The Widow's Mite

The Widow's Mite

At long last and much to my relief, this semester is almost over.  This time next Sunday I will be happily at home with family and with Julianne, beginning to enjoy the Christmas season.  It is always hard when you are in school because Christmas time can't really begin until everything else is finished.  The temperatures in Fort Worth also tend to make it feel more like October than December.  But soon enough I will be home with family, decorations, and plenty of Christmas cheer!

I don't have much to write this week because quite frankly I am about authored out right now.  But here is something I studied and thought about for my lesson on tithing today.

This week I was perhaps more impressed than I have ever been before as I read the story of the widow's mite.  I was struck by the setting and the way that this dear woman fit into it.  With less than a week remaining in his mortal life, the Savior was using an opportunity to train his disciples, the men that would have to become the faces of His Church and stand before the world, testifying with power of the truth of His gospel.  He warned them about becoming like "the scribes which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers" (Mark 12:38-40).  In short, He warned His disciples about becoming men who preach for show and live the gospel outwardly, but not inwardly.  He didn't want them to become popular preachers even though He desired them to become powerful and bold witnesses to all the world.

And then, watching the people cast money into the treasury, with some rich men making large and very visible donations, He spotted this poor woman who exemplified everything He wanted His disciples to be.  "And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That his poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living" (Mark 12:42-44).  While others were worshiping for show, allowing the sounds of their donations to witness their wealth and "generosity" to the world, this poor widow cast in two mites that would likely not have made a single sound when they hit the other coins.  Why was she making this donation when she had so little?  Surely her two mites would do almost nothing toward the upkeep of the Temple?  Was it even worth it for her to give these two small coins?

The donation of this poor widow was not simply all her living, it was all of her heart and all of her love.  Unless I am mistaken, this poor woman was as aware of the large donations others were making as everyone else was.  Perhaps she made her donation almost timidly, knowing it was so little compared to what others were giving.  But her love of God impelled her to make it, no matter how little it was.  It was this gift, the gift of her whole soul, that made her the example the Savior wanted His disciples to see and follow.  The gift of her soul touched the very God of Heaven and was acceptable to Him.

I imagine that this poor widow never thought anyone else noticed her that day.  But her offering has been enshrined in the hearts and minds of men and women for two thousand years because the only person whose opinion mattered that day did notice her and fully accepted her great sacrifice.

As one who has been given so much more of this world's goods, I pray that I might be blessed to be able to give in the same way this good woman gave.  I pray that my acts of obedience will not be done to show off before the world, but that they might be acts of devotion and discipleship driven by a sincere love of God.  I pray that my offering might be even half as weighty as was the gift of this dear woman.

Brett

"I require all"

I've finally made it to the end of the semester!  This has truly been one of the longest and most intense semesters of my life, and just the mere contemplation of the fact that I am only 3.5 class periods, 1 book, and approximately 20 pages of writing away from being finished with it makes me very happy indeed.  And then on the flip side I realize that all of that must be done before noon a week from Thursday, so it will be a very busy week and a half.  But come December 14 at 6 am as I board the plane to Denver or Phoenix (I forget which) en route to Utah, I will be very a very happy man.  I will also be very grateful if my second bout of sickness this semester (this time mixed with the worst asthma flare up I've had in a decade) will be completely over by then.  Needless to say, it's been an eventful week.

But today as I've been thinking about my eventful week and everything I need to accomplish in the next week and a half before three weeks of joy and emancipation, I have come to the realization that I am grateful for challenges and difficult requirements.  Challenges and difficult requirements allow us opportunities to experience the Lord's blessings in ways and at times that we would never be able to experience if all were ease and luxury.  For instance, if someone had asked me on Sunday how I would feel if I knew that by Monday night I was going to become so sick with my asthma and a second cold that I would end up needing to visit the doctor three times this week, I would likely have told you that this scenario was one of the worst possible things that could happen to me right now.  There was simply too much to be done, and being sick was not on my list of desired experiences.  But being ordered onto bed rest and having to miss two classes and a discussion group turned out to be great blessings because they gave me time to write without needing to worry about class for a couple of days.  Somehow, the Lord knew what I needed and was able to use these circumstances to help me.

Joseph Smith Jr. Journal, 12 July 1838, manuscript text of D&C 119 from Joseph Smith Papers Website

I came across another example of this lesson today as I began studying for my lesson on tithing next Sunday.  Characteristically when I study for a lesson on a specific doctrine, I go first to the most specific text I can remember on that doctrine.  Today I turned to D&C 119, which gives us the definition of tithing as paying "one tenth of all [our] interest annually" and reminds us that tithing is to be "a standing law unto [the Lord's people] forever" (D&C 119:4).  I wasn't expecting to stay here long, as the definition in verse four was all that I had come for.  But the historian inside myself got the better of me and I decided that it was important for me to read the verse in context, and since it was such a short section that wasn't hard.  What I found there, however, completely changed my views of this section and sent me looking for more material in my trusty copy of The Joseph Smith Papers Journals Volume 1 (abbreviated JSPJ).

I wanted to know the context in which this revelation had come about.  I knew that the revelation had been given on July 8, 1838, not long after Joseph Smith and the body of the Saints had moved from Kirtland to Missouri.  The Prophet's Journal (pictured above) didn't give much context, except for showing the question that had preceded the revelation.  The leaders of the Church apparently had asked, "O! Lord show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of thy people for a Tithing?" (JSPJ 1:288)  This was a curious question to me.  It isn't often in the Church that we ask the Lord "How much do you want?"  In some regards it seemed to me like the Brethren were asking, "How much do we have to ask for?"  And while I am probably reading too much into the words on the page, it seemed to be a question asked with a measure of trepidation.

But then I began to consider the context in which they were asking this.  The Church was less than a year removed from the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society, an event which had dramatically affected the membership and leadership of the Church.  Several members of the Quorum of the Twelve had apostatized and been excommunicated along with other high ranking officials who had questioned Joseph in the aftermath of the collapse.  Further, the whole nation was in the middle of a deep financial panic and depression, an event that ruined banks and businesses all across the country.  Joseph, Sidney, Brigham, and others had escaped Kirtland by the skin of their teeth.  And now, here in Missouri (where against all possible odds, things were only set to get worse), they had communities and temples to build.  Such things cost money, but asking for money from the Saints must have seemed to threaten to undo the remainder of the Church.  How could Joseph, at a time like this, approach the impoverished Saints with a message about tithing?

Given this context, the Lord's answer surprised me.  He did not start out by defining tithing as one tenth.  He started out by saying "Verily thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion, for the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church" (D&C 119:1-2).  I was impressed that in this situation, the Lord did not lower the requirement of asking for the all of the Saints.  Tithing was a commandment in addition to, not in place of, the Law of Consecration.  The Lord reminded the Saints that He required their all and He reminded them why He required it: to build temples, to erect Zion, and to do the work of the Church.

Given the circumstances, this may seem like a lot to ask.  It may seem unmerciful and perhaps even cruel to ask so much of a people who had so very little.  As a missionary few commitments were harder for me to ask of my investigators than tithing, because I knew how little they had and I know how scary a proposition tithing can be.  But I am grateful for a God who does not lessen the requirements he makes upon us when times are hard and funds are low.  No, if He truly believes in us and in our potential to become like him, those are the very moments in which He must keep the requirements high and unchanged.  No person has ever been made greater by giving or doing less; by having the expectations upon them lowered.  When God asks for our all, He asks for it with the full confidence that it is a price we are capable of paying, and for which He intends to reimburse us in full.

The record doesn't indicate just what the reaction of the Saints was to this revelation, but it has been accepted time and time again by the body of the Church.  Faithful saints have discovered joy in paying their tithes and offerings, and joy in consecrating their time, talents, and means to the work of Zion.  I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to require my best.  He knows me well enough to know when there are things that I need His help to do.  But He never allows His concerns that I succeed to diminish the amount that He asks me to do.  There are certainly days when I fall short of those expectations (in fact, there are seldom any days when I fully measure up), But He nevertheless keeps the bar high and continues to coach me toward the goal of eternal achievement.  High bars and lofty expectations, together with a forgiving heart when I fall short, have thus become emblems of His love for me as His son.

Brett

Ammon, a Descendent of Zarahemla

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this week.  I was only able to be home from 10:00 am Tuesday until 6:00 am this morning, but I had a wonderful time with family and friends.  I enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at home with my family and then another delicious dinner later that day with Julianne, her sister Rebecca, her brother-in-law Neil, and their daughter Madi.  I didn't know that I still had a "two Thanksgiving dinner day" left in me.  I was certain that I had finished with those some 11 years ago when I enjoyed my last Thanksgiving in my mission.  But I thoroughly enjoyed both dinners and didn't manage to make myself sick in the process.  And then, perhaps an even greater accomplishment was eating at Tucanos the next day with Julianne.  I'm certain that the surgeon general would not approve of such a slate, but I was mildly proud of myself nonetheless.  I didn't really want to come back to Texas today; and I surely didn't want to come back to the three major papers yet to be written and four books left to read.  But I suppose these things have to be done so I will do them.  I did far too little homework this week, but it was nice to feel like a regular person for once and just enjoy some time at home.

Minerva Teichert, "Ammon Before King Limhi"

[Insert transition sentence that I am too lazy to write at the moment here].  This last week or so I have been reminded of one of my favorite Book of Mormon characters.  He is a man who gets little if any notice, and is generally confused with a man whom I confidently assume was named after him.  I'm writing about Ammon, the descendent of Zarahemla, who appears in Mosiah 7-8, 21-22.  Although he doesn't get much attention when we talk about the Book of Mormon, I firmly believe that he deserves some.

Ammon finds his way into the Book of Mormon some three years after the beginning of the reign of King Mosiah II, the son of King Benjamin.  Mormon tells us that Mosiah was "desirous to know concerning the people who went up to dwell in the land of Lehi-Nephi, or in the city of Lehi-Nephi; for his people had heard nothing from them from the time they left the land of Zarahemla."  And apparently Mosiah's people were anxious to hear from this group also, for they "wearied [Mosiah] with their teasings" (Mosiah 7:1).  To placate these complaints, Mosiah selected "sixteen of their strong men" to go and find this group that had left the land of Zarahemla with Zeniff.  At the head of this group was Ammon, "he being a strong and mighty man, and a descendent of Zarahemla" (Mosiah 7:3).

I have found through the years that the short genealogies listed in the scriptures are not things to be passed over and forgotten, but rather that they contain important information that helps us to understand the stories we are reading more fully.  The comment about Ammon's genealogy is short, but I believe it speaks volumes.  Zarahemla had been the king over the people of Zarahemla at the time that Mosiah I and his people found the city.  So Ammon was not merely a descendent of Zarahemla, he was (at least to some degree) an heir to a lost throne.  But this was not just any throne and Zarahemla had not just been any king.  Zarahemla had been a descendent of Mulek (Mosiah 25:2) who was the son of Zedekiah, king of Judah at the time that Lehi had left Jerusalem.  And although one of his brothers had had a higher and more direct claim upon the throne of David, Zedekiah was a descendent of David with a lineal claim upon his throne.  Ammon was therefore an heir of David with at least some claim to the Davidic throne.  Indeed, Ammon had a stronger claim to the throne than did Mosiah whom he served, for Lehi's family had not ceased to be a part of Israel when they came to the Americas.

Hopefully you will forgive the long and boring genealogy, but I think it is significant.  Although my study of history has largely been confined to American history, I know enough about European and Asian history to know that competing claims to authority usually ends up in war and bloodshed.  What's more, most strong men and women who have a legitimate claim to a throne usually don't allow somebody else to rule in their place.  And they certainly don't become dutiful servants of those other rulers.  But Ammon did.

I have often wondered what it was like for Ammon to be in this position of being an heir of David, with a legitimate right to rule in Israel (of which the Nephites were a part), but nevertheless being a faithful servant of Mosiah.  Furthermore, I have wondered what it was like for Mosiah to fully trust such a mighty and strong man with legitimate claims to the throne he (Mosiah) occupied.  Like David and Jonathan before them, we see only faithfulness and trust between these two men who might have been enemies.  Far from leading wars of rebellion in search of power, Ammon led what turned out to be a rescue mission that answered the prayers and pleadings of a lost group of Nephites.

In one way or another, all of us will have occasion to play the role of Ammon in our lives.  We all have moments when we are perhaps asked to follow and support someone who seems less talented or less qualified than us.  We may, at times, be asked to serve rather than lead, even though we know that we could get the job done well if we were asked to lead.  Similarly, in one way or another, all of us will have occasion to play the role of Mosiah and be asked to lead a person who may be more qualified than we see ourselves as being.  Like Mosiah we will have to be humble and trusting of such individuals, making good use of their strong talents and giving them opportunities to utilize them without fearing their stealing the spotlight and the mantle of leadership.  At one point or another, we will all have to come to a full realization of the truth spoken by the Lord that "all have not every gift given unto them . . . and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.  To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby" (D&C 46:11-12).

May we all learn to appreciate the gifts of others and also to serve in the callings to which we are appointed and uphold and sustain those who are called to preside over us.  By so doing, we will gain the power to rescue lost souls and to build the Kingdom of God on earth.

Brett

"Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays"

Nana and Papa Haycock's 50th Wedding Anniversary, the Lion House

I'm hoping that the members of my family who see this picture will not be upset with me for posting such an excellent example of why the 1980s were amazing.  But it was the only picture I could really think of to exemplify what Thanksgiving has meant to me in my life.

I think I'm at that point in the semester where my brain its an automatic shutoff point and refuses to think of anything unless it is absolutely forced to do so.  Hence, when I got home from Church today I could not think of anything interesting to write about other than to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays ever since I was a little boy.  Of course it helps that turkey is one of my favorite meals and, like Presidents Brigham Young and Joseph Fielding Smith, I absolutely love eating pie.  But more than anything, Thanksgiving has always signified family to me.  When I was a young boy, we would go up to Bountiful and spend the day at my Nana and Papa's House.  It was always a wonderful day of being with my family and having a chance to reflect on just how much the Lord has given me (though I probably didn't do too good a job of that when I was a kid).

Thanksgiving has taken on a greater meaning to me since I moved to Texas.  Last year I was so blessed to be able to spend the day with my sister Stephanie and my brother-in-law John in Georgia.  They were so kind a gracious to me and showed me all around Georgia in the process.  It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings because I had been so lonely for family and they made that trip so wonderful for me.  This Thanksgiving, I get to go back home and spend the time with my family and with Julianne!  I am so excited for Tuesday!  Even a 6 am flight is enjoyable because it means that I get to be home for just a few more hours by taking an early flight!  There truly is "no place like home for the holidays."

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for:
1) The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my Father's plan for our salvation.
2) A family that has always been there for me, including two wonderful parents and three remarkable and beautiful sisters, as trustworthy and faithful a brother as anyone could ask for, a beautiful niece and a handsome nephew, marvelous cousins, aunts, and uncles, and many loved ones beyond the veil who continue to bless my life in profound ways!
3) My beautiful Julianne, who makes me happy in so many different ways.
4) A number of faithful friends, mentors, and neighbors who have taught and blessed me in ways too numerous to list.
5) The blessing of an education and the opportunity to pursue three college degrees.  It is a blessing that I am certain I take far too much for granted.
6) A warm apartment, clothes to wear, and food to eat.  I know that there are so many who have so much less than this.
7) Moments of pure joy, like feeding ducks at the duck pond with Julianne.
8) So many other things that I wish I had time to list.

To all of you who have blessed my life so profoundly, may you please accept my most profound and heart-felt thanks.

Brett

PS:  Check out my awesome white pants and skewed tie!

"They Were In One"

This has certainly been an eventful week.  I must confess that Tuesday night was rather rough on me and I have been in a sort of malaise ever since then.  I do my best to keep my politics to myself because I know how divisive political ideas can be, and I sincerely congratulate any of my friends who through their prayers and study determined that the best course they could follow would be to support President Obama's reelection.  But for me, this has been a very hard week and it has been hard for me not to worry about certain aspects of the nation's future.  (All this is in spite of what I wrote last week, so I suppose I either need to read my own blog or stop making statements about things that I have a hard time doing).

As I struggled through some of these concerns, I had a lot of thoughts go through my mind.  I thought back on Joseph Smith's prophecy about the constitution.  On July 19, 1840, he said, "Even this Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground.  And when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff upon which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction."  I am certainly not in any position to say at what point this event will take place, nor at what point the constitution will be on the verge of destruction.  That document and this people have been through many very rough days and have come through before.  Our people have certainly survived much tougher times than anything we are currently experiencing and were not, during those crises, called upon to save the constitution.  But I take Joseph at his word and I believe that at some point, such an event like this will occur.  I must confess, I had thought that this election might have been the beginning of that service to the nation.  But as I reconsidered Joseph's prophecy, I was reminded that Joseph spoke of an entire people, not just a single person stepping forward.  Whenever the day will come for us to preserve the constitution of the United States, it will be as a unified people, with men and women at all levels of society and in numerous positions and most importantly in families and communities, each devoted to the principles of freedom.

It is with regards to such unity that I failed following this election.  All too often, I have allowed political differences to become the way that I see different people, rather than seeing each as a brother or sister, a fellow son or daughter of God.  Following the Lord's visit to the Americas, we are told that "There was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.  And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not have been a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.  There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God" (4 Nephi 1:15-17).  What a wonderful society this sounds like!  By obeying the commandments of God and striving to love and serve their neighbors, the things that united these people became more important than the old prejudices and divisions that had plagued their society.

I couldn't really think of an image for this particular post, but when I saw this picture, it seemed to be perfect.  Perhaps no city in the world has been more divided and troubled than Jerusalem.  It is a center for the world's three largest and most prominent monotheistic religions, all of which claim it as a place which God has given to them.  But in this picture, I see a hope for a future of peace and unity; for a future in which the desire to serve and obey God will matter more than the hurtful wars and difficulties of the past.  It is true that there are plenty of troubling and difficult days ahead of us before the Master returns.  But it is also true that there are many glorious and wonderful days to anticipate as well.  As Elder Maxwell said in the October 1998 General Conference, "Those with true hope still see their personal circumstances shaken at times--like a kaleidoscope.  Yet with the 'eye of faith,' even in their changed, proximate circumstances, they still see divine design."  No matter our circumstances, may we continue to see God's divine designs with the eye of faith.  And then let us work for those designs with faith, hope, charity, and love, laboring with all others who seek to do the work and will of the Lord.

Brett

PS:  Happy birthday tomorrow to my beautiful girlfriend Julianne!  She has been such a profound blessing to me this past year.  Even before we started dating, she kept contact with me after I had moved to Texas and provided me with constant reminders that I had not been forgotten.  Her friendship, kindness, and love have lessened the miles between Utah and Texas.  It is a debt which I do not believe I can ever possibly repay in full.  But I am not ungrateful!  I wish I could be there to celebrate tomorrow.

"The Better Angels of Our Nature"

This has been a wonderful week.  For the first time since August, I was blessed to have a visit from family, as my sister Stephanie came into town for a conference.  I got to see her presentation, which was wonderful and insightful.  But more importantly, I got a chance to spend some time with her between Thursday when I picked her up at the airport and this morning when I dropped her back off at the airport.  It is always such a blessing to have some time with family when you have been away from home.  I was reminded once again just how blessed and lucky I am to have such a wonderful family.

Howard Chandler Christy, "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States," 1940

I know that most of you, like me, have probably had enough of this election and are just ready for it to be finished.  Without fail, I get to this point every election season because I have usually made up my mind who I will be voting for by early September, meaning that I am the recipient of two months of absolute torture after my mind has been made up.  But in spite of my yearnings to have all of the polls and ads disappear, I do think that this is an important election, and yes, even the most important election of my life.  (Before you quit reading, please know that this isn't a post endorsing one candidate or another).

Let me explain.  I believe that this is the most important election of my life because it is the current election.  Our lives will not be influenced nearly as much by the elections of 2004 or 1992 or 1968 nearly so much as they will be affected by this current election.  Whatever have been the results of the past, they do not change our opportunities to create for ourselves a better and brighter future, and a freer and more just America.  Further, this Tuesday represents our opportunity to keep the principles of the American republic alive.  If we become apathetic and stop voting, we lose our opportunity to influence and shape this wonderful country.  By that act of voting (for whichever candidates we determine to be most meritorious), we declare our willingness to remain involved and to dedicate our service to our nation and our communities.  In this sense, it is an act akin to raising our right arm to sustain the leaders of the Church.

But even as raising our arm to sustain President Monson is not enough to qualify us as disciples of Jesus Christ, so casting our vote in an election booth and doing nothing more will not satisfy the demands of citizenship.  Accepting whatever results may come from the election, we must then put our hands to the plow and go about the work of improving our cities and building a better America.  Nothing concerns me more than the idea that the country's political divisions have become so great that a party must have complete control of Congress and the White House, or the president must issue executive mandates, in order to get anything done.  Compromise and cooperation were two of the most important principles upon which this nation was founded.  And those same principles must continue to define us today.

No matter the results of Tuesday's election--whether your candidates of choice prevail or lose--we must pledge our hands and hearts to the work of making this nation better.

In the dark days following the secession crisis of 1860-61 and immediately preceding the outbreak of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln pled with the nation in his inaugural address, "I am loath to close.  We are not enemies, but friends.  We must not be enemies.  Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.  The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature" (Abraham Lincoln, Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 4:263).

Long ago, my Mom and Dad taught me that it is not enough just to be gracious and happy when things go the way I wanted them to.  No matter the outcome of the election, may we all be "touched...by the better angels of our nature."

Brett

"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"

With the help and kindness of family and friends, this week I slowly but surely reentered the land of the living, having missed out on only one seminar.  It always amazes me how much the little things that you take for granted--like being able to sleep through the night, or even just having an appetite--seem to mean when you are sick and those things are no longer working right.  So it has been nice to get back to feeling better.  I'm particularly glad that I am feeling on top of things before my Sister Stephanie visits this week while she is presenting at a conference at TCU.  I'm looking forward to being able to see her for a few days, as it will be the first time I've seen family since mid-August.

Isaac Watts, English hymn composer

Today I taught the Gospel Essentials lesson on the principle of sacrifice.  This morning as I was making a few last minute preparations, I was reminded of one of my favorite hymns (unfortunately not in our hymnbook or our regular canon of inspirational hymns).  The hymn is "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," written by Isaac Watts in 1707 in England.  Watts wrote the hymn and several others, including "Joy to the World," "Sweet is the Work," and "He Died! The Great Redeemer Died," that have been popular throughout the Christian world and have been sung reverentially in our own worship services.  While I love each of these hymns, the words of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" have a special place in my heart.

When I survey the wondrous cross,

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord! that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ, my God:

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood...

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

For me the words of this hymn evoke the spirit of true discipleship and the essence of the sacrifices that we are asked to make in this Church.  They remind me of the words of Amaleki, who urged us to "come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.  Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and prayer, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved" (Omni 1:26).  The call of the gospel is an for us to exchange our all for the Lord's all.  It is true that He asks us to consecrate our all to His kingdom, but He asks this only after have consecrated His all to us.  Indeed, I am confident that at the end of eternity, when we look back on the sacrifices we were called to make for the Lord's kingdom, we will find that the exchange rate was far more than generous in our behalf.

The words of this hymn also do something else for me.  They remind me how far short I often fall of the demands of true Christian discipleship and faith.  Like Ananias and Sapphira, I have frequently "kept back a part" (Acts 5:2) of that which rightly belonged to the Lord, and in the process have lost opportunities to grow.  Considering the sacrifice of the Savior, I realize how very little I have given, and in some cases, how very much I have held back from Him and how much I must repent.

At the end of the day, I am inspired by the fact that more than our possessions, treasures, or money, God desires our hearts.  Those other things simply don't mean very much in the eternal scheme of things.  From time to time, He asks us to give of them to His Kingdom, but He does so to loosen the hold that they have upon our hearts.  When such things finally become temporary trifles in our eyes, we are then prepared to give Him the thing that He truly desires: our hearts and our devotion.  And having given those things to Him, He can mold us into men and women who are truly prepared to receive "all that [our] Father hath" (D&C 84:39).

Brett

"My Angel Mother"

I'm writing my post a little bit early today.  Monday night I came down with a cold and I have been fighting it ever since.  So I opted to stay home from Church today in hopes of getting some needed rest and avoiding passing my germs along to other unsuspecting victims.  Being sick in graduate school is an interesting challenge.  If it is really bad your professors will let you miss a seminar, but it had better be ebola bad and it had only better be one seminar session that you miss.  So it can make for some fun times.

In the middle of feeling miserable and being wide awake for three nights in a row this week, I couldn't help but think about my Mom, whose arthritis has disrupted more than a few nights of sleep during my lifetime.  While I was irritable and hard to get along with after only three such nights, my Mom never seems to let the sleep deprivation get to her, or at least she doesn't let it show.  Every morning, she is awake and ready to go about the day with a smile on her face, regardless of the fact that she only slept for an hour or two during the night.  She's an inspiration.

My Mom and Me, BYU Graduation, April 2011

There's another reason I have been thinking about her though: tomorrow (October 22) is her birthday and I wanted to pay her a small tribute since I will not be able to be there to celebrate with her in person.

I didn't always make things easy on my Mom when I was growing up.  When I was three or so, my Mom took Rob, Lynley, and me with her to the store.  When it came time to leave and go home, I didn't want to go for one reason or another and as Mom tried to get me out of the store I screamed out for all to hear, "She's not my mother!", a response that no doubt turned many heads and humiliated my Mom.  As if that statement didn't do enough to cast aspersions onto her, my constant injuries as a child (downing a bottle of Tylenol with codeine, and various other bumps and bruises that led to frequent hospital visits) certainly caused a nurse or two to question her undeservingly.

But in spite of all of that, she somehow managed to get the important messages through to me.  I will never forget a moment that happened when I was three or four.  Dad was at the bedside of my Grandpa Dowdle late, helping him through the painful last months of terminal cancer.  I had a nightmare and could hear Mom down in the living room waiting for Dad to come home, so I took my blanket and went down to the living room to tell her that I had had a scary dream and couldn't sleep.  She reassured me that everything was ok and then said a little prayer with me and simply taught me that prayers would help me to sleep whenever I had a nightmare.  I was then able to go back to bed and sleep comfortably.

Variations of that same theme have played out over and over and over again throughout my life.  Whenever I have been concerned or scared or upset, Mom has been there with the right words and the reassurance that if I would put my trust in the Lord, things would work out.  After nearly thirty years of such lessons and counsel, I can say without hesitation that she has never been wrong.  My worst fears have never actually materialized and her faith in God's plans has always been vindicated.  Right along side her has been my Dad, whose faith, counsel, and example of righteousness have likewise blessed my life forever.

Lincoln once said of his mother that he inherited his qualities from her and then concluded, "All that I am or hope ever to be I get from my mother, God bless her" (Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln, 240).  I can't help but feel the same.  While I may have screamed out, "She's not my mother!" when I was three years old, today and for the rest of eternity I shall be proud to say with conviction, "She's my mother!  Isn't she wonderful!"

Happy birthday Mom! I love you!

Brett

"Afflicted Precisely As We Are Now"

Brigham Young, ca. 1850

I'm constantly amazed by the things that I discover in the process of looking for something else.  Throughout my life, some of the best scriptures and quotations I have found were discovered while I was searching for some other scripture or quotation that I needed.  While some may attribute such discoveries to chance and dumb luck, I tend to believe that they are among the most "tender mercies of the Lord" (1 Nephi 1:20) that were so beautifully described by Elder David A. Bednar during the April 2005 General Conference.  These unexpected discoveries remind us just how much more the Lord truly knows about His plans for us than we know, and they serve as means whereby He often leads us to discover those paths He has for us.

I had just such a discovery yesterday as I was doing my scripture study.  I was searching for a quotation by Brigham Young about our personal relationship with the Father during the premortal life.  In the process of searching for that quotation, I came across another sermon of Brigham's with which I had not been previously acquainted (You would be shocked by how much Brigham spoke).  This sermon, given on May 4, 1856, included the following comments:

"Well now the Lord has compassion upon us upon the same principle that we have one towards another, precisely the same, for he has experienced those things Himself.  This is an item that the people can scarcely realize, that our Father and our God, him whom we serve, the Great Elohim, that he has once been afflicted precisely as we are now.  This is really strange.  We could hardly admit that this is the fact, and still it is good, sound. . . . There is not a person upon the earth or in the heavens, or anywhere else that could ever feel or sympathize for you or for me unless that person had suffered as you and I are suffering. . . . [T]here is not and never was a son but there must have been a father, and if a father he must also be a son, and. . . there never has been a father capacitated to beget sons without he having first passed through this ordeal himself. . . . Well now that father that we talk about and Jesus his son have once been precisely as we are: tempted, tried, buffeted and filled with weakness, with pain and sorrow and suffering just as we are.  I don't know that he has ever had the toothache or the headache as I have had them, but he was obliged to know sorrow, pain and the infirmities of mortality as well as us.  And why?  Because he would never know how to enjoy; he could not have the capacity to realize the value of ease, of comfort, of plenty unless He had suffered disease and sorrow, and it never could be known in all the eternities.  He never could have occupied his present station without these gratifications, it never was acknowledged upon any other principle."  (Brigham Young, Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, 2:1101).

Perhaps I am not alone in this fact, but I rejoice in the idea that not only does my Savior understand my pains and struggles, but so does my Father in Heaven.  I like the idea that He knows what it is like to have a migraine or to have joints that are hurt from time to time.  I like the idea that He knows what it is like to feel like there is more work to be done than there is time to do it.  I like the fact that He knows what it is to struggle and perhaps even fail from time to time.  For me one of the best aspects of family history research is to learn about the challenges my ancestors experienced and the ways that they responded to those challenges.  Somehow the thoughts of their struggles binds my heart to them and I experience a shared sense of mortality with them.  So it is with my Father and His Divine Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.  By knowing that They understand our challenges and the depths of our struggles, we come to feel a closeness to Them that would not otherwise be possible.

Brigham drew upon these insights and asked, "Well what does this bring us to, the few that are here this morning?"  He then answered, "It brings us to this one thing, that this experience is necessary for us in order to bring us to perfection" (Brigham Young, Complete Discourses, 2:1101).  That mere fact, the fact that our struggles are not wasted, that they serve a purpose and are for something, gives us the strength to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ" (2 Nephi 31:20).

Brigham further counseled, "Then do not you nor I complain of hard times nor anything that we are called to pass through, for it is right.  No person would know the nature of poverty unless they had once been in comfortable circumstances; no person would know and realize the pleasure of ease in their bodies and the benefit of lying down and resting unless they had sometimes been in pain and had experienced sleepless nights and been anxious to rest, no person in any kingdom understands anything but by the contrast.  No person could know of the blessings of life, of light, of knowledge, of happiness in every particular degree unless they had tasted the opposite in its degree. . . . I tell you it is necessary for this people to experience every trial that they can possibly pass through" (Brigham Young, Complete Discourses, 2:1101).

I am grateful to know that we have a God who "mourns with those that mourn, and comforts those who stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:8-9).  I am grateful to know that we have a God who hears our every prayer and numbers the tears of His children.  I am grateful to know that we have a God who in time will "wipe all tears from [our] eyes" and usher in an eternity in which "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain" (Revelation 21:4).  But I am equally grateful to know we have a God who lets us learn everything that we must learn, even if we must at times learn "by sad experience" (D&C 121:39), for it is often in those very sad experiences that we are tutored most profoundly in the lessons and principles of godliness.

Brett

I Love General Conference

Few things are as exhilarating for me as General Conference weekend.  Of course the insinuation that two days worth of discourses is exhilarating to me may mean that I lead a very boring life.  (Probably true)  But the opportunity to sit and listen to the voices of Prophets and Apostles, men who hold the keys anciently given to Peter, James, and John by the very Lord Himself, and then from them transmitted to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in these latter days, is anything but boring to me.  

Yesterday's announcement regarding the ages of missionary service--particularly the ages at which women are eligible to serve the Lord as missionaries--was breathtaking.  Perhaps I am over-exaggerating, but to me this announcement seems like it will have a dramatic influence upon the missionary work and growth of the Church.  In 1974 when President Spencer W. Kimball urged every worthy young man to serve a mission, the Church began to grow rapidly.  That call for more missionaries preceded both the dramatic increase in Temple building (that began under President Kimball) and the 1978 revelation on the priesthood.  Perhaps this revelatory moment in the history of the Church could be preceding similarly dramatic growth and revelations.  At the very least, it is a call for increased spirituality and increased gospel teaching in the homes and families of the Church.

I was likewise moved by the announcement of a Temple in Arequipa, Peru.  The second that temple was announced, my mind went to my old missionary companion, Nefi Ccuno, who came to me straight from Arequipa, via the MTC in Provo.  From time to time it has been hard to keep track of Nefi in the last ten years, but if my assumption is correct, he likely hasn't been able to attend a dedicated Temple of the Lord since he was a missionary.  Nefi has been dealt a harder hand than I have ever considered.  For a person as bright and intelligent as he is, I am certain that the poverty and lack of educational opportunities in Peru have been a severe trial.  But I believe that this Temple will bless Nefi and reward his diligence and faith amidst life's deepest challenges.  And, believing, as I do, that the Temples of the Lord bless not only the people that attend them but also the cities where they are located, I hope and pray that there are brighter days ahead for Arequipa, Peru and those who live there.

There were so many talks in this conference that stood out to me that I'm not sure I could do justice to all of them.  The thing that stood out the most, however, was just the idea that it is time for us as Latter-day Saints to stand up and be distinctive for our beliefs and for our faith.  Elder Ballard referred to the symbol of the beehive.  As he spoke, I was reminded of two things.  The first was the early distinctiveness that characterized the State of Deseret and the Territory of Utah.  During the nineteenth century, we were simply different.  Plural marriage and the political unity of the Saints were big reasons for that distinctiveness, but we were different as a people and we were cohesive and unified as a people.  I believe that there are times when we could benefit from that old willingness to be different from the world.  The second thing that Elder Ballard reminded me of was an entry in the journal of James E. Talmage when he was a student at Johns Hopkins University in the 1880s (unfortunately I don't have time to dig it out of my files, like I ought to for accuracy).  The young James Talmage had been offered a  prestigious opportunity to remain and teach at a university in the East.  For a man who loved the academy and the thrill of scholarship, this was a highly tempting offer.  It was a chance for him to stay near the center of the nation's scientific research and likely to make a name for himself in the field.  But he knew what he had been sent to the East for:  namely, to get an education so that he could return and better the educational opportunities of those in the Church schools in Utah.  Thus, with a hint of sadness, but full of conviction, he concluded to return to Utah, noting that "as the bee must return to the hive, else it die, so must I."  He understood that he was to consecrate everything to the Church, and his very livelihood depended on such consecration.

That same message came across to me in so many different ways.  Elder Holland's talk, "The First Commandment", made this point as powerfully as any given.  He reminded me that my answer to the Lord's question "Lovest thou me?" means everything, now and forever!  Each speaker, in their own way, reminded me that we have a monumental work to do and the Lord is asking us to hasten and improve our efforts in that work.  That call to action has caused me to reflect on where and how I can begin to improve my less than perfect efforts in this supernal work.  For such calls to action, I am grateful once again for the General Conferences of the Church.

Brett

Faith as a Grain of Mustard Seed

Book of Abraham 1:1-2 manuscript in handwriting of William W. Phelps, Summer 1835
courtesy of the Joseph Smith Papers Project Website

During my scripture study this past week, I ended up revisiting a familiar story in Luke 17.  Having been instructed by the Lord that they were to learn more about how to forgive those who trespassed against them, the Savior's disciples made an interesting request of the Master.  They pled, "Lord, Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5).  At one time or another, and in some way or another, I believe that each of us has uttered this same request.  Like the disciples, we realize how weak our faith can often be and how subject to unbelief we often are.  As Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said, I believe we all wish that we had "faith like Enoch and Elijah" or Joseph Smith, or Brigham Young, or Thomas S. Monson, or our faithful forebears.  And the list goes on and on.  Because "faith has a short shelf life," we all have times when we find ourselves in short supply, pleading with the Lord as did the disciples, "Lord, Increase our faith!"

Given the sincerity with which we make such pleadings, then, the Lord's response to the disciples' request is interesting.  He said, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you" (Luke 17:6).  The word "as" is a very important word in this verse, and its meaning is critical to grasping what the Lord was saying here.  Generally whenever I have read this verse, I have unwittingly read "faith the size of a grain of mustard seed," interpreting the Lord's statement to speak of quantity.  And certainly this is a valid and valuable reading of the verse.  Sometimes, we are lacking faith in sufficient quantities and thus struggle to accomplish the great works of faith.  But I believe this phrase can be read in another way as well.  Perhaps the Lord was also meaning for us to read, "faith like a grain of mustard seed," suggesting not only the quantity of one's faith, but also the quality of that faith.

This meaning generally escapes us because we are not prone to think of mustard seeds having and exercising faith.  And in most senses of the word, they most likely do not.  But as I considered this idea, I remembered Mormon's words recorded in Helaman 12.  There he spoke of man's frequent slowness and unwillingness to hearken to the words of the Lord, and he concluded that men are "less than the dust of the earth" (Hel. 12:7).  Explaining this statement, Mormon wrote, "For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God" (Hel. 12:8).  Abraham even spoke of the elements obeying the Creator (see Abraham 4:18).  Considering all of this, it hit me that to have "faith as a grain of mustard seed" can also mean to have the kind of faith that is always obedient to the will of God; that is always seeking to learn and comply with His commandments.

For the Lord to increase the faith of His disciples (and for Him to increase our faith) required effort, commitment, and obedience on their parts.  If we would commit to obeying the words of the Lord with the same dedication as a tiny mustard seed or a speck of dust, our faith would increase and become powerful.  But no divine gift of additional faith can ever change us without our corresponding willingness to seek out and obey the will of the Lord.

In our quest for greater faith, we ought to be like our faithful father Abraham, who, "finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for [himself]..., sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto [he] should be ordained to administer the same; and having been [himself] a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, [he] became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers" (Abraham 1:2).  Abraham knew that his quest for greater faith, peace, happiness, and rest, was not something the Lord could simply give Him.  It was something he had to become through faith and righteousness, as well as from the transformative gifts of Heaven.  "If we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah [and Abraham] we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived."  These men had faith like unto a grain of mustard seed.  They were firmly committed to learning and doing the will of the Lord, and striving to obey every commandment that He gave unto them.  If we would be like them, we must manifest this same kind of faith.

Brett

Voices from the Dust

President Spencer W. Kimball accompanied by D. Arthur Haycock, circa 1974

This week I have been thinking a lot about family.  Earlier in the week I came across a couple of talks that my grandfather, D. Arthur Haycock, had delivered in behalf of President Spencer W. Kimball entitled "Remember the Mission of the Church" and "The Lord Expects Righteousness."  The blog won't let me post the whole talks, but here is a part that I loved from "The Lord Expects Righteousness" in the October 1982 Conference.

Finding that my cousin was on facebook and thinking she might be interested, I shared the links with her.  She posted them on her facebook page, tagging each of the cousins so that they would all be made aware of the video.  The result was an interesting facebook gathering of cousins sharing thoughts and feelings about our Nana and Papa Haycock.  The thoughts and memories shared there were touching.  One of my cousins wrote, "Amazing timing, thank you.  It's been a long day and long week...but this brought things back into perspective."  It was amazing that these two talks seemed to have the same effect upon all of us cousins, reminding us of things we had forgotten, a familiar voice that we loved, and one of "those angel faces [smiling], which we have loved long since and lost awhile."

Such feelings shouldn't be surprising.  We are a Church that believes in the value and power of voices that "speak from the dust" (2 Nephi 26:16).  But it seems that no matter how many times I hear those voices, they still move me in the same way.  They still remind me of a noble heritage I carry and of the importance of honoring that heritage.  After this experience early in the week, I received a package in the mail yesterday from the Church Archives.  They had digitized two talks that my Papa gave at a workshop for Church secretaries in 1983.  Today as I drove to Church, I listened to one of them and heard the following sage counsel:

"Some of the jobs we have may not always be to our liking.  I had one that I hated with a passion.  I wept over it.  The war came along.  I had been [at the Church offices] for six years.  I was happy and ready to stay the rest of my life.  And the [Second] World War came.  Pearl Harbor came.  And they came to President Hinckley and to me and a couple of others and said 'You can't stay here any longer.  You're pre-Pearl Harbor fathers.  We don't want you in the Army.  But you can't work in an office.  You've got to go to the railroad or the smelters or to the mines and make a contribution in one of the war efforts.'  President Hinckley and I ended up in the railroad.  I hated every minute of it.  It wasn't my way of life.  I wasn't happy.  I'd trained to work in an office.  I hadn't trained to swing a sixteen pound sledge hammer or roll around in tobacco juice or oil and grease and dirt.  I didn't like it.  And then President Hinckley went to Denver to the headquarters and I came over to the depot and put on a cap and brass buttons and was a station master in his place.  And so I learned all about trains and railroads and the time tables.  Finally the war was over.  [The Church] asked me to come back.  The President of the Church, George Albert Smith, invited me in and said he wanted me to travel with him.  He was a railroad nut; a railroad buff.  I was the first person he had ever found that could read a time table.  We became instant friends and associates because of the experience I had with the worst experience of my life.  I got a training that helped me for the rest of my life and started me on a road of being secretary to several Presidents of the Church.  It came out of that terrible experience that was forced upon me, but I learned something from it that benefitted me and blessed me later on and has blessed me ever since" (D. Arthur Haycock, Secretaries Week Address, 27 April 1983, LDS Church Archives).

I was two years and six days old at the time my grandfather gave this talk.  I highly doubt he ever thought I would hear it, much less benefit from it.  But in the middle of a talk that he gave in 1983, he spoke very personally and very directly to his 31 year old grandson in 2012.  He reminded me that sometimes the hardest and most undesirable things we are asked to do yield the most profound blessings in our lives.  He reminded me that the Lord has a plan for me and He knows where I need to go and what I need to do to gain the experiences and abilities that I will need to be able to carry out that plan.

There are a lot of reasons why the Lord has asked us to search out our kindred dead.  Clearly, providing them with the ordinances of the House of the Lord is the most critical of these reasons.  But I firmly believe that there are blessings that extend beyond the satisfaction of knowing that we have done for them what they could not do for themselves.  I believe that in searching out our ancestry, including and perhaps particularly those who do not need help with their temple ordinances, we will find lessons, principles, and even occasionally scripture to guide us in our lives and help us along the path to eternal life.  If my time in Texas has taught me anything, it has taught me that I do not want any part of a heaven that does not include family and relationships.  For me, such a place would not be fit to be called heaven.  Gratefully, ours is a Church that preaches of enduring families and eternal relationships bound by the Holy Priesthood of God, unified by the infinite Atonement of Christ, and sanctified by a shared commitment to lives of holiness and obedience to the principles of godliness.

Brett

"It's Just a Game"

David, Brett, and Papa Wearing the Wrong Colors, Christmas 1992

This morning as I was still trying to work off the disappointment of last night's BYU game, I set to thinking about my enthusiasm for BYU sports, trying to understand why it is that I inflict so much pain and anxiety on myself by being a fan of them.  As I thought about this, a phrase that I have heard over and over again throughout my life (usually in connection with a poor performance by BYU) came to mind:  "It's just a game."

The meaning behind this statement is absolutely true.  Even as a devoted fan, I am a firm believer in the idea that as a society we have placed too much emphasis upon sports.  It has become a big business, and in many regards has undermined the commitment of universities and colleges to academic excellence.  And hitting a little closer to home, anyone who has ever watched a BYU game with me can probably attest that the experience is memorable (and not usually in a good way).  Legends abound among family and friends of what it is like to watch a game with Brett Dowdle.  While I have made a lot of strides to improve in recent years, I am still not proud of just how hard it can be for me to contain my emotions during a football or basketball game that isn't going well for the Y.  As Elder Holland referred to this past Sunday in his CES Fireside, "Israel, Israel, God is Calling," I have often be guilty of "checking my religion at the door" and not being the best of disciples in the sporting arena.  I am ashamed to admit all this, but it is true.

So given all these issues, why do I bother?  Is there any real value to all of this besides the entertainment value of seeing a team perform well from time to time?  I believe there is.  And so this is my attempt to explain why, for me, there are reasons why it's not just a game.  There are reasons why, if I can learn to control my temper and the anxiety that sports cause me, there is value in still being a fan and supporting the team.

I don't want to go into sports analogies for life, which have their value.  Certainly there is value in learning about winning gracefully, losing with class, working hard, etc.  All of that is important, but it isn't why I am a fan.  At the most basic and fundamental level, I am a fan because of the way that BYU sports have shaped and influenced my relationships.  I am a fan because BYU sports gave me an opportunity to connect with people that I love.

Going to games with my Dad and my brother Rob has been one of the most memorable and happy activities of my life.  One of my earliest and happiest memories is of watching a BYU game (against Utah State I believe) on a rare Saturday afternoon that my Dad had off from work at ZCMI.  I don't remember anything else about it other than Dad and BYU football.  As I got older, I remember Dad getting 2 season tickets to the basketball games each year.  Since there would usually be 2 games a week, Rob would get to go to one game and I would go to the other, always with Dad.  As I've gotten older, I've realized more and more how much of a sacrifice those tickets were for my parents, not only financially but also in terms of time.  Dad didn't get many free evenings, but for several years in a row, he found two evenings a week to spend with Rob and me watching BYU basketball games.  When both Rob and I had graduated from BYU, we made one of the best decisions we have ever made and started buying regular season tickets to the football games.  We bought three tickets so that we could take Dad with us and watch the games alongside him.  Between 2005 and 2010 I saw a lot of wins, a few losses, annoyed more than my fair share of surrounding spectators, and spent memorable hours with Dad and Rob.  Last season my parents flew down to Texas to see me and I got to go to one game with Dad (BYU v. TCU).  It was one of the best parts of last Fall semester.

I remember watching games on TV with my Grandma Dowdle--who had learned to enjoy BYU sports because my Grandpa Dowdle loved them.  I remember going to games with my Papa Haycock and watching in amazement as he seemed to find somebody he knew everywhere he went (little did I know, he actually did know someone just about everywhere he went).  Rob and I went to the 1990 Holiday Bowl (admittedly a very forgettable game) and several other games with my aunt Marilyn and my cousin Becky.  Even having family members who cheered for the University of Utah added to the experience for me because it always included a little bit of light hearted ribbing, a few moments of shame and humiliation, lots of laughs, and plenty of happy memories.  During college, Rob and I went to countless games with roommates and friends.  The games became a place where in between all the yelling and screaming, I formed close relationships and had memorable experiences that shaped my life.

Now that I'm in Texas, I still watch the games.  I can't help myself and can't even turn it off when it gets ugly.  But it isn't the same as the last five years watching the games without Dad and Rob.  I don't find it nearly as fulfilling when we win because it isn't like being there with my family.  As much as I love the game, for me it has always been more than just a game.  :)

Brett

Plain and Precious Truths

My Niece Maurine

Today I taught my first class as the Gospel Essentials teacher in my ward.  The class was on baptism, and we were blessed to have a range of long time members, brand new members, and one investigator in the room.  The class seemed to go really well, but I am realizing that this class presents a whole new challenge for me as a teacher:  Plainness and Simplicity.  I try to be plain and simple whenever I teach, but admittedly I am rarely successful at that task.  I'm not very good at following manuals and it has been several years since I have really had to boil the principles of the gospel down to the plain and simple truths that children, new members, and investigators need in order to grasp the gospel.

More and more, I am learning that I should take my cues from my three-(soon to be four)-year-old niece Maurine (Mauri for short).  While I was talking to my sister Stephanie the other day, she told me that Mauri had gotten on the phone just long enough to say hello and to say that she (Mauri) was a child of God.  While Mauri may not understand everything she needs to know yet, she has grasped one of the most basic and fundamental truths of eternity: that she is a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves her and she loves Him.  And that truth defines her.

The gospel certainly goes deeper than the so-called Sunday School answers.  And sometimes we throw those answers out too flippantly and with too little consideration and pondering.  But there is great value in remembering "the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb" (1 Nephi 13:34).  In a world that tries to complicate everything and that encourages us to be impressed with our own intelligence and wit, there is value in remembering that the gospel of Jesus Christ is most powerful when it is taught in purity, simplicity, and plainness.  At some point I expect to learn that at the age of three Mauri actually understood the gospel far more deeply than did I, and the simplicity with which she taught it was the way it is actually the way it is supposed to be taught.

Brett

Learning to Discern the Spirit of the Lord

Spencer W. Kimball, October 1982 General Conference

This morning as I studied my scriptures, I came was impressed by some lessons about the idea of revelation that--while perhaps not ground shaking to anyone else--moved me deeply.  After beginning my study in Mosiah 4:2-3, I felt impressed to take a look back at an old talk of President Hinckley's entitled Priesthood Restoration, given at a devotional on May 15, 1988.  In this talk, President Hinckley recounted the following:

"I was not present when John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood.  I was not present when Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood.  But I was present and was a participant and a witness to what occurred on Thursday, June 1, 1978.  My memory is clear concerning the events of that day. . . . The question of extending the blessings of the priesthood to blacks had been on the minds of many of the Brethren over a period of years.  It had repeatedly been brought up by Presidents of the Church.  It had become a matter of particular concern to President Spencer W. Kimball.  Over a considerable period of time he had prayed concerning this serious and difficult question.  He had spent many hours in that upper room in the temple by himself in prayer and meditation.  On this occasion he raised the question before his Brethren--his Counselors and the Apostles.  Following this discussion we joined in prayer in the most sacred of circumstances.  President Kimball himself was voice in that prayer.  I do not recall the exact words that he spoke.  But I do recall my own feelings and the nature of the expressions of my Brethren.  There was a hallowed and sanctified atmosphere in the room.  For me it felt as if a conduit opened between the heavenly throne and the kneeling, pleading prophet of God who was joined by his Brethren.  The Spirit of God was there.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost there came to that prophet an assurance that the thing for which he prayed was right, that the time had come, and that now the wondrous blessings of the priesthood should be extended to worthy men everywhere regardless of lineage.  Every man in that circle, by the power of the Holy Ghost, knew the same thing.  It was a quiet and sublime occasion. . . . No voice audible to our physical ears was heard.  But the voice of the Spirit whispered with certainty into our minds and our very souls.  It was for us, at least for me personally, as I imagine it was with Enos, who said concerning his remarkable experience, 'And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold the voice of the Lord came into my mind' (Enos 1:10).  So it was on that memorable June 1, 1978.  We left that meeting subdued and reverent and joyful.  Not one of us who was present on that occasion was ever quite the same after that."

Certainly this is the most remarkable and dramatic revelation of our generation.  In addition to--and perhaps more important than--providing the priesthood to worthy males of all races and nationalities, this revelation opened up the doors and saving ordinances of the temple to men and women from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.  We cannot overstate the importance of that June day in 1978.  But beyond the deep and eternal significance of the message, there is an important example of the revelatory process.

President Kimball, and the other Prophets before him, had been pondering and praying about this matter for years--an important, if perhaps somewhat unnerving reminder about the danger of always expecting immediate answers to our prayers.  Further, President Kimball had counseled with his Brethren of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, doing as much work as he could possibly do to prepare their minds and hearts to be open to the will of the Lord.  President Kimball stated that he "knew that we could receive the revelations of the Lord only by being worthy and ready for them and ready to accept them and put them into place."  Having done as much as he could do, President Kimball pled with the Lord, expressing that he "'want[ed] only what is right,'" and "'want[ed] it when [He] want[ed] it and not until'" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 450-51).  And the revelation came.  It was dramatic, moving, memorable, and life-altering.  But as much as it was all these, it was also quiet, reverent, and solemn.  All thirteen men in attendance (two members of the Twelve were unable to attend that day) felt the quiet whisper of the Holy Ghost and recognized it for what it was and Who it was that spoke to them.  And they walked away changed men because of that experience.

As I read this account, I was moved by the way in which all those present were able to recognize and accept the promptings and confirmations that came to them.  Perhaps it is just me, but I find it so easy to miss those promptings, to rationalize them away, and thus fail to act upon them.  But at the same time, I took courage in reading President Hinckley's account, because I saw that the promptings were of the same kind and variety that I have experienced before.  As President Hinckley describes it, there were no angelic visitors, no miraculous displays of power, just the moving and transformative presence of the Holy Ghost (which is more powerful than both angels and miraculous displays of power).  Somehow I felt more confident in realizing that the Lord gave such an eternally important revelation to His Prophets, Seers, and Revelators in the same way that He speaks to me.  True, I have ignored and missed such moments of inspiration from time to time, but I have had them and the opportunities to recognize the voice of the Spirit were there.

As the Prophet Joseph advised Brigham Young in a dream on February 17, 1847, if we will be "humble and faithful and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord," revelations will come to us and will "lead [us] right."  Gratefully, we "can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other Spirits" because "it will whisper peace and joy to [our] souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife, and all evil from [our] hearts and [our] whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness and build up the Kingdom of God."  Following that Spirit, we "will go right" (Brigham Young, handwritten account of vision, 17 February 1847, Brigham Young Papers, LDS Church Archives).  What a privilege it is to think that we can qualify to hear and follow the Voice of the Lord the same way that Prophets do!

Brett

"Master the Tempest is Raging"

You always know you are in for a busy and challenging semester when your first post after the start of school is entitled "Master the Tempest is Raging."  All jokes aside, I am excited about my courses this semester.  Each of my courses will be both intellectually challenging and rewarding, and by the end of this semester, I will only have three more courses that I will take for the rest of my life.  After a solid decade worth of college classes, that is hard to imagine.  Perhaps in five or ten years, I'll even tell you that I miss the opportunity to take classes (though I doubt I'll ever miss the accompanying deadlines and subsequent headaches).

"Storm on the Sea of Galilee" by Rembrandt, 1633.

It is specifically those headaches and stressful situations that I want to write about today.  For the past week or so, I have been thinking about President Howard W. Hunter's masterful talk, "Master the Tempest is Raging", given in the October 1984 general conference, and the accompanying story of the Savior calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee.  I have heard this story all of my life and never cease to be amazed by the power of the Savior manifest within it.  But in many ways I feel like we too often neglect the corresponding story of the disciples on the water--a story that we generally have much more in common with.

Matthew's recounting of the story is simple.  "And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.  And his disciples came to him, and awoke him saying, Lord, save us: we perish.  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?  Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.  But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" (Matthew 8:23-27)  From this account, we can, if we are not careful, get the wrong impression of the disciples.  We can see them as fearful and faithless men who were frightened by a minor upheaval.  And in the grand scheme of things, and in comparison with the many storms that have taken place in this world, this was probably just a minor upheaval.  Others had been through and would go through worse and more dangerous storms.  But Mark's account adds a few important details about the storm itself, that can perhaps mellow some of our feelings about the way that the disciples handled this particular storm.

He wrote, "There arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (Mark 4:37-39).  While bigger storms have certainly blown, this was no minor squall for the disciples.  The boat was filling with water, the waves were high, and survival if the boat sank was anything but certain.  Further, it is important to remember that there were, on board that boat, at least three experienced fishermen who knew those waters and who knew those storms.  Indeed, the Savior appears to have turned the conveyance of the party completely over to the skilled hands of either Peter, James, or John, and then retired to gain some much needed rest.

And here is one of the points that impresses me:  The Savior, He who did all things perfectly, had placed complete trust in one (or more) of those men to guide the ship and to get the disciples safely to shore.  The Savior knew all things.  He was likely laid down his head on that pillow, knowing that a storm would arise, water would begin to fill the boat, and serious dangers would arise.  Yet He trusted the abilities of his able fishermen to handle the boat.  Perhaps at least one reason for his seemingly harsh rebuke, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" was because they had not trusted enough in their own abilities to handle the crisis.  I cannot fault the disciples for being scared--I would have been among the most fearful.  I cannot fault the disciples for turning immediately to the Lord for help, and even wondering why He had not been more immediate in His display of power--I likely would have been the first one asking these questions.  But I can fault myself for the times in which I fail to utilize all of the strength, abilities, and understanding that God has given me to fight my way through my own storms.

While our ultimate faith and hope is in Christ only, I believe there is a sense in which we are supposed to have faith in ourselves and our ability to survive life's storms with faith in Christ and a bucket to bail out the water that begins to pour over the bow.  The Savior slept comfortably, trusting in the abilities of those whom He had placed at the helm, and so must we, including and perhaps especially when it is we who stand at the helm of the boat!  If the Savior Himself has such confidence in us, ought we not have confidence (not arrogance) in ourselves?  Then, when we have done all within our ability and the storm still threatens to sink the boat, we can approach the throne of grace "with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed" (D&C 123:17).

Brett

Welcome Back

I apologize for the long hiatus that I took from this blog over the summer.  Rather than writing blog entries in the solitude of Texas, I spent my Sunday afternoons in Utah spending time with Julianne.  While I may have driven away my entire readership for the blog, I consider it to have been a sacrifice well worth making.  Besides, who is to say that I didn't drive away my readership before I went home for summer.  For those of you still seeing if I write something from time to time, welcome back.

Today was my first Sunday back and we had stake conference, which was wonderful.  Our Stake President talked about happiness and reminded us that happiness is a choice that we can make, and often times it depends on our perspective and the attitude that we are choosing to live with.  This was an important message for me.  Coming back to Texas was far from easy, and the first several days have been very lonely to say the least.  After an entire summer at home spending time with Julianne and my family, it was a real challenge to return to Texas where books and book reviews serve as my most constant companions.  Very few people love books and a well-stocked home library more than myself, but given the choice between spending time with Julianne or reading a book, the book will lose every single time.  So, needless to say, the first week back in Texas has been difficult and I haven't had the best attitude about things.

And this is where I found my Stake President's talk to be so needed.  I was choosing to focus on what I didn't have, rather than the many wonderful blessings I have been given.  So in hopes of changing my attitude today, I just wanted to mention some of these blessings.

1)  While listening to Elder Holland's talk The Laborers in the Vineyard today, I at first focused on the fact that I knew what it was like to be among those who "always saw someone else chosen."  Each of us, I suppose, has moments in our life when we know what that feels like.  But as I pondered the talk in connection with what my Stake President had taught, I was drawn back to a line in my patriarchal blessing, which reminded me that "It was not necessary for [me] to search for the truth as others have had to do," but I was "blessed to come to a gospel centered home where [I] was taught the gospel in [my] youth."  In terms of the gospel, I have been among the first laborers chosen almost my entire life, and have never had to know the worry of living without the fulness of the gospel truth.  If, for a moment or in a small area, I have had experiences where I have seen "someone else chosen," it was a rare and needed experience, and it was certainly my turn to have such experiences.  And so, first and foremost, I have been blessed with the most marvelous message this world has ever known, and the only true key to lasting joy.

2)  Along with the blessing of the gospel, I have been blessed with an extraordinary family.  While my family is far from perfect, the more I have experienced in this world, the more convinced I have become that I won some sort of pre-mortal lottery in being blessed with them.  My parents are among the kindest and most generous people I know, ever willing to open their homes and hearts to those in need--especially to their children.  And my siblings (and their spouses) are among the finest people I have ever met.  If it is hard for me to leave home, it is only because I have such a good one to leave.

3)  This summer was the most enjoyable and happy one I can ever remember.  The time I spent with Julianne convinced me all the more of her goodness and of just how lucky I am to be dating her.  Walks at the duck pond, Sunday afternoons looking up recipes to test, Friday nights watching White Collar with Julianne at her sister Rebecca's house, and the numerous other things we did together all combined to make for a very happy and satisfying summer.  During my last week in Utah, Julianne did so much for me that I almost felt guilty because she is so very good to me.  Again, if it was hard for me to leave Utah, it was only because I had it so good there.

4) Finally, from time to time, I forget just how great a blessing I have been given.  Graduate school is certainly stressful, and sometimes it feels more like a burden than a blessing, but then I take a second to consider my good friend Nefi Ccuno in Peru, who is one of the brightest people I have ever met and who would give anything to be where I am right now, and I wonder how I could be so ungrateful for such a grand blessing.

I could go on.  But I believe my Stake President was right.  Sometimes the real issue is whether or not we will let go of our pity parties lone enough to see how truly blessed we really are.

Brett