Why Does God Give Some People More Than Others?
Filed under: Finding joy within the gospel, Overcoming Adversity
When I tell the story of Joseph and the multicolored coat, from the Old Testament, to young children, they never really get the story. In fact, they never really see Joseph as the hero. Those with younger siblings immediately side with the brothers, and think it’s really unfair Joseph got a beautiful coat and the brothers didn’t. Not only do they approve of Joseph’s brothers selling him, but they express a longing to do the same to their own seemingly more favored siblings.
Preschoolers want everything fair and equal. Sometimes, even as adults, we wish everything were equal. We look around and wonder why some people don’t seem to have any trials, or why some people have more blessings than others. We then wonder if that means God loves some of us less than others. Read more
Teaching Toddlers the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Filed under: Parents/Leaders, Scripture Stories, Teaching Children, Teaching Values, Uncategorized
Each week, I teach one to three year olds about God, Jesus, and the Bible in my Mormon nursery class. Every month,
we learn a Bible story, repeating it each Sunday for the entire month, and we also have a lesson on a basic principle of Christianity. Over the past year, I’ve learned a great deal about teaching religion to very young children.
It’s never too soon to start teaching our children. As a family, we can read the scriptures and make sure even our youngest children are in the room as we do. They are listening and will absorb whatever they are ready for. Read more
Should Mormons Offer Physical Proof of the Book of Mormon?
Filed under: Book of Mormon, Book of Mormon, D & C, Pearl of Great Price, Frequently Asked Questions, History of the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ, The Restoration
When people attempt to argue Mormonism, they usually begin with some commentary on proof. They want proof—physical, tangible, and scientific—that it is true. When science or history discovers something that might help to “prove” an aspect of Mormonism, Mormons are generally interested, but these things don’t strengthen their testimonies. They are merely interesting.
While this might irritate some Christians, it must be remembered that much of the Bible can’t be proven, either. Science has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the possibility of God, whose existence cannot be scientifically proven. Nor has science proven the Creation. We can’t fit some historical stories into the known political leadership of the time. We don’t have the bones of Adam and Eve. We haven’t found the ark, or proven the entire world once flooded at once. There are creatures mentioned in the Bible we haven’t been able to prove just yet—no dragons or unicorns have emerged during archaeological expeditions.
Does this shake the faith of the average Christian? Of course not. Faith is not about proof. If it can be proven, it doesn’t require faith. The Bible is filled with admonitions to have faith, not to have proof.
Paul gave a powerful sermon on faith in Hebrews, chapter 11 (King James version of the Bible): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He reminds us of many Biblical heroes who lived their lives based on faith, not proof. Noah didn’t ask for proof of an impending flood before building the ark, Paul said, nor did Abraham ask for proof before moving to a new land or taking Isaac to be sacrificed. They trusted God and their own testimonies and acted without any proof at all that these things were necessary.
Faith is an essential element of religion. Mormons teach that faith is one of the primary reasons God sent us here to earth. Could we learn to believe in Him and trust Him when He isn’t right here, in our sight? We believed we could and agreed to come to earth to gain faith, to be tested, and to obtain families and bodies.
Most Christians accept a responsibility to develop faith in Jesus Christ, and to agree to accept Him as our Savior without any physical proof of His existence. We don’t know where He is buried. There are no official records recording His life. He never wrote a word that we have on hand, and no one painted His picture or sculpted His likeness. We don’t know what He looked like. We can only make assumptions based on historical knowledge of the time and place in which He lived, and we must trust the recorded words of others as to His existence and teachings. And yet, with all this lack of physical proof, billions of people have believed in Jesus Christ and modeled their lives on His teachings.
Mormons, like other Christians, know that testimony isn’t about physical proof. It is about learning to know and to trust God. Testimony is about faith, which is a higher law than proof. Faith is an eternal-life-giving law.
Christians, including Mormons, know that faith is a verb. A passive faith is not really faith. When we know that putting our hands into a fire will burn them, we don’t put our hands into the fire. We act on those things we truly know. Faith, then, must be an active faith. It isn’t enough to say we believe God has taught us not to kill, for instance. We must also act on that belief. A true Christian keeps the commandments of God as evidence of His faith. Just as Noah didn’t ask for proof, neither do Christians ask for proof before deciding to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
While it is possible to keep the commandments without faith, it is not possible to have true faith and refuse to keep the commandments. No one is perfect, but a person with faith is constantly striving to live as Jesus taught. James taught,“ 14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2)
These verses do not mean we can be saved by works done without faith, but simply for show. It means that a person who believes in and loves God will keep His commandments as a natural part of that love and faith.
Christians, including Mormons, keep the commandments even though they lack physical proof that rewards will come, either in this life or the next. For them, faith is enough to inspire a Christian lifestyle.
“Faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of Him and His universal Atonement is not just a doctrine with great theological value. Such faith is a universal gift, glorious for all cultural regions of this earth, irrespective of race, color, language, nationality, or socioeconomic circumstance. The powers of reason may be used to try to understand this gift, but those who feel its effects most deeply are those who are willing to accept its blessings, which come from a pure and clean life of following the path of true repentance and living the commandments of God” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Precious Fruits of the First Vision,” Ensign, Feb 2009, 4–8).
Physical proof that Mormonism is true is no more essential to a Mormon than is physical proof of God, Jesus, or the Bible to any other Christian. Faith and testimony isn’t brought about by proof, but by a personal knowledge of God, and the willingness to turn to Him as the source of all truth. Science is constantly changing its mind about proof, but God never changes His mind. It comes down to this question: Who is our God—God, or science? Mormons, while respecting the role of science, choose God.
Why Do Mormons Obey Their Prophet?
Filed under: Basic LDS Beliefs, Church Organization, Counsel from Church Leaders, Jesus Christ, LDS Q&A
Mormonism is often known as a strict religion with many rules. Mormons are often asked why they obey and why they let others decide how they should live.
It is helpful to understand a little about the role of the Mormon prophet and how Mormons view him. With this knowledge, it is easier to understand why Mormons are willing to follow a prophet.
Students of the Bible are familiar with the concept of prophets. In Old Testament times, God called men to be prophets to deliver God’s word to the people. While each person is able to pray to God privately and learn His word, it would be very complicated to pray about each possible doctrine individually. God also has messages for us we might not think to pray for. A prophet serves as a channel for all the information a person needs to live according to God’s plan. In a world in which many prominent people are willing to guess at God’s word, and to teach their personal beliefs as scripture, a prophet is a sure source of information. Christians want to be certain they are living as Jesus taught, and not as someone else has decided they should live.
Adam was the first prophet on earth, speaking directly to God to learn truth and to find out what God wanted Him to do. Other prophets soon followed. Of course, there have been times when God withdrew prophecy because the people refused to listen or to honor the prophets, but He has always restored them. Prophets were on the earth to prepare the people for the first coming of Christ, and as we approach the second coming, we naturally need prophets again. For this reason, God restored prophets to the earth in modern times. The second coming requires as much preparation as did the first coming.
But how do the Mormons know their prophet really is the prophet God has chosen for this time? Mormons are taught from early childhood, and, if they are considering becoming Mormon, to ask God who the prophet is. They are instructed not to take the word of anyone on earth—not the Church’s word, not that of their parents, not that of their teachers. All of those sources are a place to be taught the gospel, but no one can give another person a testimony. A testimony can come only from God through confirmation from the Holy Ghost.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,” taught James, believed by many scholars to be the half-brother of Jesus. (See James 1:5) Each person is entitled to turn to God for wisdom and to find out for Himself, from the only source that is completely trustworthy, that the head of the Mormon church is indeed God’s prophet. Prior to baptism, prospective members are interviewed and asked if they have taken this step.
Once a member has gained a testimony of the prophet, they can trust His teachings. However, should they at any time feel uneasy about something, they can again return to God to pray about it. This is why Mormons who have taken the time to pray about their choices are unshakable. They gained their testimonies directly from God.
Some outsiders will warn their members not to pray about which church to join, or about the prophets, because they claim the petitioner won’t know who is answering. Mormons, however, trust God. Because God promised in the Bible that we could ask Him anything and receive an answer, we trust Him to keep that promise. We know God can do anything, including answering us in a way we can recognize as coming from Him. The better we know God, and the more time we spend talking to Him and “listening” to Him, the more familiar His “voice” will become to us. Of course, prayer answers seldom come through a voice, so this is a symbolic way of speaking. It means we can recognize the ways he communicates with us, and understand how to know what the answer is. Mormons ask God because they believe Him when He makes promises.
Learn how to recognize answers to prayers.
Having an understanding of the process followed by Mormons to learn whether or not God speaks to us through prophets as well as individually, you are ready to understand why Mormons are willing to take direction from this prophet. You may already understand it, if you are a person who always strives to do what God wants you to do.
Mormons are taught the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is revealed in the scriptures. These scriptures include both the Old and New Testaments, as well as scriptures revealed through prophets in modern times, including the Book of Mormon and also as it is revealed to the prophets.
These scriptures teach us both the penalties for ignoring God and the blessings that come from obedience. We’ve seen throughout history that fear of punishment is not enough to make people obey God. Noah relentlessly taught the gospel to the people, and warned them of the upcoming flood. Despite this, they chose to ignore his warnings and continue in their sins. Why did they do this? Some probably didn’t believe Noah. Others thought it couldn’t happen to them. Most disobeyed simply because they did not love God more than they loved their sins.
Although Mormons are taught the consequences of disobedience, they don’t focus on them. Instead, they are taught to obey out of love for God. “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus taught. (See John 14:15) Love should always be the reason for obedience. Obedience that grows out of love for God is sincere and powerful. It is easier to keep the commandments for One we love, and the greater our love, the greater our obedience. Obedience that comes from fear or from a mere sense of obligation seldom lasts and does not produce all the blessings of obedience done from the heart. Obeying from love enlarges our spirit, increases our testimony, and helps us to become a better person. It allows us to become more like Jesus Christ.
A previous Mormon prophet, Ezra Taft Benson, taught, “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” (See Elder Donald L. Staheli Of the Seventy CES Fireside for Young Adults on 2 March 2003.)
Are New Year Resolutions Important?
Filed under: Becoming Perfected in Christ, Personal Development
Boyd K. Packer, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shared a story about goals in his book, “Memorable Stories With a Message.” A high ranking Mormon leader, he encourages people to set goals, whether at the new year, or any other time.
At a New Year’s Eve party, the host asked the guests to write on a sheet of paper what they hoped to accomplish in the year to come. Each guest did so and sealed and labeled the envelope. The host took the envelopes to his bank and placed them in a bank vault until the following year.
Elder Packer quotes Heber C. Kimball, who said, “I have said often, “you may write blessings for yourselves, and insert every good thing you can think of, and it will all come to pass on your heads if you do right.” Read more
What is the Statue on Top of Mormon Temples?
My first glimpse of a Mormon temple was of the statue at the very top. My family, lost and looking for an alternative Saturday activity, saw the statue and wound our way through the streets of Los Angeles—the City of Angels—until we
found the building it was on. We learned it was a Mormon temple. We weren’t Mormons, but my parents noted there was a visitor’s center and decided it would be a good educational activity for us.
This statue is an angel. It represents a man named Moroni, whose writings during his lifetime are recorded in the Book of Mormon. He was, in fact, the son of Mormon, for whom the book is named. After his death, he became an angel and played an important role in the history of the Mormons. However, his role began when he was just a teenager.
Moroni and his father belonged to a group of people known as Nephites. In the beginning of the Book of Mormon, we meet the family of a prophet named Lehi. He lived in Jerusalem at the time of the prophet Jeremiah and was also a prophet. God instructed him to leave his wealth and home behind and take his family and a few others into the wilderness because his life was in danger from the enemies of the prophets. In time, they’d cross the ocean into the Americas.
Two of his sons were wicked and two were righteous. (Two younger sons, also righteous, would be born in the wilderness, and there were also daughters.) The oldest of the wicked sons was Laman. The younger of the two righteous sons was Nephi. In time, after the death of the parents, Laman and his followers become so violent that Nephi and his followers were forced to flee. The family divided into two groups, known as Lamanites and Nephites. Most of the time, the Nephites were righteous and had prophets in their line.
They had been promised that if they remained righteous, God would not allow them to be destroyed. However, they eventually fell away from God’s teachings and the Lamanites were permitted to destroy them in a series of deadly battles. Mormon, the prophet, and his son Moroni were among the last survivors of the Nephites when the battles ended, and soon, only Moroni, believed to be a teenager, remained. The Lamanites continued to seek him out, and he was forced into hiding.
Moroni’s father had worked to abridge the records kept by the prophets since the time of Laman, and which were engraved on plates. Moroni completed the book while in hiding and added the final ending to the story, as well as instructions to future generations who would read it. Then he buried the book in a hill called Cumorah and slipped away from the place he had been raised. Eventually, surprised to find himself still alive, he returned secretly and added further instructions before re-burying the book and again fleeing. We have no further record of him until after his death.
In the 1800s, in New York state, a young Joseph Smith receives a visit from Moroni, who is now an angel. As a teenager, Joseph had prayed to know which church to join and was visited in a vision by God and Jesus Christ. He was told the complete truth was not currently on the earth, and he must wait. Moroni was sent to begin the restoration of the complete gospel. While elements of truth remained, the large number of Christian churches, all teaching contradictory information about God, was proof that there had been an apostasy.
Moroni came to Joseph several times to tutor him in preparation for the restoration and to monitor Joseph’s maturity and worthiness to lead the restored church. When Joseph was nearly ready, Moroni showed him where the he had hidden the plates so long ago. However, it was several more years before Joseph was deemed worthy to begin his life’s work. He removed the plates and began the complex task of translating them and of finding a few people who had testimonies of the work at hand. Eventually, with the plates translated and the record published, the church was restored.
Moroni’s life was one of great hardship. He grew up in a world in which the number of good people was rapidly shrinking. He was fighting wars at an age when modern teens are worried about prom dates, and he had sole responsibility for guarding and completing the record of an entire nation when he was just a teenager. As a teenager, hundreds of people were out to kill him and he lived out the remainder of his teen years without family, friends, or even anyone who shared his religious faith. It would be enough to crush most teenagers, but Moroni never caved in to pressure to deny his God—the only way to end the persecution and attempts on his life. He remained strong and faithful through every trial.
It is fitting that he was chosen to bring the book to those for whom it was written. The ordinary Nephites didn’t have this book. They were instructed to keep the record for our time and to record those things that would be of value to us. As Moroni worked to complete the records, he was shown our day and understood what trials we would face and what we would need to know. He was, therefore, qualified to prepare a teenaged Joseph for a life that would be filled with similar trials resulting from the need to preserve God’s teachings.
The temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, built in Joseph Smith’s time, was the first to have an angel atop it. Like most buildings of the time, it had a weather vane, but the temple’s vane was a horizontal angel with a book in one hand and a horn at his lips. An actual statue of an angel was placed on top of the temple in Salt Lake City, Utah in pioneer times. The idea of using Moroni to top the temples was that of Cyrus Dallin, a sculptor who was not LDS, but who discovered Moroni while looking through LDS scriptures to decide what to put on the temple’s spire. He immediately recognized the importance of Moroni’s role in the restoration. Mormonism’s most recognizable symbol, then, was actually the inspiration of someone who was not LDS. Since 1980, this statue has been placed on most new temples, and added to many older ones. (more…)
Teaching Your Child to Entertain Himself
Filed under: Entertaiment and Recreation, Motivating Children, Parents/Leaders, Teaching Children
I was watching various teenagers today as I drove around town doing errands and noticed none of them seemed to be comfortable with their own company. They talked on cell phones or were plugged into music as they waited for school busses or walked down the street. Merely walking and thinking seemed to be out of style. (more…)
Achieving True Reverence
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Jesus Christ
Robert C. Oakes, who served as a member of the Seventy (a high level position in the Mormon Church) for many years
recently wrote about the subject of reverence, suggesting it is not just a topic for children. Reverence is an important part of worship for all followers of Christ.
When I teach young children, I often ask them what it means to be reverent. They normally respond, “Sit down and be quiet.” Teachers often tell children to be reverent when they really mean to tell them to behave, and so this is the definition most children have of the word. I follow up by asking them to listen to a story:
Susan is sitting in Primary (the children’s auxiliary in the Mormon Church) and is sitting very still. Her hands are in her lap, she isn’t talking, and she isn’t wiggling. She’s looking right at the teacher. Is she being reverent? The children say she is. Then I tell them there is more to the story. While she’s sitting still, not talking, not wiggling and looking at the teacher, she is thinking, “When I get home, I’m going to hit my brother. He was so mean to me this morning. I’m going to teach him a lesson.” I ask again, “Is Susan being reverent?” Even young children realize she is not being reverent, because although her body is doing the right thing, her mind is not.
I tell the children behavior is on the outside and reverence is on the inside. Then we sing a children’s song that emphasizes this message:
Rev’rence is more than just quietly sitting:
It’s thinking of Father above,
A feeling I get when I think of his blessings.
I’m rev’rent, for rev’rence is love. (Listen to Reverence is Love.)
Reverence is how we show our love for God and for Jesus Christ. Mormon churches have foyers meant for the inevitable socialization among a people who consider their congregation their second family. Once they enter the chapel or a classroom, they’re asked to stop socializing and to sit quietly, listening to the prelude music. Of course, that doesn’t always happen, but it’s the goal.
During the meeting, members remain quiet, listening to the speakers and doing whatever is needed to keep small children happy. In a Mormon church, even the tiniest child remains with his family during the main worship service, known as Sacrament Meeting. This allows children to be trained by their parents to be both reverent and well-behaved, and includes them in the spiritual life of the congregation.
True reverence, as mentioned above, is not just about sitting still and being quiet. While it’s certainly easier to feel the spirit when we’re well-behaved, our minds must also be focused on things of the spirit. As we walk through the chapel doors, we leave behind us the cares and thoughts of the world, and turn our full attention to God. In the quiet moments that are ours, we think of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice, and during the time people are speaking, we listen carefully and stay alert for promptings from the Holy Ghost as to how the speaker’s message can apply to us in our own lives.
This three hour focus each Sunday on the things of the spirit helps Mormons to move into the outside world renewed and ready to face the moral and secular challenges of everyday life. We feel ready to tackle life and the gospel with renewed strength and energy.
Of course, Church isn’t the only place reverence is needed. We can feel the spirit every moment of our lives if we work hard to do so. As we go about our weekday chores and tasks, we can surround ourselves with things that will help us keep the Holy Ghost near. Playing spiritual music, thinking about the gospel and how to apply it to each aspect of our lives, and reading appropriate books ensure the spirit will be present. Mormons are taught that when the Spirit flees, they must flee also, and the Spirit cannot be where there is sin. Mormons work to create an appropriate environment for themselves whenever possible, decorating their homes with spiritual things among the secular ones, playing appropriate music, interacting kindly to family members, and engaging in service and other appropriate activities.
They try to bring the gospel into their homes as much as possible. Each morning they have prayer and scripture study. They have a spiritually based family night once a week. They select other gospel-centered activities to do throughout the week, ensuring that their religion is not a three-hours-on-Sunday religion, but an all day, every day religion that impacts every moment of their lives.
There are times, of course, when we cannot control our environments, such as at work or school. However, we can choose how we interact with that environment. We do not need to participate in gossip or gripe sessions. When inappropriate music is playing, we can move to another room, encourage a change of music, or put on headphones where allowed. If all else fails, we can tune out or ask to be placed in a less offensive environment.
While we can’t always control the music or the language around us, we are always in full control of our own thoughts. We can fill our minds with religious music, spiritually uplifting thoughts, and a pleasant attitude. It’s what we do with what we can control that determines the presence of the spirit.
Elder Oaks explained, “As we study the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and gain an appreciation of the remarkable impact—both mortal and eternal—of His Atonement on our lives, we naturally experience the emotional responses of respect, love, and honor. Gospel obedience and Christian service then flow as appropriate expressions of these emotions. But without reverence, the expressions of respect, love, and honor are incomplete.
As we develop reverence for Jesus Christ, we are better able to pattern our lives after His perfect example. There are many facets to such reverence: faith that He lives, trust in His promised blessings, and obedience to gospel standards. But one of the most important facets is the feeling of our heart—the respect, love, and honor we feel toward Deity. We who respect, love, and honor the Lord will never take His name in vain and will be uncomfortable with demeaning or trivializing jokes about Him. Rather, we praise and revere our Heavenly Father and Him whom we worship as our Lord and our Savior.
The Lord gives clear direction regarding His expectation for reverence in Leviticus 19:30, where He states, “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.” The respect we show for His temples and chapels is a reflection of the reverence for Him we feel in our hearts. Our degree of respect, love, and honor for the Lord is directly reflected in our reverence, as shown by our attitudes as well as by our decorum.” Robert C. Oaks, “Worship through Reverence,” Ensign, Dec 2009, 20–23
The Power of Music
In the December 2009 issue of the Ensign (a magazine for adult Mormons), Russell M. Nelson writes of the power and protection of music. Elder Nelson is an apostle, a high-ranking Mormon leader and, prior to full-time church leadership, was a doctor. He recently spoke to young single adults on music, and how it can protect us and about the power it can have for either good or evil.
Music is an important part of Mormon life. From the much loved sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to the sweet 
voices of young children singing in their Primary Program, music fills the worship and the lives of Mormons. They are taught from an early age that music can both protect them and teach them. It has the power to build testimonies, as it seems somehow to reach deep into the hearts of those who listen or sing.
A few years ago, I attended a stake conference. A stake conference is a meeting of a number of different Mormon congregations in a geographic area. The children throughout the church had been learning a song that year about the power of reading scripture. The stake president asked all the children to stand wherever they were and sing the song for the adults. To help them, a music leader stood in the front holding up pictures representing the meaning of each part of the song. In one part of the song, the children sing that if they read the scriptures and obey the teachings found therein, they will receive a great reward. The music leader, on the words great reward, held up a picture of Jesus Christ. A child standing in front of me suddenly lit up and said excitedly, “Oh, that’s the reward!”
This story illustrates the importance of making certain our children—and we ourselves—understand and think about the words we sing each Sunday in our worship services. Unless we know what we’re singing, and think about the meaning of those words, the songs cannot reach our souls.
Music can serve as a protection for us as we attempt to live our lives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Mormon children learn a song in which they sing that if they’re tempted to say a bad word, they can hum a hymn, allowing them to fill their minds and hearts with the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of inappropriate thoughts. Often, as we’re tempted to do something wrong, a hymn we’ve spent a great deal of time with will suddenly come into our minds and remind us that life is more than brief moments of worldly pleasure. We can train ourselves to have these thoughts come to mind by choosing to sing them in moments of weakness.
When we surround ourselves with quiet appropriate music, whether it is spiritual or simply quiet and uplifting, we are better able to feel the Spirit and to receive promptings and inspiration. A home that is playing soft, spiritual music invites the Holy Ghost to be present and minimizes fighting and poor choices.
Elder Nelson warns young people to be careful about the type of music they select:
Wherever we are we should carefully choose what we see and hear. We would not knowingly tolerate pornography in our homes, but if we are not careful, we may allow music into our lives that can be just as devastating.
Many youth listen to music that can be described as loud and fast, becoming louder and faster. It aims to agitate, not to pacify; to excite more than to calm. Beware of that kind of music.
As you know, continued exposure to loud sounds will, in time, damage delicate organs of hearing. In like manner, if you overindulge in loud music, you will more likely become spiritually deaf, unable to hear the still, small voice. A scripture states, “The Lord your God … hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words” (1 Nephi 17:45).
Do not degrade yourself with the numbing shabbiness and irreverence of music that is not worthy of you. Delete the rubbish from your minds and your MP3 players. Protect your personal standards! Be selective! Be wise!
Do not allow unworthy, raucous music to enter your life. It is not harmless. It can weaken your defense and allow unworthy thoughts into your mind and pave the way to unworthy acts. Please remember:
“That which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.
That which is of God is light” (D&C 50:23–24).
Fill your minds with worthy sights and sounds. Cultivate your precious gift of the Holy Ghost. Protect it as the priceless gift that it is. Carefully listen for its quiet communication. You will be spiritually stronger if you do.
You know the proverb, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). As you control your thoughts, you control your actions. Indeed, worthy music can provide power and protection for the soul.” (See Russell M. Nelson, “The Power and Protection of Worthy Music,” Ensign, Dec 2009, 13–17)
Children will learn to love quality music if they hear it from the time they are small. We can help them learn to love it by using hymns as lullabies, singing it as we work, having family singing, and by playing it periodically throughout the day. They will learn to value its power if we demonstrate how it can help. A frightened child can be encouraged to join a parent in singing a comforting hymn. When a child is facing a problem, a parent can ask, “Do you know a hymn that answers that question? Let’s sing it together.” By referring to hymns when we’re facing trials, or including them in our celebrations, children will learn how to make the hymns more than just a break in the sermons, but will see them as an essential tool for a Christ-like life.
Gratitude as a Path to Happiness
In difficult economic times, it might seem hard to make a Thanksgiving list of things we’re grateful for. However, no matter what our circumstances, there are always things to add to our list.
We are children of a loving Father in Heaven. That is the first item to place on any list. The second is that His Son, Jesus
Christ, loved us enough to die for us. These two blessings can serve as the foundation for all other blessings on our list. Some things cannot be taken from us, no matter how little income we have or how few our possessions.
In the May 2000 Ensign, a talk given by Bonnie D. Parkin in the Mormon General Conference, talked about gratitude during even the hardest of times. (See Bonnie D. Parkin, “Gratitude: A Path to Happiness,” Ensign, May 2007, 34–36.) She suggested showing gratitude toward Heavenly Father for our blessings was one way to find happiness in our trials.
Sister Parkin said, “Let me share a sweet story with you. A family was going through a difficult time. It was hard for them not to focus on their challenges. The mother wrote: “Our world had completely crumpled, so we turned to Heavenly Father for guidance. Almost immediately we realized that we were surrounded by goodness and were being cheered on from every side. We began as a family to express our gratitude to each other as well as to the Lord daily. A close friend pointed out to me that our family’s ‘blessing basket’ was overflowing. From that conversation came a sort of game, which my children and I grew to love. Before family prayer each night we would talk about how our day had gone and then share with each other all of the many blessings that had been added to our ‘blessing basket.’ The more we expressed gratitude, the more there was to be grateful for. We felt the love of the Lord in a significant way as opportunities for growth presented themselves.”2
What would a “blessing basket” add to your family?”
We often have no control over the trials we’re given. They come to us through our own choices or through the choices of others. Sometimes we can work to improve the situation, but other trials are outside our control. However, we can control how we view those trials and we can control where we focus our attention. Certainly, some trials require a great deal of our attention, but others must simply be gotten through. With either type of trial, we can focus exclusively on the negative portions of the trial, or we can give time as well to the good things going on in the background. Every day of our lives, something good is happening to us. When we pay attention to those good things and remember to take a few minutes to thank God for them, somehow the trials don’t seem as overwhelming. We’re able to see God’s presence in the worst of times, and to remember there will always be goodness during bad times.
“Gratitude requires awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it. Frequently we are oblivious to the Lord’s hand. We murmur, complain, resist, criticize; so often we are not grateful. In the Book of Mormon, we learn that those who murmur do not know “the dealings of that God who … created them.”3 The Lord counsels us not to murmur because it is then difficult for the Spirit to work with us.
Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God’s love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence. “Live in thanksgiving daily,” said Amulek, “for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.”4
Mercies and blessings come in different forms—sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.”5All things means just that: good things, difficult things—not just some things. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. This is another evidence of His love.”
The Book of Mormon, a book of sacred text used by Mormons alongside the Bible, tells of a man named Nephi. He wrote that he had been blessed all the days of his life. This might seem to be an unimportant, generic sort of expression until you realize those days of his life had been filled with trials that would do in the average person. As a young teenager, he had to flee his home with his family due to persecution, and leave for a strange new land. He was homeless for many years as he traveled through the wilderness. His two oldest brothers regularly abused him and even attempted to kill him numerous times. When his parents died, he, his family, and his supporters fled persecution and danger once again—this time escaping his oldest brothers.
And yet, despite a lifetime spent in a highly dysfunctional family and despite constant danger, he felt all—every one—of his days had been blessed. While he faced homelessness, he was never alone. While he faced abuse and attempted murder, he was always saved by angels or God’s power, and he always had the portion of his family that believed in him behind him. He seems to have focused his attention on the blessings, rather than the trials of his life. Certainly he couldn’t ignore the trials—it’s hard to overlook attempted murder—but they didn’t define his life in his own mind. Instead, he made a special point of noticing and expressing gratitude for the good parts.
Sister Parkin explained the blessings that come from a lifetime of choosing gratitude: “The kind of gratitude that receives even tribulations with thanksgiving requires a broken heart and a contrite spirit, humility to accept that which we cannot change, willingness to turn everything over to the Lord—even when we do not understand, thankfulness for hidden opportunities yet to be revealed. Then comes a sense of peace.”
Read “Gratitude: A Path to Happiness.”