Category Archives: LDS Church

Oct 28

The Necessity of Prophets and Apostles

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CNN has an article about “family values in the Bible” written by Michael Coogan, a professor of religious studies at Stonehill College. I obviously do not agree with all the writer is stating but he makes a strong argument for the necessity of modern prophets without intending to.

For example, he writes:

“In current debates about family values, most of which have to do with sex, opponents of abortion and advocates of a woman’s right to choose both cite the Bible in support of their conflicting views, even though the Bible in fact says nothing specifically about the issue. And with regard to same-sex marriage, although the few biblical writers who mention same-sex relationships, especially between men, were unequivocally opposed to them, many contemporary believers would argue that, as with slavery and the status of women, it is time to recognize that the values of the biblical writers are no longer necessarily our own.”

So who gets to decide what is okay to accept and okay to reject from the Bible? A committee of scholars? Are we too advanced for prophets in our modern society? I know that’s not how things worked in the Bible. If I recall correctly, there seemed to be some prophets who spoke God’s words and commands – men like Moses, Abraham, Elijah, Peter, and Paul.

The author goes on to slyly argue against calling homosexual behavior sinful by making false appeals to other portions of the Mosaic Law that we do not follow today:

“Opponents of same-sex marriage cite Leviticus, which says that when a man sleeps with a man as with a woman it is an abomination. They’re right: It does say that. But it later calls for the death penalty for such activity, which only the most rabid opponents would insist on. The Bible also calls eating pork and a woman wearing a man’s clothes abominations, yet many would no longer enforce such prohibitions.”

That’s written as if the matter is settled. That’s a little bit like arguing that it is okay to murder because we (used proverbially as meaning the House of Israel in Biblical times) also used to perform blood sacrifices and we don’t do that any more. The author is making doctrinal decisions based on worldly acceptance. Besides, he conveniently ignores that New Testament writers also preached against homosexual behaviors. I know there are revisionist theologians who reinterpret and seek to re-write the scriptures to fit their own beliefs but they are like historians re-writing American history books to state that the Confederacy won the Civil War. Those who were there might have an issue with that position. Again, wouldn’t it be great if we had someone who could authoritatively speak God’s will just like in Biblical times?

The wonderful thing is that we do! Since 1820 we have had a prophet of the Lord on the earth just like in olden days. Today the Lord’s prophet is Thomas S. Monson. Further, we also have apostles who are called of God. You can read and watch some of what prophets and apostles are doing here. Prophets speak God’s word, which renders articles like the one I linked to for the most part moot.

Oct 24

Busy Mormons

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To some people who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the fact that Mormons attend church for 3 hours each Sunday is overwhelming. At the risk of making things even more overwhelming, I’m going to answer the following question: Do Mormons really spend 3 hours per week in church? For many church members that is the case. However, others, especially those called into leadership positions, spend much more time. This is because the LDS Church is largely a lay church – it is run by normal people, those of the congregations, who are called to fill and serve in different capacities. Some of these jobs range from ward librarian to building facility manager to choir director to bishop to stake president and so forth. As members of the LDS Church we receive callings and then serve where we are called. Some callings take little time, others take considerable amounts time. So what do these time requirements look like?

Here’s a fairly typical schedule for someone like myself who serves as the Young Men’s President (which means that I help the bishop of our ward in working with the boys between the ages of 12 and 18):

  1. Pre-church meeting for 45 minutes.
  2. Short break (spent coordinating activities or getting things ready for church meetings) until Sacrament Meeting.
  3. Sacrament Meeting – 1 hour 10 minutes.
  4. Time to get to class.
  5. Sunday School – 45 minutes.
  6. Time to get to class.
  7. Priesthood and Relief Society Meetings – 50 minutes.
  8. Brief clean up of rooms and building after church.
  9. Home from church after spending about 5 hours there.
  10. Wednesday night youth activities – 1 to 2 hours.
  11. Preparation of lesson for Sunday – minutes to hours, depending on the lesson.

Then there are other church responsibilities – home teaching, presidency meetings, temple trips, monthly youth meetings, and so forth. We’ll have youth dances and other youth activities. There might be camping involved too. My church responsibilities require more time than some other people’s and much less than others’. Twice a year we have General Conference instead of our normal church meetings. That is up to 10 hours of meetings over two days. We also have Stake Conference, which can be 6 hours of meetings over two days.

Being a fully invested member of the LDS Church requires dedication and consecration. Most of us are more than happy to dedicate so much time to what we believe in so strongly. We have faith in the Savior Jesus Christ and His church; we love Him and want to serve Him by serving others. Further, we make covenants with the Lord at baptism, when males receive the Priesthood, when we partake of the Sacrament, and when we receive our temple endowment. We covenant with God that we will consecrate all we have unto Him. That includes our time.

Church responsibilities are never a burden (although I know some do feel that they are). That does not mean that spending the time requires no sacrifice, but our burdens are made light through the Savior.

So do Mormons attend a lot of church? Yes, we do but we are building the Lord’s kingdom here upon the earth and it requires a lot of work. His work will not do itself, we need to be actively engaged in it. We as church members can be as involved as we want to be but we should recognize that God and family come first. While we should not neglect our families in the name of service to God, neither should we neglect our service to God because we might feel inconvenienced. The work of God will go forth boldly as we are bold in our efforts. Three hours of church a week often is not enough. We do not get paid for our efforts but we serve because we love – the Lord and those around us. Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn’t a Sunday thing, it’s a Sunday through Saturday thing. It’s who we are. It’s part of our lives. Again, we feel this way – at least I do – because of my love for the Savior and my faith in Him and His gospel, which include His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oct 18

Chart of LDS General Authorities

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put together a website with photos and links to biographies of the current General Authorities of the Church. One thing that is interesting is the small size of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. It’s been smaller than the First Quorum for as long as I can remember but the size difference is striking. One reason for the difference – I believe – is the localizing nature of the Church. What I mean by that is that with the formation of additional quorums of (area) Seventies – there are 8 in total – there is not as strong a need for such a centralized church. All authority goes back to the General Authorities but with the growth of the Church, there is greater need for stronger, more local leadership. Many of those who serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy are called to serve in various parts of the world to direct the church there, but their primary calling is to provide general (global) leadership over the Church; others are called to provide more local and specific leadership.

In any case, that website is a great source of information about the leaders of the Church.

Oct 13

Pres. Packer’s Conference Address – Misconstrued by LGBT Groups

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At General Conference Pres. Packer gave an excellent talk about repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Pres. Packer talked about how faith, repentance, and the Priesthood can help overcome temptations and sin.

At one point in his talk Pres. Packer said the following (what he said in Conference appears italicized and bolded, what was published as the official text is in brackets). I’ll quote at length because context is important:

“We teach a standard of moral conduct that will protect us from Satan’s many substitutes or counterfeits for marriage. We must understand that any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. From the Book of Mormon we learn that ‘wickedness never was happiness.’ Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies [changed to temptations in the printed version] toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember, He is our Father. [Changed to "Remember, God is our Heavenly Father."]

“Paul promised that ‘God . . . will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ You can, if you will, break the habits and conquer an addiction and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must ‘watch and pray continually.’ Isaiah warned, ‘Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!’

“Years ago I visited a school in Albuquerque. The teacher told me about a youngster who brought a kitten to class. As you can imagine, that disrupted everything. She had him hold the kitten up in front of the children. It went well until one of the children asked, ‘Is it a boy kitty or a girl kitty?’ Not wanting to get into that lesson, the teacher said, ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s just a kitty.’ But they persisted. Finally, one boy raised his hand and said, ‘I know how you can tell.’ Resigned to face it, the teacher said, ‘How can you tell?’ And the student answered, ‘You can vote on it!’

“You may laugh at this story, but if we are not alert, there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature. A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance, what good would a vote against the law of gravity do? There are both moral and physical laws ‘irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world’ that cannot be changed. History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

“Regardless of the opposition, we are determined to stay on course. We will hold to the principles and laws and ordinances of the gospel. If they are misunderstood either innocently or willfully, so be it. We cannot change; we will not change the moral standard. We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish.” (Source: links to watch or listen to the {unedited} talk are on the right side of the page).

Following his talk, some within the gay community took issue with his words and called them hateful (see this article, for example). Others heard in his words a call to violence against gays. There is no violence or hate in Pres. Packer’s words or intent. You cannot take the 15 words he said out of the context of the entire talk (which is 2422 words long – so, people are getting upset over 0.62% of his talk! I know the issue is not that simple but critics are quite myopic about his talk). If you want to know what the real message and tone of his talk, read the following selection from his talk:

“President Joseph Fielding Smith told me of a repentant woman struggling to find her way out of a very immoral life. She asked him what she should do now. In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Lot’s wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt. Then he asked her, ‘What lesson do you gain from those verses?’ She answered, ‘The Lord will destroy the wicked.’ ‘Not so!’ President Smith said that the lesson for this repentant woman and for you is ‘Don’t look back!’”

His message isn’t that the wicked will be destroyed, it is that we can repent and change and be forgiven. We all have access to the grace of God. His message is that God loves us and wants us to be happy but happiness is not found in wickedness.

Some people heaped on more criticisms when the text published online was different from what was given in Conference, as if Pres. Packer was back-pedaling from his comments (although, LGBT groups are still upset that he called homosexual tendencies/temptations {in context there is no significant difference between the words} “unnatural and impure”. They also do not like it when church leaders call homosexual behavior sinful and wickedness, which it is; I know some people might object and say that my statement begs the question but I believe in the moral standards that God has set for us. I believe that homosexual behaviors are sinful but that the feelings or tendencies or temptations are not sinful).

It has been standard church practice for many years to allow the speakers at General Conference to make minor edits to their talks before the text is published (sometimes what is said deviates from what was prepared and so in Pres. Packer’s case, the removal of a phrase might simply be bringing his talk back to what he originally wrote). That is not something the church just started to try and cover up Pres. Packer’s words. Besides, the changes to the text do not change the tone or message of his talk.

For example, saying “temptation” instead of “tendency” is simply a code shift from a secular word to a gospel word. The meaning is the same within a religious application. In other words, the operational definition of “tendency” in Pres. Packer’s talk is synonymous with “temptation.” Again, the context is important.

As I stated earlier, the minor changes to the text are not enough (and were not meant to) quiet critics. The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, stated:

“You have risked further alienating LGBT youth and potentially contributing to suicides of even more vulnerable young people. You’ve told them that their very identities are ‘impure and unnatural’ and you’ve incited the violence and bullying that often drives them to suicide… I hope you will cease putting young people in real peril and acknowledge the scientific truth: sexual orientation cannot be changed, nor should it be.”

Can any honest person read (watch/listen to) what Pres. Packer said and come to the conclusion that Pres. Packer was “[inciting] the violence and bullying that often drives [LGBT youth] to suicide”? To state that is disingenuous and creating harmful intent where none was intended. That statement reminds me of what the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote in the Wentworth Letter: “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” (History of the Church 4:540; emphasis added). Another word for calumny is libel, which is essentially what the Human Rights Campaign created against Pres. Packer.

To clarify my point further, I’ll provide an imperfect analogy. Let’s say someone says in a public meeting that she likes fast cars. The group People Against Driving Really Fast (I made them up) then puts out a press release saying, “Ms. Public told kids to drive cars really fast at unsafe speeds. She’s responsible for deaths due to reckless driving behavior.” That’s an outrageous misconstrual of what was originally said and intended. My example, while not perfect, is similar to what LGBT groups have done with Pres. Packer’s words.

If you want to understand the LDS Church’s official position towards those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, read this statement from the Church. Of note is this paragraph: “We join our voice with others in unreserved condemnation of acts of cruelty or attempts to belittle or mock any group or individual that is different – whether those differences arise from race, religion, mental challenges, social status, sexual orientation or for any other reason.  Such actions simply have no place in our society.”

Now moving on to online reactions. I read comments by some people online that those of us who support what Pres. Packer said should show the scientific proof that homosexual tendencies can be changed. That is not an entirely fair request because it assumes that the burden of proof lies with those who believe that homosexual behaviors are sinful and should not be indulged in. In reality, there is at least an equal burden of proof due from the other side. The HRC said: “I hope you will cease putting young people in real peril and acknowledge the scientific truth: sexual orientation cannot be changed, nor should it be.” First, where is the proof that sexual orientation cannot be changed? That is a broad statement to make, especially when it has no scientific footing. I know there is some research showing that some methods (therapies) of changing sexual orientation are not effective but – and yes, I have done an exhaustive peer-reviewed literature search – there is no evidence that sexual orientation cannot be changed; the statement that sexual orientation should not be changed is a matter of opinion and not one of scientific inquiry (although, that does depend on how the matter is defined). Further, and I know this is anecdotal, but people can and do change their sexual orientations: from straight to gay, from gay to straight, and so forth. By the way, I don’t see many gay rights groups protesting changes from straight to gay; however, they will likely explain that the person was always gay so it wasn’t really a change, it was simply a flash of clarity and honesty or their environment became less hostile so they could “come out”. But again, that is making assumptions without good evidence.

Additionally, after reviewing the limited peer-reviewed research in the area, at best only 30% of the variance in homosexual behavior is explained by genetic (biological) factors. However, there might be some genetic factors that we don’t know about yet but based on what we know from science today, most homosexual behavior cannot be explained by biological factors. Also, I was being fairly generous with the 30% of variance figure because there are as many articles showing no genetic link as there are showing a genetic link with homosexuality. Let me know if you want the references; there are not very many studies that have been done in the area (one is this: Mustanski and Chivers. {2002}. A critical review of recent biological research on human sexual orientation. Annual Review of Sex Research). Further, there have not been replications of some of the key research linking sexual orientation with genes. In a 1995 review (published in the New England Journal of Medicine) of Dean Hamer’s Science of Desire book – where Hamer wrote about his research looking for a “gay gene” – Susan Bradley stated the following:

“Despite Hamer’s cautions, his use of the term ‘gay gene’ is somewhat misleading. We can relate to the need to find simple terminology to help the public understand this highly complex field, but the term implies more than Hamer’s work establishes. In this respect, the public and even the professional community have understandably overreacted to these findings as though they were proof of the biologic basis and with it the immutability of homosexuality.”

Granted, a book review is opinion but she is correct in cautioning people against jumping to conclusions based on misunderstandings of research, especially research findings that are tenuous at best and not reproduced. For anyone (regardless of their beliefs) to imply that the scientific evidence for or against the genetic (biological) basis of homosexuality is in any way settled is an expression of ignorance at best and malfeasance at worst. It is a controversial field of research with few (or no) solid conclusions.

However, and most importantly, Pres. Packer said the strength to overcome homosexual tendencies (temptations) comes through faith, repentance, the Priesthood, and the Atonement. How can you do a scientific study of that? Well, I know how to set such a study up but quantifying repentance is not an easy thing to do. I’d certainly be hesitant to try and conduct such a study and I love quantifying everything that I can quantify. So my question to gay rights groups is this, “where is the scientific evidence that proves (I’m using that word but it is not strictly accurate to state that by science can we prove anything) that faith, repentance, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ are not effective at changing sexual orientation?” After all, Pres. Packer spoke about changing behavior through the Atonement of Christ. Is that a fair question for me to ask? It’s just as fair as asking for evidence that sexual orientation can or cannot be changed. Again, those questions address the root causes of homosexuality and not the efficacy of some “therapies” that some have espoused as effective for changing homosexual behavior. Frankly, we do not know the root causes of homosexuality.

Homosexual behavior is wrong; it is sinful. Does that mean that someone who engages in it is bad or worthless? No! We are all children of our Heavenly Father who loves us. Regardless of our temptations or tendencies – be they pornography, lying, cheating, homosexuality, alcohol use, or whatever – we can overcome sin through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can live the happier, purer life by following the commandments and the teachings of His living prophets and apostles. Pres. Packer is an apostle; he is a prophet (he is also human and imperfect) who speaks God’s words. The translations and transcriptions of those words are not always perfect, although they often are as close as is possible to being perfect. Pres. Packer made no statements that he or other church leaders have not said previously. He did not directly or indirectly incite violence towards homosexuals; he merely talked about the path that brings true and lasting happiness in this life and in the next – that of righteous living by faith in and repentance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

[I have to apologize that my post did not flow particularly well. I didn't have time to edit it and spend a lot of time on the organization and structure of it. So if it comes across as a little disjointed, it was due to a lack of editing on my part].

Oct 11

Elder Holland’s General Conference Address

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I have a confession to make. I missed almost all of General Conference because I was at a research conference on Saturday and on my way to another research conference on Sunday. So, last week was a conference weekend for me, it just wasn’t Conference weekend. What I am grateful for is the opportunity I have to listen, read, or watch all the talks from General Conference online or on my iPod. I can (and do) listen to Conference talks while walking from my car to my lab. I can use that time to soak in the words of prophets and apostles, thanks to terrific technologies.

In this strain of gratitude, I would like to post the video of Elder Holland’s talk, as well as a few quotations from his talk. Here is the video:

To those in the church who might feel as if their contributions have been small or insignificant, Elder Holland offers these words with all the sincerity of his heart: “And to the near-perfect elderly sister who almost apologetically whispered recently, ‘I have never been a leader of anything in the Church. I guess I’ve only been a helper,’ I say, ‘Dear sister, God bless you and all the ‘helpers’ in the kingdom.’ Some of us who are leaders hope someday to have the standing before God that you have already attained.” (Source).

We are all important members of God’s family and are loved by Him and by so many others. Elder Holland said, “In whatever country you live, however young or inadequate you feel, or however aged or limited you see yourself as being, I testify you are individually loved of God, you are central to the meaning of His work, and you are cherished and prayed for by the presiding officers of His Church. The personal value, the sacred splendor of every one of you, is the very reason there is a plan for salvation and exaltation.”

I hope that we might all read, watch, listen to, re-read, re-watch, or listen again to Elder Holland’s message. His message was more than a jaunty pep-talk or a bit of positive psychological prose, Elder Holland spoke of and exhibited the pure love Christ. God loves each of us, in spite of our many imperfections. This does not mean that we are free to sin without consequence but God does love each of us.

Oct 10

Treasure in Heaven

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Update: Apparently with the redone BYUTV website, the film Treasure in Heaven is no longer available to watch online. There are a number of places to purchase it online (Amazon, Walmart) but the best place to get the film is from the LDS Store with the Doctrine & Covenants Visual Resource DVDs, which cost US$4.50. The movie is on disc 3 of the set.

Between General Conference sessions a video called Treasure in Heaven was broadcast. This video is a 20 minute depiction of a few events from John Tanner’s life; John Tanner is my great-great-great-great grandfather. I’ve watched the film many times (we got it on DVD last year); my children love watching it. The film is a powerful message of faith and consecration.

Here is the film (give it a bit to load if the play button is not appearing; or watch it on the BYUtv site – the direct link is below the video):

Here is the link to the video on the BYUtv website. Here is a post I wrote about John Tanner. Here is a post about the temple I wrote that also includes some about John Tanner. He was a great man who gave all he had – repeatedly – for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He helped build temples and Zion. His descendants number in the 10s of thousands, many of whom are faithful members of the Church today. I’m honored to be one of his descendants. He shored up treasure in heaven by his sacrifices.

Sep 29

The Pew Religious Knowledge Survey: How Did Mormons Do?

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A Religious Knowledge Survey was recently conducted by the Pew Research Center of 3,412 Americans. The full report can be read here (all of the survey questions are in the Appendix of that report). Out of 32 questions, the average number correct by all people was 16, so 50%. You might view that as positive or negative, depending on your expectations. What subgroups performed the best? Athiests/agnostics (mean = 20.9), Jews (mean = 20.5), and Mormons (mean = 20.3). Rounding out the bottom of the groups are Hispanic Catholics (mean = 11.6).

Here’s a general overview (not just Mormons):

Now on to how Mormons did. I thought this section of the report was interesting:

“27% of Jews, 22% of atheists and agnostics, and 20% of Mormons score in the top 10% of all respondents in overall number of correct answers to religious knowledge questions, getting at least 26 questions right. As will be discussed in detail later in this report, these groups display greater religious knowledge even when education and other factors are held constant. Mormons outperform Jews as well as atheists and agnostics on questions about the Bible but do not perform as well as the other two groups on questions having to do with world religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.”

So, 20% of Mormons in the survey scored at or above the 90th %ile, which is an encouraging result.

Who knew their Bible the best out of all groups? It was…Mormons. I bet that might surprise a lot of other Christians.

Mormons also had the highest knowledge of general Christianity (Catholicism & Protestantism plus other religious figures), getting nearly 8/12 questions correct on average.

About Judaism, Jews had the highest average (5/7) with Mormons a close second (4.8/7). However, it should be noted that the distribution was skewed: “Mormons also do well on these questions (4.8 correct on average), though many more Jews than Mormons get all seven questions right (29% among Jews, 6% among Mormons).”

Mormons also knew their own religion the best with and average of 2.7/3 correct answers. Atheists and agnostics came in second with 2.1/3 on average correct.

Outside of Christianity, Mormons came in 3rd for knowledge of world religions with 5.6/11 correct on average. For knowledge of religion’s role in public life, Atheists/agnostics had an average of 2.8/4 correct and Mormons were tied for third (with Evangelicals) with 2.3/4.

It goes on; the report is quite fascinating (although light on the statistics, which some people find comforting, others of us, not so much).

Those who were more educated tended to do better on the quiz but even controlling for education and other demographic factors, atheists/agnostics, Jews, and Mormons still did the best on the survey.

One issue I saw with the interview questions was what was asked it the respondent said he or she was Mormon: “Which of the following Mormon churches, if any, do you identify with most closely? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Community of Christ, or some other church?”

Ignoring the incorrect usage of referring to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Mormon Church, it is even more incorrect to refer to any of the splintered groups as Mormon. That’s sort of like lumping Methodists and Catholics together because after all, Methodists (and all other Protestant religions) are an offshoot of Catholicism. So no, those other “Mormon churches” are not “Mormon churches.” That’s not just being pedantic, it’s being accurate.

In any case, after looking over the 32 questions, there was one I might have missed (although it was multiple choice so even a completely random guess would result in a 20% chance of getting it right). The question was about what religion Maimonides was. I am familiar with the name but frankly have never studied about him. Two of the five choices are obvious rule-outs (for me), which leaves three choices. Who was he? Here’s the answer.

How did I do on the shortened 15 question quiz online? I bet you are dying to know.

You can take the quiz here.

Overall, those who identified themselves as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did very well on the survey. They did better than any other religious group. Being Jewish is not necessarily a religious thing; for many Jewish Americans (and elsewhere) it is a cultural thing. It’s almost like being Catholic in a Latin American country or in Italy, it’s cultural more than religious for most people. Mormons did well but there certainly is room for improvement.

Sep 27

Exploring the New LDS Website

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I’ve had some time to explore the new LDS website (new.lds.org for the time being). I love the look and the overall layout. It is more image-heavy, which is a positive move that follows the general Web trend. Most people have access to high speed internet now, which allows for higher quality and more elegant websites. Navigation of the site is simple with the main destinations within a few clicks.

Here are screenshots demonstrating a few of the features:

Here is the new homepage. It is a “magazine layout” design with a rotating set of featured news stories. In the upper right is the link to take you to your LDS account sign-in. If you do not have an account you will need to create one, which requires your membership record number (ask your ward membership clerk) and your date of birth. However, people who are not members of the LDS Church can also create an LDS Account that will provide them a way to utilize a few of the tools of the site (scripture notes, highlighting, and so forth). Once you are logged in to the site, you will have access to some of the tools. I’ll briefly discuss options.

First, don’t forget to look at the footer for popular content as well as some other resources. Everything is self-explanatory.

Let’s move on to one great feature: instant search results. As you search you get some results instantly; there is the option to do a more advanced search but the recommended (instant) results should be a great place to start.

Here is a screenshot of the Menu toolbar; it is the main navigation center of the site:

Then, under Tools LDS Church members see the following:

One thing to note is the link to order you a copy of your Patriarchal Blessing. You can also order a copy (sent via postal service) of any blessings of deceased direct line ancestors (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc). This is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since I found out the Church was planning on this feature.

Another Tools feature I like is the updated maps and church directories sites. You can see an outline of your ward (and stake plus other wards in your stake) boundary. Here is an example of my stake (with LDS church buildings designated by markers on the map).

The other feature I’m excited about is the online gospel notebook. You can highlight, underline, and add comments as you read the scriptures or other other gospel resources online. See the following screenshots. You can add notes and tags as well as store your notes in different folders.

There are many new features. All these advances in technology allow the Church and Church members to have greater access to the words of the Lord through His prophets. The Church’s technology team has also included social media aspects – sharing verses on Facebook or Twitter or via email. Some of the Church’s missionary efforts have been through technology already but they are continuing to be even more technology-heavy. This is because many of us are around computers a lot, whether they are in front of us as laptops or desktops or in our pockets as smartphones or iPods or internet tablet devices (which do not necessarily all fit in pockets). We can watch General Conference just about anywhere now. Audio and video recordings of sessions are posted within hours. Text is posted within days (it is posted online on the Thursday following Conference).

Technology is a means to an end. The end in this case is the eternal life of all humankind. The Church embraces all technological advances that the Lord gives unto us if they help the message of the Restoration reach more people in more meaningful ways. The Church for the most part uses existing technologies; there is no need to recreate the wheel, so to speak. Sites like YouTube already exist so the Church uses YouTube. All science and technology are inspired by the Lord and all are given to advance His work. They can also be used for evil purposes as well, which Satan is quick to tempt people to do, but Satan always tries to distort everything good. He delights in twisting truth and purveying perniciousness and unhappiness. We need to flood the earth with that which is good and positive and godly. The new LDS website and the new Mormon.org site are part of that goal.

Aug 11

New Duty to God

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The new Duty to God program is an example of the Lord “raising the bar” for our youth. With this renovation of the program young men are provided opportunities to act more as agents for themselves unto the Lord rather than be acted upon as passive participants in and partakers of the gospel. What do I mean by this?

When I was a young man the Duty to God program was this: go to church, go to seminary, give talks on occasion, be involved in your quorums, and be a worthy bearer of the priesthood. Those are all wonderful duties but there was little choice in the program – either you did it or you didn’t. In an interview just after I turned 18 my Bishop said, “You did everything for Duty to God” and I received the award. I really didn’t have to go out of my way to earn it. Because there was little choice in the program, it was what I call a GPS Duty to God program – do this, turn here, drive 6 years, merge right, and arrive at your destination. You didn’t really have to think or act for yourself; you in some ways were acted upon. Then the Duty to God program changed. There were checklists and projects and “choose 8 of the following 13” activities to do. The program was very involved and, frankly, sometimes overwhelming – manageable, but overwhelming. It was inspired and taught the young men a lot of good skills and traits but it was still basically a GPS Duty to God program – you drive along and turn when the pleasant voice tells you to turn. There were a few more choices but the program was largely set and scripted.

Now we have the new program. The new Duty to God program takes away the step-by-step directions and leaves much of the decision-making to the young men as they follow the Spirit and seek input from parents and leaders. The destination is known and there are guideposts but the GPS is turned off; it is up to the young men to create their own paths. With the new program the preparing, planning, and travelling of the journey are as important as arriving at the destination. It doesn’t matter if you drive a Porsche or a Pinto or if you take a freeway or a scenic byway as long as you drive the Lord’s way. The goal is to build righteous men who are independent agents and who know and serve the Lord.

The new Duty to God program is founded upon the Lord’s principles of learn, (plan and) act, and share. You learn something, do something about what you learned, and then return and report.  That’s like life – I don’t just mean our mortal life. In the pre-earth life we learned, in this life we are doing, and in the next life all of us will return and report on our activities of mortal life. That is the Lord’s pattern of growth.

Now that we’ve learned, let’s move on to action, or at least plans for action. Quorum meetings and mutual activities are a great time to help young men learn and fulfill their duties to God. Ideally, what we talk about in quorum meeting on Sunday will be reinforced in some way during mutual. This is not always possible but with planning ahead the young men should be able to fulfill a Duty to God activity: learning, acting, or reporting about their actions. We need not make the Duty to God program the entire focus of mutual but we can easily devote at least one activity per month to it.

How can we accomplish this? First, I’d like to borrow a question from Elder Bednar about planning mutual activities. When planning we should ask: “What are the things that should happen to the [young men] as a result of this activity?”1 In other words, what is our goal – our desired outcome – for the activity? Even more than that – what is our goal for the young men? This is where the Duty to God program enters in – it provides such goals as: serve others, live the Word of Wisdom, learn about careers, learn about missionary work, and so forth. But in order to answer Elder Bednar’s question we phrase the goals differently. For example, if we want to have an activity focused on the Word of Wisdom, the goal for the activity could be to have the young men make a strong commitment to live the Word of Wisdom. Now we have our desired outcome. With the destination in mind, it should be easier to think of ideas for activities. Here’s one quick idea: the young men could play basketball or some other game but with modifications. The “smokers” can only play on their knees; the “drinkers” have one arm tied behind their backs; the “fruits and vegetables” get an extra point for every basket they make; and so on. This might be slightly cheesy but my point is that with a goal in mind a fun activity can also be memorable, educational, and even converting if it invites the Spirit. Leaders need to be “clear about the ultimate objective and the target and the mission”1 so that the young men can better plan and plan better mutual activities.

Elder Hales said, “Church leaders regularly plan priesthood activities and Scouting pow wows and encampments—but do those activities always accomplish their most important purpose? I have learned that what makes a priesthood or Scout activity most meaningful to a boy is not just getting a merit badge but having the opportunity to sit and talk with a leader who is interested in him and his life.”2 Are we focusing on what’s important?

The Duty to God program is about effecting change in the lives of the young men. After all, nothing in the Church is about the programs – it is about the people. A stake priesthood meeting, for example, is not done so the stake presidency can check an item off their to-do list; that meeting is held so all can learn their duties as priesthood holders. People, not programs, are the Church. The Duty to God program was made for the young men; they were not made for it.

The Lord said, “Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence. He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand” (D&C 107:99-100). So we must all learn and act and I will add, share in order to be found worthy to stand.

The Aaronic Priesthood holders here in this room will be among the future leaders of the Church. How can they lead if no one teaches them? Elder Ballard recently said this to church leaders: “We try to teach every leader that one of your primary responsibilities is to raise up those that’ll be…better leaders than you ever were”3. This is where the Aaronic Priesthood and the new Duty to God program come in. Just as 40 years in the wilderness prepared the Israelites for the fruits of Canaan, just as the Mosaic Law prepared the Lord’s people for the coming of the Messiah, just as John the Baptist cried as a lone voice in the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Savior, the Aaronic Priesthood prepares young men for the Melchizedek Priesthood. It is the forerunner – the schoolmaster – that helps train young men to be faithful followers of Christ. The Duty to God program is designed to help prepare young men for the Melchizedek Priesthood and the blessings of the temple because these things lead them to Christ. I pray that we take the things we learn in this meeting and from the Spirit and share them with others in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

1)   http://feeds.lds.org/~r/EnrichmentSeries/~3/2vvN-EZMJlQ/hr-2010-02-leadership-elder-david-a-bednar-conversation-eng.pdf

2)   http://beta.lds.org/liahona/2010/05/our-duty-to-god-the-mission-of-parents-and-leaders-to-the-rising-generation?lang=eng&format=conference&view=speakers

3)   http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/leadership/2010-06-003-leadership-workplace-counseling-conversation-eng.pdf

Aug 09

Sample Quorum Meeting Agenda

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I put together a sample quorum meeting agenda for use in Aaronic Priesthood quorum meetings on Sunday. It could be adapted easily for other meetings (such as Elder’s quorum) as well. I created it to be fairly verbose for young men who are not comfortable directing meetings. Part of my goal in working with the young men is to help them become competent leaders. One part of this process is organizing, conducting, and leading meetings. This is a skill that seems minor but will affect many of their callings in the Church in the future. Here is a PDF file of the agenda: Aaronic Priesthood Quorum Meeting Agenda

If you want an editable file, contact me and I’ll send it to you.

Disclaimer: this file is not sponsored by the LDS Church. It is not an official Church publication. I am responsible for its contents and any errors are my own. You are free to use, distribute, modify, but not sell the file.