Hey
everyone, this week flew by. We had our Luau that we've been planning for
forever! It was pretty fun, most of the pictures are from that. I'm basically a
pro at doing the Haka now, so if anyone wants to learn it I'll teach you when I
get back. :) Sorry this is short, I'll write a better one next week. :/ These
short emails aren't very interesting, are they? Any suggestions on what would
make them more interesting? I can tell you what I eat every day if you
want.....here's a short quote in the place of my typical....spiritual thought.
"Agency
in its fullest sense requires the individual to be in command of himself, for
one who is a prisoner of his bad impulses cannot really choose; another truth
about "things as they are," therefore, is that we either control our
bad impulses or they control us."
-Neal
A. Maxwell
Pictures:
Helping the ward with Luau
Participating in Haku (a hawaiian dance) for the Luau
Answering questions about missionary work by some youth in the ward
very fancy car...again, again and again
Here's
thought for the week! Or rather some thoughts for the next few weeks.
It's an email i wrote to Michele to answer some of her questions. And I thought
it was rather well put together, so maybe you guys can use it somehow, or share
it with the missionaries in the Ward at home or something!
Love,
Hunter
Alright, this is going to be kinda
lengthy, but it has to be in order to give satisfactory explanations. I'm going
to be using both biblical, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants passages,
as well as quotes from Prophets and Apostles and my own words to build a
framework that will address and hopefully provide adequate explanations for the
things you have brought up. Some scriptures might be used more than once. To
review the things I am addressing, in the order I'm going to address them
in.....
1. The very organized, rigid structure of the Church. Does the structure and
similarity of the church 'hierarchy' to man made governance mean that it is not
Divinely inspired, and directed?
2. The 'Line of Authority.' Is it really necessary to have 'Authority' passed
down? Or does it become a 'cultural' thing?
3. Scripted teaching. Why is there a 'syllabus' in the church? Does the fact
that there is a structure to what is taught in the church mean that what is
taught is not true? Does it mean that truths as being kept back, or that
opinions and deals are not allowed to be expressed?
4. To much focus on ceremony. What
is the purpose of ceremonies? Does the fact that there is an emphasis on
'ceremonies' (these are more commonly referred to as ordinances) mean that the
practice of them is wrong?
Please review this carefully and
prayerfully. The Lord wants to teach you, and you will get so much more from
Him than from me.
The structure
of the church. The answer to why the church is so structuralized is found in
the New Testament. The Church we have now is, we claim, the same church Christ
established during His earthly ministry. SO, we must first establish whether or
not Christ did in fact establish a church, and if He did, why he established a
church.
Ephesians 4:3-4 says, "There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism." The 'one body' is the church. There is
one Lord that salvation comes through. There is one way to show faith in Him (ex.
You cannot show your faith by doing the hula every morning). And there is only
one kind of baptism that flies with God.
Matthew 16:18 says, "And I say also
unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 'This
rock' is referencing revelation, the means by which Peter knew that, "Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." So Christ stated that he would
build HIS church, and REVELATION would be the the rock on which it is built.
Luke 6:12-13 states,
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to
pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called
unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named
apostles." This story is repeated throughout the gospels of the New
Testament. After he called them as His Apostles he, "called his twelve
disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to
cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the
sick." (Luke 9:1-2) Christ called them as His apostles, or special
witnesses, because that was the way he wanted His church to be run. Ephesians 2:19-21 says, "Now therefore ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and
of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom
ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
Christ wanted His church to be built on the foundation of Prophets and
Apostles. This is why after the death of an apostle another was called (Acts
1:21-26), why Christ did the same thing in the Americas (3 Nephi 11:21-22), and how Christ directed the
church THROUGH REVELATION (Acts 10:9-28, in which the Lord revealed to Peter
(the prophet) that the gospel was to be taken to the Gentiles as well. There
was a predominant disgust by the Jews for people not part of 'the covenant.')
The following scriptures are a
just some others that refer to the church as an actual organization.
Ephesians 5:23, Acts 8:1,3, Acts 12:5
For further study, here is a list
of a few examples of structure in the church.
1. Paul ordains others (Acts 14:23), and baptized others (Acts16:5,
31-33) after being commissioned/set apart as a missionary by church authorities
in Antioch (Acts 13:1-3).
2. Paul re-baptized converts that
had been baptized by someone without the proper authority (Acts 19:1-6), and
who hadn't been given the gift of the Holy Ghost after being baptized like they
were supposed to.
3. Luke 10:1 Jesus ordained
special missionaries called seventies to go preach and look after the church.
We have seventies today.
4. Church must bear Christ's name.
3 Nephi 27:1-8.
Now that I've established that
Christ DID establish his own church with a unique organization, we must discuss
and decide WHY did Christ establish his own Church?
"The absence of authority is
not freedom; nothing is more controlling than anarchy--in the home or on the
streets."
-Neal A. Maxwell
“People are not better off when
they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want. They’re better
off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal
choice--commitments to family, God, craft and country.”
-David Brooks, New York
Times Columnist
Ephesians 4:11-14 says, "And he gave
some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive;"
Christ ordained apostles,
prophets, etc., for....1. Perfecting the saints. How are the saints to become
perfect? By obeying the laws and ordinances of the gospel. How are the
ordinances to be properly carried out except by someone who has the proper authority?
2. Work of the ministry. Missionary work. 3. Edifying of the body (church) of
Christ. Teaching the gospel to the saints (General Conference!) 4. So we would
not be carried about by 'every wind of doctrine'. (I will discuss this more
when I address 'scripted teaching.') 5. We will have this structure until we
all come in a unity of the faith. That's open to interpretation as to exactly
when that will be......during the millennium, after we're all dead.....but it
sure isn't now!
"Latter Day Saints are part
of an authoritarian organization in an age when authority, especially in
religion, is an unpopular concept and when many people are reluctant to assume
authority. It would be easier to go along with a de-emphasis on authority, but
a divine Church cannot risk popularity at any price; neither can its members,
individually."
-Neal A. Maxwell
Now to discuss
the 'line of authority'. Exodus 40:13-15 says, "And thou shalt put upon
Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister
unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them
with coats: And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that
they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall
surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations." Here,
the Lord is commanding Moses to give Aaron authority to administer in the
office of a priest under the Mosaic Law. This mainly had to do with performing
sacrifices on the behalf of everyone and their dog for what they did wrong.
Hebrews 5:4-5 states, "And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he
that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be
made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I
begotten thee." No one can take the honor of administering the ordinances
of the Gospel unless they are called by God to do so. Maybe someone has an
inclination or feeling that they should teach, or baptize, but they must be
ordained by the Lords constituted authorities in order to do that because,
"Mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of
confusion." (D&C 132:8) Even Christ, as shown in Hebrews 5 did not
simply start preaching the gospel. He was first 'ordained of God.' Acts 13:1-3
is a good example of the process. (Quick rewind to Acts 8:12-20where Christ appeared to Paul on
the road to Damascus. This didn't mean Paul could go around teaching the
gospel. He first had to get baptized by someone that had the authority to
baptize him--Ananias. )"Now there were in the church that was at Antioch
certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger,
and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the
tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost
said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent
them away." Barnabas and Saul felt the Holy Ghost testify to them that
they should go and serve missions. I'm going to embellish the story a little
the way I see it happening. After Barnabas and Paul/Saul felt like they should
serve a mission, they all took time to fast and pray. Inquiring of the Lord
whether or not they should indeed be missionaries. After receiving an
affirmative answer, they were set apart by the proper authority. D&C 5:16-17 is a good example of this
process being followed during the Restoration. "And behold, whosoever
believeth on my words, them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit;
and they shall be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit--And you must
wait yet a little while, for ye are not yet ordained--" In this revelation
to Joseph Smith, the Lord says that those who believe on His words, after
receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost that they are true, are to be baptized. Then he says 'But you need to wait!! Because you have not been given the
authority to do that yet.' The authority to baptize was restored by John the
Baptist about two months later. D&C 13 "Upon you my fellow servants,
in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys
of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism
by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again
from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord
in righteousness." The authority to baptize was restored. In due time, the
'greater priesthood' was restored by Peter, James, and John. The Keys of the
Kingdom were given to Joseph Smith and other important Priesthood keys necessary
for the performing of ordinances of salvation were restored by Moses, Elias,
and Elijah in the Kirtland Temple. Yes, Priesthood authority is passed down.
But it is less of a generational passing down of a figurative or fictional
authority than it is of a receiving of authority by younger people from those
who have the authority. In some instances with few people, it does become a
tradition. It is not. D&C 121:36-37 says, "That the rights of the
priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the
powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of
righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we
undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to
exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of
men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves;
the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the
priesthood or the authority of that man."
“When an individual is ordained
and appointed to lead the people, he has passed through tribulations and
trials, and has proven himself before God, and before His people, that he is
worthy of the situation which he holds. … that when a person has not been
tried, that has not proved himself before God, and before His people, and
before the councils of the Most High, to be worthy, he is not going to step in
and lead the Church and people of God. It has never been so, but from the
beginning some one that understands the Spirit and counsel of the Almighty,
that knows the Church, and is known of her, is the character that will lead the
Church."
-Orson Hyde
To shed a small ray of light on
this, here is an analogy. This is not a literal analogy, but authority isn't
just a stick that's passed down. It's Thor's hammer, and only someone that is
worthy can use it. Which leads quite well into scripted teaching!
Scripted
Teaching. Matthew 7:28-29....."And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them
as one having authority, and not as the scribes." What made it so that
Jesus taught with authority, and by inference, the scribes did not? Matthew
15:7-9 answers that for us. "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of
you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth
me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." The Sadducees and
Pharisees and scribes were all hypocrites. They taught the letter of the law
and did not live the law themselves. They twisted the law to suit themselves.
They had no authority because they held their positions as a way to maintain
and gain power and influence. They didn't even believe the scriptures that they
claimed to teach! (John 5:43-47 "I am come in my Father’s name, and ye
receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How
can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour
that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father:
there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye
believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?")This is the most
important thing to have established about teaching. Teaching with POWER and
AUTHORITY is the key to teaching effectively. Mosiah 18:18-20 says, "And it came to
pass that Alma, having authority from God, ordained priests; even one priest to
every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to teach
them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And he commanded
them that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had
taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets. Yea, even
he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and
faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people." How do we know what we
should teach first of all? We should probably teach 1. The things Christ
taught, 2. The things his prophets and apostles taught from the Bible, 3. The
things His prophets from the Book of Mormon taught, and 4. Things that modern
day prophets and Apostles have taught. Nothing is taught unless it is is taught
by God or His servants and, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of
my servants it is the same." Your concerns over scripted teaching and the
church having to much of a 'human' influence are contradictory in this way. If
we were to have a completely open base of doctrines, so that any opinion or
thought expressed was valid or true, that would be the epitome of non-divine
leadership. Yes, opinions are allowed to be expressed and discussed. Some
are correct. Some are wrong. God's gospel does not change. That is why we have
apostles and prophets (Ephesians 4:14),
and why we only teach the Doctrines we know about. So that we are not
"tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine." The
"sleights of men" are when men start "preaching for doctrines
the commandments of men," or in other words, teaching their opinion as God
given Doctrine. That's why the Lord has instructed in D&C43:15-16,
"Again I say, hearken ye elders of my church, whom I have appointed: Ye
are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach the children of men the things
which I have put into your hands BY THE POWER OF MY SPIRIT; And ye are to be
taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power,
that ye may give even as I have spoken." Anyone teaching the Gospel of
Jesus Christ must do it by the Power of His Spirit. If you were to compare the
four Gospels of the New Testament to 3 Nephi 12-29, you would find that Christ
taught the same things to the Nephites and Lamanites as He did to the Jews at
Jerusalem. Being taught and re-taught the same principles is how we learn them.
Whenever something is taught in the church, the lesson or talk is based on a
principle or doctrine of the Gospel, and the teacher spends time preparing a
lesson or talk, praying for the guidance of the Spirit, which is, as I
established earlier, the most important thing to have in teaching is the
Spirit. The spirit guides us into "all truth." Someone can be taught
the same lesson a thousand times and still learn something new every time it is
taught.
A focus on
ordinances. Numbers 9:2-4 says, "Let the children of Israel also keep the
passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even,
ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and
according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it. And Moses spake unto
the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover." The Passover
was a ceremony that the Lord instituted among the Israelites as part of the
Mosaic law. Why did He Institute it? So they would remember the hand of the
Lord in bringing them out of Egypt where they were enslaved. Christ himself
kept the Passover because it was of such importance. It wasn't until the end of
Christ's mortal ministry that the law (which was given to help the children of
Israel look forward to the coming of the Messiah (see reference to John 5:43-47
again)) was fulfilled, and the new law (given to help the Saints REMEMBER
Christ) was given. This is why he instituted the sacrament. Luke 22:19-20 "And he took bread,
and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body
which is given for you: THIS DO in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup
after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed
for you." After Christ had departed, the saints continued to practice the
ordinance if partaking of the sacrament as shown in Acts 20:7....And upon the
first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech
until midnight. The reason this ordinance and all other ordinances are observed
so strictly, is because the Lord said it. Specifically regarding temples. First
of all, one of the specific things people can be excommunicated from the church
for, is sneaking recording devices into the temple and filming the sacred
covenants we make with God, which we call our endowment, and make with God for
people that have died, giving them the opportunity to accept that in heaven as
having been done for them on earth. God will not be mocked, and that is what
those people are doing. When they are mocking sacred things, they are
attempting to mock God. There is not nearly an over-emphasis on temples, the
things done in them, or anything that has to do with them. If anything, there
is a gross relaxed and non-caring attitude about temples. The purpose of having
temples is to make salvation possible for the dead. To sum up the purpose of
temples...."The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He
could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His kingdom, and teach the
people the way of salvation; for there are certain ordinances and principles
that, when they are taught and practiced, must be done in a place or house
built for that purpose."
-Prophet Joseph Smith
To conclude all of this. Why does
any of it even matter? The Gospel makes sense. In the words of Elder Matthew
Cowley, a deceased member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "The
gospel of Jesus Christ is simply beautiful and beautifully simple."
Understanding comes with time sometimes. Perhaps not everything will be
understood in mortality, but personally, it is enough for me to know that is
what the Lord said." I don't understand everything. I can't explain everything
perfectly. That is why we ask you to focus so much on the Book of Mormon. Here
are some facts surrounding the existence of the Book of Mormon I'd like you to
consider as you continue to study it.
1. Joseph Smith was 22 when he
started translating the plates. It took 21 months from the time he started to
the time he finished to complete it. And he only spent 80 days of those 21
months actually translating.
2. He had only a 3rd grade
education, and did no research before beginning.
3. He 'wrote a book' with 239
chapters. 54 about wars, 21 about history, 55 about prophecy, 71 about
doctrine, 17 about missionaries, and 21 about the mission of Jesus Christ.
4. He 'wrote' about an ancient
country covering a period of time from 600 B.C. To 421 A.D., including in it a
history of two separate and distinct nations that no one ever knew existed. (1.
Nephites and Lamanites 2. Jaredites)
5. His book had to describe the
religious, economic, social, and political culture and institutions of these
two nations.
6. When starting translation after
pauses, he never asked to have the last sentence or paragraph read back to him.
7. The first edition of the Book
of Mormon must stand forever.
8. The record he translated
contained facts unknown to the rest of the world about the nations described,
but over the next 150 years, scientific discoveries have proved these facts to
be true.
These are just a few of the
miraculous phenomena surrounding the publication of the Book of Mormon. It's
been on trial for nearly 200 years and has withstood careful scrutinization by
some of the greatest minds in the world. If Joseph Smith was not the prophet
called by God to restore His church in the Latter Days, then how did he
accomplish all that he did? He was not perfect. To say he or anyone but Christ
was would be blasphemous. "God
does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability,
and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability."
-Elder
Neal A. Maxwell
Joseph
Smith was and is a prophet of God. God will never let His prophet lead the
Saints the wrong way. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God's
kingdom on Earth, in a very literal sense. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Week
four of the transfer is always the longest. But this one went really fast! On
Tuesday it rained! Whoopee! It never rains here. We also took that day to
explore our area a bit more. In driving around we found a really cool nature
park down one of the canyons! We took pictures with a grizzly bear and gave
them our phone number in case they ever needed help with stuff, and then
continued exploring. We found some really cool places that we wanted to go back
to and knock on some doors. Wednesday night, I was looking at the map of our
area again along with my map on my iPad, and I realized we had spent a couple
hours exploring the Irvine Mission! Not our mission. So that was really awkward
and disappointing. Then on Thursday we went on exchanges. They lasted a little
longer than usual, but they went really well. We inspected a few apartments.
For some reason it all just went super fast. Time just disappears. We got to go
to the temple this week because there was a temple tour and we had some people
coming that we were teaching! Then they didn't show up, so we were just kind of
there. So that's what the one picture is of! 
Here
is something I found recently that I'd like to share with y'all.
As
much as we dislike them, trials are part of life. God doesn't always
necessarily give us trials as much as he allows us to have trials. I can't
imagine that a God that loves us would take away from us opportunities that
allow us to grow and become something more than we are. Sometimes we feel like
what we are going through is unfair. Sometimes it seems like what other people
are going through is unfair. Fortunately,
God loves us enough to allow us to struggle. I'm so grateful to have a perfect
Father in Heaven that knows what is best for me. In the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
2-3 Me and a grizzly.
