Thanksgiving Journal, Day 4

This morning I awoke with an overwhelming feeling of peace. That still, small voice whispered that all would be well in the world. What a blessing the assurances of the Spirit have been to me during my lifetime. I am thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is an unimaginable blessing to have from an all-wise and loving Father in Heaven. The Holy Ghost's influence in our lives is described in several places in scripture. This is a favorite passage in a revelation given to Joseph Smith for the benefit of his brother, Hyrum:

"Behold, thou hast a gift, or thou shalt have a gift if thou wilt desire of me in faith, with an honest heart, believing in the power of Jesus Christ, or in my power which speaketh unto thee;

"For, behold, I am the light  which shineth in darkness, and by my power I give these words unto thee.

"And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good - yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you I will impart unto you of my Spirit which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;

"And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive." (D&C 11:10-14).

Think what a comfort that revelation must have been to both brothers as you contemplate the challenges and the troubles they would face together in subsequent years. It can be so for us.

We learn so many lessons in the lives of Joseph and Hyrum. I express my gratitude for their example of brotherly love for one another. They were side by side during their lives, the older brother Hyrum supporting and giving succor to the younger brother Joseph. Perhaps John Taylor, an eyewitness to their martyrdoms at Carthage Jail said it best:

"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated." (D&C 135:3).

I give thanks this morning for the blessing of knowing without seeing. It is that witness that permeates our souls in this life. I most often feel the Spirit of the Holy Ghost speaking to me when I open the pages of the scriptures. When I do, I often become a "see-er." Those words are always accompanied by the sweet fruit as spoken of so eloquently by Alma:

"But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.

"And because of your diligence and your faith, and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

"Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you." (Alma 32:41-43).

That chapter in Alma's writings is not as much about faith as it is about "the word," which is likened to the seed that must be nourished so our tree of knowledge in the word of God may flourish. 

When I was facing my brain surgery with an unknown outcome, and then as I emerged fully healed and restored to my former self as I was blessed by my sons to do, many have referred to me as a "miracle man." I have reminded those who say that that the miracle is not that I lived. I could have died and the miracle would still be valid. The miracle is the atonement of Jesus Christ, guaranteeing a universal resurrection and the hope of eternal life for the repentant. Whether in life or in death, His sacrifice for all the sons and daughters of God is the same on both sides of the veil. He is the true miracle that the Holy Ghost testifies about. Christ opens the doors of our spirit prison and our physical tomb.

And this morning the Spirit of the Holy Ghost is speaking peace to my soul about the plan of salvation. 

We will all someday die. We were born to die. The Spirit of the Holy Ghost testifies that through the power of an infinite atonement we may escape the effects of both spiritual and physical death. (See 2 Nephi 9:10-13)

I am grateful for the witness of the Holy Ghost that whispers peace to my soul.

Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith

In the flurry of all the news activity of the SCOTUS ruling last week, an important date in the Mormon calendar was skipped over. I speak of the 168th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith (38) and his brother Hyrum (44) on June 27th, 1844.

Carthage Jail

It has been estimated that thirty-five lead balls were fired that day in Illinois by the participants in the massacre at Carthage Jail. The mob was estimated at around fifty in number against the four who were in the room where Joseph and Hyrum died. We know that fifteen of the bullets found their mark, killing Hyrum and Joseph and injuring John Taylor (35). Willard Richards the largest man of the four escaped uninjured.

Hyrum Smith, the Prophet's older brother, was the first to die instantly as he was hit by four lead balls. At the time of his death he was the assistant president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and also the patriarch to the Church. The Prophet Joseph Smith and Elder John Taylor, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were also each struck by four lead balls. We know the exact time of the martyrdom because John Taylor pocket watch stopped when it was struck by one of the balls, and the watch likely saved his life. Some accounts marked the time at 5:21:15 p.m., others at 5:26:16.

Many authors over the years have written their accounts of the martyrdom, but there is nothing to compare with standing or sitting in that room to help one relive those events. I've had that experience on four separate occasions over the years. I can tell you the witness of their divine calling as true prophets never diminishes each time I have gone.

President John Taylor

In the heat of that sweltering June afternoon, the Prophet asked Elder Taylor, an accomplished tenor soloist, to sing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,” and he complied not just once but twice. His voice uplifted his fellow inmates. It was also John Taylor who would later pen the official account of the martyrdom, and it is preserved today as D&C 135. Joseph Smith predicted his time had come when he said to his brethren on the other side of the Mississippi, forsaking his plans to flee to the west, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning."

Elder Willard Richards

Elder Willard Richards, also a member of the Twelve, who received powder burns on his cheek that day in 1844, wrote his own account of the martyrdom. It was later published in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons, titled “Two Minutes in Jail.” He said he hid the wounded Elder Taylor underneath a mattress in another room in the jail, fearing the mob would return and finish them off. Later that night, Elders Richards and Taylor sent a message back to Nauvoo. They wrote simply, "Carthage Jail, 8:05 o'clock, p.m., June 27th, 1844. Joseph and Hyrum are dead. . . The job was done in an instant."

Elder Taylor returned July 2nd to Nauvoo on a sleigh, but the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were taken to Nauvoo on June 28th.

Those who succeeded the Prophet and Hyrum in their death were their two widows, Emma (40) and Mary Fielding Smith (43). Emma and Joseph had eleven children, including their youngest son, David H. Smith, who was born in November, four months after the Prophet's death. Only five lived to adulthood.

Mary Fielding Smith was the mother of two of Hyrum's eight children, including then five-year-old Joseph F. Smith, future Apostle and eventually a President of the Church.

Two others known by Joseph Smith were among those late arriving on the scene on June 27, 1844: Samuel Smith, his younger brother, and “Sonny,” who first met the Prophet as a young man.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

In his October 2007 general conference address, the late Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve told of a fourteen-year-old boy who had been taken care of by Joseph Smith as he searched for his brother. This boy ended up being a stage driver between Nauvoo and Keokuk, Iowa, with Carthage being a half-way station. That boy was nicknamed “Sonny” by Joseph, who rode the stage.

On June 27, 1844, when that stage came through Carthage, Sonny saw a mob gathered around the jail. As passengers got off the stage, the shooting started. Sonny drove the stage to the stable and saw Joseph fall from the jail window.

Samuel, who was one of the eight witnesses to The Book of Mormon, never made it to the Carthage Jail before the martyrdom.

He lived southeast of Nauvoo in nearby Plymouth, Ill., and was on horseback to see his brothers in Carthage. He escaped after being met by members of the mob who chased him through the woods.

Samuel rode back to Nauvoo as part of the fourteen-person bodyguard of Joseph and Hyrum when their bodies were returned to Nauvoo the next day in his wagon. Samuel would succumb and die on July 30th, just a month later as a result of the fatigue from the chase of June 27th. He left behind six children and his death preceded by twenty-one days the birth of his daughter, Lucy J.C.

Other members of the Quorum of the Twelve as well as two future church presidents, Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff, were on missions in Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nauvoo at the time of the martyrdom.

Elders Taylor and Richards, the only two apostles who were not away on missions, were in the jail cell that day because they willingly chose to accompany the Prophet and Hyrum to Carthage.

Joseph and Hyrum leave Nauvoo for Carthage

Joseph, in his journal, noted Nauvoo had 15,000 inhabitants. There were between 25,000 and 26,000 members of the Church in 1844. Today, Nauvoo has a population around 1,000. When the company of fifteen men rode out of Nauvoo on that final journey to Carthage, the road was about fifteen miles in length. Today on paved roads it's about twenty-three miles on a similar route.

The Nauvoo Temple has now been reconstructed and was dedicated in 2002. The original temple was completed after Joseph and Hyrum's martyrdom, razed shortly thereafter.

John Taylor's tribute to the brothers concludes:

". . . henceforward their names will be classed among the martyrs of religion; and the reader in every nation will be reminded that the Book of Mormon, and this book of Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world; and that if the fire can scathe a green tree for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up the dry trees to purify the vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified." (D&C 135:6).

The Author of Freedom is Jesus Christ

This morning I was engaged in an exchange on Twitter with someone who asked the question, "What is freedom?"

We began with his question, "In three words or less, what is freedom?" I responded, "Absence of debt." He liked that answer, and retweeted to his 150,000 followers. Then he asked, "A harder question: What is freedom and why does it matter?" I responded in six words: "Without freedom there is no agency." He responded, not impressed by my answer, "So?"

Since 140 characters on Twitter is insufficient, let me flesh it out here. It seems to me as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, questions of freedom and agency are nearly axiomatic. We simply don't give it a second thought because it is so deeply embedded in our DNA. However, those unfamiliar with the doctrines of the Restoration like my Twitter conversationalist, are stumbling to define exactly what freedom is, and seem at a loss to explain it.

In more recent years the leaders of the Church have made a distinction. They no longer refer to "free agency." Today it is "moral agency."

President David O. McKay

About free agency, President David O. McKay wrote:

Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God's greatest gift to man. . . Freedom of choice is more treasured than any possession earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being. . . Everyone has this most precious of all life's endowments - the gift of free agency - man's inherited and inalienable right. (The Improvement Era 65 [February 1962]:86).

Joseph Smith

The Prophet Joseph Smith said our minds or intelligences - that part of our being with which we think and make choices and determine actions - have always existed: The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself. . . The intelligence of spirit had no beginning, neither will it have an end. . . There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal [that is, co-eternal] with our Father in heaven. . .
Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age, and there is no creation about it. (TPJS, 353-4).

This is such an enobling idea, isn't it? One the world has little appreciation for. We have ALWAYS had the freedom to choose as an essential component of our identity as human beings.

In our pre-mortal existence at some point our Heavenly Parents clothed intelligence with a spirit body. All who live on this earth descended from the same heavenly parentage, and were spirit children of the same Father in Heaven.

We learned in the spirit world the importance of our moral agency. We learned we MUST experience the opportunity of choice in mortality. We embraced the necessities of opposites - good and evil, virtue and vice, light and darkness, health and sickness, wealth and poverty. We were taught we would always be free to choose. We would be encouraged to receive knowledge of the law and all its consequences. These essential elements, we were told, must be part of our existence as human beings to become as our Father in Heaven is, and to rise to our eternal opportunities.

In the spirit world before this mortal probation, however, no faith was required. We walked and talked with Him. We knew He existed in a corporeal and resurrected body of flesh and bone. The only way we could progress was to leave His side, take upon our spirits a physical body, subject ourselves to opposites so we could choose, and voluntarily assume the vagaries of a world that would not treat us fairly. We were assured, however, that here on the earth we would receive laws and ordinances associated with salvation (exaltation) we would be free to choose the moral consequences associated with truth and error. We would have scriptures, prophets, angels and parents to assist.

We knew before we ever came that some things would happen to us that were simply inexplicable, having nothing to do with our violation of the laws of the gospel, nor the agency of others that impacted us adversely. When parents suffer the death of an infant, for example, and these little ones are snatched suddenly from our arms without explanation either medically or spiritually, there is nothing but faith to turn to.

However, another law operates to assuage our anguish in mortality. I speak of the law of mercy. Mercy never robs the justice required under the law because there is a vicarious payment in full for the broken law. When we do violate the laws of the gospel willfully there is still forebearance through the instrumentality of the Savior. He descended below all things - premature death of infants, sin, despair, loneliness, anger, fear, misjudgment, anxiety, you name it, He's been there and done that. When we turn to Him in our need, mercy is activated on our behalf.

Father Lehi explains:

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so. . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. . .

There is a God, and he hath created both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

And to bring about his eternal purposes. . . the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. . .

And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because. . . they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law. . .

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death. . . (1 Nephi 2:11, 14-16, 26-27).

There are few things more maddening in life than being a parent and witnessing the willful disregard in a child for the things you have believed and sought to instill in your offspring. That is agony. However, we are admonished in the example of our Father to let it play out in agency. We are encouraged to honor and bow beneath the rod of our children's agency, just as He is constrained to do with each of us. The physical body we now inhabit is a veil of forgetfulness, mandating that we walk by faith in this life not seeing and knowing as we once did. We are admonished to RECEIVE the gift of the Holy Ghost who is enabled to bring all things to our remembrance. Our spirit responds to the gentle enticings of the Spirit. We must remember as parents that He knew our children longer and more intimately than we do.

Mortality is a test on so many levels, the perfect laboratory to work out our salvation. Our children are bombarded with every enticement to draw them away through Satanic influences.

I don't know all the details of the designs of Satan's minions, but I do have this one chilling reality, that he "sought to destroy the agency of man." (Moses 4:3). All who live on earth today were abhorred by the prospect of the loss of agency, because we all embraced the plan of happiness that ensured our agency.

We exercised faith in our Heavenly Father's plan, in our Redeemer Jesus Christ, and in ourselves. We enthusiastically sustained the idea of living in a world filled with opportunities for further development. We embraced the possiblity of failure, disappointment, heartache and sin. I know it's sometimes hard to imagine that now when life deals its cruelest blows, but it's true.

As Latter-day Saints we know there was a war in heaven over agency. As I said, it is axiomatic with us. The prophet Jacob in The Book of Mormon taught if Jesus Christ did not atone, then all mankind must unavoidably perish and we would all "become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery unto himself." (2 Nephi 9:9). Jesus Christ was born into this earth as the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh and would have power over physical death. He lived a sinless perfect life in mortality so He alone would have power over all the laws of the gospel and could infinitely satisfy all the demands of justice and overcome death and hell (physical and spiritual death).

Unkown to my Twitter friend this morning, we cannot define freedom in any other terms than these: "I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free." (D&C 98:8). Therefore, because of the atonement the extent of our enjoyment of individual moral agency today is in direct proportion to the number and kind of laws we know and keep. The more we know and keep the freer we become. Ironic? Not really, because the loss of moral agency today can be measured in direct proportion to the number and kind of laws we disobey. Perfect freedom is made possible to us through the atonement, but it can come only through perfect obedience to the law. Since we are incapable of perfect performance under the law, when we turn to Christ, His perfection satisfies all the demands of justice and He makes us free.

If Satan is determined to destroy our agency (which he is), he will do all he can to deny us the opportunity of choice. The history of this world is filled with examples of tyranny through governments, dictatorships, and anarchy. He weakens our resolve that opposition must be necessary for human progress. He will try to "level the playing field," enact tax laws that are "only fair," he will "redistribute the wealth" through social programs administered by the few for the benefit of the many. He will advocate "collective salvation" and he will say to us, "There is no sin. It mattereth not what a man does; whatsoever a man doeth is not sin. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." (2 Nephi 28:8). And thus he attempts to destroy the divinely appointed role of opposition in our lives.

Presidents of the Church and other General Authorities have consistently seen Communism and socialism in this light and have warned repeatedly of its effects.

President Henry D. Moyle

President Henry D. Moyle talked on this subject in these words:

All we have to do is. . . examine any movement that may be brought into our midst. . . and if it. . .[attempt[s] to deprive us the slightest respect of our free agency, we should avoid it as we would avoid immorality or anything else that is vicious. . . Free agency is as necessary for our eternal salvation as is our virtue. And. . . as we guard our virtue with our lives, so should we guard our free agency. (Conference Report, October 1947, 46).

President Marion G. Romney

Note how prophetic these words were from President Marion G. Romney when he gave this advice a decade later:

One of the fundamental doctrines of revealed truth is that. . . God endowed men with free agency. (Moses 7:32). The preservation of this free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself. . . Everything which militates against man's enjoyment of this endowment persuades not to believe in Christ, for He is the author of free agency.

Now the world today is in the throes of a great social and political revolution. In almost every department of society laws and practices are being daily proposed and adopted which greatly alter the course of our lives. Indeed, some of them are literally shaking the foundations of our political and social institutions. If you would know truth from error in this bitterly contested arena, apply Mormon's test to these innovations [as recorded in Moroni 7:16-18]. Do they facilitate or restrict the exercise of man's divine endowment of free agency? Tested by this standard, most of them will fall quickly into their proper category as between good and evil.
(BYU Speeches of the Year, 30 May 1957, 10-11, emphasis mine).

So how would the scriptures address my Twitter friend who attempts to define freedom? Here's a sampling:

If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32).

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. (Hebrews 5:8-9).

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1).

Men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. (D&C 58:27-28).

And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet. (D&C 29:39).

Whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have which is evil restored unto you (Helaman 14:30-31).

Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7).

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17).

The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).

This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3).

President John Taylor

President John Taylor understood perfectly:

Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. . . We have a right to liberty - that was a right that God gave to all men; and if there has been oppression, fraud or tyranny in the earth, has been the result of wickedness and corruptions of men and has always been opposed to God and the principles of truth. (JD 23:63).

Elder Richard L. Evans

Elder Richard L. Evans at a July 4th celebration noted:

May we take a moment from some of the side issues and from some of the irrelevant celebration, and clear our thoughts and humble our hearts and get down on our knees and simply, fervently, thank God for freedom - and then get on our feet with a firm resolve to preserve it against all who secretly or openly would set it aside.

Thank God for freedom - and for the Founding Fathers who reaffirmed to a new nation, an eternal, timeless truth: that the right of choice - that the free agency of man - is a God-given inalienable right, and is essential to the peace and growth and progress and salvation of the very soul.

This truth has been challenged again and again, and will yet be challenged again and again. It was challenged in the heavens before time began, by the brilliant but rebellious Lucifer. There was war in heaven - for freedom. And anyone who seeks to enslave men in any sense, in mind, in spirit, in thought - anyone who seeks to enslave the minds, the hearts, the spirit of men is essentially in league with Satan himself - for "where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Thank God for the Constitution of our country, which was brought into being "by the hands of wise men whom [the Lord God] raised up unto this very purpose." (D&C 101:80). Thank God for the promise that in this choice land, men "shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve" God. (Ether 2:12).

Thank God for the right of choice, for the right to become whatever we can become in a free and provident land that, despite its imperfections, has proved to be more efficient for progress and human happiness than any society founded on the false philosophies that would seek to enslave the minds and souls of men.

God grant that we may repent wherever we have departed from the principles of freedom - that we may preserve the right to fail and the incentive to succeed, and live, as did the Founding Fathers, knowing that there are no acceptable substitutes for freedom. ("Thank God for Freedom," From the Crossroads, 45).

So to parents of wayward youth, to parents who have just buried little ones, to those who are anguishing in the guilt of sin, to aged parents who are struggling with health infirmities and cannot seem to find the exit door to mortality, in short to all who would attempt to define freedom in these last days - I say to all, the Author of freedom is the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom you may all turn for comfort and relief if you will, no matter what the nature of your anguish may be.

In all of it He sets us free.

Family Foreordination

Yesterday we had the blessing of witnessing the baptism of yet another grandchild. Recently, it was Molly and Spencer. These choice young spirits who have been sent to our family in the third generation continue to amaze and humble me. Present by invitation at yesterday’s baptism was Alex’s best friend, not a member of the Church. At age eight he is already a missionary. Even before that he gifted his kindergarten teacher with a Book of Mormon.

There is little doubt in my mind these spirits who are coming to earth in these last days are uniquely prepared for the days that lie ahead. Alex carries his scriptures with him in a special carrying case with the image of a basketball imprinted on it. Our grandchildren are all exceptional (you may discount these words if you choose, because it’s a grandfather talking about his grandchildren) but I fear no contradiction for those who know them well.

Alex

In a note to Alex I observed the new layer of snow on the ground (I know, April 30th, still snowing in Utah), and how the covering of white symbolized the purity of one who is baptized. Certainly, Alex will make mistakes, he will sin, but in the sacrament each week and in repentance the gospel offers purity going forward from one's baptismal day. 

Prompted by events, e-mails and questions lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to this matter of parentage, foreordination and family life. How soon did we know about families? Where did we learn our first lessons about families? How were we organized before we came into this mortal world? We are organized into families here, we know we will be organized into families hereafter if we remain faithful, so how does that knowledge inform us about how we were organized before? How much agency was at work in our choices about which families we would come to?

These are some of the questions that arise. I doubt there is a single influence that permeates our existence more than the families into which we are born. The age-old debate about nature versus nurture will perhaps never be fully resolved to our satisfaction, but who we are, what we become and how our character is shaped is certainly the pre-eminent result of the laboratory of home and family. Regardless of how we start, it is how we finish that is important. Improvement is the goal, and we are free to choose outcomes. Nothing is pre-determined that will not yield to faith and perseverance.

There may be no more important facet of the doctrine of foreordination than how it plays out in the families to which we come. Is that ultimate designation made by assignment, by agency and freedom of choice, or by merit or by divine randomness? Without knowledge of the plan of salvation, most would conclude our family situation is merely a matter of the randomness of the universe.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

It would be hard for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to conclude anything less than the family unit being central to God's designs. With Scott Strong, I have written extensively about this topic in the past. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, ". . .the Lord operates through families. He himself lives in the family unit; it is his eternal system of government in heaven and on earth, and he always offers as much of his own system to men as they are willing to receive." (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], 35).

In addition to foreordination to lineage, there is evidence to indicate that there is, at least in certain cases, foreordination to favored families. President Harold B. Lee affirmed that, generally, we come to certain families as a reward or blessing for our premortal lives.

President Harold B. Lee

Said he at the last General Conference where he presided,

Now then, to make a summary of what I have just read, may I ask each of you again the question, “Who are you?” You are all the sons and daughters of God. Your spirits were created and lived as organized intelligences before the world was. You have been blessed to have a physical body because of your obedience to certain commandments in that premortal state. You are now born into a family to which you have come, into the nations through which you have come, as a reward for the kind of lives you lived before you came here and at a time in the world’s history, as the apostle Paul taught the men of Athens and as the Lord revealed to Moses, determined by the faithfulness of each of those who lived before this world was created. (“Understanding Who We Are Brings Self-Respect," Ensign, January 1974, 7).

It was his view there had been a premortal assignment to specific families based upon our faithfulness in the pre-existence.

President Brigham Young

Joseph Smith appeared in vision to Brigham Young at Council Bluffs, Iowa, on February 17, 1847. The full account is longer, but here's the partial quote that applies to this topic:

Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are all disorganized and in great confusion.

Joseph then showed me the pattern, how they were in the beginning.

This I cannot describe, but I saw it, and saw where the Priesthood had been taken from the earth and how it must be joined together, so that there would be a perfect chain from Father Adam to his latest posterity.

Joseph again said, “Tell the people to be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and follow it, and it will lead them just right." (Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, February 23, 1847, LDS Church Archives).

I’ll lay out a few more statements, then draw a conclusion. There can be little doubt of the noble heritage of our prophets from Joseph Smith to Thomas S. Monson. They were certainly among the “noble and great ones” in the pre-existence. (Abraham 3:22). Brigham Young described it this way, pertaining to the foreordination of Joseph Smith:

It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that [Joseph Smith] should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eye upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father's father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. (JD, 7:289-290).

President Spencer W. Kimball

When President Spencer W. Kimball was sustained as President of the Church, Elder Bruce R. McConkie made this statement:

May I take President Spencer W. Kimball as an illustration and pattern of one who was prepared, foreordained, and called to leadership among the Lord's people. He was, it is true, born in the household of faith. . .

But more than mortal birth. . . [is] involved. He was born in the household of faith for a reason. . . The fact is, he is a spirit son of God who was called and chosen and foreordained before the foundations of the earth were laid, and he is now fulfilling the destiny designed for him from the pre-existence. ("God Foreordains His Prophets and His People," Ensign, May 1974, 72).

If this assignment of spirits based upon pre-existent spirit faithfulness can be applied to prophets who come to faithful families, it can certainly be applied to others who are not among the “pre-eminent” families who govern the Church. It is also important to point out that the details have not been fully revealed. Let’s be careful, therefore, in making broad generalizations.

President John Taylor

Elder John Taylor published an article entitled "The Origin and Destiny of Woman" in the August 29, 1857 edition of The Mormon. He hinted, "You also chose a kindred spirit whom you loved in the spirit world (and who had permission to come to this planet and take a tabernacle), to be your head, stay, husband and protector on the earth and to exalt you in eternal worlds. All these were arranged, likewise the spirits that should tabernacle through your lineage." (Cited in N. B. Lundwall, compiler, The Vision [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, n.d.], 145-148).

Was he giving a specific answer to one woman here, or did he intend a wider interpretation?

Two prophets at a much later date seemed to suggest the former. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught there is "no scriptural justification. . . for the belief that we had the privilege of choosing our parents and our life companions in the spirit world." (The Way to Perfection [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1972], 44).

In 1966, Elder Harold B. Lee stated, "we have no revealed word" on the extent to which premortal choices of family members were made. He then cautioned we should not accept or teach ideas that cannot be firmly established in the standard works or by inspired utterances of the living prophets. 

First Presidency, 1971

In 1971, while serving in The First Presidency, both men once again declared, "We have no revealed word to the effect that when we were in the preexistent state we chose our parents and our husbands and wives." (The First Presidency, 1971, cited by Steve F. Gilliland in, "I Have a Question," Ensign, June 1977, 40).

When we examine the make-up of some families, isn’t it obvious there are disparities, and that all are not alike? There's an old expression that you can choose your friends, but you don't get to choose your brother. So did we? The ranks of the disaffected former members of the Church are filled with those who were closest to the prophets. One prominent Church family may produce a deviant sex offender whose brother may be a stake president. Even some political observers I've spoken with have asked, observing Mike Lee and Harry Reid, "How can the same Church 'family' produce two such diametrically opposed points of view?" But I digress. I wonder if our Heavenly Father sends some of his most noble and great spirits to the least likely families because he knows his choice spirit sons and daughters may bring spiritual blessings to the rest of the family that might not otherwise be available. We must never judge someone's premortal character or performance based on current parentage or family conditions. Certainly, that applies to the political 'family' of the U.S. Senate, where Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch could befriend one another.

Again, God’s foreknowledge never impedes our ability to freely choose, not in the pre-existence, not here, and certainly not later in the spirit world or into the resurrection. I have come to conclude this about God, largely through my observations of a lifetime. (It's not doctrinal, only an observation). As a parent, wouldn't He want as many of His children as possible to achieve exaltation and eternal life with Him? I'm only beginning to understand that perspective as a grandfather of many in the third generation. I would want each to be with me again someday after this life. Wouldn't God? Wouldn't every father? Wouldn't any father and grandfather reach through the veil to the extent he were permitted to assist in bringing about that eventuality? To as many as will come, He will afford each child at whatever stage in their existence, ample opportunities to “get it right.” Life is a continuum, and this mortal probation is a blink in the eyeball of eternity.

President Boyd K. Packer

Noting the power of our covenants, I believe it is what led President Boyd K. Packer to conclude in an address to our stake, “When we go beyond the veil we will be surprised at how different things are. But we’ll also be surprised at how similar things are. If we don’t get things fixed here we’ll get them fixed there, but don’t give up.”

There is simply too much breakage in our mortal probation to draw hard and fast conclusions about eternal life before we get there. When one is young and idealistic, it is easy to picture oneself as one of the "few" who is chosen. It smacks of the precise number of 144,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses who will be saved.

What do I mean by "breakage?" After writing this post this morning we attended a ward fast and testimony meeting. It was a cascade of witnesses, six in all, who testified of their gratitude for second marriages, a chance to begin anew and to foster hope for their eternal inheritance despite an earlier failure for undisclosed reasons in their first marriages. Each of the sisters wept openly for the privilege of finally having a righteous priesthood holder in her home, a blessing for which many had longed for years.

So in old age, the kind of thinking tending toward unfettered idealism gives way to quiet contemplation and hope for a large dose of mercy administered to those who fall in this life. And not just for those who fall, but perhaps more importantly for those who are innocently affected by the sins of other family members. We certainly have enough information to reach for eternal life here and now, and through the power of the atonement we may yearn for it, hope for it and expect it. The "breakage" can be swept up, the broken things can be mended, and hope can triumph even when it isn't perfect the first time around.

No longer is it a question for me of what we've earned, what we're entitled to by our birthright or our relative righteousness ("I did better than you at keeping the commandments"), but rather what follows perfectionism is a quiet assurance of the majesty of the atonement in all its perfections. Do we really know everything about what constitutes a full opportunity to receive what He referred to as "the greatest of all the gifts of God" yet? (See D&C 6:13). I doubt it. Ask yourselves, would Heavenly Father prefer a small number of exalted beings ("but few are chosen"), or the vast majority of His children to be exalted? As a grandfather, I feel like I am barely coming to understand the answer.

In the meantime while we see through the glass darkly today, all the principles of the gospel still apply here and now – repent early, often and continuously – regardless of who your birth fathers and mothers might be. Live the gospel the best you know how, despite a parent who may have set a poor example and turned away in shame or guilt who hasn't returned yet. In the big eternal picture we are all sons and daughters of God, giving us all the nobility we need to inherit eternal life, if obedient in whatever stage we may find ourselves in our progression.

"If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation." (D&C 6:13).