Gospel Principles Chapter 2

Chapter 2 is entitled, "Our Heavenly Family." Family is such a basic unit of society. Joseph F. Smith teaches us, "Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body”(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 335). That makes us all brothers and sisters, spiritually anyway. Just like on Earth, we were all different in our pre-earth state. "A veil covers our memories of our premortal life, but our Father in Heaven knows who we are and what we did before we came here. He has chosen the time and place for each of us to be born so we can learn the lessons we personally need and do the most good with our individual talents and personalities" (Gospel Principles, 10). While we were in our premortal life, we sat down with Heavenly Father and we talked about what was going to happen to us. He told us that we would leave his presence, and we would come to this earth. We were also told that we would have to do some things in our lives to show our Heavenly Father that we really wanted to come back to live with him once more. We learned that we would go through trials, and if we allowed them to they would purify us rather than defeat us. "They would teach us to have endurance, patience, and charity" (Gospel Principles, 11). And finally, that last thing we learned is that we were all going to make mistakes by our nature, and that a Savior was going to be provided for us. He would overcome all things that needed to be overcome, namely death and sin. Jesus Christ was chosen at that time to be our Savior and Redeemer.

The Articles of Faith part 9 of 13

Article of Faith #9, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

This is such a vital part of the church. This Article of Faith is talking about revelation, not only past revelation, but present and future revelation as well. President Ezra Taft Benson in an address given at Brigham Young University in 1980 gave a talk entitled, "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet." This is where I will get a majority of my quotes. One of my favorite parts of it talks about modern-day prophets. He says in his third point, "The living prophet is more important than a dead prophet." Under this third point he states, "God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the Ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore the most important prophet so far as you and I are concerned is the living one in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each month in our Church Magazines. Our instructions about what we should do for each six months are found in the General Conference addresses which are printed in the Church magazine.
"Beware of those who would set up the dead prophets above the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence."

Also in the second point, which is called, "The living prophet is more vital to us than the Standard Works," also has some great insights for us about prophets and the scriptures. He tells of a story of Joseph Smith when he was in Kirtland, Ohio. He tells of a man who gets up and tells the people that the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, are all that we need and that we should "confine ourselves to them." He then asked Brigham Young to get up and tell them how he felt about the same topic. Brigham Young said that the books of scripture in front of him were nothing compared to the living prophet. Joseph Smith got up and stated, "Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth."

So as you can see. Yes, the prophets of old are important, but modern day, and more importantly, living prophets are so vital for us today. The revelation that we gain from the prophet is more vital to us than any other form of scripture. Therefore we need to heed the council of the prophet. Follow what he says and we won't go astray. I know this to be true.

The Articles of Faith part 6 of 13

Article of Faith #6, "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."

So this statement is pretty well stated. It is saying that we believe in the same organization that Christ set up when he was on the earth. The same exact names may not be used, but we have to remember that the English Language changes and the people are doing the same thing. Evangelist is a patriarch, a pastor is a bishop and those are the only two that change everything else stays the same. One of the ways you can know the church is true is through the way it is organized. One can't claim to be a restoration of something if it isn't organized in the same fashion. Paul states in his epistle to the Ephesians why it is necessary for us to have the Church organized as it is, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" so with that we must turn to the apostles and prophets, and etc. to continue to follow that straight and narrow path that we are all trying to stay on. This keeps us doing the things that we need to be doing, and how we need to be doing them. Without the organization of the church, we would all be like Paul said and we would be going after what sounds best to us instead of what is right.

Adversity

Adversity. What is it? Why do we need it? A prophet in the Book of Mormon said to his son,"For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." Merriam-Webster dictionary defines adversity as, "a state, condition, or instance of serious or continued difficulty." LDS.org has so many great things on it, this is one of those, "Trials, disappointments, sadness, sickness, and heartache are a difficult part of life, but with the help of the Lord they can lead to spiritual growth, refinement, and progress." The prophets and apostles today have been speaking a lot lately on adversity. We all go through it, and we may not all like it or be able to relate, but the Lord can and already went through everything that we will ever go through. The Savior and his teachings, the gospel,willl help you. Keep your heads up and trust in the Lord and everything will be alright. 

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon. What is it? Do we even need it? Where did it come from? These are some of the many questions that come about when The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is brought up. So what exactly is the Book of Mormon? It is exactly what the title says, another testament of our Savior Jesus Christ. It says in the Introduction, " the Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel." It is so important that we don't look at the Book of Mormon as "another Bible" or that it is adding or taking away from the Bible. It is used so that we can better understand and apply the principles in the Bible. Joseph Smith said, "I told the brethren 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.” That right there is a pretty bold statement, and as we disect what he said it all really makes sense. The Bible has been translated so many times either from its original or from the translated that there have been errors made and then you have people who purposely change things in the Bible. The Book of Mormon has been translated from it's original once, and every other translation is based off of the English, so that no or few translation errors can occur. It is the keystone of our religion because without the Book of Mormon there are very few things that lead us to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. It also helps us to gain a clearer understanding of our doctrines. So without the Book of Mormon, everything in our church crumbles. And of course, last but not least, if we abide by the principles in the book we can draw closer to God. The same thing happens when we follow what the Bible says to do, and it is only the teachings of Jesus Christ that can draw us closer to God. It says in the Book of Mormon, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26). It also says, "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness" (2 Nephi 33:10-11). As we listen to the words of Christ, we can only come closer to him. There is a promise given to us from the prophet Moroni, he is the last prophet in the Book of Mormon, and he tells us, "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:3-5). It says in Galations 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." That is how we can know if the Book of Mormon, or anything for that matter, is true. That is what the scriptures tell us. We all need to find out for ourselves.

Prophets

We can learn so much about prophets from the scriptures and from our online resources. I found this about prophets on http://www.lds.org/, "As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to be led by living prophets--inspired men called to speak for the Lord, as did Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, and other prophets of the scriptures. We sustain the President of the Church as prophet, seer, and revelator--the only person on the earth that receives revelation to guide the entire Church. We also sustain the counselors in the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Tweleve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators." It also says, "Like prophets of old, prophets today testify of Jesus Christ and teach His gospel. They make known God's will and true character. They speak boldly and clearly, denouncing sin and warning of it's consequences. At times, they may be inspired to prophesy of future events for our benefit." I know that it is such a benefit for us to have a prophet on the earth today. He helps lead and guide us in our times of need. I am so excited to go out and teach people about this wonderful gift that our Father in Heaven has given us. I know that Thomas S. Monson, the President of the Church, is a Prophet of God and that he leads and guides this church by the power and guidance of the Spirit.

The Atonement of Christ.

One of my favorite quotes about the Atonement of Christ comes from an Apostle of the Lord in these the Latter-days,
"There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or i ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, 'No one understands. No one knows.' No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly know and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, and succor--literally run to us--and strengthen us to be more than we could be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying only upon our own power." Elder David A. Bednar.
I think that is sums up everything that the Atonement covers. It does not only cover our sins but it takes everything that we will ever go though. It says in the scriptures that Christ condescended below all things. Not just our sins but all things. It also says in Alma 7:11-13, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance...."

The Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ extends beyond anything that we will ever experience. I love him for this and I hope and pray that we can all look to him during this time of remembering his birth, because without his birth none of the miracles could have taken place. So take some time to sit down and ponder on the things that our Savior has done for you. Love you all!