Latest Blogs

Nothing

Liezel A. Alberto — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:44:04 +0000

Why do people persist in a dissatisfying
relationship, unwilling either to work toward solutions or end it and
move on? It's because they know changing will lead to the unknown, and
most people believe that the unknown will be much more painful than
what they're already experiencing.

What should I do?

Liezel A. Alberto — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:16:41 +0000

My mother was sad last night,Now I know that she has a heart diseases and kidney stone that can cause her death.I really don't know what to do coz I'm still studying.I can't live without her..I love my mother more than my self!

my website

ellis7322 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:30:10 +0000

Please visit my website at http://ellisdreams.com. My dream is my testimony.

A New Website

nymormon — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:04:52 +0000

Recently I discovered a new website

http://www.gospeldoctrine.org/process.php?pname=ShopfrontProcess-Start&cu
rrency=price.USD

This website is offering Gospel Doctrine lessons as downloads or CDs.
These lessons are the work of radio host Donna Max. On the website she
explains why she has done these. These lessons are recordings of her
radio shows. Each CD has 52 Gospel Doctrine lessons, in MP3 format. You
can order the CD, or you can download the MP3 files. She has the New
Testament, Book of Mormon, and D&C/Church History online now, with the
Old Testament to follow shortly.

This is a new website. Donna said that she has just gone online. She is
using Returned Missionaries to advertise her website. She told me that
all proceeds are going to support the missionary effort.

I just ordered the CD for the D&C/Church History. I thought I could
listen to a lesson each week, as I clean the Church. It would be a
productive use of my time. It's great for those who serve in Primary,
and can't attend Gospel Doctrine class. It would also be great for those
of us who do attend! If we listen during the week, we'll be ready to
participate in class.

I just wanted to get the word out!

What Manner of Man

nymormon — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:30:06 +0000

Week 15 -- Gentleness, Patience, Forgiveness

By Linda and Richard Eyre

It was Tennyson who spoke of “gentleness, which, when it weds with manhood, makes the man." In our Lord this wedding was supreme, for despite his strength and power he possessed the greatest tenderness and compassion of anyone who has lived on earth.

In fact, the consistency of his unconditional, unequivocal tolerance for every individual equaled his unconditional, unequivocal intolerance for every wrong, every evil. (His total love for one meant total war with the other.) Thus, “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:5-6).

Ponder for a moment the boundless and total nature of the Master’s attributes in this respect.

His patience:

♦ with His apostles, who consistently misunderstood and misapplied and vacillated,

♦ with publicans and sinners, and with all who needed help, regardless of how long they took to heed his advice.

His forgiveness:

♦ for His disciples, even to the point of finding an excuse for them when they fell asleep at his darkest hour (Matthew 26:36-41),

♦ for all people and all sinners who could come to him,

♦ for even those who hung him on the cross (Luke 23:34).

On the surface, one would think that a perfect being -- who made no error himself, who could look on sin with no degree of allowance -- would be a great discourager both by his seemingly unmatchable example and by his seemingly unreachable demands. Why, then, was Christ the greatest encourager in human history?

Because of his complete gentleness, patience, and forgiveness (all of which show us a complete sensitivity even to parts of our nature we do not know, and all of which show us an unconditional love), he can chasten us without hurting us, as he did with Peter (see Mark 8:31-33).

Tact, diplomacy, and soft, indirect approaches are things men use to be sure others do not feel offense or dislike. Christ needed none of these because his love was so genuine and total that rebuke became part of it -- an acceptable part because his love could not be doubted.

Perhaps, like electricity, God’s Spirit does not flow into something that it can't flow out of. The Master seemed constantly ready to receive his Father’s “currents” of gentleness, patience, and love, because they flowed so easily and so naturally out of him and into the hearts and minds of all he met.

Join us next week for a column about the Savior’s depth of feeling.

500 Little Known Facts

nymormon — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:28:56 +0000

The First Splinter (1831)

According to George A. Smith, speaking in the tabernacle in Salt
Lake City in January 1858, the first schismatic group in the Restored Church was established in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831. Wycam Clark and Northrop Sweet, both having been converted by the Lamanite Missionaries in November 1830, joined with four other apostates and established what they termed the "Pure Church of Christ" with Clark as prophet. They believed Joseph to be a fallen prophet and promised to preach "Mormon" principles. After two or three meetings, the group faded away to become only one of approximately 130 splinter groups from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, merely having the distinction of being the first.

JD, 7:114

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com

500 Little Known Facts in LDS (Mormon) History

nymormon — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:34:13 +0000

"And More Too" (1831)

Much has been said about Martin Harris' loss of his farm to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon. What is less known is that although the farm was sold at auction in April 1831, supposedly to pay off the printer's debt, the editor Pomeroy Tucker judged that Martin could have paid the bill from other resources. It should also be remembered that Martin had to dispose of his property anyway in making his move to Kirtland. And finally, in an interview given to a Utah missionary in 1853 about the loss of $3,000 dollars for publishing the Book of Mormon, Brother Harris replied, I never lost one cent. Mr. Smith paid me all that I advanced, and more too.

Reynolds, 1:436

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com

What Manner of Man

nymormon — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:33:35 +0000

What Manner of Man:

A Weekly Program to Better Know the Savior

Week 14 -- Extra-Centeredness

By Linda and Richard Eyre

To most of us, life is a series of mirrors wherein every situation, every person, is perceived in terms of self-interest: “How will that affect me?" “What can he do for me?”

The Master’s life was a series of windows. He was totally “extra-centered” or “other-centered” instead of being self-centered. He came to teach us, to help us, to cure us, to love us, to save us. And he lost himself in those tasks. It was Emerson who said, “See how the masses of men worry themselves into nameless graves, while here and there a great, unselfish soul forgets himself into immortality." Certainly the Savior is the ultimate, literal example.

Jesus Christ not only died for us, he lived for us. Wanting only to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, he had not the slightest personal ambition. He was uninterested in praise or publicity; except for the reward of our eternal happiness, he didn’t care about reward.

Because of this, and because of who he was, the Savior saw into people -- into their fears, their sins, their feelings, their potential. He saw behind the impetuousness into the strength of a Peter. He saw past the hated occupation into the loyalty of Matthew. He saw through the sins and weaknesses of all mankind into their eternal potential and into their sonship with God and their brotherhood with himself.

Knowing that Christ was perfect implies knowing that he was totally free from the sin of selfishness, a sin that holds or has held (at least partially) every other resident this earth has ever had. Selfishness is the dimming, darkening blanket flung softly and silently across our minds by Satan. Its forces of dark win many battles against the light brigades of charity and love. But though those forces win many battles they will lose the ultimate war because (in eternal time) “charity never faileth”; and the “extra-centeredness,” the love, the windows shown us by Christ, will someday (a thousand-year day) transform this earth to a paradise, cresting on Christ’s charity and submerging Satan’s selfishness.

Not only did our Lord love all mankind, he loved each of mankind. He spoke in different ways and with different analogies, depending on the nature and understanding of his listeners. He viewed and judged and taught each man according to that person’s unique situation. He praised the man who doubled two talents to four, and held him equal with the man who turned five into ten. He was as aware of the momentary opportunities to teach individuals as he was of his chances to speak to masses.

Men walk about in the world, their minds filled with “island thoughts” of themselves, of their territory. By comparison, Christ’s thoughts were more like the sea -- they surrounded and included the needs of all men, touching each, caring for each.

Never were the Savior’s “windows” so powerfully obvious as when, in the very midst of Gethsemane’s agony, he recognized as teaching moment with a disciple and gave what was needed -- a lesson about willing spirit and weak flesh (see Mark 14:37-38). How could a man, bent under the assumption of mankind’s sins, still think at that moment of an individual’s needs? How, indeed! How could any man?

The final-line message of the Master’s extra-centeredness is the sure feeling that if there had been only one person to save on this earth, only me or only you, Jesus Christ would still have made his great sacrifice for me or for you.

We look forward to next week’s column, where we will ponder

the gentleness, patience and forgiveness of our Lord.

500 Little Known Facts in LDS (Mormon) History

nymormon — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:32:51 +0000

The First Message (1830)

The first message of the Restored Gospel to be taken to the descendants of the Book of Mormon people was to the Cattaraugus Indians near Buffalo, New York. This Lamanite mission by Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson also visited the Wyandots in Ohio and the Delawares west of Missouri. Ironically, the mission's greatest success was not among the Lamanites but among a group of Campbellites in Ohio. There they converted Sidney Rigdon who brought many of his followers into the Restored Church along with Edward Partridge and F.G. Williams. By early spring there were over 1,000 converts in Ohio but they were not Native Americans, which was the purpose of the mission.

Pratt, Parley P., p. 44

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com

500 Little Known Facts in LDS (Mormon) History

nymormon — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:25:59 +0000

An Honest Friend (1830)

There are numerous little-noted gentile friends of the early Saints, and one of those was John Reid who, although not a lawyer, acted successfully as defense counsel for the Prophet in his first trials in Colesville and South Bainbridge, New York, in 1830. Although never a convert he journeyed to Nauvoo in May 1844 and publicly described his defense of the prophet and the spiritual experience that prompted him to take the case. Thirty-five years after Esquire Reid defended Joseph, his son Amos Reid (Reed) became acting governor of the Utah Territory where he often referred with pride to the part his father had taken on behalf of the Prophet Joseph on those early occasions.

Cannon, Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, p. 90

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com

What Manner of Man

nymormon — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:25:15 +0000

What Manner of Man:

A Weekly Program to Better Know the Savior

Week 13 -- Poetic Sensitivity

By Linda and Richard Eyre

Picture the Master sitting by the seaside as the sun sets; in a boat a little way out, speaking to the multitude on the shore; on the side of a mountain, alone in prayer; going out of the city's dust and clamor to the peaceful beauty of Bethany; winding his way through a golden cornfield; withdrawing to the wilderness to pray.

Now hear the imagery of his words:

"How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings" (Matthew 23:37)

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow … even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28-29)

"The wind bloweth where it listeth." (John 3:8)

"Her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves." (Mark 13:28)

He spoke of putting "a new piece of cloth unto an old garment" and of "children of light" (Matthew 9:16; John 12:36).

All that the Lord did has a clarity, a beauty, a sensitivity, and harmony with nature and earth. All that he said had the poetic qualities of awareness and vividness.

How in tune the Lord was! How in touch, how in time!

I wondered for years why it was that his sensitivity and love for the earth went so far beyond that of any man. Then one day I heard the phrase, "We love what we have made." The Lord saw beauty in all things partly because he put beauty in all things.

He loved nature -- the fresh, the good, the pure, the majestic. He went alone to the mountains, to the seashore, to the deserts to regenerate, to be recharged by the calm serenity of his earth and by the peace of its spirit.

Ponder how such retreats could precede great outpourings of the Holy Spirit. (From the desert he comes, preaching with new power. Form the seaside he comes, curing and healing. From the mountains he comes, walking on water.)

It has been said that poets can speak with true beauty only about the things they love. The Master loved all, and loved us all, and therefore was the most sensitive`and beautif}ì poet of all time.

Be with us here at this column next week when we thing together about the "extra-centeredness" of Christ.

500 Little Known Facts in LDS (Mormon) History

nymormon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:17:55 +0000

Another Emma Mystery (1830)

There are many unanswered questions on the life and events
surrounding the wife of the Prophet Joseph. One seldom mentioned is
the occasion of her baptism. Baptisms occurred on the day of the
organization of the Church and some had taken place before April 6
1830. Why was Emma not baptized until June 28th of that year and
then under the hands of Oliver Cowdery rather than her husband? Her
confirmation scheduled for the following day was put off because of
the arrest of Joseph on spurious charges but why was she not
confirmed until August? Confirmations did not always immediately
follow baptisms in the early days of the Church but certainly in
the case of Emma, such a long delayed confirmation into the Church
her husband was responsible for restoring is a little strange.

Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1323

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com

500 Little Known Facts in LDS (Mormon) History

nymormon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:17:27 +0000

Most Honored Woman (1830)

Latter-day Saints are well acquainted with the Prophet Joseph's wife and mother as devout and loyal believers of Joseph's prophetic calling. Fewer are familiar with his grandmother whom he blessed and called the "most honored woman on earth." Mary Duty, the mother of Joseph Sr. accepted the gospel along with her husband Asael in 1830 but neither was baptized. Asael died shortly after reading and believing the Book or Mormon. Mary traveled to Kirtland six years later with the intention of being baptized by her son, Joseph Sr., but died within ten days, unbaptized but nevertheless blessed at the age of ninety-three by her prophet grandson.

Proctor & Proctor, p. 436

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com

What Manner of Man

nymormon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:16:53 +0000

What Manner of Man:

A Weekly Program to Better Know the Savior

Week 12 -- Righteous Indignation

By Linda and Richard Eyre

Was the Savior every angry? Yes and no. No, he did not lose control, did not let passion or emotion rule, did not retaliate against those who abused him. But yes, he got angry in the sense of righteous indignation, the kind of controlled by powerful anger and action that repulsed temptation (Matthew 4:8-11); that rebuked any lack of compassion (Luke 16:19-23); that rebuffed those who took from the poor and loved their own honor (Luke 20:45-47); and that reprimanded strongly the double standards (John 8:3-11), the hypocrisy (Matthew 23:23-28), and letter-of-the-law-above-compassion attitudes (Mark 3:1-5).

Perhaps the most remembered illustration of his indignation is the time when the Master drove the merchants from his Father's house (John 2:13-17). Yet here, as always, there is no hint of loss of control.

Christ's anger undoubtedly was awesome, powerful, but with a great and much-needed purpose. There is much evidence that his indignation was frequently followed by an overflow of love that separated the Lord's hate of the deed from his love of the person. Matthew 23 shows Christ giving some harsh denunciations, yet it ends with a beautiful statement of his love.

Destructive anger is anger that is connected to hate. Christ's anger was inseparably connected to perfect love. He simply loved people too much not to feel indignation toward the things that would destroy them. Indeed, the Lord, being perfect, could not have avoided this sort of anger, for it is wrong to be complacent in the presence of wrong, and he was bound sometimes to express himself forcefully.

The Master turned his other cheek to those who persecuted and reviled him, but he turned the full force of his indignation upon the evils that could hurt and destroy those he came to save.

In the dawn of time, our Lord and his Father (our Father) exercised righteous indignation by casting out the one-third who fought against your free will and mine, against our ultimate progress and joy. The Lord's indignation on this earth was a continuation of that same pure love for us and that same pure rejection of all that could lead us astray.

Next week we move into a consideration of several of the Lord's qualities that relate to sensitivity, beginning with his poetic empathy.

500 Little Known Facts in LDS (Mormon) History

nymormon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:15:47 +0000

It Wasn't Joseph (1830)

It would be logical to assume that the Prophet Joseph would have given the first public discourse in this dispensation, but he didn't. Just as Aaron was chosen to be the spokesman for Moses, Oliver Cowdery was given the same privilege for Joseph. Thus it was Oliver whom Joseph chose to deliver the talk to the public, which had been invited to meet in the Peter Whitmer, Sr. home at Fayette New York on April 11 1830. Several neighbors attended that first public meeting of the Church and several were baptized in Seneca Lake following the discourse. Unfortunately, there was no scribe to record exactly what Oliver said or whether Joseph had anything to say on that historic occasion.

HC, 1:81

View more facts at: www.500littleknownfacts.com