Eternity in the Making

The morning of December 19, 1969 dawned crisp and clear in Salt Lake City, Utah. I picked up my bride-to-be, Patsy Hewlett, early on our way to the Salt Lake Temple to be sealed for time and for all eternity to each other. My Grandfather, Harold B. Lee, then one of the senior Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was scheduled to officiate at the ordinance that would bind us to one another. He was very emotional during the brief ceremony, sensing, I felt, the spirits of those who would come through our union. I believe he knew the identities of each one who would come to join our family.

On another December day fifty years later in 2019 we would gather as many of our children and grandchildren as we could to participate in a sealing session in the Salt Lake Temple just before it closed for what will be an extensive four-year renovation. We were assigned to the sealing room behind the old sealing office just off the Celestial Room to perform proxy ordinances of marriage for our deceased ancestors – all family names our family had prepared. One by one we took our turns at the altar in the center of the room and relived again the morning it all began with just the two of us in 1969. This time the altar was surrounded by our cherished posterity, all of whom had been sealed as couples in previous live ordinances for themselves. The realization of that blessing pronounced upon us fifty years earlier had come to pass, fifty years in the making.

Patsy and I have been through many wonderful and challenging times together over those fifty years. Perhaps the most humbling of all has been this last several years as we sought diligently to petition our Father in Heaven for answers to my deteriorating health. The downward slide accelerated in the last six months. I know it is good to be humble without being compelled to be humble, but this last six months especially we have been compelled to be humble. Our circumstances are not unusual for most people as they grow older. Few old people I have known are afraid to die, it’s just the getting there that is so difficult.

We simply could not find that elusive answer to why I was “off” from what everyone had known me to be earlier in my life. Then the meningioma brain tumor was diagnosed, and the answer to the medical mystery was staring right back at us from the doctor’s computer screen. It was the brain that had been squeezed and compressed over a long period.

So compromised had I become pre-surgery that I calculated I was at about a 2 on a 100 scale. I had my heart and my lungs that were still functioning well – everything else had been shut down as my brain’s way of compensating to keep me alive. Simple tasks in earlier years were now seemingly impossible to accomplish. My brain told me I could do these things – I had always done these things – but I had lost the ability to do them. My doctor had told me, “Anybody can exercise for ten minutes a day,” and I agreed in principle to that statement. I had gone for much longer periods of heavier exercise before. But I couldn’t do it anymore. I could barely get out of bed, and then I wobbled badly on my weak leg muscles.  

Post-surgery I wasn’t much better for three weeks. I was childlike. I had to master the control of my bladder and my bowels again like a little child in diapers, and I was wearing adult diapers. I was compelled to be humble. I had to learn to eat for myself again. I had to learn to balance and to walk again, at first mastering only a few steps to the bathroom and back using a walker for balance. I couldn’t do any of those things I had always done until my brain fog cleared and the blood clot that occupied the space where the tumor had been in my brain at the incision spot had dissipated. It took about three weeks.

Now our prayers have been fully answered. I have been cured and I have been healed. Humility is now once again a choice for me.

Fifty years is a long time to be married to the same person. It’s a golden time in our lives now. That’s why no one knew me better than Patsy, and why her instincts (impressions of the Spirit) could not be dismissed so easily. She knew me better than I knew myself, and she certainly knew me better than all the doctors and their scientific training. Once they listened to her and responded to her demands for the MRI, the source of our long struggle for answers was finally revealed.

We have been studying together the outlines of the Book of Mormon chapters in Come Follow Me. We are now into the book of Helaman. There is a constant ebb and flow among the Nephites and Lamanites at this point in their history. One year the Lamanites are repenting and receiving great blessings from the Lord, then they become prideful. Another year the Nephites are repenting, and they become more righteous than the Lamanites and they are blessed continually. Then this one verse leaps out as a pattern scripture for us to learn to live by, whether we are “Lamanites” or “Nephites:”

Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts,  which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God. (Helaman 3:34).

My children are old enough now to see some of their friends who were once faithful members of the Church begin leaving and taking their families with them into the wilderness of apostasy because they have “done their research” and learned about “facts” they were never taught in the Church. They often come to me with their stories about their friends who have left, and they are saddened by the stories they read on their friends’ social media pages about their reasons for leaving. I encourage my children to be patient and to try to be like Heavenly Father. Can you imagine Him pacing around His throne wringing His hands over every soul who turns away for a season? Having vouched safe the moral agency of His children from the beginning and put a Redeemer in place to assure the demands of justice are fully satisfied through mercy conditioned upon the repentance of His children, He waits patiently for the fruits of the vineyard to come forth in the glorious harvest He envisions for each of His children. That’s the perspective we must have too – be patient and wait for the harvest that will surely come.

Mormon uses a phrase “thus we see” as an editorial comment in his editorial work of summarizing the records:

Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked – And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers to go no more out. (Helaman 3:29-30).

Let us all “lay hold” upon the word of God, slow down, turn down the noise in our busy lives, take a deep breath, ponder and pray, follow the pattern given to us as cited above, and land our souls at the right hand of God.

 We are in a war for our souls. Believe me I know that as never before. In the varied battles of life Satan takes many prisoners and inflicts many injuries and even deaths. But if we are true and faithful, we will prevail in the final battle of this war, for so it has been written and the scriptures are true. We are building for the eternities, and we are just now beginning to discern the light at the end of the long tunnel of sin and deception.

Thoughts on Independence, Moral Agency, SSM and Eternal Truth

I've been asked by more than a few followers of this page why I haven't posted anything about the recent ruling of the SCOTUS on same sex marriage. The short answer is that Patsy recently decided to exchange her bad knee for a cobalt steel replacement part, and her surgery and recovery have pre-occupied my free time. Now it's Independence Day weekend and I have a chance to reflect.

The Supreme Court of the United States of America

I find these latest developments in the LGBTQ (yes "Q" has been added - meaning "questioning" my sexuality) agenda to be so ironic. On the one hand we find advocates asserting their independence and exercising their moral agency to choose homosexuality. And on the other hand they could not be more anti-Christ than they are.

It was Christ in the pre-existence who championed our moral agency. We who walk the earth today were there as pre-mortal spirits. We sanctioned the plan of our Father in Heaven, the centerpiece of which was the ability to choose between right and wrong here in mortality. The consequences for our choices are not always immediately in evidence. Sometimes years go by before we reverse course and repent. Knowing there would be universal opposition to the truth, promoted and advocated by Satan and his minions, we accepted the offer of our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, to come to earth, live the perfect life, and sacrifice Himself for all of us to satisfy all the demands of justice under the laws of God. There weren't "two plans" put forward - only one plan - and our Lord and Savior became the Chosen One to implement that plan.

So I find it sadly ironic, because there seems little more that I could offer at this point that I haven't already said on the matter. The plan of salvation, referred to as "the great plan of happiness" (see Alma 42) by Alma, has as the bedrock principle the creation of mortal bodies to house the spirits created by God. In order to bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of man (see Moses 1:39), God's stated purpose for His existence, we must assist in His work by bringing to pass the mortality of man by providing the mortal bodies for those spirits. Gender identification is also imprinted as part of the plan. Males and females are distinctly unique in the creative process. Each contributes a piece to make a new human body. The two parts are joined together in a holy union, a holy matrimony, to complete the plan.

The perversions around human sexuality are no longer secret, nor spoken in hushed secret corners. In fact, those perversions which until a few years ago were against the laws of most states, are now freely available to all who would choose them. The SCOTUS, make that one justice of the SCOTUS in a 5-4 vote, who wrote the majority opinion, has chosen for the whole nation based upon the popular opinion of the electorate as registered in recent polling data about same sex marriage. I accept the ruling of the SCOTUS as the supreme law of the land in the highest court, even though I would side with those four justices who dissented.

You can herald the triumph of so-called "equal rights" and "equal access" to marriage if you choose - that is your right as well - but this latest decision has little to do with a Constitutional right. This wasn't about the Constitution, observed Chief Justice Roberts, writing in his minority opinion. Roberts correctly observed the Court had overturned the voice of the people who had voted to retain the definition of traditional marriage in the several States through their elected representatives in the Republic established under the Constitution. Nowhere in the Constitution can an "equal right" to gay marriage be found. You won't even find a definition of traditional marriage there. Instead, the Founders wisely left to the States the definitions and resolutions of those kinds of issues. At the federal level, power of, by and through the people's voice has been trampled upon once again.

This was about advancing the anti-Christ agenda, nothing more, nothing less. He didn't say that, I did.

Why anti-Christ? Because the argument that "God made me this way and there's nothing I can do about it," is fundamentally flawed. Those who so assert also claim there is no need to repent of their perversion because God made them that way. "I'm not sinning because there's nothing I can do about the way I am." How convenient. Those of us who were also made by God, by the extension of that reasoning must also get a "free pass" for repentance. We truly live in a day of "live and let live" and "God will beat me with a few stripes in the end" (2 Nephi 28:8) but I'll eventually be saved in my sins because God loves me just as much as He does you. But as scripture reminds us, no one is saved in their sins. (Alma 11:34-37). The subtle rejection of the need for a Redeemer and the need for repentance is what is at the core of the LGBTQ agenda. However, you won't hear it expressed in those terms from them. Being "anti-Christ" isn't subtle enough for them. Instead, they seek to "normalize" the perversion so revulsion evaporates.

The perversions in the flesh are analogous to the perversions they make in the Word. A lawyer asked the Savior a question: "Master which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40).

In the name of "loving our neighbor" tolerance reached its pinnacle under hashtag #lovewins on word of the SCOTUS decision. It may be "love" in the eyes of homosexuals, but it still classifies as perversion as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. The legal definition of love now having been defined by the courts notwithstanding, marriage between a man and a woman is God's law.

I find it nothing short of stunning how quickly this agenda has advanced in public opinion. Even among members of the Church there seems to be a "no big deal" attitude. "If gay people want to get married, that's fine with me, what's the big deal?" they seem to repeat among themselves, as though there will be no consequences for those who have chosen their perversions. The weakening of the moral fiber not only in America but world-wide, is well-documented and now continues without much resistance it seems. What was once the silent sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is now splashed boldly in rainbow colors illuminating the White House.

There is no other word than "stunning" to describe it. People forget that in both elections in 2008 and 2012, President Barack Hussein Obama was elected by stating his support for traditional marriage to avoid risking the alienation of voters in the Hispanic, Black and other religious communities who also favored traditional marriage. And now a rainbow colored White House in celebration of same sex marriage? Well, there you have it. . . that's stunning! You can ask yourselves why it happened so quickly, but the easy answers might be the influence of media, including television sitcoms and the attempts by advocates to "normalize" homosexual behavior. "We're just like you are," they will claim, and being the tolerant neighbor-loving and embracing people we are, and not wanting to be classed as "homophobic" we have come to the conclusion it can't be all that bad. That's how public opinion shifted so easily. One author called it "The Big Gay Lie."

The First Presidency

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Either this week or the following week, congregations in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be discussing a lengthy letter produced by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We sustain these fifteen men as living prophets, seers and revelators. The topic of their letter to the Church will be the recent SCOTUS decision. Once again members of the Church will be given an opportunity to absorb, digest, discuss, and either support or oppose their leaders on this topic. It is not the first chance, nor will it be the last to weigh in.

The assaults on religious freedom will continue unabated. I would expect the Church to continue to be the bastion of eternal truth it has always been. They constantly warn against being "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of [false] doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." (See Ephesians 4:11-15). These fifteen men are the very reason Apostles were chosen and ordained in the meridian Church by Christ, and they are the modern-day counterparts.

I have read a lot, the ruling itself, all the dissents and much more while Patsy has been rehabbing her new knee. I have seen the comments of a lot of "good" members of the Church on forum boards and their social media postings. There are many who assert that like the question over Blacks receiving the priesthood and even longer ago with the rescission of plural marriage in the late 1800s, the Church will eventually come to its senses and bow to public opinion and political pressure on this issue too. They foresee a day when same sex marriages will be performed in the temples, just as Blacks were eventually granted equal access to all priesthood blessings.

But sadly, they will be wrong. Some say the Church will be on the wrong side of history unless it yields to public pressure. The passage of time will prove otherwise. Unless God has it in His mind to alter the bedrock doctrine of the great plan of happiness that has been revealed since the Creation without equivocation in Holy Writ, this question of "marriage equality" is nothing more than a cleverly crafted sophistry devised by Satan and his minions to separate the man from the woman. Since the plan was announced by our Father in Heaven and Satan opposed it in the pre-mortal council where we all upheld the plan, that has been his aim. (Moses 4:1-4). Don't forget that every single professed homosexual today is the product of the union of a man and a woman. Life is possible in no other way. If Satan succeeds in separating the man from the woman, if he undermines and erodes the underpinnings of traditional marriage, then the Father's announced purpose of His work and His glory can indeed be thwarted. That is Satan's aim, and he is making stunning progress toward achieving it. But in the end, he doesn't win if scripture is to be believed. (See a sampling in Revelation 19-22).

Don't seek to become an erudite so-called "Devil's Advocate". He has plenty of help already. Instead, seek to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, not an anti-Christ who promotes and hails the LGBTQ agenda under the banner of political progress or equal rights. It is none of that. When you support and encourage their agenda you are in the ranks of the anti-Christs. You can't have this both ways any longer. The gulf between the two worlds is widening and can no longer be straddled comfortably as in the past.

I sound the warning voice here to those of you who are blindly advocating for something you don't fully understand - don't swallow the Kool-Aid by filling up your social media posts with exultation over what appears to be a "victory" for equal rights under the law. There are many examples of morally reprehensible behaviors that are legally protected. Abortion rights might be the most obvious example. This SCOTUS same sex marriage ruling is a short-term victory, like everything else that resembles a Satanic idea in opposition of eternal truth. Here's a sample from the Church's response:

"A family built on marriage of a man and a woman is the best setting for God’s plan of happiness to thrive. That is why communities and nations generally have encouraged and protected marriage between a man and a woman, and the family that results from their union, as privileged institutions. Sexual relations outside of such a marriage are contrary to the laws of God pertaining to morality.

"Changes in the civil law do not, indeed cannot, change the moral law that God has established. God expects us to uphold and keep His commandments regardless of divergent opinions or trends in society. His law of chastity is clear: sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. We invite all to review and understand the doctrine contained in 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World.'

"Consistent with our fundamental beliefs, Church officers will not employ their ecclesiastical authority to perform marriages between two people of the same sex, and the Church does not permit its meetinghouses or other properties to be used for ceremonies, receptions, or other activities associated with same‐sex marriages. Nevertheless, all visitors are welcome to our chapels and premises so long as they respect our standards of conduct while there."

Just as I have exercised my freedom of speech rights here, those of you who oppose my point of view are also free to express your opinion. We are all independent and we are free to choose whatever position we would like. We can do so respectfully but vociferously in whatever forum we elect. Remember, the blessing of moral agency, the freedom to choose and the subsequent consequences that go with those rights are all part of the plan of salvation. All of it has a root in God our Heavenly Father and in His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer. When you exult in choices outside the parameters of God's perfect plan, please stop to think twice before going further down that path.

I've had occasion recently to review every single entry in the personal journal of President Harold B. Lee. It has provided great insight into the inner workings among the men we sustain as prophets, seers and revelators. As part of that reading I also spent last Sunday re-reading the General Conference sermons of all the General Authorities during the 18-months tenure of President Lee. I discovered this statement in the General Priesthood Meeting of October 1972:

President Harold B. Lee, 1972

"I want to warn this great body of priesthood against that great sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, which has been labeled as a sin second only in seriousness to the sin of murder. I speak of the sin of adultery, which, as you know, was the name used by the Master as he referred to unlicensed sexual sins of fornication as well as adultery; and besides this, the equally grievous sin of homosexuality, which seems to be gaining momentum with social acceptance in the Babylon of the world, of which Church members must not be a part.

"While we are in the world, we must not be of the world. Any attempts being made by the schools or places of entertainment to flaunt sexual perversions, which can do nothing but excite to experimentation, must find among the priesthood in this church a vigorous and unrelenting defense through every lawful means that can be employed.

"The common judges of Israel, our bishops and stake presidents, must not stand by and fail to apply disciplinary measures within their jurisdiction, as set forth plainly in the laws of the Lord and procedures as set forth in plain and simple instructions that cannot be misunderstood. Never must we allow supposed mercy to the unrepentant sinner to rob the justice upon which true repentance from sinful practices is predicated."

Note in his statement, there is no "special class" that eludes the demands of justice because "I was born this way." As President Lee suggested way back then, "every lawful means" to oppose same sex marriage has been undertaken, and time and again the courts have struck down those attempts. Losing in the court of public opinion, however, is no new development the Church is seeing for the first time. It has been the unrelenting reality of the Church's existence since 1830. The Savior faced rejection daily during His mortal ministry. The rejection of the world is the inherent theme of walking the straight and narrow path leading to the tree of life, and those who mock today may find in their ranks the members of the Church who have been deceived even when they were once among "the very elect". (See 1 Nephi 11-14; D&C 45:57-59; Matthew 24:24; JST Matthew 22; 37; D&C 33:16-18).

One son asked me last week if this assault on religious liberty would force the Latter-day Saints into the seclusion of our religious practice in our homes. I reminded him of the Church's missionary mandate. We cannot invite the world to "come unto Christ" by living like cloistered monks behind the protection of the walls of our homes. We as Church members must vigorously defend eternal truth as only found in the revealed word of God. Anything outside that scope, while legal and politically progressive (even correct!), may not be, and often is not, moral.

Even the SCOTUS does not have the final word on the moral code as defined by our Creator.

Are We Worthy Enough?

There is a short answer to this question, and it is "Yes."

The long answer deserves a little more explanation.

Let us suppose three cases, all true stories and the details of which I am personally acquainted:

1) A man marries in the temple, he holds several significant callings throughout his life, including bishop, stake president and stake patriarch. At his funeral, some of the grandchildren begin sharing their experiences with each other they had with their grandfather. They discover that several of the grandchildren were sexually abused by this seemingly faithful man. At the time of his death he was serving as the stake patriarch, routinely giving inspired blessings to the young members of his stake, many of whom were the same ages of his grandchildren when he was secretly abusing them. The secrets of this family went undetected and undiscussed for almost two generations. From all appearances this family was a "model" LDS family to all who knew them.

2) A Relief Society President came to confess a secret sin to her bishop. She had become infatuated with a co-worker. They traded e-mails, innocent enough to begin with, but soon the innocent exchanges turned into increasingly explicit love poetry. Soon they were meeting for movie outings during the day. Then lunch followed the movies, then the movies became more and more explicit. Their love for each other blossomed. She was getting attention from this new suitor she was unable to find at home with her husband. A disciplinary council was convened on her behalf. She wanted to remain with her family and her husband. She was disfellowshipped, but a year later was reinstated.

3) A revered Church leader who had served as a bishop, a stake president, then later as a mission president confessed many years into adulthood he had been romantically involved with his administrative assistant for years. He was excommunicated. His missionaries were devastated, the members of his former stake were disillusioned, and many questioned the inspiration involved with the leaders who had called him to all these positions. In time he wrote a book about his life. His repentance was deep and real and painful. But still others questioned his judgment in profiting from his sins of the past. The secrets he harbored about his behavior, notwithstanding, his wife and family rallied around him and he was later re-baptized and all his priesthood blessings were restored in time.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of merciful deliverance from evil for those who abandon their sins and come unto Christ. Whether in this life or the next, the conditions for forgiveness are the same. The ordinances performed by the two priesthood brethren cited are recognized and ratified in heaven, even though the participants were "unworthy" to perform them. Since none is completely "worthy" in every way, the instruments will always be flawed in some particular, and should not foster doubt in the efficacy of the work of salvation. Legion are the examples of young men who administer the emblems of the sacrament to their fellow ward members on Sunday, and yet their behavior on Saturday night was anything but indicative of "worthiness" to perform those sacred ordinances. Hypocrisy is almost a given isn't it?

Worthiness, then, becomes a matter of degrees. We get on a path at baptism leading toward exaltation and eternal life. Our path twists and turns through mortality. Few walk a "straight and narrow" path flawlessly. I know of none who has or ever will. When secret sins are harbored and remain hidden sometimes for years, and yet men continue in their priesthood duties undeterred through many temple recommend interviews, lying and covering up their past sins without remorse until they are "caught," of course there are logical questions of worthiness that arise.

There is a corollary here too: Parenting. Sometimes children get the vibe from their parents who are driven by the need to have perfectly behaved children that they never will be "good enough" to measure up to their parents' lofty expectations. They become discouraged and give up. The quest for perfection is simply too much for them to continue. I labeled this "The Impossible Gospel" many years ago. Some sons think they can never be "worthy enough" in their fathers' eyes, and some daughters think they will never be "competent enough" in their mothers' eyes.

Of course, these thoughts are silly and should not stand in our way to accomplishing what we know we must as we mature and separate out from our parents' watchful care taking of us. The transition from being parented to becoming the parent is often traumatizing to some because of these perilous and false thoughts and expectations. I hope no one gets trapped in this stage of natural and normal progress in mortality.

Here's the reality of parenting - no matter how "great" our parents were, we are all scarred by what parents do or don't do to us and for us. Be kind with each other. Forgive generously. Move on gracefully without harboring the painful memories and replaying them again and again. Don't get stuck in misery.

Patience with each other is required. Harsh judgment for those who falter is not the same treatment we would choose for ourselves. And so we must become as patient as Heavenly Father must be with us. We learn by doing.

Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who was called to a responsible position in the Church, and yet based upon your own personal interactions with that person in their past life you know them to be "less than" worthy enough to perform in the office to which they are called? Do you wonder if they might also be having feelings of being "less than" they wish they were? Do you believe these are almost universal feelings others may have? Do you assume they never accessed the benefits of Christ's atonement in their life the way you have have in yours? Are you willing to condemn them for past sins you KNOW about, and yet exonerate yourself for your own hidden sins? Do you take comfort in the public display of another's weakness and remain smug that your secret sins go undetected?

We are all sinners. We all come short of the mark when it comes to the lofty ideals of the gospel compared to our actual performance in mortality. Remember, this is all a test, and most are struggling just like you when you flounder with the details. When long-cherished sins are finally exposed to the bright sunlight of truth, we are grieved, and those who are closest to us are likewise affected and grieved. Yet none of this invalidates what a fallen, imperfect person has accomplished for good during their lives. While we must develop understanding and empathy for one another, it may be just as important for us to give ourselves some of the same too.

The requirement is repentance, NOT perfection or the expectation of it any time soon.

Some wives punish their husbands brutally for their mistakes, and some find it difficult to excuse even when sincere repentance is in evidence. A breach of trust is difficult to repair. That's when Satan is at his most powerful in our lives. He thrives on harsh judgments. He is a master at hardening hearts. "I trusted you then," one would say, "and you betrayed me. How can I ever believe anything you ever say again?" When she begins to examine her own life, however, she finds she has withheld as much, then she is fearful she will be treated with the same judgment from her husband she has imposed upon him. And Satan drives those wedges of doubt and fear deeper until the marriage splits. He loves the conflict, the drama and the anguish growing out of the sins he promises will have no consequences. His greatest lie is the one about "victimless sins." Believe me, there is no such thing. Actions bring consequences. When we pick up a stick, we pick up both ends.

What is needed in all these cases is a broad brush of forgiveness. I've learned this is very hard work. When one of the combatants steps away from the conflict, there is no longer a war. When I have been discouraged with relationships, especially family relationships, I have heard a gentle whispered encouragement from my Mother, who died fourteen years ago, "Try one more time, David." It is an unmistakable voice of patience and love.

Of course, there are many situations where forgiveness and repentance just aren't enough, but those situations often suffer from a lack of willingness to extend the balm of Gilead to each rather than a lack of power to heal from the Savior. His love is perfection.

I counseled a couple for many months who found it difficult to remember why they had gotten married in the first place. I granted a temple recommend to the husband with reservations that I knew he was "not worthy" to go, but hoping to rekindle his love for his wife. I instructed my stake president about the course I was recommending to them and asked him to sign this brother's recommend despite my misgivings. I was acting on a prompting that suggested if they could go through an endowment session together, then spend an hour sitting side by side holding hands in the Celestial Room, then going on a sealing session together, there might be a chance to rekindle their marriage covenant. The last time I checked (and this was many years ago) they had six children.

I suggest we trust God. All our husbands and wives are His children first. He knows them better than we do. He also understands the fallen condition we face in mortality. If He had to rely upon conferring priesthood responsibilities only on "worthy" people, He might have easily decided to give the priesthood to women. That way He might be better assured of all the ordinances being performed in perfection.

However, mortality is what it is. We are sent here on a mission to purify ourselves through the blood of Christ. We are also told there is no other way, and no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved from sin and death and made pure. We are told we must never play in the gutter and avoid soiling our best Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. But in mortality we routinely find ourselves in the gutter. . .

And it's hard to avoid getting dirty.

Moral Agency, Rebellion and Reconciliation

This has been an eventful week. Two stories from real life have become a useful metaphor for me in helping to describe what has just happened in our country.

TUACHAN, Ivins, UT

My wife and I took a long weekend trip to a distant city for a little R&R. We had a delightful weekend enjoying the splendor that is Southern Utah's color country. Without being too specific to protect the identity of the family we witnessed in action, a small drama played out in front of me that has some metaphorical value.

We attended a sacrament meeting while we were away. We happened to pick a ward where the ward conference was happening. Presiding at the meeting was the stake president. Their stake theme was published in the program - "Coming to understand the use of priesthood keys in the Church and our personal lives." Maybe it was because it's a topic with which I am very familiar and I've written about extensively, but I had a feeling their stake was in good hands and they were well-led by the man from whom we would be hearing later in the meeting. I was not disappointed in my early assessment.

The bishop bore a brief five-minute testimony. Then the stake president called on a youth leader and a young woman, both of whom had attended the stake girls' camp that week. They reported on the camp, their feelings about it, and what a spiritual uplift it had been in their lives.

Then a mini-drama played out in front of me. A mother and one of her daughters (it was a family of five children seated in the row in front of me), began exchanging hand-written notes on the front of the printed program. Because I was situated a row behind and between them, I could easily read their written exchanges.

The mother began, "Did you feel anything at girls' camp this week?" I should mention this was her oldest daughter whose natural hair color was red. But this daughter had dyed the front of her hair blue.

The daughter took the proffered note from her mother and returned it without comment, a look of loathing and rebellion on her face as she handed it back defiantly.

By now the stake president was at the podium and was developing a topic, ironically, of standing firm in our faith by choosing correct principles and aligning ourselves with the Lord and His admonitions through living prophets.

The mother then wrote: "You will NEVER be able to feel the spirit in your life with such a BAD ATTITUDE!"

The stake president from the pulpit: "Even God had to bow before the agency of His children in their poor choices, because He decreed that each would have the freedom to exercise moral agency. When our children rebel, it must never be because we have failed to teach them or to berate and judge them harshly for those choices. We must love and succor unconditionally as He would each of His children. His patience with us must mirror our own with our children."

The daughter had finally had enough. She grabbed the program and the pen and screamed on paper, "STOP IT!"

The stake president, continuing to develop his theme: "Obedience is the key to having the spirit in our lives to direct us. As we obey, as we love one another in our families, and as we give heed to the counsel of our living oracles, we develop the power of the priesthood in our individual lives to weather the storms of adversity and sin that will continually beat upon us until the Lord comes again."

The mother, seemingly oblivious to the counsel of their stake president and determined to have the last word with her daughter, then wrote: "You will NEVER be happy until you obey the commandments." This time the daughter refused to even pick up the program or look in her mother's direction. She simply ignored the note. The icy exchange had ended and her mother put away her program. I was struck by the fact that this blue-haired daughter had gone to girls' camp and she was sitting in Church. She could not be considered in my quick calculations as a total loss.

Another human drama between a 91-year-old father and a son who has rejected him as a father was also playing out last week. A copy of a letter from the father to the son was shared with me. This is a father whose history with this son has been tempestuous their entire lives. Now, the father, attempting a final reconciliation in the gathering sunset of his life writes in part:

"Your refusal to accept my telephone calls makes my efforts to reach you very difficult. . . I have faithfully written to you each month to express my love and to plead and beg for some response from you. All this has been to no avail and only painful silence has resulted. After a year I am still bewildered by your failure to respond [he then postulates on the possible reasons for being ignored]. . . There are other possibilities of course, but I have concluded that I cannot continue on with my practice of writing letters to you each month when I never know after a whole year whether they are even read, welcomed or useful in any respect. So, unless I receive an answer to this fervent inquiry, I will cease formal writing. Then, what are we left with? A father-son relationship that only I acknowledge and treasure. That is so saddening and empty. Only you can make it otherwise and I pray with all my heart that you will do so."

Two real-life examples of the painfully poignant feelings of distraught parents who are grappling with the rebellion and rejection by children of their parenting efforts. I would suspect these examples are not isolated. Perhaps they are universal.

Now take those two stories and imagine that pathos and the disappointment of our Father in Heaven who looks down on the SCOTUS rulings against DOMA and Prop 8 in California last week, having the effect of further bolstering the LGBT agenda for gay marriage in the name of "marriage equality." He has given revelation upon revelation, following centuries, even millennia since creation's dawn, of confirming conformity from the majority of His children with respect to marriage being defined as between one man and one woman, then having His doctrine ridiculed, derided and decried as "discriminatory." Imagine the patience, the irony, the disappointment and the long-suffering of God who is also a Parent. Yet how does He react? Does He harshly condemn, berate, brow beat, work with guilt to compel His children to do what He commands? No. He bows beneath the rod of moral agency. He warns, He continues to instruct through His living oracles upon the Earth today, and He continues to patiently nurture until the day of the final harvest. He must submit, even the God of the universe, to the immutable principle of moral agency. Even He. And so must we.

There are natural consequences involved with poor choices. It is Parenting 101. Children must be taught correctly to see and to learn what those consequences will be. Sadly, they must often suffer painful experiences to learn those natural consequences. Only last night, little munchkins living for the weekend with their parents under our roof for the holiday weekend, were reminded gently by their parents that failing to eat their dinner resulted in the natural consequence of having to forego Grandma's homemade cookies for dessert. Screams of how HORRIBLE their parents were rang through the house. Screams of protest and anger, harsh judgments about their abilities as parents were rendered. "You are the MEANEST mother in the whole world!!" But the consequences stood. They were learning as little ones, not having to wait until they had dyed their hair blue, or were still stoutly refusing the impassioned entreaties of aged parents after a lifetime of rejection.

It was Kahlil Gibran who wisely stated: "We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."

And so it is. The day will come when America will pay a terrible consequence in its rebellion against God and the natural law of marriage between a man and a woman. I hope before the final judgment day arrives I will be living on the other side of the green, green grass in the cemetery. There is nothing in the scriptures suggesting to me things are going to get dramatically better before we see the Second Coming.

But I am cheered by the hope that out of all this chaos will someday emerge the Zion for which I long:

"And now I give unto you a word concerning Zion. Zion shall be redeemed, although she is chastened for a little season. . . Therefore, let your hearts be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly, and to the sanctification of the church. For I will raise up unto myself a pure people that will serve me in righteousness; And all that call upon the name of the Lord, and keep his commandments, shall be saved. Even so. Amen." (D&C 100:13, 15-17).

I suspect before that day comes even young ladies with blue hair and recalcitrant sons who refuse to accept their aged father's earnest entreaties will also submit.

An additional valuable insight was reinforced the other night as we were participating in a sealing session. "I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection." Fathers will someday resurrect their children. The keys of the holy resurrection are a patriarchal priesthood entitlement to the faithful. And knowing the patience of our Father in Heaven, I suspect patient patriarchs seeking to become just like Him will also wait for as long as it takes for their children to be given every possible chance to repent and align themselves with the revealed gospel of Jesus Christ even beyond the grave.

Just a thought. . . sometimes reconciliation takes a very long time, but it is ALWAYS possible.

Chicken, Gay Marriage and Landslides

Last week millions of Americans, some of whom had never been to a Chick-fil-A before, discovered their political preferences had merged with a great chicken sandwich. And the lemonade is second to none as well.

But the chicken sandwich was only a side order to the controversy that sparked over remarks Dan Cathy, owner of the famous franchises that are always closed on Sunday, made about traditional marriage. Said Cathy, if America expands the definition of traditional marriage to include gay marriage we are "inviting God's wrath." His remarks were made on an Atlanta radio station, but they quickly spread nationwide.

Dan Cathy, Founder of Chick-fil-A

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit," he explained. "We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that ... we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."

Time will tell whether he is right or not (he is), but God tends to be patient with His children. When I returned from my LDS mission to England in the late sixties, people were saying back then if God didn't soon destroy the city of San Francisco, He would have to apologize to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. We all smiled back then because the gay community was viewed as a small and inconsequential minority. Then was then and now is now.

That's why a tweet on Twitter caught my eye the other day. It was re-tweeted by someone in my follower camp. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee tweeted: "Closest Chick-fil-A to San Francisco is 40 miles away and I strongly recommend they not try to come any closer." A mayor. . . of a major U.S. city. . . in the twenty-first century in America. . . sounding like. . . a sheriff. . . in the wild wild West. . . of yesteryear. . . amazing! And they call such folks "progressives."

Supporters of traditional Christian values about traditional marriage between a man and a woman took to the Chick-fil-A franchises across the nation in record numbers to vote with their pocketbooks in an overwhelming show of support for Cathy's remarks. These must have been the angry people then-candidate Barack Obama dismissed disparagingly in 2008, who were clinging to their guns and their Bibles. That was followed a few days later by a "kiss-in" at Chick-fil-A restaurants by the gays who were defiant and filled with indignation. They still have not been informed, I guess, that marriage any way they define it is NOT a civil right.

We can be grateful supporters and protesters over gay marriage are not yet killing each other with six-shooters in duels at dawn. Yet.

Mayors of Chicago and Boston, playing to their liberal bases respectively, even suggested Chick-fil-As were not to be welcomed there and threatened to deny building permits if they tried. While God's wrath and its demonstration hangs in suspension for the moment, the defiant wrath of pro-gay marriage advocates is now vividly on full display. For the first time they have a sitting POTUS who supports their position, and just last week support of gay marriage was written into this year's Democratic Platform of core beliefs.

No one seems to care anymore about the rule of law in this country. The attacks on Chick-fil-A are un-American, and pure and simple bigotry. The SCOTUS has NOT declared gay marriage is a civil right in America, and until they do people in good conscience who oppose it are free to oppose it with their public speech if that's how they feel. And even if gay marriage is someday written into law, people can still say whatever they want. This is still America and free speech is protected.

Advocates for gay marriage certainly are free to exert and impose their minority views on the rest of us, but the minute the majority opinion starts to express themselves with chicken sandwich purchases, there is outrage. There is no bias case that can be made legally against anyone who says they stand in opposition to gay marriage. Dan Cathy stands squarely with millions of other Americans believe in the sanctity of one-man one-woman marriage based upon religious tenets.

Some secular humanists even oppose homosexual marriage on simpler grounds because they believe nature, nurture and procreation go together. They see marriage between a man and a woman on purely pragmatic grounds as a stabilizing force for good in society, regardless of religious dictum.

So it comes to this: If you brand someone as a hater or a bigot because he or she opposes the expansion of the definition of traditional marriage, such a stand should be labeled for what it is - unfair and narrow-minded.

The flip side is also true: If someone sincerely believes our society would be better off with what they label "marriage equality" and it is the only fair and just thing to do, that belief should be respected. In America we get to say what we think.

Mayor Ed Lee, San Francisco

So Mayor Lee of San Francisco says he "strongly recommends" that Chick-fil-A stays out of his fair city? Really? Is he sending a message as an elected official that something untoward might happen if his "recommendation" is violated? Really? Is he sending a message that threats will be upheld in his wild, wild town in the West? Hang Dan Cathy at dawn from the nearest tree and let him swing in the wind? Really?

Is that what we've come to? That a mayor elected by homosexuals whose political views he is determined to uphold regardless of the unsettled law in this arena of marriage definitions has the right to punish those with whom he disagrees politically? Really?

I also noticed last week the black preachers in America are now coming out in opposition to President Barack Obama's support of gay marriage. The vast majority of those preachers have now drawn the line in the sand against their great black leader because he has gone too far in their view. Is the good mayor now going to publicly oppose those black preachers who proclaim homosexuality to be a sin in God's eyes? Will he warn them to stay out of San Francisco and muzzle their pulpits as well? If he's consistent in his reasoning that's exactly what he should do. Don't hold your breath.

The public grandstanding against Chick-fil-A by politicians in these three U.S. cities, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston, is coming from far left wingnuts. The masks are off, the gloves are on, and the punches are being thrown, but America isn't buying it.

In record numbers Americans swamped Chick-fil-As with orders for chicken sandwiches. In Salt Lake City, the line at the food court in the new City Creek Center wound all the way around the court and out the door as people waited over an hour to buy lunch in support of Dan Cathy. The liberal agenda is a failing proposition on all levels, and it will backfire at the voting booth in November.

It's a game of chicken with landslide written all over it.

Six Principles: Mothers and The Patriarchal Order

Recently, I was in a conversation with someone (don't even recall who it was), who expressed surprise when I stated in answer to his question that the ordinances associated with exaltation were to be received only by a husband and wife simultaneously, not separately. His assumption had always been that our ultimate salvation was strictly an individual matter.

On this Mothers' Day weekend, it seems appropriate to underscore the role of women in our lives as men. We simply have no hope of eternal life without being sealed to a woman of our choosing. Period. No exceptions. No other way. The happiness and fulfillment of the mother of your children must always be your highest and most urgent need. You may not always succeed. My experience has been how patient my wife has always been with my blundered attempts, but because she is rarely content with even my best effort I am always reaching higher than I would otherwise. I have written extensively about these core doctrines in the past. It's there for all who want to see it.

Joseph Smith

The clearest statement made to understand the shared divine nature of the patriarchal order was first uttered by Joseph Smith. Said he, "[The patriarch order] is the kingdom of an endless life." He added: "The sacrifice required of Abraham in the offering up of Isaac shows that if a man would attain to the keys of the kingdom of an endless life, he must sacrifice all things." (HC, 5:555). This eternal kingdom in which each worthy man could receive the keys referred to by the Prophet begins in mortality, and extends to "a fulness of the priesthood" based upon several key principles. I will cite only six as follows:

First, the highest expression of sexuality is God's work and we are partners with Him as husbands and wives. We are the mortal means by which He continually increases in glory "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39).

Second, the only way in which our Father in Heaven can attain His full potential as an exalted being in this eternal family, is to provide a way for men and women to be organized first as personages of spirit, then secondly, tabernacled in a body of flesh and bones and endowed with the full glory and power of the Man of Holiness. Inherent in that ultimate bestowal of glory and power is the power to procreate children in the resurrection and to develop glory in them through the same divine plan. Creation of life requires a male and a female component.

Third, before the individual members of the Church could become like the exalted Man of Holiness in every way, they had to be organized into an eternal family order. The Father and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, effected that organization. This eternal family was a continuous, on-going priesthood organization called the divine patriarchal order. Before this earth upon which we now live was formed, the order came down by generation from God through Adam and his sons and their successive generations. Each ordinance given as part of the order was established as a dynamic, life-giving function. Through these ordinances, men and women could acquire divine attributes and powers of life through the Holy Spirit. The symbolic elements of gospel ordinances mirrored actual experiences of birth, death, the atonement, and the resurrection.

Fourth, the saints of the last days living in the dispensation of the fulness of times were required to master Zion's economic and social programs and, in time before the Second Coming, establish the government of God in their midst in observance of the laws associated with the divine patriarchal order.

Fifth, by applying the principles and laws of the gospel in their lives, the saints could have their "callings and elections made sure" in family relationships begun here on earth at the altars of the temple in the patriarchal order in eternity. We were all taught in the pre-existence and in our family units here on earth that only in this way could we eventually become priests and kings (and priestesses and queens) in the celestial order in eternity. The power to seal here on earth is held only by the living prophet and president of the Church. (See Millenial Star, 5:151, [March, 1845]; also see D&C 132:7).

Sixth, when the saints apply celestial law and are united as heirs with the greater eternal family in the presence of God, they will receive a fulness of the priesthood and be made recipients of the glory exalted beings possess, to the degree the saints were able to receive and apply it to their good.

Brigham Young, expanding on what he had learned from Joseph Smith, would later state:

"When the Holy Priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God, is upon the earth, and its organizations, ordinances, gospel, powers, authorities and blessings, are enjoyed by the children of men; then by means of sealing powers and keys, and an everlasting covenant, the sons of men become the sons of God by regeneration, and are entitled, every man in his order, to the privileges, exaltations, principalities and powers, kingdoms and thrones, which are held and enjoyed, by the Great Father of our race: and all these are obtained through the law of natural increase, and the saving of that which the Father puts in our power." (JD, 10:355).

Adam and Eve were the prototypes on this earth:

"The Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: 'I have set thee to be at the head -- a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.'" So, in like manner, every faithful couple joined by priesthood authority in a provisional sealing ordinance becomes the Adam and Eve to the race that springs from their loins, when they are embraced in the covenants and blessings of the Holy Priesthood; and in the lapse of eternity, and in the progress of eternal lives, every true son and daughter of God becomes a king of kings, a queen of queens; a priest and a priestess. (Ibid.)

Heber C. Kimball

Reality being what it is, the final patriarchal order was not to be fully realized in mortality. Heber C. Kimball reported a vision given to Joseph Smith in which "he saw Adam open the gate of the celestial city and admit the people one by one. He then saw Father Adam conduct them to the throne one by one, when they were crowned Kings and Priests of God." (JD, 9:41).

President Brigham Young

Brigham Young agreed:

"We have not yet received our kingdoms, neither will we, until we have finished our work on the earth, passed through the ordeals, are brought up by the power of the resurrection, and are crowned with glory and eternal lives. Then he that has overcome and is found worthy, will be made a king of kings, and lord of lords over his own posterity, or in other words: A father of fathers. This latter rendering, is more strictly in accordance with the original text." (Ibid., 10:355).

All of this is consistent with what should be obvious -- without mothers there would be no fathers, and with neither there would be no procreation or hope for exaltation.

People question why the leaders of the Church today are so persistent in their adamant stance against the false doctrines associated with the LGBT community and their political agenda to legalize gay marriage. Some even maintain when all those old men finally get it right and so-called "scientific proofs" are studied more in depth, there will be a change in Church policy. Don't bet the farm on that. In light of the eternal verities associated with revelation from the very beginning, a change in doctrine is not likely to ever be equated with a change in policy.

One cannot accept the premise we are led by living prophets, and simultaneously embrace the notion that someday a change in doctrine to accommodate modern politically correct dogma will be allowed to destroy the very foundation upon which the kingdom of God has been established in eternities that predate and will succeed ours.

The need for sympathy and acceptance is acknowledged. Diversity, compassion and understanding is never out of date in the Church. That said, do not be persuaded by those who suggest the leaders of the Church are simply politically incorrect or out of step with the times in which we live. They understand perfectly the ramifications for evil that such false postulations invite, and teach what they do so we may not be deceived by the sophistries of the day.

Mothers -- in particular the one to whom I am linked -- have done what they came here to do under divine command from the beginning: "to fill the measure of their creation" by creating life with their husbands. Once each faithful couple has ascended step by step through parenthood, the remaining steps crown their efforts with godhood:

"They then would want that more sure word of prophecy, that they were sealed in the heavens and had the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Then, having this promise sealed unto them, it was an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. Though the thunders might roll and lightnings flash, and earthquakes bellow, and war gather thick around, yet this hope and knowledge would support the soul in every hour of trial, trouble and tribulation. Then knowledge through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the grand key that unlocks the glories and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

"Compare this principle once with Christendom at the present day, and where are they, with all their boasted religion, piety and sacredness while at the same time they are crying out against prophets, apostles, angels, revelations, prophesying and visions, etc. Why, they are just ripening for the damnation of hell. They will be damned, for they reject the most glorious principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and treat with disdain and trample under foot the key that unlocks the heavens and puts in our possession the glories of the celestial world. Yes, I say, such will be damned, with all their professed godliness. Then I would exhort you to go on and continue to call upon God until you make your calling and sure for yourselves, by obtaining this more sure word of prophecy, and wait patiently for the promise until you obtain it, etc." (TPJS, 298).

Ah, Joseph Smith -- just not much ambiguity there. I'm guessing President Boyd K. Packer is simply being true to the true prophet in this dispensation.

Part and parcel of our mortal probation is learning to distinguish good from evil. In our eagerness to embrace the downtrodden, the falsely judged and even the most ardent sinners, let us never be deceived into believing that tolerance can cross the line into open opposition against the humble prophets of God and the doctrine they lovingly declare, as if from the Lord's own mouth. (See D&C 21:5).

On this Mothers' Day, give thanks for the righteous women in your life as men. There is no greater gift than being surrounded by the righteousness of good women. God intended us to rub off all the "pointy and prickly parts" of our character against each other in the marriage relationship. I guess it's the only way He could devise to prepare us for eternal life. Be happy in all the twists and turns that don't work out quite the way you drew them up on the chalkboard of all your planning.

Always remember and don't forget -- there is a priceless legacy a righteous woman offers you as a man you can obtain nowhere else and in no other way. It is eternal life.

LGBT, the Savior and Eternal Life

Just so you know; here's the disclaimer up front: I am a heterosexual monogamous male living in the last days who is not without sin. When I found my eternal companion, Patsy Hewlett, our union began simply as one male and one female who were deeply in love with each other from the moment we went on our first date. Neither of us was perfect yet, but she's always been pretty darn close to perfection as far as I've been able to discern.

From those two imperfect beings have come many -- thirteen children and thirty-five grandchildren. We have been added upon in ways we never imagined when we first met. . .

And, I'm a Mormon.

I suppose there are others types of "love" in these last days because I've been told there is an acronym to describe everything else under the broad heading of "love," and it has been in widespread use since the 1990s:  LGBT is an initialism referring collectively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. What a great device an acronym is -- it just softens those crude, unspoken and repulsive words no one dared to utter even a few years ago.

My first conscious experience in life with a homosexual was being part of what we now refer to as "disciplinary councils." A missionary in our mission was excommunicated and sent home from his mission because he was engaging in sexual activities in public bathrooms with other homosexuals, total strangers. I also witnessed a heterosexual who was likewise excommunicated and sent home from his mission because he committed fornication on his mission. The standard for both, I always thought, was the same.

But now there are those who are seeking to be excused from repenting, it seems. They would have us believe they are an exception because they were "born that way," and there's nothing they can do about it.

What Patsy and I have in our union as husband and wife is called "marriage." When we were married, I never really imagined the word would come under attack the way it has with everyone else wanting to define it in their own way. It never occurred to me as a young man that marriage would someday of necessity be defined in courts and individual state constitutions as a union between a man and a woman.

For six thousand years of recorded history until now it was obvious to everyone how marriage was defined. It didn't have to be mandated by statute. It was easily understood.

In the third chapter of Abraham, it is stated: "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born."

Now, note: "And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is a space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate" — that means have obeyed and lived up to the challenges of that premortal life — "shall be added upon."

They would have a body added to their spirit, but those who didn't keep their first estate would not be added upon. "And they who keep their second estate" — that means in mortal life — "shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever." (Abraham 3:22-26).

The fact that you and I are here in mortal bodies is evidence that we were among those who were in that great concourse of organized intelligences. We knew God, our Father in Heaven. He was our Heavenly Father. We were sired by Him. We had a Heavenly Mother — can you think of having a father without a mother? That great hymn "O My Father" (see Hymns No. 292) puts it correctly when Eliza R. Snow wrote, "In the heav'ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! Truth is reason; truth eternal tells me I've a mother there." 

So each of us who lives on the earth today was born of a Heavenly Mother, sired by a Heavenly Father. We knew Him, we were in His house, and we knew His Firstborn Son, who was to come here and redeem mankind as the Great Prototype who would implement "the plan of salvation." A plan suggests a Planner.

What did He mean, then, when He said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent?" (John 17:3). The plan is to regain that knowledge we possessed in the beginning before this world was and before we were born and clothed in mortal bodies, then to go back where we once were. The coarseness of the materials comprising our mortal bodies shrouds our spirits in a veil of forgetfulness and the purification of those native elements is what overcoming the flesh is all about. Our spirits must gain ascendency over our bodies so we may come to remember our glorious beginnings. That becomes the great quest of mortality for each of us.

There was no ambiguity when Jehovah taught these truths plainly to Moses when He said, "This is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39).

Immortality is something that comes to us as a free gift to all mankind from our Heavenly Father. Whether we are righteous or evil, everyone will come forth in the resurrection after death.

Eternal life means acquiring the blessing through obedience to regain the presence of our Father and His Son in that heavenly home from which we have come, and to live the kind of life He lives. To inherit eternal life is a matter of personal righteousness and keeping the commandments to see if we will do all things the Lord God has commanded us to do. Since each of us sins and comes short of the mark, a Redeemer is provided in the plan so that none who repents will be lost.

All who become disciples of Jesus Christ have to reconcile their past sinful behavior with their present desire to become righteous, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23).

All have sinned, it is true, but there is hope for all sinners. John taught: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he [Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9).

When we get discouraged because of our sins, we must remember the Lord is eager for us to repent and be forgiven. The scriptures have provided many examples of valiant disciples who had to repent of a sinful past before they could move ahead as servants of the Lord.

The conversion of Alma the younger and the four sons of Mosiah before their repentance, "were the very vilest of sinners" (Mosiah 28:4) and even sought to destroy the church (Mosiah 27:10; Alma 26:18).

Alma the elder also had been a sinner in the first rank of the wicked priests of King Noah. He wrote:

"Remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance; Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth." (Mosiah 23:9-10).

Even my mightiest Book of Mormon hero, Nephi, cried out in the agony of his sins:

"Notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted." (2 Nephi 4:17-19).

The Apostle Paul was another prominent example of a sinner who amended his former ways and found redemption. He witnessed and consented to the violent stoning death of the Christian martyr Stephen and "made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison." (Acts 8:1-3; also see Acts 7:54-60). On several occasions he was active in the persecution of the Saints and did many things "contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." (Acts 26:9-10; also see Galatians 1:13). After acknowledging his past persecutions of the church (Philippians 3:6), he did the only thing one can do who has sinned and desires to serve the Lord:

"This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14).

Joseph Smith

In modern times we have similar prominent examples. Without being specific, young Joseph Smith wrote of his youth:

"I was left to all kinds of temptations; and, mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been." (JS-History 1:28).

Joseph wrote of the night when he was first introduced to Moroni: "I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections; when on the evening of the above-mentioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him." (JS-History 1:29).

Many who joined the Church after the restoration began had similar concerns about their past sins. The Lord frequently revealed that if they would go forth to preach the gospel they would bring salvation to their own souls (see D&C 4:4; 11:3; 12:3; 14:3) and would be forgiven of their previous sins (see D&C 31:5; 62:3; 84:61).

The pattern here could not be more clear. We come into mortality pure and innocent: "Light and truth forsake that evil one. Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth. (D&C 93:37-40).

So we lived before we were born. We were born into mortality pure and innocent. Satan comes among us and decieves us. All succumb and commit sin. None is exempt from sin. Many acknowledge their sins, repent and come unto Christ.

President Henry B. Eyring

President Henry B. Eyring once called this the "most important invitation," ever offered:

"The words 'come unto Christ' are an invitation. It is the most important invitation you could ever offer to another person. It is the most important invitation anyone could accept. From the beginning of the Restoration of the gospel in this dispensation, it has been the charge given by Jesus Christ to His representatives. Their charge has been 'to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ.'  (D&C 20:59).

"Every member of the Church, upon accepting the baptismal covenant, becomes a disciple who has promised to stand as a witness of Jesus Christ at all times in any place he or she may be in.  (Mosiah 18:8-10). The purpose of our witness is to invite people to come unto Him.

"All of us should be intensely interested in learning how to issue that invitation effectively. We know from experience that some will not respond. Only a few responded when the Savior Himself offered this invitation during His mortal ministry. But great was His joy in those who recognized His voice. And great has been our joy when those we have invited have come unto Him."  ("Come Unto Christ," Ensign, March 2008, 48-52).

In Matthew we get a sense of the almost universal rejection suffered by the Savior when He was here on earth.

"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  (Matthew 11:20-30).

President Boyd K. Packer

President Boyd K. Packer as recently as last weekend at General Conference offered the same invitation and has been rebuked and rejected totally and completely by the people calling themselves the LGBTs. The other night a crowd estimated at near 600 people ringed Temple Square to call attention to their protests. He entitled his remarks, "Cleansing the Inner Vessel." In part, he observed:

"The old saying 'The Lord is voting for me, and Lucifer is voting against me, but it is my vote that counts' describes a doctrinal certainty that our agency is more powerful than the adversary’s will. Agency is precious. We can foolishly, blindly give it away, but it cannot be forcibly taken from us.

"There is also an age-old excuse: 'The devil made me do it.' Not so! He can deceive you and mislead you, but he does not have the power to force you or anyone else to transgress or to keep you in transgression.

"To be entrusted with the power to create life carries with it the greatest of joys and dangerous temptations. The gift of mortal life and the capacity to kindle other lives is a supernal blessing. Through the righteous exercise of this power, as in nothing else, we may come close to our Father in Heaven and experience a fulness of joy. This power is not an incidental part of the plan of happiness. It is the key — the very key."

When we tamper with the powers of procreation, attempt to alter their holy and divine purpose or redefine their meaning, we are tampering with the very headwaters of godhood. It is little wonder those who are now flaunting their sins, demanding their rights without the attendant repentance, are so offended.

Come, let us reason together.  We are all sinners, even guys like me.  And you who are in the LGBT coalition are sinners too, sinning against the very first two commandments given to Adam and Eve in Holy Writ:  "Multiply and replenish the earth; and do not partake of the forbidden fruit." We must all unite under the banner of Jesus Christ, our Savior, repent of our sins, and have faith in His redemptive power to save contingent upon our true repentance. Otherwise, we have no promise. It's a simple requirement, but it is universal. There is no "special exemption" from repentance for a "special class" of God's children with which I am familiar.

President Packer continued:

"We raise an alarm and warn members of the Church to wake up and understand what is going on. Parents, be alert, ever watchful that this wickedness might threaten your family circle.

"We teach a standard of moral conduct that will protect us from Satan’s many substitutes or counterfeits for marriage. We must understand that any persuasion to enter into any relationship that is not in harmony with the principles of the gospel must be wrong. From the Book of Mormon we learn that 'wickedness never was happiness.' (Alma 41:10).

"Some suppose that they were preset and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn temptations toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Remember, God is our Heavenly Father.

"Paul promised that 'God . . . will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'  (1 Corinthians 10:13). You can, if you will, break the habits and conquer an addiction and come away from that which is not worthy of any member of the Church. As Alma cautioned, we must 'watch and pray continually.'  (Alma 13:28).

"Isaiah warned, 'Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20).

"Years ago I visited a school in Albuquerque. The teacher told me about a youngster who brought a kitten to class. As you can imagine, that disrupted everything. She had him hold the kitten up in front of the children.

"It went well until one of the children asked, 'Is it a boy kitty or a girl kitty?'

"Not wanting to get into that lesson, the teacher said, 'It doesn’t matter. It’s just a kitty.'

"But they persisted. Finally, one boy raised his hand and said, 'I know how you can tell.'

"Resigned to face it, the teacher said, 'How can you tell?'

"And the student answered, 'You can vote on it!'

"You may laugh at this story, but if we are not alert, there are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature. A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. For instance, what good would a vote against the law of gravity do?

"There are both moral and physical laws 'irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world' that cannot be changed.  (D&C 130:20).  History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

"Regardless of the opposition, we are determined to stay on course. We will hold to the principles and laws and ordinances of the gospel. If they are misunderstood either innocently or willfully, so be it. We cannot change; we will not change the moral standard. We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish."

Statistically, all populations can be distributed across a bell curve.  It is no different in sexual tendencies. LGBTs are the minority "outliers" at the extremity on one side of the bell curve, and hyper-sexed heterosexuals represent "outliers" at the other side. We are commanded to keep our sexual activity confined "within the bounds the Lord has set" for optimal eternal joy and happiness. The Planner of the plan of happiness has so decreed.

The futility of lobbying the Planner and His servants for a redistribution or a "special exemption" at either extremity along the bell curve should be obvious. How successful with the General Authorities could I expect to be if I organized protests for heterosexuals who just couldn't manage to stop having sex with multiple partners or even with monogamous partners to whom they were not legally and lawfully wedded?

That's why in order to be accepted by the majority under the bell curve, they must do all they can to redefine the marriage covenant "legally and lawfully" and broaden the distribution to include the outliers as "normal." Anyone who does not accept their minority definition, then, can be more easily labeled as homophobic, narrow-minded, or bigoted.

* * *

To summarize: We are all sinners. Some are heterosexual, some are under some other heading, but let us all acknowledge our weaknesses and our sins. It is not to be thought that just because we are not lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender that we heterosexual sinners are somehow "better" sinners than they. In that context we are all in this "soup" of mortality together, and we can strengthen one another and help one another to overcome those weaknesses which are inherent in the flesh of mortality.

The LGBT lifestyle assures subtraction and division. The eternal marriage lifestyle assures something else: addition and multiplication.

In our eagerness not to offend but to befriend and to invite all to come unto Christ, we sometimes first tolerate, then accept, then embrace those who remain unrepentant and have come out in open opposition to the appointed servants God has sent us. The issue should not be whether or not we love one another, but rather whether our tolerance may eventually lead to a clouded view of that which cannot be altered because it is bedrock eternal truth upon which the foundations of exaltation and eternal life are constructed. Do you discern the difference here? This is not a "policy" or a "procedure" that can be changed. It is doctrine.

Beware of those sympathizers within the Church who are coming out now in open opposition to the humble prophets of God. It's a new topic today, but the "higher critics" have always been part of the fabric of the Church. Many are erudite, sophisticated, persuasive, intelligent, articulate and well-educated with "science" on their side, proclaiming they espouse "proof" that homosexual behavior is pre-ordained, normal, natural and perfectly acceptable in every way, including the need to grant all the legal advantages attaching to marriage between a man and woman. They are increasingly vociferous and bold in their open hostility toward and their criticism of the living prophets

The choice could not be more clear. Either the revealed word of God is right and His prophets are right, or the LGBTs are right. No one can have it both ways in this specific and current war of opinion. But taking a vote like the one in California over the much-discussed Prop 8 doesn't settle it, nor will the forthcoming legal challenges in courts for years to come

Correctly using your agency to choose repentance, however, is choosing wisely.

I've made my choice as a repentant (and repenting) heterosexual monogamous male living in the last days. I've cast my lot with the living prophets, the revealed Word in the scriptures, and the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. I invite everyone else of like mind, even if your sexual orientation is different than mine to join me in the most important invitation ever offered, "Come unto Me!" We can still love one another under the heavenly banner of Jesus Christ, but the requirement for all of us remains unchanged -- repentance.

That's what got everyone so agitated about what President Packer said. He dared to suggest that sinners could change, must change, in order to be exalted. It's not exactly new doctrine.

Jesus Christ -- He is the only way, the only name given under heaven by which we can be saved. . .

And I'm a Mormon.