All that I have

Last week, we discussed the miracle of technology, and how it can change our reach and edify our outlook. The Church has produced hundreds of short videos. Here are perhaps two of my favorite.

I appreciate these depictions because they portray our Father's love and joy for each of his children. The father in the parable runs to greet his son. Truly, I believe that is just how our Heavenly Father anticipates our return.

The real challenges and struggles we face in life are not lost on Him. This is not only a message about a prodigal son. It is a story about a committed father and perhaps an confused sibling. We can make application of these principles in our own lives and too be filled of His joy.

Rejoice with me to know that we all can be winners in the great plan of happiness.

For in reality, these parables are about each one of us.

A Prodigal Son Returns

Luke 15:31

Moving Mountains

I recently had an aha moment.

Fascinated by the fact that men have been commanded to keep records of the Church and chronicle words of the prophets for centuries (back when it was really difficult to molten ore, engrave the messages into metal, and lug around plates of brass or gold), members of the church today are asked to do the same thing for our own families. 

Yet rather than engravings on precious metals, we press keys and slide our fingers across screens we hold in the palms of our hands. Libraries of data are literally now at our fingertips.

Twenty-five years ago I applied for a job to help BYU disseminate the resources of its library to other campuses all across the world. This was well before the Internet and seemingly an immense challenge. We all know now that this task has been realized. For example, general conference talks are available online, and technology provides access to scriptures, devotionals, and a myriad of lessons, videos, and other resources. 

In the Oct. 1949 Conference Report, Elder Albert E. Bowen spoke these words:

“When (we) are under the influence of an exalted occasion, (we) make high resolves. (We) firmly determine to avoid past mistakes and to do better.”  full text These are the benefits of scripture study, church and temple attendance.

Today, we are the beneficiaries of those who kept their promises and chronicled the experiences in their lives and recorded stories, testimonies, and incidents that lift and edify. God's work moves forward to bless his children throughout the world.

Ennobling influences of prayer, scripture study, frequent church and temple attendance, and obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel can move mountains.

We must simply invite their influence and allow God's work to fulfill its destiny.

He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6 

We are one

Is referring to the 183rd Semiannual General Conference as "possibly the best conference ever" too lofty of praise? I think not.

We all enjoyed hearing from our church leaders, and with the amazing miracle of technology, we can once again review the messages--reading, listening, and watching them at will. Some favorite quotes that struck me follow:

As we draw nearer to him, we realize that mortality is meant to be difficult. Opposition in all things is not a flaw in the Plan of Salvation. Opposition, rather, is the indispensable element of mortality that strengthens our will and refines our choices.

The vicissitudes of life help us fashion an eternal relationship with God and engraves his image upon our countenances as we yield our hearts to him...We are healed by abandoning the habits and lifestyles of hardened hearts and stiffened necks. When we lay down our weapons of rebellion, we become agents unto ourselves no longer blinded by the sophistry of satan or deafened by the discordant noise of the secular world.

Perhaps you did not hear the Music and the spoken word message (begins at 18.04) of hope and optimism conference morning. The great Plan of Salvation is for every man—none are lost unto God.

None.

Every member of the church has the responsibility to be involved in the work of salvation.

I am tremendously interested in your favorite parts of conference. Share your thoughts and feelings below and link to your favorite conference messages.

Please share your thoughts.

Wilt thou be made whole?

I have long believed that appreciation is more for the benefactor than the deliverer. In the recent afternoon session of conference, Elder Timothy J Dyches agreed with me.

He spoke of the healings near the pool at Bethesda, where the impotent believed that after the troubling of the water whosoever first stepped in the pool was made whole of whatsoever ailment he had. The scripture in John 5:2-9 relates this touching moment...

“Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

“In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

“For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

“And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

“When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

“The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

“And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.” 

We sometimes have so little hope of restitution, as this man who endured his malady for 38 years. He hoped just being near the water would be enough. It was.

When ten lepers were healed of their leprosy...only one returned to thank the Savior and glorify God, and Jesus answered "but where are the nine?" I don't believe this was begrudgingly asked. I don't believe He was reprimanding them. On the contrary, he wanted to heal them

 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

When we give thanks and show gratitude our lives improve and appreciation engenders hope. And when we struggle to forgive, we are not alone. We may draw on the power of Christ's Atonement for that's why He remains with us in our struggles and offers to help us bear our burdens.

Corrie ten Boom faced a Nazi guard that had been part of her grievous confinement. When he approached her, she could not smile. "I could not raise my hand to his." Though she had taught forgiveness, she could not of herself give it until she asked for strength through Christ.

Thus he commands us to rise above our own capacity, as he did to the man at the pool of Bethesda; and in so doing, He heals us. Perhaps, we long for "that healing to happen to me?" It can. His words are to us just as inviting as they were to the impotent man near the pool at Bethesda, to the leper along the journey to Jerusalem, and to Corrie ten Boom.

The impotent man at the pool at Bethesda, the grateful leper, and Corrie ten Boom were made whole and complete. "Wilt thou be made whole?" It's your choice.

All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Christ.

Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?