An Amazing Weekend

Stock photo from lds.org

Today was the culmination of an amazing weekend.  Our ward had 8 confirmations to start our Sacrament meeting as 8 of the 9 people baptized on Friday and Saturday were confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and given the gift of the Holy Ghost.  This has been an amazing journey.  The Elders (Keller & Bowman, Stephens & Boss) have been working very hard to prepare these people for baptism, but it hasn’t just been their efforts alone in this process.  The members of our ward have been stepping up and assisting in very meaningful ways as well.  It’s been great to have my weekly meeting with the Elders and learn that not only are the assigned brethren showing up for the weekly team-up, but that both brothers and sisters of the ward have been stepping up to assist in teaching at times other than Tuesday.  With Ben going through his pain management program and he and Jennifer being gone until after 7 on those three days during the week, I haven’t been able to go out with the Elders when they’ve called.  I’ve felt bad, but they’ve understood.  I come home, have to put dinner together, race over to the school to pick up Isaac and Xavier from football practice, drop Xavier off and return home either just ahead or right behind Jennifer and Ben.  It appears, however, that other members have gone in my place when the Elders have asked and that has been wonderful.

I was able to conduct the baptismal service held Friday night, but there was a moment when I wasn’t sure if this would actually happen.  I had brought church clothes to work, planning to change just before I left for the day, but some last minute work projects made me run a bit past the time I had planned to leave; I had no time to change and then realized I needed to get gas before I got on the freeway L.  I was able to leave a half hour early from work in the hopes that I would be able to make the 5 p.m. start time for the baptisms.  The last several Friday’s traffic has been good, not great, but with minimal slowdowns.  Not so on this Friday.  By the time I reached the 210/15 split, traffic ground to a 25 mph crawl.  Oh, the humanity!

I called Jennifer to let her know what has happening.  My commute became a slow motion nightmare as I watched the clock on my dashboard move closer to 5 o’clock and realized I wasn’t going to make the meeting on time.  Just as I was about to call Jennifer again, she called me.  By this time, traffic had finally loosened to a point where I was traveling at almost normal speeds.  My prospects of arriving on time, however, were non-existent.  I knew I was going to be 15 to 20 minutes late.  When I finally pulled into the parking lot of the church building, I learned that others who were going to be part of the program had also been caught in the traffic mess coming up the pass.  Also, the Rodriguez family, who were scheduled to be baptized that day, had been experiencing problems with their van and the Elders weren’t sure if they were going to make it or not—they didn’t, but were baptized the next day.  I’m grateful that Keyon and Lashele Ward, Suse Bissonnette and those in attendance weren’t upset we started 30 minutes late.  The service was good; the Spirit was there in abundance; and everything turned out very well. J

One of the bonuses of the baptisms was their location.  Elder Stephens & Boss were having a difficult time securing a site because of either preparations for or plans surrounding the Women’s Conference broadcast on Saturday.  Finally, they had to turn to the Hesperia Stake and found the Hickory building to be available.  I served in Hesperia during my mission.  One of the wards my companionship was assigned to (I don’t recall which at the moment) met in the Hickory building.  I might possibly have entered that ward building once not long after my mission, but if not, I hadn’t been inside the building since I was transferred from Hesperia to Mira Loma.  The memories were thick in that room for me.

After the service, I was standing in the hallway and had a moment when I almost expected a younger version of myself, wearing a black, lightly pinstriped Mr. Mac suit, to appear around the opposite corner and come walking down the corridor.  What would I have said to him?  I wouldn’t have wanted to disrupt the space-time continuum and give out too much information.  Still, I could see the me of today telling my missionary self to not let go of the gospel because of the wonderful blessings that would come later on if I remained faithful.  Those blessings, like the one experienced today, would help to shape who I am today and continue to mold who I want to become in the future. J

“What the What?”

I had an interesting revelation today.  No, it wasn’t an earth-shattering spiritual blowout or anything of that nature; just an unexpected piece of information offered to me.  Gumball and Penny have been a part of our family for over a month now.  We have really enjoyed having them.  I had forgotten how much I liked having a cat who would sit with me and allow me to pet him or her without wanting to tear the flesh from my hands.  I haven’t made any goofy cat videos, but they’ve been hilarious to watch as they run around the house and play with one another.  At times, one will run to one side of a door and the other will remain on the other side and they will then attack each other’s feet under the door.  Anyway, I’m getting off the subject.  Gumball was sitting with me and I was giving him a tummy rub when it suddenly dawned on me that … well, he isn’t a he; he’s a she.  I suppose I’ve had an inkling about the possibility of a difference in gender for a week or so, but I haven’t really pursued the suspicion until this evening.  Instead of a brother and sister combo, we’ve got a sister and sister tandem.  We’ll stick with the name Gumball.  We’ve used it for too long to change midstream.  Not that this is some sort of epic revelation.  Kingdoms will not rise and fall and the earth will continue to spin on its axis, but when I first introduced our new furry friends in this post, I called them a boy and girl because that was what we had been told.  Now no one will be confused if I call them both “she” from this time forth … hopefully. J

Tithes and Offerings (Lesson 32)

In Genesis, we read of the time when the Lord renewed with Jacob the covenant previously made with his grandfather, Abraham.  In response, Jacob “vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go ... then shall the Lord be my God: And … of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee” (Genesis 28:20-22, emphasis added).  Years earlier, Abraham had willingly contributed of his substance to the Lord.  Upon returning “from the slaughter of the kings” (Hebrews 7:1), he met “Melchizedek, king of Salem” (Genesis 14:18), the great high priest, and to “this same Melchizedek ... Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed” (Alma 13:15, emphasis added).  From these scriptural accounts, we learn that the law of tithing is not new.  It was a commandment practiced during the time of Abraham and was carried down through the Old Testament.  If we believe that God “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (1 Nephi 10:18), we should not be surprised to find that a law established for His people living in Old Testament times would be renewed with His Saints in the latter-days.

In a revelation to the Church given July 8, 1838, the Lord declared: “And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people ... Those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever” (D&C 119:3-4).  A letter from the First Presidency, dated March 19, 1970, defined a proper tithe in this manner: “The simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely, that the members of the Church should pay ‘one-tenth of all their interest annually,’ which is understood to mean income.”  Interest means increase; increase is defined as income.  Based on this definition, when we receive income, the Lord has commanded we pay one-tenth of that income to Him through his Church.

Why have we been given the law of tithing?  The Lord answered this question when He declared to the Old Testament prophet Malachi, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and prove me now herewith ... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8, 10).  We have we been given the law of tithing because our Father in Heaven desires to bless us with such abundance that our cups cannot receive them all.  He cannot do this, however, unless he tests our faithfulness; and one of the greatest ways He accomplishes this is by asking us to return to him a tenth of what we earn.

The blessings referred to are both temporal and spiritual in nature.  “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,” God declares through Malachi, “and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground” (Malachi 3:11).  While this promise can definitely be seen as temporal—saving crops from locusts and pests, the “devourer” could also be a name for Satan—the fruits of the ground meaning the spiritual fruits that accompany a desire to follow God and His Son Jesus Christ.  Either way, the Lord promises to protect us from temporal or spiritual devouring.  I have seen many temporal blessings come to me and my family because Jennifer and I made the commitment to be full tithe payers at the beginning of our marriage—anonymous gifts; money received from unexpected sources; repairs that didn’t cost as much as first feared.  To some people, these incidents might be brushed aside as coincidence or luck, but to me, they have been a reaffirmation of the temporal blessings promised by the Lord to those who pay their tithing.

Of even greater significance, however, are the spiritual blessings that come when we pay our tithing.  There are many, but I will focus on one: the opportunity to attend the temple.  Consistent temple attendance allows us to receive, as President Thomas S. Monson declared, “everything the Church has to offer” (Ensign, May 2011, 93).  In order to have this blessing available to us, it is imperative that we follow our Father in Heaven’s commandments; doing so will enable us to receive this amazing blessing.  Three months after the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred, Brigham Young taught this principle to the Saints when he admonished: “Enter steadily and regularly upon a strict observance of the law of tithing, ... then come up to the House of the Lord, and be taught in his ways, and walk in his paths” (History of the Church, 7:282).

Because each temple is dedicated as “The House of the Lord,” Heavenly Father sets the standards for qualification to enter His house.  One of the requirements to be worthy to enter the temple is that we must be a full tithe payer.  Elder Hales explained: “The strict observance of the law of tithing not only qualifies us to receive the higher, saving ordinances of the temple, it allows us to receive them on behalf of our ancestors. When asked whether members of the Church could be baptized for the dead if they had not paid their tithing, President John Taylor, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, answered: ‘A man who has not paid his tithing is unfit to be baptized for his dead. ... If a man has not faith enough to attend to these little things, he has not faith enough to save himself and his friends’” (Ensign, Nov. 2002, 26-27).

Tithing is a test of our faith.  To give a tenth of our income to the Lord is not always an easy thing to do—in fact it may always be a difficult thing to do, but the blessings we can receive from the Lord in return for our faithfulness far surpasses the sacrifice.  The question might be asked: Why would God require us to pay tithing in order to enter the temple?  Consider these facts: Our Father in Heaven has blessed us with our mortal lives; He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins and break the bands of physical death; the strength we have to work and maintain ourselves and our families is bestowed upon us by Him; He has given us this Church as a way for us to come closer to Him through the mediation of our Savior; He has directed His latter-day prophets to build temples, which enables Him to endow us “with power from on high” (D&C 38:32); He waits for us, with open arms, to return to Him in His kingdom where He will bestow upon us, if we have proven ourselves faithful, “all that [He] hath” (D&C 84:38)!  For all of these things and more, our Father asks us for a tenth of our income.  When you consider what He is asking of us in light of what He already gives us or is promising to give us, can we truly, in our heart, say that He is asking too much of us?

“Tithing is a principle that is fundamental to the personal happiness and well-being of the Church members worldwide, both rich and poor,” taught President James E. Faust. “Tithing is a principle of sacrifice and a key to the opening of the windows of heaven ... Members of the Church who do not tithe do not lose their membership; they only lose blessings” (Ensign, Nov. 1998, 58-59).  When we show our faith and sacrifice to Heavenly Father through the payment of tithes, he truly will “open ... the windows of heaven, and pour ... out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”  I know this is true for I have seen it happen in my own life again and again.

Becoming

While preparing for the Melchizedek Priesthood lesson this morning, I was looking in the November 2000 conference Ensign for a quote from Elder Holland and came across Elder Oaks' talk "The Challenge to Become" again.  In the Gospel Principles lesson on charity, I focused solely on his quote concerning that important attribute.  This time, I read the entire talk and the overall concept he taught struck me.  The idea dovetailed into something I'd been thinking about since meeting with the missionaries yesterday.  I felt impressed to bear my testimony about this gospel truth during Sacrament meeting today, and I want to mention those thoughts (as best as I can recall them) in this post with the addition of added scripture verses and quotations.

The Savior's command to the Nephites, his followers in Jerusalem, and to us is to "be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (3 Nephi 12:48).  Later, to drive the point further, Jesus asked His new world apostles, "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?" and then answered His question, "Verily I say unto you, even as I am" (3 Nephi 27:27).  This is a lofty goal; a very high ideal.  Because we live in telestial circumstances, we find ourselves making mistakes left and right as we struggle to achieve this goal.  If we allow it, this commandment could cause paralysis ("If I make a mistake, I'm doomed.") or defeatism ("I can't live up to this standard!  What's the point of trying?  I give up!").  However, as I grow older, I have come to realize that the obtainment of perfection in this life is not what the Lord is concerned about.  Instead, He is much more interested and focused on what the goal helps us to become.  Elder Oaks explained that "the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become" (Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32, emphasis in original).

I my opinion, the measuring stick Heavenly Father uses in His evaluation of each of us (His children) has more to do with our effort than anything else.  Allow me to illustrate:  Yesterday, Isaac played in his first ever tackle football game.  He's wanted to play this type of football for a long time, but the little league team in the area had a very pricey yearly admission fee (with other costs along the way).  Consequently, the closest he's come to "real" football is a couple of flag football teams courtesy of the local city leagues (here's a picture of him running for a touchdown when he was 6).  Midway through the 4th quarter, the opposing team had scored and was getting ready to try for the extra point.  I saw the coach walk up to Isaac and talk to him.  Immediately, I had a feeling he would be going in for the kick-off return and I tapped Jennifer on the shoulder, "Isaac's going in."  Sure enough, as our team prepared for the kick-off return, Isaac ran onto the field.  He was in the front line.  The moment he entered the game, my attention was riveted on him (so much so that I forgot to take a picture of him L).  He got in a stance and readied himself.  As soon as the football was kicked, I watched as he prepared to block the opposing player who was running toward him.  He put his arm up in a blocking motion (a "flipper" as he called it later), and readied himself.  There was a collision of bodies ... and Isaac found himself on the ground.  To his credit, he jumped up and ran off to try and find someone else to block.  Before he could make any effort to do so, his teammate with the ball was tackled and thus ended his very first game experience.

After the final horn sounded, I walked up to Isaac and told him, "I'd rather see you get knocked on your butt trying to do what you're supposed to do, then see you stand there letting people run past you without making any effort at all."  I also told him I was pleased to see him get up quickly and try to stick with the play rather than lay there on the ground until the whistle blew.  According to Isaac, his coach had also singled him out after the game, telling the team he'd rather play a scared kid who would at least try than a lazy kid who wouldn't do anything.

This brings me back to my earlier statement.  Often in life we see the opponent coming toward us.  We get our "flipper" up and get in our stance and think we're going to handle our block ... and get run over and knocked on our hind quarters instead!  I don't see this scenario as the definition of perfection.  Perfection would be for us to block the opponent and sustain a textbook block until the whistle blew.  Instead, we find ourselves staring up into the sky wondering what the heck happened.  At that moment we can think to ourselves, "Oh, no, the coach will never let me play in another game ever again!" or "I did everything right and I still got knocked on my can!  What's the point?  I give up," or we can get up and try to get back into the play as quickly as possible.  Isaac could have allowed the first two thoughts enter his head and continued to lay on the ground, but he didn't.  He got up and tried to get back into the play.  His effort was rewarded not by a scolding, but by the coach telling the rest of the team he was the type of player he could use on his team.  I believe Heavenly Father is the same in that regard.  He's not going to "upbraid" us (see James 1:5) for getting knocked on our backside while trying to do what we've were sent into the game to accomplish.  He's going to see us as someone He can use; someone He can work with to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39)—ours as well as others.

At the same time, however, it's important to also recognize that Father isn't interested in "checklist" discipleship, hitting our benchmarks and moving on without a backward glance.  Nephi understood the importance of thinking in terms of becoming instead of checklists.  After a lengthy explanation of the importance of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, Nephi asked, "And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay" (2 Nephi 31:19)!  Nephi recognized baptism to be the beginning, not the end of the journey.  Baptism allowed the disciple to step through the gate on to the strait and narrow path.  From that starting point, Nephi encouraged the man or woman in Christ to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" and  if he or she does these things while "feasting upon the word of Christ, and endur[ing] to the end" (2 Nephi 31:20), then he or she will become "perfected in [Christ], and ... then is [Christ's] grace sufficient" (Moroni 10:32) to make up the difference for what we lack.  Elder Oaks taught, "The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become. This spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of right choices, and from continuing repentance. ... Now is the time for each of us to work toward ... becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become" (Ensign, Nov. 2000, 33).

I am grateful for this concept.  I've made plenty of mistakes along my mortal journey, but I am grateful for repentance and the opportunity to overcome my mistakes.  There have been times when I thought I was ready to block the opposing player running toward me and been knocked tail over teakettle.  I am thankful that my Eternal Coach hasn't given up on me and has continued to let me play.  When I consider who I am today as opposed to who I was when I returned home from my mission, I realize I've made some significant progress.  I also realize, however, that I have a long way to go.  Once again, I am grateful for the things my boys teach me and for the opportunity I have to share my testimony of Christ's teachings with others.