Mormonopia

Ministering Between Kingdoms

Graham — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:21:26 +0000

Another thought from the High Priest Group lesson I mentioned the other day.

We learn in D&C 76 about the post-mortal life (specifically the three degrees of glory). Heavenly Father lives exclusively in the Celestial Kingdom. Jesus lives there, too, but will visit the Terrestrial Kingdom. The Holy Ghost will be felt in the Telestial Kingdom. Apparently beings will be able to visit down the line as well. Those in the Terrestrial Kingdom can visit those in the Telestial Kingdom, and beings in the Celestial Kingdom can visit the Terrestrial kingdom.

If you are interested, I found a couple of good quotes about this sort of visitation here.

The question asked in class was, “What is the purpose of that?” There is no chance to jump between worlds going up, so having someone come from a place you can’t go to is almost like another hell. I had never thought of it that way before. I thought about it a little more, and I’ve come to a different conclusion. There is a fantastic buffet restaurant in Ontario called Mandarin Chinese Buffet Restaurant. It is expensive, but the quality of food is fantastic. I don’t go very often, but whenever I get the chance, I love it, I’m glad I could go, and I look forward to going again. I never think how awful it is that I can’t go all the time. I’m wondering if that is how it will be when a being from a Kingdom above visits… it’ll be great, we’ll be happy we were able to feel that, and can’t wait for that being to come again.

Just my two cents…

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When will the Holy Ghost get a body?

Graham — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:05:03 +0000

I taught one of the last lessons in High Priest Group at the end of December, and we were discussing judgment and exaltation. Someone asked when the Holy Ghost would get a body? I spoke to this person later, and asked why He needed one, and this person said that we associate exaltation with having a body. Good point.

Anyway, a quick search on the Internet shows that other people have had this question as well. There were two good responses on websites run by FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research).

What about the Holy Ghost – Note: when I first posted this, the link worked. Now it says the page doesn’t exist. I’m leaving the link in place in case the page appears agaon.
Holy Ghost/Divinity without a body

To summarize the answer, we don’t know when He will get a body. Based on D&C 93: 33, we learn that to have a fulness of joy, we need a body. However, it doesn’t say we have to have one. Godhood is not defined by having a body. The Holy Ghost does not have a body, but He is in the Godhead. Christ was considered a God before he was born, and He didn’t have a body yet.

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Strange sign to have in your house

Graham — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Look at this bizarre sign I saw at a “dollar store” not too far from my house. What a strange thing to have up on your wall!

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2011: The year Mormonism went mainstream

Graham — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:00:08 +0000

The National Post (in Canada) has a relatively positive article about the Church that was in the paper on December 26, 2011, and is also on their web site:

Something happened to Mormons in 2011: They got popular, gained cachet and became, well, cool.

Long thought of as outsiders, followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are enjoying a newfound acceptability and their church’s profile has risen in politics, theatre and sports.

“This is really a wonderful American story,” says Jon Butler, a professor of religious history at Yale University. “Mormons were always seen as very different. Now they’ve become just other Christians. They’ve become as interesting as Presbyterians.

“[In 2011] people began to say, ‘We have something to learn from these Mormons.’ ”

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Christmas Subway Art

Graham — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:00:34 +0000

My wife is really into “subway” art right now. To me, that sounds like graffiti, but to her it means signs where there are a bunch of words that take up an entire page. It’s hard to describe, but if you don’t know what it looks like, do a Google Image Search for subway art and you’ll see what I mean.

My kids love Star Wars (original trilogy, prequel trilogy, Clone Wars, etc), and I recently came across a blog that happened to be Mormon where the creator has made all sorts of crafts that are Star Wars related. I looked around the site, and she had also posted a beautiful subway art print that is of Isaiah 9: 6. You know… the scripture that goes:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Anyway, you can see the subway art of that scripture here.

181st Semiannual General Conference – Pre-conference notes I can’t believe 6 months have gone by already. I...

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Philadelphia’s Mormon Temple: An Affront to Modernism

Graham — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:16:17 +0000

The Philadelphia Weekly Press has a mostly positive article about the new temple being built there. It’s worth a read:

When it comes to church or temple architecture, Mormons have it all over Catholics and mega-church Protestants, whose modern churches frequently overemphasize cold, hard lines and sterility.

The proposed Mormon temple at 18th and Vine Streets near the Philadelphia Parkway won’t be a utilitarian warehouse. The design is one of many temple designs currently in use throughout the Mormon world. Currently there are 133 Mormon Temples in operation. When the Philadelphia Temple is completed, that number will rank in the high 130s. The Temple will have two spires, one hosting an image of the Angel Moroni, the angel whom, according to Mormon belief, appeared to Mormon founder Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York, sometime after Smith asked God which church he should join.

Awesome Lego model of the Bountiful Utah Temple A few days ago the Deseret News had an article...

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“Fires of Faith” on BYUtv

Graham — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:50:20 +0000

Has anyone seen the Fires of Faith series that BYUtv has been showing about the coming forth of the bible? I haven’t seen it yet, but the trailer looks good. I hope to have some time soon where I can see this.

The description from the web site is as follows:

If the martyrs who brought the King James Bible into existence could still talk to us today, they would most certainly tell the tales of international politics, intrigue, subversion, bloodshed, fire, and the runaway libido of King Henry VIII that were the backdrop of its creation. These stories, along with a modern, scholarly perspective of the 16th century book, are presented in BYUtv’s Fires of Faith: The Coming Forth of The King James Bible – a series of films which celebrate the 400th anniversary of one of the most enduring pieces of writing in the history of humanity.

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What do you do with a bishop, when he stops being a bishop?

Graham — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:00:39 +0000

I’m sure almost everyone has seen White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen. In short, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are in the army serving under General Tom Waverly. General Waverly retires. After the war, Bing and Danny become a top song-and-dance act. At one point they find out that the General needs help and they put on a show for him with all their army buddies from before. One of the songs that is sung starts with:

What can you do with a general
When he stops being a general?
Oh, what can you do with a general who retires?

It may sound strange, but that is the song that kept playing over and over in my head the week I was released as bishop. Yes, after serving as bishop of my ward for 6 years, 2 months, 16 days, I was released. It happened a year ago today, but I’m just getting around to writing about it. I figured I’d share some of my thoughts and feelings about my time as bishop.

First off, let me tell you that I am still active, and I still love the Church. Hopefully no one is disappointed by this. There was nothing that I faced that made me question my faith. The ward is generally intact, and if anything might be a bit stronger than it was. I would have served for years less or years more if that is what was needed of me. However, with that being said, it was still very hard to be released. It had nothing to do with losing the authority and everything to do with losing the privilege of helping people one-on-one. Yes, I’m still a husband, father, friend and home teacher, but this is not what I’m talking about. Members generally love and respect their bishop. I felt this from week one. The week before I was just some guy was serving as the Elders Quorum President. The following week I was the bishop and the members immediately trusted me. They came in and confided some of their most difficult problems. They looked for counsel. They cried tears of sorrow and tears of joy. I felt like a better man literally every week I went to church. That’s what I miss. I’m now just a guy again. I help when I can, but now another man has that privilege of those experiences. I have righteous envy.

I also miss how serving as bishop helped my family. It seems counter-intuitive, but during my time as bishop we had more order in our family, and possibly more time together. I know, I know… it seems backwards. However, when I was bishop our life seemed to have more structure, which allowed us to have more time together. I was busy for 9 hours or so each Sunday, every Wednesday night, and often another evening or two each week. Yet somehow through all of that, I don’t feel that my time with my family suffered. Now that I am no longer bishop, my wife is the YW President, my responsibilities at work have increased, and the kids are getting busier. It seems that time is flying by way too quickly. We don’t have the same structure and our time together is suffering. I know that we were blessed when I was bishop so that our time together didn’t suffer. In a way, I think this is part of the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood where it says that when priesthood holders are faithful in the priesthood and magnify our callings, they “are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies”(D&C 84: 33).

Lastly, I miss just being involved. It isn’t that no one cares about me, but things are happening and I don’t know about it. It seems funny to write that. It sounds like I’m gossipy or nosey. That, of course, isn’t it. When you are bishop, you’d get to see the big picture. You have a vision of what needs to be done, and you can plan for it. I’m the type of person that thinks the more you know, the more you can do. In a way, this ties in with my first point. If you don’t know things, it is hard to help.

With all of these things (and more) that I miss, there are obviously things I don’t miss. I’m quite happy to go to church at 9 am (instead of 6 am). I’m quite happy to attend limited meetings. There were obviously hard things to deal with, and in a way it is a relief to be free from some of those burdens.

So, it’s been a year now. Shortly after being released I was called to be a Stake Institute Teacher. I teach a weekly Institute class to the college-aged young adults (18-30). The class is held every Wednesday in my home and we usually have 15-20 people attend. I love it! I haven’t studied the scriptures so thoroughly in a long time. Hopefully I’m helping these young adults appreciate the scriptures more. I’m definitely learning a lot.

My wife was an unbelievable support while I was bishop. Due to my responsibilities and our young family, her church callings were a little “easier” that what she is capable of having. Now she’s the YW President, and doing a great job with the small group of girls she has to work with.

All three of my kids are under 10. It seems that they’ve survived some of my absences. Now that I am no longer bishop, I can be more involved as they grow into pre-teen and teen years.

As I said in the beginning, I love the Church. There is a woman in our ward who likes to say, “It’s a good life” I totally agree. With all of the frustrations I may have had wit the bureaucracy and other things. I still firmly believe that the church is led by good men and women who are trying to serve “with full purpose of heart” (2 Nephi 31: 13). I’ve found that any failings we may experiences are usually because we are not united. If we sustain one another and accept each other in our weaknesses, we’ll be much better off. I was by no means perfect in my service, but I hope that I did something to help the work of the Lord move forward.

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Awesome Lego model of the Bountiful Utah Temple

Graham — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:52:52 +0000

A few days ago the Deseret News had an article about a temple made from Lego. The man was asked by the local Primary President to make a model of the temple. Well, it took it several months and used over 13,000 pieces. The end result was an absolutely amazing replica of the Bountiful Utah Temple. Here is a reduced size picture. You should read the whole article to get more details, see this picture larger, as well as a couple of other pictures.

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“If It Feels Right…” – NY Times article that President Monson quoted

Graham — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:41:03 +0000

You may recall that President Monson quoted from a NY Times article during his Sunday morning address at General Conference. The article was by David Brooks. I haven’t really read much of his work, but I do hear him every week on NPR‘s All Things Considered (he’s a political analyst) and I enjoy hearing him. The article was about how young people today have a hard time defining what something moral is.

The article was published September 12, 2001 and is called If It Feels Right.

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