Gospel Cogitations

For those who are not aware, next weekend (Sep 30 & Oct 1) is the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This is a very incredible opportunity that comes to us twice a year, and it is important to prepare for this appropriately.  Those who are more spiritually in tune will receive greater revelations. General Conference is not a recent invention.  We read about how people prepared for the general conference of their time in the Book of Mormon: "the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them.... "And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another. And they pitched their

Every time I hear a story of some person being attacked or otherwise injured by another human being, I am saddened, but reminded that this is a prophecy about the last days: "the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound" ( D&C 45:27 ).  In place of providing actual self-defense training, I would like to present some gospel teachings about defending oneself that will hopefully create a slight paradigm shift in those reading. "And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed" ( Alma 43:47 ).  Those who have read the Book of Mormon know about the war chapters in Alma and the numerous battles fought between the Nephites and Lamanites.  What are the Nephites supposed to do when threatened by an aggressive external force?  Listen to this from the pen of Pahoran, the chief judge of the land, in his epistle to Moroni, the chief captain of the Nephite armies: "And now, behold, we will resist wickedness even unto b

Today, in lieu of normal church meetings, those in the Utah South Area participated in a regional conference.  One of the speakers talked about following the prophet and the blessings that come from doing so.  This inspired me to give somewhat of a detailed description of the organization of the priesthood.  I believe that one way to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel is by examining the way said church is organized.  I have personally benefited from this study, and so I thought to share it with others. At one point in my mission, I found a book that contained an interesting flowchart showing how the keys of the priesthood are distributed in the church.  I have recreated that chart below, and this will be the focus of my thoughts today. Priesthood.pdf All power and priesthood comes from Jesus Christ.  "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" ( Matt. 28:18 ).  "And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the gl

During my time as a missionary in Kentucky, I rarely found a topic that captured people's interest more than the spirit world.  It seems that people are very anxious to know what happens to them after they die, and rightly so.  Brigham Young said, " I have been near enough to understand eternity so that I have had to exercise a great deal more faith to desire to live than I ever exercised in my whole life to live. The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible " ( Teachings , ch 38 ).  I have found a few different sources of information about the conditions in the spirit world, which I will attempt to present in an organized manner. Where is the spirit world? "Where is the spirit world?  It is right here.... Do [the spirits] go beyond the boundaries of this organized earth? No, they do not." (Journal of Discourses, 3:369) What is meant by paradise and prison? Two common terms used when speaking of the spirit world are "paradise" an