Adam-Ondi-Ahman

There are still remnants of the altar that Adam used when he left the Garden of Eden. It is found in Adam-Ondi-Ahman in Jackson County Missouri. This is a place where many, many saints will be gathered during the Millennium.

Lucifer Tries to Hinder Temple Work

In the book "Logan Temple: the First 100 years," there is a story about Lucifer visiting the Logan Temple to thwart the work. He tried hard, but he only succeeded for a short while. But for a time there was a point where there was so much opposition in going to the temple that they were not to voice out loud that they were going to the temple. They were to gather their things suddenly and head there straight away to allow Satan and his lackeys no forewarning to stop them.

Sealing Power

We discussed the Sealing Power today in church today and how it is so crucial to the Plan of Salvation. In Malachi 4:5-6 it reads that "Elijah shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

When Joseph Smith conferred the priesthood on the 12 apostles, he said that it was a great relief to pass the responsibility of the ordinances and sealings of the temple onto their shoulders and that Satan will not be able to tear down the church (like he did in Christ's time which led to the apostasy). 

Latter Day Ark

I found a side-note from a past institute teacher yesterday about the last days. It read "Food storage is the Ark of the latter days." I have also been reading a book about prophecies of the last days and again and again in the collection of quotes by the prophets and apostles it resounds that the greatest thing you can do to prepare physically for these times is to have a good food storage.

Master vs. Slave

On a hard drive in a computer, there is a place on it where you have to define whether it is the "Master Drive" or the "Slave Drive." I found this to be an interesting concept and it made me think about our Heavenly Fathers 'Plan of Salvation' vs. Satans 'Plan of Controllation.' It is because of our desire to be our own masters of our lives with free agency that we declined and rejected Satans plan. He wanted us to be as slaves, where he would use his wonderful gift of a brain and free agency to will us to do as he decided. Just as we would imagine robots of the future being completely subjective to their masters, that is how we would have become. In the sci-fi book series "Enders Game" by LDS author Orson Scott Card, they battle an alien race that is similar to a beehive or ant colony, but each insect is controlled wholly by the queen through a form of telepathy as if they were appendages of herself. Thus the enormity of the queen could be endless depending on how many subjects it had. Never sharing its power or allowing its offspring a chance at freedom or independent will. I don't know how or why so many of our brothers and sisters came to follow Satan and were seduced by his awful plan! It is kind of a sad thing to think about. But I am glad at how many of us chose to follow Christ and his sustaining of Heavenly Father's plan and have received our bodies that we may go through his life of trials, using our intelligence to overcome evil and prepare ourselves to return to live with God again.

Shields

CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE

I stayed home sick from church today, so I made this blog. As I was looking through things I decided to draw this picture that has been in my head for months.

It has to do with the Holy Ghost and how studying the scriptures fills us with it and protects us from the evils of the world.

At church last week while I was teaching, I taught the subject at the 12 year old boys level:
I likened the Holy Ghost to the popular video game Halo, where the soldier has a status bar for health and for his shield. The shield happens to be very important in protecting the soldiers health. It is a special shield that when damaged, given time it will recharge. We can also charge our spiritual shield of the Holy Ghost, it just takes a little time. Can a person make it through a whole level of Halo without their shield? Possibly. Isn't it much easier with it though? Yes, absolutely! Are you able to do it without fearing so much for your soldiers health? Yes. So in life, if we will charge our spiritual shields of the Holy Ghost, even if it's just a little bit, we can beat each level of every day more easily, fearing less. Without our shield we could make it, but why should we when it is so much better with it? Let us charge our shields through scriptures and daily prayer. DC 10:5 ^"aPray always, that you may come off ^bconqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may ^cescape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." Let us be conquerors of evil "Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the ^afiery darts of the wicked"(DC 27:17)

Life Lessons

Here’s a poem called "The Lesson" by Carol Lynn Pearson that has helped me to better understand God's relationship with us.

Yes, my fretting, frowning child,
I could cross the room more easily.
But I've already learned to walk,
so I make you come to me.

Let go now
There! You see?

Oh remember this simple lesson child,
And when in later years you cry out,
With tight fists and tears-
"Oh, help me God! Please!”
Just listen and you'll hear a silent voice:

"I would, child, I would.
But it's you, not I,
Who needs to try Godhood."