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.
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
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.”
The Golden Rule and Civility
While living on Earth, Jesus taught what has come to be known in the Christian world as the Golden Rule. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Discipleship (Good Samaritan)
(See Matthew 7:12.)
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons, this penetrates every aspect of our lives. It is not an instruction just to be obeyed during church. While it seems easy in theory to practice this, in everyday life, it can be challenging to remember it in the heat of battle.
Recently, the Mormons released a plea for a return to civility in both public and private life, centered on the principle of the Golden Rule. The Mormon Ethic of Civility was a firm reminder that civility is a Christ-like principle applicable to all aspects of life. “Latter-day Saint ethical life requires members to treat their neighbors with respect, regardless of the situation. Behavior in a religious setting should be consistent with behavior in a secular setting.”
The statement focused in on politics, one place where even the kindest person might find civility to be a challenge, as he is faced with very strong opinions on how his nation ought to function. Church leaders reminded members the church is non-partisan and that it defies categorization into any single party. Leaders encouraged members to look to the Church’s example in deciding how to approach this challenge:
Civility is not only a matter of discourse. It is primarily a mode of engagement. The technological interconnectedness of society has made isolation impossible. Of all the institutions in the modern world, religion has had perhaps the greatest difficulty adjusting to the reality of give and take with the public. Today, and throughout its history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continuously encounters the legitimate interests of various stakeholders in its interaction with the public. Rather than exempting itself from the rules of law and civility, the Church has sought the path of cooperative engagement and avoided the perils of acrimonious confrontation.
A careful study of the Church’s commentary section in the LDS Newsroom can be enlightening for Mormons and others who wish to learn how to tackle controversial topics in a civil manner. While never shying away from proclaiming truth, and while calling for respect, they tackle attacks and sensitive issues in a Christ-like manner and all can benefit from studying their approach.
In a previous release called “The Publicity Dilemma,” the Church offered this counsel:
As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.
Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.
The call for civility referred Mormons to The Book of Mormon, which tells the history of a civilization that revolved often from prosperity to decline. The negative stages of the cycles always began with a decline in civility. Church leaders are concerned about the impact negative political behavior—lying, name-calling, and attacking, rather than polite expressions of opinion and a spirit of cooperation–will have on our nation.
Furthermore, the Church views with concern the politics of fear and rhetorical extremism that render civil discussion impossible.
This is not a new topic for the Mormons. Church leaders have spoken forcefully on this subject in the past. They warn of the dire consequences that can occur when civility is abandoned in favor of less Christ-like methods of politics. One Church leader pointed out we are endangering our entire democratic system when we focus on the negative.
Tirades against men in office or against one’s opponent tend to cause our youth and others to lose faith in the individual and others in government and often even our form of government itself.” (See N. Eldon Tanner, “‘Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged’,” Ensign, Jul 1972, 34.)
Gordon B. Hinckley, a former prophet of the Mormons, warned that while we can’t ignore the problems in our nation, we can control where we focus our attention and how we speak. In his mainstream book, Standing for Something, he warned everyone to search for balanced truth and to avoid cynicism. “A sustained diet of a negative point of view has serious repercussions,” he warned. He said such a method for coping with the challenges of the world created a cloud over the nation and made it difficult to find truth. “But if we will turn our time and our talents away from vituperative criticism, away from constantly looking for evil, and will emphasize instead the greater good, America will continue to go forward with the blessing of the Almighty and stand as an ensign of strength and peace and generosity to all the world.” (Hinckley, Gordon B.. STANDING FOR SOMETHING -. New York: Granite Publishers, Inc, 2006. Pgs. 102-103.)
By accepting the Mormon call to civility, we can avoid negativism, and continue to receive God’s blessings over our nation. We need only turn around the question: How would I feel if these words and this method of handling issues were turned against me? How would I want someone who disagreed with me to treat me and to handle the disagreement? The Golden Rule is an infallible way to handle politics wisely, allowing members to be actively participating citizens in the democratic process while maintaining their position as representatives of the Savior.
What Do Mormons Believe About Tithing?
Filed under: Basic Beliefs of Mormons, Gospel Principles, Practices & Precepts
Tithing is the payment of ten percent of your income to God. Mormon beliefs state that everything we have comes as a gift from God, and despite this, He asks that we return only ten percent to Him. The rest may be used for any moral purpose we choose. For Mormons, it is a sacred obligation to pay tithing as a way of recognizing God’s hand in our lives and of showing gratitude for His gifts. Read more
Parable of the Talents
Filed under: Bible, Finding Happiness, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Teachings of Christ, The Bible
In the New Testament, Jesus told a parable of a man who, about to leave on a trip, gave each of his servants some talents (coins) to have stewardship over. Each received a different amount. Most of them used the talents in such a way as to increase the value of the stewardship by the time the master returned. However, the person who had received the smallest number of talents—only one—hid his in the ground to protect it, rather than working to make it worth more than it was worth originally.
Even though the man had only one talent, and others had as many as five, he was expected to make good use of that talent and to expand its value, rather than to bury it where it couldn’t help anyone.
Today, we often look around and see that others have far more talent than we do. When our talents don’t seem as many, we might feel less valued by God. When our talents are less great, we might wonder if it’s even worth doing anything with them.
Mormon beliefs teach that our talents are gifts from God. The number we’re given, or even the extent of them, really isn’t the point of the talents. They were given to us to do something with, and if we use them well, they will have value and even increase.
I’m an author. I didn’t write something publishable the first time I sat down to write. It took many years of writing badly written stories, articles, and books—beginning when I was only six years old—before I wrote something anyone was willing to publish. I received a large stack of rejection letters over the years before I received the first acceptance letter, and still receive rejections today, even after publishing a book that got good reviews.
My books will never be best sellers. I simply don’t have that kind of talent. Does that mean I shouldn’t write? Of course not. What I write may not make history, but it has helped a few people, and so has value. I’ve improved my ability to write over the years, and since I can live forever through the atonement, I expect I will improve a great deal in the next few million years. However, I can’t wait for the next life to get started; mproving my talents is one of my earthly assignments.
Sometimes we misjudge how talent and success work. I decided many years ago to return to school and take a math class, because I wanted to better help my children with their math. I’d always been awful at math, and was extremely frightened to take this class. However, I ended up getting straight A’s in every test, the first A’s I had ever received in math. A student who was not doing well noted my grade on the posted grade sheet and complained it wasn’t fair that I got A’s. He said it was easy for me because I was naturally good at math. I explained my history of math failures. My grades weren’t the result of talent; they were the result of hard work. We were required to do every other odd numbered problem. I did every problem, often three or four times. I worked a few weeks ahead of the class in case I got stuck and I received one-on-one help from the professor almost weekly by making use of office hours. I even cornered a professor or two I wasn’t taking classes from when I was really desperate.
Talent can help us to be successful, but hard work is also critical. I may never be a math genius, because my brain isn’t configured for that type of thinking. My talent in math was miniscule, but hard work made up some of the difference. Even with great talent, work is critical.
Of course, hard work can’t turn you into a genius in every case. Anyone who has heard me singing to my toddlers in the church nursery knows I’m never going to be a great singer, but even though singing might not be my talent, I can still sing, at least to toddlers who don’t care. I used to worry a lot about what I wasn’t good at. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve stopped worrying about this so much and I’ve begun to focus on what I can do, or might be able to do if I really worked at it.
When I felt overwhelmed about writing a book, a friend pointed out that if I wrote only one page a day, I’d have a book in a year. I only had to focus on my one little page. Many of us are very busy and don’t feel we have much time for talents. However, if we give that talent even fifteen minutes of our time each day, we will be working toward something that will be ready for our greater attention in a few years, when we have more time.
The Savior, Jesus Christ, instructed us to make wise use of every gift God has given us. If we take even our tiniest talents and work at them, turning to God for help, we can magnify them and thereby honor the giver of the gift. The parable of the talents was given to us to remind us to make use of our God-given gifts to become the person God knows we can be.
Return to Virtue: Repentance
Young LDS women across the globe are calling for a return to virtue. They understand they will not be perfect every day, as they strive to emulate the Savior, Jesus Christ, but they also have the reassurance of being able to repent of their sins. Read more
Can I Make a Difference?
Sometimes, when a caring person looks around and sees how much need there is in the world, he can become discouraged. It might seem like it’s hardly worth helping, when your help would barely even touch the hardship the world is facing. A person who can afford to give only three cans of soup to a food bank might wonder if those three cans could make any difference at all when so many are hungry.
There is an often told tale of a man tossing starfish back into the ocean. Starfish that become stranded on the beach will die. A young man comes along and watches the older man for a few minutes. He looks around the beach at the hundreds and hundreds of stranded starfish lying on the beach and knowing the older man can’t possibly rescue them all, asks, “Why do you bother? It’s not going to make a difference.”
The older man picks up another starfish and throws it into the water. He turns to the younger man and says gently, “It made a difference to this one.”
There is a quote on my desk from Gordon B. Hinckley, the previous president of the Mormons. It says, “I believe in 
the principle that I can make a difference in this world. It may be ever so small. But it will count for the greater good. The goodness of the world in which we live is the accumulated goodness of many small and seemingly inconsequential acts.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “I Believe,” Ensign, Aug 1992, 2)
Our three cans of soup might not do very much to end hunger. However, our three cans of soup might feed six people. Then, if our neighbor also contributed three cans of soup, twelve people would be fed. If enough people donated soup, and all the other foods necessary to sustain life, no one would be hungry. The accumulated donations would be enough to take care of everyone who needed them, even though ours alone can’t make a dent in the problem.
In order for this to work though, in order to be sure everyone who is hungry gets fed, and everyone who needs a place to live has one, everyone has to help. This doesn’t mean we can all sit around and wait for a handout. It does mean that those who have done the best they can do and still can’t quite make it will receive what they need. Anyone could unexpectedly find himself in a situation where he is dependent on others for his well-being. No one is immune from hardship. If we’ve helped others, we’ve earned the right to be helped without feeling guilty when we’ve truly exhausted our other resources.
The Mormons have a number of programs designed to help make our small contributions count for the greater good. One such program is the bishop’s storehouse. The storehouse resembles a small grocery store with one big exception-there is no cash register. Mormons meet with their church leaders to evaluate whether or not the member has done everything in his power to take care of himself. Has he cut his expenses down, and gotten rid of the luxuries? The church doesn’t help people maintain their lifestyles. It only helps them live. This means if a member wanted food assistance, but was keeping up a gym membership and a nice boat, he would be turned down.
The church leaders would also help the member learn to live more frugally if necessary. Then, when they were determined to be eligible for help, they would be able to fill out, with help from a leader, a form that lists all available food and personal care items available. They’d select what they need and go to the storehouse every other week to pick it up.
A member receiving this help would be expected to “pay” for it with work that might not entirely cover the cost, but would be tailored to that person’s individual circumstances. A member might come to the church building on Saturday evening to help clean it for the next day’s services, or mow lawns for elderly church members. Those who can come early to the storehouse and work there for an hour or two before filling their order. This maintains a person’s self-respect and dignity, because he’s not taking charity.
The money for this program comes from Mormons, who go without food for twenty-four hours, ending the first Sunday of each month. They skip two meals this way and then donate at least the amount they saved by not eating, drinking, or snacking during this time to a special fund called a Fast Offering. All the money from this fund goes to care for those in need. This allows the person who could normally only afford to donate two cans of soup to donate more once a month. Again, while the amount of money saved from two meals might not be a lot, when combined with the money from all the other skipped meals, it feeds and cares for a great many people around the world.
Each Mormon congregation has a woman’s Relief Society. This Relief Society has a woman assigned to be the Compassionate Service Leader for her congregation, working with assistants if needed. The compassionate service leader makes certain the needs of the congregation are met in terms of service. For instance, a grieving family will receive meals for a few days from members of the church. A woman with a broken leg might driven to the doctor by another woman, and a single mom with a critical job interview might have her children watched while she’s away. In this case, the accumulated goodness is in the form of time, rather than money. Not all needs can be met with money, and Mormons are taught to respond to those needs with their own time and resources.
The Savior Jesus Christ taught us to serve each other. He told the story of a time he was hungry and wasn’t fed or homeless, but was turned away. When his followers wanted to know when they had done that, he reminded them that what they do to others is what they do to the Savior. When we feed a hungry person, it’s a gift to Jesus Christ.
We may not be able to change the world alone, but when we combine our small but loving efforts with those of others, the world does get changed.
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
When Jesus Christ created the earth under God’s direction, he took only six of the allotted days to do the work. The seventh day He rested, and He commanded Adam and Eve to set aside that seventh day each week to rest and to worship.
Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.
“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
“But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Ex. 20:8-11.)
Today, that standard has become lost. Many people do consider the Sabbath to be a day of rest, but they interpret it as a day of play. Even those who attend church leave the building and head off to a restaurant, a park, or a football game. They leave God behind in the church building and don’t give him any further thought that day.
The commandment given to Moses was to keep the Sabbath Day holy, meaning the entire day. Six days belong to us, to do with them as we choose, but God asks for just one of those days to be focused entirely on Him.
Keeping the Sabbath Day holy is critical to our eternal well-being. Those who do it and choose wisely how to do it find they approach the challenges of the coming week feeling more peaceful and better able to make Christ-centered choices. They use the opportunity to get to know God better and to strengthen their relationship. It can be challenging, during a busy work week, to find uninterrupted time for this, and the Sabbath, when dedicated to this purpose, allows a person to find that time.
Church attendance, of course, is an important part of the process. This allows us to be with others who share our faith and it allows us to be taught by others, giving us new insights into the gospel. If we also have church work, it allows us to learn the gospel at a deeper level than we might otherwise take the time to do, and to serve God and others. Church attendance gives us an opportunity to partake of the sacrament (communion) and renew the covenants (promises) we’ve made to God.
The time after church is more challenging, because we have to choose for ourselves how to spend it. We often hear so many lists of things we’re not supposed to do that it becomes difficult to figure out what we can do. In general, appropriate Sabbath activities include:
Those things that bring us closer to God
Those things that serve others.
Those things that strengthen family relationships.
Now, there are things that fit into those catagories, but still don’t meet the standards of Sabbath activity. For instance, going to an amusement park might strengthen our family, but it’s meant to be done on a Saturday. Sabbath family time should be quiet and meaningful. Appropriate ways to spend time with the family on the Sabbath might include quiet conversation, reading scriptures together, having a family council meeting, or working together on a quiet service project.
Sabbath activities should be meaningful and peaceful, and should be done without spending money. A person who lives alone might choose to visit someone who is lonely or ill, write letters to family members, work on family history, or embark on a systematic study of the Bible.
On the Sabbath, we stay out of the world and spend our time in Godly places-our churches and our homes. The amusement parks and baseball stadiums will still be there next Saturday. Today, the television can bring those worldly places into our homes, forcing us to be even more cautious in how we spend our time.
We also dress differently on the Sabbath. We wear our nicest clothing to church, and remain nicely dressed throughout the day, in order to honor God on His day. While children won’t stay in fancy clothing, they can still wear special clothing that is appropriate to wear on a sacred occasion.
Only necessary work should be done-simple meals can be prepared, or meals can be prepared ahead. Children must be cared for and entertained, but those old enough to participate in the Sabbath can be given special toys that are quieter and that focus on God, such as flannel board stories from the Bible, scripture story books, and gospel games. If these toys are reserved for the Sabbath, they help the child learn at a very young age that there is something special about the Sabbath Day.
Marvin J. Ashton warned, “Sometimes the freedoms and blessings of the Sabbath can be lost by attitudes that allow selfishness and lack of personal involvement in tried-and-true patterns. Sabbath days can be lost an hour at a time. Sabbath days can be lost an outing at a time.” (Marvin J. Ashton, “‘Strengthen the Feeble Knees’,” Ensign, Nov 1991, 70)
To keep from losing our Sabbath for even an hour, it’s important to have a plan. Keep a list of appropriate Sabbath Day activities that can be viewed and chosen from. If an item on the list turns out not to promote spiritual feelings, remove it and put another activity in its place. Teach children to consult the list as well. If you take a few minutes each Saturday to plan your Sabbath Day, you’ll soon find the day is too short for everything you hoped to do.
John H. Groberg offered this promise to those who honor the Sabbath:
“Does the Lord love and bless those who keep the Sabbath day holy? I testify that he does in eternally meaningful ways. I further testify that when we eventually see things through the proper perspective of eternal truth, we will be amazed at how much we were blessed in important-though often unperceived-ways through keeping the Sabbath holy; and to our sorrow we may sense how many blessings we kept from ourselves by not consistently keeping the Sabbath day holy.
There is a direct correlation between the proper observance of the Sabbath and true reverence for God, which includes obedience to his other commandments.” (John H. Groberg, “The Power of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy,” Ensign, Nov 1984, 79)
Christmas Service the Savior’s Way
Filed under: Mortal Ministry & Mission, Postmortal Life
In this year’s Christmas devotional, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (nicknamed the Mormons), Thomas S. Monson, talked about the innkeepers who turned away Mary and Joseph as they sought a place for Jesus to be born. He thought that later, the innkeeper might have been sorry, and might have chosen differently had he known who the baby was to be. But he didn’t get a second chance. Jesus Christ was born and the opportunity to serve was over.
In Jesus’ own life, he never missed a chance to serve another person. When someone needed healing, or a blessing, or words of wisdom, he stopped and took care of it right then. He didn’t just preach service; he lived it.
The Bible tells of a group of children who were brought to see him. It was at the end of a long day, and the Savior was tired. His apostles tried to send the children away, but Jesus stopped them. He called them over and spent time with each child, serving them and showing them love. He had just one chance to show the children what the love of the Savior meant, and to serve them, and He took it, even though He was tired.
Recently I wrote about a blind man who called for Jesus’ attention. The others in the area tried to stop him, because he was unimportant in the world’s eyes, and they felt he shouldn’t bother someone as important as the Savior. However, he wasn’t unimportant to the Savior, who called the man to him and spoke to him politely, asking how he could help. He didn’t turn away because the man wasn’t important to society. He just served because service was needed.
Jesus Christ came upon a woman being stoned for adultery. She was certainly a sinner, but Jesus didn’t worry about that. He stopped the men about to stone her and refused to judge her. His service likely saved her life. However, he gave her an even more important gift—he instructed her not to sin again. He didn’t accept her behavior, or give her permission to live an immoral lifestyle. However, he didn’t allow men to mistreat her. He rescued her and then instructed her to forsake the sin.
Throughout Jesus’ brief ministry, he served all sorts of people, the rich, the poor, the valiant, the immoral, the kind and the not-so-kind. He looked for those who needed service and then served them without stopping to judge their worthiness.
In the Book of Mormon, a wise King named Benjamin said, “And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?” (Mosiah 4:16-19)
In this Christmas season, let’s remember the example of the Savior and not miss an opportunity to serve just because we didn’t realize how important it might be, or because we find the person in need beneath our notice.