The Earth and Frugality

Section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants brings up some interesting ideas about human-kinds place on Earth. It states quite specifically that the fullness of the Earth is ours. The beasts, birds, and plants are all ours to do with as we please. The section even states that it pleases God that he was able to give us all these things. Some might look at this and think God gave us the Earth and we can treat it however we want because it is ours. However, like all of God's gifts and promises, we have responsibilities that accompany the gift of the Earth. We are to use the gifts of the Earth to make things that are beneficial to mankind. God also asks that we use what we have to make things that are pleasing to the eye and will gladden the heart. Finally, he states that we are to use judgement in how we use what we have and not to use anything in excess.

Today, the responsibilities we have been given seem fairly obvious. With how much emphasis is placed on protecting and preserving what remains of nature, everyone would agree that nothing should be used unnecessarily. At the time though, it seemed like an unusual request. The Saints lived in a world where the forests extended forever. As they crossed the plains they saw seas of bison covering the hillsides. The Saints journeyed into a land untouched by human hands other than the Native American's who had been living there for hundreds of years. It would have seemed like they had an endless supply of resources with hardly anyone around to use them. God asked them to be responsible with the seemingly unending supply of land before them so that future generations would still have some of that beauty that they were able to see then.

The MOA Exhibit

Last week, instead of having our regular religion class, we had a presentation and tour of one of the new exhibits in the Museum of Art (referred to as the MOA). The exhibit is called Types and Shadows: Intimations of Divinity. It includes several pictures of Christ, but also many pictures that were meant to symbolize Christ or tell a story. It included both 2D and 3D works.

The presentation was given in class on Tuesday. Rita Wright, the person giving the presentation, told us different ways to look at religious art. She showed us some of the pieces that we would see during the tour and discussed the meaning and symbolism in the works. I haven't been raised around a lot of visual art, I've always been more of a music person, so I really feel like I learned a lot about art that I had never known before.

We then took a tour of the exhibit during our class on Thursday. We stopped at several pictures that had not been in the presentation and discussed the meaning and symbolism in the works. We even stopped again at some of the pieces we had seen. It was really fun to listen to others talk about what they felt and saw because there are so many diverse backgrounds in my class. I got to learn about a lot of symbolism I never would have even noticed otherwise. My favorite thing about the tour though, was just to stand there and see the paintings. To look at something I know I could never create and let it act upon my thoughts. I saw things and felt things in ways I never have before. If you would like to look at the pictures yourself, use this link and download the powerpoint. http://typesandshadows.byu.edu/FacultyResources.html I have also included my favorite, just in case you don't have time to look at the powerpoint.

Exodus: Then and Now

The exodus of the Old Testament is the even many people think of as the story of Moses. Moses brought his people out of Egypt, where they were kept in slavery. He lead them through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where the Lord gave them the law, or the ten commandments. The continued on through the wilderness until eventually reaching the promised land, Jerusalem. An interesting geographical fact about this area is that their is a fresh, living sea connected by a river to the dead sea.

As times have gone on, many religions find events that parallel the exodus of the Old Testament. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no exception. Joseph Smith informed the saints that they needed to move to Ohio, taking them out of the state of New York where they were suffering much persecution. While in Ohio, they built a temple, which many believe is what Mount Sinai is supposed to represent. Within the temple the saints received the law of the church. They were not able to stay in Ohio long though before persecution forced them to leave again. Due to the death of Joseph, Brigham Young instead lead the people through the wilderness to the Salt Lake Valley. The valley happened to have two lakes, one fresh water and one salt water connected by a river that was named the River Jordan.

Section 42

For this week's post, I'm supposed to write about the importance of Section 42. Early in the same year, The Lord promised Joseph Smith that he would receive "the law" of the Church in Ohio. Section 42 is the fulfillment of this promise. Of course, since it is "the law," it is a rather long section, so I will break it up into pieces.

The first piece consists of verses 1-17. (For those of you unfamiliar with the lay out of the Doctrine and Covenants, it is broken up into sections which are mostly in chronological order. Each section is then split up into several short verses) So- the first 17 verses of this section talk about teaching the Gospel. We are instructed to teach the principles of the church which are found in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. We are also told how important it is to teach with the Spirit. The Holy Ghost provides a testament of truth to both the teacher and the student. Verses 53-60 also can be included in this part of the section because they declare that the scriptures govern the church and should therefore be taught to the whole world.

The second part consists of verses 18-29 as well as verses 74-93. The first set of verses restate the basic commandments given in the bible. Basically, they saints are commanded not to kill, steal, lie, lust, commit adultery, or speak evil against others. The second set of verses give the laws that govern what to do if a member has broken one of these commandments. It states that those who break commandments like stealing and killing are to be dealt with according to the law of the land. Those who break commandments that are more specific to the church are dealt with by the church and any issue between two saints can be resolved between those two people with the help of church leaders if necessary.

The next piece, from verses 30-39, give details to the Law of Consecration. This was a law lived by the early saints that helped them to survive during the early days of the church as well as helping to unify them. The law of consecration asked those who had more than they needed to give their excess to the needy. This was more than just charity to the poor. If one family had several cows, they would give the excess milk to families without cows. Those families without cows might have an excess of something else and were able to give something else in return. It was basically a system of sharing what they had.

Next, verses 40-52 give several commandments in quick succession. Here's the list: Don't be prideful, cleanliness, don't be lazy, and heal the sick. The last one is focused on longest. Of course, the commandment to heal the sick isn't difficult to understand. The verses after this commandment is given go into detail about having faith to be healed and living together as a loving society.

Finally, the remaining verses talk about how the location of the New Jerusalem shall soon be revealed and that the church should purchase property to help support the saints. It might seem unusual for a church to own large amounts of land other than the land that it's meeting houses and temples are built on. The church purchases other land and turns it into farming grounds, businesses, or even schools, to help support and teach not only members but others who are in need.

The Crandall Printing Museum

Last week, instead of having our regular religion class, we went on a tour of the Crandall Printing Museum. This is a short synopsis of my visit.

Wednesday afternoon rolled around. I left my backpack in my locker and headed off on the 20 minute walk to the museum. As I approached the location, I glanced around trying to determine what side of the street it was on. I couldn't see any large buildings or anything that looked remotely like a museum. I continued to walk down the street and reached a small house with a sign on it announcing it was the Crandall Printing Museum. It was so adorable and old-fashioned looking that I was suddenly really excited for this tour. I walked inside and saw three old men standing in the front room with workers aprons on. I signed the guest log and then walked into the first room which held a large old printing press and dozens of artifacts that had to do with printing.

The first of the three old men started to tell us about the history of the printing press, the unique challenges that had to be dealt with in creating it, and even made a letter for us to look at. It was really neat, I learned that the Crandall Printing Museum is the only museum with individually laid letters of two entire pages of the old bible. We got to walk up and see each individual letter and then watch as the tour guide printed a page for us the same way Gutenberg would have printed a page. After looking seeing all this, we walked into the Benjamin Franklin room and learned about his experience with printing and how it factored into the Declaration of Independence.

The final room was made to look like the room that the book of Mormon was printed in. It had the same basic printing press, except it was made of Iron instead of wood. it had the first 16 pages of the Book of Mormon laid out on the press, each individual letter it's own piece. We learned how they printed the Book of Mormon and how it was bound. The kind old man in charge of giving this part of the tour explained the seemingly impossible task of printing 5000 copies of a book in the short amount of time it took them to do it and bore his testimony on the extra strength God must have given the young boys working the press to help them finish on time.

As we left the museum, I couldn't help but think about how incredible the whole experience was. A tiny quaint building with three kind old men running it. The old fashioned look and the authenticity of the artifacts. I really think it is incredible how much the printing press changed the importance of books and how long it lasted in it's simple form until it was turned into a factory machine that could produce thousands of books at a time. I love old books and I really loved learning about this piece of history. I like it even more because it can be linked to my religion. I live in a country where people are allowed to give tours that end with the publication of the Book of Mormon, and I live in a state that isn't afraid of offending people by doing so.

The Gathering

In the early days of the church, the members were asked to move in order to be near each other. At first, the members moved to Ohio. Later, the members moved out to Utah and created towns throughout the western United States.

This gathering of saints so many years ago has greatly altered my life today. The members were first asked to move to Ohio because it helped make the church more unified and brought enough people into the same area that it was possible to build a temple. Today, there are temples all over the world, but a temple cannot be built until the LDS population is high enough. In the early days of the church, it was unlikely that any one city would have enough members to have the resources to build a temple. They were asked to gather so that there were enough people. This allowed them to build the first temple and today there are over a hundred temples that I can go to.

When the saints moved out to Utah, they spread throughout the state and into others. The LDS population was so high that it was possible to start a school intended for the members where religious learning and secular learning could be combined. This school slowly developed into a great university. This university attracts thousands of members from all over the world. This is where my parents met. So, although the members are no longer being asked to gather in Utah and although I have never had to move for my religion, the gathering that occurred in the past affected my life so dramatically that I wouldn't be here otherwise.

Section 25 and it's Importance

Throughout high school, one of the most common arguments against the church was it discriminated against women. Although I always new this to be inaccurate, I never seemed to be able to find any evidence for my side. I personally never wanted to hold any of the positions in the church that seemed to be reserved for men, so couldn't find it in myself to try to prove something I felt didn't apply to me. It still bothered me that I couldn't answer my friends questions. I recently found those answers in Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

This section is counsel given to Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith. During this time period, women had very little agency of their own. They belonged to their husbands, or fathers, or oldest brother. If a person wanted to speak to a women, they asked for the eldest male in the household, not the women herself. The revelation given to Emma begins with the Lord telling her that she needs to make sure she is faithful and virtuous so that she can be blessed. He also tells her not to murmur. The Lord does not tell Joseph to keep his wife in line, he doesn't tell him to makes sure she is faithful, and he does not say that if Joseph is good than Emma will be blessed. Her rewards are based on her actions and it is her responsibility to monitor those actions. This is a time period where the only responsibility women had was to bare and raise children.

Emma is next informed that she can serve as Joseph's scribe when Oliver Cowdery, the usual scribe, is not present. This statement places Emma in a man's position, giving her the same rights and responsibilities as Oliver Cowdery. Emma is also informed she can read the scriptures and formulate her own lessons based on what she thinks, and then teach these lessons to a mixed audience. She is not being forced to have her husband dictate her lessons, or even decide what she should teach about, and she is being allowed to teach men what she has learned.

Finally, Emma is asked to make a book of hymns. Some might look at this and think it insignificant compared to the book of scripture that Joseph was asked to write. I, however, believe that this song book was very important and still is important today. A young child cannot tell you what part of the bible to look in to learn the teachings of Noah, but he understands who Noah was and what he did through songs he learned in Primary. A recent convert to the church might not know what chapter in the Doctrine and Covenants it speaks of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, but he can still feel the Spirit when singing "Praise to the Man." Although hundreds of people have composed these songs, it is Emma, a women, who put together the first book of music to be used in the church.

It is true that today's world is much different than the world of Emma and Joseph Smith. But I have trouble believing that a church so firm in creating equality between men and women in the 1800's would now be discriminatory toward women. I do not have all the answers, I am not totally sure why there are some callings reserved for men, but I know there are callings reserved for women too- and personally, these are the callings I would prefer to have.

The Articles and Covenants

The Articles and Covenants is a title that has been given to the 20th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. For those of you unfamiliar with my religion, the Doctrine and Covenants is a book of revelations given during the early years of the church. Most of these revelations were given to Joseph Smith Jr. I will admit that section 20 is one of those sections I used to silently complain about when I reached it. It was 6 pages long, which is really quite long in comparison to other sections. I have finally realized why this section is so long and why the material in it is so important.

The material in section 20 is split into 3 main sections. The first part is a short history of the restoration of the Church. It covers, in barely a page, the first vision of Joseph Smith and the translation of the Book of Mormon. The next part covers the basic doctrines of the church. This part mentions the basics of what we believe. Things that are specifically mentioned include the creation, fall, atonement, baptism, and repentance. The final part is basically a handbook of instructions. It teaches the duties of different church callings. I consider this part to be kind of like a FAQ for new leaders in the church. It provides answers to questions that would have been very frequently asked when the church was first restored.

This section is so important because it explains to a person, in only 6 pages, the basic history, doctrine, and organization of the church. It was the section that early missionaries were commanded to bring with them when preaching the gospel so that they would know how to set up the church in new areas. I find it to be a lot like a summary, it mentions a whole lot of different things in a short space of time and can be very useful. Of course, a summary is most helpful when the rest of the book has also been read.

A Marvelous Work

"Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men." Doctrine and Covenants 4:1

"A great and marvelous work is about to come forth unto the children of men." Doctrine and Covenants 6:1, 11:1, 12:1, 14:1

This week's blog is supposed to be in response to the first scripture. I have posted the second because it is very similar and helps to show how often this phrase was repeated. For me, the repetition is evidence of how important this concept is.

The statement "a great and marvelous work" is referring to the Book of Mormon. I do think that the Book of Mormon is a marvelous work. I find the teachings in it have a great impact on my life and I believe it to be an inspired work. I could go on forever about how great I think this book is and what it has done for me, and if you want to hear about that- let me know and I'll tell you more, but right now I want to focus on a different part of the above quotes.

This great and marvelous work is going to come unto the children of men. It isn't going to come to the Americans, or the English, or the people who speak English but are of some other nationality. It is going to come to the children of men, and this includes everyone. When Joseph Smith started to translate the Book of Mormon off of ancient records, he was unsure how he was going to afford to publish it and distribute it to the people of America, yet he was being told it would go out to the entire world. Today, the Book of Mormon is published in 74 languages, with several more in the process of translation. 74. I knew the Book of Mormon had been translated into lots of languages; but when I learned how many languages, and how many were in the process, I was amazed. This book is going to go to all the children of men, not just the children of the English speakers, or the Spanish speakers or any other common language. This book has been translated into Xhosa, Rarotongan, Igbo, and Fante. (And I'll be the first to admit that I've never heard of the last three and just spent several minutes searching the web to see where they were spoken). (Oh, and the only reason I've heard of the first is because the lady who translated it spoke in a fireside a few months ago. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a fireside is an evening meeting in which a guest speaker comes and speaks to a specific group of people, such as the youth, the unmarried members, or some other random group that the lesson is directed to). Anyways, back to the fact that the Book of Mormon is published in 74 languages; maybe it's because I have grown up loving my religion and wishing everyone in the world could experience the joy it has brought me, I just find it so amazing that so many people in the world have access to what I love.

The Lost 116 Pages

Before discussing the 116 pages, I shall first describe what they are for those of you unfamiliar with the LDS Religion (more commonly known as the Mormon religion). According to the LDS beliefs, Joseph Smith was directed to the Gold Plates, an ancient record bearing the account of the people in the Americas. Through divine inspiration he translated the record into English and published it as the Book of Mormon. Joseph started translating the plates with the assistance of Martin Harris. Martin Harris served as a scribe as well as providing the necessary money to purchase ink and paper. The first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon were referred to as the Book of Lehi. Upon completion of this book, Martin Harris believed that he could convince his wife of the truth of the book if he could just show her these pages. When Joseph asked the Lord if he could let Martin take the pages, the initial answer was no. Martin pressured him to ask again and again until the Lord allowed him to take the pages, but warned him the consequences would be great. Martin Harris lost these pages and they are not part of the published Book of Mormon.

This weeks class reading taught me a lot about these 116 pages that I was not previously aware of. I thought that the majority of the teachings in this document were lost when the pages were lost. I realized later that this thought wasn't well thought out. I believe God to be omnipotent, which means He would be aware that the first 116 pages of the book would be lost before those pages were initially written. It is for this reason he commanded Nephi (pronounced knee-fi), the son of Lehi to write his account of the same events. He recorded Lehi's prophecies and dreams as well as the historical events that happened to the family. The Lord will not allow men to prevent his plans from coming to pass. The Lord will never back out on a promise, he promised the people of the Americas that their records would be preserved and come forth in the latter days to convert people to the Gospel. Because He promised the record would come forth, and he knew part of it would be lost, He made sure there was a second account of the events, prophecies, and doctrines taught in the portion of the book that would be lost.

I also learned that, even though Martin Harris lost 116 pages of a book that, in its current published form, is fewer than 600 pages, God gave him the chance to repent and promised him that if he would do so, Martin would have the chance to be one of the Three Witnesses that saw the Gold Plates. Despite losing 116 pages, which seems like a pretty big mistake, Martin, like everyone else, still could turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Then, once he had repented, he would still have the chance to go do great things.