9/11, Me, and the Book of Mormon

Now don’t interpret this as being what you may think I’m trying to say. The Book of Mormon did not predict the actual event of September 11, 2001, nor are the Muslims somehow connected to the people of that book but rather what it has to say to about the patterns and principles.

Where were you on that dreadful morning?

Well for me, it started early in the morning in my early morning seminary class in Vista, California. My friend David showed up late and said that he and his dad had just heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Being a sophomore in high school, age 14, I had no idea what the World Trade Center was. I assumed it was a smaller building and done by accident. We carried on with our lesson in seminary, we were just beginning to learn about the Book of Mormon for the school year. The Book of Mormon is a companion volume to the Bible for the Latter-day Saints. A book full of prophets, just like the Bible, but in America. It tells of the ups and downs of people following God.

At the end of seminary, I walked down to my high school just a quarter mile away. It didn't faze me about the plane crash again until I got in front of the band room door. All of us who normally hung out inside the band room before school were stuck outside because the person with the band room door key had not unlocked it yet. Everyone was chatty, even more than usual. They were all talking about this plane and then a second plane. If it were today, all those kids would have been crying in tears because of our smart phones, giving us instant access. I went to my first class, Chemistry.

I never was good in Chemistry, I got a D+ in it that semester. I was grateful to have been in it that morning because that wing of classrooms at the high school had cable and I got to watch the news. When it was turned on there was nothing but what appeared to be smoke only later to realize it was a combination of dust, smoke, and the remains of the two Twin Towers that have already fallen. They replayed the fall of each over and over again.

That whole week following seemed to last forever. 9/11 was what we talked about. I cried on my own for all those lives that were lost as hope to find them faded day by day. That following Sunday at church was open for anyone to speak, much like a normal Fast Sunday in the LDS church. I recall many were sad and scared. One brother was so angry he was shaking his fists and pounded the pulpit. But I do remember at the end of the meeting feeling better about the situation, uplifted and able to move on with great faith.

All of us can remember the unity that we showed as a nation! It was glorious. With a few exceptions like people judging any Muslim, hate crimes, and false allegation, the United States of America was unified as I have ever seen to this point. Politicians seemed to have got along, people supported others in their communities, and we were united in a purpose. At this time I helped out at a family friend’s print shop. An older colleague of mine, an older gentleman and Vietnam veteran, and I were sitting next to each other. I told him how amazing it was to see all of the American flags waving and the pride we had as Americans. I didn’t want it to end and felt strongly that this could be a way to help our country in the long run. Turning his head towards me, his head down, looking atop of his classes he said, “It won’t last long. It sad how quickly it will dissolve and we won’t remember.” I knew the moment he said that that he was right.

So here’s where the Book of Mormon comes in. The average Latter-day Saint (Mormon) knows about the “pride cycle” in the Book of Mormon. People in the Book of Mormon will be following God’s commandments, prospering and living in a happy way of life. Then they will become wicked, prideful with their riches and lifestyles. They then are humbled in several different ways, one way being war or some form of deathly devastation. After solving the issues of this devastation, like a war, the people are God-fearing again and prospering. But not too long after this cycle do they forget and fall into wicked ways all over again with the cycle to repeat itself. I’m not saying we are just like the Book of Mormon in every way but rather the principle is the same. One great example are Nephites during the great war in the book of Alma! Wicked, humbled, led by righteous men such as Captain Moroni, and shortly after the war, they fall into pride because of their prosperity. Look at WWI and WWII. Before both wars there was a lot of humbling inside and outside of the battle and for a while afterwards, there was great prosperity. The cycle continues to this day.

It wasn’t too long that we began to bicker with each other again. Fellowship, support, and trust were again lost. Even to this day have we come farther and farther away from the unity we had as a country. I am still fairly young, so I don’t know what it has been once before but I fear that the few months after 9/11 is one of the best examples of a unified and helpful nation I will see. But I won’t be the cause of the further downfall. When the next great humbling experience comes, I won’t be the reason for it. I will be the one to help others whenever I can. I will be the believers that sustain the prophet and ready to act when called upon. We are battling Satan each and every day, a personal pride cycle, we each battle. Let us not fail to remember what lessons we can learn from times of old and our time at hand.

Church History And A Testimony

There has been much discussion about doubt and leaving of the church recently. I also was part of a discussion recently on Facebook. Sadly, it was filled with too many people that wanted to only banter rather than discuss. I had to take myself away from that discussion and future discussions because I found myself feeling of no worth. These people's negativity, though not convincing me otherwise of my knowledge, I had a sense of no worth, no respect for God, and no respect for the basics of the gospel growing within my heart. Though I am sure for a few of them, their motives were sincere and truly desiring answers, others were out there looking to bash on the church (members and non-members) in whatever venue they could. These are people who seem to be on a perpetual search to find what is wrong with the church.

Many seem to be disgruntled by a number of things but particularly the one I'd like to address is the "covered up" church's history. Many have lost or had their faith weakened due to things that they have learned over the internet, word of mouth, or through their own research in church history books. They have felt as though they were tricked, lied to, or deceived. They feel that this is so because the church leaders don't put certain details in the church manuals and have purposely avoided such topics to avoid a history that is not perfect.

I have two answers to this reasoning that I hope will be helpful to all members and individuals seeking answers from God if the restored church is truly here on earth:

1) If the church really didn't want you to know these things the leaders now and in the past would have erased it from its records. You can look it up freely (even before the internet was available), the church is not hiding anything. The church has always done things to address the issues in the past and present. One example is the Mountain Meadow Massacre. President Hinckley dedicated a monument there not too long ago to commemorate the lives lost. It was a hard topic to bring up and many mixed feelings about it was felt inside and out of the church, still are. But if the church wasn't wanting to deal with it, they could have erased it by ignoring it. Same with many other things that are of deep church history issues. They didn't do this because it is what it is. The church is still standing today not because of it's history but because of it's true claim to being the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

2) The church will always focus on the basics of salvation. We hear church history stories all the time in our lessons at church, general conference talks mention incredible stories of early Saints' sacrifices and diligence to overcome difficult times. They do occasionally focus on those Saints that fell away because of pride. All of this to gain an important lesson that helps us to come closer to our Savior. Everything they teach us (leaders and manuals) is to lead us closer to Christ, and they only have so much time to do it. The address of negative, taboo, or extremely odd church history experiences may not be as important to hear as such of an experience of faith. This is why I believe we don't hear too much over the pulpit or in the manuals of difficult subjects with church history. We do hear it occasionally to which I've almost always heard a reasonable response.

Clearly the church isn't perfect. Joseph Smith did have several wives, Brigham Young probably was a racist, and weird things happened in the mountains. So what? How does this help you gain a testimony of the divinity of Christ and His infinite Atonement? Are we shallow enough to neglect that Christ's atonement works with you and others? Shallow to neglect that God is doing His work with imperfect people? I would remind anyone that church history issues are not of the greater importance. The greater importance is your personal witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Book of Mormon is the word of God,  that you are on the path to make and keep covenants, and the many other basic principles of the gospel that are taught on a weekly basis.

One thing that made me sad from the last Facebook conversation is that they assumed I had never doubted. I was not a worthy vessel to share how to help overcome doubt. I did in fact tell them that I have doubted and they shouldn't assume (if you are reading this and think I am the perfect Peter Priesthood-y type, just stop it). I have doubted. I have doubted a terrible amount. My first time truly doubting was in high school. I had numerous older friends as a freshman, they were all very inclusive and allowed me to be part of their circle. After a little while, I got bombarded by several of them with anti-Mormon literature (namely church history issues). I could reply to a few of their questions and comments but ultimately I was beaten, and badly. I questioned myself why such claims were being stated and how I couldn't answer them correctly. Wasn't I a member of the true and living church? Wasn't it perfect? Was the church not perfect? Was it all a big lie? I recall talking to my dad about a few of the questions. One after one, I gave him the concerns and comments my friends gave me and one after another he would give me a reasonable answer in response to it. I continued asking my father since it was working until finally he said something along the lines of, "How can they know the gospel isn't true when they themselves haven't given an honest sincere question to know for themselves? These attacks don't matter. What matters is your testimony."

I knew his words rang true. You see, as a 9 year old boy I was challenged by the full-time missionaries to pray and know if the Book of Mormon was true, if Joseph Smith was a true prophet at which I did accept that challenge. That very night I went to my bed (I remember the setting well as we had just moved into our new house) and knelt down in prayer. The question was simple but my answer was profound. I knew then that the Book of Mormon was true because of a simple sincere prayer. My father taught me a great lesson. Rely on faith, not quarrels.

That freshman year in high school wasn't the only time that I had encountered major doubts. For pe
rsonal reasons I will not describe the whole story but rather just the end. I found myself in the office of a minister. This minister was the leader of a very popular church in my hometown. I would later term this church similar to those on my mission in Seattle as "Mega Churches." It was almost the popular thing to do, go to this church's 20 minute sermon and feel the love of God. So why was I in the minister's office? Because I was questioning my membership in the Mormon Church. Now looking back, the minister was a very wise man, a good wise man. After a series of questions, which his tone seemed to be of questioning my motives, he finally asked, "are you willing to deny the Book of Mormon?" I paused for a while, looking down. Pondering. Then without a hesitation, smiling, I looked back up and said, "no, I cannot deny the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon." Oddly enough, he smiled back and led me to the door of his office.

Do you get what I'm trying to say, yet? Encounter all you will about the church's history or even flat out lies about the doctrine (and occasional church history event) and you can still know that it is true because of a spiritual witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ and His work. To this day, my spiritual witness has helped me get through the thick darkness, the "earthquakes of doubt." The church is not perfect. The people in the church is not perfect but my Savior is. My Heavenly Father sent His Son, to die and suffer the sins and pains of the world. The pains of the world include doubt. Yours and mine.

If you are truly struggling to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church on the earth, I advise you follow Elder Scott's directions, "If you seek His help, be sure your life is clean, your motives are worthy, and you’re willing to do what He asks—for He will answer your prayers. He is your loving Father; you are His beloved child. He loves you perfectly and wants to help you."

Three things, 1) seek His help, 2) motives are pure, and 3) praying with real intent, willing to act upon the answer you receive.  Those things have helped me and they will help your or anyone else's struggles in gospel matters. The Book of Mormon and modern day prophets will lead you closer to your Savior. 

Offence and Middle East Current Events

The atrocities of today’s assaults on the US embassies in Egypt and Libya are sad, scary and wrong.  Being currently in the Middle East, things are now not just an act on television that I will later talk about in a class the following day, but very real. Set aside political reactions and slanders, what can we learn from this event?

Libya's Embassy Attack
Egypt's Embassy Attack

Muslims at the US Embassy in Cairo

 

A film made by an Israeli-American in California was made known to the Islamic world in the last 48 hours. The film depicts the Islamic prophet Muhammad in offensive ways such as his multiple wives being taken in acts of adultery, the lies of the Qur’an and his ways of receiving revelation revolving around sex. This was not well received by the Muslims in Egypt and Libya.

The writer and director of this film obviously has an agenda to express his disagreements and hatred towards Islam. And there was no problem for him to post this online for the world to see. I believe he was wrong in doing so. But I also believe the Muslims that responded, responded because they chose to be offended.

Elder Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the LDS church during a talk regarding him meeting with inactive members of the church stated:

 “Let me make sure I understand what has happened to you. Because someone at church offended you, you have not been blessed by the ordinance of the sacrament. You have withdrawn yourself from the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Because someone at church offended you, you have cut yourself off from priesthood ordinances and the holy temple. You have discontinued your opportunity to serve others and to learn and grow. And you are leaving barriers that will impede the spiritual progress of your children, your children’s children, and the generations that will follow.” Many times people would think for a moment and then respond: “I have never thought about it that way.”

 Regarding the Book of Mormon Broadway play:

“All hands on deck! There is an offensive play on Broadway about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon! Let’s go tear down their advertisement and block the doors so no one can get in to see it! In fact, let’s take down the stage manager that had nothing to do with writing the play!”

That is not a response that most, if not all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had.  In an article regarding the church’s new ad campaign with the musical, it quoted one of the play writers:

"The official church response was something along the lines of, 'The Book of Mormon' the musical might entertain you for a night, but the Book of Mormon — the book as scripture — will change your life through Jesus," Stone said. "Which we actually completely agree with That's a cool, American response to a ribbing."Stone said that "before the church responded, a lot of people would ask us, 'Are you afraid of what the church would say?' And Trey and I were like, 'They're going to be cool.' And they were like, 'No, they're not. There are going to be protests.' And we were like, 'Nope, they're going to be cool.' We weren't surprised by the church's response. We had faith in them."

I wish more of our Muslim brothers and sisters would do something similar. And to point out the pros, this does in fact happen. CAIR, Council on American-Islamic Relations, quotes Nihad Awad, the national executive director, just a few hours ago:

"We urge that this ignorant attempt to provoke the religious feelings of Muslims in the Arabic-speaking world be ignored and that its extremist producers not be given the cheap publicity they so desperately seek. Those who created this trashy film do not represent the people of America or the Christian faith. The only proper response to intentional provocations such as this film is to redouble efforts to promote mutual understanding between faiths and to marginalize extremists of all stripes.
"We condemn the attack on the American embassy, which had nothing to do with the production of this intentionally inflammatory film."

The point is, we can’t stop all people that may offend us but we can stop ourselves from being offended. I am grateful for the culture that I have been raised with to not be offended by what they do. These Muslims today chose to be offended. I admire the rest of the Muslim world that was not offended and acted in similar manners. I, too, had a bishop that once could have offended but I chose not to be. I’ve had close friends attack my own faith but we remained friends, working out the differences, and are now deeper in our matters with of faith and friendship. It is sad that such acts happen.  We must do our best as not to arrogantly offend people, and if we do so ignorantly or on purpose, we should apologize and stand corrected.

Do I feel safe in Jordan, yes. Could it happen here, absolutely. Will I be careful and smart about where I go, yes.

I will end with another quote from Elder Bednar’s talk: 

"One of the greatest indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others. A thing, an event, or an expression may be offensive, but you and I can choose not to be offended—and to say with Pahoran, “it mattereth not.”