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"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things,
never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary
unto life and salvation.
Lectures on Faith 6
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My family spent the past weekend camping in a very remote wilderness area near the border of Arizona and Nevada. It required driving on a 30 mile dirt road from Mesquite to get there. While very cold at night, it was beautiful during the day. Since it is Passover weekend, we went there in part to experience what it might have been like for the Israelites who fled Egypt into the wilderness. This event of exodus over 3000 years ago is origins of the Jewish religious observance of Passover.
On the Sunday morning, we hiked up a mountain to see the sunrise. It was a beautiful sunrise after a dark and cold night. Here are a few photos taken that morning that I wanted to quickly share. Hard to describe all the symbolism from the hike without witnessing them in person.
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| From a mountain top view it was impossible to see any other civilization except for our campsite below that we shared with a group of fellow camper |
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| This is the top of where stopped to watch the sunrise. We sang, prayed and shared thoughts of our ascension hike. |
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| A few moments after the sun rose above the horizon. Day dawn breaking. |
"In one sense, the religion of the fathers is based on a direct connection to God. Reduced to one thought, it is that as long as God is speaking directly to a body of people, giving them commandments, they have the most essential element of the religion of the fathers. If they remain true to that connection all things can be restored to them."
