Service and it's Sanctifing Effects

We are not sanctified, or changed, until we change the reason we serve or until we have charity to those we serve.

I know God is in control. He gives His prophet insights to know who to call to leadership positions for His church; He gives that same insight to stake presidents, bishops and other ward leaders if they are in tune with the spirit. God knows which individuals He wants to serve in His church, and calls them to serve in a position, at the precise time, when it will help sanctify them and their family the most. God wants to bless us. He wants us to grow. But we still have our agency. The prophet Joseph Smith taught, we have all been foreordained by the laying on of hands in the pre-existence, to fulfill callings to serve one another, and to serve in His church.

I hope that when we are called to serve, whether it be to our family, to our neighbors or to the church, we may we eat our little book, as did John the Revelator, (Rev. 10:10-12) and that we may digest our calling, taking the bitter with the sweet. By doing so, we will move forward in our search for our own sanctification.

Garrett and Hayley

Our second youngest son, Garrett, finally found the girl of his dreams. He has been looking for her for an eternity! We are so excited! They are a great match. I think Hayley will be able to keep him in line. The are soooo in love. You can see in the way they treat each other, in the short glances they throw at each other, the smile that comes to their face when they look at each other and way they talk about each other. They are getting ready to start another eternal family! Nothing can be cooler than that. DeAnne and I are both so happy for them. Everybody make plans for Jan 17th.

Jesus The Christ

I went to class with DeAnne yesterday and thought I would share with you some things that impressed me. 1.) Jesus was the first born of Heavenly Father and Mother, in the spirit. 2.)Jesus was perfect in living all of the commandments of Heavenly Father in the Pre-Existance and became a God. He belonged to the league of Gods and became like them before he had a body of flesh and bones. 3.) Jesus Created this earth and many others, while he was yet a spirit. He showed his spirit body to Adam, Moses, Abraham, Ether and others before he came to earth. 4.) Jesus came to this earth to gain a body and earthly experiece, lived the law perfectly with no sin, suffered in Gethsemene and on the cross and became Jesus the Christ and the Savior for all His creations. 5.) Christ did not provide an atonement for all people. For example, he did not save Father Eloheim or Grandpa Eloheim or other Gods, or the people they provided an atonement for. They had some other Savior. 6.) He set the example for us to follow and said, "Come Follow Me", do as you have seen me do. 7.) You can't follow Him if you don't understand his history and his love for His Father and Mother and for His brother and sisters. (us). 8) Jesus provided the sacrifice for us and is willing to give His Father the glory. 9) Because he loves us so much, He suffered so we don't have to, if we will repent. He wants all of us to return to Heavenly Father and Mother with and live with Him and be like Him.

What are the Chances that YOU are going to be Exalted?

What are the odds you and I will be exalted? This last chapter was very interesting to me because I want to know if there is a chance I will be able to return to Heavenly Father and Mother, live with them and also live eternally with my wife DeAnne, our children, grandchildren and the rest of our posterity and ancestors.

Here is the Answer.
You are pronounced clean up to the time of your baptism. When you are baptized you are still given the promise of the remission of your sins. Little children have not committed any sins up to that point in their life, but if you were baptized after you were over eight years old, your sins are remitted and you are pronounced clean from sin to that day of your life.

We also know, from the teachings of the prophets, that when we partake of the sacrament, we renew the covenants of baptism, meaning, if we repent, and partake of sacrament worthily, our sins are again washed away by the atonement of Jesus Christ. What is the covenant that we make with God? We don’t convent to be perfect from that time on. We can’t be! And God knows we can’t be. Read the sacrament prayer on the bread. It blesses those that are “willing” to take the name of Jesus Christ upon them and do what he taught us to do to the best of our physical abilities. The atonement and grace of God will make up the difference between “Willing” to follow Christ and being, “Perfect” in following Christ. If you are “willing” to follow Christ you are on the road to exaltation. But, if you are just sitting there on the road to exaltation, it is a lot easier for Satan to come along and pull you off. If you are constantly moving toward Christ, Satan has to hit a moving target.

So, we are clean from sin up to the day of our baptism and every time we partake of the sacrament worthily.

The same day we are baptized, or the Sunday after, you are given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. With the gift of the Holy Ghost, the odds of being exalted change tremendously for us. We are promised that if we will live worthy we can have the constant companionship of one of the members of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost to be with us.

The Holy Ghost cannot come and dwell in an unclean tabernacle. Meaning, and this is significant, whenever, you have felt the spirit of the Holy Ghost in your life, you have been pronounced clean of sin! Otherwise He couldn’t be with you!

Our good friend and neighbor, George Hicks, while he was the bishop of our ward, constantly asked and preached, “When was the last time you had a spiritual experience? If you are studying, praying, pondering, seeking for forgiveness, partaking of the sacrament, listening to good music or a talk, or have been warned or protected, or anything else where you feel that burning in your bosom, and feel that what you are receiving is from God, you, at that very instant have been pronounce clean of sin, and if, at that moment you were to die, you are going to be exalted! And if you live on after that, you have fewer and fewer things to repent of! So, the odds increase that you are going to be exalted.

So, in conclusion, we should do more good things in our life. More service to others, more service in the church, pray more, study more in the scriptures, ponder more about the meaning and purpose of life. Every time we have a spiritual experience, we are pronounced clean of sin. Our challenge is to put ourselves in situations were we can invite the spirit to be with us. The goal is have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Then the odds of being exalted are a constant 100%!

How Many People are Going to be Exalted?

I finished reading chapter 2 of the “Odds Are You are Going to be Exalted”, book. In chapter two he is trying to make a point as to how many people have been and will be, exalted in the history of the earth. He listed and talked about several groups:
1. A third part of Heaven followed Satan. Note, it is not 1/3 or 33%, it is a third part. A third part of what number? A third part can be a third part of a certain group, a symbolic number meaning a fraction of people followed Satan, or an unknown number. So, in the end, there is an unknown number that will not be exalted, because they followed Satan.
2. The norm from the time of Enoch to, and including many in Noah’s day, was to translate those who became repentant, and started keeping the commandments, as best they could, and thus many of them were saved and exalted with the City of Enoch.
3. Our Church teaches all those who die before the age of accountability are exalted. According to historians, 51% of all people ever born on earth have died before the age of eight.
4. All people who are mentally handicapped are not accountable, so they are exalted.
5. Millions will live and die during the Millennium and they will be exalted.
6. Presidents Woodruff and Snow taught that most, if not all, will accept the gospel when it is taught to them in the spirit world. We are told to do their temple ordinances for them so they can be exalted. Why would Heavenly Father waste time and effort doing all those ordinances if the ordinance work won‘t be use to exalt his Children?
So that just leaves you and me, (we who are currently on earth) to be exalted. That is the next chapter!

The Plan of Happiness

I finished the introduction and the first chapter of the book Tiff gave me, “Odds are you are going to be Exalted” for the second time, and thought I would write down some of things that stand out to me, and a brief synopses of the first chapter. It was about the need and role of works and grace. Why we cannot be saved without the atonement of Christ. No matter how good we are or try to be, none of us, excepting Christ will ever be perfect in living all of the commandments. But, this life is how we gain our experience. Just like God the Father did at sometime in his progression, while He was living and experiencing his earthly life. That is why God gave us commandments. To help us gain the most from our earthly experiences. Not to keep us out of His presence, but to bless our lives and get us back home with Him.

We all shouted for joy when God presented his plan, because it provided a way for us to not only return back to his presence, but also to become like Him. His plan was calculated to provide a way for a most of us to come back and live with Him and Mother Eloheim. We wouldn’t have shouted for joy if He had announced, “I have some good news and bad news. The good news is, I have a plan to satisfy justice, but most of you won’t make it back.” He called it the “Plan of Happiness”, not the “Plan of Elimination”.

Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Temple

Here are some of the things that I gained during my studying the Priesthood and Relief Society manual:
Joseph Smith compares the parable of the muster seed to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, not just to faith. The seed, (Book of Mormon), was planted in a field by a man, (Moroni), who had faith that it would come forth out of the ground, (taken out of the ground by Joseph Smith), and sprout into a large tree, (temple), with many branches, (many Temples and Saints), where birds, (angles), could come to teach and bless all mankind. See JS priesthood manual, lesson #11 page 142.

Also Joseph Smith, in connection with the teaching above, said that the mountains, (Temples) will melt down, (be available to all people) and the valley be exalted. To me, meaning that people who are down, (in the valley – down in spirit and down in the eyes of the world) will have the temples melt down or come down from the mountains where God dwells, and be built in their own countries and cities, so that they will be given the chance to attend the temple and be lifted up to receive the same temple blessings God has promised to all his children.

I discussed the above teaching of Josephe Smith with DeAnne. She has wonderful spiritual insights and I love to talk to her about the gospel and the doctrine and get her input and listen to her thoughts on the topics I bring up with her. You are wonderfully, amazing DeAnne! I Love You!