Praise to the Men

I always love this time of year.  There is nothing quite like the Christmas season in terms of its ability to soften hearts and produce a sense of true joy.  As a student, it affords me an opportunity to come home for a few weeks, enjoying the company of family and friends.  I can truly say that there is nothing quite like the experience of coming home after being away for awhile.  There is just something special about being able to spend time with family and friends during the holidays.  This past week has only reaffirmed that feeling, as it has given me opportunities to see familiar faces and old friends.

As Latter-day Saints, this season is doubly important.  In addition to celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, we also get to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the 23rd.  Thus this season gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the principles of the restored gospel and the plan of salvation.

Somewhere close to 2000 years ago, an angel informed a group of shepherds, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  That announcement was the culmination of thousands of prophecies uttered between that day and the pre-mortal day when the Savior responded, "Here am I, send me" to the Father's question, "Whom shall I send?" (Abraham 3:27), promising to offer His life and blood as a ransom for the sins of all mankind.  While we tend to focus upon the Savior's birth at this happy season, Elder Holland has reminded us that we "can't separate Bethlehem from Gethsemane or the hasty flight into Egypt from the slow journey to the summit of Calvary....It is a single plan" that "considers 'the fall and rising again of many in Israel.'"  (Jeffrey R. Holland, Shepherds Why This Jubilee?, 68).  Indeed, "Lying among those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also a crown of thorns, a makeshift royal robe, and a Roman spear" (Holland, Shepherds Why This Jubilee?, 58).  It is the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Savior that give true meaning to this season, allowing us to rejoice at Christmas-time.

Equally important to our joy at this season is the message we proclaim that the gospel has been restored and that we once again have full access to the redemptive power of the Savior's atonement.  While "we do not worship the Prophet [Joseph Smith]....we acknowledge him, we proclaim him, we respect him, [and] we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood through which the authority of God is exercised in the affairs of his church and for the blessing of his people" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1977, 55).  We proclaim with that Prophet that "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121).

At this glorious season, we testify that the Prophet Joseph Smith was indeed called of God to be that chosen vessel through whom the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored, once again making available unto all of the children of God, all of the rights, privileges, powers, and blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Thus at this season, we sing with fervor, "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah," and "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation!"  Truly, this is a season to be merry, considering both our blessings and the accompanying responsibilities to proclaim these truths unto all men.

Brett

The Laborer in Zion

This past week I had a dream that caused me to think back to an experience I had when I was 11 or 12.  It was during the summer and my friend and I were discussing ideas about what we could do to make some money over the summer (which we probably intended to blow on some useless item).  Around that time two members of my ward, Charles and Helen Anderson, had a mission farewell.  They were going to serve in Chile for 18 months.  Because the Andersons had a very large lawn and yard that would need to be taken care of, I saw this as my golden opportunity.  So I brashly approached Brother Anderson and offered to take care of his lawn while they were gone (all without my parents knowledge or approval).  Later that night, Brother Anderson came over to the house and talked to my Dad about it and agreed to let our family take care of their yard while they were gone for $60 a month [read Dad doing the majority of the work; Rob doing quite a bit; and me tagging along], which we did for the next 18 months.

At the time, I remember being embarrassed when Brother Anderson came over to the house to talk with Dad.  That was the first moment when I realized that perhaps my 11 year old intellect had failed me in my rashness to pursue this money-making venture.  But in the intervening years I had largely forgotten about this even.  And so, unfortunately, it wasn't until I started to think back on things this week that I realized just exactly where I had gone wrong.

My parents had raised me to know that we should treat the servants of the Lord with a high level of respect, and that we should lighten their loads whenever possible.  I grew up with stories about how the Lord blesses those who serve them, whether it be through meals or other blessings.  Every time there was an opportunity to feed the missionaries, my Mom signed up.  And whenever there was a new missionary in the ward, my Mom and Dad found some money somewhere in there often-meager budgets to help send this new elder or sister on their way.  Indeed, when I served as a missionary, I was the beneficiary of countless sacrifices by both friends and family who understood this same principle.  But for some reason, when I was 11 I saw dollar signs where I should have seen an opportunity to bless the servants of the Lord the way that my parents had taught me.

Of course I was not very old, and hopefully have grown a lot wiser and more sensitive over the years.  But as I thought about this experience, I was reminded of my cousin Sherri's daughter, Ali.  For years, Ali has used babysitting as a means to generate some spending money, with one exception.  She has never accepted money when she was babysitting for a couple that was going to the Temple.  As a young teenager, Ali has understood something that apparently escaped my 11 year old brain:  that we have a duty and an obligation to ease the burdens upon the servants of the Lord as they do the work of the Lord.

Coincidentally, I read these words of Nephi in the morning after waking up from that dream:  "But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish" (2 Nephi 26:31).  While there was probably nothing wrong with my being compensated for helping to care for Brother and Sister Anderson's yard, there was a problem with the underlying reasons for my labor.  I had not been seeking to relieve a burden from Brother and Sister Anderson in an effort to serve them as they went out to serve the Lord.  Consequently, I had not been laboring for Zion.

I'm grateful for the experiences of the intervening years and the numerous examples of others who helped me to begin to learn how to labor for Zion.  May God bless all of us to learn how to more fully ease the burdens of the servants of the Lord, that Zion may "increase in beauty, and in holiness" with "her borders [being] enlarged" and "her stakes...strengthened" (D&C 82:14), and that we may prove fit inhabitants for her.

Brett

The Condescension of God

Arnold Frieberg painting of Nephi's Vision

Every year at Christmas time, I think about Nephi's vision in 1 Nephi 11.  As a part of that vision, Nephi was shown the beauty and purity of Mary, the mother of our Lord.  Wanting to ensure that Nephi understood the message of his vision, the Spirit asked him and important question:  "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" (1 Nephi 11:16)  The youthful Nephi responded the way that many of us respond when we are asked challenging questions as he attempted to answer the question without having a clue what the question had actually meant.  He responded, "I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless I do not know the meaning of all things" (1 Nephi 11:17).


Knowledgeable as he was, Nephi did not seem to have understood the meaning of the enigmatic phrase "the condescension of God."  Without really knowing it, however, Nephi provided the perfect answer to his teacher's question, an answer that turned out to be much more guided by inspiration than by desperation.


The condescension of God held a twofold meaning.  First, it was the glorious truth that our perfect Father came down to earth to beget His perfect Son, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  Nephi wrote, "And I looked and behind the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.  And the angel said unto me:  Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!" (1 Nephi 11:20-21) Second, the condescension of God was the merciful decision of our Savior to come to earth and to suffer, bleed, and die in our behalf so that He might know "how to succor [us] according to [our] infirmities" (Alma 7:12) and "draw all men unto [Him]" (3 Nephi 27:13).


Nephi's answer may not have been theologically complex, but it was everlastingly true.  In all of the perplexities and questions of life, we, like Nephi, can rest assured that God loveth His children.  All that the Father and the Son have done, They have done out of their great love and mercy toward us.  As Nephi would later state, "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his life that he may draw all men unto him" (2 Nephi 26:24).  The whole meaning of this Christmas season is that "[God] loveth his children."  It was that love that caused the Father to send His Son to Earth, and it was that love that prompted the Savior to pay the price of our redemption.


The Prophet Joseph Spoke a great truth when he declared, "Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons [and daughters] of God" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 174).  At this Christmas season, may we contemplate and comprehend more fully the marvelous love of God as manifest in the gift and sacrifice of His Son.  And then, having come to know and experience "the pure love of Christ," may we "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that we may be filled with this love...that when he shall appear we shall be like him" (Moroni 7:47-48).  And being filled with that love, may we then seek to bless all of our Father's children.


Brett

Georgia On My Mind

This past week, I had the amazing opportunity of spending Thanksgiving with my sister Stephanie and my brother-in-law John.  While I was there, they kindly showed me around Georgia.  I though I might depart from my usual fair, and just give a short synopsis of my trip and share a few pictures that Steph was kind enough to take.

On Wednesday I got into Atlanta where Steph came to pick me up.  It was so good to see her and John.  It was the first time that I had seen Steph since my brother Rob's wedding in June, and it was the first time I had seen John since he came to Dallas on a short business trip about a month ago.  There is always something unique that happens when you see a family member that you haven't seen for a long time.  It's a really special feeling.  Not to be morbid, but my guess is that it is similar to the feeling that our departed loved ones have when they step through the veil at the end of mortality and find family and friends there to greet them and welcome them back.  It is always a pain to be away from family and friends, but that time of separation makes those reunions so much more wonderful!  

On Thursday Steph and John showed me around some of the beautiful neighborhoods of Peachtree City, Georgia before we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner together.  The homes out there are incredibly beautiful and have a classic look to them that we don't always get elsewhere.  After dinner, we Skyped with the family in Utah, which was a lot of fun.  There was a little bit of a delay, but it was great to be able to see our family in Utah and to be connected for Thanksgiving.  I've often thought that miracles like Skype are part of what Moroni had in mind when he chastized us for believing that the day of miracles was past.  We are the beneficiaries of so many of God's miracles, but we often times foolishly think that we are solely responsible for them.  

On Friday Steph and I went drove up to the Chicamauga Battlefield, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, while John had to work.  It's a beautiful battlefield up in the hills and mountains of northern Georgia.  The area is so peaceful and quiet, that it is difficult to imagine such a horrific event having taken place there.  Sometimes it is easy for me to forget that the peace and comfort that I now enjoy came at a great personal cost to those who came before me.  Places like this serve as a good reminder.

Steph at Chicamauga Battlefield

Me at Chicamauga Battlefield

A view of part of the Chicamauga Battlefield

Another one of me at Chicamauga

A monument (probably for some division from Indiana) at Chicamauga

On Saturday, Steph and John and I went down to Fort Benning, Georgia, to visit the National Infantry Museum.  Much like the visit to Chicamauga, this was a sobering experience.  The museum is an impressive display of artifacts and other items detailing the role of the infantry in American history.  Having had a hand in a public history exhibit, I know a little about how much work goes into creating an exhibition.  So I was surprised when I saw just how large and extensive the exhibition at the museum was.  I would not be surprised if it had taken more than a decade to plan, research, and create this amazing exhibit.  It was a fitting and sobering tribute to those who have given their lives for the country.  I was particularly moved by a small exhibit in the middle of the museum with the names and pictures of the Medal of Honor recipients throughout American history.  With the exception of the Civil War, my history interests have generally led me to study other areas of American history, but I was moved with gratitude as I contemplated the sacrifices and efforts of our military in my behalf.  I was particularly grateful to be there with John, who as a major in the Army knew a lot more of the history about the country's wars than I could ever hope to know.  It was wonderful to have him there to explain things to me, as well as to be a living reminder of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who daily serve this country in the armed forces.

Me at the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia

"Follow Me" Statue outside the National Infantry Museum

And, as Friday marked the beginning of the Christmas season, I had a wonderful little chat with one of Santa's reindeer:

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and reminded me of the many things I have to be grateful for.  First and foremost, I am thankful for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I cannot even contemplate life without it.  I am grateful for my family.  They are a constant source of strength and motivation in my life.  I am grateful for my friends.  Life in Texas has been made easier because of your many kindnesses and notes and texts of encouragement.  And I am grateful for this country.  It isn't perfect, and we have many areas where we can learn from others and improve, but I thank my Heavenly Father that I am from a land that has provided me with more freedoms and opportunities than I could possibly imagine.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Brett

"No Less Serviceable"

President Smith on a train with his daughters, son-in-law,
my grandfather (the younger man) and I'm not sure who the young woman is

This past week I had a new experience.  As the Ward Clerk it was my job to put in the curriculum order for the upcoming year.  Much to my delight, I was reminded of the fact that this coming year we will be studying the teachings of President George Albert Smith.  I grew up listening to my Grandfather and my Mother tell stories about President Smith's kindness and Christian goodness.  So  have a great love for this great Prophet.

President Smith at the Primary Children's Hospital Construction Site with
my Aunts Marilyn and Judy, and with my Mother (the youngest one)

Admittedly there are likely a large number of Church members whose first reaction to my excitement about the new manual would be to ask the question "Who?" or to admit that the extent of their knowledge of President Smith is limited to the Latter-day Prophets song from Primary (the one that seems to get more and more mumbled as we try to squeeze each new Prophet's name in at the end of the song).  Most members of the Church couldn't name a single contribution that he made, or discuss any events that happened during his six years as President of the Church.  But it is exactly this reaction and lack of understanding that makes me excited about the fact that we will be studying a little bit about President Smith.

At times as members of the Church, I think that we all pick our favorites among the Brethren.  It's only natural.  We are drawn to specific speaking styles.  We are bonded to leaders because of certain key events in our lives.  "This President of the Church called me on a mission," or "That man was President of the Church when I first gained a testimony," and so on down the list.  What's more, the events of certain presidencies are sometimes just more memorable than the events of other presidencies.  President McKay began to make this a worldwide Church.  President Kimball changed the missionary program forever.  President Hinckley left his indelible mark upon Temple building (and everything else in this Church).  And so these men deservingly vault their way to the top of our lists of great leaders whom we admire.

But then there are some Presidents who, because of a quiet demeanor or a short administration, do not always come to mind when we discuss the great Prophets.  Yet they nevertheless deserve to be studied and included in these discussions.

Mormon understood this principle.  The famous war chapters of Alma (Alma 43-63) justly place a great deal of emphasis upon Captain Moroni.  It is clear that Mormon had a tremendous love for Captain Moroni; so much so that he appears to have named his son after him.  As a military leader, Mormon was impressed with Moroni's courage and strategic decisions.  And as a disciple, Mormon was awed by Moroni's testimony and devotion.  Reading those chapters, you get the sense that Mormon, the Prophet-Historian could have written volumes about the great Captain Moroni.  But Captain Moroni wasn't the only leader who served faithfully during that time.  Writing of Helaman and his brothers, Mormon gave this short tribute, "Now behold, Helaman and his brethren were no less serviceable unto the people than was Moroni; for they did preach the word of God, and they did baptize unto repentance all men whosoever would hearken unto their words" (Alma 48:19).

Throughout the history of this Church, we have been blessed with wonderful leaders.  Some will provide materials and inspiration for countless volumes of history and for thousands of fond memories.  Others may receive only the smallest mention in the annals of the Church.  But each held and preserved the keys in worthiness, leading and guiding the Church by the spirit of Revelation, contributions which "were no less serviceable" than some of their more well-known companions.

I am grateful for this concept, because it reminds me that each of us, no matter what our calling or duty within God's Kingdom are serviceable and worthy contributors to His cause.  What President Hinckley said in during his first conference as President of the Church remains profoundly true today:  "Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in this church is small or of little consequence."

In the end, I believe that quiet devotion to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will stand out as the greatest and most lasting contribution that any of us will have been privileged to make.  May we be worthy and willing to make that contribution!

Brett

A Marvelous Work and a Wonder

Manuscript page of the Book of Mormon

Ever since I began graduate school in 2007, I have thought a lot about the Book of Mormon.  Most importantly, the Book of Mormon has been my lifeline in graduate school.  I have learned just how wise President Marion G. Romney was when he said that daily study out of the Book of Mormon had kept him close to the Church.  Whenever the theories and ideas of graduate school have started to become too influential in my life, the words of the Lord in the Book of Mormon have been there to bring me back down to earth and back to the pure and simple truths of the Gospel.

But there has been another reason I have thought a lot about the Book of Mormon.  Perhaps it is just the writer in me, but during these past several years I have lived in constant awe of the accomplishment that the Book of Mormon represents.  It is a book of rich stories that appeal to the smallest children and captivate the most educated adults.  It is a book that never grows old, never gets worn out, and is constantly relevant.  Most of those who truly read it are not satisfied with a single reading of the book.  Millions of people finish the Book of Mormon one day, only to start reading from the very beginning again the very next day.  All this from a book that was (for the most part) translated in a little under three months, with Joseph translating on average nine to eleven pages per day.

As someone who aspires to become an author and who spends a good amount of his time writing papers, I can't help but be amazed when I consider the Book of Mormon.  I consider myself to be a fairly competent writer.  I have been blessed to have the guidance of several wonderful professors and mentors who have forced me to hone my writing skills.  But after all of this training and years of trying to craft sentences to be just right, I am certain that I have never written anything of any length that any person has ever wanted to more than one or two times, let alone time after time.

Further, I stand in awe of the whole process by which it came forth.  As someone who, on the best of writing days, can produce little more than seven readable pages of material, I am amazed by the fact that during the translation process, Joseph averaged between nine and eleven pages per day!  It took me two years to complete my thesis which turned out to be close to 240 double-spaced pages.  The Prophet translated the majority of the Book of Mormon's more than 500 pages in less than three months.  What's more, D&C 9 makes it clear that this translation was more involved than simply reading words off of the Urim and Thummim.   We don't know exactly how the translation process worked, but as Oliver learned, it was anything but a simple reading exercise.  This was a process that required great mental and spiritual exertion, and Joseph still averaged nine to eleven pages per day.

1830 Edition of the Book of Mormon

Intellectual arguments for gospel truths will always fall short of convincing those who do not wish to be convinced.  And they certainly have neither the power nor the ability to provide souls with a witness and a testimony of the Book of Mormon.  No doubt some who are better writers than myself may not be as impressed by the things that I have mentioned here.  But I nevertheless stand in awe of the "marvelous work and a wonder" that is the Book of Mormon.  After a daily study of its pages for close to fifteen consecutive years, I find myself more impressed and more enlightened by this divine record every single day.  Further, I find myself more impressed with and inspired by its prophetic translator.  Above all else, I have found within its pages, a sure witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.  Surely this book came forth "by the gift and power of God," just as Moroni declared on the Title Page of the Book of Mormon.

Brett D. Dowdle

Your Goodly Land

I am constantly amazed by the rich meaning contained within the story of Lehi's family in First Nephi.  While there is much to glean from these chapters (much more than I have yet to see within them), one of my favorite lessons from First Nephi is a lesson about promised lands.

When the Lord first told Lehi to take his family and leave Jerusalem, it was a revelation in the name of self-preservation.  From what we know about this revelation, the Lord said nothing to Lehi about a promised land.  Indeed, for some of the members of this scripturally literate family (beyond just Laman and Lemuel) it must have seemed like they were being driven from the promised land, this land flowing with milk and honey that had been promised to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The message was a clear and distinct warning that Lehi and his family were in danger and needed to flee for their lives.  What's more, the message seems to have come only to Lehi.  But Lehi and his family were obedient to this revelation and left their home and their considerable wealth to go out into the unforgiving deserts and wildernesses of the Arabian Peninsula.

Only when Nephi began praying for a private witness of his father's life-changing revelation, did the Lord begin to reassure the family that there was yet another promised land in their future.  The Lord told Nephi, "And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands" (1 Nephi 2:20)

For a time, the family called a small valley next to a river feeding into the Red Sea their home.  Though this location did not resemble any of the comforts of the family's Jerusalem homestead, this was a place of revelation and growth.  But as soon as they done everything that was required of them there, the Lord provided them with the Liahona and with the message that it was time to move forward.  So forward they went, through places of lush fruit and through locations of barren wasteland.  Indeed, at least one portion of their journey seems to have taken the family through a region now known as the Empty Quarter: a location that is wonderful if you are an oil person, but more or less worthless to the rest of humanity.  In this journey the family endured starvation, death, and more than a little bit of familial strife.  But soon enough, they had arrived at a location that Lehi and his family could only describe as "Bountiful."

After a short rest period in Bountiful, the Lord once again told the family that it was time to move forward, this time across two oceans rather than an unforgiving desert.  At the end of that dangerous journey, they arrived in the promised land, finding it to be everything that the Lord had promised.

I believe that this is exactly how the Lord deals with us and leads us to our own promised lands.  Often times, we do not know exactly what promised land we are being led to.  Lehi's family had never been to the Americas.  They had only caught brief glimpses of it in visions.  Other than that, they had to trust in the Lord's promise that it was indeed a land filled with hopes and promises for them.  And so they trusted in the Lord.

On their journey to that promised land, there were many points where those who had not caught the same vision became upset and wanted to turn back, to return to a place that they had known and been comfortable with.  In some ways I don't blame them for these feelings.  Indeed, I am almost certain that I would have spent a lot of days wanting to go back to Jerusalem with them.  And that is why I admire Lehi and Nephi so much.  In spite of all of the challenges, they went forward.  And when they came to a land Bountiful, they didn't stay there.  As tempting as it must have been, they didn't decide that their little oasis in the desert was the promised land that God had spoken of.  They knew that it was just a resting place provided by a loving Father, where they could prepare for the next leg of their journey.  And so, after resting for awhile, they built a boat and kept moving and pushing forward until the Lord told them they had arrived in the promised location and could stop.  And when they got there, they recognized it as their promised land, in spite of the fact that it was so very different from the Jerusalem that they loved.

I love this quotation by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, given at BYU in 1998.  "God's grace is sufficient!  The Lord would tell Joseph again and again through those early difficult days that, just as in the days of old, these modern children of Israel would 'be led out of bondage by power and with a stretched-out arm....Therefore let not your hearts faint...:Mine angels shall go up before you...and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land' (D&C 103:17-20).  What goodly land?  Your goodly land.  Your promised land.  Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey.  Your future.  Your dreams.  Your destiny.  I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what his plan is for us.  We may not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord's will for us and to know that he loves us beyond mortal comprehension."

I thank the Lord for just such occasional glimpses and visions of the promised land that He has prepared for me.  I pray that I might be able to journey towards it with the same faith that moved Lehi and Nephi toward their promised land.  In the end, we all hope for, have faith in, and move towards the same "better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God" (Ether 12:4) where we will "sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out" (Helaman 3:30).

Brett

"How Sweet the Voice of a Friend Is"

(Greg Olsen, "Peace Be Unto Thy Soul," 1990)

These past two weeks have been quite eventful for me.  A week and a half ago, my brother-in-law John came into town on military business and generously took me to dinner the night before returning to Georgia.  Then this past Wednesday, my parents came into town to see me.  My dad and I went to the BYU football game, which despite the unfavorable results of the game, was a wonderful experience.  At the game, I was able to briefly visit with my friend Marianne Swenson, who had come into town for the game.  Needless to say, after two months of being away from my family and many of my friends, it was wonderful to have an opportunity to see some friendly faces and enjoy a few precious moments with family and friends.

Thinking about how wonderful these experiences have been reminded me of something that the Prophet Joseph wrote while in Liberty Jail.  It was a part of a long letter  to the Saints in Quincy, Illinois.  Portions of this famous letter later became D&C 121, 122, and 123.  It was in this letter that Joseph penned that heartfelt cry, "O God, where art thou?" (D&C 121:1)  In one of the uncanonized portions of this letter, the Prophet described receiving letters from several members of the Church.  He then wrote these beautiful lines:

"We had been a long time without information; and when we read those letters they were to our souls as the gentle air is refreshing....And we need not say to you that the floodgates of our hearts were lifted and our eyes were a fountain of tears, but those who have not been enclosed in the walls of prison without cause or provocation, can have but little idea how sweet the voice of a friend is."  (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 134).

While I would not want to suggest that I even remotely understand, much less have experienced, the circumstances that prompted those lines from the Prophet, I believe we can apply their meaning to our own, less profound, trials.  Life has its own individualized "prisons" for each one of us.  These "prisons" seldom if ever equate to the despicable circumstances of the poorly named Liberty Jail, but they can be just as dark and limiting in their effects upon our lives.  Whatever the nature of our trials, I believe that all of us have, at one point or another, felt discouraged and we have wondered whether we can go on.

Often times, these "prisons" may not even be visible to those around us.  I remember being surprised when my saintly Mission President once told us missionaries that after a long day of helping and uplifting us in our various problems, he had wondered who was there to help and uplift him.  Of course the answer immediately came to him.  But I remember being surprised because he was the kind of man who I just believed could and did handle everything that could be thrown at him with relative ease.  His demeanor was always so positive, that I had never considered the fact that the life of a mission president was chalk full of its own share of problems (mostly in the form of 19-22 year olds like myself).

In such moments, when we feel that we have the weight of the world resting down upon our shoulders, we too declare, "How sweet the voice of a friend is!"  The comforting and reassuring voices of family and friends truly is like "the gentle air refreshing," allowing us to take a deep breath and then realize that we can continue to endure trials and difficulties for the small moment that we are asked to bear with them.  More than that, it can cause us to remember that we too have an obligation to be "the voice of a friend" to those around us, even those whose struggles may not appear on the surface.

I thank our Father for the numerous voices of friends that he has sent to comfort me throughout various times in my life.  It would be impossible for me to enumerate the times that friends and family have been prompted to say the right words, do the right things, and, in general, just to be there when I found myself in need.  My hope is that I have likewise been attentive enough to the Spirit to be the voice of a friend to others when they have needed me.  Thank you to all of you who have done this so many times for me.

Brett

New Biography of Parley P. Pratt

If you are looking for an interesting book to read, check out this preview of Parley P. Pratt:  The Apostle Paul of Mormonism by Terryl Givens and Matt Grow.  By the way, check out the Acknowledgments page.  It was nice of Terryl and Matt to include me.  I only did a small amount of research and source checking, but I'll accept their kind acknowledgment of my limited contribution anyway.  :)

Life's Training Grounds

(D. Arthur and Maurine Haycock, at a White House Reception, 1954)

Since coming to Fort Worth, I've been thinking a lot about the meaning of life experiences, and the value of having experiences that stretch us.  I've really enjoyed my time here so far, but it has certainly been a challenge.  By its very nature a PhD program makes you feel inadequate.  Somewhere in the midst of reading 2-3 books per week, writing book reviews of those books, and using your "spare" time to do research to write papers and get published, and then trying to fulfill callings and have a social life (as a single), you start to wonder about your general level of sanity.  (And you start writing horrible run-on sentences).  No matter what the nature of our challenges in life, there is a temptation to begin wondering if you are in the right place.  Perhaps most dangerously, there is what Elder Holland once called, "the temptation to retreat from a good thing."

All of this brings me to Washington D.C. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture during 1953 and 1954.  Hopefully those who aren't members of my family will indulge me a little bit of family history.  I promise it will have a point.

To get to 1953, I need to write a short background.  As a young missionary in Hawaii in 1935, my grandfather, D. Arthur Haycock, was privileged to be present for the visit of President Heber J. Grant to the islands.  President Grant had come to organize the Hawaii Stake, the first stake to be organized outside of North America.  During President Grant's visit, my grandfather had occasion to see the work of President Grant's able secretary, Brother Joseph Anderson.  Upon seeing Brother Anderson's contributions, my grandfather determined that when he returned from Hawaii, he wanted to work for the Church like Brother Anderson.  To make a long story short, after returning from his mission, my grandfather eventually managed to secure one of the coveted secretarial positions at the Church offices. In 1947, after nearly ten years of working for the Church (minus some time at the Denver and Rio Grande during the war), President George Albert Smith hired my grandfather as his private secretary. And so from 1947 until President Smith's death in 1951, my grandfather's dream came true.  He had the position that he had always hoped for and loved every minute of it.

With President Smith's death, however, that dream job came to an end.  President McKay already had a very able secretary in Sister Claire Middlemiss, who stayed on with him and served faithfully throughout President McKay's presidency.  In 1952 when Dwight D. Eisenhower asked Elder Benson to accept the position of Secretary of Agriculture, Elder Benson asked my grandfather to move to Washington D.C. and accept a position as his secretary.  After counseling with President McKay and with my grandmother, my grandpa accepted the position and moved to Washington D.C.

While an executive position in the government would be a dream job for many people, my grandfather found Washington very challenging.  He found the environment in Washington D.C. to be a night and day difference from his his work at the Church.  Although he found his work for the government to be interesting and challenging, he and the family struggled to fit into the Potomac region's "unique trappings."  He later confided in a friend and mentor that, "Even before I left for Washington I was quite sure that the glamour would quickly wear off--and I have not be disappointed in that regard."  While he was grateful for the employment and the opportunities it offered, my grandfather's heart had always been at 47 East South Temple, working for the Church.

Most challenging of all, Washington was far from home and during the first several months there, my grandfather was virtually alone.  My grandmother had stayed in Utah with their four girls (including my beautiful mother) to try to sell the house in Salt Lake City while he looked for an affordable house in Washington.  Noting this challenge, my grandfather wrote in his diary for March 2, 1953, "tired & very homesick--miss Maurine something terrible."  The next day he wrote, "Still lonesome for my wife & girls--miss them terribly."  After the family arrived, my grandmother also struggled with the challenge of being so far from home and family.

Everything changed one day in February 1954, when President Stephen L. Richards called to extend a calling to my grandparents to preside over the Hawaii Mission.  By the end of June their Washington experience was over and the family was situated in the Islands.  By 1963, my grandfather was once again working for the Church, and from 1970 until his retirement in 1986 served as secretary to Presidents Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, and Ezra Taft Benson.

Washington D.C. had been a hard experience for my grandparents.  But it had also been a necessary experience for them.  While there, my grandparents made several lifelong friends, gained important skills, had once in a lifetime experiences, and learned more about enduring life's challenges.  In spite of the challenges, my grandparents were wise enough to realize that there were friends to be made and there was happiness to be had, even in Washington D.C.  In 1985, he wrote a letter to the family, detailing some of these experiences and came to this important conclusion:  "I have come to know that not every unhappy experience in life needs to remain unhappy, but rather in all likelihood, is a training ground for a better and happier day."

These past couple of months in Fort Worth have helped me to understand this principle better.  There are plenty of days when I feel almost exactly like my grandfather felt during those first challenging months in Washington.  But I am beginning to learn that wherever I am, there are friends to be made, lessons to be learned, and joyful experiences to be had, even far away from friends and family in Fort Worth, Texas.  May we all take advantage of and enjoy the various training grounds that God sends us to.  As we do so, the time will come when we will look back with fondness and see their value in our lives, rejoicing that God was so good as to send us there.

Brett

A New Age for Church History

Hey all,

This is just a small post to let you know about some of the great stuff that is going on in the digitizing of Church History.  The Church History Library is in the process of digitizing hundreds of thousands of records (In May Richard Turley, assistant Church Historian, said there would be 500,000 documents and 50,000 pictures available on the internet by the end of this year).  Here are just a few links to some of these cool things:

General Conference Reports:  The Church is scanning and making available full color and keyword searchable scans of all of the old Conference reports.

Joseph Smith's Papers:  As part of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, the Church is scanning and transcribing every document that we have from the Prophet Joseph Smith.  These are also searchable for people and places.  If you had ancestors who knew the Prophet Joseph Smith, try looking for them here.  As more documents become ready, more people and places will be added, making this a very good place to do some family history.

Brigham Young's Letterbooks:  Ok, so this might be more exciting to me than anybody else, but Brigham wrote thousands of letters during his lifetime and many of them are available right here.  While this takes a little more navigating by using the indexes to each letterbook, this can also be a goldmine of family history for anyone who is interested.

This is just the beginning.  My friends at the Church History Library assure me that there is a lot more to come.  Thanks for putting up with my excitement.

Brett

"Show Unto Us Thy Will, O Lord"

(John Taylor)

For me one of the most intriguing stories in our Church's history is the story of the development of the office and Quorums of the Seventy.  Perhaps prefiguring the importance of this priesthood office, the first seventies in this dispensation were called at the same time as the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve.  For a number of reasons, however, there were significant misunderstandings about the office of the Seventy.  Because the Church was young and inexperienced, and its members (particularly the priesthood holders) were still learning that priesthood government was not to resemble the habits and jealousies of worldly politics, there were contentions about the position of the office of the Seventy relative to that of the High Priests.  Ultimately, that particular question was simply shelved for the time being and the office of Seventy became something of a local office, with nearly every ward and stake in Utah being home to a Quorum of Seventies.  In hindsight, the principles were taught powerfully and simply by the Lord, the Prophet Joseph, Brigham, and others.  But the young Church may not have been prepared for the lessons being taught.  (This is a very generic and probably highly inaccurate history of this particular question.  If you want to know more about it, see: William G. Hartley, My Fellow Servants).

Despite the fact that this decision helped to settle various disputes within the Church, the leaders of the Church knew that the Quorums of the Seventy were not correctly organized.  But it appears that they were not entirely certain about what should be done to correct the matter.  In April 1883, after discussing the matter, the First Presidency made some changes to make it easier to administer the Quorums of the Seventy throughout the Church.  After having committed their ideas to paper, the Presidency, led by President John Taylor took their ideas before the Lord, praying, "Show unto us Thy will, O Lord, concerning the organization of the Seventies" (James R. Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 2:354).  The Lord responded to President Taylor's simple prayer with this magnificent revelation:

"What ye have written is my will, and is acceptable unto me: and furthermore, Thus saith the Lord unto the First Presidency, unto the Twelve, unto the Seventies and unto all my holy Priesthood, let not your hearts be troubled, neither be ye concerned about the management and organization of my Church and Priesthood and the accomplishment of my work. Fear me and observe my laws and I will reveal unto you, from time to time, through the channels that I have appointed, everything that shall be necessary for the future development and perfection of my Church, for the adjustment and rolling forth of my kingdom, and for the building up and the establishment of my Zion. For ye are my Priesthood and I am your God. Even so. Amen" (Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 2:354).

With this revelation as their guide, the First Presidency went forward with their determined course of action.  Intriguingly, it would not be until the combined administrations of Presidents Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, and Gordon B. Hinckley, that the Quorums of the Seventy would be organized into the pattern that we now see, with the Seventies taking their rightful place of administration between the Quorum of the Twelve and the Quorums of the High Priesthood.

(1st Quorum of Seventy, 1976)

I find this example to be incredibly instructive in terms of my understanding of the principle of revelation.  Like the early brethren, I find that on occasion there are times when we are simply not prepared to learn and understand God's will about various aspects of our lives.  In such moments, we must learn to do exactly what these wonderful early brethren did.  Without full understanding, and with plenty of questions and perhaps a few worries on their minds, they went forward.  When answers were needed, they studied it out in their minds, came up with the best solutions they could think of, and then took those solutions to the Lord, who both commended their honest efforts and promised that as they obeyed the commandments and strove to serve the Lord, He would "reveal unto [them], from time to time, through the channels that [He had] appointed, everything that shall be necessary for the future development and perfection of [His] Church, for the adjustment and rolling forth of [His] kingdom, and for the building up and the establishment of [His] Zion."

Looking back, we perhaps wonder why this process took so long.  Why didn't the Lord just correct the organization of the Seventies from the beginning?  Why did it take until 1976 before the answer to this question started to become clear?  I don't know all the answers to these questions.  I don't know why the Lord didn't just have Joseph just draw up an organizational chart and point out where everything fit into its proper place.  What I do know, is that God seldom works that way because He seems to care more about our growth through the process of revelation than He cares about our having all the right answers to all of our perplexing questions.  As a wise and all-knowing Father, He asks us to "[learn] the Spirit of God and [understand] it, [so that we] may grow into the principle of revelation, until [we] become perfect in Christ Jesus" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 151).  In the end, it seems that the process we undergo and the experience we obtain will matter more to our eternal identity and character than the answers to the questions we were seeking.

Brett

That All May Be Edified Of All

As most of you know, from October 2006 until August 2008, I had the pleasure to work for BYU's Education in Zion Exhibit, an exhibit that seeks to tell the story of the Church's long educational tradition.  That experience shaped--and continues to shape--my life in several different ways.  When I first got the position, it was the cure to constant frustration and an answer to sincere prayers for employment.  After all, since history degrees are a little like aces (they are only useful if you have two or more), what does one really do with a history degree?  When I got that job, however, I had no clue how profoundly it would change my life.

Education in Zion did far more than just give me a thesis topic and provide me with a crash course in actual historical research.  It brought me into contact with some of the finest scholars and best friends I have ever had.  It's hard to describe just what working at the exhibit was like, other than to say that it was a little piece of Zion.  I believe this was the result of both the nature of the topic we were studying and the spirituality and the Christlike attitude of our director, Brother C. Terry Warner.  At every meeting, I felt like I was valued, which caused me to want to work harder so that I would have something to bring to the table.  In of the fact that Terry is a world renowned scholar and one of the most brilliant men that I have ever met, he treated us all as colleagues rather than student employees and cheap labor.

It would be impossible for me to detail all of the things that I learned from working for Education in Zion, but this past week I've been thinking about one particularly important lesson.  Although most of the School of the Prophets research had been conducted long before I arrived at Education in Zion, I still had several opportunities to learn more about that unique institution.  In the process, I began to understand a little about the Lord's message to the Saints in 1832, when He said, "Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege" (D&C 88:122).

I suppose the reason I have been thinking so much about this verse lately is because it runs so contrary to the way of the world.  In my graduate school seminars, I find that I feel a constant need to prove to everyone in the room that I belong there.  On the surface, I think that I am trying to add to the lecture and make a difference in the seminar.  But underneath the surface, my real intent remains self-centered.  Unresolved, such self-centered attitudes creep into every aspect of our lives.  For instance, this past Thursday at Institute and again today at Church, I found myself making comments in my classes in much the same way that I do in my seminars.  Rather than seeking to make comments that had the purpose of edifying others around me and building up the Kingdom of God, I was trying to make comments that made myself sound smart.  

After one such comment, a thought took my mind back to Education in Zion and back to the School of the Prophets.  I instantly remembered how Terry had treated me.  Because he had valued us all equally, Education in Zion had become a work of collaboration rather than competition.  As a result, I felt like we all grew together.  There was no need to try to show off because we all needed one another in order to make the project a success.  Terry had put into practical application the principle that the Lord had given to lay the foundation of the School of the Prophets and ultimately to lay the foundation of Zion.

Today was a clear reminder of these vital principles to me.  We are not here to try and make ourselves look or sound smarter than anyone else.  We are here to uplift, to build, and to edify our brothers and sisters, and in so doing, to build up God's Kingdom.

Brett

Thanks at Conference Time

I don't have much to write or say today, except to just express my gratitude for General Conference.  It is always something of a bitter-sweet moment for me when General Conference comes to a conclusion.  It is a little bitter because I realize that it will be another six months before the next Conference, but it is sweet because the end of a Conference gives me an opportunity to sit back and reflect upon the marvelous messages that I have just heard.  While I would love to write something about each of the talks, I don't really have the time, so I figure I will just hit a few highlights.

Were I asked to name my favorite talk from this Conference, I think I would have to single out President Uchtdorf's marvelous message during the Saturday Morning Session.  That talk hit on so many things that I needed to hear that it left me--and likely tens of thousands of other people--feeling like it had been given just for me.  Everything in it, from President Uchtdorf's touching story about his time in Texas, to his powerful witness about our worth in God's eyes, was touching.  It really spoke to me and to my present circumstances.

Equally touching to me was the wonderful message by Elder Robert D. Hales.  Everyone who saw it and heard it knows that Elder Hales is going through some very challenging circumstances right now.  Yet despite his own health problems, he cared enough about us to come and deliver a powerful discourse on the Atonement and upon how we can apply it to our lives during times of adversity.  My thoughts and prayers go out to Elder Hales.

President Monson's talks in the Priesthood Session and the Sunday Morning Session were likewise moving.  Both talks were powerful warnings about the dangers of moral relativism.  As a graduate student in history, I found these talks particularly important and was struck once again with a feeling of profound gratitude to live in a day when we have Prophets to warn and teach us.

Finally, I can't express just how excited I was to hear the announcement that the Provo Tabernacle will be rebuilt as Provo's second Temple (currently accepting suggestions for it's name--NUSKIN related suggestions need not apply).  When the Tabernacle burned down, I was shocked.  The Provo Saints had struggled and sacrificed more than I can comprehend to build that building and I took its loss very deeply.  I believe that rebuilding it as a House of the Lord is at least as much a statement about the faith of those early Provo Saints as it is a statement about the faith of the city's current residents.  What a wonderful blessing it is to know that even when many people have forgotten about the faith and contributions of men like Abraham O. Smoot, God never forgets those contributions and continues to honor them down through the ages.  May we likewise live lives of faith and devotion to God's kingdom that will be worthy of His continued remembrance as the years pass on.

For all these messages and for many more, I echo Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in saying that "I give personal thanks at general conference time."

Brett

All Good in their Place

  

When we think of the challenges that the early Church faced, we don't often think of the spring of 1849 and the California Gold Rush.  But I believe that event was almost as daunting as any challenge faced by the early Church faced.  News of the gold first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley sometime between April and June in 1848.  The news that seemed to set the whole world in motion was particularly tempting to the Saints who had endured that first miserable winter in the Valley.  Because no Saints had arrived in the valley until July in 1847, supplies had been dangerously scarce that first winter, leaving many disenchanted with their new desert home.  Needless to say, California's fertile lands, temperate climate, and mineral riches attracted many of struggling Saints.  When Brigham returned to the Valley later that year, he began warning the Saints of the dangers of going to the gold fields.  Indeed, his discourses between October 1848 and June 1849 contain multiple warnings to the Saints.  While the majority of the Saints listened to Brigham, some still set their sights on California's riches.

In the midst of these struggles, as Brigham and the other leaders were trying to hold the Church together in the Valley, Brigham had a significant dream.  He retold the dream as follows:

“You will perhaps recollect a dream I had in the  spring of 184[9], when so many were going to California.  It seemed as though the whole community would be carried away with the spirit of gold, which caused much anxiety in my mind and enlightened my understanding.  I dreamed I was a little north of the hot springs, with many of my brethren, among some scattered timber. I thought of sending to Captain Brown’s, on theWeber river, to get some goats, which I had previously bought from him; but while I was conversing with the brethren, I thought the Prophet Joseph Smith came up to us, and I spoke to him. I thought I would send for my goats which I had purchased from Captain Brown, and brother Joseph started off to the north, and I thought very likely he would purchase the whole of brother Brown’s stock; but I felt quite reconciled, if he did. I thought I stood there some time talking with the brethren, when I looked up towards the road on my right, and behold I saw brother Joseph returning, riding on a waggon without any box to it; but it had a bottom of boards, and on these boards there was a tent and other camping implements, &c., as though he had been on a journey of some length. He alighted from the waggon, and came to where we were standing. I looked, and saw, following the waggon, an almost innumerable flock of sheep of all kinds, sizes, colours, and descriptions, from the largest, finest sheep I ever saw, down to the ugly decrepit dwarf. The wool on the large ones, I thought, was as white as snow; then the next smaller ones had also nice fine wool on them, and some where black and white; others had coarse long wool upon them, approximating to hair; and so on, until they became a mixture of goats and sheep. I looked on the strange flock and wondered. While I was looking, I asked Joseph what in the world he was going to do with such a flock of sheep, and said to him, “Why, brother Joseph, you have the most singular flock of sheep I ever saw, what are you going to do with them?” He looked up and smiled, as he did when he was living, and as though he was in reality with me, and said, “They are all good in their place.” This is the dream.”

I believe there is great value in Joseph's short statement, "They are all good in their place."  Sometimes we want everyone to look and act and believe the same.  We want every member to be a rock solid member of Zion without any struggles and problems.  I believe that the Prophet's message to Brigham and his message to each one of us is simple:  Not all members are alike and not all of them are at the same place in their lives, but they are all important and essential members of the flock.  Sometimes we just need to be happy that people are there, even as we work with them (and they with us) to help us grow into what we ultimately need to become.

I'm grateful for a Shepherd who has loved me and worked with me in spite of all my flaws and imperfections.  More than that, He has laid down His life for me.  What a blessing our membership in this Church and our knowledge of that Shepherd truly is!

Brett

The Talent to Believe

For the past few weeks, I've been thinking about the ideas of belief and doubt.  In some ways, I think that this whole mortal existence is one large tutorial in learning what things to believe and what things to doubt.  Belief and doubt certainly matter.  We should all believe some things and we should all doubt some things.


I firmly believe that each of us struggles with beliefs and doubts in our own way.  It has never been a struggle for me to believe the Gospel.  I've never found myself deeply disturbed by matters in the history of the Church or by the imperfections of the people within it.  Given my profession of choice, this has been a profound blessing in my life; one for which I am certain I have not adequately thanked God.  And yet my life has not been free of doubts and questions.  Each new semester, I wonder if I am really intelligent enough to keep up with the coursework of graduate school, and strong enough to manage the inherent stress.  Every time I call to ask a girl out on a date, or hear another lesson about dating and marriage, I am riddled with doubts about myself that seem every bit as perplexing to me as the doubts some have about the Gospel and the Church.  In these moments, I have wondered why belief doesn't come easier; why it seems so easy for some people to deal with such questions, but not for me.  In such moments, whatever our struggles of faith happen to be, we come to realize that there really is what Elder Bruce R. McConkie called, a "talent to believe."


This week as I pondered some of these questions, I came to a conclusion that has seemed to help me.  Last October, Bishop Richard C. Edgley taught us that "faith is a choice, and it must be sought after and developed."  As I pondered this thought, I felt liberated by the idea that we can choose to believe and to have faith if we really want to.  Obviously the choice to believe will be easier in some cases than in others.  When facing our own personal Goliaths, the choice of faith will never be easy.  But it will always be possible.


Considering that truth, I also came to the realization that if faith is a choice, so is doubt.  While questions and doubts may initially thrust themselves upon us without our consent, we can determine what becomes of them following those initial encounters.  From time to time we choose to nurture our doubts, ironically making them into our beliefs.  But if we can nurture our doubts, we can also starve them.


Ultimately, no matter what challenges we face, "God expects us to believe."  Indeed, is it not significant that when declaring the fundamentals of our faith, the Prophet Joseph began twelve of the thirteen statements with the simple declaration "We believe."  Believing is a talent, but it is one that God will give to each desirous soul.  May the phrase "We believe" continue to define our attitudes towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Church!


Brett

A Gathering Spirit

Hi!  I'm not much of a blogger and don't know how regular a participant I will be in this whole thing, but I wanted to do something to try and keep connected with my friends and family while I'm away and working on a PhD in Texas.  So I thought a blog might be a good idea.  But I wanted to do something meaningful, similar to my sister's amazing blog found here.  Every time I read her blog, I am inspired by its beauty and insight (as well as it's excellent design and layout).  The problem is, I don't have Lynley's skills, so I decided that my blog would need to play off of the skills that I do have:  I know a lot about history :).  So every now and again I just want to share some tidbits that I have learned and hopefully some sort of message that makes those tidbits useful and meaningful.

For the last three years I had the absolute pleasure of working as a research assistant for Ronald W. Walker, who is in the process of writing a biography of Brigham Young to be published by Oxford University Press.  In the process, I fell in love with Brother Brigham in a way that I had never expected.  I came to love his unique (if, at times over-the-top) way of putting things.  A couple of years ago, one historian published a landmark set of books that made a pretty good attempt to make available The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young.  Because I had by that time fallen in love with Brigham's way of speaking and because I could justify the expenditure as a "business purchase," I bought the set.  Since that time, it has been a standard resource in my studies of Brother Brigham as both a student and a professional researcher.  I might have had buyer's remorse with some of the book's I've purchased over the years, but not this set.  Anyhow, I've recently decided to just read some of Brigham's sermons and in the process I've discovered some terrific insights, including one that struck me tonight.

On September 9, 1843, Brigham addressed a group of Saints gathered together in Boston.  On this occasion, as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, he told the Saints "The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is a gathering spirit.  Its tendency is to gather the virtuous and good, the honest and meek of the earth, and, in fine, the Saints of God."  (Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, 1:28).  As I read this entry, I was impressed by the thought that one of the main purposes of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to build relationships; both familial and non-familial.  We seek to develop such friendships and covenantal bonds here because we know that "that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" (D&C 130:2).  The Prophet Joseph was right when he declared, "Where this people are, there is good society" (History of the Church 5:516-17).  I'm so grateful for the way that the Spirit has gathered into my life a whole host of family and friends who exemplify all that is virtuous, good, honest, and meek among the Saints of God.  All this just to thank those of you who have been and continue to be members of my own personal Zion.

Brett