| Fact or Fable? | Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell |
A beloved fairy tale tells the story of an emperor who loved fine clothing. One day, two tailors appeared claiming they could make clothing so beautiful and delicate it would be invisible to all except those with refined tastes. The emperor was naturally intrigued and, although the price was extravagant, he commissioned the tailors to make such clothing for him. At last when the task was complete, the tailors presented the invisible clothing to the emperor. They raved about the colors, they exulted in the exquisite textures, and they gushed about how perfectly it fit—well aware all along that there was no fabric, no clothing; it was all a hoax. But they knew that no one would dare speak out and risk being branded as unrefined. The emperor himself played the charade through to its end and marched around proudly wearing nothing but his underwear. We may think we could never fall for something like that, yet sometimes people believe things that have about as much substance as the emperor’s clothes. Some things are false no matter how many people believe them, while others are true whether we believe them or not. Even if we firmly believe that the earth is flat, it remains a sphere. Even if others question the value of integrity, honesty is still the best policy. And it is always true that pure love softens hatred and that kindness towards others fosters kindness in others. There are stories that entertain and teach—like the story of the emperor and his clothes—and then there are stories that deceive and masquerade as truth. It’s up to us to see through illusion and hold on to that which we know is true. Only then can we discern between fact and fable. Program #4119 | |
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
LDS Church sends emergency supplies to Gulf Coast
Seven semitrailer loads of emergency relief supplies from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are on their way from Salt Lake to Gulf Coast church storehouses near the expected impact zone of Hurricane Gustav, and more is on the way.
Church officials said in a statement Friday that they are in close contact with Texas and Louisiana emergency-response teams as well as Federal Emergency Management personnel. Supplies are headed to Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Orlando, Fla., and Slidell, La. — areas the emergency teams anticipate will host hurricane evacuees.
The trucks are carrying 100,000 hygiene kits to supplement storehouse supplies that include satellite phones, generators, linens, plastic sheeting, water and food. More trucks are scheduled to head south this weekend with additional hygiene kits and food boxes.
LDS missionaries in the four mission districts most likely to be affected have been notified, and the church has contacted the families of those missionaries with assurances that the storm is being closely monitored, and early actions will be taken to keep them out of danger.
Updates on LDS church relief efforts can be found at www.providentliving.org.
Speaking Words I Didn’t Understand
Unmistakable spiritual promptings attended me as a new missionary in Fitiuta, Manua, American Samoa, when I had to conduct a sacrament meeting in a room filled with curious villagers not of our faith. Aviu, the only Samoan priesthood holder in the village, was bedridden with an illness and couldn’t conduct the meeting. I fasted and prayed fervently, deeply concerned because I could not understand the Samoan language well enough to converse with the people. When Sunday came, my companion and I blessed the sacrament in English and passed it. I then stood and looked at the congregation. I knew what I wanted to communicate. I tried to open with traditional, polite greetings in Samoan, but the words didn’t come out right. I stopped and closed my eyes, feeling I’d have to speak in English. As I began speaking again, I had a sensation that my mouth was several inches in front of me, speaking in Samoan. The animated expressions on the faces in the congregation showed they understood my words. After the meeting my companion told me that our Church members said they were happy to hear my talk and that I was speaking perfect Samoan. I acknowledged the gift in my prayers that night. As the following Sunday approached, Aviu was still unable to leave his sickbed. I again fasted and prayed and had the same experience as the previous Sunday. I was humbled, recognizing again the feeling of being a tool in the Lord’s hands.
The third Sunday approached with Aviu still sick. This time I felt confident the Spirit would prompt me. I wasn’t anxious. I didn’t fast or pray with the same urgency as before. I felt proud to have received the gift of tongues. But this time I failed. The congregation was puzzled when I couldn’t speak Samoan clearly. Pride stopped me from being receptive to the Spirit that time. This experience elped me learn that promptings will come to me only if I pray humbly and rely on the Spirit.
Blaine L. Gale, Utah
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Somalia’s runners provide inspiration
Samia Yusuf Omar of Somalia reacts after a heat of the women's 200-meter during the athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008.
BEIJING – Samia Yusuf Omar headed back to Somalia Sunday, returning to the small two-room house in Mogadishu shared by seven family members. Her mother lives there, selling fruits and vegetables. Her father is buried there, the victim of a wayward artillery shell that hit their home and also killed Samia’s aunt and uncle.
This is the Olympic story we never heard.
It’s about a girl whose Beijing moment lasted a mere 32 seconds – the slowest 200-meter dash time out of the 46 women who competed in the event. Thirty-two seconds that almost nobody saw but that she carries home with her, swelled with joy and wonderment. Back to a decades-long civil war that has flattened much of her city. Back to an Olympic program with few Olympians and no facilities. Back to meals of flat bread, wheat porridge and tap water.
“I have my pride,” she said through a translator before leaving China. “This is the highest thing any athlete can hope for. It has been a very happy experience for me. I am proud to bring the Somali flag to fly with all of these countries, and to stand with the best athletes in the world.”
There are many life stories that collide in each Olympics – many intriguing tales of glory and tragedy. Beijing delivered the electricity of Usain Bolt and the determination of Michael Phelps. It left hearts heavy with the disappointment of Liu Xiang and the heartache of Hugh McCutcheon.
But it also gave us Samia Yusuf Omar – one small girl from one chaotic country – and a story that might have gone unnoticed if it hadn’t been for a roaring half-empty stadium.
***
It was Aug. 19, and the tiny girl had crossed over seven lanes to find her starting block in her 200-meter heat. She walked past Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown – the eventual gold medalist in the event. Samia had read about Campbell-Brown in track and field magazines and once watched her in wonderment on television. As a cameraman panned down the starting blocks, it settled on lane No. 2, on a 17-year old girl with the frame of a Kenyan distance runner. Samia’s biography in the Olympic media system contained almost no information, other than her 5-foot-4, 119-pound frame. There was no mention of her personal best times and nothing on previous track meets. Somalia, it was later explained, has a hard time organizing the records of its athletes.
She looked so odd and out of place among her competitors, with her white headband and a baggy, untucked T-shirt. The legs on her wiry frame were thin and spindly, and her arms poked out of her sleeves like the twigs of a sapling. She tugged at the bottom of her shirt and shot an occasional nervous glance at the other runners in her heat. Each had muscles bulging from beneath their skin-tight track suits. Many outweighed Samia by nearly 40 pounds.
After introductions, she knelt into her starting block.
***
The country of Somalia sent two athletes to the Beijing Games – Samia and distance runner Abdi Said Ibrahim, who competed in the men’s 5,000-meter event. Like Samia, Abdi finished last in his event, overmatched by competitors who were groomed for their Olympic moment. Somalia has only loose-knit programs supporting its Olympians, few coaches, and few facilities. With a civil war tearing the city apart since the Somali government’s collapse in 1991, Mogadishu Stadium has become one of the bloodiest pieces of real estate in the city – housing U.N. forces in the early 1990s and now a military compound for insurgents.
That has left the country’s track athletes to train in Coni Stadium, an artillery-pocked structure built in 1958 which has no track, endless divots, and has been overtaken by weeds and plants.
“Sports are not a priority for Somalia,” said Duran Farah, vice president of the Somali Olympic Committee. “There is no money for facilities or training. The war, the security, the difficulties with food and everything – there are just many other internal difficulties to deal with.”
That leaves athletes such as Samia and 18-year old Abdi without the normal comforts and structure enjoyed by almost every other athlete in the Olympic Games. They don’t receive consistent coaching, don’t compete in meets on a regular basis and struggle to find safety in something as simple as going out for a daily run.
When Samia cannot make it to the stadium, she runs in the streets, where she runs into roadblocks of burning tires and refuse set out by insurgents. She is often bullied and threatened by militia or locals who believe that Muslim women should not take part in sports. In hopes of lessening the abuse, she runs in the oppressive heat wearing long sleeves, sweat pants and a head scarf. Even then, she is told her place should be in the home – not participating in sports.
“For some men, nothing is good enough,” Farah said.
Even Abdi faces constant difficulties, passing through military checkpoints where he is shaken down for money. And when he has competed in sanctioned track events, gun-toting insurgents have threatened his life for what they viewed as compliance with the interim government.
“Once, the insurgents were very unhappy,” he said. “When we went back home, my friends and I were rounded up and we were told if we did it again, we would get killed. Some of my friends stopped being in sports. I had many phone calls threatening me, that if I didn’t stop running, I would get killed. Lately, I do not have these problems. I think probably they realized we just wanted to be athletes and were not involved with the government.”
But the interim government has not been able to offer support, instead spending its cash and energy arming Ethiopian allies for the fight against insurgents. Other than organizing a meet to compete for Olympic selection – in which the Somali Olympic federation chose whom it believed to be its two best performers – there has been little lavished on athletes. While other countries pour millions into the training and perfecting of their Olympic stars, Somalia offers little guidance and no doctors, not even a stipend for food.
“The food is not something that is measured and given to us every day,” Samia said. “We eat whatever we can get.”
On the best days, that means getting protein from a small portion of fish, camel or goat meat, and carbohydrates from bananas or citrus fruits growing in local trees. On the worst days – and there are long stretches of those – it means surviving on water and Angera, a flat bread made from a mixture of wheat and barley.
“There is no grocery store,” Abdi said. “We can’t go shopping for whatever we want.”
He laughs at this thought, with a smile that is missing a front tooth.
***
When the gun went off in Samia’s 200-meter heat, seven women blasted from their starting blocks, registering as little as 16 one-hundredths of a second of reaction time. Samia’s start was slow enough that the computer didn’t read it, leaving her reaction time blank on the heat’s statistical printout.
Within seconds, seven competitors were thundering around the curve in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, struggling to separate themselves from one another. Samia was just entering the curve when her opponents were nearing the finish line. A local television feed had lost her entirely by the time Veronica Campbell-Brown crossed the finish line in a trotting 23.04 seconds.
As the athletes came to a halt and knelt, stretching and sucking deep breaths, a camera moved to ground level. In the background of the picture, a white dot wearing a headband could be seen coming down the stretch.
***
Until this month, Samia had been to two countries outside of her own – Djibouti and Ethiopia. Asked how she will describe Beijing, her eyes get big and she snickers from under a blue and white Olympic baseball cap.
“The stadiums, I never thought something like this existed in the world,” she said. “The buildings in the city, it was all very surprising. It will probably take days to finish all the stories we have to tell.”
Asked about Beijing’s otherworldly Water Cube, she lets out a sigh: “Ahhhhhhh.”
Before she can answer, Abdi cuts her off.
“I didn’t know what it was when I saw it,” he said. “Is it plastic? Is it magic?”
Few buildings are beyond two or three stories tall in Mogadishu, and those still standing are mostly in tatters. Only pictures will be able to describe some of Beijing’s structures, from the ancient architecture of the Forbidden City to the modernity of the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest.
“The Olympic fire in the stadium, everywhere I am, it is always up there,” Samia said. “It’s like the moon. I look up wherever I go, it is there.”
These are the stories they will relish when they return to Somalia, which they believe has, for one brief moment, united the country’s warring tribes. Farah said he had received calls from countrymen all over the world, asking how their two athletes were doing and what they had experienced in China. On the morning of Samia’s race, it was just after 5 a.m., and locals from her neighborhood were scrambling to find a television with a broadcast.
“People stayed awake to see it,” Farah said. “The good thing, sports is the one thing which unites all of Somalia.”
That is one of the common threads they share with every athlete at the Games. Just being an Olympian and carrying the country’s flag brings an immense sense of pride to families and neighborhoods which typically know only despair.
A pride that Samia will share with her mother, three brothers and three sisters. A pride that Abdi will carry home to his father, two brothers and two sisters. Like Samia’s father two years ago, Abdi’s mother was killed in the civil war, by a mortar shell that hit the family’s home in 1993.
“We are very proud,” Samia said. “Because of us, the Somali flag is raised among all the other nations’ flags. You can’t imagine how proud we were when we were marching in the Opening Ceremonies with the flag.
“Despite the difficulties and everything we’ve had with our country, we feel great pride in our accomplishment.”
***
As Samia came down the stretch in her 200-meter heat, she realized that the Somalian Olympic federation had chosen to place her in the wrong event. The 200 wasn’t nearly the best event for a middle distance runner. But the federation believed the dash would serve as a “good experience” for her. Now she was coming down the stretch alone, pumping her arms and tilting her head to the side with a look of despair.
Suddenly, the half-empty stadium realized there was still a runner on the track, still pushing to get across the finish line almost eight seconds behind the seven women who had already completed the race. In the last 50 meters, much of the stadium rose to its feet, flooding the track below with cheers of encouragement. A few competitors who had left Samia behind turned and watched it unfold.
As Samia crossed the line in 32.16 seconds, the crowd roared in applause. Bahamian runner Sheniqua Ferguson, the next smallest woman on the track at 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds, looked at the girl crossing the finish and thought to herself, “Wow, she’s tiny.”
“She must love running,” Ferguson said later.
***
Several days later, Samia waved off her Olympic moment as being inspirational. While she was still filled with joy over her chance to compete, and though she knew she had done all she could, part of her seemed embarrassed that the crowd had risen to its feet to help push her across the finish line.
“I was happy the people were cheering and encouraging me,” she said. “But I would have liked to be cheered because I won, not because I needed encouragement. It is something I will work on. I will try my best not to be the last person next time. It was very nice for people to give me that encouragement, but I would prefer the winning cheer.
She shrugged and smiled.
“I knew it was an uphill task.”
And there it was. While the Olympics are often promoted for the fastest and strongest and most agile champions, there is something to be said for the ones who finish out of the limelight. The ones who finish last and leave with their pride.
At their best, the Olympics still signify competition and purity, a love for sport. What represents that better than two athletes who carry their country’s flag into the Games despite their country’s inability to carry them before that moment? What better way to find the best of the Olympic spirit than by looking at those who endure so much that would break it?
“We know that we are different from the other athletes,” Samia said. “But we don’t want to show it. We try our best to look like all the rest. We understand we are not anywhere near the level of the other competitors here. We understand that very, very well. But more than anything else, we would like to show the dignity of ourselves and our country.”
She smiles when she says this, sitting a stone’s throw from a Somalian flag that she and her countryman Abdi brought to these Games. They came and went from Beijing largely unnoticed, but may have been the most dignified example these Olympics could offer.
Inspiring Quote
We can grumble about our weaknesses and try to ignore them, or we can embrace the challenges to be stretched and to grow. Weaknesses are all about our humility, not about our liabilities.
— Michael D. Barnes, Finding Strength in Christ, BYU Devotional, July 1st, 2008
September First Presidency Message
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Be One
Ensign, September 2008
By President Henry B. Eyring
First Counselor in the First Presidency
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The requirement that we be one is not for this life alone. It is to be without end. The first marriage was performed by God in the garden when Adam and Eve were not subject to death. He placed in men and women from the beginning a desire to be joined together as man and wife forever to dwell in families in a perfect, righteous union. He placed in His children a desire to live at peace with all those around them.
But with the Fall it became clear that living in unity would not be easy. Tragedy struck early. Cain slew Abel, his brother. The children of Adam and Eve had become subject to the temptations of Satan. With skill, hatred, and cunning, Satan pursues his goal. It is the opposite of the purpose of our Heavenly Father and the Savior. They would give us perfect union and eternal happiness. Satan, Their enemy and ours, has known the plan of salvation from before the Creation. He knows that only in eternal life can those sacred, joyful associations of families endure. Satan would tear us from loved ones and make us miserable. And it is he who plants the seeds of discord in human hearts in the hope that we might be divided and separate.
All of us have felt something of both union and separation. Sometimes in families and perhaps in other settings we have glimpsed life when one person put the interests of another above his or her own, in love and with sacrifice. And all of us know something of the sadness and loneliness of being separate and alone. We don't need to be told which we should choose. We know. But we need hope that we can experience unity in this life and qualify to have it forever in the world to come. And we need to know how that great blessing will come so that we can know what we must do.
Our Natures Can Change
The Savior of the world spoke of that unity and how we will have our natures changed to make it possible. He taught it clearly in the prayer He gave in His last meeting with His Apostles before His death. That supernally beautiful prayer is recorded in the book of John. He was about to face the terrible sacrifice for all of us that would make eternal life possible. He was about to leave the Apostles whom He had ordained, whom He loved, and with whom He would leave the keys to lead His Church. And so He prayed to His Father, the perfect Son to the perfect Parent. We see in His words the way families will be made one, as will all the children of our Heavenly Father who follow the Savior and His servants:
"As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:18–21).
In those few words He made clear how the gospel of Jesus Christ can allow hearts to be made one. Those who would believe the truth He taught could accept the ordinances and the covenants offered by His authorized servants. Then, through obedience to those ordinances and covenants, their natures would be changed. The Savior's Atonement in that way makes it possible for us to be sanctified. We can then live in unity, as we must to have peace in this life and to dwell with the Father and His Son in eternity.
The ministry of the apostles and prophets in that day, as it is today, was to bring the children of Adam and Eve to a unity of the faith in Jesus Christ. The ultimate purpose of what they taught and of what we teach is to unite families: husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, ancestors, and finally all of the family of Adam and Eve who will choose the way of unity.
You remember the Savior prayed, "For their sakes"—speaking of the Apostles—"I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17:19). The Holy Ghost is a sanctifier. We can have Him as our companion because the Lord restored the Melchizedek Priesthood through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The keys of that priesthood are on the earth today. By its power we can make covenants which allow us to have the Holy Ghost with us constantly.
Where people have this Spirit with them, we may expect harmony. The Spirit puts the testimony of truth in our hearts, which unifies those who share that testimony. The Spirit of God never generates contention (see 3 Nephi 11:29). This Spirit never generates the feelings of distinction between people which lead to strife.1 Heeding the Holy Ghost leads to personal peace and a feeling of union with others. It unifies souls. A unified family, a unified Church, and a world at peace depend on unified souls.
Companionship of the Holy Ghost
Even a child can understand what to do to have the Holy Ghost as a companion. The sacramental prayer tells us. We hear it every week as we attend our sacrament meetings. In those sacred moments we renew the covenants we made at baptism. And the Lord reminds us of the promise we received as we were confirmed members of the Church—the promise that we might receive the Holy Ghost. Here are those words from the sacramental prayer: "They are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them" (D&C 20:77).
We can have His Spirit by keeping that covenant. First, we promise to take His name upon us. That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want. As long as we love the things of the world first, there will be no peace in us. Holding an ideal for a family or a nation of comfort through material goods will, at last, divide them.2 The ideal of doing for each other what the Lord would have us do, which follows naturally from taking His name upon us, can take us to a spiritual level which is a touch of heaven on earth.
Second, we promise always to remember Him. We do that every time we pray in His name. Especially when we ask for His forgiveness, as we must do often, we remember Him. At that moment we remember His sacrifice that makes repentance and forgiveness possible. When we plead, we remember Him as our advocate with the Father. When the feelings of forgiveness and peace come, we remember His patience and His endless love. That remembering fills our hearts with love.
We also keep our promise to remember Him when as families we pray together and when we read the scriptures. At family prayer around a breakfast table, one child may pray for another to be blessed that things will go well that day in a test or in some performance. When the blessings come, the child blessed will remember the love of the morning and the kindness of the Advocate, in whose name the prayer was offered. Hearts will be bound in love.
We keep our covenant to remember Him every time we gather our families to read the scriptures. They testify of the Lord Jesus Christ, for that is and always has been the message of prophets. Even if children do not remember the words, they will remember the true author, Jesus Christ.
Third, we promise as we take the sacrament to keep His commandments, all of them. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. (1871–1961), a counselor in the First Presidency, as he pled for unity in a general conference talk—and he did so many times—warned us against being selective in what we will obey. He put it this way: "The Lord has given us nothing that is useless or unnecessary. He has filled the Scriptures with the things which we should do in order that we may gain salvation."
President Clark went on: "When we partake of the Sacrament we covenant to obey and keep his commandments. There are no exceptions. There are no distinctions, no differences."3 President Clark taught that just as we repent of all sin, not just a single sin, we pledge to keep all the commandments. Hard as that sounds, it is uncomplicated. We simply submit to the authority of the Savior and promise to be obedient to whatever He commands (see Mosiah 3:19). It is our surrender to the authority of Jesus Christ that will allow us to be bound as families, as a Church, and as the children of our Heavenly Father.
The Lord conveys that authority through His prophet to humble servants. Then faith can turn our call as a home teacher or a visiting teacher into an errand from the Lord. We go for Him, at His command. An ordinary man and a teenage junior companion go into homes expecting that the powers of heaven will help them assure that families are united and that there is no hardness, lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking (see D&C 20:54). Faith that the Lord calls servants will help us ignore their limitations when they reprove us, as they will. We will see their good intent more clearly than their human limitations. We will be less likely to feel offense and more likely to feel gratitude to the Master, who called them.
Barriers to Unity
There are some commandments which, when broken, destroy unity. Some have to do with what we say and some with how we react to what others say. We must speak no ill of anyone. We must see the good in each other and speak well of each other whenever we can.4
At the same time, we must stand against those who speak contemptuously of sacred things, because the certain effect of that is to offend the Spirit and so create contention and confusion. President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) showed the way to stand without being contentious as he lay on a hospital gurney and asked an attendant who, in a moment of frustration, took the name of the Lord in vain:
" 'Please! Please! That is my Lord whose names you revile.'
"There was a deathly silence, then a subdued voice whispered, 'I am sorry.' "5 An inspired, loving rebuke can be an invitation to unity. Failure to give it when moved upon by the Holy Ghost will lead to discord.
If we are to have unity, there are commandments we must keep concerning how we feel. We must forgive and bear no malice toward those who offend us. The Savior set the example from the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). We do not know the hearts of those who offend us. Nor do we know all the sources of our own anger and hurt. The Apostle Paul was telling us how to love in a world of imperfect people, including ourselves, when he said, "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil" (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). And then he gave solemn warning against reacting to the faults of others and forgetting our own when he wrote, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
The sacramental prayer can remind us every week of how the gift of unity will come through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we keep our covenants to take His name upon us, to remember Him always, and to keep all His commandments, we will receive the companionship of His Spirit. That will soften our hearts and unite us. But there are two warnings which must come with that promise.
First, the Holy Ghost remains with us only if we stay clean and free from the love of the things of the world. A choice to be unclean will repel the Holy Ghost. The Spirit dwells only with those who choose the Lord over the world. "Be ye clean" (3 Nephi 20:41; D&C 38:42) and love God with all your "heart, . . . might, mind, and strength" (D&C 59:5) are not suggestions but commandments. And they are necessary to the companionship of the Spirit, without which we cannot be one.
The other warning is to beware of pride. Unity which comes to a family or to a people softened by the Spirit will bring great power. With that power will come recognition from the world. Whether that recognition brings praise or envy, it could lead us to pride. That would offend the Spirit. But there is a protection against pride, that sure source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service. A husband and his wife learn to be one by using their similarities to understand each other and their differences to complement each other in serving one another and those around them. In the same way, we can unite with those who do not accept our doctrine but share our desire to bless the children of our Heavenly Father.
We can become peacemakers, worthy to be called blessed and the children of God (see Matthew 5:9).
God our Father lives. His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, is the head of this Church, and He offers to all who will accept it the standard of peace. May we all live worthy of that standard.
Notes
1. See Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. (1939), 131.
2. See Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places (1974), 97.
3. In Conference Report, Apr. 1955, 10–11.
4. See David O. McKay, in Conference Report, Oct. 1967, 7–8.
5. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball (Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society course of study, 2006), 157.
Ideas for Home Teachers
After prayerfully studying this message, share it using a method that encourages the participation of those you teach. Following are some examples:
- On separate pieces of paper, write the three promises we make each week as we partake of the sacrament. As you hold each paper up, discuss what the promise means and how we can fulfill it.
- Before your visit, cut a paper heart into three pieces and label them Change, Companionship, and Faith. Begin by explaining that we are to become unified and of one heart. Then lay down the "Change" piece. Read or explain what President Eyring meant by changing our natures, and have the family give examples of changing. Repeat the same process with the other two pieces. Having completed the heart puzzle, ask the family for ways that they can become of one heart.
- Read, or have family members read, parts of the first two sections of the message. Talk about how a family, although made up of individuals, can be united. Show that a single piece of thread can be easily broken but that many threads wrapped together are stronger. Emphasize that a family is stronger when united.
September Visiting Teaching Message
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The Gospel of Jesus Christ Teaches the Eternal Potential of the Children of God
Ensign, September 2008
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Teach the scriptures and quotations that meet the needs of the sisters you visit. Bear testimony of the doctrine. Invite those you teach to share what they have felt and learned.
What Is My Eternal Potential?
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "A woman's richest rewards will come as she rises to fulfill her destiny as a devoted daughter of God. To all faithful Saints He has promised thrones, kingdoms, principalities, glory, immortality, and eternal lives. (See Rom. 2:7; D&C 75:5; 128:12, 23; 132:19.) That is the potential for women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is exalting, everlasting, and divine" ("Woman—Of Infinite Worth," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 22).
Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president: "Oh, that every girl and woman would have a testimony of her potential for eternal motherhood. . . . Female roles did not begin on earth, and they do not end here. A woman who treasures motherhood on earth will treasure motherhood in the world to come, and 'where [her] treasure is, there will [her] heart be also' (Matthew 6:21). By developing a mother heart, each girl and woman prepares for her divine, eternal mission of motherhood" ("A 'Mother Heart,' " Liahona and Ensign, May 2004, 76).
What Can Help Me Reach My Eternal Potential?
Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: "God expresses his love for us by providing the guidance we need to progress and reach our potential. . . . He who knows most about us, our potential, and our eternal possibilities has given us divine counsel and commandments in his instruction manuals—the holy scriptures" ("God's Love for His Children," Ensign, May 1988, 59).
President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: "The purpose of God's creations and of His giving us life is to allow us to have the learning experience necessary for us to come back to Him, to live with Him in eternal life. That is only possible if we have our natures changed through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, true repentance, and making and keeping the covenants He offers all of His Father's children through His Church" ("Education for Real Life," Ensign, Oct. 2002, 16).
President John Taylor (1808–87): "Our main object is eternal lives and exaltations; our main object is to prepare ourselves, our posterity and our progenitors for thrones, principalities and powers in the eternal worlds . . . ; that . . . they and we might be prepared, having fulfilled the measure of our creation on the earth, to associate with the intelligences that exist in the eternal worlds; be admitted again to the presence of our Father, whence we came, and participate in those eternal realities which mankind, without revelation, know nothing about. We are here for that purpose; . . . we are building temples for that purpose; we are receiving endowments for that purpose" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor [Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society course of study, 2001], 8–9).
D&C 78:18: "Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours."
Twin Falls temple dedicated by LDS Church president
By Sam Penrod
Members of the LDS Church in southern Idaho are celebrating the dedication of a new temple tonight. The Twin Falls, Idaho, temple is the latest to be dedicated by LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson.
This is the second temple dedicated by President Monson just this month. Two weeks ago, he was in Panama for a new temple there. The Twin Falls temple is now the fourth LDS temple in Idaho and the 128th temple open in the world.
President Monson traveled to Twin Falls to lead the dedication services inside the LDS church's newest temple. "We'll go in and dedicate this house. Right now it is yours and mine and all the church, but in a few minutes it will belong to the Lord," he said.
First, President Monson held the traditional cornerstone ceremony outside, then invited others, including young children from Idaho, to fill the temple's cornerstone with mortar.
For those who live in Twin Falls and the surrounding region, today is something they have been looking forward to for a long time. Victor Gunter and his family live close to the new temple in Twin Falls. "We're very excited, we celebrate as a family, as a ward, as a stake and community," he said.
Carol Gunter said, "It's been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. You can feel the joy in the air almost."
The Church opened the doors of the temple to the public in July and early August, attracting 160,000 people who toured the inside. It was an opportunity to build more friendships among all faiths in the community. Mission President John W. Yardley said, "Everybody has some ownership, and everybody is part of it, and so by doing it, the unity is dramatically increased."
The temple is now a landmark in Idaho's Magic Valley. It will officially open tomorrow.
The LDS Church has a total of seven temples under construction right now, including two in the Salt Lake Valley. The temple in Draper and the Oquirrh Mountain temple in South Jordan are both scheduled to open sometime in 2009.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
Pres. Monson dedicates Twin Falls temple
By Sarah Jane Weaver
Published: Monday, Aug. 25, 2008
TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Hundreds of LDS Church members from across south-central Idaho gathered here Sunday to celebrate the new Twin Falls Idaho Temple.
President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the temple, the 128th worldwide for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The dedication followed a cornerstone ceremony, during which President Monson, President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve sealed a time capsule, containing local histories and other items significant to the LDS Church, in the southwest corner of the temple.
"It is nice to see all of you and to participate in this cornerstone exercise with you," said President Monson, before placing mortar.
Dozens of children dressed in their Sunday best lined the walkway around the cornerstone platform of the temple.
"I have never seen more boys so close together, evenly matched, on one rail," said President Monson, looking at a group of a half-dozen boys sitting on a nearby cement retaining wall.
Then, pausing to look at the children, President Monson added, "Boys and girls, remember this day."
The temple is the church's fourth in Idaho; other temples in the state are in Idaho Falls, Boise and Rexburg. Standing just south of the Snake River Canyon, the temple will serve 42,000 Mormons living in 14 stakes in communities across south-central Idaho, including Twin Falls, Jerome, Burley, Rupert, Ketchum and Hailey.
President Thomas S. Monson speaks to the young children gathered to watch the cornerstone ceremony at the Twin Falls Idaho Temple. (Photo by Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News)
The 31,500-square-foot temple is "certainly going to be a pillar of strength to the member families," said temple President D. Rex Gerratt.
He said temple is now a dominant part of the Twin Falls landscape.
"This temple and the grounds here are so striking for the people of Magic Valley," he said.
The temple features a motif of the syringa flower, Idaho's state flower, and a mural of Shoshone Falls -- a popular local landmark just two miles from the site.
Elder Brent H. Nielson, an area seventy for the church, said an estimated 20 percent of the Twin Falls population are members of the LDS Church.
"It has been a wonderful experience to see how the community received the temple," he said. During a public open house July 11 through Aug. 16, 159,863 people toured the new temple.
The dedication followed a huge cultural event Saturday, which highlighted 3,200 LDS youths celebrating the rich heritage of south-central Idaho through music and dance.
"I think you will always remember the part you had here. You can't help but remember it," President Monson told the youths before the celebration began.
Performing in the rodeo arena of the Filer, Idaho, fairgrounds, the youths danced on a huge stage, 160 by 88 feet. Local church members filled the dirt arena with sod and other decorations, including a large waterfall to represent local landscapes.
As part of the event, the youths performed 14 dances that highlighted the history of southern Idaho; dances recognized Native Americans, pioneers, Idaho miners, and European and Mexican immigrants. The big-band era, county fairs and Idaho potatoes were also part of production.
MormonTimes.com is produced by the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright © 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Vicarious Temple Work--for our ancestors
Everyone Else Makes Such Lonely Heavens[1]
For these defects, and for no other evil,
we now are lost and punished just with this:
we have no hope and yet we live in longing.
Dante’s Inferno[2]
The New Testament states unequivocally that, besides Jesus Christ, “there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”[3] And yet hundreds of millions of souls, probably the majority of all who have ever lived, were never taught about Christianity and perhaps never so much as heard the name of Jesus Christ. Are these millions of souls lost for the eternities? If so, can God be considered just, let alone merciful?
The poet Dante Alighieri, upon entering (fictionally) into the next world, was astonished by what he saw: “I should never have believed,” he wrote in his Inferno, “that death could have unmade so many souls.”[4] Strikingly, despite his obvious admiration for Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the great Islamic philosophers Avicenna and Averros, and the chivalrous Muslim military hero Saladin, Dante felt obliged to place them all in Hell.[5] Even his guide, companion and “kindly master,” the Roman poet Virgil, was eternally barred from heaven. Virgil explains the reason to Dante as follows:
I’d have you know, before you go ahead,
they did not sin; and yet, though they have merits,
that’s not enough, because they lacked baptism,
the portal of the faith that you embrace.
And if they lived before Christianity,
they did not worship God in fitting ways;
and of such spirits I myself am one.
For these defects, and for no other evil,
we now are lost and punished just with this:
we have no hope and yet we live in longing.[6]
The founding Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, proclaimed a much more generous and expansive view of eternal possibilities. He pointed out that even the New Testament itself suggests a hopeful escape from this troubling prospect, citing the Apostle Paul’s reference to a practice long since forgotten or ignored by mainstream Christianity.[7]
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead,
if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for
the dead?[8]
Though vicarious or “proxy” baptism is but briefly mentioned in the Bible, a restoration of this ancient Christian practice became a foundational doctrine of the Latter-day Saint faith.
Today, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints labor to gather genealogical records and to construct temples[9] in which baptisms for the dead and related ordinances can be performed. In striking contrast to the horrific atrocities committed by men and governments in the course of history, this vicarious temple service extends the love of God, with full salvational access, to every human who ever lived.
Proxy temple work best reflects the foundational Latter-day Saint conviction that the power of the atonement of Christ extends even to those who did not hear: every person who has ever lived is to be individually remembered, labored for and valued, thus vindicating the justice of God and illustrating the breadth of his redemptive love. Any rite performed in a Latter-day Saint temple on behalf of a deceased person, who yet lives as a spirit being, is a rite of offering only, exacting no forced compliance nor acceptance of the rite. There is no imposed change of identity, heritage or religious belief, nor is the individual’s name added to the membership rolls of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Editor’s Note: This commentary is one in a series of brief summaries written in 2005 for the 200-year commemoration of Joseph Smith’s birth. Drawing from Joseph Smith’s writings and teachings, these summaries explain the doctrinal foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though far from comprehensive, these summaries provide a brief overview of Joseph Smith’s ideas and beliefs relating to theological, religious and social topics.
Notes:
[1]Tom McHenry, “Mormons Offer Post-Mortem Baptism,” The Exponent Online, 8 Dec. 2003, http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2003/12/08§ion=columns&storyid=ProxyBaptism.
[2] Allen Mandelbaum, trans., The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno (Toronto and New York: Bantam Books, 1982), canto 4, lines 33-41.
[3]Acts 4:12.
[4]Inferno, canto 3, lines 56-57.
[5]Inferno, canto 4.
[6]Inferno, canto 4, lines 33-41.
[7]Some individual contemporary Christian thinkers have noticed it. See, for example, Stephen T. Davis, Risen Indeed: Making Sense of the Resurrection (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), pp. 159-65, where the author, a philosopher affiliated with Claremont McKenna College in California, cautiously mentions the passage while expressing hope for the unevangelized. Historians have also begun to notice the practice (e.g., Jeffrey A. Trumbower, Rescue for the Dead: The Posthumous Salvation of Non-Christians in Early Christianity [New York: Oxford University Press, 2001]).
[8]1 Corinthians 15:29, quoted by Joseph Smith in a letter to the Church elders in Great Britain, 15 Dec. 1840, Nauvoo, Illinois; in Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), p. 179.
[9] Latter-day Saint temples, of which there are 140 constructed or announced worldwide, are distinct in purpose from meetinghouses or chapels, of which there are thousands.
128 Operating Temples
Temple count reaches 128 on Sunday in Twin Falls, Idaho
By Rodger L. Hardy
Deseret NewsPublished: Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008
PROVO, Utah -- With the Twin Falls Temple of The Churtch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being dedicated Sunday, the number of temples around the globe now number 128, said Richard O. Cowan, professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University.
With LDS temples dotting the earth the challenge of getting to a temple by traveling long distances is diminishing.
"The challenge now is to find the time to go," he said during his last Campus Education Week lecture Friday on "The House of the Lord Through the Ages."
Building the first temples was a sacrifice for early Latter-day Saints. The first was in Kirtland, Ohio, no longer owned by the church, followed by the Nauvoo Temple, destroyed after the church members moved west to the Salt Lake Valley. In settling Utah the pioneers built four temples: St. George, Logan, Manti and Salt Lake City.
The first temples built in the 20th century were the Hawaii, Alberta, Canada and Mesa, Ariz., temples. Moving outside the United States, the church built a temple in Switzerland and a carbon copy in New Zealand. The latter was remodeled to no longer match the Swiss temple and to add four presentation rooms, Cowan said. The church also remodeled the London Temple to also add four presentation rooms.
The Swiss Temple remains the only one with a balcony, he said.
At the time the church was moving from presenting the ordinance of the endowment from live to film. A floor of the Salt Lake Temple was remodeled into a movie studio to make the films, he said. A young audio visual expert was put in charge. His name was Gordon B. Hinckley, who later became the church's 15th president.
President Hinckley later became known as the temple-building president, dedicating some 80 temples, Cowan said. Under his administration temples became smaller, but the idea had already been considered and was not original with him, Cowan said.
The largest temple for many years was the Los Angeles Temple, with 190,000 square feet. Later the Salt Lake Temple was enlarged to more than 200,000 square feet, becoming the largest in size. It originally was 160,000 square feet.
Cowan called the Oakland (Calif.) Temple the "most spectacular." It overlooks the Bay Area and can be seen from the Golden Gate Bridge. The temple was dedicated in 1964.
Forty years earlier LDS Church leader George Albert Smith met with two branch presidents who represented Oakland and San Francisco on church business. From his hotel room he looked out at the Oakland hills and foresaw a temple being built there, where it would become a beacon to the area, Cowan said.
In the 1970s during the oil crunch, the church started dimming the outside lights to save energy. According to rumor the Federal Aviation Administration asked the church to turn the lights back up to aid its pilots.
"That story isn't true," Cowan said, "but I will tell you what is true. The temple is a beacon, but more of a spiritual beacon."
For many years the Provo Temple was the most productive, even without BYU students and missionaries from the neighboring Missionary Training Center, he said. The temple has six presentation rooms and can start new sessions every 20 minutes.
Dedicated in 1972 with its not-so-identical twin, the Ogden Temple, the Provo Temple remained the most productive until the Mount Timpanogos Temple was built in 1997. Today the work done in both the Provo and Mt. Timpanogos temples exceeds what the Provo once did alone. Utah Valley has the largest Mormon population in the church and a large number of the members are faithful, Cowan said.
Other temples Cowan talked about included:
- The Washington, D.C., Temple, a monument to the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ with its six spires that mimic the Salt Lake Temple. At night the temple appears to be floating, Cowan said.
- The Sau Paolo Brazil Temple, built in 1978, the year the church began giving its priesthood to black male members. Many black members live in the region.
- The Tokyo Temple, built in 1980 and the first in Asia.
- The Mexico City Temple, built despite laws that all such buildings belong to the government and must be open to everyone. President Spencer W. Kimball met with the Mexican president to explain the church's position "and that hasn't been a problem," Cowan said. Today, 12 temples are in Mexico.
- The Atlanta Temple, built in 1983, was not to have a tower. That changed under President Kimball and since then church leaders decided to have statues of the Angel Moroni on all new and some older temples.
- The Frieberg Germany Temple, built to make it possible for East Germany members to have access to a temple under the Cold War. Dedicated in 1985, four years later the Berlin Wall, which had isolated East Germany, came down.
- New kinds of temples include the Hong Kong Temple, built where the mission office once stood as a highrise; the Manhattan Temple, also a highrise, and the Vernal Temple, created from an older stake center. The Copenhagen Denmark Temple was also created out of an older church building.
- Small temples include the Monticello Utah temple, which was the first; also the Redlands and Newport Beach temples in California and the Nauvoo Temple rebuilt from early church history.
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright © 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company
President Monson's 81 Year Old Birthday
Prophet's birthday: Milestone of 81
'Age does bring an awareness of responsibility, so does experience'
Thomas S. Monson — biography
By Gerry Avant
Church News editor
Having dedicated the Panama City Panama Temple on Aug. 10 and preparing to dedicate the Twin Falls Idaho Temple on Aug. 24 — and in between tending to numerous details required of his office as leader of the Church — President Thomas S. Monson is going strong at age 81.
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"I'm doing fine," he said when asked about his health. The calendar of his recent activities showed no indication that he has reached a "taking it easy" stage of life. The interview was the sixth meeting on that day's agenda.
He noted that he was born in 1927, the year Charles A. Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic Ocean, flying solo from New York City to Paris. No one, of course, knew that the baby born to G. Spencer and Gladys Condie Monson just three months after Lindbergh's history-making flight would some day cross that same ocean — as well as others — numerous times, not as a pilot setting records, but as a servant of the Lord fulfilling divine commissions.
President Monson was ordained and set apart as President of the Church on Feb. 3, 2008. In the Church News interview, he was asked about this landmark birthday, his first since he became President of the Church, and if he had any particular reflections upon the events of the past months, of his years on Earth and in the service of the Lord.
"Oh, yes," he said. "The responsibility increases manyfold. Advantageous to me has been the privilege of having served as a counselor to President Ezra Taft Benson, President Howard W. Hunter and President Gordon B. Hinckley. 'Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.' That's the phrase I believe in.
"You just plow in and go to work. I've done that all my life. I haven't had a period in my life that I can remember when I didn't have anything to do. My father (who was in the printing business) believed in young men learning to work, so I started out with a little job in the printing business after school when I was 13; I worked each night after school and on Saturday mornings. I have a good work ethic."
Still on the topic of birthdays, President Monson said, "You don't go through life alone. I think you learn from every person you know and every person you meet. And they've all been mighty good to me."
Of age and wisdom going hand in hand, President Monson declared, "I'd say age does bring an awareness of responsibility, but so does experience. It isn't just age; it's the experience. I've certainly had my load of that."
He started gaining experience in being on the Lord's errand when he was a young teenager, serving as president of his ward's teachers quorum. He was called as a bishop at age 22 and as counselor in a stake presidency at age 27. When, at age 31, he was called to preside over the Canadian Mission, President Monson and his wife, Frances Johnson Monson, and their two young children, Tom and Ann, embarked on another journey in fulfilling the Lord's errand, that of helping bring others to Christ and building the kingdom. (Their third child, Clark, was born while President and Sister Monson were living in Toronto.)
President Monson was 36 when he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve. By this coming October's general conference, he will have served as a General Authority for 45 years. No one living today has had that much exposure to and experience in the workings of the Church in its highest levels of administration.
As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, he supervised the missions in western America, the South Pacific, Mexico and Central America, and supervised the work in Europe. After a number of years and following the policy of rotation, the European missions were transferred to another member of the Twelve; however, Elder Monson retained responsibility for several countries behind the Iron Curtain. He was instrumental in the construction of the Freiberg Germany Temple, served as chairman of the Scriptures Publication Committee and supervised the process which resulted in new editions of the Standard Works of the Church.
He was called as second counselor to President Benson in 1985, as second counselor to President Hunter in 1994 and as first counselor to President Hinckley in 1995. (Please see the accompanying biography for highlights of President Monson's life and callings.)
Last year, at a reception in the Church Administration Building, President Hinckley said to President Monson, "What a proud day it was when you were born." Then, turning to the gathering of well wishers, President Hinckley added, "His mother had great expectations. They have all been fulfilled" (Church News, Aug. 25, 2007).
It wasn't just Thomas S. Monson's mother who had great expectations when he was born on Aug. 21, 1927. He has had expectations of his own all his life, expectations that motivated him to do his best and to always ask what the Lord would have him do.
Asked what, on his 81st birthday, he aspired to, President Monson paused for a moment and then said, "I look forward to lifting each person a little higher than he stands now, and to lead by example. I demand effort from myself, and that way I certainly can expect others to be aware of the individual after the pattern of the Lord."
Although the Church News article would go to press after his birthday, President Monson was asked to describe what he would consider the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him. Without a moment's hesitation he said, "Do something for someone else on that day to make his or her life better. Find someone who is having a hard time, or is ill, or lonely, and do something for them. That's all I would ask."
His reply was in keeping with the character of a man who has devoted his life to serving others.
Friday, August 22, 2008
What's it like inside a Mormon chapel?
By LDS News Services
SALT LAKE CITY -- Most first-time visitors to a Mormon church building comment on the number of rooms. Many expect to find one large interior space, such as in many other Christian denominations’ buildings of worship.
But meetinghouses for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are different from those used by many other religions. They include classrooms, offices, a font for baptisms, a kitchen and in many cases a cultural hall with an indoor basketball court. Cultural halls in Mormon buildings usually also have a stage, for dramatic and musical productions. And the basketball court doubles for a dance floor or dining area, among other uses.
This is all in addition to a large room that seats 200 to 300, called the chapel, used for Sunday worship services. The word “chapel” is also sometimes used by Mormons to describe the whole building or meetinghouse.
“The building was so simple,” said Sandra Yeo after visiting for the first time one of the church’s meetinghouses in her native England.
“There were no crosses, no murals, no statues or icons of any kind as far as I could see. I had never been in a Christian church that didn’t have that sort of thing. I found the simplicity very appealing.”
For Latter-day Saints, the church meetinghouse is a hub of religious and social life. The most important part of the week, though, is the hour-long sacrament meeting. This takes place on Sunday and is similar to other Christian worship services. Men, women and younger members offer prayers and give sermons, hymns are sung, and the sacrament, similar to other traditions’ communion, is administered. Members teach the principles taught by Jesus Christ.
When Brian Sharon attended his first meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wisconsin, he was impressed with the worship service itself.
“I was used to a very formal, highly structured worship service in the church of my childhood," Sharon said. "I was intrigued by how smoothly and efficiently things were handled, without extensive ritual or ceremony. And I was touched by how friendly and open everyone was, especially to visitors like my family. It was refreshing to me.”
In addition to the sacrament meeting, there are other meetings on Sundays as part of a three-hour span from 9 a.m. until noon, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or some other variation.
These other meetings include classes for youths and adults and what Mormons call “Primary,” a time for lessons and singing for children 12 and under.
Mormons tend to have large families, so be prepared to see -- and hear -- a lot of children. And though Mormon parents try to teach their little ones to be reverent, children are also encouraged to be involved.
In the children’s Primary, for example, you will see 7-year-olds, or even younger children, give talks, read scripture and pray in front of their peers. The songs taught and sung in Primary focus on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, on scriptural themes and on simple ways children and others can put into practice what is preached.
Mormons are generally a friendly people, so a visitor should not be surprised when someone, seeing the new face, comes over to talk and offers to shake hands and help the visitor find the right meeting or class.
A common misperception among those not of the Mormon faith is that only Latter-day Saints can enter their chapels. This is most likely based on a misunderstanding about temples and chapels. While temples, of which there are 140 (including existing ones and those announced or under construction) worldwide, are open only to members of the church who are fully engaged in their faith, anyone can enter a Mormon chapel to visit or worship with their Latter-day Saint neighbors. There are over 17,000 chapels throughout the world with a new one built, on average, each day.
The physical design of Latter-day Saint chapels reflects Mormons’ depth of religiosity that goes beyond pulpit and pew. To be a member of a Mormon ward (or congregation) is to be part of a faith community that intersects weekly as a group and in smaller gatherings several other times throughout each week.
In some cases Mormon meetinghouses become launching areas for community service initiatives, such as in times of natural disasters. On many occasions, such efforts are in conjunction with those of other community and faith groups.
Mormons say that while the activities that bring them together within their buildings are wide and varied -- some cultural, some sporting, some educational and some social -- the underpinning motivation for all that is done is for individuals and families to help each other to overcome life’s challenges by learning about Jesus Christ and striving to become like Him.
For Latter-day Saints, the buildings they use for their various worship services and other gatherings are important -- but not as important as the building that goes on within their walls. It is the building of strong individuals and families, of knowledge, of relationships and of faith in God that matters most to Mormons.
“Our chapels are not all constructed with the same design features,” said Church apostle Elder L. Tom Perry in a worldwide conference. “However, each one centers on the mission of our Savior. They are buildings dedicated for the purpose of worshiping Him.”
It is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright © 2008 Deseret News Publishing Company