The grandfather explained that he was working on building a deck out by his shed in his backyard when his 3 young grand daughters came over.  They are all grade school age and full of energy.  He said he completely enjoyed his experience with them as they wanted to “help” him build.  He didn’t get 1/3 of the project done because the kids were playing in the dirt, save the worms from getting chopped by the shovel, nails were scattered on many occasions.  In spite of all this, he didn’t get angry or annoyed.  Rather, he enjoyed the fact that his grandkids were with him.

I thought of myself as a young father.  It is easy for me to get so focused on a project that sometimes when my kids interrupt me, I am easily annoyed.  I know I can personally learn from this experienced father to focus on what is important.  What is important are the relationships we have with others, not the relationships we have with our things.

Jesus taught that if we are His disciples, we’ll have love for others.  Surely this example is one of how we can love others as a father.

A priesthood blessing may be given only by those who have been ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. In the Church, most boys at the age of twelve have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon them and are ordained to the office of deacon. At age fourteen, they are usually ordained teachers, and at age sixteen, priests. If the priesthood bearer continues to show faithfulness and worthiness, then at age eighteen, or anytime thereafter, he may receive the Melchizedek Priesthood with ordination to the priesthood office of elder. An elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood has authority to perform most priesthood functions in the Church, including giving priesthood blessings.

Each priesthood ordination, from deacon to apostle, is a type of priesthood blessing and is characterized, as are all priesthood blessings, by (1) the laying-on of hands by those in authority, (2) an invocation of the authority of the priesthood and the name of Jesus Christ, and (3) such words of blessing as follow the impressions of the Spirit.

This third element, that of spiritual impressions, is vital for any priesthood blessing. A fundamental doctrine of the Church is a belief that a worthy priesthood bearer, when giving a priesthood blessing, will receive promptings from the Holy Spirit regarding what is to be spoken-not necessarily the exact words, but ideas or thoughts that he will then express as clearly as he can in his own words. This is the essence of a priesthood blessing, and distinguishes it from a prayer. A prayer seeks to communicate with God, either vocally or silently, and is rooted in the faith that God will hear the words or the thoughts and feelings and then, in his infinite wisdom and power, will respond. A priesthood blessing is based on trust that the priesthood holder, while speaking the blessing, will receive spiritual promptings regarding what is to be spoken and thus his words represent the will of God.

As described in the quote, Elders in the Mormon church are ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood.  The Elders within a congregation are assigned to be “Home Teachers”, or overseers for 3-5 families within the congregation.  Hometeachers are assigned in pairs of two and visit the homes of their assigned families on a monthly basis.  Part of their duty is to ensure the families’ physical, temporal, and spiritual needs are being met.  This requires the Elders to stay in tune with the Lord because at any given moment, a family can call and ask for a Priesthood blessing.  As we’ve already covered in the quote, a blessing is much more than a prayer.  It is being a spokesman for the Lord and is a humbling, but deeply spiritual experience.

Yesterday when visiting one of my families, the father asked us (me and my home teaching companion) to give him a blessing.  He asked me if I would be the one to give the blessing.

When giving a blessing, the Elders place their hands on the head of the individual receiving the blessing.  If it is a blessing of healing, consecrated olive oil is placed on the individual’s head and one Elder annoints the oil through a quick prayer and then the next Elder, who will be giving the blessing places his hands on the head together with the first Elder.  He opens the prayer by sealing the annointing and then speaks as thoughts from the Holy Spirit enter His mind.

Here’s a picture of what a blessing looks like:

Mormon Elders giving a priesthood blessing

After my companion annointed the head of the father, I sealed the annointing as outlined.  It was a deeply moving experience for me as thoughts and feelings came to my mind and heart of how much God loved this father and viewed him as His son.  Feelings of how noble and valued he was in the sight of God entered through me and it was hard for me not to get emotional.  Towards the conclusion of the blessing, I felt a strong feeling of Jesus’ suffering on the cross and in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins.  I became very touched and cried openly as I  spoke words of comfort and encouraged the father to turn to the Lord and place his burdens at His feet.

I’ve given many blessings in my life.  Some are very moving like this one and others are less moving, yet still spiritual and simple.  One thing I know is that in each case, I am not speaking my own thoughts and feelings, but I am speaking as a spokesperson for God.  It is a very humbling experience and a privilege that I am grateful to have the opportunity to participate in on occasion.

I realize priesthood blessings are very sacred for those who have both received and given them.  However, if you are comfortable with sharing your experiences, I think it would be good for those less familiar with blessings to learn from you.

Also, any of you who may not be Mormons and have additional questions, feel free to ask!

We didn’t see the car in time.  I had just enough time to turn my front wheel and suddenly I was flying through the air and the “WHAM!” I hit the pavement and the back of my head whiplashed into the asphalt, cracking my helmet.

My first thought was: Wow!  Helmet’s actually do save lives.  Followed by I’ve gotta get an Advil and get back on the bike!

I wasn’t riding just for fun.  I was riding in memory of my Grandmother, who had passed away from Diabetes related complications.  Two months earlier I had written an article called “The Last Words I Heard my Grandmother Speak” and sent it out to a few hundred family and friends asking for donations towards Diabetes research for the American Diabetes Association.  Close to 60 of my friends and family had been kind enough to donate money towards the cause and I had committed to riding 100 miles.

Fortunately, for me the Good Lord was looking out for me.  Moments later a medic on a bicycle who happened to be riding along the trail at that very moment stopped and checked me (and my bike) out.  He concluded that I didn’t have a concussion, but that I should go back a few miles to the medic station.

I was a bit annoyed.  We were only 35 miles into it and had found some good friends along the ride from India.  We had a good thing going as we had been drafting off each other.  To turn around was so frustrating for me.  However, after some convincing from the medic, I realized he was right and that I should go get checked out.

It just so happened (like I said, the Good Lord was blessing me) that a lady across the street had seen the accident and she had a pick-up.  She came over and offered to drive me to the aid station.  She happened to be a retired physicians assistant, so she had some good pointers for me along the way.

The medic checked my vitals and everything was fine.  I had a slight headache, but he determined it was from the heat and had me drink a bottle of watter and Powerade.  A few minutes later, Steve and I were back on the trail.  We were at mile 35 and had 60 more miles to go.

The next 22 miles were the hardest for me on the whole ride.  I had rested for over 1/2 hour and my legs had stiffened.  I wasn’t sure if I could go on at some points.  However, with a few prayers and sheer determination, I was able to make it.

God was with us again as we pulled into the rest area.  The people manning that location had thought all the other century riders were gone and they were literally starting up their motorcycles to leave.  As we pulled up, they were very glad that they had seen us.  They took our information and called all the aid stations letting them know there were still some riders on the trail.  The stop on at the aid station had set us back about 45 minutes from the other riders.  If we hadn’t met this motorcycle gang (they called themselves the Lollypop Guild motorcycle gang read about them on Facebook here) at the rest area, we would not have had any more Tour support while we were riding the most brutal portion of the course starting at mile 62 in the foothills of the Cascades.  Praise God they were there!

A few miles later, we were winding our way through the foothills of the Cascade mountains.  This was the second time I seriously wondered if I could make it.  The elevation gain was about 3000 feet.  That combined with the heat, and perhaps my wreck caused me to get a bit light-headed and my nose started to bleed.  I barely stayed on my bike, wobbling up hill after hill.

At the next rest area, about 64 miles into the ride, I was able to get some Alieve.  This helped my aching muscles, my sore knee, and my slight headache.  After that, I felt like a new man and Steve and I kept pushing through the ride.

All was well until about mile 84 when we hit a monster hill.  The hill is a category 5 (on a scale of 1-5) and it was 3 miles long.  Somehow we muscled our ways up that bad boy and made it home.

When we got there, our lovely wives were there to greet us.

It felt so great to fight through adversity and with a lot of help from Providence and very good people I was able to finish the ride.  Not to get too philosophical, but it was like a mini example of our journeys in life.  We work hard and do all we can, but the Lord picks up the slack and usually helps us back on our feet through using other people.

I am grateful for a wonderful Grandmother who set such a good example for me in my life at a young age.  It was her memory that kept me going.  I am also grateful for all of the wonderful people who donated to support the cause.  Together, we were able to earn the “Champions” medal for the amount of funds we raised ($2,440 so far).

Here are some pictures of the ride for you to enjoy:

Here’s the very first video around 8:00 a.m. when we first started the ride:

This is the point where you commit to either riding the 70 or 100 mile route…

Three miles after we decided to ride the 100 mile route, I got in the wreck, cracked my helmet, and scraped up my hip and elbow.  I’m blessed that nothing more happened.  Here’s my helmet and scraped elbow:

Here’s the best video!  Riding into the finish line with our wives to greet us:

Here’s Steve and I after the ride

Our Indian friends we met along the way

The Lollipop Guild Motorcycle Gang

My jersey number (jersey number was yellow to signify over $2000 in donations…thank you everyone!)

Champion for Diabetes medal due to funds donated…thank you all once again (if I had made it back in time, Detlef Schrempf was the one who gave out the medal.  Becca, my wife got it instead and was able to meet Detlef).

Finally, my beautiful bride, Becca (she rode the 45 mile route) who initiated getting a team together for the Tour de Cure.  Without her, I wouldn’t have done this.

Sacramento Mormon Temple

Mt Timpanogos Mormon Temple (in American Fork, Utah)

As you notice, the outside of the temples are white and the buildings are elegant.  When you get closer to the temples, there are the words “Holiness to the Lord” inscribed on them as you enter.

Once you enter into the temple, there are temple workers who are dressed in white.  The white signifies purity and cleanliness that is only found through following and accepting Jesus into one’s life.

The temple workers will then ask you for your Mormon temple recommend, which all Mormons receive if they are living a virtuous life and trying to follow Jesus.

After showing the recommend, we were then led to the sealing room where the Mormon temple wedding takes place.  A typical sealing room, as shown in the picture below,  has an altar in the middle of the room with chairs surrounding the altar for the guests.  There are also two chairs at either side of the altar for the witness couple (typically the couple is both the bride and the groom’s parents) to witness the wedding.

Mormon Temple Sealing Room

We’ve had many discussions over the years on this blog about the various ways God speaks to us through His Spirit.  I must say that God spoke to me in a very powerful, yet simple way at both of these Mormon temple weddings.

In both situations, I felt the power of God’s Spirit upon entering the temple.  It was a feeling of complete purity and peace that washed over me.

After we were all seated, the bride and groom then entered, followed by the Mormon Temple Sealer, or in other words, the person performing the wedding.

As seen in most religious weddings, the Mormon Temple Sealer gives advice to the couple.  Usually, the advice is good and centered around how to keep the Lord as the center of the relationship.

Additional advice that I found very insightful at these weddings included the following:

1.  Tell each other that you love each other every day
2. Tell each other why you love each other
3. Never give the same reason twice as to why you love each other
4. Never speak evil of the Lord’s anointed can mean not to speak evil of each other

After giving insightful words and sharing testimony, the Mormon Temple sealer then has the couple kneels across the altar and grasp hands.  He then performs the wedding and seals them as husband and wife for all eternity together with the Lord.

It is a beautiful thing to witness and the Holy Spirit is very strong.  I recommend a temple marriage to anyone!

In short, he describes a long prayer and process he goes through to receive forgiveness from his sins through Jesus Christ.  His description could be described as what is commonly known in Christian circles as a “born again” experience because he prays and confesses Jesus as his Savior and asks Him to take away his sins.  He then is filled with the Holy Spirit and prays for his fellow friends and his enemies alike.

As I reflected on Enos’ experience, it reminded me of my own.

When I was in my early teenage years, I had been already living a pretty devious life and was full of hatred and anger.  Through the grace of God I picked up a Book of Mormon and read it within a few weeks.  At the end of the Book of Mormon, I had a very big desire to pray and know if the concepts in the Book were true.  The concepts in the book include the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes: faith, repentance, baptism, committing our lives to the Lord, and receiving the Holy Spirit.

According to a modern Mormon prophet, Ezra Taft Benson, for every one person who has a “born again experience” such as Enos, there are thousands of people who do not have a huge manifestation of the Holy Spirit all at once.  Rather, it comes gradually as we keep the commandments of God.

I feel fortunate to have had an experience like that of Enos.  Immediately after I prayed, I felt a warmth come all over me and a love and desire to share the Good News with my fellow man.  From the age of 13 (when I had this experience) I had the desire to go on a mission and tell the world about the gospel.  My mission was everything I dreamed it would be.  Although I was in a country (Germany) whose people didn’t accept the gospel with open arms, I still grew to love the Lord and the German people.  If I hadn’t had this born again experience as a younger man, I’m not sure that I would have been able to be so motivated to go on a mission, and the experience is something I reflect on almost daily that sustains my faith now.

I would be curious to see how many people out there have had a “born again” experience.  If you have, please share.  If not, please share how you have experienced receiving the Spirit and a testimony of Jesus.

One example is that we try not to watch movies or TV shows that aren’t centered around the Savior or the Gospel.

Our little girl, who is 3 1/2 years old, loves her Disney cartoons, but on Sunday we typically have her watch cartoons about Jesus.

Recently, we watched a cartoon about Jesus titled “Jesus the Son of God” that has the story of him as a young boy going to the temple and being left behind by his family.  It shows how his parents, Mary and Joseph searched all through the city and one of the last places they look was in the temple, where they find Jesus teaching the Jewish priests about fulfilling the Law of Moses.

As I watched the cartoon about Jesus, I thought about my own life and how many times I look for answers in many other places before going straight to a place (such as the scriptures, prayer, church, temple, etc) where I know I can find my answers from God.  Generally, when I do this, I receive answers in the form of peace and guidance.

I also thought of how many people are out there struggling to find peace and light in their lives and they search in all the wrong places.  It is my hope and prayer that I can be an instrument in God’s hand to help some people find Him.  It is also my hope and prayer that all of you can do the same.  I believe that as we do this together, many people will be blessed and find God.

P.S. for those of you with small children, or if you just like cartoons about Jesus, here’s a link to the video:

Really, my only memory of him is the first interview he did with former Mormon prophet, Gordon B Hinckley.

Wallace describes his encounter with President Hinckley as being very open and different from any other Mormon prophet in the past.  He said that in the past, he would be turned down for an interview and that the Mormons.  In my opinion, this gave the impression of being closed off to the world and out of touch.

As a Mormon myself, I remember feeling skeptical about talking about my faith openly because that was the overall view of leaders and most Mormons back then.

When President Hinckley came out in the open in not only one, but a few interviews with Mike Wallace, which were aired nationally on 60 minutes, he answered the tough questions head-on and with confidence and cheerfulness.  I remember being a senior in high school and getting excited about my faith and the prospect of going on a Mormon mission in a year to share it.

While I was on my mission in Frankfurt, Germany, President Hinckley’s message “This Thing wasn’t done in a corner“. In this talk, he compares Paul’s encounter with King Agrippa in the Bible and how he was so bold in sharing the gospel publicly.  This talk stood out to me and re-energized me once again as he described his interview with Mike Wallace and how we shouldn’t be ashamed of the gospel and sharing the message.

I don’t have any references other than observation to back this up, but after these series of interviews, Mormons worldwide saw their leader as he extensively traveled and gave interviews publicly.  I feel that all of us gained more confidence to speak of our faith more openly.

As the Mormons were seen more in the media, I feel people gradually came to accept Mormons and try to understand who we are.  I feel that Mormons began to do the same for other people.  As this synergy occurred, other things happened such as the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Mitt Romney coming in and saving the Olympics, Romney winning governor of Massachusetts, and now Romney going on to become the eventual Republican nominee.

I think that hadn’t President Hinckley taken on that interview with Mike Wallace it would have been much harder for Romney to be where he is today.

I think it is good that BYU is reaching out to Gay Mormon members.  While I’m not of that persuasion, I know people including family members who are, and they feel very distant from the LDS church and also members of the Church.  By   BYU reaching out to gay Mormon students, it shows they support them and love them as individuals.

After watching the video, I can see it is a good thing to come out and discuss the issue openly and support people who struggle with this.  I view it as something like any other weakness that we as humans struggle with and we need help and the Lord’s love to get through the struggles.

On the other hand, I could see how this video could be interpreted as showing the image that BYU, and essentially the LDS or Mormon church supports the sexual acts involved of being a gay Mormon.  This, I can see could hurt the Mormon Church’s stance on homosexuality as being a sin and not condoning it.

What are your thoughts?

Without Jesus’ atonement, none of this would be possible.  I am grateful for His gift of the atonement and pray that all of us can remember Him not only this Easter, but daily as well.

I have a few Easter videos for you to watch and reflect on what the Savior has done for each one of us.  The first one is a brand new Mormon Easter video made recently by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The second Mormon Easter video is one from last year that I just recently saw.  The final video is one that’s a little older from the mid-90′s called The Lamb of God, but one that I really liked as a teenager.  I think I like this one the best because it is more detailed than the others.

Happy Easter!

(The Lamb of God is a little long, so I divided it into 3 parts…if you want to skip right to the Resurrection and crucifixion, it begins on part three)

This week’s course (week 6) was entitled “Religion, Morality, and Property“.

I found the lecture very interesting and also very informative.  I jotted down some notes from the lecture that stood out to me.  Here are my notes:

Free people = virtuous people

“firm reliance on “Divine Providence”

Moral duties=universal.

God created human mind free.  All can choose between good and evil.

All men are fallen and fallible.  With careful cultivation of soul through family, church, paying attention to God’s laws men will have the gift of liberty through self government.

Reason and revelation counsel religious liberty

God’s role: God is referred to in the Declaration of Independence as “Laws of Nature” “Creator”, “Supreme Judge”, and “Divine Providence”….God is chief law giver, chief exectutive and chiefe judge…only God is the one who has the duties of this…not government.

Government is not the creator or giver of rights, but protector of these rights.

Before humans have governments, they have rights.  Government cannot legitimately take the rights away.

“No Free Government or the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent reoccurance to fundamental principles”  George Mason “Virginia Declaration of Rights”

Virtue was key to freedom and when we stray from Virtue we must repent

Prayer and fasting were essential in Divine guidance including and especially during times of war.

Patrick Henry believed that in order for virtue to flourish, religious support was necessary and proposed a bill to give churches power to enforce these Christian traits.  People like George Washington supported this.

Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others opposed this proposed bill so that religion wasn’t “shackled to the state”.

Religion is something we owe to our Creator.  Religion’s integrity must not be hampered by politics.

Therefore, there needs to be a separation of church and state.  This doesn’t mean that church can’t influence the state through its members, but it meant that church can’t force people to obey laws proposed from the state.

Property and people’s rights should be protected by the government.  A just government will secure to man what is rightfully theirs.

I’m not claiming by any stretch to be an expert on the Founding Fathers or the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.  I am positive there are many books out there that discuss the topic of religion and the nation’s founders. For the purpose of this post, I am only referring to the 30 minute speech given and the notes I took from the Hillsdale College professor.

With that in mind, it is apparent to me that all of the Founding Fathers had deep convictions when it came to reliance on God especially when founding and running a nation.  Also, it appears to me that their views aligned with Christian principles found in the Bible.  The only question was how to create an environment where people could have the opportunity to flourish and not be persecuted by the government.

Some would argue that because the U.S. decided not to have a separation of church and state that it means the nation wasn’t a Christian nation.  Others would argue that although the majority of citezens sided with Jefferson on the issue of church and state, that the values and beliefs were derived from the Bible, or Christian principles, and therefore the nation was a Christian nation.  Yet, others would still argue that these Christian values are the same values that are found in other religions, and therefore the U.S. shouldn’t claim to be a Christian nation.

What are your thoughts?