Finding Swing

It is awesome, in the true sense of that word, to watch Olympic athletes compete in swimming, gymnastics, track, basketball, volleyball, and all of the other events. One of the events that I will watch a little closer this year is rowing.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested in rowing until I read the book The Boys in the Boat that was recently made into a movie. That story follows the 1936 men’s rowing team from the University of Washington, which seemed to have every disadvantage. They were from working class families in small lumber and mining towns and didn’t have the resources of their competition. Many of the team were new to rowing and no one outside of the team believed they could win. Despite the disadvantages, Washington beat the elite teams at Navy and Cal to represent the United States at the Olympics in Germany.

Adolf Hitler saw the 1936 Olympics as an opportunity to prove Aryan supremacy and German dominance to the world. On the day of the final race, with Hitler looking on, German officials decided that the slowest qualifiers—Germany and Italy—should be in the most protected lanes. The American team would have the roughest water, some of the team members had become seriously ill, and the wind made it difficult to hear the coxswain who shouted instructions from the front of the boat. But during the race, something happened that rowers call “swing.” The book describes it this way:

There is a thing that sometimes happens that is hard to achieve and hard to define. It’s called “swing.” It happens only when all are rowing in such perfect unison that not a single action is out of sync.

Rowers must rein in their fierce independence and at the same time hold true to their individual capabilities. Races are not won by clones. Good crews are good blends—someone to lead the charge, someone to hold something in reserve, someone to fight the fight, someone to make peace. No rower is more valuable than another, all are assets to the boat, but if they are to row well together, each must adjust to the needs and capabilities of the others—the shorter-armed person reaching a little farther, the longer-armed person pulling in just a bit.

Differences can be turned to advantage instead of disadvantage. Only then will it feel as if the boat is moving on its own. Only then does pain entirely give way to exultation. Good “swing” feels like poetry. 

The members of that team describe those moments of “swing” as a holy experience that meant even more than winning Olympic Gold. That lingering feeling stayed with them all of their lives.

There are at least four ways the Lord has invited us to have swing in our lives. We are to be one with ourselves, one with our spouses, one with God, and one with our fellowman.

Elder Packer once told of a severe winter in Utah when deep snow had driven the deer very low into some of the valleys. Seeing that the deer were out of their natural habitat, some well-meaning agencies tried to respond by bringing in hay for the deer to eat. Unfortunately, many of the deer were later found dead. Those who handled the animals afterward said that the deer had starved to death with stomachs full of hay. The deer had been fed, but they had not been nourished and the hay they could not digest left no room for the nutrition they needed to survive.

In a similar way, there are influences all around us that try to fill us with messages that can starve our souls and distract us from those things that would bring genuine physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. We are encouraged to incur debt to “live our best life” and appear more prosperous than we really are. There is an abundance of food that is more harmful than helpful to our bodies. Tribalized news is on every channel to feed our individual and collective confirmation biases and maintain a constant sense of righteous indignation. There is an endless supply of games and other virtual experiences that give us fake successes and a hollow kind of confidence as imaginary sports superstars, army snipers, farm managers, and even city managers. We hear of people who look for love and connection online only to learn their affections were based on false representations. Despite the volume, there is little nourishment in these offerings. They are literally unbelievable.

“The Lord knows who we really are, what we really think, what we really do, and who we are really becoming” (Bednar, Things as They Really Are, June 2010).  As spirit sons and daughters of God, the Family proclamation says we “accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize [our] divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”

The scriptures and living prophets have taught us that we will experience greater joy in our lives when there is high fidelity between who we really are and the person we are being on the outside. Being one with ourselves includes focusing on what is real—real opportunities to share a hug or serve a neighbor, real achievements as we strive toward personal and family goals, real food including vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, real prosperity through self-reliance, and the reality of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the redemptive and enabling power it can bring into our lives. We should be the same person alone, at home, at work, online, with friends, and in public. Having swing in our lives requires us to spend time with ourselves, evaluate how we are doing from time to time, see how we have changed, and make plans and goals to help us grow into our full and divine potential.

Steven Covey wrote in his popular 7 Habits book about a cycle of maturity that we all experience. As children, we are dependent on others for everything. As teenagers and young adults, we become independent and able to provide for our own needs. When we then surrender our independence to become interdependent with another person, the results are consistently greater than the sum of the parts.

The City of Enoch experienced interdependence on a societal scale. As they lived the law of consecration, they were able to completely eliminate all poverty from their community. Spiritual interdependence facilitated such righteousness, such harmony and “swing,” that the entire city was taken from the earth and promoted, as it were, to a terrestrial world.

Our marriages are intended to be interdependent, exalting relationships like the City of Enoch. Elder Bednar has taught:

By divine design, men and women are intended to progress together toward perfection and a fulness of glory. Because of their distinctive temperaments and capacities, males and females each bring to a marriage relationship unique perspectives and experiences. The man and the woman contribute differently but equally to a oneness and a unity that can be achieved in no other way. The man completes and perfects the woman and the woman completes and perfects the man as they learn from and mutually strengthen and bless each other. “Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:11; emphasis added).

Our First Parents provided an example of the full partnership God intends every marriage to be. After being driven from the Garden of Eden, and the free rent and food provided there, Adam, “began to till the earth... and to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow... And Eve... did labor with him” (Moses 5:1).

Elder Marion G. Romney referenced this passage when he said, “The word with... is very significant. It means more than physical labor. It connotates a common purpose, understanding, cooperation and love… In Latter-day Saint families the husband and wife must be one.”

Despite our different roles at times, husbands and wives can enjoy full partnership with their spouse when they take care to work with each other rather than merely working near each other. The Family Proclamation counsels couples to pray together, respect each other, forgive one another, have fun together, and help one another as equal partners.

When Tara and I were married, she had already graduated from BYU and was teaching at a nearby elementary school. She had a newer car, a rented duplex, and minimal debt. I, on the other hand, was sleeping on a buddy’s couch with no car and a growing collection of student loans.

With our marriage, we became a family unit. In the spirit of consecration, each of us gave what we had to our newly-formed family. I became a proud co-owner of a little white Hyundai and the folks at the student loan office were suddenly very interested in Tara’s contact information.

A similar thing happens to us on the day we step into the waters of baptism. When we are baptized, we covenant with the Lord that we will always be willing to keep his commandments, remember him and take his name upon ourselves like a bride takes the name of her groom. In other words, we covenant that we are willing to be one entity with our Savior in the eyes of eternal law.

In the spirit of consecration, we give our debt of sin and imperfection to the newly-formed entity. At the same time, the Lord offers up his wealth of grace available through his infinite Atonement. Imagining for a moment that we could measure our sin with a number, the principles of mathematics tell us that it does not matter whether that number is negative six or negative six hundred trillion. Both of these numbers are equally imperfect and yet, when added to a perfect and infinite Atonement, both numbers are completely wiped out. Negative six plus infinity is infinity. Negative six hundred trillion plus infinity is infinity. In this way, though we are not perfect, each of us can be declared perfect as a consequence of our unity with our perfect Savior, made possible through a covenant or contract that is valid in the sight of eternal law, making us joint-heirs with Christ of all the Father has (Romans 8:17).

Our covenant agreement with the Lord requires us to work with Him in the same way that Eve worked with Adam. With an eye single to the glory of God, we must rein in our fierce independence, and the natural man, and at the same time hold true to our individual capabilities to do good and accomplish the mission the Lord has in store for us.

Elder Uchtdorf has taught:

Our relationship with God is most sacred and vital. We are His spirit children. He is our Father. He desires our happiness. As we seek Him, as we learn of His Son, Jesus Christ, as we open our hearts to the influence of the Holy Spirit, our lives become more stable and secure. We experience greater peace, joy, and fulfillment as we give our best to live according to God's eternal plan and keep his commandments.

We improve our relationship with our Heavenly Father by learning of Him, by communing with Him, by repenting of our sins, and by actively following Jesus Christ... To strengthen our relationship with God, we need some meaningful alone time with Him. Quietly focusing on daily personal prayer and scripture study, always aiming to be worthy of a current temple recommend-- these will be some wise investments of our time and efforts to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.

The kind of prayer that builds unity with God comes from the depths of our souls. It requires self-reflection and studying our thoughts, desires, and decisions before we approach the Lord. Elder Porter once taught that “God knows our innermost thoughts and feelings even better than we do, but as we learn to share them with Him, we make it possible for His Spirit to enter our souls and teach us more about our own selves and about the nature of God. By making ourselves totally honest, open, and submissive before God, our hearts become more receptive to His counsel and His will.”  In other words, as we spend time in heartfelt prayer, we can become one in purpose with our Heavenly Father.

As we open our hearts to the will of God, and strive to become one with Him, He will teach us about two gospels. The first is a preparatory gospel that focuses on learning obedience and receiving the blessings promised for our faithfulness. The preparatory gospel builds the foundation for our testimony with checklists and formulas to guide our obedient lives, deal with perceived scarcity, and do our duty.

In the Aaronic or Preparatory Priesthood, for example, prayers for the sacrament and baptism are provided verbatim. The Law of Tithing is a preparatory law that prescribes an amount to give back to the Lord-- no more, no less-- and is often associated with specific blessings for our obedience. In Primary we learn formulas that help us know how to say a prayer and how to repent of our sins. The former Boy Scouts and Young Women Personal Progress programs outlined specific actions that, if completed, earned merit badges or medallions or other external recognitions that were indicative of our progress and development. Prior home and visiting teaching efforts were also somewhat scripted with a monthly message in the Ensign and a leader calling at the end of each month to see if you had made the visits you were assigned.

Parallel to the preparatory gospel is a second phase of learning and development we might call the "higher law" or the "fullness of the gospel". The principles of the gospel in this phase build upon and are inseparably connected with those of the preparatory gospel, yet here our discipleship is no longer transactional. We still obey the commandments with all of our hearts, but we do so because we love the Lord more than we expect a blessing. We learn to give without expecting anything in return because we love God's children and want to bless their lives (see John 13:34-35).

In the higher law, we abandon the checklists and formulas that sometimes lead to unrighteous judgements of others or assumptions that only a few of God's children will be saved. In their place, we learn to follow promptings of the spirit and act on the circumstances of the moment. We come to know the abundance of the Lord: that He who multiplied the loaves and fishes has blessings and salvation for "all the works of his hands" (D&C 76:43) and He has asked us to return to Him in groups.

Just as obedience is the appropriate focus of the preparatory gospel, with 613 commandments in the Law of Moses to practice that obedience, the fullness of the gospel, the Law of Christ, highlights only two: to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). When two holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood lay their hands on someone's head to give them a blessing, demonstrating this love for God and their fellow man, the spirit guides their words accordingly. We are all likewise called to practice loving others and following the resulting promptings of the spirit as we gather together at church and as families, minister to one another, set goals with our children and youth, and begin to live the law of consecration with our time, talents, and resources.

Ultimately, we cannot be one with God without also striving to be of one heart and one mind with those around us. If God loves His children, and I testify that he does, than one way to be one with him is to strive to love those same children of our Heavenly Father. 

As he introduced the transition from home and visiting teaching to ministering, Elder Holland said:

Brothers and sisters, we have a heaven-sent opportunity as an entire Church to demonstrate ‘pure religion … undefiled before God’—'to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light’ and to ‘comfort those that stand in need of comfort,’ to minister to the widows and the fatherless, the married and the single, the strong and the distraught, the downtrodden and the robust, the happy and the sad—in short, all of us, every one of us, because we all need to feel the warm hand of friendship and hear the firm declaration of faith… As [we do so,] we lift our spiritual eyes toward living the law of love more universally."]

Can you imagine a society where each of us was one with ourselves, one with our spouses, one with God, and one with our fellowman? A society where we all brought our talents and experiences into perfect swing? I feel like I can only start to glimpse what that might be like and it is awesome in the truest sense of that word.

Wooden Shoes and the Abundance of Christ

"Living Water" by Simon Dewey

Every year at Christmas, my family reads about the Miracleof the Wooden Shoes. The story takes place many years ago in Germany, where a boy named Walter grappled with the responsibilities of manhood after his father fell ill. He knew from his mother’s whispered conversations with the doctor that his father was dying and Walter wanted to help his family however he could. He began hoarding candle stubs that were discarded at school, digging for forgotten carrots and turnips in the frozen ground of the garden until his fingers were bloody, and searching for hours for a few dry sticks to heat his home. It was not enough; the house was still cold and their stomachs were empty. With so little, Walter was grown up enough to know that there would be no Christmas.

When December 5^th rolled around, Walter’s mother reminded him to set out his shoes for St. Nicholas Day. In Germany, St. Nicholas traditionally comes on December 6^th and fills the children’s shoes with candy. Walter didn’t want to upset his mother, so he made some noise to hide his rebellion and went to bed.

Early the next morning, Walter’s mother called him from the kitchen. “Schnell!” She called. “Quick! Come and see your wooden shoes.” He found them on the doorstep full of enough candles to help his mother finish her sewing at night. There were enough candles for a proper Advent wreath. With the candles was a scroll, tied with a festive red ribbon, which quoted John 8:12, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Walter and his mother were astonished. Neither of them knew who had filled the shoes. It was a miracle.

The next morning, Walter woke first. He put on his coat and reached for his shoes so he could go find a few sticks for the stove, but his shoes were gone. He could not find them anywhere. Cautiously, he opened the front door and found them again on the doorstep, this time overflowing with sticks. More wood was stacked nearby. In one of his shoes was a scroll, tied with a festive red ribbon, which quoted Jeremiah 20:9, “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire.”

For the second time, Walter and his mother were surprised and grateful for the miracle they had received. Walter was able to build a fire hot enough to heat the whole house, even his father’s bed in the back room.

Walter’s shoes were on the front step the next morning, too. This time they were filled with bread, rolls, and lebkuchen. A pail of milk and a basket of fruits and vegetables stood behind the shoes. This time, the scroll quoted John 6:35, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

As Walter went to bed on the third day he set out his shoes and hoped for another miracle, but when he awoke the shoes were empty. Walter’s father was getting worse, even with the warmth and the food in the house. They had enough to last a little while, but then what would they do?

That same day there was a knock on the door. On the porch were two missionaries. Walter had seen them in town. When they looked longingly at the warm fire, Walter knew he should let them in. One of the missionaries reached into his satchel and pulled out a small scroll tied with a festive red ribbon. Walter and his mother looked at each other in surprise as the missionary began to read a verse from John 11: “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

Walter jumped to his feet and pointed at the scroll. “It was you!” he exclaimed. “You are the one who filled my shoes. You gave us the three scrolls.” The missionary shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know what you mean,” he replied. “I found this scroll in my shoes this morning with a note to visit your family today. I don’t know where it came from.”

Walter and his mother decided to listen to the missionaries as they taught them about a prophet named Joseph Smith who had restored Christ’s true church to the earth, including the keys of the priesthood. They gave Walter’s father a priesthood blessing and returned many more times to teach Walter and his family.

Walter’s father soon recovered and the family embraced the gospel message. One more scroll appeared on Christmas morning. Walter’s shoes were filled with chocolates and candy. The scroll read, “Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).

Like Walter and his family, we all have five basic needs to sustain our lives: light, water, air, shelter, and food. Without one or more of these, we will not survive; and even when we have them today, we have no guarantees that we will have what we need to thrive tomorrow. Any of us could be affected by an illness, a turn in the economy, a wildfire, flood or drought, or some other change to our circumstances.

In a world of scarcity, where everything we need is consumable and fleeting, the Savior promises us eternal abundance and invites us to share that abundance with others.

Abinadi taught that “[Jesus Christ] is the light and life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death” (Mosiah 16:9). Joseph Smith wrote that Christ is, “the light and Redeemer of the world; the spirit of truth, … and in him was the life of men and the light of men” (D&C 93:9). “Therefore,” the Savior invites us to, “hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold, I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do” (3 Nephi 18:24).

At Jacob’s Well, the Savior taught that “Whosoever drinketh of this [well] shall thirst again, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:9-15). He explained that “unto him that keepeth my commandments will I give the mysteries [or covenants] of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life” (D&C 63:23).

We are invited to follow the iron rod of His Word to “the fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25), where we may covenant to keep his commandments in the waters of baptism. He promises that “if [we] will come, [we] may, and partake of the waters of life freely” (D&C 10:66). As we do so, he also requires us to, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Lord testified that He, “formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Moses 3:7). Jesus Christ is our Creator and “in him [is] life” (John 1:4). He preserves and sustains all living things by lending them breath from day to day and moment to moment (Genesis 7:22, Mosiah 2:21, Acts 17:25).

Yet, His work and His glory is the immortality and eternal life of each of us (Moses 1:39). He invites us to have unshaken faith in Him and “do the things which… your Lord and your Redeemer should do… For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life…” (2 Nephi 31:17-18). When we are converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and steadfastly walking the covenant path, “having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men” (1 Nephi 31:20), the Lord admonishes us to “strengthen [our] brethren” (Luke 22:32).

Our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, is “a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12). He testified, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1). He is the founder of the house of Israel, and of Zion, and he will gather us, “as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me will full purpose of heart” (3 Nephi 10:6).

In the shelter of His holy temples, we can rest from the cares of the world and enjoy peace, like a river, unto our souls (Isaiah 48:18, D&C 121:7). We can extend that peace to our families and others we have never met through vicarious ordinances. He promises that “in my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2) and that one day, if we are faithful, we will be “received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where [we] shall rest from all [our] troubles and from all care and sorrow” (Alma 40:12) and return to a kingdom of eternal glory (D&C 76, Revelation 7:14-17).

Finally, the Lord testified that He is the bread of life (John 6:35). “Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely; Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness” (Alma 5:34-35).

He invites us to feast of his abundance: to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3); to “lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love” (Jacob 3:2); and to “feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness” (2 Nephi 9:51).

When we have tasted of the bread of life, like manna from heaven, that fills our soul with “exceedingly great joy” (1 Nephi 8:11-12), we are also invited to bring forth works of righteousness in service to Him. “For the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye make walk guiltless before God,” King Benjamin advised, “I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants” (Mosiah 4:26). For “inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren,” the Savior taught, “ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).

To His servant, Simon Peter, Christ taught that if we love him, we will feed his lambs and feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). To us, Peter echoed that we should, “feed the flock of God which is among you,” not by constraint, but by persuasion and by our own examples (1 Peter 5:2-3).

Without our Savior, Jesus Christ, we are like Walter and his family. We can figuratively dig in the frozen ground for forgotten carrots and search the forest for a few sticks, but the relative scarcity of even our best and most successful efforts cannot save us and our families from physical death nor the separation from God imposed by our own sinful behavior.

We need the abundance our Savior offers us through His servants. We need the light of his example, the unwilted strength of his covenants, the life his breath sustains, the shelter of His gospel, and the nutrition of his word. He offers everything we need to live, temporally and spiritually—everything we need to overcome sin and death—in such abundance that, if we are faithful, “there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), but is he the way we have chosen, the truth we believe, and the center of the life we live? Do we recognize the miracles in our lives? When he stands knocking at the figurative door of our lives (Revelation 3:20), do we let him in and allow him to teach us how to change? Do we study and live His gospel with scarcity, maybe on Sundays or certain holidays, or do we strive to consecrate all that we have throughout the year and during each day to taste of His fruit, hold up His light, and feed His lambs?

Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life, the light of the world, the living water, the breath of life, a sure foundation and shelter from the storm, and the bread of life. Because He lives, there is healing for our sicknesses and heartaches. Because He lives, we can be forgiven for our sins and strengthened in our shortcomings. Because He lives, His church is restored with covenants and ordinances to unite our families with His love. Because He lives, we can live eternally in the presence and glory of God. Because of a sacred, silent night in Bethlehem, there will be a Christmas this year and we can live each day in the abundance provided by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Gardening, Covenants, and Enduring Love

"Nurtured by the Word" by Greg Olsen

After graduating from BYU, our family moved to Arizona to be closer to some extended family living there. We could only afford a small apartment at first, so, anxious to be self-reliant and care for our young family's needs, we asked a family member if we could use some of their backyard for a garden. They agreed and we got started.

The sunbaked earth in Mesa, Arizona, isn’t exactly dirt and it certainly isn’t soil for a garden. It’s much more like clay, which meant we really had our work cut out for us. We borrowed a tiller to start breaking up the chunks of ground and mixing in soil and fertilizer. We researched what to plant and when to plant it. We made furrows for planting squash, set up strings for the pea plants to climb, bought wire cages for the tomatoes, and built mounds for the melons and cucumbers. It was perhaps a bigger project than we expected, so we were delighted when we had finally put the last seed in the ground.

Of course, planting was only the beginning. We had arranged for our family member to help water the plants during the week, but we still needed to visit at least weekly to weed and care for the plants. It was always incredible to see how many weeds could grow in a single week, especially when nothing had grown in that spot for years (or maybe ever). The weeds grew so fast, I sometimes lectured the plants under my breath that if they would just grow like the weeds did maybe we could be harvesting by now. The plants didn’t seem to listen, so back we’d go with our one-year-old son to pull what we hoped would mostly be weeds and attend to any other needs in our little garden.

After a while, the excitement completely wore off. With busy work, graduate school, and church schedules, it was easy to wish we could spend what free time we had doing something fun or relaxing as a family. There were days when I would have volunteered to do nothing rather than going to care for the garden, but we knew we wouldn't harvest much if the weeds took over. So, while we slacked off a little here and there, we kept going most weeks to do what needed to be done in our little garden.

Excitement returned when the first zucchini were ready to be harvested. They were so big and so good! The squash and tomatoes soon followed. Though the results were delayed, we were grateful for the garden that gave us so much good food.

We also began to see how even occasional negligence had diminished what the garden could have been. If we had set up shade for the cucumbers and peas in time, they might not have withered in the hot Arizona sun. If we had been there to get the melons off the ground when they first began to grow, the bottoms may not have rotted. We didn't intend for these things to happen when we decided to skip a day in the garden, but they were the natural consequences of our inconsistent care.

Our marriages can be like a garden. As I share some principles in the context of marriage, I invite you to think about your relationship with your spouse, if you have one, or, if you are presently single, your part in the covenant marriage relationship the Lord will give you, when the time is right, if you desire it. C.S. Lewis observed:

Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling.

Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called ‘being in love’ usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,’ then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?

But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense—love as distinct from ‘being in love’—is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself.

They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

Speaking of engines, most of us think of our cars, and the engines in them, as an investment. That isn’t strictly true from a financial management perspective, but we treat our vehicles as investments anyway. It costs a lot of money to buy a car. We probably took some time with our last vehicle purchase to research which one could fit enough passengers, had the right mileage or price or color, and any other features that were important to us. When we found the one we wanted, we signed the purchase agreement and were excited to drive it home.

Anyone who has ever owned a car knows that they require consistent care and maintenance. We make sure there is gas in the tank and air in the tires. We make sure the oil gets changed when it should and that the tires get rotated. The brakes and air filters need to be replaced periodically and the fluids need to be topped off. Every so often, you make sure to wash and wax the car and vacuum the inside. Sometimes your car needs new windshield wipers or spark plugs or a new windshield altogether. Some of us may have put covers over the seats and steering wheel to protect the interior. When collisions or malfunctions occur, we try to fix them if we can. We are always working on our cars because we know they represent a significant investment of our resources and we want them to last; and in the hands of a skilled mechanic, they can last for decades. In fact, if we care for them well enough, they become an investment even from a financial management perspective.

In a similar way, each of us probably did some research when we were dating our spouse to make sure they had the characteristics and features that were important to us. We fell in love, signed our legally-binding marriage certificate, and were excited for our new life together. This was the planting, the explosion that got our engines running. Our marriages will require consistent care and maintenance if we are to experience the deep unity of enduring love and become "one flesh" (D&C 49:16), as the Lord directs, after the excitement of being in love wears off.

In 2006, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson taught that, "marriage brings greater possibilities for happiness than does any other human relationship. Yet some married couples fall short of their full potential. They let their romance become rusty, take each other for granted, allow other interests or clouds of neglect to obscure the vision of what their marriage really could be. Marriages [like gardens] would be happier if nurtured more carefully" (Nurturing Marriage, April 2006).

Elder Nelson went on to suggest that we could more carefully nurture our marriages by understanding the doctrinal foundations for marriage and then taking specific actions to strengthen our relationship. He taught:

Marriage is the foundry for social order, the fountain of virtue, and the foundation for eternal exaltation. Marriage has been divinely designated as an eternal and everlasting covenant. Marriage is sanctified when it is cherished and honored in holiness. That union is not merely between husband and wife; it embraces a partnership with God. 'Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other' (The Family: A Proclamation to the World). Children born of that marital union are 'an heritage of the Lord' (Psalms 127:3). Marriage is but the beginning bud of family life; parenthood is its flower. And that bouquet becomes even more beautiful when graced with grandchildren. Families may become as eternal as the kingdom of God itself.

Marriage is both a commandment and an exalting principle of the gospel... True happiness [in marriage] is predicated upon personal purity... Marriage should ever be a covenant to lift husbands and wives to exaltation in celestial glory.

Marriage was intended by the Lord to endure beyond physical death... Priesthood offices, keys, callings, and quorums are meant to exalt families. Priesthood authority has been restored so that families can be sealed eternally.

With these doctrinal underpinnings, we can take specific actions to improve our marriages. In his 2006 talk, Elder Nelson suggested that we could learn to better appreciate one another, better communicate with one another, and spend more time contemplating together the sacred covenants we have made. Each of us might consider these invitations and any other ways we might feel we can nurture our relationships in a spirit of selflessness and generosity.

Now, in cars, love, and gardening, we don’t always get the ideal scenario. Some seeds are planted by professionals in the fertile soils of the Salinas or San Joaquin Valleys and others are left for amateurs to bury in the hard clay of Arizona. Some seeds may seem to grow well for a while and then become choked by weeds or begin to wither under the heat of some intense pressure; but whatever our circumstance, our seeds will grow when we appropriately and consistently nurture, weed, and care for them.

President Gordon B. Hinckley shared this quote from Jenkin Lloyd Jones in a speech at BYU in 1973:

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he [or she] has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.

Life is just like an old-time rail journey… delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.

To be clear, this does not excuse marital abuse, neglect, or infidelity. In a relationship between a married couple and the Lord, these offenses are grievous sins against your spouse and against the Lord. The Lord makes it clear that it would have been better for us to have not been born than to commit such offenses, and especially to do so and leave them without correction and the most sincere and difficult kind of repentance. He makes it equally clear that, while we are all required to forgive those who have offended us, we are not required to continue to endure or return to an abusive relationship. Any sort of manipulation that is strung together to make you think otherwise is just that—manipulation. It is not inspired. It is not from God.

Elder Holland taught, “In a dating and courtship relationship, I would not have you spend five minutes with someone who belittles you, one who is constantly critical of you, one who is cruel at your expense and may even call it humor. Life is tough enough without the person who is supposed to love you leading the assault on your self-esteem, your sense of dignity, your confidence, and your joy. In this person’s care, you deserve to feel physically safe and emotionally secure.”

But outside of those situations, which one would hope are more rare than common, it helps to remember that planting is only the beginning. "[Love] is a deep unity maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God." So what thoughts and desires do you allow to direct your will? What habits have you built to deliberately strengthen your relationship with your spouse? Are you asking the Lord for his grace and blessing in your prayers? Are you treating your relationship with the consistency and attentiveness you would give to a great investment? In the words of a local football coach, can you win with the effort that you are giving?

Elder David A. Bednar has taught that "we grow to love those whom we serve" (If Ye Had Known Me, October 2016). If we start to feel like our relationships are mostly smoke and cinders, selflessly serving our spouse with the same diligence we might give a new car or a nice garden will help us clear the weeds and get us back on track.

Whether married or single, we should also be mindful that Christ compares our relationship with him to a marriage. Conversion for many of us requires some research. If we "give place, that a seed may be planted in [our hearts], behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if [we] do not cast it out by [our] unbelief... behold, it will begin to swell within [our] breasts... [and we] will begin to say within [ourselves]-- It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me" (Alma 32:28).

We are excited when we are baptized and enter an eternally-binding covenant relationship with our Savior. That union is not between ourselves and our Savior alone; it embraces a partnership with God. Most of us have patches of hard clay in our hearts, which means we have our work cut out for us. The Savior invites us to take his yoke upon ourselves so that he can help us carry our burdens. He invites us to put our lives in His hands-- the hands of the Master Gardener and Skilled Mechanic for our hearts. But this is only the planting, the explosion that gets our engines running. Consistent care, maintenance and nurturing is needed if we are to "be one" with Christ (John 17:20-21).

We can more carefully nurture our relationship with Christ as we seek in the scriptures, through the words of the prophets, and in sincere prayer, to understand the doctrinal underpinnings of our covenants with Him and then take specific actions to strengthen our relationship. We might consider developing more gratitude for the blessings the Lord has given us, learning to better communicate with Him and hear His voice, spending more time contemplating the sacred covenants we have made, and any other ways we might feel we can nurture our relationship in a spirit of humility and selflessness.

Our relationship with our Savior brings greater possibilities for happiness than any other relationship we can have. That happiness as a covenant disciple of Christ is predicated upon our personal purity. Our covenants with God include the gift of the Holy Ghost, who will sanctify us and lead us to make and keep sacred covenants in the temple that are designed to lift us to exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom.

Yet, sometimes we let our relationship with Christ fall short of its full potential. In the months and years following our baptism, we often do not always feel the same burning spiritual confirmation, or "swelling motions," that helped us know the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and its restoration in modern times. Our lives get busy and we sometimes don't want to do the spiritual work to maintain our relationship with Him. We allow clouds of neglect to obscure the vision of what our relationship with Him could be.

When we are inconsistent in maintaining our relationship with Christ, we sometimes miss blessings we could have otherwise received. Deep unity in our relationship with Christ is maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which we ask, and receive, from God.

So what thoughts and desires do you allow to direct your will? What habits have you built to deliberately strengthen your relationship with Christ? Are you treating your covenant relationship with the consistency and attentiveness you would give to a great investment? Can you win with the effort you are giving?

When we start to feel like our relationship with Christ is smoke and cinders, we can remember Elder Bednar's teaching that "selflessly serving others counteracts the self-centered and selfish tendencies of the natural man. We grow to love those whom we serve. And because serving others is serving God, we grow to love Him and our brothers and sisters more deeply [when we serve]. Such love is a manifestation of the spiritual gift of charity, even the pure love of Christ" (If Ye Had Known Me, October 2016). God knows this and wants us to be wildly successful, so he has asked us to promise, and even to covenant, that we will bear one another’s burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort (Mosiah 18:8-10).

Our relationships with God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, are reflected in the way we love one another. We cannot love God while we are belittling or criticizing His children—and that means any of His children for any reason, regardless of our age, relationships, political views, cultural heritage, or anything else. We cannot ignore our covenants to minister and serve one another without some blessings withering or rotting on the vine. And similarly, we cannot deny the Lord time together in prayer, scripture study, and in the temple, and expect to have oil in our lamps to light the way today, particularly through our darkest times, and be prepared for when He comes again.

Thankfully, the opposite is also true. A kind word or a plate of cookies can connect us with our brothers and sisters and bring joy into our lives and theirs. Helping someone complete a project or a chore can build fellowship and understanding. I have seldom given a priesthood blessing when I did not feel the love of the Lord for the person receiving that blessing. Careful scripture study, sincere prayers, and devoted temple attendance bring peace and faith into our lives. Each of these things—joy, love, patience, understanding, peace, and faith—are fruits of the Spirit of the Lord (Galations 5:22-23) and evidence of His forgiveness for us and our relationship with Him.

Though our effort to nurture the garden in Arizona was imperfect, the consistency of that effort led to a bountiful harvest that was likely much more than we deserved. To this day, we still don't know how we got so many zucchini! In a similar way, though our effort will not always be perfect, the Lord has promised those who consistently keep their covenants with Him, and with their spouses, that their relationships will endure beyond the grave. They will have happiness in peace through the trials of this life and throughout eternity. Together, as one flesh united with God, they will inherit all that He has, certainly more than any of us could ever deserve, and the bud of their marriage will flower into the abundant garden of their posterity (D&C 132:19).

Returning to the Covenant Path

When I was a teenager, my dad took my brother and I on a week-long wilderness backpacking trip. Our goal was to hike about fifty miles across a particular mountain range. Along the way, we had an experience that has taught me about sin and repentance on our path back to our Heavenly Father.

It took us a couple of weeks to prepare for the trip. My brother and I needed larger packs and we had to find food and other supplies that wouldn't add too much weight. I needed some new hiking pants and my mom found a cool pair that zipped off into shorts. Finally, we got a ride to the trailhead, confirmed where we would meet my mom at the end of the week, and set off.

For the first few days, everything went well. We were right on schedule, we found plenty of water and the food we had packed was so much better than when we had sampled it at home. The trail was challenging at times, and we had to find shelter during the daily afternoon downpour, but we were enjoying the experience and what time we had for a little fishing at the end of each day.

Around the fourth day of our expedition, we climbed a difficult pass and stopped at the top to rest for several moments. Although it was early in the day, we were tired and sore from three previous days of hiking with our heavy packs. As we prepared to resume, my dad, who had been studying the map, suggested an alternate route. The next part of the trail formed a large horseshoe shape, he observed, and if we could cut across the top of the horseshoe we would certainly save a lot of time and unnecessary distance.

With some uneasiness about the new plan, at least on my part, we began walking across the mountain tundra. It was harder to walk through the grass and rocks and after a few hours I began to wonder if we'd missed the trail somehow. When we ran out of water, we decided to keep going and hoped to find a spring ahead of us. Physically and emotionally exhausted, I prayed for help to keep going and survive the week.

At last we came to the top of a tall cliff. It was as long as we could see in either direction and the obvious reason for the trail's long detour. Unsure of how to proceed, we found a spot to take off our packs and rest while we decided what to do.

After a few minutes of catching our breath, my dad stood up and walked over to where my brother and I were seated. He picked up our packs, walked to the cliff, and threw the packs as far as he could down the mountainside. My brother and I were stunned. My dad paused for a moment and then said something like, "Well, I guess we'd better go and get them."

Eventually, we found our way down the cliff and slid down the rockslide at the base. More time passed as I worked to close a big hole I'd torn in the seat of my new pants and bandage a few good scratches. My brother located a spring (back at the top of the rockslide, of course) and refilled our water containers. When we were able to regroup, we continued our cross-country "shortcut" and found the trail another hundred feet from the bottom of the rockslide.

Although our chosen route was shorter, it was much more difficult and took more time to complete than if we had continued on the trail. I ruined my pants and some of our things were broken in their flight off the cliffs. Now less prepared than before and unable to make our planned rendezvous, we spent the rest of the week hiking carefully down a new trail that led off of the mountain to a small town. We made it just in time to call our ride home before she left to pick us up in the wrong place.

As we journey through life, we sometimes decide to take routes that detour off the "strait and narrow" covenant path. It can be especially easy to do when we are feeling tired, overconfident, or discouraged. 

When we leave the path, the Lord always invites us to repent-- to turn around and return to the trail that leads to our rendezvous with Him. He knows the covenant path is not easy. Like crossing a mountain range, our lives have peaks and valleys with obstacles and steep inclines between each summit. The Lord also knows that the covenant path is the surest way to our divine destination.

Repentance is "a change of mind and heart that brings a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general." It "implies that a person turns away from evil and turns his heart and will to God, submitting to God's commandments and desires and forsaking sin" (Guide to the Scriptures, "Repent, Repentance"). In other words, repentance includes returning to the trail and a humble willingness to continue to follow it. It includes gratitude for the trail, with all its obstacles and detours, and a recognition that it is the only way to achieve our goal.

Sometimes we wander needlessly through the more difficult wilderness even when there are indications we should return to the covenant path. We rationalize our way across the tundra, figuratively run out of water, and eventually find ourselves at the precipice of decisions that may have more significant impacts on our spiritual welfare and life journey.

If I had returned to the trail more quickly, I would have been able to recover much of the time that was lost. I would not have run out of water, injured myself, or ruined my pants. My dad and brother and I would have almost certainly reached our goal on the other side of the mountain range.

Likewise, when we do incur the damages of an unexpected cliff and rockslide, we sometimes forget that complete repentance includes changing the behaviors that originally led us off the path and toward the cliffs. We walk away from these experiences with resolve not to go over the cliffs, as it were, but without changing the attitudes and behaviors that led us off the trail in the first place.

The Gospel Topics essay on the Church website teaches us:

It is not enough to simply try to resist evil or empty our lives of sin. We must fill our lives with righteousness and engage in activities that bring spiritual power. We must immerse ourselves in the scriptures and pray daily for the Lord to give us strength beyond our own. At times, we should fast for special blessings.

Full obedience brings the complete power of the gospel into our lives, including increased strength to overcome our weaknesses. This obedience includes actions we might not initially consider part of repentance, such as attending meetings, paying tithing, giving service, and forgiving others.

Gratefully, all is not lost when we have gone over a cliff. Regardless of our route, we needed my mom to pick us up at the end of the week and drive us back to the safety and comfort of home. Our detour changed our experience in significant ways, but getting back on the trail and sticking to it allowed us to reach a different, but equally accessible, place where my mom could find us.

Sometimes our detours off the covenant path may have lasting effects on our life experience, but the trail is never far from where we are. As we repent and return to the path, the Lord can show us the route to His grace. With faith in Christ and our own significant effort, we can be reconciled to God (2 Nephi 25:23) and experience the joy and rest of returning home (2 Nephi 11:5).

Stars to Guide Us

A classic Christmas song heralds the twelve days of Christmas with gifts marking each one. While Americans sometimes tire of that particular Christmas song, many European and South American cultures celebrate all twelve days from December 25 to January 6 as part of the holiday season.

Each of the twelve days of Christmas has a particular meaning a purpose. The first day, of course, is a celebration of the birth of Christ. In some cultures, it is the messenger of the baby Jesus, rather than Santa, that provides gifts for the children on this day. The second day, Boxing Day, is a day for giving gifts to the poor, and so on.

The final day of Christmas has dual meaning. Twelve is a symbol in scriptures for authority and completeness; for God in heaven and His government. The twelfth and final day is therefore celebrated as Epiphany, a celebration of Christ's achievement and glory. It is also Three Kings Day, a grand finale in recognition of Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, or the three magi who are traditionally believed to have completed their travel from the east to worship the Christ child on this day.

The Gospel of Matthew teaches that the three magi or wise men followed a star that guided them to Jesus' location outside of Jerusalem. Stars had been used for navigation for thousands of years prior to this historic visit and continued to be the primary method for mariners and explorers to determine latitude, longitude and course until the late twentieth century.

In fact, a thousand years ago the largest empire in the world was established on an advanced understanding of celestial navigation. This empire was not in London, Paris, Madrid, Shanghai, Moscow or Rome. It was not the result of conquest nor secured with cannons. Its' leaders are not heralded in most history books or known in popular culture. Yet, the mighty Polynesian Empire once controlled an area of the Pacific Ocean nearly twice as large as the United States or Europe. Despite limited technology and the perils of sea travel, the Polynesians' knowledge of the stars allowed for epic voyages, the development of strategic alliances and one of the most impressive trade networks in the history of the world. From Aotearoa to Easter Island to Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Tahiti, the Polynesian Triangle dominated more than six million square miles of the Pacific.

In the northern hemisphere, celestial navigation focuses on the position of the North Star. When the sun has set, travelers on land and sea look for the bright, unchanging star at the end of the Little Dipper's handle to set their course. While other stars move throughout the night, the North Star is positioned almost directly above the northern axis of the earth and so appears due North as the world turns.

Interestingly, the North Star is actually three stars: Polaris A, Polaris B, and Polaris Ab. Polaris A is roughly six times the size of our sun and two thousand times brighter. Orbiting around a common center of mass and located approximately 323 light years away, the three stars are indistinguishable to the naked eye.

Just as the stars have guided wise men, emperors and explorers, the Lord has provided lights to guide us back into his presence. Elder Boyd K. Packer has counseled us to, "Set that sextant in your mind to the word covenant or the word ordinance. The light will come through. Then you can fix your position and set a true course in life" (May 1987).

Ordinances are sacred acts performed by the authority of the priesthood and designed by God to teach spiritual truths. Five ordinances are essential to our salvation and exaltation: baptism, confirmation, ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood for men, endowment and sealing. Each of these ordinances, like stars along a plotted course, are accompanied by specific covenants and blessings.

A covenant is a sacred promise between God and his children. God sets the conditions for each covenant and offers blessings for our obedience. We are all given agency to choose to enter the covenant or not, but we cannot expect to reach the Lord's desired destination for us unless we plot the course he has outlined. That is, we have no claim on the promised blessings, including our own salvation and/or exaltation, unless we have agreed to the terms.

Baptism, for example, is the first of the essential saving ordinances. We enter a covenant when we are baptized by immersion in water by one having authority. The prophet Alma taught:

Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life--

Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you (Mosiah 18:8-10)?

Alma outlined both requirements and blessings for the faithful who are baptized, but it is clear in scripture that we must be baptized to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. Christ taught his followers that "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). More explicitly, he taught Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

Similar requirements and blessings are associated with the remaining essential ordinances. The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood requires greater discipline and effort but offers greater rewards:

For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God. 

And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord... And he that receiveth me receiveth my father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood (D&C 84:33-39).

Even greater than the ancient Polynesian Empire is the Kingdom of God spread out across the cosmos. We are invited to join this glorious kingdom. To do so, we must do as the wise men did millennia ago and seek the Lord by following the lights he has provided. In accepting covenants we will be strengthened and taught along our path. We will be able to to see the next step and learn what we need to know. We can be endowed with divine power and sealed to our families for time and for all eternity. Many other blessings are available to those who will seek divine light.

Success in this journey can take more than our lifetime, but we must not allow our efforts to tire or fade. Those who are faithful in keeping the covenants they have made and endure the crosses of the world are promised to be made perfect in Christ, to complete their journey in the presence of our Eternal Father, and to take their place in His grand and glorious kingdom. Then we will feel to rejoice in the Epiphany of Christ with the poet who exclaimed:

How great the wisdom and the love

That filled the courts on high

And sent the Savior from above

To suffer, bleed, and die!

He marked the path and led the way,

And ev'ry point defines

To light and life and endless day

Where God's full presence shines.

How great, how glorious, how complete

Redemption's grand design,

Where justice, love, and mercy meet

In harmony divine!

(Eliza R. Snow, 1804-1887)

We Believe

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost (AoF 1:1). They are three distinct personages. The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us (D&C 130:22).

God is the literal father of our spirits. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). God so loved the world, his children, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression (AoF 1:2).

The Fall of Adam introduced two kinds of death or separation: Physical or temporal death is the separation of our spirits from our bodies; and spiritual death is when we are separated from God.

And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel (2 Nephi 9:11-12). For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).

So we see that the effects of the Fall of Adam, both physical and spiritual death, are completely absorbed in Christ. For behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead the stand before God, and be judged according to their works... And the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous (Alma 11:41-44, emphasis added).

But there is another Fall with which we should be concerned: our own. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel (AoF 1:3).

Jesus Christ taught: And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel (3 Nephi 27:20).

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost (AoF 1:4). God has restored his priesthood so that ordinances such as baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost can be performed by proper authority.

When Christ was on the earth, he established his church. That church was not primarily about any sort of building or social or cultural gathering place. Rather, he established his doctrine, his ordinances and covenants (including baptism and the sacrament), and his authority. Because God is not the author of confusion, he created an organization through which these elements could be preserved, exercised and shared with the world. Members of that ancient church were called saints.

There is one body, and one Spirit... One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all... 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... 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 (Ephesians 4:4-6, 11-14).

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof (AoF 1:5). Further, we believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth (AoF 1:6).

Those who are called to serve in any capacity receive spiritual gifts to enhance their service and benefit the whole church. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth (AoF 1:7). For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

These principles are the foundation of our faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, the author of our salvation. We know these things by their own words, for surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

From the beginning, God has called prophets to teach his doctrine, exercise his authority and perform the ordinances necessary to fulfill the covenants he has made with us. Throughout history, prophetic teachings have often been rejected and the people have fallen into a state of apostasy; but the Lord does not forget us. Because he loves us, his children, he will always call a new prophet to lead us back to him. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Christ himself were all called of God to reestablish his doctrine, covenants, ordinances and priesthood authority on the earth.

Prophets have taught the people and recorded God's word in the Holy Scriptures. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God (AoF 1:8).

The heavens are not closed. God is the same yesterday, today and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him. For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round (1 Nephi 10:18-19). We are also God's children and he continues to reveal his word through living prophets and to each of us through the Holy Ghost. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (AoF 1:9).

James 1:5-6 reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. These verses inspired a prayer that led to the restoration of Christ's ancient church; and they can inspire your prayer to know if these things are true.

We invite everyone to read The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is the fruit of the restoration and the evidence of God's prophetic pattern in our day. Toward the end of the book is a promise: And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:4-5).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church of Christ on the earth today. Christ personally leads the Church through living prophets. The Church contains the fullness of Christ's doctrine, covenants and ordinances. It is the only church authorized by God to perform those ordinances for the benefit of mankind. Through those ordinances and the grace of God, we can be saved and sealed together with our families for time and eternity. This is what we believe; and we invite you to pray to know for yourself. If you pray with faith and real intent to act, as the scriptures direct, God will reveal the truth of it to your heart and mind by the power of the Holy Ghost.

You Are What You Eat

Most cells in your body have an expiration date. A stomach cell only lives for a couple of days, skin cells last about a month, and red blood cells are with you about four months. Cells in your pancreas are hard at work regulating your blood sugar for about a year. Bone cells hang on for 25 - 30 years. Only very few-- like the cells that make the lens in your eye or the muscle of your heart-- last a lifetime.

So you don't fall to pieces, your body is constantly replacing, healing and regenerating cells that are injured, dead, or just worn out from helping you do what you do. This perpetual renovation means that the cells and molecules that make your physical self are seldom all the same from one moment to the next. You are always changing. And you're constantly deciding-- subconsciously or not-- what it is you're changing to be.

That's because your body gathers its building materials, be they for your liver or your toenails, from the nutrients in your food. In this way, we literally become what we have chosen to eat. A low-nutrient diet forces our body to improvise and we end up with the biological equivalent of a house made from cardboard and packing tape. Healthy eating gives our bodies what they need to build something a little stronger and more efficient.

For thousands of years, part of healthy eating has been whole-grain breads. Interestingly, bread also plays a significant role in many Bible stories and observances. Unleavened bread remains an important culinary and symbolic part of the Passover; it was bread from heaven, called Manna, that fed the Israelites in the desert after they escaped from the Egyptians; ravens brought bread to Elijah when he was hiding from the queen; and the widow of Zaraphath had an endless supply of oil and meal to make bread after feeding the prophet the last of what she had.

In the New Testament, Satan tempted Christ in the desert to turn rocks into bread and Christ broke bread to introduce the ordinance of the Sacrament to his apostles. There are dozens more examples, but none so impressive as when Christ used five loaves of bread and a few fish to feed 5,000 people on the coasts of Galilee. Some scholars believe that it was actually closer to 15,000 including women and children. Regardless of the number, it caught the people's attention.

Most of the thousands of people who were fed on this occasion had walked 5-7 miles along the coast of the Sea of Galilee to meet Christ on the other side. The Savior had left the city by boat that morning after hearing his friend and cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered. He had gone to be alone, but when he saw the crowd of people he had compassion on them and ministered the rest of the day to them.

When evening came, Christ encouraged the people to stay rather than making the long walk back to the city to find food. He broke five loaves of bread and a few fishes into pieces and had his disciples distribute the pieces to the crowd. After all had eaten, there were more than five loaves of bread and a few fishes left over. It was a miracle!

The first reaction of those present was to testify that "this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world" (John 6:14), but that reality means different things to different people. This crowd was hoping it would mean a lot of free meals. "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone" (John 6:15).

Human nature has hardly changed in two thousand years. The masses today often choose not only their religious and political leaders but also their furniture store and orthodontist based on the "free bread" that can be offered. At first glance, it may even seem that Christ avoided a great opportunity here. The people wanted him to be their king! How much easier would it be to share his message as a king than as a carpenter?!

Christ explained his refusal the next day when the crowd found him in the city. "Verily, verily, I say unto you," he said, "Ye seek me, not because ye desire to keep my sayings, neither because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled" (John 6:26). The Jews wanted a temporal Messiah that would free them from Rome and put food in their bellies; Christ had come with the much greater mission to free us all from sin and death and put the gospel in our hearts so we could one day be like him.

His mission wasn't concerned with votes or consensus or popular opinion, but rather commitment and devotion and discipleship. Followers without faith aren't any better than if they hadn't followed at all.

Addressing the crowd's focus on their next meal, he concluded his explanation with an admonition to, "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you" (John 6:27). Said another way, it's not the pot luck after church that nourishes our souls but the feast upon the Word that happens during church, at home and wherever else we choose to open our scriptures or go to our knees in prayer. It is by ingesting his gospel, not funeral potatoes and Jell-o, that our souls are able to heal, replace toxic habits and behaviors, and become stronger and more faithful.

With the advantage of two millenia of hindsight, it may seem easy to spot the short-sightedness of the people of Capernaum. They stood in the presence of the Creator, a god through whom all things are possible, and asked only for another loaf of bread. It is sometimes harder to recognize such smallness when our own approaches to the Divine become focused on similar requests for temporal wants or "golden goose" solutions that may be equally inappropriate and ungrateful.

Yet, we as they are often most persistent about our least important needs. When Christ refused to become their king, the crowd asked for Christ to simply provide more bread. When Christ refused again, they changed their approach and asked for the bread as a sign that he, like Moses, was doing the work of God. When Christ offered the bread of the gospel as a superior alternative to the manna their ancestors ate, the people responded, "Evermore, give us this bread," or, "That sounds great, but what we really need is something that goes with our lamb stew" (John 6:34).

Finally, in response to the crowd's oblivious persistence, Christ gave the people the formula for an endless supply of bread. "I am the bread of life," he taught, "he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). Unfortunately, the crowd was so focused on what they wanted that they did not perceive that they were being offered something much greater than a loaf of honey wheat. We can avoid their folly by zooming out to see that the formula Christ presents here-- and previously to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (John 4:13-14)--  is fulfilled in at least two different ways.

First, Christ gives us the bread and water of His gospel as we come unto him. That is, as we exercise our faith, continue to repent and improve ourselves, make and keep sacred covenants, and receive and follow the Holy Ghost, our souls receive the nutrients they need to repair and rebuild. And just as our DNA provides the blueprints for our physical bodies to build according to our biological heritage and the available nutrients, our souls have within them the potential to be like our Heavenly Father and our Heavenly Mother if we'll just feed it the right nutrients.

And second, Christ offers us the bread and water of the sacrament as symbols of his sacrifice for us and the covenants we have made with him. When the Lord instituted the Passover, he instructed the Israelites to both mark their doorposts with lamb's blood and consume the meat of the lamb in a special meal. The Israelites were physically saved and physically fed by their obedience. In like manner, the Lord instituted the sacrament so that we could symbolically eat the flesh of the Lamb of God and mark the doorposts of our souls with his blood. We are fed both body and spirit as we partake and delivered from sin and death through our obedience and the power of his atonement.

We witness as we partake of the sacrament that we will always remember him and keep his commandments. But what's more, Christ and the covenants we have made with him become a little more of who we are-- physically and spiritually-- as we take the sacrament each week.

Every day we decide to eat hot dogs or steaks, carrots or chips, yogurt and berries or twinkies and soda. We make the same kind of decisions about building spiritual cardboard huts or something more enduring. If we make a regular diet of the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, we will find that we will change from this moment to the next. More specifically, we will become the gospel that we have consumed and the image of the Lamb of God will radiate from our countenances. The choice is ours, but buyer beware: you are what you eat.