer, the memory of our most recent Family Home Evening came to his mind with the added thought to put into practice what they had been taught during that particular Family Home Evening.  As a result, Conrad “felt” to voice in his prayer that they “would be able to adapt to their individual circumstances”. Shortly afterwards, the storm was over, and they were able to rejoin their group further up river with no injuries or trauma, but only an interesting memory.

Baptism

by Christopher R. Greenwood

Author of A Mighty Change: The Process of Going from Good to Better

and Spiritual Atrophy

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” (Ephesians 4: 5)

     When my oldest daughter, Casey, was getting ready to be baptized in the fall of 2003, my family and I had the opportunity to attend a picnic luncheon for LDS Humanitarian Center employees as an expression of gratitude from the Sr. management for all of our hard work we had done for the year.  I remember that it had been a pretty rough year for natural disasters around the world, which had kept us pretty busy sending out Hygiene kits, Neonatal resuscitation kits for newborns, School kits and other humanitarian aid.  There was an enormous earthquake in Algeria that required much assistance, as well as a devastating heat wave in France that had attributed to thousands of deaths and crippled the country at the time. 

     Upon arriving at the picnic spot, I introduced my family to the manager of the Humanitarian Center, Bill Reynolds. When introducing my daughter Casey to him and his wife, Bonita, I quickly volunteered that Casey was soon to be baptized.  I remember while Bill was shaking her hand, he looked her in the eye and asked “Are you sure you want to be baptized?”  I remember some momentary anxiety over the question and worried how Casey would respond, but her innocent response not only surprised me, but made me quite proud.  Without any hesitation, she looked right back at Bill and said “Of course…..don’t’ you think it’s the right thing to do?”  I remember Bill standing straight up, smiling, and looking over at Tami and I and saying “you raised her right…!”

     Although the desire to be baptized is one thing, it is another to fully understand the commitment involved and the covenant we make at baptism. When it comes to gospel principles, I have always used the “crawl, walk, run” methodology of teaching that I learned from my own parents, who learned it from their parents. For example, taking your children to see their friends and neighbors get baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a wonderful teaching opportunity. It generates gospel oriented questions from them and offers a perfect time for parents to conduct personal interviews with their children to address those questions. It also is a good opportunity to teach them by the Spirit in their own language and understanding.

Enduring Discipleship

by Christopher R. Greenwood

Author of A Mighty Change: The Process of Going from Good to Better

and Spiritual Atrophy

     A few years ago, I was waiting at the bus stop to catch a ride to my place of employment.  It was very early in the morning and quite cold outside.  I had gotten off the train and was expecting a normal day.  But the events that happened at the bus stop caused me some reflection, concern, and pondering, and stand out in my mind as a key day in my life.  The bus to my place of employment was running late for some reason.  Most of us were very anxious to get on the bus, mostly because we were all cold and additionally because I had a professional development class I needed to get to which started promptly at 7:00 am.  The bus that day was about 15 minutes late, so I was a little concerned that I was going to show up to class late, which I don’t like at all.  I am one that does not like to be late to anything.  I remember that an older gentleman came up to me with $5.00 in his hand and asked me if I had change for a five, so that he could take the bus, which only took exact change.  I looked at him, and told him that “I am sorry, but did not”. He started to walk away, but then came back to me, looked me in the eye, and told me that “I needed to be happier and smile more often.”  I was a little shocked that an absolute complete stranger would tell that to my face, but I smiled back at him and told him that “I was happy.”  He smiled at me, and then walked away. 

     I found this particular event in my life very interesting, especially with regards to its timing.  At that moment in my life, I was going through much personal tribulation, stress, and had many professional assignments that I had started working on that needed completion.  My cup was running over!  My church assignments were very busy and my daughter, Casey, had just been admitted into Brigham Young University and I was worried how we could help her financially, while still keeping a missionary son, Collin, out in the field.   I stood there at the bus stop pondering over what this gentleman had just said to me. 

     For me, it was an eye opening and life changing experience for me to have a complete stranger come up to me and tell me that I need to be happier, or smile more.  I am a very happy person, but the problem at the time was evidently a disconnect between what I was feeling on the inside and the expression I showed on my face.  I pondered over how I could tell my face the happiness I am feeling on the inside?

Ambition in the Lord’s Church

by Christopher R. Greenwood

Author of A Mighty Change: The Process of Going from Good to Better

and Spiritual Atrophy

      A few years ago, I was speaking on the phone to a friend of mine who was in a bishopric in another state and he asked me what calling in the Church I was currently serving. I enthusiastically answered, “I have the best calling in the ward; I am the ward mission leader!” There was a long, awkward pause, and then my friend responded with, “So, when do you think you are going to have an important calling?”!

    It is no surprise to anybody to know that there are people in the world who measure their success by the type of position they currently have in the Church. It is “the nature and disposition of almost all men” (D&C 121:39) to have temporal ambitions. It reminds me a lot of the man who had an assignment to serve as a Sunday School teacher but decided that particular calling wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to be the Sunday School president. Then, and only then, would he be truly happy! Once he became the Sunday School president, he would only be satisfied with becoming the elders quorum president. Then, and only then, would he be happy! Once he became the elders quorum president, he wanted to be in the bishopric! Where does this process end?

Seek Spiritual Gifts

     What we really need to do, if we are sincere in our desire to serve the Lord to the best of our ability, is to pray for the gifts of the Spirit rather than seek office. This may be more difficult than it sounds because the gifts of the Spirit are generally invisible to others. In a world that values titles, positions and notoriety, it can be very difficult for some people to seek their true spiritual potential rather than someone else’s idea of it. So what can we do about it? How can we overcome this natural and carnal tendency?

     Hugh Nibley makes an interesting observation here: