General Conference—Priesthood Session

Elder Bednar
What is the most defining characteristic of the church?
The priesthood
D&C 58:29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned. 
Priesthood is selfless. Require obedience. 
His father was not a member of the church. He asked, why, if the priesthood was restored and unique to our church, didn't members of our church differ more from people in other churches, especially in performing their duty?
However old he was when he baptized his dad, he looked exactly like he does now. 
He used to ask sisters somewhere what support they needed from him and the answer was always about helping their husbands to know/understand their responsibility as a priesthood leader in their homes. The specific examples were around scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening.  

Does Betsy wish I did more to lead the family?

Richard Edgley formerly first counselor in the presiding bishopric
Helping less active members return to full fellowship. Told a story about a dude who went inactive early in life but came back late in life. Lamented that none of his kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids are active in the church.  He traced the progeny of some less active great uncle or other in his family tree, and found something like 20,000 people by 6 generations later. I just did that math, and great uncle and all his progeny would have had to average 6.1 children each to get to 20k. I wonder how far back that uncle was. If you go too far, mortality rates prevent a larger portion of those kids from reaching adulthood, and if it was too recent, you run into declining birth rates, also preventing that from happening. 

Adrian Ochoa - Second counselor in YM presidency
Combo message on the fact that this is a war and thy should arise and use the power of god. 

President Uchtdorf
When he was called as deacons quorum president, there was either one or two deacons in the branch. His branch president took the time to tell him not only what, but why, and the why holds the keys to understanding the power. The what informs, the why transforms. 
He was called to be a stake president when he had just been promoted at work, and expected to be extremely busy. Church activities should be based on the why, and not on flashy trends. (Flashy trends was extremely hard to understand through his accent.) 
How shall we know where to focus our efforts, activities? Study scriptures, pray seek revelation. Pure hearts, seek glory of God.  It is in the application of doctrine that the purifying flame of something grows.  
Consider the words spoken here. Pray and ask for guidance in daily life and church responsibilities and specific challenges. Few the promptings of the spirit. 

President Henry Eyering
Keys of the sealing power. 
Gave some pointers, #2 was love your wife. 

President Thomas S. Monson
Thoughts and teachings from former church leaders on the priesthood. John Tayler called the priesthood the government of God. He loves duty. When God speaks and man obeys, that man will always be right. 
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was duty (dharma). I acted, and behold, duty was joy!  (Dharma is sometimes translated "service" but president Monson said it "duty".)
Back when he was a new bishop (age 22) there were a lot of people serving in the military (23 from his ward) and the church asked that the ward come up with funds to cover subscription to the church news and magazines. He said that the priesthood quorums, with difficulty, covered the cost of the subscriptions.  I am blessed to live in a ward where covering the cost of something like that would not be a challenge.  Do your duty, that is best. Leave unto the Lord the rest. President Monson is an amazing speaker. 

Enos

Enos 1:14 For at the present our strugglings were vain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would destroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers. One of the great things about growing up in the west is that somehow I feel that I absorbed this idea that all men are created equal, and that anybody can work hard and succeed in life. Somehow I was blessed to grow up without inheriting any strong animosity towards any single group of people. (To be fair, I did believe that I hated the Russians for a long time, but I blame that more on Rocky and Bulwinkle than anything else.) When I look at the world now, there are so many groups of people who grow up quite literally hating one another for no other reason than group affiliation: the Jews and the Arabs, the racism of the south, the separatists in Spain and France, the Chechnyans in Russia, the list is as long as you care to make it. What is it that allows some societies to avoid that? Is it constant war that brings it on and lack thereof that makes it go away? How long do you have to live without war before the kids stop listening to the parents about how terrible another group of people is? The Nephites claim that the Lamanites want to destroy them, but by the time Zeniff goes to try to reclaim the original land of their inheritance, there are quite a few Nephites who hate the Lamanites just as much as the Lamanites hate them, with both sides feeling robbed by the other.

Enos

I'd like to visit this idea that God grants to men according to their desires.

Eons 1:12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith. Enos's desires were granted because of his faith.

Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Our desires are contingent on our delight in the Lord.


Alma 41:3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh. Our final state is consistent with our desires while in mortality. Does this mean that The timing of the granted desires is post mortem?

D&C 7:8 8 Verily I say unto you, ye shall both have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired. There are different desires that are acceptable to the Lord and appropriately make us happy.

D&C 11:17 And then, behold, according to your desires, yea, even according to your faith shall it be done unto you. This one seems to equate desires with faith. Does that correlation exist only for righteous desires or is a lack of faith equivalent and associated with unrighteousness desires?

Enos

Enos 1:11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.
12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith. When Enos prayed for the Nephites, the Lord said, "I'll bless them if they're good and punish them if they're bad," or "naw, not going to change what I was planning to do with the Nephites just because you prayed about it." But when he prays for the Lamanites, the Lord says, "ok. I'll do what you're asking."
Of course, you've to remember that the Nephites and Lamanites mingle and blend around the coming of Christ so there isn't necessarily any specific genealogical tieback to Laman himself when they finally kill all the Nephites.

Enos

Enos 1:4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. Enos spent the whole day crying to God in supplication. It's hard for me to ask God for things. I find that in my personal prayers, I will mention things that I think might be challenging or are worrisome to me, but I always feel a little ungrateful to ask for more. I wonder, though, if supplicating God for your soul is different from asking for things like health or safety or confidence and success at work.

1:9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them. The scriptural case for asking others to pray for you is quite strong, and it makes me wonder a little bit, how does another person praying for you affect your agency and the consequences of your actions? Throughout the Old Testament, you generally see an individual or a group of people who ask ask prophet to pray for them, but what if you don't ask? Enos's prayer here is unsolicited, and the Lord tells him that he will keep the covenant he has already made with them (if they serve the Lord, they will prosper, but if they reject him, he will do likewise), which isn't much of an impact. So do our prayers in behalf of our children make a difference in their lives?

Enos

Enos 1:1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man-for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord-and blessed be the name of my God for it.

Does this settle the nature vs. nurture battle? Is nurture more important than nature in child development? I'm a big believer in nature, but here as well as in Ephesians, it commends the practice of bringing children up in the nurture of the Lord.

The reason that Enos knows his father was just is because he taught him in his language. Is teaching children really a good way to help them to know us as parents? Do they recognize us through what we teach them after they have grown?

Jacob 7

Jacob 7:21 And when the multitude had witnessed that he spake these things as he was about to give up the ghost, they were astonished exceedingly; insomuch that the power of God came down upon them, and they were overcome that they fell to the earth. What's with all the passing out in the Book of Mormon? It seems like people are constantly being overcome by teh spirit so that they fall to the earth. I don't know anybody who has been overcome in this way. I suppose, though, the book o Mormon spans quite a bit more time than I have been alive, so maybe I will see it sometime.

Jacob 7

Jacob 7:20 And it came to pass that when he had said these words he could say no more, and he gave up the ghost. Sherem died after requesting a sign from God that Jacob was correct in his belief in Christ. The sign was that he fell down, didn't die for many days while he lay unconscious, and then woke up long enough to say he was wrong and die. (The scripture says he "gave up the ghost" but really, it was taken from him. Nobody bug Christ really has the power to choose whether they live or die but that's completely beside the point.)

In Jeremiah, when a prophet named Hananiah was preaching falsely to the people, the Lord sent Jeremiah to say, you're going to die for lying to the people in the name of the Lord. 15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. If the lord was in the business of killing people who say things in his name without permission, why are there so many churches on the earth? What makes the determination of when it's a capital crime and when to let it go? In the circumstance with Hananiah, the people believed him to be a literal prophet of God, invested with authority to speak in the name of the Lord. But that wasn't true in Sherem's case. He wasn't the prophet, and everyone knew it.

Jacob 7

Jacob 7:11 Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ.

None of the prophets have written or prophesied without including Christ? This is why I wonder if the scriptures of other religions are actually some of the records we're supposed to find that testify of Christ. I do not see Christ in every book of scripture I read, and I find some of the "messianic" psalms to be a convenient stretch. They sometimes read more like something David is saying about his own feelings and later, for convenience' sake, someone says, hmmm, Christ must have felt like that at such and such point in his life, so that makes this poem that David wrote as a hobby about his own life actually prophetic in nature. Maybe. Maybe not.

7:15 And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days. Does this mean he was nourished by God while he was in a coma or nourished and cared for by Jacob and his peers? I like the idea of him being nourished by God better.

Jacob 7

Jacob 7:4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.

Sherem came to argue with Jacob about wheth Christ would come or not and Jacob makes a point to highlight Sherem's learning. This makes me wonder whether they had organized education or if it was just parents teaching their children. I wonder if Jacob considered himself learned. He could after all, inscribe his commentary into the Book of Mormon.

7:7 And ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way.

Sherem wants them to adhere to the law of Moses, implying that (a) he didn't think they were and (b) the law of Moses was pleasing unto the people. That's a very interesting thought, that the law of Moses in all it's strictness could be easier to live with than the belief in Christ.

Jacob 5

Lets track the Nephites throughout the chapter.

Jacob 5:25 And he said unto the servant: Look hither and behold the last. Behold, this have I planted in a good spot of ground; and I have nourished it this long time, and only a part of the tree hath brought forth tame fruit, and the other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit; behold, I have nourished this tree like unto the others.
26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire.
27 But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little longer, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season. this is the first clear reference to th Nephites. They were planted in the promised land, and only half of them were good.

5:39 And it came to pass that they went down into the nethermost parts of the vineyard. And it came to pass that they beheld that the fruit of the natural branches had become corrupt also; yea, the first and the second and also the last; and they had all become corrupt.
40 And the wild fruit of the last had overcome that part of the tree which brought forth good fruit, even that the branch had withered away and died. and here we are at the beginning of this dispensation, where the Nephites had all perished and the Lamanites had overcome them. He continues to say, 43 And behold this last, whose branch hath withered away, I did plant in a good spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.
44 And thou beheldest that I also cut down that which cumbered this spot of ground, that I might plant this tree in the stead thereof.
45 And thou beheldest that a part thereof brought forth good fruit, and a part thereof brought forth wild fruit; and because I plucked not the branches thereof and cast them into the fire, behold, they have overcome the good branch that it hath withered away., speaking of the Jaredites who were inhabiting the land prior to the Nephites.

Jacob 5

This theme of people joining the family of Abraham is a favorite of Paul's. He revisits it again in Galatians 3:7-9 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. joining the seed of Abraham is one of the great blessings of the gospel, in that we are able to partake of the blessings promised to him: specific lands throughout eternity, infinite posterity, and the priesthood. I've always thought that the property one feels a little out of place with the other two, almost like it isn't eternal enough, but I haven't really ever understood the whole new heaven new earth thing with this earth becoming the celestial kingdom after the resurrection anyway, so perhaps someday Abraham will explain it to me if he's got a minute.

Jacob 5:18 And he said unto the servant: Behold, the branches of the wild tree have taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root thereof hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root thereof the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit. Now, if we had not grafted in these branches, the tree thereof would have perished. And now, behold, I shall lay up much fruit, which the tree thereof hath brought forth; and the fruit thereof I shall lay up against the season, unto mine own self.

I wonder how literally we're intended to take this allegory. Now that I have a rudimentary knowledge of the way grafting works, I understand that the strength of the roots flows to the newly grafted branches (in real trees) only if you cut off any natural branches that are growing higher on the trunk than the graft. Is the success of Christianity a direct result of the Romans sacking Israel and the dispersion of the Lord's covenant people? Could Christianity have flourished (in the world outside of Israel) if it had not been rejected there?

Jacob 5

I just fund a couple of great additions to the allegory, this first one was spoken by Paul to the Romans, and in it, he explains to them that they are the wild branch that was grafted in and that the natural branches had been plucked out due to unbelief, but that they could very naturally be grafted back in again.

Romans 11:16-24 If the root be holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee...
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

There's also a great reference in Jeremiah, where God tells Jeremiah that Israel was a beloved olive tree that he was going to set afire because they were not bringing forth good fruit. Jeremiah was prophesying about the time Lehi left Jerusalem, which is about when the natural olive tree started to decay bad enough that the natural branches were about to be cut off.

Jeremiah 11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
16 The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
17 For the Lord of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

Jacob 5

So in the allegory, the tame olive tree represents the House of Israel, and the wild olive trees represent the gentiles, or everybody else. But in the story, the only tree that produces good fruit is the tame tree, either by grafting its branches onto wild trees temporarily and harvesting from those branches of the wild trees, or by harvesting from its own branches on itself, or by grafting in branches from the wild trees and giving credit to the roots of the tame tree. What's wrong with the other trees? Why is it so hard for them to produce a good olive?

I'm also curious about this idea that grafting in wild branches will heal the tree. I wonder if it is something that actually happens. Can you heal a tree that is not growing well by cutting off its branches and grafting in branches from a wild tree, the way you might breed a sick purebred animal with a wild animal to combat the inbreeding its probably been subjected to in order to become purebred?

Well, it turns out there are some reasons you might choose to graft a tree, but most of them don't actually seem to deal with healing a tree that is decaying. However, the process is very interesting and worth exploring.

In a typical grafting process, you have a scion (twig or bud from the wild tree) and a rootstock (trunk and roots from the parent tree) and arborists will typically cut off any branches of the original tree that are growing above the placed scion, thus ensuring that the nutrients from the rootstock will all flow to the new branches, strengthening them much faster than they would otherwise. A scion is chosen for the good characteristics it can give an existing rootstock, (e.g. flowers, fruit, or form). A rootstock also adds unique strengths. The right rootstock can be more than just roots. The right variety of rootstock can be adapted to a type of soil that the scion alone would fail in, such as clay-soil adapted apple rootstocks. Some pear rootstocks make the plant bear fruit and ripen earlier (“precociousness”). Some grape rootstocks are chosen for resistance to parasitic soil nematodes.

In the allegory, the pruning of the tame tree prior to grafting in the wild branches is consistent with sending the strength for growth from the roots, which were adapted to the Old Testament scriptures and knowledge of God to the new converts, and grafting the branches from the tame tree elsewhere, rather than planting tame trees, allowed them to exist in conditions where they may not have survived on their own.

Jacob 5

I was just asked to teach the Sunday school lesson in two weeks, which will be on Jacob 5, not one of my favorite chapters in scripture, so I figure I should spend some time thinking about it. Here's the way I think of the allegory before I re-read through the whole thing.

Lord sees tree is wasting (Israel around several hundred BC).

Cuts off branches and takes them to other parts of his vineyard (Ten Tribes, Nephites, etc.).

Brings wild branches in (apostolic conversions of nations post Christ).

Both prosper (Nephites are righteous, converts believe in Christ).

Both wither (universal apostasy).

Lord comes back, grafts back in original olive branches (restoration of gospel, gathering of Israel)

Good fruit gathered. Vineyard burned (righteous take up to Christ at the second coming and the earth is cleansed by fire).

I'll explore more tomorrow. Same topic.

Jacob 5

Jacob 5:3 For behold, thus saith the Lord, I will liken thee, O house of Israel, like unto a tame olive-tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and began to decay. I know it's an allegory, but even the Jews had to know that olive trees live a long time. There is a tree in Crete that was cut down and shown through tree-ring analysis to be slightly over 2,000 years old. (Source) Shouldn't matter to me, but it does a little bit.

The thing that interests me in this allegory is the idea that there is one tree that the Lord of the vineyard is concerned about. He grafts the branches of that one tree into other wild trees in other parts of his vineyard. But they're still his trees in his vineyard--why would he have wild trees in his vineyard? Why not prune and dig and nourish all the trees in his vineyard, rather than just grafting in branches and plucking fruit from only those branches, however they thrive?

Jacob 4

Jacob 4:14 But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.
What does it mean to seek for things you can not understand? Does it mean to research the odd things in church history? Polygamy, for example. Or is that something we should understand? What about simpler things like why you need two priesthood holders and oil when the prayer of faith works great in their absence? Or why would you need to seek for someone with the gift of healing when the blessing is predicated on the worthiness of the sick person and the will of God regardless of who performs it? Is worrying about those sort of things seeking for things we cannot understand?

Does looking beyond the mark mean to expect more from God than the plan allows? Thus passage reads like an indictment of the Jews for not recognizing Christ, which they didn't do in part because he didn't fix the purely mortal problems they were struggling with in regards to the roman occupation. Are we looking beyond the mark when we pray for purely mortal concerns?

Jacob 4

Jacob 4:6-7 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things. Couple of thoughts: first, their faith comes from searching the scriptures. This is consistent with something Paul said about faith comes by hearing the word. The scriptures seem to be important beyond their educational content, and the study of the scriptures seems to do more than educate—it seems to actually grow faith. Second, what weakness were they shown that reminds them (effectively) that they are not responsible for their capabilities (you may not have noticed, but he didn't say that they do command, but that they can command. So if you've got an individual who is capable of moving mountains, what do you show him within his own self that reminds him that he's not actually responsible for that unused prowess? It seems like a flaw in the system because you've already restricted him to using the ability only when you say it's ok. Is he really going to forget that he's using the power on sufferance if it doesn't work unless he checks with you first?

Jacob 4

Jacob 4:5 Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son. James E. Talmage talks about how the Nephites were more willing to accept that salvation did not come by way of the law than the Hebrews were, as shown by their willingness to accept Christ when he arrived and by verses like this one. Now, I would say that there are also scriptures in the old testament that make it clear that the Hebrews (at least those more than 600 years prior to Christ) understood that the law did not justify them, and point out that some Jews were willing to accept the conclusion of the period of living under the law of Moses. I would also point out that in the Americas, all the wicked people were buried under mountains or burned in fires or washed out to the sea, which left only the righteous, and I wouldn't put it past a group of righteous peopl anywhere to be willing to accept truth when Christ himself shows up to declare it to them. And finally, I would point out that the Nephites had to live without the Leviticus priesthood throughout their entire history, which may have contributed to their willingness to abandon the mosaic law. Prophets, who held the melchezidick priesthood could come from any tribe, and could be ordained by another prophet, an angel, or anyone with the authority to do so. Levites and Aaron's other progeny were the only people who could be priests under the levitical law, giving the office a great deal of tradition, ceremony, and clear cut rules, somewhat akin to nobility. People who grow up with nobility have a harder time throwing it off and accepting the idea of everyone being equal than those who grow up with elected leaders.

A useful reference for this verse is in Galatians, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Do we have laws now that are schoolmasters, to bring us to Christ? One thing that comes to mind immediately is the law of tithing. If we live the law of consecration, will we pay tithing? I can't imagine how that would work. What about the word of wisdom? If we all had self discipline and exercised moderation in all things, would we need an injunction against consuming alcohol?