489: SPRING EQUINOX 2019 WITH A SUPERMOON TONIGHT

This morning was the last official morning of winter. This afternoon at 3:58 PM on the Wasatch Front will mark the beginning of Spring when the sun is directly over the equator. I went outside this morning to find two doves hiding in a maze of tree branches entangled with thorny vines. The tree branches that appear dead will begin to blossom in the coming days.  The doves were symbolic to me of the hope of new life and the peace that it brings.  

Also, last night I took a photo of the rising moon. Tonight there will be a Supermoon. The third supermoon of the year. Very unusual to see three supermoons in a row. The full moon tonight, called the Worm Moon, will rise over the Wasatch Mountain around 7:30 PM. I hope the sky is clear to take a photo tonight. 

488: SABBATH DAY DRESS FOR SISTER MISSIONARIES ON SUNDAYS?

Photo take of two Sister Missionaries on a Sunday, March 17, 2019.
To protect the identity the faces have been obscured. 

Last Sunday, my family and I were getting ready to drive home from Church and I noticed the two sister missionaries walking home on the sidewalk. I pointed to my wife and said "Look, the sister missionaries". My wife didn't believe me because they were both wearing pants. Now I know the changes have been made to allow for this, but for some reason they quickly changed out of their dresses leaving Church and put on their pants for the rest of the Sabbath.

From the LDS Church website it says:

Updated dress and grooming guidelines now provide sister missionaries the option to wear pants during regular missionary activities, including during normal training activities at missionary training centers.

When attending Sunday worship services, leadership and zone conferences, and baptismal services in the mission field, you may wear dress slacks to the meeting location and change into dresses or skirts before the meeting begins.

I grew up in a home that we typically stayed in our "nice clothes" on Sundays. When we went to a family dinner at my Grandparents home on Sundays, my sisters and Mom would usually still wear their skirts/dresses. Today however, that might seem really old-fashioned and outdated. Obviously we don't want to look Pharisaical, but for us growing up and even today in my family, Sundays were always a different day for us, and what we wore reflected that.

If pants are becoming the norm these days for women, we might need to consider updating the restroom icons, since dresses don't seem to be worn anymore, at least not by the Sister Missionaries.

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On the flip side.. the Dress Code and Grooming for Priesthood Holders to participate in ordinances has become more strict and less casual.

Below is a letter from a Stake President that was read over the pulpit in Sacrament Meeting to the wards in his stake. He states that "casualness leads to CASUALTY."

The men are expected to observe and dress in their "proper priesthood attire" when participating in priesthood ordinances like a blessing of a baby. This includes:

• wear a white shirt
• wear a tie
• wear pants 
• wear shoes
• A coat may be worn, but not necesssary.

If they are not wearing the above "Priesthood Attire" - they will be asked to not participate and should remove themselves from the circle.  In addition no more than 5-6 men can be in the circle. 

Also in the letter is a reminder that men in leadership positions need to be clean shaven.  If they are unwilling to be clean shaven they may not have the opportunity to serve in these callings. 

Here is the letter dated March 3, 2019:

I'll conclude with a quote from Hugh Nibley's Joseph Smith Lecture Series 1972-1973:

"The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlot and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for the status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism...the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances."

487: THE LDS CHURCH IS THE NUMBER #1 HIRER OF TECH-RELATED PROFESSIONALS IN SLC

Since when does a religion become the largest hirer of technology related jobs in Salt Lake?

Hard to believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hires more people in Salt Lake City than any other company in the technology field.  

The report from Indeed.com lists the church in the top slot of its ranking of tech hirers in Utah's capital city, with Zions Bank, Overstock.com, Progressive Leasing and Western Governor's University rounding out the top five.

Church spokesman Daniel Woodruff said employees with expertise in technology are of increasing significance to the work done at the world headquarters of the faith in Salt Lake City.

"Technology plays an increasingly important role in the workplace, and we rely on highly skilled employees to understand and harness it in order to further the mission of the church," Woodruff said in a statement. "We are pleased to hire talented individuals from across a number of industries — including technology — to assist in the church's work around the world in family history, missionary efforts, humanitarian work and other areas."

So does this mean that more of our tithing money is being spent on high paying technology jobs instead of helping the poor and the needy?

Hard to know that your tithing money is going to recruiters and paying salaries for high demand jobs in the technology sectore. From the Deseret News article it says:

"The highest-paid tech workers in Salt Lake City are senior web developers, earning an annual salary of $118,737," the report reads. "Web developers build applications that are often customer-facing, including user interfaces. Unlike software engineers (No. 8) who use their knowledge of data structures and algorithms to design and build software and services, web developers primarily work with websites and web apps."

I  am not sure how much the Church pays.. but the Church states on their webpage that wages are comparable to that of similar job in the market.

 ______________________________________________________________

Compensation

We provide fair compensation for our employees as they engage in this great work. Compensation is designed to be comparable to that of similar jobs in the relevant market.

We hire some of the most talented industry professionals to work for the Church.

 ____________________________________________________________

However the real draw is that employees are told that they are "working in the Kingdom"
From the Church Employment webpage:

Sidenote: Related Article about the technology jobs in Salt Lake City

A high-tech mecca rises to rival Silicon Valley

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/13/a-high-tech-mecca-rises-to-rival-silicon-valley.html

486: PRESIDENT NELSON WITH THE KEYS FROM PETER IN ROME

"Catholics held a monopoly for a thousand years using the idea of “keys from St. Peter” as the foundation upon which the religion was built. Not until the eastern Orthodox faith departed was there any choice to be made between “keys” in Rome and “keys” in Constantinople. It took Martin Luther to finally peel away the fraud of “keys” independent from righteousness. His expositions on the “priesthood of faith” allowed a divorce between claims of priestly “keys” and faith in God.

It took Martin Luther’s revolution in thinking several hundred years to create a religious landscape where Joseph Smith and a new Dispensation of the Gospel could be introduced. These things move slowly because mankind is generally imprisoned by their traditions and are incapable of seeing the difference between the priestly and the prophetic traditions. This blindness becomes the tool through which the priestly tradition controls mankind.

Priestly tradition is stable, authoritarian, controlling, focused on outward conduct, amasses wealth, power and prestige. Priestly tradition can continue in the absence of spirit, revelation or even godliness. Priestly tradition can become the friend of government, business and empires, and can work hand-in-hand with the powers of this world.

Prophetic tradition is unruly, unpredictable, and challenges the god of this world. It cannot work with the powers of this world, but strikes at its authority. It cannot exist without the direct involvement of God and angels and it cannot be divorced from continuing revelation

It is easier to seize control and demand obedience to authority than to persuade using gentleness and pure knowledge.

The priesthood is for service, not control. The greatest priesthood holder was Christ. He condemned the gentile tendency to rule, control and exercise lordship. He came only to serve and offer His life as a ransom for others."  from this post


Sidenote: I am not sure the Catholics in Rome will like seeing this photo...actually Catholics in general. It is almost like going to England and then taking a photo of putting on the crown of Queen Elizabeth. 

485: AN INVITATION TO THE WHOLE WORLD TO PRESIDENT NELSON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Mark your calendars now for President's Nelson Birthday Party.  

THE INVITATION

(sent out six months in advance... to the WHOLE WORLD)

Acclaimed performers and distinguished guests will provide musical performances, personal tributes and tender insights into the life, ministry and service of President Nelson.

The news release says “These types of celebrations, which we have seen since the early years of the Church, give us inspiring insight into the lives of those chosen by God to serve as His prophets.” 

President Oaks says, "It will be a privilege for all of us to participate and to celebrate President Nelson’s 95th birthday.”


Sidenote:

Contrast this world Birthday celebration for Nelson with acclaimed performers and distinguished guest to celebrating your birthday party.....versus celebrating  with sick children: 

484: ONLY 97% CORRECT OF THE CHURCH'S REVEALED NAME.... 3% VICTORY FOR SATAN?.

There are few things that have to be 100% perfect in the Church. For example, TOTAL immersion at baptism and I don't mean just the person. If any part of the clothing floats to the surface, the baptism needs to be redone. The wording of the Sacrament Prayers can not be said with any error. Last Sunday, one of the 15 year olds in our ward (who is now ordained a priest) had to repeat the blessing of the bread because he said the word 'it' after the word 'eat'.

Now add to that list the correct name of the Church. Here is the directive from Russell M. Nelson, in his conference address that he gave last year. (emphasis added)

"Thus, the name of the Church is not negotiable. When the Savior clearly states what the name of His Church should be and even precedes His declaration with, “Thus shall my church be called,” He is serious."

____________________

I find it fascinating that if you look at the Joseph Papers, you can see the original revelation given to Joseph Smith on April 26, 1838 on what the Church should be called.  The correct name and spelling of the Church is:

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Does something look different? Notice the lower case 't' for the word 'the' and the upper case 'D' in Day and no hyphen. If the Savior clearly states what the name of His Church should be and Joseph Smith wrote it down, why have we altered the spelling of that name?

Here is a screenshot from the Joseph Smith Papers. 

So was there another revelation to change the spelling?  (Fact is that the name of the Church has changed multiple times... (See THIS BLOG, for more research and a huge hat tip for bringing all of this to my attention:)

I am not aware of any such revelation. But I assume the reason to change the spelling was due to a schism after Joseph Smith died. After Smith was murdered in 1844 with no clear successor, several claimants sought to take leadership of the LDS Church. Among them was William Strang, who competed with other prominent members, notably Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon. Strang continued using the official name of the Church for their congregations. This church is a separate organization from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is considerably larger and better known, although both churches claim to be the original organization established by Joseph Smith, on April 6, 1830. The Strangite church is headquartered in Voree, Wisconsin, just outside Burlington, and accepts the claims of James Strang as successor to Smith.

After moving here to Utah, Brigham Young changed the spelling of the Church's name to include the hyphen and the lower-case "d". It wasn't until incorporation in 1851 by the legislature of the State of Deseret that the church standardized the spelling of its name became official. 

Then in 1876, the LDS Church issued a new edition of the D&C which contained the capitalization and hyphenation of the church's name. A change from the 1838 revelation and the 1844 edition of D&C which did not have the hyphen spelling.

So when we read the Doctrine and Covenants today and President Nelson emphatically states we need to make sure that we only use the correct name of the Church we think assume it is to be written like this:

but according to the revelation and what Joseph Smith penned.. it should be written like this:

However, with all that said, the most important thing according to the Lord is not the name but if it is built upon His Gospel. We read in 3 Nephi 27: 8

"but if it be called in my name 

then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel."

So you could be using the correct name of the Church, like the Strangites.. but you are not the Lord's Church if you are not built upon His gospel. Any church could have the name of Jesus Christ in the title, but unless you are built upon His gospel you could possibly be only professing.

Sidenote: The last part of verse in 3 Nephi 27: 8 was omitted from President Nelson's talk. The qualifier "if" clause which says "if it so be that they are built upon my gospel"  was not said. From the The Correct Name of the Church  talk says:

“And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church.

deleted are the 11 words.. "if it so be that they are built upon my gospel." 



SIDENOTE: 
While we are on the subject of Church names. It might be of interest that the official legal name of the church is actually:The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Here are a few past blog posts on that subject:

What is more offensive to God?
Happy Birthday to The Corporation of the President

483: "MIGHTY AND HEROIC BAND OF CHRIST'S DISCIPLES"

"The moment was historic. The image instantly iconic.

But all the pictures combined are no match 

for the Spirit-witnessing

conformation of the unity and brotherhood of

this mighty and heroic band of Christ's disciples" 

quote from the news article found here: www.thechurchnews.com 

"As the brethren took their places, a hush came over all who had crowded in to watch the gathering of these special witnesses documented by photograph...The sight of these Apostles walking together, talking, and clearly rejoicing in their unity literally took one's breath away... It was a scene that would have fit perfectly on the road to Emmaus or along the shore of Galilee."

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Have we elevated these men to such a status now calling them heros? We almost treat them like celebrities, even idols. I mean when we describe being in their presence, we actually say there is a "hush" that came over all who had crowded in to watch the gathering.  Even that the sight of these Apostles "literally took one's breath away". 

It might be good for us to review some of the very first commandments given by God. In fact lets reread #1 and #2 of the Ten Commandments. I wonder if those two commandment are given first because God knew that we would have the tendency to break both of these. 

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...

If you look at the iconic and historic photo above, I wonder if we see evidence of possible violations of these two commandments. 

Are there any graven images in the photo?

Who really is in the forefront of the photo? Christ?  Is there anything/anybody in front of Him? or in other words.. "any other gods before me" that we might be asked to follow? 

Anyway.. something to at least think about.

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Sidenote:

I don't think you need to wear a white suit or have rank and status in a hierarchy to be a mighty and heroic disciple of Christ. I think we can ALL be mighty and heroic. All we need to do what Christ teach us in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats found in Matthew 25.

"For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me."  

In my opinion, here are true mighty and heroic disciples of Christ.

A few weeks ago I gave a talk in Church. I spoke briefly about this parable. Here is an excerpt from the talk:

What does it mean to feed the hungry?

I am wondering if feeding the hungry doesn’t always mean just giving food to those who haven’t eaten for awhile.  

What if the Lord is also talking about those who are spiritually hungry?

For example, those who don’t have the gospel, or who are experiencing a crisis of faith, and struggling with finding God.

What about those who are emotionally hungry, like those who suffer from depression, anxiety and loneliness?

What about those who are financially hungry. the poor and the needy who struggle to provide for the necessities of life?

What about taking in a stranger?

Is a stranger only someone we don’t know?

What if a stranger is someone we know, but we think they are not like us, people who we perceived to be different.. do we take them in?

Do we exclude, criticize, condemn people we consider strange?

What about the naked? 

I don’t think it means to just give someone clothes.

What about those who have lost their reputation or who have been stripped of their good name?

What about those who have been abandoned, left out, or without protection that clothes provides?

How about those who are sick?

I don’t think it is those who just have the flu.

Those who are dealing with abuse, or have weaknesses? Do we sit and visit with them and try to help?

Or what about visiting those who are in prison?

I don’t think in means only those who are incarcerated at the point of mountain.

What about those who struggle with additions?

I recently came across youtube video of what it means to really help someone’s pain and suffering.

It shows someone in a deep hole and they shout out from the bottom and they say I’m stuck, It’s dark, I’m overwhelmed, I don’t know what to do.

Do we just look down at the person in the hole and pass by.. or are we are willing to climb down in that hole and say, I am here for you. I might not know exactly what you are felling, but I want you to know that you are not alone.

To me, that is what is meant by visiting someone if prison. 

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"And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you; he that is ordained of God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the greatest, notwithstanding he is the LEAST and the servant of all." 

Doctrine and Covenants 50: 25-26 

482: THE INDISPENSABLE FIRST STEP IN TEACHING

I wanted to end a series of posts written the past few days on a good note. I try to share the positive along with what Moroni called our "awful situation"  with this meme.

481: NO LONGER THE CHURCH OF THE DEVIL?

WHAT A DIFFERENCE 100 YEARS MAKE

THEN in 1919: "The Catholic church is a national liability to any country. It is a power for evil rather than for good".... it is "most abominable above all other churches"

NOW in 2019: "Latter-day Saints cherish the long-standing friendship we have developed with the Catholic community"

The following was written by Elder Hyrum M Smith, one of the apostles in the Quorum of the Twelve in his Conference address in October 1916. He was the eldest son of church apostle and future church president Joseph F. Smith and grandson of Joseph Smith's brother Hyrum. 

"The great Catholic division of the Christian world, the Catholic church, is a national liability to any country. It wields a great power over the minds and the hearts of the children of men, but it is a power for evil rather than for good. It brings countless thousands regularly to confession ; it rarely brings a single man to repentance and the abandonment of his sins. The power wielded by that organization is one that does not promote civilization, nor advancement morally or spiritually, but it binds its adherents in the thralldom of superstition and ignorance and fear, and denies them the liberty to make an open-minded investigation of other questions ; and the nations and the people governed and controlled by that power are the least advanced intellectually and morally and industrially of any people in the world called Christian or civilized."

Elder Bruce R McConkie wrote the following definition for the Church of the Devil in his first edition book of Mormon Doctrine on page 129. 

Church of the Devil.. There are two scriptural senses in which the titles church of the devil and great and abominable church are used: 1. All churches or organizations of whatever name or nature-whether political, philosophical, educational, economic, social, fraternal, civic, or religious-which are designed to take men on a course that leads away from God and his laws and thus from salvation in the kingdom of God, and 2. The Roman Catholic Church. specifically-singled out, set apart, described, and designed as being "most abominable above all other churches"

WOW.. things sure have changed. See below video of President Nelson and Elder Ballard forming ties with the His Holiness (which is how President Nelson refers to and addresses the Pope).

"For me, the moment 

when President Nelson 

actually embraced the Pope 

and they gave each other a hug as

 we left was EVERYTHING".

Elder Ballard

_______________

A question/comment that I received a Reader: 

"So did the Catholic Church elevate itself out of the devils most abominable church? Or did the LDS descend and now embrace that which they taught was most abominable and of the devil? " 

480: INSIGHTS? IS THAT THE BEST WE CAN EXPECT FROM A PROPHET'S LIFE?

Here is a list in order (from High to Low)

of how we should expect God 

to communicate truth to us through His prophets  

Here is the Biography of President Nelson that will be going on sale in a few weeks. 

Just before April 2019 General Conference.

That being said.. I will say that maybe Sheri Dew should add another chapter to the book with all the revelations that President Nelson has been having recently and then retitle the book to a higher description from the list above... even Revelations and include the divine communication from the Lord to eliminate sacred symbolism from the temple endowment as well as taking all of the Brethren and their wives on a trip to Rome.

479: HISTORIC AND ICONIC PHOTO NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE

President Nelson received a revelation from the Lord to bring the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve along with their wives to Rome. Here is the quote in The Church News

"President Nelson said the Lord told him to take the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to Rome for the dedication. “I was just following the instructions I received,” he said. “It was very clear to me.”

This historic moment allowed for an iconic photo to be taken with the statues of the original Twelve Apostles (minus Judas which they replaced with Paul). It is now for sale to the public. If you enter your credit card, an electronic image will be sent to you via email for the low price of $26.90. Here is the LINK to download the file. You will then need to print it out yourself for an additional cost..so no downloading the image for free. (I think this might be the fundraiser to help pay for the trip)
 
Sidenote: I am wondering if individual photos will be available of each apostle standing next to their equivalent counterpart apostle in order of rank. Here is Elder Bednar standing next the the fourth apostle over from Peter, since he is currently the 4th one in seniority of the modern day Quorum of the 12 apostles.

It is so much better to be a Modern Day Apostle... because the life of today's apostles bear little resemblance to how the early apostles were treated.