"He becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."

The statement above about seers comes from a discussion between a king and an emissary in Mosiah 8 of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The king wants to have an ancient record translated. The emissary cannot read it, but he knows someone who can: a seer.

A seer can see things both past, present, and future. And thus, "he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." This phrase strikes me. A seer is a great benefit to his fellow beings. A seer can see things both past, present, and future. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are fifteen men whom we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators. In the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "It is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it." that we are the Lord's Church and that living prophets stand at its head! By sustaining fifteen men as prophets, seers, and revelators, we are saying that we believe that they can see things that we, as mere mortals, cannot see. We are acknowledging that they, as special witnesses of Jesus Christ in all the world, know things that we do not know. This is a very humbling proposition.

An interesting article discussing “Gazelem”. https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/gazelem-jaredite

The Lamb of God

In The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Jesus is often referred to as "The Lamb of God."

In The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Jesus is often referred to as "The Lamb of God." Today, I've been pondering what this name means.

In the beginning, before the earth was formed and before mankind was placed on the face thereof, Jesus Christ was chosen. God, our Ethernal Father--our Father--knew that we all would sin. And yet, He loved us! (see John 3:16) 

His purpose is for us to return to Him, clean and pure. In and through the atonement of Christ the Lord, our return to God is possible! Simply put, Jesus is the Lamb without blemish, the pure and spotless sacrifice offered by God for us--in our behalf. The Law of Moses and the Law of Sacrifice instituted from the beginning looked forward to the offering of Jesus Christ--His blood, shed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His body offered on the cross of Golgotha. 

Revelation 7:14

John 1:36

Nephi's numerous references to "the Lamb of God."

"Forty-four references to 'the Lamb' appear in Nephi's vision in 1 Nephi 11-14 alone," (https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/node/243, accessed on 27 June 2020).

I know that my Redeemer lives!

I know that my Redeemer lives! He is all that the Book of Mormon testifies that He is! He was bruised for our iniquities and, He knows our pain! (what makes Jesus Christ so important?) Jesus is the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He came to Earth to take upon Him the sins, shortcomings, and frailties of all humankind. He is the King Immanuel--God with us. I know that He will come again, and at this very moment, this sphere is being prepared! To Joseph Smith Jesus said, "I, God, knowing the calamities which should come upon the children of men called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., and gave him commandments . . . that faith might increase in the earth,"

calamity (is this a single event? Is this, or could this be the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet? {referenced by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in the talk about the sister missionaries who got spat upon.} What is the abomination of desolation? Is it not the natural consequences of sin setting in or taking their disastrous effect? Obedience to God's commandments assures us of Divine Favor--through righteousness, we are naturally qualified for protection. I could site many examples. He that is tithed shall not be burned at the last day. That is significant doctrine! If I am willing to put my money where my mouth is, figuratively speaking, I am assured of preservation, because where a man's treasure is, there will his heart be also. I know that Jesus is laboring to preserve scattered Israel in our time! The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is very bold and very clear on that point.

General Conference

Twice a year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds a World General Conference. Members of the Church gather to hear the words of living prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ.

My wife and I have chosen not to have a television in our home. And, so, at conference time, we actually gather around a radio! Wow. Is that old fashioned, or what? However, my children have come to appreciate this tradition. Our oldest is averse to watching the conference on television or on the internet. She prefers the old family tradition of conference on the radio.

The "Mormon Moment" part 2

Time after time, I find that the Book of Mormon, a text that was written about 1600 years ago, is amazing relevant for our day. In fact, time after time, it is very clear to me that, as President Ezra Taft Benson stated in 1986, this book was written for our day! (see, "The Book of Mormon--Keystone of our Religion," from the Ensign magazine, November 1986) Here's a relevant example of what I mean that deals with how Mormons react to people with opposing viewpoints.

A lesson from the Book of Mormon about how disciples of Christ should handle religious contention (Book of Mormon, Alma chapter 1: 19-25, highlighting added and comments in brackets [like this] added):

 19 But it came to pass that whosoever did not belong to the church of God began to persecute those that did belong to the church of God, and had taken upon them the name of Christ.

 20 Yea, they did persecute them, and afflict them with all manner of words. . . .

[so, the believers in Christ were persecuted by those who believed differently than they did.] 

 21 Now there was a strict law among the people of the church, that there should ^anot any man, belonging to the church, arise and persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no persecution among themselves.

[So, the law of the Church was that the members should never persecute those who were not members!]

 22 Nevertheless, there were many among them who began to be proud, and began to contend warmly with their adversaries, even unto blows; yea, they would smite one another with their ^afists.

[Evidently, Church members' tempers flared to the point of physical violence!]

 23 Now this was in the second year of the reign of Alma, and it was a cause of much affliction to the church; yea, it was the cause of much trial with the church.

 24 For the hearts of many were hardened, and their names were^ablotted out, that they were remembered no more among the people of God. And also many ^bwithdrew themselves from among them.

[sounds like people getting angry with detractors and reacting was a bad thing for the Church. And, interestingly, for some Church members, how they reacted to detractors ultimately led to their excommunication or voluntary withdrawal from the Church! To me that says, "take very good care how you react to detractors!"]

 25 Now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were ^asteadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with ^bpatiencethe persecution which was heaped upon them.

[to me, this verse implies that if we want to follow Christ, we need to roll with the punches, regardless of how detractors and fellow members interact.] 

What's it like to live as a Non-Mormon in Utah?

I grew up in a small city in Utah County, Utah, USA (about 20,000 people). From the time I was young, Almost everyone I knew and interacted with was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called Mormons). After my freshman year at BYU, I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ in Germany. Up until that time, I had resided in Utah County. The fact is, even now, I simply haven't had a lot of interaction with people who are not Mormons!

As an active Mormon, much of my social interaction is stems from the Church. Active Mormons attend church each Sunday--for three hours! about 2/3 of that time is fairly interactive. Also, as a Mormon man, I participate in the congregation as a lay priest--a priesthood holder. Essentially, my duties in the Church require me to interact with other church members (like visiting the homes of families in the congregation to teach, encourage, and offer care). So, typically somewhere around four hours of my week are spent either at Church, or interacting with members of the church by virtue of my lay priesthood responsibilities.

Currently, I live in Bountiful, Utah. Something that troubles me is this: when people outside the LDS (Latter-day Saint) faith land in a community that is predominantly Mormon, in many cases, they are terribly excluded. It's a negative situation, but I can understand how this happens. If most of the members of the community are engaged in the Mormon "lifestyle" as I'll call it, people who are not engaged in the lifestyle are excluded. People in the Mormon "zone," so to speak, I think are often oblivious to those who aren't in the circle.

As members of the majority community, we should reach out more often and more naturally. It is true we are a missionary church, but our interactions with friends of other faith should not end with an invitation to meet the missionaries! I, and many other Mormons in communities where Mormons represent the majority, could and should make a concerted effort to be kind and inclusive to all, not just Mormons. How can we do that? Our recent Utah windstorm has taught us some good lessons and brought some things to my awareness.

In the aftermath of the windstorm, there was a lot of clean-up. I was glad to see some of my Mormon neighbors help a friend of another faith who lost three large pines in the storm. But, in the ensuing days, when the Church mobilized to clean up debris before a second possible storm, I realized too late that our friend of another faith was left out of the loop and not invited to join the clean-up party!

It a simple matter. We just need to become cognizant of the fact that not everyone is a Mormon!

My pledge is to consider all of my neighbors, not just the Mormons.

[Bryce is a professional genealogist living Bountiful, Utah. You can also follow him at episodesfromthelifeofbryce.blogspot.com and www.briggsrogersfamilyhistory.com]