What Book Has Made a Significant Difference in Your Life?

 My first response this morning to Shauna’s newest question was obvious - the Book of Mormon. It is the pinnacle upon which the Church was established in this dispensation. It is the bedrock upon which my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was first founded. I won a contest in Seminary for reading it from cover to cover as the fastest to complete the task.

And then I reflected more deeply and came up with another answer, again one that should surprise no one who knows me well. For me it became my own “fifth standard work.” I speak of the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I carried it with me for a lifetime during the years I was doing my teaching in various Church callings. I wore out the binding as it began to fall apart in my hands through overuse. I marked it throughout, and cross-referenced it to the scriptures again and again.

The author/compiler was Joseph Fielding Smith when he served as the Church Historian. He was a grandson of Hyrum Smith, the Prophet’s brother and co-martyr in Carthage Jail, and later became the tenth President of the Church. He was Grandfather Harold B. Lee’s seatmate companion in the Quorum of the Twelve for many years, and he called President Lee as his first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church. I loved Joseph Fielding Smith all the days of his life, and I still revere him for his composite scholarship in compiling the Prophet Joseph’s core teachings.

When I say “scholarship” in today’s world, few will appreciate that back in the day before personal computers there was no such thing as a digital assist in researching Church history. Truth be told, we are still uncovering treasures not available back in the day to President Joseph Fielding Smith when he put together his seminal volume. It still stands the test of time when I consider the avalanche of materials that continue to surface in our day.

I undertook my studies way back in the days I occupied my meager basement office in our home at 2034 Ashton Circle. I had my books and an electric typewriter. That was it, coupled with my overarching desire to discover truth independently from all others. I loved the content of my “five” standard works, particularly the Prophet’s teachings, arranged as they were in chronological sequence by President Joseph Fielding Smith.

I will never forget my discovery of the size of the future city of Zion, as described by Joseph Smith. I painstakingly ferreted out that hidden treasure by calculating the miles on a map of the United States. Using Independence, Missouri, as the centerstake point on my map, I laid out the dimensions of a perfectly square city extending in all directions to discover a “city” that stretched from the Canadian and Mexican borders on the north and south and the Rocky Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains on the west and the east! The key was revealed in Revelation 21. All it took was a little elementary math being applied to convert furlongs into miles. I showed my finding to my father, who in turn excitedly took it to Elder Bruce R. McConkie. Elder McConkie’s response to my father was, “Oh yes, I saw that many years ago too.”

That little story illustrates how magnificent the process of revelation can be for each truth seeker who is willing to put in the time to learn. God rewards effort with knowledge. It is often difficult to escape the self-imposed boundaries of our own finite lives to grasp the scope of the work of the Godhead, who have created “worlds without end.” I became immersed in the attempt to understand their thinking and their expansive vision for us as true followers.

Today, the work of temple building continues unabated throughout the world. Those temples each represent a local Zion community where they stand as a central place for gathering and worship worldwide in the midst of all the foreseen wars and rumors of wars that were prophesied anciently. We are living witnesses of the fulfillment of all the prophecies about the establishment of Zion.

The terms Zion and New Jerusalem both appear in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Zion is typically a synonym for the city of Jerusalem with its temple mount. New Testament prophecies foretold that the Lord would one day create the heavens and the earth anew. As part of this new creation, a city of God referred to as a “new Jerusalem” would come “down from God out of heaven.” Preachers in Joseph Smith’s day disagreed about the meaning of these terms. Some used the phrase “cause of Zion” as a name for the spread of Christianity.

The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s early revelations spoke of a future city of Zion that would serve as a gathering place for the scattered descendants of Israel in the last days. Joseph Smith’s inspired revision of Genesis gave an account of a “City of Holiness” called Zion built by the ancient prophet Enoch. Those who gathered to Enoch’s Zion eliminated poverty and were unified, righteous, and pure in heart. Eventually, Enoch and the inhabitants of Zion were taken up to heaven. Beginning in 1831, Latter-day Saints sought to establish a city of Zion where they could prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. One revelation called this city the “New Jerusalem.” Another referred to Zion more broadly as a people who are “pure in heart.”

In 1831, Joseph Smith received revelation that the site for the city of Zion would be near the town of Independence in Jackson County, Missouri. Today there is a physical monument marking that spot. Bishop Edward Partridge began to purchase lands in the area and help settle new members as they arrived. In the summer of 1833, Joseph Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency sought divine guidance as they drafted a plan for the city, which included a grid of roads and 24 civic and church structures all consecrated as “temples” for different purposes. That summer, however, citizens of Jackson County drove the Saints out of the county, forcing them to abandon their land and their efforts to build the city of Zion.

In a series of revelations that followed, the Lord instructed the Saints regarding spiritual characteristics they lacked but which were necessary for any people who desired to build Zion and gave them instructions on how to move forward. The Saints began to prepare for “the redemption of Zion,” a time when they would return and reclaim their land in Missouri and resume building the holy city. Some in the Church still hold to the belief that a future gathering as foretold will take place there, and only there.

The Saints’ attempts to redeem Zion, including appeals to the United States legal system, did not result in an acknowledgment of their rights or in an immediate return to Jackson County. In a January 1841 revelation regarding the failed attempt to build a temple-centered Zion in Jackson County, the Lord explained, “It behooveth me to require that work no more … but to accept of their offering.” (D&C 124). The same revelation commanded the Saints to build a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, and establish that city as a new place of gathering.

In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith taught that Zion “consisted of all North and South America,” adding that, in one sense, “any place where the Saints gather is Zion.” He also emphasized the importance of the temple for Zion and the gathering, declaring that “where we can get a [temple] built first, there is the place.” Joseph anticipated that a temple city such as Nauvoo would serve as the center of gathering, and that stakes of Zion would be established in many places, each serving as a refuge for the faithful. (Joseph Smith Discourse, April 8. 1844).

The Latter-day Saints continued to hope for a return to Jackson County, Missouri. At the same time, Church leaders such as Brigham Young taught the importance of building Zion wherever the Saints were. Not long after they settled in the Salt Lake Valley, President Young spoke of their growing city as a New Jerusalem and the rising Salt Lake Temple as the focal point of the gathering. (Brigham Young discourse, Sept. 11, 1853, in Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: LDS Booksellers Depot, 1854–86], 1:78; Franklin D. Richards discourse, Oct. 6, 1853, in Journal of Discourses, 1:321).

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Church began to establish stakes of Zion in many locations around the world. Describing this effort, Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained that “the First Presidency and the Twelve see great wisdom in the multiple Zions, many gathering places where the Saints within their own culture and nation can act as a leaven in the building of the kingdom.” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982], 440).

Today, this notion of “multiple Zions,” cannot possibly be misunderstood as the expansion of missionary work and temple building continues worldwide. Latter-day Saints gather to local stakes of Zion and build temples in many countries, and Church leaders emphasize the importance of becoming a people who live up to the ideals of Zion — unity, godliness, and charity. (D. Todd Christofferson, “Come to Zion,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 37–40).

I think we all hold our breaths at General Conference time in eager anticipation of the announcement that might come of a future temple yet to be built in Jackson County, Missouri. I illustrate my early efforts at understanding Zion from the perspective of the Prophet Joseph Smith for the purpose of underscoring the allowance that must be made for continuing revelation to the LIVING prophets among us. They are the only true and viable source for guidance we must embrace as we live in anticipation of the Second Coming.

Consider these inspired words from President Russell M. Nelson:

"My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah. So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ!

"Come unto Christ and 'offer your whole [soul]' to Him. This is the secret to a life of joy!

"The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again! The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ." (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng).

I was first introduced to the thinking of the Prophet Joseph Smith through the book The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I devoured it from cover to cover and every page in between. I endorse it wholeheartedly to all of you…

… And at the same time I encourage and invite you to feast upon the words of the living prophets among us who will NEVER deceive us in these perilous last days.

Do You Favor Politicians or Business People?

It's no secret, I am certain, to those who follow this page that I have increasingly eschewed politicians in general. I have mostly lost interest in the copious and omnipresent onslaught of reporting on political intrigues and the back and forth verbal battles that play out every day. Frankly, it's exhausting.

What has become painfully obvious to me and perhaps to you too is that the career politicians historically have not been interested in seeking solutions for the American people. Why? Their own self-interest was always at the forefront of their endeavors. 

Some career politicians like former President Joe Biden, who was re-elected for a lifetime in politics, finished as a multi-millionaire, and he is just one among many who amassed a personal fortune in ways that are only now becoming apparent. 

Term limits on the members of the House and the Senate cannot be far behind if it ever came to a vote that could be put on a ballot. Also, surprisingly to many, American citizenship at birth is currently not a requirement, and that fact should also be addressed in coming days.

President Donald J. Trump

It cannot have escaped your notice that President Donald J. Trump is only six months into his administration, and the list of substantive achievements for the benefit of the American people is staggering by anyone's calculations. The thin margins in both the House and the Senate with the whole House up for re-election each two years, perhaps explains the urgency we have witnessed.

Securing the borders was first and foremost on the Trump agenda. The speed and the sweeping success of accomplishing that goal was simply stunning to observe. Deportations mounted as illegal immigrants were rounded up and sent packing back to their countries of origin. Self-deportations have increased, no doubt because those who were here illegally got the message that America was transforming quickly into a law and order posture.

On other fronts, the first six months of Donald Trump's second presidency have been the most "successful" of any American president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, according to an analysis conducted by Newsweek.

The legislative efforts paid off in passage of his flagship "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a tax and spending package. It narrowly passed along strictly party lines illustrating once again we are a narrowly divided nation politically. The reductions in taxes and spending were staggering, and makes one wonder how any right-thinking politician from the other party could oppose it.

Newsweek asked "ChatGPT" to rank the accomplishments of 20th and 21st century U.S. presidents in their first six months, taking account of the level of support they enjoyed in Congress.

The model gave Trump an overall score of "very high," thanks to legislation such as the One Big Beautiful Bill and Laken Riley Acts.

On July 4, 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law after it narrowly passed both the House and Senate. The legislation slashed certain taxes, including extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts; raised the U.S. debt ceiling; increased spending on the military and border control; and cut some funding from Medicare and other welfare programs. According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the package will add $3.3 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.

Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on January 29, with the bill taking its name from a Georgia college student who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in February 2024. The legislation requires noncitizens charged or convicted of a range of offenses, including theft and assaulting a police officer, to be held without bond. It also gives states more freedom to sue the Department of Homeland Security over immigration enforcement.

The analysis cited above concluded that the first six months of Trump's second term were the most productive since Roosevelt's first term in 1933. In his first 100 days, Roosevelt passed 15 New Deal statutes, including the Emergency Banking Act.

Third in the calculation was Biden's first 100 days, which saw the package of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan designed to combat the economic effects of coronavirus, along with the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. This package was passed despite the Democrats and Republicans being tied in terms of 50 affiliated Senators each, giving then-Vice President Kamala Harris a tiebreaking vote.

At the other end of the spectrum, the analysis gave the worst score for the first six months to Theodore Roosevelt, who became president in 1901, arguing that he passed "no major statue before March 1902."

Bill Clinton was also ranked poorly, with the conclusion his only major legislative reform during his first six months was the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.

Here's some insight from a foreigner, Dafydd Townley, an American politics expert at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., who told Newsweek: "While Donald Trump has achieved some legislative successes, they are more reflective of the partisan support in Congress. Not every president in the modern era has had such a one-dimensional party to support his legislative agenda. The Democratic Party has long been a coalition of diverse voices, making it difficult to appease every member of Congress. Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama found this out during their first term in office.

"Until the George W. Bush era, Republicans failed to hold both House and Senate majorities in the modern era, apart from two years in the first Eisenhower administration. Even during the Bush years, control of the Senate shifted back and forth on several occasions, making legislative efforts difficult, if not impossible. Reagan's ability to bridge the partisan divide and work with congressional Democrats on specific bills, such as Social Security reform and immigration policies, suggests a White House capable of achieving ideological success despite congressional barriers. The same applies to Richard Nixon, who gained considerable legislative success despite having a Democrat-controlled House and Senate when he entered office.

"Democrat presidents of the early Cold War had to contend with conservative Southern Democrats in Congress, despite Democrat majorities in the House and Senate. These long-serving members dominated congressional committees, thereby limiting the legislative success of John F. Kennedy, for example. The successful passage of a huge number of bills as part of his Great Society program is a testimony to Lyndon Johnson's management of Congress.

"Trump has been much more reliant on the use of executive orders to implement Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for Trump's second term in office. The Trump-inspired legislation in this Congress is more likely to consolidate power within the executive branch and lead to less congressional interference in the president's management of the White House and its agencies."

Left unstated in this analysis by Newsweek, and in my mind more substantive, is Trump's experience as a deal maker among the nations of the world. He imposed tariffs, thought my many "experts" to be disastrous. Instead, the heads of nations have been making historic trade deals with America that have the potential to increase revenues we haven't seen for decades, reduce the deficit spending, and provide American jobs. Those results have already been witnessed, with more to come.

My conclusion: I would much rather have a Donald J. Trump in the White House today than any other politician you can name who would undermine these achievements we have witnessed to date.

If Republicans lose control of either the Senate or House in the 2026 midterm elections, it will make it significantly harder to get the party's bills approved by Congress.

I believe the American people are "woke" now to the possibilities of what may yet be done.

I hope I am right.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ vs. Fear of the World and Its Minions

I wrote the following entry to my family on Monday morning of this week. I include it here for your consideration as my wider audience:

President Donald J. Trump ordered a bombing run on the nuclear development facilities in Iran this last weekend. The strike was targeted solely with the purpose of eliminating the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon, which for years it has threatened to use against Israel.

The Stealth Bomber

The repercussions have been deemed a great military victory that achieved its objectives beyond doubt. But detractors have been condemning the action as an act of war that is unconstitutional because the consent of the Senate and the House was not sought nor obtained before the stunning action was taken by the President.

The political debate rages on about our involvement as a fully invested partner of Israel. Are we at WAR with Iran? How could we not be? Will this be the escalation to World War III? How will this play out in the weeks and months ahead? Will Iran retaliate or capitulate? Will the Iranian regime governed by their religious clerics prevail, or will they be overthrown by the voice of the majority of the citizens who have been compelled to live under a de facto dictatorship? What will this mean for the future of the political landscape of the Middle East? Does this action by the United States signal the beginning of the end before the Second Coming of the Savior?

These are just a sampling of the questions I have heard over the weekend and into this morning as I write this chapter. Clearly at the forefront to all the speculation about what it all means for me is the abiding question: Do I believe in the future as outlined by the Savior and His prophets, or am I inclined to be tossed about with every wind of doctrine that blows in my face, no matter the source?

It comes down to a simple question for me: Am I filled with FAITH in the Savior Jesus Christ, or filled with those who would promote FEAR?

President Kevin W. Pearson

Elder Kevin W. Pearson, Utah Area President and a frequent visitor to our little Woodland Ward (he owns a summer home nearby), has offered this observation back in 2009:

“Faith and fear cannot coexist. One gives way to the other. The simple fact is we all need to constantly build faith and overcome sources of destructive disbelief. The Savior’s teaching comparing faith to a grain of mustard seed recognizes this reality (see Matthew 13:31–32). Consider it this way: our net usable faith is what we have left to exercise after we subtract our sources of doubt and disbelief. You might ask yourself this question: ‘Is my own net faith positive or negative?’ If your faith exceeds your doubt and disbelief, the answer is likely positive. If you allow doubt and disbelief to control you, the answer might be negative.

“We do have a choice. We get what we focus on consistently. Because there is an opposition in all things, there are forces that erode our faith. Some are the result of Satan’s direct influence. But for others, we have no one but ourselves to blame. These stem from personal tendencies, attitudes, and habits we can learn to change…

“Challenging times require greater spiritual power. Consider carefully the Savior’s promise: ‘If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me’ (Moroni 7:33).

“I humbly declare that God, our Heavenly Father, lives and loves each of us, His children. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He lives and personally leads His Church through President Monson, His anointed prophet. Because He lives, there is always hope smiling brightly before us. In a household of faith, there is no need to fear or doubt. Choose to live by faith and not fear.” (Emphasis mine).

Let me add my witness. We will see the ongoing development of a complete separation between the righteous and the wicked parts of human family in the years ahead. We will be compelled by the events ahead in the world to choose our own path. There will be no coercion whatsoever that would violate our agency. We will respond to the impressions of the spirit of the Holy Ghost freely and without compulsion of any kind. Fence straddling will no longer be possible. The gap will simply become too wide.

I coincidentally was teaching the Elders Quorum lesson yesterday. We touched briefly on the events of Saturday, but that was not the main focus of the lesson. We were reviewing the General Conference talk of Sister Tamara W. Runia about our need for daily repentance. I commend her thoughts to all of us.

As we turn our thoughts to our Savior and accept that He is our Redeemer in all things temporal and spiritual, we are inclined to put our trust in Him and reject all the machinations of those who would discount His role in our lives.

I made a tangential reference to my compilation of all the scriptures that mentioned the word “ZION” back in 2008. I had worked on it many years prior to that. I had three brethren in the meeting yesterday ask me for a copy of the pdf file that resulted after I had completed the manuscript. I thought, well, there’s nothing like a few bunker busting bombs falling in Iran to stir up the soul to action, I guess.

That’s all well and good, you might say, but what about the REALITIES of war that are now more prevalent than they might have been before the events of the weekend? Are we to accept the military superiority of the United States of America as the arm of strength that will produce peace, or should we be taking defensive steps like building up our food storage, etc.?

“For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion.” (D&C 1:35).

Let me add my perspective as an old (and hopefully wiser) man. I have seen these geopolitical upheavals and worldwide events play out before during my lifetime. At the time they seemed catastrophic, and as subsequent years unfold we see them as mere steppingstones all leading to the culmination foreseen and foretold by the prophets who left their witnesses for us in the compiled scriptures.

As you fill your hearts and minds with the written words of scripture, you will be assured time and again of the majesty of the impeccable foreknowledge of our Father in Heaven. He has the times and the seasons of our mortal lives in His hands. He has given assurances through all the ages that we are His children, and our ultimate destiny is in His hands. We are free to choose to be fearful about all that, or we can accept the peace and the comfort He offers through His prophets.

The choice is clearly ours to make:

FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

OR FEAR IN THE WAYS OF MAN

I am confident in your ability to choose the better part, for I have seen you grow and develop spiritually. I know you have been held in reserve to come forward in these troubled last days as the chosen generation of our Father in Heaven’s children.

I encourage you to set aside the tendency to fear that which you do not fully understand. Embrace the path of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Stay on the covenant path and encourage others to join you there.

That is the way of truth and light. 

*****

The “ink” on this post wasn’t even dry before President Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement had been reached between Iran and Israel to end this twelve-day war.

Now it remains to be proven that both countries will abide by the terms they have hammered out together. These events are being played out so quickly and decisively that it takes one’s breath away.

Beware of all the predictions being made by the political pundits. Events on the ground in the Middle East have forever befuddled all the false prophets.

I pray peace may break out, and be lasting.

Thinking of Fathers

This morning I have been inspired to reflect upon the seminal role fathers have played in our lives here on earth. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all the fathers who have combined to produce our family of The Goates Kids. It matters not to me that some bear the names of other noble families like Wood, Jach, Bayles, Johns, Spencer, Warnick, Mann, Sharp, Venema and Litchfield. I claim you ALL as my own under the banner of GOATES. It takes a “village” to create a teeming posterity, and it’s an astounding array of spirits I cherish.

I treasure all the memories I have this morning of my own father, Lesley Brent Goates. Each of us gets only one biological father, and even though we might wish from time to time we could trade him in for another one, it is well that we honor our fathers who facilitated our birth into mortality. It’s coincidentally Father's Day 2025 tomorrow, hence my musings.

I spend a lot of time in the temples these days. In the endowment particularly we are reminded of our eternal heritage with our Eternal Father, Elohim. He is the Father of our eternal spirits. We knew Him intimately at one point in the pre-existence. It was from Him directly we learned of our potential existence as mortal human beings, someday possessed of a physical body that would house our unique spirit. There’s only ONE us, unless we are an identical twin, and even then those are separate and distinct beings. We longed for that day of our physical birth into this very planet upon which we now live.

Reflecting upon these truths is what I have been engaged with since rising with the sun early this morning. There was a four-hour power outage (still unexplained) last evening, when I was without electricity in my home. Until we are without something, it seems, we cannot fully appreciate or understand how blessed we truly are as children of our loving Father in Heaven. I phoned the toll-free Rocky Mountain Power line to report the outage, and I was reminded again how valuable a seemingly obsolete telephone land line still is even in our digital age.

Human Embryo

Each of you fathers, and even those who are still “fathers in waiting,” is an integral piece in our Father’s plan for the salvation of His children. Life is precious to us, and it is created through the union of a male and a female. While there may be medical “advances” to simulate procreation, the fact remains that mortality requires an egg and a sperm to unite to form a living soul. Those embryos from the moment of inception are separate and distinct human beings, not a mere collection of cells as the abortionists would have us believe. The political debates rage on and on to determine when "life" begins. It begins at conception in my simple mind.

The world today is filled with the minions of a satanic cult of deceivers, who routinely devalue and discount the sacred nature of human worth. Fathers and Mothers stand in stark contrast to these misguided ones by continuing the work of salvation through the sacrifices necessary to produce their living offspring.

Patsy and I were increasingly criticized as our numbers of children increased through the twenty years we were producing children. Indeed, only a matter of months separated the birth of our last child, Adrienne, with the birth of our first grandchild Ashley. For us the “baby business” was a thriving enterprise in which we were ALL IN. Under our doctor’s supervision we experimented with birth control after a miscarriage that happened between Emily and Michael (he told Patsy she needed to “take a break”), but Patsy could never get comfortable with the idea so she quit taking the contraceptives and that was the end of that experiment.

Grandma Patsy

Marriage is a partnership. She couldn’t fulfill her desires for motherhood without a willing companion, and I learned early on to do my best to comply with her wishes. (I have to say she didn’t exactly force me kicking and screaming against my will. Our baby-making days were always enjoyable for me, and I’ll just leave it at that.) ENJOYABLE is what it was always meant to be.

So to all our noble fathers among the Goates Kids, and the ones in my digital family "out there," may I offer my admiration and my undying gratitude for your faithfulness in doing the work of our FATHER. He asks us to call Him that. Your posterity will be the most treasured possession you can imagine when you get to be my age.

Family Temple Outing

I was asked by someone at the Jordan River Temple the other day what gifts I would like for Father's Day. I reflected for a moment and responded, “I don’t want any gifts per se, I just want as many of our children as possible to gather so we can enjoy each others’ company.” In saying that I was seeing all the shirts, suits, socks and Levi’s in my closet - in fact, so many I’ll never get around to wearing them all out. My fuse is growing shorter every day (he said with a knowing smile).

Enjoy your families this Father's Day 2025. I love you all more today than ever before, but not as much as I will tomorrow. My heart and soul are riveted increasingly in eternal increase! I outlived my mortal father, and I miss him, but it is only a temporary separation. We will all be reunited with our fathers one day up ahead, of that I am certain.

“Father’s Day is joyful for most but sorrowful for some. Gratefully, each of us can communicate with our Heavenly Father in prayer. He is never absent but is ever-welcoming. Our Heavenly Father is perfectly loving, perfectly understanding, and perfectly capable of helping us rise to meet any challenge we face. On this day, may we honor Him and strive to emulate His example, doing our very best, day after day.”

— Instagram post by President Russell M. Nelson, June 20, 2021

If you could hold on to just one memory from your life forever, what would that be?

On a periodic basis I receive questions from my family they would like me to answer as I compile my memoirs. This one came to me the other day from eldest daughter Dianne. Here's my response:

You want me to single out a single favorite memory from my whole life? Well, I find that request nearly impossible to fulfill. Why? Because at this stage my memories are flooding my brain almost continually. I look back with great fondness on all the events of my life. I tend to remember all the good things that happened, and I have been blessed with a memory that auto-erases all the bad ones. Call it selective memory if you wish, but that’s reality.

Life is such a blessing to me and to all of us. Mortality is a gift from our loving Father in Heaven. We yearned for it in the pre-existence, and we were in that vast throng of eager spirits who couldn’t wait to be born. I suspect we all knew we would have to wait a little longer than most, since we were selected to come here in the last dispensation.

We were told we were among the “noble and great ones” (see Abraham 3:21-23) who would be tasked with being valiant in preparation for the Lord’s triumphant return in the glorious Second Coming. If you’ve been asleep lately, you may have missed President Russell M. Nelson speaking directly to you as he urges and invites us to prepare for that day. He has done that in EVERY talk he has given since becoming the President of the Church. And he has spearheaded the building of temples worldwide to hasten our preparations spiritually.

I often refer to the writings of Elder Neal A. Maxwell for his perspectives on gospel topics, who offers this in relation to our first and second estates:

“Premortality is not a relaxing doctrine. For each of us, there are choices to be made, incessant and difficult chores to be done, ironies and adversities to be experienced, time to be well spent, talents and gifts to be well employed. Just because we were chosen ‘there and then,’ surely does not mean we can be indifferent ‘here and now.’ …

“In fact, adequacy in the first estate may merely have ensured a stern, second estate with more duties and no immunities! Additional tutoring and suffering appears to be the pattern for the Lord’s most apt pupils. (See Mosiah 3:19; 1 Peter 4:19.) Our existence, therefore, is a continuum matched by God’s stretching curriculum. …

“Agreeing to enter this second estate, therefore, was like agreeing in advance to anesthetic — the anesthetic of forgetfulness. Doctors do not deanesthetize a patient, in the midst of what was previously authorized, to ask him, again, if it should be continued. We agreed to come here and to undergo certain experiences under certain conditions” (“Premortality, a Glorious Reality,” Ensign, Nov. 1985, 17).

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), famous poet, wrote:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
  Hath had elsewhere its setting
  And cometh from afar;
  Not in entire forgetfulness,
  And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
  From God, who is our home.

(Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood).

All those memories of our pre-existence were wiped from our memory at birth into this world. We can’t remember them for now, only so that we will learn in our tests of mortality to choose and to serve God. There must be an atmosphere of “entire forgetfulness” to prove our fidelity to God and to ourselves. Moral agency reigns supreme in this world, or the freedom to choose for ourselves without compulsion of any kind.

That said, however, reading and embracing the scriptures over the years has taught me there are brief glimpses through the veil into those pre-mortal realms. I have had persistent impressions, enough to convince me of my origins and the promises made and kept before I was born. I suspect it is the same of all of us if we will admit it to ourselves. So maybe we could say “partial forgetfulness” to open the door to understanding our divine nature.

Okay, good preamble, but you haven’t really answered the question posed to you. What’s that ONE memory you would hold with you forever? Put in those terms it’s really a simple choice for me.

It’s that very first date with Patsy Hewlett I would like to preserve in my mind forever. She was so pure, so radiant, and so filled with hope for the future. Her testimony of her Savior shone in her countenance, and that beauty radiated from her every moment of her life with me for as long as I can remember. Her whole soul, it seems to me, was reflected in her eyes. I felt as though I had always known her. I defined beauty in knowing who she was up close and personal. I reflect on that reality now every moment we are apart temporarily. I cling to that memory and that knowledge we will be together FOREVER.

On a social media platform the other day the question was posed to the community, “Are you happy being alone?” It was prescient, and hit me at one of those moments when I could accurately describe myself as ANYTHING but happy. So I answered with a declaration of my understanding of eternal marriage and my testimony of being together eternally with my companion of a lifetime. Many sent responses to me directly, thanking me for my candor. I will probably never change the world with my digital profile, but maybe I could reach one soul out there in cyberspace, and that would be worth my effort.

Only a few moments before I had noted an entry from a woman who purportedly had sexual intercourse with 1000 men in a 24-four period, and she was boasting of her achievement with her “after” picture. (I had to double-check for accuracy). She claimed to have had 24 abortions in her lifetime, and wasn’t the least bit concerned about her behavior. Instead, she claimed “happiness” had been achieved in her life. Another poster challenged, “Is she happy?” This is the world in which we find ourselves today. Do not be deceived, my dear ones.

Patsy and Melanie

This is the face of pure happiness, and it is a woman fully possessed in her knowledge of her divine purpose. You could substitute any of her children in that snapshot and it would have been the same. Oh, that face!!

This world today in its present state is where we reside physically, however it is NOT our spiritual destination eternally. That ultimate goal for each of us is where Patsy and all our progenitors are beckoning us to come. We live in their spiritual presence, and they are nearby to assist us in whatever extremity we may find ourselves. I feel routinely comforted by that knowledge and testify of their investment in our success.

Resurrection Morning

The Savior has prepared the way ahead for us, and we may trust Him in all we do. His plan is eternal in its nature, even though it appears sometimes to be unachievable. I give you my assurance as one who steps closer to eternity every day now, that it IS possible to live the plan of salvation fully and completely. We walk by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I can feel it reverberating in my aging bones.

Any memories beyond that very first and most endearing one of Patsy for me are merely more frosting on my many-layered chocolate cake of life. I love you all.

Animosity and Angst Among Us All

Yesterday, I attended an endowment session in the Bountiful Utah Temple. I arrived early and perused the scriptures before the session started. I was drawn to the topic "Wars and Rumors of Wars." I turned the pages in the Standard Works for references to the topic, which I will share later in this post.

Then today, I was at lunch in Park City. I was alone, but seated only a few feet away from two couples. The men were engaged in a spirited conversation about the MLB Hall of Fame and who should be in it and who should be excluded. One was wearing a Seattle Supersonics sweatshirt. He was vociferously arguing with his counterpart about Ken Griffey, Jr., who had played for the Mariners, giving all his reasons why that player should be named to the HOF. The other was arguing against his inclusion. 

Ken Griffey, Jr.

I listened casually to the debate, and the thought kept running through my mind, "But isn't he already in the HOF?" I consulted my iPhone for the answer. Sure enough, Griffey was inducted in the class of 2016.

Finally, unable to constrain myself any longer, I sidled over to their table, and cordially introduced myself as a lifelong Yankees fan who couldn't help overhearing their spirited debate. I told them I could put an end to their questions if they were willing, and I said it with a smile on my face. "Would they be willing to entertain SIRI as their final answer?" I wondered. They both sheepishly grinned and said they would.

Taking out my phone, I queried, "Siri, is Ken Griffey, Jr., in the Hall of Fame?" She immediately returned the response I had seen earlier for all at their table to hear together. They all fell into a stunned silence, and I resumed my lunch in peace at last. Their "debate" turned into whispers thereafter and the tensions subsided immediately. I felt rewarded as the arbiter in that exchange.

Now think about similar skirmishes you may have witnessed in your life. Have you, too, been witness to serious and seemingly endless debates and arguments with little or no merit over what were likely meaningless topics? I'm certain you have. What have you done about it?

The world at large is a plentiful playground for regional conflicts. I'm thinking about what has been going on in Ukraine and Russia in recent years. Then you look at Israel and Hamas and the escalation of hostilities in that part of the world. There are other insoluble wars too that could be added to the list. Tensions in the Middle East never seem to subside. The field is fertile for peacemakers if they can be found. 

President Donald Trump

In the middle of these warring parties, peacemakers have been hard to come by, it seems. President Donald Trump has attempted to negotiate between the parties in several conflicts, and has been rebuffed. I credit him for trying to bring the factions together, but his efforts have thus far yielded little fruit. When a country goes to war, when tensions turn violent, and when the parties involved maintain their intransigence, it seems no amenable outcome is possible. We are witnessing much bloodshed and loss of life as a result.

I believe the greatest challenge our world faces today is the animosity and the angst we see among warring nations. There have always been wars and rumors of war since the beginning. Indeed, that reality is a well-documented feature of the prophecies associated with the last days. Here's a sampling for your consideration:

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:5-8, emphasis mine).

Ye say that ye know that the end of the world cometh; ye say also that ye know that the heavens and the earth shall pass away;

And in this ye say truly, for so it is; but these things which I have told you shall not pass away until all shall be fulfilled.

And this I have told you concerning Jerusalem; and when that day shall come, shall a remnant be scattered among all nations;

But they shall be gathered again; but they shall remain until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth.

And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound. (D&C 45:22-27, emphasis mine).

And now I show unto you a parable. Behold, wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together; so likewise shall mine elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth.

And they shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars.

Behold I speak for mine elect’s sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved.

And again, this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked; (Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:27-31, emphasis mine).

Wherefore, it hath been told them concerning the destruction which should come upon them, immediately after my father left Jerusalem; nevertheless, they hardened their hearts; and according to my prophecy they have been destroyed, save it be those which are carried away captive into Babylon.

And now this I speak because of the spirit which is in me. And notwithstanding they have been carried away they shall return again, and possess the land of Jerusalem; wherefore, they shall be restored again to the land of their inheritance.

But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of the Father, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks.

Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.

And behold it shall come to pass that after the Messiah hath risen from the dead, and hath manifested himself unto his people, unto as many as will believe on his name, behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again; for wo unto them that fight against God and the people of his church.

Wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered among all nations; yea, and also Babylon shall be destroyed; wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered by other nations.

And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind — and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.

And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.

Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews.

For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And now, my brethren, I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err. And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved. (2 Nephi 25:10-20, emphasis mine).

There have been centuries before where the scattering of Israel, including the tribe of Judah, has occurred, and all the prophets have spoken of a day of the gathering of Israel in the last days with signs accompanying that gathering. We are living witnesses of the acceleration of that gathering now happening all over the earth under the direction of living prophets. 

Living Prophets in Rome, Italy

I offer my solemn witness that the wars and rumors of wars, indeed the animosity and the angst among nations and individuals is the preamble to the happy days ahead of us as the gathering of Israel unfolds in the most natural and gratifying result we can imagine. Against the backdrop of chaos swirling around us worldwide, the signs of the Second Coming of the Savior Jesus Christ are unfolding clearly for those with eyes to see and hearts aligned to the scriptures like the ones I've cited herein.

The dedications of temples worldwide are a striking fulfillment of the gathering of Israel, like the picture shown above at the dedication of the Rome Italy Temple where all fifteen of the living prophets attended.

Next time you are party to the tabletop debates like the one I saw today, regardless of how trivial the topic may be, please consider what you can do to be a peacemaker. Then applaud and encourage others to do the same within the sphere of your influence.

May we all find peace and enjoy the spirit of the Holy Ghost as a result, I pray.

What's The One Thing You Wish You Had Known Before Becoming a Parent?

This question comes from eldest daughter Dianne. I haven’t given this much thought until I saw it in my questions this morning. It was intended for internal consumption within our family circle, but without reservation I now share it with the world at large on my blog page. In so doing I trust in your acceptance in advance, and your forgiveness as necessary. 

Let me begin by saying that becoming parents for Patsy and me wasn’t ever a question in our minds. We were married in 1969. We knew instinctively that our marriage would produce offspring, and in Patsy’s case her answer to those who asked how many children we thought we would have was a consistent, “At least twelve.”

I would hear her response made to many people, and when I did I always swallowed hard and merely soldiered on in faith that she was probably right. In fact, she had thirteen live births. I’ve learned in the ensuing years that a woman is born with a certain amount of eggs within her reproductive system, and I’ve wondered if she just instinctively knew she was blessed abundantly with a large number. Whatever the case, this was a woman who was blessed not only with great faith in her Father in Heaven, but also the maturity required to make that instinctive faith a reality in her life.

The miracle of birth is astounding to me. We’ve all learned by our own experiences that there are so many variables in the birth process, and it is such a miracle in each case. Patsy had at least six miscarriages along the way to birthing our thirteen children, and in our youngest Adrienne’s birth we had her with us for only 49 short days in mortality. They are now reunited in the spirit world, and their grave markers lie side by side in the Woodland Cemetery. Two stone slabs in memory:

Woodland Cemetery

The question from Dianne is asking me to disclose the ONE THING I wished I had known before becoming a parent. My answer is simple: I wish I had known just how intricate and how miraculous each subsequent birth would be.

Patsy’s ability to birth babies was relatively straightforward and uncomplicated by comparison to many of our peers. She would have miserable pregnancies with multiple aches and pains along the way. The list of complications is too long to enumerate here on these poor pages, and it would probably only serve to enthrone her on a higher pedestal than the one she currently occupies. Her ability to absorb and overcome her pains and uncertainty in those days was always astounding to me, and I lived with her 24-7 and observed it all up close and personal. You can just take my word for it, okay?

One time we sat down together and estimated the number of years she had spent in a pregnant state during our married lives together. I don’t recall the actual number today as I write, but trust me when I say it was LARGE. By today’s false judgments about marriage she was a miracle worker indeed!

Patsy was routinely criticized by the sisters in our various wards for her “baby-making ability.” For the most part they kept it on the downlow, but occasionally some would confront her face to face with their pejoratives and she would simply smile without offering a rejoinder. She knew who she was, and she was never deterred. The days of “women’s liberation” were just emerging back then.

I wish I had known how blessed I would become as each new infant joined us. I wish I had the capacity to see and know each one before they joined our family circle here on earth. Who were you in the spirit world before you were born? I have no doubt we ALL knew each other then and there.

I believe the most choice of our Father in Heaven’s children have been reserved to come forth in this final dispensation of the fulness of times. I wish I could have had even a peek into the spirit world from whence you all came forth into mortality and have a glimpse of what you were back then. I know I would not be surprised!!

I have attended the patriarchal blessing for each of you, and I have in my possession a copy of each of your blessings from various patriarchs. What is consistent in each one is a hint of your individual greatness. I am humbled by what little I know, but it is enough to assure me of who you were then, who you are becoming here and now, and I believe I am assured we will all be reunited in the spirit world one day up ahead if we remain true and faithful to our covenants. Of that certainty I am assured.

Let me extend my thoughts this morning a little bit further. I do not intend any offense by what is coming up. However, I feel compelled to weigh in a bit.

There is much being said about gender identity in today’s world. Confusion is rampant “out there.” This confusion is largely among those who do not share what we know as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Somewhere in the not too distant past, June became “Pride Month,” to celebrate a satanic notion that transgenderism and other perverse sexual false doctrines were not only acceptable but should be paraded and promoted in the public square. The iconic rainbow for generations was highjacked as a symbol. Pride flags adorned the White House, and eventually found their way into the classrooms of our children in elementary schools. I applaud the home schoolers among you. Even textbooks were produced to promote gay and lesbian agendas among our youngest and most vulnerable.

Mercifully, there is now an informal pushback emerging to replace Pride Month with “Veterans Appreciation Month.” Legislation is being proposed to ban transgender operations among our children. I follow these developments on social media platforms each and every day. I see and witness the ongoing debates in America designed to divide us and prevent us from coming together as a nation over something so simple. The separation between good and evil grows wider each day.

Why do I say “simple?” Because the Bible from the first book of Genesis could not be more plain than it is:

26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; MALE and FEMALE created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28, emphasis mine).

A male and a female, two sexes only. Manmade allowances for identifying and promoting multiple species are not in harmony with God’s eternal vision for His children. Do not let the confusion of others infect your thinking. Procreation between a man and a woman is the Divine definition of marriage, and the purpose of that marriage is to bring forth children so the posterity of Adam and Eve may continue to prosper and multiply upon the face of the earth. From the beginning until this very moment in time the plan of our Father in Heaven has NEVER been modified by Him and our Savior Jesus Christ.

I noted recently that “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” originated thirty years ago in 1995! It was authored by 15 living Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of you have a copy hanging on the walls of your homes. I encourage you to study it together routinely. In part it reads:

“All human beings — male and female — are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

“In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

“The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

“We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

So, Dianne’s question asks, “What’s ONE thing you wish you’d known before becoming a parent?” Having laid out what I have written above, I can now say assuredly that we walked by faith in procreation as a couple in our married life together. We didn’t know much about the mysteries associated with having a family, but we pressed forward in faith anyway. We could not have known in advance that the living prophets in this dispensation would someday make such a comprehensive declaration of doctrine about parenting.

I invite you to learn more and to do as we did. Press forward in faith. As I’ve observed granddaughter Katelyn’s travails right now in her first trimester of pregnancy, I am reminded of her Grandma Patsy and all she suffered to bring forth our family of Goates Kids so valiantly.

Believe me when I observe on this page today that she is surely delighted with each of you who have sprung from her loins as you proceed down life’s path leading toward eternal life with her someday.

I don’t know the end from the beginning as our Father in Heaven surely does. What I do know absolutely is He is with us every step of our journey here in mortality, and He is anxious to bless and sustain us no matter what comes next!

The Law of Consecration

This morning en route to something else, I stumbled over a letter I wrote some twenty-five years ago to two sons, Rich and Joe, serving as missionaries, one in Canada, the other in Brazil. It's worth repeating here:

January 28, 2001

I have been studying in depth this week – the lesson I did not give today – about the foreknowledge of God. This is a concept that blows the minds of most members of the Church, but it is absolutely essential we understand its importance and day-to-day significance in our lives. 

It seems we can accept without reservation the proposition the Lord knew in advance that wicked men in the last days would seek to thwart Joseph’s translation of the Book of Mormon. Because of His foreknowledge of those events, and how those men would exercise their moral agency unrighteously, provision was made by an all-knowing God to have Nephi prepare a second set of records. The value of the small plates of Nephi cannot be overstated, and the provision for their inclusion in the divine record was made centuries in advance. He also knew enough about Nephi and Joseph Smith to know the exercise of their agency would allow truth to triumph. 

God’s desire to bring His words through living prophets to their descendants in the last days would be successful. “The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. . .” (D&C 3:1).

God knew in advance about the Flood, and Noah was obedient to the revelations to build an ark on dry ground long before the rain started falling. 

God knows where the world is headed today – that people in the Church and the world at large are filled within darkened minds because of unbelief and vanity. (See D&C 84:54-56). 

“Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments. . .” (D&C 1:17).

All this is true, and we accept it because it is true. When it comes to our own lives, however, it seems we have trouble connecting the dots. He knows you, Rich. He knows you, Joe. There isn’t anything about your missions and their outcomes that He does not know before you even think about what comes next. Because He knows. 

Ask yourself: If I am God and I have created spirit children, how many should I create if I don’t know how big to make the planet upon which they will dwell? Extending that reasoning forward, if I do not know in advance how many of my children will be heirs of the Celestial kingdom, then how shall I make provision for the place in time and space that they will someday occupy? Shall I arrange their lives, pull each and every string, or does my knowing their future choices impede them in any way? The simple answer is "NO."

These are but a few of the questions that this line of reasoning will take you down, but it is an underlying and integral piece of the truth of our existence. 

Let me take you on a short scriptural journey to underscore His knowing, then we’ll discuss the implications and how His knowing intersects with our doing. Relax, this isn’t fatalism, and it’s certainly not predestination, as the conventional wisdom of the Reformers Calvin and Luther would have it. Instead, we are given the gift of moral agency to exercise in this life. God is not on trial in our lives – we are. There isn’t anything you can do to prove yourself “worthy” to God (remember, remember – always and forever – “worthy” equates to repenting). 

We had a lesson this morning urging us to “qualify” for the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives. And the instructor (who shall remain nameless) never, not once, in the course of the lesson even mentioned repentance as the one and only qualifier for obtaining and keeping the Spirit in our lives to guide us. Last time I checked (and I do that frequently these days) the scriptures are replete (meaning they are full to overflowing) with references about the only thing we must do to be “worthy” of the Spirit in our lives is to repent and come unto Christ. We are promised He will fill us up with His Spirit if we repent. But that’s a story for another day.

God already knows you and all your choices, because He created you. There should be great comfort in this idea, but it seems to cause more angst than joy. It should not be so. Come with me, and we shall learn together:

But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. (2 Nephi 2:24).

O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it. (2 Nephi 9:20).

And this I do [meaning, Mormon is including the small plates of Nephi in the record he is abridging] for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, [notice, only the whisperings of the Spirit at work here – no open visions of the future] according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me.  And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will. (Words of Mormon 1:7).

And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man [meaning that God even knows the exact moment in time that we will each depart this mortal probation, since this chapter is all about Alma’s teachings on the resurrection].  (Alma 40:10).

And if there be faults [in the writings contained in the Book of Mormon] they are the faults of a man.  But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire. (Mormon 8:17).

By these things [the preceding verses in section 20] we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; And that he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them. . . (D&C 20:17-18). Note: Only two sexes, but that's a story for another day.

Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes. (D&C 38:2).

He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. (D&C 88:41 – also read vs. 5-13). 

And I have a work for thee, Moses [or you could say, Joe or Rich], my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them [antecedent of “them” is “all things”]. (Moses 1:6).

But they [angels] do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. (D&C 130:7). [Meaning that time simply collapses for God – there is no past, present, future – it is all the same for Him – everything is in the present tense, and that’s how He is enabled to know all things.  And it’s just that simple.]

So what are the implications of these things on our lives here and now? Simply, that God knows the end from the beginning. He knows what will happen, what choices we will make, who we will marry, how many children we will have, where we will live, whether or not we will be faithful, how we will rebel, how we will repent, when, where, who, what – everything. None of it is shrouded in mystery for Him. He knows. But here is the key element - His knowing does not alter our doing, except to give us perspective. 

Knowing what we know about His knowing should give us a beacon. If we know He knows, if we know that nothing is hidden, that He even knows the thoughts and the intents of our hearts before we act in any manner, would not our knowing help us want to please Him and to do what He would have us do?

The key is to willingly submit to His good pleasure – to offer ourselves as an offering, all that we are or ever hope to be – to simply say, “Lord, what would thou have me do?” It is the willful surrender of ourselves. 

Nauvoo Temple

As Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, it is sacrificing the beast within each of us each day on the altar of consecration. He will neither pull our chain, yank on our strings, coerce us in any way to choose. He offers a choice. The choice is what Christ vouched safe to us in His atonement. We must choose, then He will bless our choices if they are righteous desires. When we ask Him about the things He is interested in – how we can bless others, where He would have us look for lost souls, how we can serve, whom shall we serve – and similar questions, we are led and directed. He does and will intercede in our lives and the lives of those we serve. But it is all based upon our doing, and never altered by His knowing.

Is that so hard? When we ask to consume our asking upon our lusts, or when we ask for signs first before we will believe and exercise our faith, the heavens are as brass over our heads. Those are the active principles of sacrifice and consecration – the very essence of the covenants we make in the temple. 

And, oh by the way, beware of another common so-called "Mormon myth" I learned yet again in sacrament meeting today that we are not yet "worthy" to live the law of consecration, that we are to live the lesser law of tithing until some as yet unidentified event or circumstance in the future will once again usher in the law of consecration. 

Well, that's just so much phooey. The vast majority of the members of the Church have not yet learned this one lesson - that the law of consecration is different than the practice or the policy to implement it through the united order. It is not the current practice or policy of the Church in these last days to live the united order, but will someone please tell me how and when and where the law of consecration was rescinded? Each time I attend an endowment session and listen carefully to the covenant we make to live the law of consecration the words come with no qualifiers. It is NOT a matter of only doing that which we are merely willing to do so when asked. 

It is explained in simplest terms - that we covenant to consecrate ourselves, and everything else for the cause of the establishment of Zion. Some are troubled that we consecrate to the Church and not to God. The Church on earth is God's kingdom on earth. To me they are one and the same. That sounds pretty precise to me, and there are no qualifiers in the words of the covenant that put the covenant in suspension until the practice of the Church returns to some new iteration of the united order. 

Do not be deceived. After all that Joseph learned about the united order, and all that Brigham Young attempted to implement concerning it, I doubt we are going to suddenly start living it again without warning. Rather, it is here and now as an everlasting law, and it is the law of the Celestial kingdom. Those who would have a place in that kingdom must abide the same. It is for each of us to learn for ourselves what God would have us know in how to implement the law into our own individual lives.

Indeed, we are promised that “the Father teacheth him of the covenant. . .” (D&C 84:48), speaking of the oath and the covenant of the priesthood, which is only another example of widely misunderstood doctrines in these last days. 

It was the Savior who taught this principle best. I love the comparative differences and similarities in the JST accounts: Break not my commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come. And whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in the world to come. Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  (JST Matthew 16:27-29). 

For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; or whosoever will save his life, shall be willing to lay it down for my sake; and if he is not willing to lay it down for my sake, he shall lose it. But whosoever shall be willing to lose his life for my sake, and the gospel, the same shall save it. (JST Mark 8:37-38).

For whosoever will save his life, must be willing to lose it for my sake; and whosoever will be willing to lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and yet he receive him not whom God hath ordained [that would be Christ], and he lose his own soul, and he himself be a castaway? (JST Luke 9:24-25).

Each rendition of those verses, while slightly different, contains the same enigmatic and seemingly impossible saying – to gain your eternal life, you must be willing to sacrifice for my sake while in your mortal probation. 

Salt Lake Temple

Father really does know best. The message for missionaries is simple – give it all up for my kingdom in this world, invest in faith and I will sustain you in whatever righteous desires you may have. There is never going to be a time when life will be as simple, as concentrated, as consecrated, and as Spirit-directed as your time in the mission field, and you have both seen the witness of that truth again and again. 

Along those lines, I thought about your older brother Steve and the thoughts he shared with me recently about how he has only now had time to write about his experiences of the last year. I remember him sobbing in my arms only hours after his return from his mission in Mexico. He longed to be free from the contradictions, the challenges and the world into which he had been thrust upon his release from his mission. He was so immediately caught up in the need for a car, for employment, for school, and wonderment about his future prospects in marriage, that whatever respite from the cares of the world he had enjoyed while serving a mission quickly vanished. It took him a year to even get his journal caught up! And so it is – treasure each moment, for they are fleeting. How I wish I could impress that truth upon each missionary when I hear your stories about wasted time and energies spent on trivial pursuits in the mission field among some of your acquaintances. 

Now, Rich, I said most of this for your benefit. There will never be a time of greater temptation for you. I know you find that hard to believe, but Satan would like nothing more than to discredit all that you have done up to this point in your mission. [He had just been called serve as an Assistant to the President in his mission]. We have seen this in the cases of some of your friends who have returned. Your position in the mission does little to insulate you from danger. You must be ever watchful. You still have much to do before you hit the finish line. Hit the tape running full stride. Don’t let up. Give it renewed determination, renewed Spirit, renewed enthusiasm for the work, and rededicate yourself to the goals and the programs of the President. Do all you can in these remaining months to lift and to inspire those around you. Help them to catch the vision, to serve with an eye single to His glory, and to never look back. 

Just as you were once the young one in the field, now others will look to you as never before for an example of how to do it the right way. Once again, you are in a position of rare trust and accountability. Cherish these remaining days. Too soon, they will all be gone, and you will be homeward bound. The goal is to sit in that plane seat contented and satisfied that you did all, that you sacrificed your all, that you withheld nothing in the service that still awaits you. 

And that, good son, is peace and joy unlike anything there is. Trust in God to lead you to that end result.

Today Begins Holy Week

Temple with Angels

I spent some time this week in the temple, as is my customary pattern these days. I read in 3 Nephi 11:1-17, while I was waiting for the session to begin:

And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place.

And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given concerning his death.

And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.

And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name — hear ye him.

And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude fell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him. (Emphasis mine.)

The words “GREAT multitude” jumped off the page at me. A multitude of eye witnesses of the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ!! The Book of Mormon is the unimpeachable and true record of the reality of Christ’s resurrection. It’s why we refer to it as “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”

Today is known as “Palm Sunday,” commemorating Christ’s triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem when palm fronds were strewn before Him as He rode on the back of a donkey into the city.

Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

His true believers were hailing Him as the Son of God, but it would also mark the beginning of the end of His mortal life.

My brief study in the temple this week also prompted me to turn to 2 Nephi 10, where the reasons for His coming to Jerusalem are spelled out:

Jacob explains that the Jews will crucify their God — They will be scattered until they begin to believe in Him - America will be a land of liberty where no king will rule - Reconcile yourselves to God and gain salvation through His grace. About 559–545 B.C.

And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.

For behold, the promises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.

Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ. . . should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him - for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.

For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.

But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him, that he be crucified.

Wherefore, because of their iniquities, destructions, famines, pestilences, and bloodshed shall come upon them; and they who shall not be destroyed shall be scattered among all nations.

But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance.

And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance. (2 Nephi 10:1-8, emphasis mine).

He came to Jerusalem among the Jews because “there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.” Their degree of wickedness had reached its zenith and found expression, sadly, in the crucifixion of our Lord. The events leading up to His betrayal by Judas Iscariot and subsequent crucifixion are well-documented in the New Testament. It’s only in the Book of Mormon, however, that we learn the answer to the “why” question.

I will encourage each of you to spend some time in your family circles this week, the Holy Week, reviewing the events that culminated in the happy conclusion of resurrection morning. I have loved seeing this portrait prominently featured in the temple film:

Mary Greets Christ in the Garden

She was the first of many witnesses, including the multitude in the New World, to see the Savior in His resurrected body. All of us who embrace the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon are likewise witnesses of that reality. The promises we will someday stand in His glorified presence and share eternal with the Father and the Son are astounding and comforting beyond my ability to describe them.

As one continues reading in 2 Nephi 9-10, the glorious and eternal promises that are held out for the Jews who crucified Him are perhaps the ultimate expression of forgiveness that we have in Holy Writ. As I grow older in my mortal probation there is little left on earth that stimulates me more than the HOPE of eternal life with Patsy and all my progenitors who have preceded me. It is a door through which I will someday pass, and I am filled with eager anticipation of its fulfillment even as I continue to revel in my joy among my family here in the flesh. Truly, I can say I am living in the best of times in my life.

Never doubt that you are loved and cherished by your Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ. They have made ample provision for each of us despite our weaknesses and imperfections in the generous plan of salvation that includes the possibility of repentance and forgiveness.

My memories of what Patsy did to emphasize her testimony of the Savior’s resurrection on Easter morning are always fresh in my mind. The glorious Easter feast she always provided with her lace tablecloths, crystal goblets, best chinaware and sterling silverware, were emblematic of her belief that her best was never good enough in exchange for what her Savior had done for her and for each of us. It was her way to say “Thank You,” and so it must be for each of us. 

When we do our best to emulate the goodness of God as we act in service and love for our fellowmen, we are demonstrating our love for Him and our Father in Heaven in the best way we know how.

I love you too. I love the newness of Spring. I have seen the sandhill cranes, the mallard ducks, the rock chucks and pot guts, even the deer, and the snow is nearly all gone this week. The river is rising, the sky today is a radiant azure blue overhead, and the temperatures are almost balmy.

What a glorious time in which we live! And it’s Holy Week too!