How can we know how to do what's right? Many people believe they have a conscience or some type of internal guidance system. We do, in fact, have a divine influence within all of us, helping us discern right from wrong. It's called the Spirit (or light) of Christ:
"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God" (Moroni 7:16).
For more, I encourage you to watch this video on light, in general, and the light of Christ, in particular. I'm confident you'll really enjoy it.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
And It Came to Pass: Our Daughter Reads the Scriptures
"It wasn't really so, but it seemed to me[!]"
We do our best to read from the scriptures, as a family, on a regular basis. The other day, our daughter convened the family, said a prayer, picked up the Book of Mormon, and started to say, "And it came to pass . . . mumble, mumble, mumble . . . And it came to pass, mumble, mumble, mumble."
If the Book of Mormon is new to you, it's a volume of ancient scripture from the Americas, and it contains the phrase, "And it came to pass" around 1,070 times, so I think you can see why our daughter might recall the phrase.
We were very tickled she remembered the phrase and, more importantly to us, we were thrilled she wanted to read and she remembered something from what we had read.
I'm intrigued to note one Egyptian scholar, an expert in Semitic languages, cited the frequent use of the phrase "and it came to pass" as evidence "the Book of Mormon was indeed a translation of 'the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.'" http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/in-tune-with-the-music-of-faith?lang=eng
I'll close with a similar story I heard while serving as a missionary in Peru, seven years ago:
"Many years ago, when our oldest children were six, four, and two, my wife and I sprang a pop quiz on them. We had been reading daily as a family from the Book of Mormon.
"'Who was the man,' my wife inquired, 'who went into the forests to hunt, but, instead, prayed all day and into the night?'
"After a few moments of silence, she ventured to help: 'His name starts with an E … e … e … e … e.'
"From the corner of the room, our two-year-old called out, 'Nos!'
"This child was the one who was playing in the corner—the one that we had thought was too little to understand."
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/if-christ-had-my-opportunities?lang=eng
I'm convinced our children are always old enough for us to start reading the scriptures with them. I encourage us all to continue reading with them or make a commitment to start.
We do our best to read from the scriptures, as a family, on a regular basis. The other day, our daughter convened the family, said a prayer, picked up the Book of Mormon, and started to say, "And it came to pass . . . mumble, mumble, mumble . . . And it came to pass, mumble, mumble, mumble."
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| And it came to pass! |
We were very tickled she remembered the phrase and, more importantly to us, we were thrilled she wanted to read and she remembered something from what we had read.
I'm intrigued to note one Egyptian scholar, an expert in Semitic languages, cited the frequent use of the phrase "and it came to pass" as evidence "the Book of Mormon was indeed a translation of 'the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.'" http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/in-tune-with-the-music-of-faith?lang=eng
I'll close with a similar story I heard while serving as a missionary in Peru, seven years ago:
"Many years ago, when our oldest children were six, four, and two, my wife and I sprang a pop quiz on them. We had been reading daily as a family from the Book of Mormon.
"'Who was the man,' my wife inquired, 'who went into the forests to hunt, but, instead, prayed all day and into the night?'
"After a few moments of silence, she ventured to help: 'His name starts with an E … e … e … e … e.'
"From the corner of the room, our two-year-old called out, 'Nos!'
"This child was the one who was playing in the corner—the one that we had thought was too little to understand."
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/if-christ-had-my-opportunities?lang=eng
I'm convinced our children are always old enough for us to start reading the scriptures with them. I encourage us all to continue reading with them or make a commitment to start.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
I shook Mitt Romney's hand, today: He's real
Crossposted from my Google+ account.
Yes, it's true. (Although, I confess he could have been a governator-style nanomorph sent back by Skynet.) I was impressed with how authentic and genuine he was, in contrast with what many pundits contend.
I enjoyed this pleasure because my family and I were fortunate enough to attend a Romney rally, this morning, in Cincinnati, thanks to a head's up from some friends of ours. The attendance was so high, we were diverted into an overflow room in the basement of the museum (formerly a train station). Over 3,000 attended. Our daughter was puzzled what happened to her favorite haunt. I imagine she must have felt like Cedric Diggery when he saw the Quidditch pitch turned into a Tri-Wizard tournament maze: What 'ave they done to it! She'll understand, some day. :)
It was Mitt's first political stop, since being nominated at the convention. (He made his first anything stop after the convention to visit the hurricane Isaac victims, who are still awaiting any visit from the current President . . .) W00t, Cincinnati!
Mitt said something like our basement audience was the most enthusiastic overflow crowd he'd ever seen. I assume we were at least up there!
I love what his wife Ann said about winning Ohio: If each supporter can find only one discouraged friend who voted for President Obama in 2008, and have that friend vote for Mitt in 2008, we will win Ohio.
For the sake of our country, I hope you'll join me in making that effort. Moreover, please be sure to support Josh Mandel for OH senate and Republicans everywhere!
Yes, it's true. (Although, I confess he could have been a governator-style nanomorph sent back by Skynet.) I was impressed with how authentic and genuine he was, in contrast with what many pundits contend.
I enjoyed this pleasure because my family and I were fortunate enough to attend a Romney rally, this morning, in Cincinnati, thanks to a head's up from some friends of ours. The attendance was so high, we were diverted into an overflow room in the basement of the museum (formerly a train station). Over 3,000 attended. Our daughter was puzzled what happened to her favorite haunt. I imagine she must have felt like Cedric Diggery when he saw the Quidditch pitch turned into a Tri-Wizard tournament maze: What 'ave they done to it! She'll understand, some day. :)
It was Mitt's first political stop, since being nominated at the convention. (He made his first anything stop after the convention to visit the hurricane Isaac victims, who are still awaiting any visit from the current President . . .) W00t, Cincinnati!
Mitt said something like our basement audience was the most enthusiastic overflow crowd he'd ever seen. I assume we were at least up there!
I love what his wife Ann said about winning Ohio: If each supporter can find only one discouraged friend who voted for President Obama in 2008, and have that friend vote for Mitt in 2008, we will win Ohio.
For the sake of our country, I hope you'll join me in making that effort. Moreover, please be sure to support Josh Mandel for OH senate and Republicans everywhere!
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