GOSPEL DISCUSSION ON BYU-TV

 I've been studying the Book of Mormon and am reading/listening to 3 Nephi, just in the beginning. Today, Sunday, I watched Gospel Discussions on the Book of Mormon and got ahead of my reading. It gave me so much understanding.

One thing the professors spoke about was how Lehi, 3 Nephi's brother, was stoned, and also raised from the dead. This occurred just about the time that Lazarus was raised from the dead--in similitude with what was going on in Jerusalem at the same time. I never caught that before.

I'm judging a writing contest and someone is writing a book on the signs of Christ, like the similitudes, etc., and this made me think of all the ones I don't know about.

I had never heard of the concept before I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was a diligent Catholic for a long while, even attended Catholic school, and I never heard of this until I attended a lecture by Gerald Lund at a CES conference way back in the 1990s at BYU. It fascinated me.

I am thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm grateful for those two missionaries, Elder Poulsen and Elder Ellis, who knocked on my door in late 1980. I'm grateful for my Savior and my Heavenly Father for leading them to me, and for me to have enough curiosity with the first lesson to want to learn more.

RACIAL HARMONY NEEDED!!

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/prophet-naacp-leaders-racial-harmony-america-op-ed

Prophet Joins NAACP Leaders in Call for Racial Harmony in America

In a piece published Monday on Medium.com, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and three leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are calling on all Americans to embrace Jesus Christ’s simple but challenging model that can lead to racial peace and harmony. The prophet is joined by Derrick Johnson (NAACP president and CEO), Leon Russell (NAACP chairman of the board) and the Rev. Amos C. Brown (NAACP chairman emeritus of religious affairs).

“Unitedly we declare that the answers to racism, prejudice, discrimination and hate will not come from government or law enforcement alone,” they write. “Solutions will come as we open our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own, as we work to build bonds of genuine friendship, and as we see each other as the brothers and sisters we are — for we are all children of a loving God. … Oneness is not sameness in America. We must all learn to value the differences.”

The Prophet is Dead. Long Live the Prophet.

By Susan Knight

I was recently reminded of the saying, "The King is Dead. Long Live the King."
It is said in the United Kingdom, and probably has been said in any monarchy. But it's true about our prophets, too.

President Thomas S. Monson

President Thomas S. Monson died on January 2, 2018, at the age of 90. What a perfectly precious  human being he is. I think he has best shown Christlike love of any prophet I've lived under. When I say that, I mean . . . I've always wondered what the personality of Jesus Christ was like. Did you ever wonder that? Was He reserved or outgoing? Did He have a sense of humor, or was He serious all the time?

What we do know is that service was at the top of His list of everyday living. Wherever He went, He personified service--healing the sick, the lame, the blind. He was also a very forgiving God--forgiving the woman taken in sin; forgiving the man who had palsy. He went out of His way to do service.

The Savior Laughing

Did he have a sense of humor? I think of how he told of forgiveness by comparing it to the mote in one person's eye and the beam in another's eye. Hyberbole. Yes, humor.

And He told parables that enthralled the population. Scores of people surrounded Him and followed Him.

Thus was President Thomas S. Monson.

Service was personified in "Tommy Monson," as he liked to refer to himself. He went out of his way for the widow, the lame, the elderly, the forgotten.

His sense of humor abounded in every talk he gave. You could see his tongue in his cheek.

And his stories . . . I couldn't wait to be enthralled by his stories every Conference weekend.

I think, in my humble opinion, that when I think of Jesus Christ now, I will remember President Monson. I believe their personalities were similar.

President Russell M. Nelson

I will miss President Monson, but I welcome our new Prophet Russell M. Nelson. It was formally announced yesterday. I have waited for him to be Prophet for 34 years. Yes, I already had a testimony that he would be our prophet one day. Yet, he was a newly-ordained apostle when I had that vision.

As "Elder" Nelson grew older--and older--I didn't think my vision would come to pass, yet we are here. President Nelson is 93 years old. I don't know how long he will serve, but I always knew he would serve as president of the church.

I had a vision I have only shared with a few people. Perhaps I'll write about it one day.


President Monson is dead. Long live President Nelson.