Bristled hair . . . and guileless tongue . . . Tear-filled voice, emotion wrung . . . Manner strong and features kind . . . Speech incisive . . . steel-trap mind.
—William Kent Wadsworth
About a year before Dad started to have trouble with his health, he felt impressed to move himself and Mother out of the family home on Dorchester Drive and into a condominium near the Church Offices. Toward the end of 1983 he started to experience some pain and discomfort in his stomach. There was no thought that the matter was particularly serious, though he seemed more tired on occasion than he ought to be and had a rather listless appetite. The doctors ran about a dozen tests on him for ulcers, cancer, and so forth. All the tests came back negative. A spot was noticed on his liver, so the doctors recommended surgery, just in case something was wrong. Elders James E. Faust and Neal A. Maxwell gave him a blessing, and the surgery took place on January 20, 1984. To our surprise and overwhelming disappointment, the doctors found cancer in Dad's system to such an extent that there was simply nothing they could do for him.
The doctors sewed him up so that he could go home and die in peace. They told the family that he had only "months" to live, meaning, we were later to learn, that they really thought he had "two weeks to two months" to live. Tears were shed, expressions of faith were made, and both the Smith and the McConkie families—including uncles, aunts, and cousins—united in fasting and prayer. Together their resolve was to walk in all "the ordinances of the Lord blameless" and to call down the blessings of heaven (Luke 1:6).
In typical Bruce McConkie fashion, he made every effort to keep the matter out of the public eye. Yet all efforts to that effect were unsuccessful. Rumors spread with speed rivaling that of light itself. In the hope of stemming the tide of rumor, Oscar announced the matter to the press. Don LeFevre, as spokesman for the Church, confirmed the report without adding to it. The seriousness of the situation was downplayed for the press, but no one who had any knowledge of this kind of cancer was fooled.
President Gordon B. Hinckley visited Dad and, at Dad's request, gave him a blessing. Elder Boyd K. Packer called Mother and asked if he could visit and give Dad a blessing. Of course she responded affirmatively. He came, saying that he had struggled with the matter for two days and that he was fighting mad: "Bruce was not to be taken." He gave Dad a blessing and told him that they were laboring on both sides of the veil to keep him here. Brit was also called to administer to him. He repeated Elder Packer's words and gave the same promises, though he was unaware that the earlier blessing had been given. Thousands of faithful Saints throughout the Church added their prayers with much effect. Dad was scheduled to go home from the hospital two weeks after the operation. He went home after a week. The doctors called it "a little miracle."
While he was still in the hospital, Sister Hulda Parker Young, who was the Relief Society president for the hospital, told Dad of a patient there who had been paralyzed for years. She was a young mother who had almost surrendered to despair. She had asked Sister Young, "Couldn't I have one of the general authorities that come in to bless Elder McConkie come down and administer to me?" Dad said he would see to it. He got up out of his bed and said, "Come on, Mother." Together they went down to the room of this woman, and he gave her a blessing. She now walks.
He left the hospital on January 27 and began chemotherapy about two weeks later. In a letter to the family written February 20, Mother noted that "Dad has passed the first phase of the chemo-therapy with relative ease—slight nausea and exhaustion, but no violent reactions." Notwithstanding his tolerance for the chemotherapy, his battle to live was attended by "pain beyond description."
While in the hospital he observed to Elder Packer that the early apostles had suffered much and perhaps this was the equivalent suffering for the Twelve of this day. "Suffering sanctifies," Dad said. He believed his affliction was a test, and he was determined to pass it well. In a talk written for, but not delivered in, the April 1979 general conference he said, "Life never was intended to be easy. We are here on probation. We need the experiences of mortality, experiences which could be gained in no other way." He then suggested that we must each face our own Gethsemane. We will all "be tried and tested to the full extent of our power to withstand," he wrote.
In the course of some months, another scan was made of his liver, which showed that there were no new cancer spots and the old ones were shrinking. His doctor told him that this was medically impossible. A couple of days later his doctor, not a member of the Church, visited his office to explain, "I don't think you understand. What has happened is not medically possible." Dr. Russell M. Nelson confirmed that. "No one recovers when the cancer has spread like it had in his liver."
Dad stood in April conference to say: "I am quite overwhelmed by deep feelings of thanksgiving and rejoicing for the goodness of the Lord to me.
"He has permitted me to suffer pain, feel anxiety, and taste his healing power. I am profoundly grateful for the faith and prayers of many people, for heartfelt petitions that have ascended to the throne of grace on my behalf.
"It is pleasing to that God whose we are when we fast and pray and seek his blessings; when we plead with all the energy of our souls for those things we so much desire; when, as Paul says, we 'come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need' (Heb. 4:16)."1
For a time Dad continued to improve. By the end of August he could jog five miles, but early in September he began again to lose his strength and the original symptoms returned. He was completely spent by the time he returned from the office in the evening. Tests showed that the cancer had returned with a vengeance. At about this time he asked the members of the Missionary Executive Committee—Elders Packer, Faust, and Dallin H. Oaks—to give him a blessing. Elder Packer was voice, and he gave a powerful and positive blessing. He indicated that people on both sides of the veil were laboring for his recovery, particularly President Joseph Fielding Smith. A second miracle occurred, and again his life was extended.
During this period of reprieve he was able to accomplish a number of things of particular importance to him, including three talks now regarded as classics by Latter-day Saint religious educators. The first of these, given June 3, 1984, dealt with missionary work, conversion, and the place of the Book of Mormon. It was given to teachers at Brigham Young University who were being trained to aid Religion faculty members in teaching Book of Mormon classes. In these remarks he showed how in our missionary efforts we have hindered the work by attempting to find common ground with people of other faiths. The attempt to show that we share a faith in common—that we are Christians just like them—left those we were teaching without reason to hear the message of the Restoration. We exist as a faith because of our differences with historical Christianity, and only in those differences is reason found for conversion and the kind of faith it takes to be a Latter-day Saint, he said.
In August of that year he spoke by assignment to Church Educational System personnel. The title of his address was "The Bible, a Sealed Book," which identified the two seals that lock the meaning of this sacred record to the understanding of men. The first he identified as "the seal of ignorance" and the second as "the seal of intellectuality." He showed how the true meaning of the book could only be unlocked by the spirit of revelation.2
On Saturday, November 3, 1984, he gave another landmark talk entitled "The Doctrinal Restoration" at a symposium sponsored by the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University. In the keynote address he charged all who have been commissioned to teach the gospel to be true to the revelations of the Restoration. As to the Joseph Smith Translation, he said, "May I be pardoned if I say that negative attitudes and feelings about the Joseph Smith Translation are simply part of the devil's program to keep the word of truth from the children of men.
"Of course the revealed changes made by Joseph Smith are true—as much so as anything in the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants.
"Of course we have adequate and authentic original sources showing the changes—as much so as are the sources for the Book of Mormon or the revelations.
"Of course we should use the Joseph Smith Translation in our study and teaching. Since when do any of us have the right to place bounds on the Almighty and say we will believe these revelations but not those?"3
I participated in this symposium and was scheduled to speak immediately after Dad, perhaps so that he would be able to stay and hear my presentation. I had looked forward to this event because it would be one of the few times we shared the same platform. Immediately after his talk, however, he indicated to me that he did not have the strength to stay. Like everyone else present, I had no idea how difficult that presentation had been for him.
Another goal he was able to accomplish during his second reprieve from the ravages of cancer was planning a family trip. On August 28, 1984, Dad wrote to each of his children and their spouses to invite them to join him and Mother on a visit to the Holy Land. Because Brenda and I had had experience in leading such tours, he asked us to make the preparations. Among other things, a schedule of family study classes was drawn up. All who could attend were expected to take their turn instructing the group at our family nights. When it was Dad's turn, as something of a measure of his interest, he came with typed outlines twenty to thirty pages long.
Fighting the Good Fight
In the meantime, Dad's fight with cancer intensified. Elder John K. Carmack recounted events attending a weekend assignment during this period, when Elder McConkie and Elder David B. Haight were assigned to a twelve-stake conference in Santa Barbara, California. "We met to plan the conference in Elder Haight's office. I was the junior member of the team. Elder McConkie's only request was that we do what would be most convenient to the people of the twelve stakes. So we planned two four-hour leadership meetings on Saturday, one in Chatsworth and one in Santa Barbara, one hundred miles away. Sunday would find us doing two-hour meetings on the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus. We would return the one hundred miles to Los Angeles and arrive home about midnight. Elder Haight, ever solicitous of Elder McConkie, protested, but deferred to the senior apostle.
"I saw him that week in the General Authority dining room. 'John, let's go preach the gospel,' he said with obvious enthusiasm. He anticipated the chance to once more teach and exhort the Saints.
"On the Friday night before the conference, Shirley and I met Bruce and Amelia McConkie and David Haight at the Burbank Airport. Elder McConkie was completely exhausted. He had just had his chemotherapy shot. (Incidentally, Sister McConkie says that his doctor, who was not a member of the Church, did not quite know how to take Bruce. She said he would walk in on Friday for his shot, roll up his sleeve, and say, 'Seven more days of life, Doc!')
"After we met at the airport that night, Elder McConkie went straight to bed without dinner. Over dinner, Amelia shared with us his cooperative disdain for the illness which was obviously consuming him."
As to the conference meetings, Elder Carmack recalled: "Many felt he was never more powerful than he was at that conference, nor was there a finer regional conference than that on Saturday and Sunday in Chatsworth and Santa Barbara. He was back where his father, Oscar McConkie, had presided in such power. . . .
"Experiencing some difficulty with the sound on Sunday, he grasped the microphone on the podium and pulled it close to his mouth. 'I didn't come all this way not to be heard,' he announced. Everyone heard and everyone understood his message of salvation.
"We drove back to Los Angeles and awaited the late arrival of our flight to Salt Lake City. In the airport many recognized him and Elder Haight and spoke to them. He could travel to no location in the world without being recognized. He and all of the rest of us were tired as we arrived in Salt Lake City at midnight.
"On Tuesday following that exhausting weekend, I saw him at the office. 'How are you feeling?' I asked. He jumped instantly into the air, clicked his heels, and exclaimed, 'Great!'" It was the importance of what he was doing that gave him strength, Elder Carmack concluded. "Soon he would join his Savior, but he must endure to the end. This he did with courage and power beyond anything I have witnessed."4
During this period he also filled conference assignments and reorganized a number of stakes. In at least one instance his pain was such that he called a stake president while lying on the floor of the stake office.
Among the notes written on pieces of scratch paper in my father's desk, I found part of an envelope printed by an airline containing a flight ticket. It was dated January 27, 1985. On it Dad had written the following little verse, obviously written as he returned from what was a very difficult conference assignment:
We are late, late, late;
And getting later.
It is dark, dark, dark;
And getting darker.
I am tired, tired, tired;
And getting tireder.
Oh Hell!
A Family Blessing and Promise
In mid-February 1985, the family was informed that Dad's situation was again getting worse. His chemotherapy treatments no longer seemed to be working, so they were stopped.
On Sunday, February 27, the family gathered at the home of my sister Sara and her husband, Jerry Fenn, to seal our fast and importune the heavens in Dad's behalf. Mother had invited us to do this without Dad's knowledge for fear he would not want us to make a fuss over him. The spirit of the meeting was positive. Mother indicated that Dad had asked the boys to come down to their apartment and give him a blessing. When we were seated in the apartment, she turned to me and asked me to take charge. I briefly recounted for Dad what had taken place and then told him he was surrounded by men of faith who would be pleased to give him a blessing if he desired it. He said, "I would like that," in a manner that indicated he meant it. He asked me to be voice in giving the blessing. As we gathered around him, I asked if he would like us to anoint him also. He responded in the affirmative and asked Stanford to perform that ordinance. In the blessing we told Dad that he was encircled in the love of his family and that each of us who laid our hands on his head had received the priesthood or its saving ordinances at his hand and now deemed it an honor to place our hands on his head to bless him as he had blessed us. We rebuked the disease in his body, telling him that as the Lord had told Joseph Smith the bounds of his enemies were set, so the bounds of this affliction were set. We commanded the disease to recede to those bounds. We also told him that like Joseph Smith, his days were known and would not be numbered less. We told him that he would be required to rest and recuperate but that the Lord would return that time to him. We assured him that he would "yet bear every testimony, teach every doctrine and write every word that he had been foreordained in the councils of heaven to accomplish." We sealed upon him the blessing given by our Grandfather McConkie to that effect—and, I suppose, if not in word, then surely by implication—the blessing given in the councils of heaven. We then asked for a blessing beyond mortal ability for the doctors who would attend him.
One week later, before he went into the hospital, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Hinckley also blessed Dad. He called to tell me about the blessing, saying that President Hinckley "sealed upon him the blessing given by his family."
Dad then went into the hospital for what was supposed to be a two-week stay in which they would shoot chemotherapy directly into his liver. He was told that this procedure had a 40 percent chance of working. The therapy worked, and Dad was sent home from the hospital after about the ninth day. All that could have been hoped for was accomplished. Still, he was very weak and had a serious case of jaundice. The treatment also robbed him of his appetite.
His doctors came to the apartment to check on him. Describing these events to the family, Mother wrote as follows: "This morning the chemo doctor came in while I was here. He did his usual thorough and expert checking on Daddy, and after all the thumping and feeling and listening he said that his liver was smaller than it had been and he could not detect any indication of fluid in the area." These were both positive signs, suggesting that the treatment was having the desired effect. Dad was also doing well at maintaining his weight.
To her report Mother added, "Dr. Maurice Taylor, an old friend and devoted follower of Daddy's came in. He is a fine old Gentleman and Stake Patriarch. After a little visit he was about to leave and then turned and asked Daddy if he would like to have him give Dad a blessing." Dad indicated that he would. A beautiful blessing followed, which Dad felt was the most positive he had received.
"It was interesting," Mother continued, "to hear a blessing with a physician talking to the 'Great Physican' and using medical expressions like, 'As you know the cells are producing ______, which is causing _____, and he needs to have "this or that" take place in order to throw off this disease, etc.' He rebuked the cells that were rebellious and refusing to act as they should normally do and blessed Daddy that the terrible itching and other problems he's had would cease. He also said that Daddy was well loved in the Church and his work was not finished and he would remain until he had done all he should."
Dad had a very pronounced case of jaundice, which we understood to be a good sign because it meant the treatment was working. His bilirubin count was up, and the doctors attributed the itch to that. Pills could relieve the itching but with the side effect of drowsiness. He would take them only at night.
About this time I received a call to serve as the president of a Brigham Young University student stake. It was one of the young married stakes and had in it fourteen hundred returned missionaries. When I told Dad about my call and described the stake, I said, "What do you think Joseph Smith would have done if he had had fourteen hundred returned missionaries with whom to begin the labors of this dispensation?" He answered, "I don't know, but in a few weeks I will ask him."
On March 10, 1985, Dad went down to the Motion Picture Studio in Provo to film his part of a short film introducing the new editions of the scriptures. The experience took most of the day and left him so exhausted that when it was finished, he got into the car and fell asleep as Mother drove him home.
Conference Week
Sometime before April conference, probably the last Saturday in March, Mother recounted, "Dad came into the kitchen and said, 'Would you like to hear what I have prepared for General Conference?' I was making him a pie, because his appetite had begun to go downhill, and I thought, maybe he'd like an apple pie. I had the apples all ready to put in it, and I was rolling up the dough, the oven was on, everything was ready, and he came in and sat down and started to read me his talk and the tears streamed down his face, and he didn't get more than a couple of sentences out and I thought to myself, 'You don't make apple pies when somebody is saying these things to you.' So I sat down, dropped everything, and listened to him. I asked him, 'How are you going to be able to get up and read this?' Because there he was, having a hard time saying what he was saying because he was so touched. And he said, 'I don't know, but I'm going to do it.'"
On Monday, April 1, Brit gave Dad a blessing. He said he still had work to do, that the devil had been rebuked, and he blessed him to have the strength to get through conference. Elder Packer came on Tuesday and blessed him and again affirmed that he had more to do.
On Tuesday evening, April 2, Mother called our home. I answered the phone and could tell immediately from the tone of her voice that something was seriously wrong. She said, "I called to wish you a happy birthday tomorrow." She then explained that Dad's blood tests had come back, and they were very bad. "The doctors can do nothing for him," she said. They had told her "to take him home and make him as comfortable as possible" for what they said would be the last few days or weeks of his life. She told us that Dad had instructed her that the family was to accept the will of the Lord and that they were not to fast and pray for the extension of his life.
As to conference, she reported that the doctors said that he would be too weak to speak and that should he try, he would likely pass out in front of a national television audience and embarrass the whole Church. "Nevertheless," she said, "your father wants to give that talk. It means more to him than anything he has done in this life," but he could not even finish reading it to her. Each time he attempted to do so, he broke down in tears.
After Mother's call, with Vivian's help we contacted each of our brothers and sisters to relay Mother's message and to unite the family in a fast—not contrary to his wishes in pleading for the extension of his life but rather that he might be granted both the strength and the emotional control he needed to give the talk he had written.
During the day, Dad would rest on his bed with his clothes on, refusing to make the concession of remaining in bed. He also refused to eat in the bedroom. Regardless of how bad he felt, he would go to the kitchen to attempt to eat.
Wednesday evening, Brenda and I went up to visit Mother and Dad. He had just returned from his meetings and was exhausted. While he took a nap, Mother insisted on cooking some hamburgers for us. Dad came in and sat at the table. This was especially gracious of him because he had no appetite, and the smell of food nauseated him. He too ate, which greatly pleased Mother. Brenda gave him a supply of a diet supplement in the form of an odorless pill, something like an energy bar but smaller. He could eat them because they were odorless. They may have been his primary food supply for the next few days. I remember seeing him put one in his mouth just before he got up to speak at conference.
By Saturday the family had gathered. Mark and Mary Ann had come from Colorado, Mike and Becky from Iowa, and Stephen and Shauna from California. The rest of us—Brenda and I, Vivian and Carlos, Stanford and Kathy, Mary and Ben, Sara and Jerry, all lived within an hour's drive of Salt Lake City. Sara and Jerry, who had bought the family home on Dorchester Drive, generously made it our headquarters.
In the Saturday morning session on April 6, 1985, Dad gave his final talk in a general conference of the Church. As he rose to speak, his face was drawn and thin, his skin so yellow that many must have been tempted to adjust the color on their television sets, his steps those of a man many years his senior; nevertheless, he stood tall and spoke as he always had, with confidence and power. The family prayer that he might have both the strength and emotional control to give the talk was answered. The Spirit took over as Dad had prayed it would, and one of the most powerful talks ever given in the Tabernacle was delivered.
With a trembling voice, he concluded: "I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.
"But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God's Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way."5
On Sunday, April 14, Elder Packer visited and blessed Dad for the final time. He said the promises given in the previous blessings were fulfilled in his conference address and that it was a miracle we had had him this year. In effect, Elder Packer indicated in the blessing that Dad's life's ministry was completed. Afterward, Dad turned to Mother and said, "Do you know what he said?" Mother told him she would try to live to be an honor and a credit to him. He cried.
Elder Packer visited with Mother and left. His instructions to the family were to yield to the will of the Lord. When Mother and Elder Packer left the room, Dad got up and with what little strength he had remaining, he undressed, pulled the covers back, and got into bed, thus signaling that the battle was over. Thereafter he declined food but would sometimes take a little water.
Brenda and I went up to see them. Mother was tired, and even though she had invited us up, she probably would have preferred that we not come. There had been a constant parade of people in that day. We visited with Mother for a few minutes in the living room and then she said, "Joseph, you can go in and sit by your dad if you would like to." I entered the bedroom very quietly. I thought he was asleep. He was lying on the far side of the bed with his back to me. I didn't want to wake him; it was enough just to be present. He said, "Hello, Joseph." I responded, "Hello, Dad." I then walked around the bed to be closer to him. He turned his back to me. I started back to the other side so that I could face him. He asked me if I would scratch his back. I rubbed his back for about ten minutes. It seemed a special honor. My thoughts were of those privileged to anoint the broken body of the Savior. When I thought him awake, I said to him, "Dad, I wanted to come up to tell you that I love you." He was unable to respond. After I had rubbed his back for that short time, he rolled over onto his back, and we talked. I said, "You remember Farrell Smith, who I served with in Vietnam?" He responded in the affirmative.
I told him Farrell was a stake president in Arizona and that he was holding a stake priesthood meeting that night in which they were showing the video of his talk and building their meeting around it. I told him again that I thought more people had been affected by his talk than any talk ever given in a general conference. He said, as he had before, "I wanted to give that talk if it was the last thing I ever did!" I told him that my children wanted to come up and tell him that they loved him, but we were afraid it would wear him out. I said that they were good children, that I had taken Joseph Jr. home teaching with me that day, that he had given the lesson, that he was getting tall and handsome, and that he would be a great missionary. Dad said he knew they were good children and that he was proud of them. He said, "Joseph, I love you."
Mother came into the room, and when she saw that we were talking, she asked me to get Brenda. I did so. Brenda came in. A moment or two after she came into the room, Dad opened his eyes and saw her. He said, "Hello, Brenda," with a special kindness and love in his voice like that with which he had greeted me. She said, "Dad, our children wanted us to tell you how much they love you. Shanna felt bad she hadn't told you that when she was here last week." Dad said, "I know they do. I love them and am proud of them. You have a good family, Brenda." Then she said, "We want to thank you for all that you have done for us." He responded, "It was a privilege."
At this point Mother sat down and began rubbing Dad's back again. She made some comments about his having a son and a brother and a father who were waiting to see him. We said we would leave and said good night. Mother excused herself from Dad and walked us to the door. I thanked her for letting us come, and she said we were welcome any time we wanted to come and we did not need to call. We hugged and left.
The next few days family members and close friends came to bid Dad farewell. Each experience contained its own tenderness. The tone of the visit with his mother, Vivian Redd McConkie, was somewhat different, however. She visited Dad to give him instruction. "When you see Daddy," she said, referring to his father and her companion, from whom she had now been separated for twenty years, "you tell him my suitcase is packed and I am waiting at the curb." Grandmother, who had hardly been sick a day in her life, was now in her ninety-fifth year—no great thing, particularly, considering that her mother, Lucinda Pace Redd, had lived to be 104. Yet Grandmother McConkie was ready to meet Granddaddy and fully expected Dad to see that the matter was attended to. Three weeks and one day after Dad's death, she herself died.
Early Friday morning, April 19, Elder Russell M. Nelson came by to check Dad. He took Mother into the living room and told her that Dad would pass away that day. He was leaving for a multiregional conference in Boston, to which Dad had been assigned. He was going with President Ezra Taft Benson, who lived across the hall.
Calls were made, and the family assembled. It was sometime after noon before everyone who was able to be there had arrived. We took chairs into Dad's room for everyone. Mother suggested that we kneel and have prayer. She asked me to be voice. Stanford's wife, Kathy, who is a registered nurse, had just taken Dad's heartbeat, observing that it was strong and regular and would be the last thing to go. Mother, Kathy, and Dad's nurse had bathed Dad, changed his clothing, and prepared everything needful prior to this gathering.
Vivian described what followed: "We all knelt around the bed. Joseph prayed. He thanked the Lord for Dad's life and asked him to have regard for Dad's condition and his obedience and if it was possible, to release his spirit and call him home. Immediately upon the phrase 'call him home,' Dad's spirit left his body, and he was gone. The others were aware he had quit breathing. Joseph asked the Lord to allow Dad to be with us in Israel on the Mount of Beatitudes where the first Twelve were ordained, if it were appropriate."
Within ten minutes Dr. J. Poulson Hunter came by. No one had called him. He just appeared. He phoned the mortuary and took care of a few other things. Elder Packer called at about the same time. He had just returned from commencement exercises at Brigham Young University. It seemed uncanny how these things were happening. Dr. Hunter called President Hinckley. At about 2:30 P.M. someone looked out the window and saw that the flag at the Church Offices was at half mast.
That spring, according to Dad's wish, the family made the trip to the Holy Land that we had been planning. Brit and his wife, Beth, as well as Dad's secretary of many years, Velma Harvey, joined us. We spent some sacred moments together on the Mount of Beatitudes according to our appointment. At the Garden Tomb outside the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem, we found a quiet place and sat in a circle to listen to a recording of Dad's last talk. As we listened, a dove flew down into the center of our group, where it remained until Dad's final amen.
Notes Chapter 23: His Final Testimony
1. Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, May 1984, 32.
2. Bruce R. McConkie, "The Bible, a Sealed Book," in Supplement to a Symposium on the New Testament, 1984 (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1984), 3.
3. Bruce R. McConkie, "The Doctrinal Restoration," in Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Joseph Smith Translation: The Restoration of Plain and Precious Things (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1985), 14.
4. John K. Carmack, "The Testament of Bruce R. McConkie," in Speeches (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1985), 109–10.
5. Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, May 1985, 11.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Internet Must Remain Free
The Internet is abuzz with news that a US Senate committee has approved a bill that apparently gives the President authority to shut down the Internet. According to TechWorld.com, “A US Senate committee has approved a wide-ranging cybersecurity bill that some critics have suggested would give the US president the authority to shut down parts of the Internet during a cyberattack.”
The report continues by saying, “The bill, introduced earlier this month [by Senators Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thomas Carper, D-Delaware], would establish a White House Office for Cyberspace Policy and a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications, which would work with private US companies to create cybersecurity requirements for the electric grid, telecommunications networks and other critical infrastructure.”
See the report at:
http://tinyurl.com/obama-can-kill-web1
A PrisonPlanet.com report says this about the bill: “President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday [June 24] and now moves to the floor.
“The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which is being pushed hard by Senator Joe Lieberman, would hand absolute power to the federal government to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.
“Despite the Center for Democracy and Technology and 23 other privacy and technology organizations sending letters to Lieberman and other backers of the bill expressing concerns that the legislation could be used to stifle free speech, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the bill in advance of a vote on the Senate floor.”
The report continued by saying, “Fears that the legislation is aimed at bringing the Internet under the regulatory power of the U.S. government in an offensive against free speech were heightened further on Sunday, when Lieberman revealed that the plan was to mimic [communist] China’s policies of policing the web with censorship and coercion.
“‘Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too,’ Lieberman told CNN’s Candy Crowley.
“While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet.”
See the report at:
http://tinyurl.com/obama-can-kill-web2
Of course, pro-family groups have long lobbied Washington lawmakers to pass regulations restricting objectionable material on the Internet. But Senator Lieberman’s bill does more than restrict content on the Internet; it gives the federal government the power to completely shut it down.
My friends, if you have any love for liberty left in your heart, one thing is critical: the Internet must remain free–absolutely, totally unrestricted and free.
I realize that many upstanding, well-intentioned people believe that the federal government should restrict the content of the Internet. But Lieberman’s bill should provide ample warning for anyone who believes that the federal government can be trusted with ANY authority it is granted beyond that which is rightly ascribed to it via the US Constitution. Plus, given the propensities of the federal government these days, how long before the definition of “objectionable content” includes your freedom of speech and mine? In plain language, the federal government has no business restricting anything that the Constitution does not permit it to. If we cede the authority to restrict and regulate the content of the Internet to the federal government, we are also ceding to it the power to completely shut down the Internet. And this is exactly what Lieberman’s bill does.
The fact is, the Internet is the last bastion of free and unfiltered news and information. And, yes, I understand that there is much misinformation on the Internet. But that is the price of freedom. The individual must be given the liberty to discern right from wrong for himself. As a Christian, I believe this is why God provided the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. And I for one do not need the federal government to try and replace either. And as far as objectionable material being available to children is concerned, this is what parents are for! Good grief! It is bad enough that the federal government has turned into Big Brother; are we going to allow it to become Big Momma and Big Daddy as well?
Ladies and gentlemen, it is essential that the free flow of information be allowed to continue over the Internet. The major news media is a finely filtered, tightly controlled medium that works harder at blocking news and information than it does at delivering it. Virtually every major television and radio network, along with the nation’s major newspapers, is an equal opportunity news-suppressor.
Just ask yourself, what would you have known regarding the MIAC report in Missouri had it not been for the Internet? What would you have known about the fiasco in Hardin, Montana, had it not been for the Internet? What would you know about the NAFTA superhighway without the Internet? If not for the Internet, would you ever have learned about the CFR’s plans for a North American Community? Where would the Tea Parties be today without the Internet? Where would Ron Paul’s campaign in 2008 have been without the Internet? Virtually everything you’ve learned regarding the State sovereignty momentum that continues to build across this country you’ve learned from the Internet. Except for a few courageous independent radio talk show hosts, and newspaper and magazine publishers, the vast majority of extremely relevant and critical information relative to freedom is gleaned from the Internet–not to mention the speed with which news and information is able to travel, thanks to the Internet.
It is no hyperbole to suggest that the Internet is the modern patriots’ version of the colonists’ Committees of Correspondence that sounded the clarion call for liberty and independence at the time of America’s founding. And now, power-mad elitists in Washington, D.C., are attempting to provide the federal government with the power and authority to shut it down at will.
What is even more disturbing is the way that private companies and special interest groups are willing to prostitute themselves before the federal government in order to get their own “piece of the pie.” Think of it: just about every freedom-grabbing, Big-Government action taken by these modern Machiavellians in Washington, D.C., is facilitated by willing CEOs from Big Business. They gladly assist Big Brother when he wants to spy on us, read our emails, listen to our phone calls, etc. They happily help Big Brother when he wants to eavesdrop inside our homes, examine our financial records, or snoop on our private lives. When Big Brother says, “Jump!” they ask, “How high?” Then–like these hypocrites in Washington, D.C.–they have the audacity to wave the flag on Independence Day and shout, “America: the land of the free!” As if they are blameless in freedom’s demise.
Mark it down: if the federal government ever shuts down the Internet, it will be business as usual for Washington, D.C., and its fellow travelers in Big Business; but We the People will be out of business, and so will freedom. Regardless of what side of any issue you and I may come from, it is critical that the Internet remains absolutely and totally free.
P.S. We are still shipping THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS but our supply will not last long. To order, go here:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=279
*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?page_id=19
(c) Chuck Baldwin
The report continues by saying, “The bill, introduced earlier this month [by Senators Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thomas Carper, D-Delaware], would establish a White House Office for Cyberspace Policy and a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications, which would work with private US companies to create cybersecurity requirements for the electric grid, telecommunications networks and other critical infrastructure.”
See the report at:
http://tinyurl.com/obama-can-kill-web1
A PrisonPlanet.com report says this about the bill: “President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday [June 24] and now moves to the floor.
“The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which is being pushed hard by Senator Joe Lieberman, would hand absolute power to the federal government to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.
“Despite the Center for Democracy and Technology and 23 other privacy and technology organizations sending letters to Lieberman and other backers of the bill expressing concerns that the legislation could be used to stifle free speech, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the bill in advance of a vote on the Senate floor.”
The report continued by saying, “Fears that the legislation is aimed at bringing the Internet under the regulatory power of the U.S. government in an offensive against free speech were heightened further on Sunday, when Lieberman revealed that the plan was to mimic [communist] China’s policies of policing the web with censorship and coercion.
“‘Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too,’ Lieberman told CNN’s Candy Crowley.
“While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet.”
See the report at:
http://tinyurl.com/obama-can-kill-web2
Of course, pro-family groups have long lobbied Washington lawmakers to pass regulations restricting objectionable material on the Internet. But Senator Lieberman’s bill does more than restrict content on the Internet; it gives the federal government the power to completely shut it down.
My friends, if you have any love for liberty left in your heart, one thing is critical: the Internet must remain free–absolutely, totally unrestricted and free.
I realize that many upstanding, well-intentioned people believe that the federal government should restrict the content of the Internet. But Lieberman’s bill should provide ample warning for anyone who believes that the federal government can be trusted with ANY authority it is granted beyond that which is rightly ascribed to it via the US Constitution. Plus, given the propensities of the federal government these days, how long before the definition of “objectionable content” includes your freedom of speech and mine? In plain language, the federal government has no business restricting anything that the Constitution does not permit it to. If we cede the authority to restrict and regulate the content of the Internet to the federal government, we are also ceding to it the power to completely shut down the Internet. And this is exactly what Lieberman’s bill does.
The fact is, the Internet is the last bastion of free and unfiltered news and information. And, yes, I understand that there is much misinformation on the Internet. But that is the price of freedom. The individual must be given the liberty to discern right from wrong for himself. As a Christian, I believe this is why God provided the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. And I for one do not need the federal government to try and replace either. And as far as objectionable material being available to children is concerned, this is what parents are for! Good grief! It is bad enough that the federal government has turned into Big Brother; are we going to allow it to become Big Momma and Big Daddy as well?
Ladies and gentlemen, it is essential that the free flow of information be allowed to continue over the Internet. The major news media is a finely filtered, tightly controlled medium that works harder at blocking news and information than it does at delivering it. Virtually every major television and radio network, along with the nation’s major newspapers, is an equal opportunity news-suppressor.
Just ask yourself, what would you have known regarding the MIAC report in Missouri had it not been for the Internet? What would you have known about the fiasco in Hardin, Montana, had it not been for the Internet? What would you know about the NAFTA superhighway without the Internet? If not for the Internet, would you ever have learned about the CFR’s plans for a North American Community? Where would the Tea Parties be today without the Internet? Where would Ron Paul’s campaign in 2008 have been without the Internet? Virtually everything you’ve learned regarding the State sovereignty momentum that continues to build across this country you’ve learned from the Internet. Except for a few courageous independent radio talk show hosts, and newspaper and magazine publishers, the vast majority of extremely relevant and critical information relative to freedom is gleaned from the Internet–not to mention the speed with which news and information is able to travel, thanks to the Internet.
It is no hyperbole to suggest that the Internet is the modern patriots’ version of the colonists’ Committees of Correspondence that sounded the clarion call for liberty and independence at the time of America’s founding. And now, power-mad elitists in Washington, D.C., are attempting to provide the federal government with the power and authority to shut it down at will.
What is even more disturbing is the way that private companies and special interest groups are willing to prostitute themselves before the federal government in order to get their own “piece of the pie.” Think of it: just about every freedom-grabbing, Big-Government action taken by these modern Machiavellians in Washington, D.C., is facilitated by willing CEOs from Big Business. They gladly assist Big Brother when he wants to spy on us, read our emails, listen to our phone calls, etc. They happily help Big Brother when he wants to eavesdrop inside our homes, examine our financial records, or snoop on our private lives. When Big Brother says, “Jump!” they ask, “How high?” Then–like these hypocrites in Washington, D.C.–they have the audacity to wave the flag on Independence Day and shout, “America: the land of the free!” As if they are blameless in freedom’s demise.
Mark it down: if the federal government ever shuts down the Internet, it will be business as usual for Washington, D.C., and its fellow travelers in Big Business; but We the People will be out of business, and so will freedom. Regardless of what side of any issue you and I may come from, it is critical that the Internet remains absolutely and totally free.
P.S. We are still shipping THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS but our supply will not last long. To order, go here:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=279
*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?page_id=19
(c) Chuck Baldwin
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Lectures on Faith (a few notes)
Was it not the hope which you had, in consequence of your belief in the existence of unseen things, which stimulated you to action and exertion in order to obtain them?
Are you not dependent on your faith, or belief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence?
Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them?
Would you have ever sown, if you had not believed that you would reap?
Are you not dependent on your faith, or belief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence?
Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them?
Would you have ever sown, if you had not believed that you would reap?
The House of the Lord
Elder John A. Widtsoe said: “I believe that the busy person … who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the house of the Lord than anywhere else. If he will [do] the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and … a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moments, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solution of the problems that vex his life. That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly” (quoted by David B. Haight, in Conference Report, Oct. 1990, 76; or Ensign, Nov. 1990, 61).
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Be Not Deceived
Be Not Deceived
By Ezra Taft Benson
Posted May 7th, 2010
(Ezra Taft Benson. Be Not Deceived. General Conference, October, 1963.)
Humbly and gratefully I approach you today. Humble in the awesome task of speaking to you-grateful for the gospel and a prophet at our head. I concur in this great address on man and free agency given by the Lord’s mouthpiece. President McKay will go down in eternity as one of the great champions of free men.
Years ago my great-grandfather, while an investigator, attended a Mormon meeting during which a member had a quarrel over the Sacrament table with the branch president. When the service was over, Mrs. Benson turned to Ezra T. and asked him what he thought of the Mormons now. I’ll always be grateful for his answer. He said he thought the actions of its members in no way altered the truth of Mormonism. That conviction saved him from many a tragedy. Before joining the Church, Grandfather was moved by a marvelous prayer of Apostle John E. Page.
But later the young convert was greatly shocked by the same man whose actions reflected his gradual apostasy.
Ironically, when Elder Page eventually was excommunicated, Brigham Young selected the young convert to fill Elder Page’s place in the Quorum of the Twelve.
Six of the original Twelve Apostles selected by Joseph Smith were excommunicated. The Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon left the Church. Three of Joseph Smith’s Counselors fell-one even helped plot his death.
A natural question that might arise would be, that if the Lord knew in advance that these men would fall, as he undoubtedly did, why did he have his Prophet call them to such high office? The answer is; to fill the Lord’s purposes. For even the Master followed the will the will of the Father by selecting Judas. President George Q. Cannon suggests an explanation, too, when he states:
“Perhaps it is His own design that faults and weaknesses should appear in high places in order that His Saints may learn to trust in Him and not in any man or men.” (Millennial Star 53:658-659. February 15, 1891.)
And this would parallel Lehi’s warning; put not your “. . . trust in the arm of flesh. . . .” (2 Nephi 4:34.)
“The Church,” says President McKay, “is little, if at all, injured by persecution and calumnies from ignorant, misinformed, or malicious enemies.” (The Instructor, February 1956, p. 33.)
It is from within the Church that the greatest hindrance comes. And so, it seems, it has been. Now the question arises, will we stick with the kingdom and can we avoid being deceived? Certainly this is an important question, for the Lord has said that in the last days the devil will “rage in the hearts of . . . men,” (2 Nephi 28:20) and if it were possible he shall “deceive the very elect.” (See Joseph Smith 1:5-37.)
“The adversary,” said Brigham Young, “presents his principles and arguments in the most approved style, and in the most winning tone, attended with the most graceful attitudes; and he is very careful to ingratiate himself into the favour of the powerful and influential of mankind, uniting himself with popular parties, floating into offices of trust and emolument by pandering to popular feeling, though it should seriously wrong and oppress the innocent. Such characters put on the manners of an angel, appearing as nigh like angels of light as they possibly can, to deceive the innocent and the unwary. The good which they do, they do it to bring to pass an evil purpose upon the good and honest followers of Jesus Christ.” (JD 11, 238-239.)
Those of us who think “. . . all is well in Zion . . .” (2 Nephi 28:21) in spite of Book of Mormon warning might ponder the words of Heber C. Kimball when he said, “Yes, we think we are secure here in the chambers of these everlasting hills . . . but I want to say to you, my brethren, the time is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to that extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from the face of an enemy against the people of God. Then is the time to look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall. For I say unto you there is a test, a Test, a TEST coming.” (Heber C. Kimball, 1856. Quoted by J. Golden Kimball, Conference Report, October 1930, pp. 59-60.)
One of the greatest discourses that I have ever heard or read on how to avoid being deceived was given from this pulpit during the priesthood session of the October, 1960 semiannual conference by Elder Marion G. Romney. (Ibid., October 1960, 73-75.) I commend it to you for your close study and wish that there were time to reread it. During the talk Elder Romney stated that there was no guarantee that the devil will not deceive a lot of men who hold the priesthood. Then, after referring to a talk on free agency by President McKay, Elder Romney states, “. . . Free agency is the principle against which Satan waged his war in heaven. It is still the front on which he makes his most furious, devious, and persistent attacks. That this would be the case was foreshadowed by the Lord. . . .”
And then after quoting the scripture from the Pearl of Great Price regarding the war in heaven over free agency (Moses 4:1–4) Elder Romney continues:
“You see, at the time he was cast out of heaven, his objective was (and still is) `to deceive and to blind men and to lead them captive at his will.’ This he effectively does to as many as will not hearken unto the voice of God. His main attack is still on free agency. When he can get men to yield their agency, he has them well on the way to captivity.
“We who hold the priesthood must beware concerning ourselves, that we do not fall into the traps he lays to rob us of our freedom. We must be careful that we are not led to accept or support in any way any organization, cause or measure which, in its remotest effect, would jeopardize free agency, whether it be in politics, government, religion, employment, education, or any other field. It is not enough for us to be sincere in what we support. We must be right!”
Elder Romney then outlined some tests to distinguish the true from the counterfeit. Now this is crucial for us to know, for as President [John] Taylor said, “Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man.” (JD 23, 63.)
It was the struggle over free agency that divided us before we came here; it may well be the struggle over the same principle which will deceive and divide us again.
May I suggest three short tests to avoid being deceived, both pertaining to this freedom struggle and all other matters.
1. What do the standard works have to say about it? “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,” said Isaiah. (Isa. 8:20.) This is one of the great truths of Isaiah so important that it was included in the Book of Mormon scriptures. There it reads: “To the law and to the testimony; and if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (2 Nephi 18:20.) And Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: . . .” (Hos. 4:6.)
We must diligently study the scriptures. Of special importance to us are the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Joseph Smith said, “. . . that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (DHC 4, 461.)
The Book of Mormon, Brigham Young said, was written on the tablets of his heart and no doubt helped save him from being deceived. The Book of Mormon has a lot to say about America freedom, and secret combinations.
The Doctrine and Covenants is important because it contains the revelations which helped lay the foundation of this great latter-day work. It speaks of many things. Section 134, verse 2, states that government should hold inviolate the rights and control of property. This makes important reading in a day when government controls are increasing and people are losing the right to control their own property.
2. The second guide is: what do the latter-day Presidents of the Church have to say on the subject-particularly the living President? President Wilford Woodruff related an instance in church history when Brigham Young was addressing a congregation in the presence of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
“Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down: and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and laid it down before him, and he said, `There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost, to our day.’ `And now,’ said he `when compared with the living oracles, those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books.’ That was the course he pursued. When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation: `Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth’. . . .” (Conference Report, October 1897, pp. 18-19.)
There is only one man on the earth today who speaks for the Church. (See D&C 132:7, 21:4.) That man is President David O. McKay. Because he gives the word of the Lord for us today, his words have an even more immediate importance than those of the dead prophets. When speaking under the influence of the Holy Ghost his words are scripture. (See D&C 68:4.) I commend for your reading the masterful discourse of President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the Church News of July 31, 1954, entitled: “When Are Church Leader’s Words Entitled to Claim of Scripture?”
The President can speak on any subject he feels is needful for the Saints. As Brigham Young has stated: “I defy any man on earth to point out the path a prophet of God should walk in, or point out his duty, and just how far he must go, in dictating temporal or spiritual things. Temporal and spiritual things are inseparably connected, and ever will be.” (JD 10, 364) Other officers in the kingdom have fallen but never the Presidents. Keep your eye on the captain is still good counsel. The words of a living prophet must, and ever will take precedence.
President McKay has said a lot about our tragic trends towards socialism and communism and the responsibilities liberty-loving people have in defending and preserving our Constitution. (See, Conference Report, April 1953, pp. 112-113.) Have we read these words from God’s mouthpiece and pondered on them?
3. The third and final test is the Holy Ghost-the test of the Spirit. By that Spirit we “. . . may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5.) This test can only be fully effective if one’s channels of communication with God are clean and virtuous and uncluttered with sin. Said Brigham Young:
“You may know whether you are led right or wrong, as well as you know the way home; for every principle God has revealed carries its own convictions of its truth to the human mind, . . .
“What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire of themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path that the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually.” (JD 9, 149-150.)
Elder Heber C. Kimball stated: “The time will come when no man or woman will be able to endure on borrowed light.” (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 1888 edition 461.)
How then can we know if a man is speaking by the spirit? The Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants give us the key. (See D&C 50:17–23; 100:5-8; 2 Nephi 33:1; 1 Cor. 2:10–11.) President Clark summarized them well when he said:
“We can tell when the speakers are moved upon by the Holy Ghost only when we, ourselves, are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. In a way, this completely shifts the responsibility from them to us to determine when they so speak . . . the Church will know by the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the body of the members, whether the brethren in voicing their views are moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and in due time that knowledge will be made manifest.” (Church News, July 31, 1954.)
Will this Spirit be needed to check actions in other situations? Yes, and it could be used as a guide and a protector for the faithful in a situation described by Elder Lee at the last general priesthood session of the Church when he said:
“In the history of the Church there have been times or instances where Counselors in the First Presidency and others in high station have sought to overturn the decision or to persuade the President contrary to his inspired judgment, and always, if you will read carefully the history of the Church, such oppositions brought not only disastrous results to those who resisted the decision of the President, but almost always such temporary persuasions were called back for reconsideration, or a reversal of hasty action not in accordance with the feelings, the inspired feelings, of the President of the Church. And that, I submit, is one of the fundamental things that we must never lose sight of in the building up of the kingdom of God.” (Conference Report, April, 1963, p. 81.)
These then, are the three tests: The standard works; the inspired words of the Presidents of the Church, particularly the living Presidents; and the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Now, brothers and sisters, in this great struggle for free agency just think what a power for good we could be in this world if we were united. Remember how President Clark used to reiterate in the general priesthood meeting of the Church that there was not a righteous thing in this world that we couldn’t accomplish if we were just united.
And President McKay has reiterated it again and again when he’s stated: “Next to being one in worshiping God, there is nothing in this world upon which this Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States!
“May the appeal of our Lord in His intercessory prayer for unity be realized in our homes, our wards, our stakes, and in our support of the basic principles of our Republic,” said President McKay. (The Instructor, February 1956. p. 34.)
To that I say Amen and Amen.
President McKay speaks of a unity on principles. President Clark said:
“God provided that in this land of liberty, our political allegiance shall run not to individuals, that is, to government officials, no matter how great or how small they may be. Under His plan our allegiance and the only allegiance we owe as citizens or denizens of the United States, runs to our inspired Constitution which God Himself set up. So runs the oath of office of those who participate in government. A certain loyalty we do owe to the office which a man holds, but even here we owe, just by reason of our citizenship, no loyalty to the man himself. In other countries it is to the individual that allegiance runs. This principle of allegiance to the Constitution is basic to our freedom. It is one of the great principles that distinguishes this ‘land of liberty’ from other countries.
“Thus God added to His priceless blessings to us.
“I wish to say with all the earnestness I possess that when you youth and maidens see any curtailment of these liberties I have named, when you see government invading any of these realms of freedom which we have under our Constitution, you will know that they are putting shackles on your liberty, and that tyranny is creeping upon you, no matter who curtails these liberties or who invades these realms, and no matter what the reason and excuse therefore may be.” (The Improvement Era, 43, [July 1940] 444.)
We all should know by now what President McKay has said about liberty-loving peoples’ greatest responsibility. We’ve heard him tell of our drift toward socialism and communism. We know of his feelings regarding recent tragic decisions of the Supreme Court. We know the Church’s position supporting right to work laws and the Church’s opposition to programs of federal aid to education. These and many more things has President McKay told us that involve the great struggle against state slavery and the anti-Christ. Now, inasmuch as all these warnings have come through the only mouthpiece of the Lord on the earth today there is one major question we should ask ourselves. Assuming we are living a life so we can know, then what does the Holy Spirit have to say about it?
We are under obligation to answer this question. God will hold us responsible.
Let us not be deceived in the sifting days ahead. Let us rally together on principle behind the prophet as guided by the promptings of the Spirit.
We should continue to speak out for freedom and against socialism and communism as President McKay has consistently admonished us. We should continue to come to the aid of patriots, programs and organizations which are trying to save our Constitution through every legal and moral means possible.
God has not left us in darkness regarding these matters. We have the scriptures ancient and modern. We have a living prophet, and we may obtain the Spirit.
Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son. The kingdom established through the Prophet’s instrumentality will roll forth.
We can move forward with it.
That we may all do so and be not deceived is my humble prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Agency - The Truth Shall Make You Free...
The following are excerpts from Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk on Moral Agency... (I highly recommend you read the entire talk)
...after the existence of choices and a knowledge of choices, is the next element of agency: the freedom to make choices. This freedom to act for ourselves in choosing among the alternatives that the law establishes is often referred to in the scriptures as agency itself. For this freedom we are indebted to God. It is His gift to us...
Let us pause and note that freedom of choice is the freedom to obey or disobey existing laws — not the freedom to alter their consequences. Law, as mentioned earlier, exists as a foundational element of moral agency with fixed outcomes that do not vary according to our opinions or preferences.
We recognize the gift of agency as a central aspect of the plan of salvation proposed by the Father in the great premortal council, and that “there was war in heaven” to defend and preserve it.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
So, being Jesus’ obedient disciple—just as He is the Father’s obedient disciple—leads to truth and freedom. Then He added, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
...the Lord’s statement that the truth will make us free has broader significance. “Truth,” He tells us, “is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” Possession of this knowledge of things past, present, and future is a critical element of God’s glory: “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” Does anyone doubt that, as a consequence of possessing all light and truth, God possesses ultimate freedom to be and to do?
Related resources:
- Moral Agency by Elder D. Todd Christofferson
- Moral Agency and Natural Law (YouTube Video)
- What is the difference between Agency, Freedom and Liberty? by Brian Mecham
The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ
Men ought—above all things in this world—to seek for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing as important as having the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Those who first receive this endowment and who then remain in tune with this member of the Eternal Godhead will receive a peace and a comfort that passeth all understanding; they will he guided and preserved in ways that are miraculous; they will he instructed until they receive all truth; they will sanctify their souls so as to dwell spotless before the Sinless One in his everlasting kingdom.
There is no price too high, no labor too onerous, no struggle too severe, no sacrifice too great, if out of it all we receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost. It follows that faithful people desire to know who or what the Spirit is; to know the part he plays in the plan of salvation; to know the blessings that flow from his hands; to know his relationship to the Father and the Son; to know what mortals must do to be filled with his goodness and grace. It is to these and related matters that we shall now give attention. To guide us in our search, we shall set forth the doctrines involved. They should generate the motivating power that will enable us to gain the blessings so devoutly desired.
There is no price too high, no labor too onerous, no struggle too severe, no sacrifice too great, if out of it all we receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost. It follows that faithful people desire to know who or what the Spirit is; to know the part he plays in the plan of salvation; to know the blessings that flow from his hands; to know his relationship to the Father and the Son; to know what mortals must do to be filled with his goodness and grace. It is to these and related matters that we shall now give attention. To guide us in our search, we shall set forth the doctrines involved. They should generate the motivating power that will enable us to gain the blessings so devoutly desired.
"Have Mercy On Me"
When confronting our transgressions and our souls are harrowed up with true pain, may we all echo the repentant Alma and utter his life-changing cry: “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me.”11
“Made Like unto the Son of God”
When Jericho was destroyed, the Lord forbade them from taking any of the precious possessions to be found therein. But one man, Achan, seized and attempted to hide some of the spoils. “When I saw [them],” he said, “I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent” (Josh. 7:21). The Lord commanded them to be destroyed, and Achan was stoned to death.
It may seem difficult for us to understand how the dishonesty of one man could have had such a far-reaching effect to cause the defeat of the army of Israel and the death of 36 men. Elder James E. Talmage observed, “A law of righteousness had been violated, and things that were accursed had been introduced into the camp of the covenant people; this transgression interposed resistance to the current of divine help, and until the people had sanctified themselves the power was not renewed unto them” (The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. [1924], 105; see also Josh. 7:10–13).
Friday, May 21, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Monday, October 05, 2009
Never Speak Cross Words To Your Spouse
Shortly before I was married I was assigned with an older companion to serve as home teacher to an aged little lady who was a shut-in. . . .
We somehow learned that she was very partial to lemon ice cream. Frequently we would stop at the ice cream store before making our visit. Because we knew her favorite flavor, there were two reasons we were welcome to that home.
On one occasion the senior companion was not able to go, for reasons that I do not remember. I went alone and followed the ritual of getting a half-pint of lemon ice cream before making the call. . . .
After a prayer, thinking of my coming marriage, I suppose, she said, "Tonight I will teach you." She said she wanted to tell me something and that I was always to remember it. Then began the lesson I have never forgotten. She recounted something of her life.
A few years after her marriage to a fine young man in the temple, when they were concentrating on the activities of young married life and raising a family, one day a letter came from "Box B." (In those days a letter from "Box B" in Salt Lake City was invariably a mission call.)
To their surprise they were called as a family to go to one of the far continents of the world to help open the land for missionary work. They served faithfully and well, and after several years they returned to their home, to set about again the responsibilities of raising their family.
Then this little woman focused in on a Monday morning. . . . There had been some irritation and a disagreement. Then some biting words between husband and wife. Interestingly enough, she couldn't remember how it all started or what it was over. "But," she said, "nothing would do but that I follow him to the gate, and as he walked up the street on his way to work I just had to call that last biting, spiteful remark after him."
Then, as the tears began to flow, she told me of an accident that took place that day, and he never returned. "For fifty years," she sobbed, "I've lived in hell knowing that the last words he heard from my lips were that biting, spiteful remark."
This was the message to her young home teacher. She pressed it upon me with the responsibility never to forget it. I have profited greatly from it. I have come to know since that time that a couple can live together without one cross word ever passing between them.
I have often wondered about those visits to that home, about the time I spent and the few cents we spent on ice cream. That little sister is long since gone beyond the veil. This is true also of my senior companion. But the powerful experience of that home teaching, the home teacher being taught, is with me yet, and I have found occasion to leave her message with young couples at the marriage altar and in counseling people across the world. (Boyd K. Packer 72–05, pp. 89–90)
We somehow learned that she was very partial to lemon ice cream. Frequently we would stop at the ice cream store before making our visit. Because we knew her favorite flavor, there were two reasons we were welcome to that home.
On one occasion the senior companion was not able to go, for reasons that I do not remember. I went alone and followed the ritual of getting a half-pint of lemon ice cream before making the call. . . .
After a prayer, thinking of my coming marriage, I suppose, she said, "Tonight I will teach you." She said she wanted to tell me something and that I was always to remember it. Then began the lesson I have never forgotten. She recounted something of her life.
A few years after her marriage to a fine young man in the temple, when they were concentrating on the activities of young married life and raising a family, one day a letter came from "Box B." (In those days a letter from "Box B" in Salt Lake City was invariably a mission call.)
To their surprise they were called as a family to go to one of the far continents of the world to help open the land for missionary work. They served faithfully and well, and after several years they returned to their home, to set about again the responsibilities of raising their family.
Then this little woman focused in on a Monday morning. . . . There had been some irritation and a disagreement. Then some biting words between husband and wife. Interestingly enough, she couldn't remember how it all started or what it was over. "But," she said, "nothing would do but that I follow him to the gate, and as he walked up the street on his way to work I just had to call that last biting, spiteful remark after him."
Then, as the tears began to flow, she told me of an accident that took place that day, and he never returned. "For fifty years," she sobbed, "I've lived in hell knowing that the last words he heard from my lips were that biting, spiteful remark."
This was the message to her young home teacher. She pressed it upon me with the responsibility never to forget it. I have profited greatly from it. I have come to know since that time that a couple can live together without one cross word ever passing between them.
I have often wondered about those visits to that home, about the time I spent and the few cents we spent on ice cream. That little sister is long since gone beyond the veil. This is true also of my senior companion. But the powerful experience of that home teaching, the home teacher being taught, is with me yet, and I have found occasion to leave her message with young couples at the marriage altar and in counseling people across the world. (Boyd K. Packer 72–05, pp. 89–90)
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