LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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Elizabeth
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"The Freiberg Germany Temple has been renovated and is preparing for public tours. An open house will begin Friday, August 12, and go through Saturday, August 27, 2016, except for the Sundays of August 14 and 21. Reservations for free tickets for the open house will be made available on tickets.lds.org.

The cultural celebration will be held Saturday, September 3. The temple will be rededicated in three sessions on Sunday, September 4, 2016: 9:00 a.m., noon, and 3:00 p.m. Dedication ceremonies will be broadcast to Church meetinghouses in Germany as well as to Latter-day Saints living in the Freiberg Germany Temple district. The three-hour block of meetings will be cancelled for that Sunday to allow members in the area to participate in the dedication services.

The Freiberg Germany Temple was first announced on October 9, 1982, the first temple built in a communist country. President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the temple on June 29, 1985, and again on September 7, 2002, following another renovation that enlarged the building.

This temple serves members in eastern Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary."

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement:

The Church has transferred 15 young volunteers serving in Turkey to Germany, where they will continue their service among the Turkish-speaking population of Berlin. We anticipate these volunteers will return when conditions in Turkey normalize. Our prayers are with the people of Turkey and with our Church members who live there.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/c ... ers-turkey" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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"Kolob. We sing about it in one of our favorite hymns. We’ve named canyons and mountains and wards and stakes after it. But do we really know what Kolob is and what it’s like?

Generally defined as “the place nearest where God dwells,” most of what we know about this briefly-mentioned governing star comes from a heavenly astronomy lesson found in the book of Abraham.


And while it’s not a part of core Church doctrine, learning about Kolob is a wonderful way to begin to understand each of our places in the universe and comprehend the significance of the Creation. Here are just a few interesting things we know for sure about Kolob:

1. Kolob is the star that governs all the others.

We first learn about Kolob in Abraham 3:2-3, when Abraham sees it in a vision through the Urim and Thummim. He says, “And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.”

From this scripture, we learn that Kolob is a huge star, which God has designated as the one to govern even the other “governing creations” (see Abraham Facsimile 2:2). But what does that mean?

Abraham 3:16 explains further that there is always one star greater than another, but that Kolob is the greatest. Not because it is the biggest or the brightest, but because it is the one that is closest to God. Joseph Smith adds one more piece of revelation in the first description of Facsimile 2: “Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God.”

So we also learn that not only is Kolob closest to God, but it was also His first creation—a creation we can probably assume is near the center of the universe, or at the very least, our galaxy, with God’s throne where He sits “in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things” (D&C 88:13).


2. Kolob’s calculation of time is different than Earth’s.

“If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye . . .” We’ve all sung it in a sacrament meeting at some point, but have you ever stopped to think about what you’re singing? “Hie” is no longer a commonly used word, but it means “to go quickly.” And, in part, because time works differently on Kolob than it does on Earth, it is possible that we will one day travel across the vastness of space “in the twinkling of an eye.”

We learn in Abraham 3:4-7 that one day on Kolob is the same as 1,000 years on Earth because Kolob rotates more slowly on its axis (see also Facsimile 2:1). A little further on, verse 9 further clarifies that Kolob’s time is the same as the Lord’s time: “. . .which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.”

This leads to another interesting fact that we know: When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, their understanding of time was the same as Kolob’s, which meant it was the same as God’s. Abraham 5:13 reads, “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now I, Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord’s time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning.” This makes sense, especially when we consider that Brigham Young once explained that Earth was created near God and Kolob, but that it also physically fell out of God’s presence when mankind did:

“When the earth was framed and brought into existence and man was placed upon it, it was near the throne of our Father in Heaven. And when man fell . . . the earth fell into space, and took up its abode in this planetary system, and the sun became our light . . . This is the glory the earth came from, and when it is glorified it will return again unto the presence of the Father” (Journal of Discourses Volume 17, pg. 143).

3. Kolob is the source of light for other creations.

The Guide to the Scriptures explains light this way:

“Divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. It is the law by which all things are governed in heaven and on earth (D&C 88:5-13).”

As the first creation and the star nearest to the source of all light, God, it makes sense that Kolob gives its light in a similar way. The explanation for figure 5 in Facsimile 2 in Abraham explains that the planet Enish-go-on-dosh “borrows its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the . . . governing power. . .” It also later says that two other stars, Kli-flos-is-es and Hah-ko-kau-beam, also receive “light from the revolutions of Kolob.”

Even if none of the physical ideas about Kolob are interesting or logical to you, the analogy it teaches about the Savior and our own place in the universe is profound. Because, as Alma reminds us, “. . . all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).

Just as Kolob is described as the governing star nearest to God, the one that was created first, and the star that gives light to all others, so Christ is on the right hand of God, the Firstborn of the Father, and a Light unto all of us. And if we, like the other stars and planets described in the scriptures, draw closer to Kolob, or Christ, so our greatness, glory, knowledge, and happiness will increase. That’s what I look forward to thinking about the next time I sing the beloved words of “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” Because, hopefully, one day we all will."

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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"God chose Jacob over Esau while the two were yet in Rebecca’s womb and before either, as far as the works of this life are concerned, had earned any preferential status. Why? It is a pure matter of pre-existence. Jacob was coming into the world with greater spiritual capacity than Esau; he was foreordained to a special work; he was elected to serve in a chosen capacity.
You Are Favoured Because of Your Conduct in Premortal Life

Not all the reasons for your blessings are because of your conduct in this world; some go back into the beginning with God. “God gave his children their agency even in the spirit world, by which the individual spirits had the privilege, just as men have here, of choosing the good and rejecting the evil, or partaking of the evil to suffer the consequences of their sins. … some even there were more faithful than others in keeping the commandments of the Lord. …

The spirits of men … had an equal start, and we know they were all innocent in the beginning; but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of immortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,1:58–59.)

Many responded to the spirit of God there. They were favoured and foreordained to receive privileges."

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Elizabeth
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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"Freiberg Germany Temple has been renovated and will open in mid-August for public tours. An open house will begin Friday, August 12, and go through Saturday, August 27, 2016, except for the Sundays of August 14 and 21.
The temple, built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serves members of the Church in eastern Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary."

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Elizabeth
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http://www.ldsliving.com/Elder-Bednar-W ... dium=email" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"With the lyrics written by Elder Bednar and the music composed by Paul Cardall, the song “One by One” will feature guest tenor Nathan Pacheco, not to mention the Lyceum Philharmonic and two choirs.

The first performance of the piece was something close to Cardall’s heart.

“My wife and I had the privilege of hearing it performed for the first time after Elder Bednar spoke to a global audience of missionaries in the various training centers throughout world,” he shares. “His grand-daughters began the piece and it was followed by 800 missionaries singing with power and conviction. It was a moment that you can never repeat. It was as though the Lord perfected the piece of music in that moment in a way we could never have done alone.”

Elder Bednar and Paul Cardall’s new song, “One by One,” will be featured on Cardall’s newest CD, A New Creation, which releases September 16.

“I [always] strive to create something that will provide an atmosphere where the Spirit can teach, uplift, inspire, and love individuals,” Cardall shares. “This has been my goal with A New Creation . . . I wanted to make an album that indirectly teaches the plan of salvation. My goal has been to share my feelings about the Savior and how He has changed me, rescued me, fixed my own brokenness, restored me, and made me ‘a new creation.’”

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“I testify that our Savior lives. He is the Only Begotten of the Father, and He will come again on this earth to reign. He is Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel, ‘full of grace, and mercy, and truth. . . . It is He that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.’ He is the literal Son of God, who rose from the dead on the third day, bringing the reality of resurrection to all who will come to earth. I also testify that God our Eternal Father lives and loves each of us, for we are His children. So great is His love that He sent His Only Begotten Son into the world ‘that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I testify of the truth of what is in the scriptures and what has been told to me and can be told to you by the Holy Spirit. It will be revealed according to your obedience and desires.”
–Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

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"The Eternal Father well understood the diverse natures and varied capacities of His spirit-offspring; and His infinite foreknowledge made plain to Him, even in the beginning, that in the school of life some of His children would succeed and others would fail; some would be faithful, others false; some would choose the good, others the evil; some would seek the way of life while others would elect to follow the road to destruction. He further foresaw that death would enter the world, and that the possession of bodies by His children would be of but brief individual duration. He saw that His commandments would be disobeyed and His law violated; and that men, shut out from His presence and left to themselves, would sink rather than rise, would retrogress rather than advance, and would be lost to the heavens. It was necessary that a means of redemption be provided, whereby erring man might make amends, and by compliance with established law achieve salvation and eventual exaltation in the eternal worlds. The power of death was to be overcome, so that, though men would of necessity die, they would live anew, their spirits clothed with immortalized bodies over which death could not again prevail.

Let not ignorance and thoughtlessness lead us into the error of assuming that the Father’s foreknowledge as to what would be, under given conditions, determined that such must be. It was not His design that the souls of mankind be lost; on the contrary it was and is His work and glory, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”b Nevertheless He saw the evil into which His children would assuredly fall; and with infinite love and mercy did He ordain means of averting the dire effect, provided the transgressor would elect to avail himself thereof.c The offer of the firstborn Son to establish through His own ministry among men the gospel of salvation, and to sacrifice Himself, through labor, humiliation and suffering even unto death, was accepted and made the foreordained plan of man’s redemption from death, of his eventual salvation from the effects of sin, and of his possible exaltation through righteous achievement."
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"In accordance with the plan adopted in the council of the Gods, man was created as an embodied spirit; his tabernacle of flesh was composed of the elements of earth.d He was given commandment and law, and was free to obey or disobey—with the just and inevitable condition that he should enjoy or suffer the natural results of his choice.e Adam, the first manf placed upon the earth in pursuance of the established plan, and Eve who was given unto him as companion and associate, indispensable to him in the appointed mission of peopling the earth, disobeyed the express commandment of God and so brought about the “fall of man,” whereby the mortal state, of which death is an essential element was inaugurated.g It is not proposed to consider here at length the doctrine of the fall; for the present argument it is sufficient to establish the fact of the momentous occurrence and its portentous consequences.h The woman was deceived, and in direct violation of counsel and commandment partook of the food that had been forbidden, as a result of which act her body became degenerate and subject to death. Adam realized the disparity that had been brought between him and his companion, and with some measure of understanding followed her course, thus becoming her partner in bodily degeneracy. Note in this matter the words of Paul the apostle: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
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"We know that gender was set in the premortal world. “The spirit and the body are the soul of man” (D&C 88:15). This matter of gender is of great concern to the Brethren, as are all matters of morality.

A few of you may have felt or been told that you were born with troubling feelings and that you are not guilty if you act on those temptations. Doctrinally we know that if that were true, your agency would have been erased, and that cannot happen. You always have a choice to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and live a morally pure and chaste life, one filled with virtue.

President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the following in general conference: “People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves … gays and lesbians. My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God. They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control. Most people have[temptations] of one kind or another at various times. If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church. If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are.

“We want to help … strengthen them, to assist them with their problems and to help them with their difficulties. But we cannot stand idle if they indulge in immoral activity, if they try to uphold and defend and live in a so-called same-sex marriage situation. To permit such would be to make light of the very serious and sacred foundation of God-sanctioned marriage and its very purpose, the rearing of families.”
President Hinckley was speaking for the Church.

Use Your Agency to Keep or Regain Safe Ground
The first gift that Adam and Eve received was agency: “Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17).
You have that same agency. Use it wisely to deny acting on any impure impulse or unholy temptation that may come into your mind. Just do not go there, and if you are already there, come back out of it. “Deny yourselves of all ungodliness” (Moroni 10:32).
Do not tamper with the life-giving powers in your body alone or with members of either gender. That is the standard of the Church, and it will not change. As you mature, there is a temptation to experiment or explore immoral activities. Do not do that!
The key word is discipline—self-discipline. The word discipline comes from the word disciple or follower. Be a disciple-follower of the Saviour, and you will be safe.
One or two of you may be thinking, “I am already guilty of this or that serious mistake. It is too late for me.” It is never too late.
You have been taught at home and in seminary about the Atonement ofJesus Christ. The Atonement is like an eraser. It can wipe away guilt and the effect of whatever it is that is causing you to feel guilty.
Guilt is spiritual pain. Do not suffer from chronic pain. Get rid of it. Be done with it. Repent and, if necessary, repent again and again and again and again until you—not the enemy—are in charge of you.

Lasting Peace Comes by Repenting Often
Life turns out to be a succession of trials and errors. Add “repent often” to your list of things to do. This will bring you lasting peace that cannot be purchased at any earthly price. Understanding the Atonement maybe the one most important truth that you can learn in your youth.
If you are associating with others who drag you down instead of building you up, stop and change company. You may be alone and lonely at times. The important question may be asked then, “When you are alone, are you in good company?”
Unwinding a habit that you have allowed to entangle you can be difficult. But the power is in you. Do not despair. The Prophet JosephSmith taught that “all beings who have bodies have power over those who have not.” You can resist temptation!
It is not likely that you will ever have a personal encounter with the adversary; he does not show himself that way. But even if he came personally to you to test and tempt you, you have an advantage. You can assert your agency, and he will have to leave you alone.
Take Advantage of the Blessings of Seminary
You are not ordinary. You are very special. You are exceptional. How do I know that? I know that because you were born at a time and in a place where the gospel of Jesus Christ can come into your life through the teachings and activities of your home and of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is, as the Lord Himself has said, “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30).
There are other things we could add to the list, but you know what you should and should not be doing in your life. You know right and wrong and do not need to be commanded in all things.
Do not squander these years of seminary instruction. Take advantage of the great blessing you have to learn the doctrines of the Church and the teachings of the prophets. Learn that which is of most worth. It will bless you and your posterity for many generations to come.
Not many years will pass until you are married and have children, a marriage that should be sealed in the temple. Our prayer is that you will find yourself, in due time, safely settled in a family ward or branch.

Go Forward with Hope and Faith
Do not fear the future. Go forward with hope and faith. Remember thatsupernal gift of the Holy Ghost. Learn to be taught by it. Learn to seekit. Learn to live by it. Learn to pray always in the name of Jesus Christ(see 3 Nephi 18:19–20). The Spirit of the Lord will attend you, and youwill be blessed.
We have deep and profound faith in you.
I bear my testimony to you—a witness that came to me in my youth.And you are no different from anyone else than I am. You have as muchright to that testimony and witness as anyone. It will come to you if youearn it. I invoke the blessings of the Lord upon you—the blessings ofthat witness to be in your life, to guide you as you make a happy future."

See the Full Address
Watch or listen to all of President Packer’s address at seminary.lds.org/history/centennial.

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Elizabeth
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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"The man and the woman had now become mortal; through indulgence in food unsuited to their nature and condition and against which they had been specifically warned, and as the inevitable result of their disobeying the divine law and commandment, they became liable to the physical ailments and bodily frailties to which mankind has since been the natural heir.j Those bodies, which before the fall had been perfect in form and function, were now subjects for eventual dissolution or death. The arch-tempter through whose sophistries, half-truths and infamous falsehoods, Eve had been beguiled, was none other than Satan, or Lucifer, that rebellious and fallen “son of the morning,” whose proposal involving the destruction of man’s liberty had been rejected in the council of the heavens, and who had been “cast out into the earth,” he and all his angels as unembodied spirits, never to be tabernacled in bodies of their own.k As an act of diabolic reprisal following his rejection in the council, his defeat by Michael and the heavenly hosts, and his ignominious expulsion from heaven, Satan planned to destroy the bodies in which the faithful spirits—those who had kept their first estate—would be born; and his beguilement of Eve was but an early stage of that infernal scheme.

Death has come to be the universal heritage; it may claim its victim in infancy or youth, in the period of life’s prime, or its summons may be deferred until the snows of age have gathered upon the hoary head; it may befall as the result of accident or disease, by violence, or as we say, through natural causes; but come it must, as Satan well knows; and in this knowledge is his present though but temporary triumph. But the purposes of God, as they ever have been and ever shall be, are infinitely superior to the deepest designs of men or devils; and the Satanic machinations to make death inevitable, perpetual and supreme were provided against even before the first man had been created in the flesh. The atonement to be wrought by Jesus the Christ was ordained to overcome death and to provide a means of ransom from the power of Satan."
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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"As the penalty incident to the fall came upon the race through an individual act, it would be manifestly unjust, and therefore impossible as part of the divine purpose, to make all men suffer the results thereof without provision for deliverance. Moreover, since by the transgression of one man sin came into the world and death was entailed upon all, it is consistent with reason that the atonement thus made necessary should be wrought by one.
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: … Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”n So taught the apostle Paul; and, further, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

The atonement was plainly to be a vicarious sacrifice, voluntary and love-inspired on the Savior’s part, universal in its application to mankind so far as men shall accept the means of deliverance thus placed within their reach. For such a mission only one who was without sin could be eligible. Even the altar victims of ancient Israel offered as a provisional propitiation for the offenses of the people under the Mosaic law had to be clean and devoid of spot or blemish; otherwise they were unacceptable and the attempt to offer them was sacrilege.p Jesus Christ was the only Being suited to the requirements of the great sacrifice:

1—As the one and only sinless Man;

2—As the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore the only Being born to earth possessing in their fulness the attributes of both Godhood and manhood;

3—As the One who had been chosen in the heavens and foreordained to this service."
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Elizabeth
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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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kirtland r.m. wrote: "In May 1862, at the beginning of the Civil War, in correlation with Joseph Smith's prophecy on Civil War, Orson Hyde, the apostle who dedicated the land of Palestine for the return of the Jews, made a startling prediction which has been literally fulfilled in the next century. He stated: "You have scarcely yet read the preface of your national troubles. Many nations will be drawn into the American maelstrom that now whirls through the land; and after many days, when the demon of war shall have exhausted his strength and madness upon American soil, by the destruction of all that can court or provoke opposition, excite cupidity, inspire revenge, or feed ambition, he will remove his headquarters to the banks of the Rhine.” (Orson Hyde, Millennial Star XXIV, p 274. May 1862.)
Real revelation from the Lord,is truly breathtaking in it's scope,and can be stunning in it's clarity.Anyone can look at the Millennial Star online,and see it for themselves.As most people already know,Germany is often referred to as the "Rhineland",because of the Rhine River."

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Elizabeth
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October 2016 General Conference

Wherever You Are, There’s a Message for You

"We meet each six months to strengthen one another. ... Some of you may be seeking answers to questions and challenges you are experiencing in your life. Some are struggling with disappointments or losses. Each can be enlightened and uplifted and comforted as the Spirit of the Lord is felt."

—President Thomas S. Monson

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Elizabeth
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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"What other man has been without sin, and therefore wholly exempt from the dominion of Satan, and to whom death, the wage of sin, is not naturally due? Had Jesus Christ met death as other men have done—the result of the power that Satan has gained over them through their sins—His death would have been but an individual experience, expiatory in no degree of any faults or offenses but His own. Christ’s absolute sinlessness made Him eligible, His humility and willingness rendered Him acceptable to the Father, as the atoning sacrifice whereby propitiation could be made for the sins of all men.

What other man has lived with power to withstand death, over whom death could not prevail except through his own submission? Yet Jesus Christ could not be slain until His “hour had come,” and that, the hour in which He voluntarily surrendered His life, and permitted His own decease through an act of will. Born of a mortal mother He inherited the capacity to die; begotten by an immortal Sire He possessed as a heritage the power to withstand death indefinitely. He literally gave up His life; to this effect is His own affirmation: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”q And further: “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.”r Only such a One could conquer death; in none but Jesus the Christ was realized this requisite condition of a Redeemer of the world."
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Elizabeth wrote:https://www.lds.org/manual/the-life-and ... d?lang=eng

"God chose Jacob over Esau while the two were yet in Rebecca’s womb and before either, as far as the works of this life are concerned, had earned any preferential status. Why? It is a pure matter of pre-existence. Jacob was coming into the world with greater spiritual capacity than Esau; he was foreordained to a special work; he was elected to serve in a chosen capacity.
You Are Favoured Because of Your Conduct in Premortal Life

Not all the reasons for your blessings are because of your conduct in this world; some go back into the beginning with God. “God gave his children their agency even in the spirit world, by which the individual spirits had the privilege, just as men have here, of choosing the good and rejecting the evil, or partaking of the evil to suffer the consequences of their sins. … some even there were more faithful than others in keeping the commandments of the Lord. …

The spirits of men … had an equal start, and we know they were all innocent in the beginning; but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of immortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it.” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,1:58–59.)

Many responded to the spirit of God there. They were favoured and foreordained to receive privileges."
Amazing how esoteric this thing can become. No one seems to temper this pre-existence thing with the obvious: Any soul who touches Christ by faith is reconciled to the very same depth and capacity of any other. The human reckoning of pre-existent greatness is very, umm, what's the word?

See the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.

Or the banality of the disciples contemplating their status and seniority.

How dumb. Jesus had to set them straight. Had to tell them that the last are first and the first last.

And that there will be new initiates greater than John the Baptist, who among, prophets, there are none greater. Sound a bit mystical and contradictory? Because status in eternity is a paradox.

Explaining Jacob's status above Esau's by pre-existent accolades is silly. His name means "supplanter, or status-thief."

He's a sympathetic, desperate, redeemed character with a very heavy identity crisis. Sound familiar?

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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"First Presidency 2016 Letter Encouraging Political Participation, Voting in US
The following letter was issued by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 5, 2016, to be read to Church congregations throughout the United States:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Political Participation, Voting, and the Political Neutrality of the Church

As citizens we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future. We urge Latter-day Saints to be active citizens by registering, exercising their right to vote, and engaging in civic affairs.

We also urge you to spend the time needed to become informed about the issues and candidates you will be considering. Along with the options available to you through the Internet, debates, and other sources, the Church occasionally posts information about particular moral issues on which it has taken a position at http://www.MormonNewsroom.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties, and members should seek candidates who best embody those principles.

While the Church affirms its institutional neutrality regarding political parties and candidates, individual members should participate in the political process. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas S. Monson
Henry B. Eyring
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The First Presidency"
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/f ... ticipation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlP9X5Pig-8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Published on 20 Nov 2014
Mitt Romney, former presidential candidate and BYU alum, shares lessons gleaned from his professional and personal life.

Read and download his full address at the BYU Speeches website: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/mitt-r.." onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for the office of President of the United States (2008, 2012) and former governor of Massachusetts, gave this BYU forum address on 18 November 2014.

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https://www.lds.org/church/news/first-p ... e?lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



"The First Presidency has sent letters to Church leaders and members in four states urging them to vote against proposed recreational marijuana and physician-assisted legislation.

Recreational marijuana

In an October 13 letter to Church leaders and members in Arizona, California, and Nevada, the First Presidency addressed legislation that would legalize the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. They wrote:

“Drug abuse in the United States is at epidemic proportions, and the dangers of marijuana to public health and safety are well documented. Recent studies have shed light particularly on the risks marijuana use poses to brain development in youth. The accessibility of recreational marijuana in the home is also a danger to children.

“We urge Church member to let their voices be heard in opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana.”

Physician-assisted suicide

In a letter dated October 13 to Church leaders and members in Colorado, the First Presidency urged Church members to oppose Proposition 106, which would legalize physician-assisted suicide:

“The Church maintains a firm belief in the sanctity of human life and opposes deliberately taking the life of a person even when the person may be suffering from an incurable condition or disease (see Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], 21.3.3). Life is a sacred gift and should be cherished even in difficult circumstances.

“Physician-assisted suicide is permitted by law in some countries and a few states in the United States. Experience suggests that such legalization [of physician-assisted suicide] can endanger the vulnerable, erode trust in the medical profession, and cheapen human life and dignity. Moreover, the decision to end one's life carries a lasting impact far beyond the person whose life is ending.”

“While the Church opposes physician-assisted suicide, members should not feel obligated to extend mortal life through means that are unreasonable. Decisions in such cases are best made by family members after receiving wise and competent medical advice and seeking divine guidance through fasting and prayer (see Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], 21.3.8)

“We urge Church members to let their voices be heard in opposition to the measures that would legalize physical-assisted suicide.”

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https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-b ... _xLIDyL2-1_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


"The new Star Valley Wyoming Temple, the 154th operating temple of the Church, was dedicated Sunday, October 30, in three sessions by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The first temple in Wyoming—a state known for pioneer heritage—will serve thousands of members in six stakes in western Wyoming and parts of southeastern Idaho.
"Elder Bednar presided over dedicatory events Saturday, October 29, and Sunday, October 30, that included a temple cultural celebration. During the first dedicatory session on Sunday, he led an entourage of Church leaders out of the temple for the ceremonial sealing of the cornerstone.
Along with the leaders, Elder Bednar invited children to place some mortar and then he invited two daughters of Wyoming to take a turn with the trowels—his wife, Sister Bednar, who was raised in Afton, and Sister Barbara D. Perry, wife of the late Elder L. Tom Perry. Sister Perry, who was raised in Cokeville, south of Star Valley over a mountain pass and part of the temple district, participated in the dedication and cornerstone events.
“This is just like an amazing dream,” Sister Bednar said during the interview with her husband the day before the dedication. “I guess you could say I’m amazed and thrilled, I’m excited, and I’m just full of appreciation to a loving Heavenly Father who has seen fit to bless these people.”
Then Sister Bednar, the daughter of Kay and Nyla Robinson, who are pioneer descendants, shared a “tender mercy” for her family. When the Star Valley Temple was announced in 2011, Sister Bednar’s father, who was celebrating his 85th birthday, called his daughter and told her he had a birthday wish.
“He said, ‘I wished that I would live long enough that I would see the Star Valley Temple dedicated,’” Sister Bednar related.
Continuing, she said, “Well, tomorrow, the day of the dedication, is my father’s 90th birthday and he’ll be here. My mom and dad will both be here, 88 and 90 years old and still doing good things.”
Also speaking of the legacy her parents instilled in her was Sister Perry, the daughter of S. Reed and Lois Taylor Dayton. Her father was a bishop in Cokeville for 23 years and a stake president for 14 years. He was also a Wyoming state legislator serving the Star Valley area.
In her remarks to the Church News, Sister Bednar had a tender message for the youth of the new Star Valley Wyoming Temple: “I hope that the youth of this valley will always protect it by the way they live, that they will stand for truth and righteousness and be dedicated to the Lord and do their part to preserve the legacy of faith that has been established in this mountain home.”

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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-ch ... 3?lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"What other man has come to earth with such appointment, clothed with the authority of such foreordination? The atoning mission of Jesus Christ was no self-assumption. True, He had offered Himself when the call was made in the heavens; true, He has been accepted, and in due time came to earth to carry into effect the terms of that acceptance; but He was chosen by One greater than Himself. The burden of His confession of authority was ever to the effect that He operated under the direction of the Father, as witness these words: “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”s “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”t “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”u
Through the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ—a redeeming service, vicariously rendered in behalf of mankind, all of whom have become estranged from God by the effects of sin both inherited and individually incurred—the way is opened for a reconciliation whereby man may come again into communion with God, and be made fit to dwell anew and forever in the presence of his Eternal Father. This basal thought is admirably implied in our English word, “atonement,” which, as its syllables attest, is at-one-ment, “denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into agreement of those who have been estranged.”v The effect of the atonement may be conveniently considered as twofold:

1—The universal redemption of the human race from death invoked by the fall of our first parents; and,

2—Salvation, whereby means of relief from the results of individual sin are provided.

The victory over death was made manifest in the resurrection of the crucified Christ; He was the first to pass from death to immortality and so is justly known as “the first fruits of them that slept.”w That the resurrection of the dead so inaugurated is to be extended to every one who has or shall have lived is proved by an abundance of scriptural evidence. Following our Lord’s resurrection, others who had slept in the tomb arose and were seen of many, not as spirit-apparitions but as resurrected beings possessing immortalized bodies: “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”x
Those who thus early came forth are spoken of as “the saints”; and other scriptures confirm the fact that only the righteous shall be brought forth in the earlier stages of the resurrection yet to be consummated; but that all the dead shall in turn resume bodies of flesh and bones is placed beyond doubt by the revealed word. The Savior’s direct affirmation ought to be conclusive: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. … Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”y The doctrine of a universal resurrection was taught by the apostles of old,z as also by the Nephite prophets;a and the same is confirmed by revelation incident to the present dispensation.b Even the heathen who have not known God shall be brought forth from their graves; and, inasmuch as they have lived and died in ignorance of the saving law, a means of making the plan of salvation known unto them is provided. “And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection.”

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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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"Following the presidential election, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles released the following statement on November 9, 2016, on Mormon Newsroom:

We congratulate President-elect Donald Trump on his election as President of the United States.
We invite Americans everywhere, whatever their political persuasion, to join us in praying for the president-elect, for his new administration and for elected leaders across the nation and the world. Praying for those in public office is a long tradition among Latter-day Saints. The men and women who lead our nations and communities need our prayers as they govern in these difficult and turbulent times.
We also commend Secretary Hillary Clinton and all those who engaged in the election process at a national or local level. Their participation in our democratic process, by its nature, demands much of those who offer themselves for public service. May our local and national leaders reflect the best in wisdom and judgment as they fulfill the great trust afforded to them by the American people."
http://www.ldsliving.com/First-Presiden ... on/s/83664" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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"Jacob, a Nephite prophet, taught the universality of the resurrection, and set forth the absolute need of a Redeemer, without whom the purposes of God in the creation of man would be rendered futile. His words constitute a concise and forceful summary of revealed truth directly bearing upon our present subject:
“For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; wherefore it must needs be an infinite atonement; save it should be an infinite atonement, this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man, must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more. O the wisdom of God! his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more, our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents; who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder, and all manner of secret works of darkness. O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh; save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.”
https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-ch ... 3?lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: LDS Thoughts and DOCTRINE.

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https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng&cid=email ... 12516_Logo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.mormon.org.au/?cid=HP_FR_25 ... _xLIDyL1-A_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Since a new star first appeared above Bethlehem, Christmas has been a season of light, reminding us that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Together, we can celebrate His birth by making the world a brighter place. All we have to do is follow Him—His life, His example, and His teachings. In doing so, we can help #LIGHTtheWORLD."

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https://www.lds.org/church/events/2016- ... _&lang=eng" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


2016 First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional, 4 December, 2016.

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