A Moses for Our Day!!!

Moses parting the Red Sea

So hopefully you all know about the story of Moses from the Bible.  He was a prophet called by God and given the special assignment to lead the captive House of Israel out of bondage from the Egyptians and take them to the promised land in Canaan.  Moses was given the power and authority of God (priesthood) to perform many miracles and wonders to help him fulfill this sacred task, including parting the Red Sea, enabling the Israelite's to escape from the pursuing Egyptian armies.  After their escape from Egypt, Moses became the Israelite's connection with God.  Moses received divine revelation from God concerning where they needed to go in the wilderness, how long they should stay, and even what they were to eat when food was scarce.  

Moses and the 10 Commandments

Among some of the most amazing feats of Moses was the revelation for what later became known as the Law of Moses.  Written upon stone tablets, it was the word and Law of God after the order of the Aaronic Priesthood, with specific rules, guidelines, and ordinances which were types and shadows of the Savior Jesus Christ's future sacrifice and Atonement.  Moses was and is one of the greatest examples of a prophet.  Through him we have so much revelation from God about Jesus Christ and His gospel.  

Moses called to be a Prophet 

Prophets are righteous and faith filled men, called by God to act as His spokesmen for His children here on earth.  They receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ through revelation from God and in turn teach that to God's children.  They warn people of dangers of things to come and blessings that are promised through obedience to God's laws and commandments.  Prophets hold all the keys of the priesthood (the power and authority to act in God's name for the salvation of His children) and use them to love and serve others as Christ would.  There are many examples of prophets throughout history.  Moses, Abraham, Noah, Isaiah, Jeremiah  Peter James & John, and Paul.  We even have Book of Mormon prophets like Lehi, Nephi, Alma the younger, Mormon and Moroni.

Our Savior Jesus Christ

Without prophets, were would our scriptures be?  Where would the Bible be?  How would we know anything about God or Jesus Christ?  We wouldn't!!  But God loves us, He wants us to be successful in this life and return to live with Him.  In order to do so, we need revelation from Him to understand His will.  He gives us the opportunity to live with Him again through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Through prophets, we gain all the understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we need to obtain salvation and exaltation in this life.  Giving us prophets is a sign that shows God really loves us.

Joseph Smith and Restoration of the Priesthood

So God loves and us He sends us prophets.  Sometimes His children don't listen to the prophets and even persecute or kill them.  As a result, people end up in spiritual darkness.  When they are ready again to listen to God's word, He calls another prophet.  In our day and age, He has done the same thing.  He loves us just as much as He loves His children in times of old!!  He doesn't leave us to tread this journey of life alone.  He has given us prophets in our day just like times of old!!!  In 1820, a young New York farm boy named Joseph Smith, was called to be the next prophet of God, called to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it had been given during the Savior's ministry.  How exciting and amazing is this!!!

Modern day Prophets

I know Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet in our day and age.  I have come to know the truthfulness of his calling through the divine witness from God that the Book of Mormon is true.  After Joseph Smith died, prophets weren't gone from the earth.  An unbroken line of succession has followed him, each man afterward called of God.  They are the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Presidents of the Church.  We believe and know that these men are called of God as was Moses and they act as prophets, seers, and revelators in our day.  Along with the prophet, we have 12 Apostles who function in the same capacity, teaching people and maintaining the purity of the doctrine just as in days before.

Current Church President Thomas S. Monson and Counselors

We have our own Moses for our day!!  A man of great spiritual strength, who receive direct revelation from God, who leads and guides us through the sin stained world of our day.  His name is Thomas S. Monson!!!  He is our living day prophet.  Having a prophet however doesn't eliminate the need for us to receive our own personal revelation.  The prophet simply receives revelation from God for the whole Church as a body.  God still wants us to talk to Him through prayer and listen for the still small voice for answers.  But through the Prophet, He has given us another wonderful tool to better our lives, learn more of the Savior, and became more like Jesus Christ.  By listening and heeding the words of our living prophets, we can be blessed abundantly.

General Conference

Every six months we have the opportunity to hear from our beloved Prophet.  This even is called General Conference and believe it or not, it's this weekend!!!  If you don't know or don't believe that we have prophets in our day, I invite you to listen to this upcoming session of General Conference, with a prayer in your heart and learn for yourself from God is the men that speak are truly prophets of our Lord and God.  If you have a testimony already of living day prophets, I invite you to strengthen that testimony by listening and heeding the words of the Prophet.  By doing so, we will not be lead astray.  As a former Prophet, President Wilford Woodruff said "The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News,October 11, 1890, p. 2.)"  

President Thomas S. Monson

I know that we have our own Moses today.  He is not the head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Jesus Christ is.  President Monson simply speaks for Him, as His prophet, as His Modern Day Moses!!!

The Salt Lake Tabernacle

Inside the Salt Lake Tabernacle

Temple Square has been one of my reoccurring themes lately for this blog.  So to continue on with that theme, I thought it would be nice to share a little information about the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Old Bowery and Tabernacle

From Early Beginnings

Shortly after the first group of Saints arrived in the Salt Lake valley in 1847, one of their first objectives was to build a place where they could all gather together to worship and be instructed.  The first structure built was a large bowery consisting of logs and branches.  Simple yet it served it's purpose.  By 1857 though the Saints built what was called Old Tabernacle next to the bowery.  However by 1861 Old Tabernacle was to small to meet the needs of the Saints.  President Brigham Young then directed that a new, larger meeting hall be built.  In 1863, construction began on the Salt Lake Tabernacle under the direction of Church architect William H. Folsom.

Tabernacle under construction

So construction began.  The main egg-shaped roof was built entirely of wood out of a unique and unusual design.  The early Saints were very limited in available resources and had to use a lot of ingenuity to take on the project.  Since nails were so scarce wooden pegs were used instead and beams were wrapped with boiled animal skins.

Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1869

The Tabernacle was finished enough to hold October conference in 1867 and by 1870 all the organ fixtures were in place.  By 1875 the entire building was complete including the gallery and was dedicated by President John Taylor in the October conference of that year.  The organ at first contained only 700 pipes but over the years it was expanded to contain now 11,623 pipes.  Despite conditions of poverty, the Saints were able to build one of the most amazing structures of our day. 

Salt Lake Tabernacle Today

The Tabernacle Today

Today the Tabernacle still stands.  From 2005 to 2007, she underwent major renovations to improve seismic strength and renovate the aging building.  New pews were put in place and an overall restoration project with new state of the art equipment and a new aluminum roof.  She was rededicated in the April conference of 2007 and has continued to serve as a meeting hall for various events and as the home of the world renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

It amazes me how much the early pioneers sacrificed to build such an amazing building.  It tells me that they really loved their Lord and Savior to build for Him from very limited means a meeting hall so they could worship Him.  I'm so thankful for all those early Saints who gave of their time and means to provide us in today's world something to look back on and cherish.  From the Tabernacle, many amazing talks and revelations have been given for our day.  Some of the most amazing music comes from this building.  Without it, the Church and the world would never be the same.  I know this Church is true and that my Savior lives.  I'm always fascinated with the amazing pioneer buildings on Temple Square, but I need to remember the fact that they are there to bring me and many others closer to our Savior.  May we take courage from the example of these early Saints and do the best we can to love our Savior.

Refering sites:
http://mormonsoprano.com/2008/08/30/history-of-the-salt-lake-mormon-tabernacle/
http://www.utah.com/mormon/temple_square.htm
http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/eng/historical-sites/salt-lake-tabernacle-on-temple-square 

More Photos of the Salt Lake Tabernacle

Tabernacle Today on Temple Square

Survey of the Tabernacle Roof Arches

Early Tabernacle Organ before addition

Tabernacle Organ and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

What Got Me On A Mission

Missionaries

It was April of 2011 during General Conference, an entire Church wide meeting broadcast from Salt Lake City.  It's held on the first weekend of April and October each year and has a total of four general session and a priesthood session on Saturday evening.  I was home from school that weekend and with my dad at the meeting house watching the broadcast of the priesthood session.  Lots of things were on in my life and my mind was in many different places.  College was one of my main concerns but another thought was lurking in the back of my head.  My 19th birthday was coming up in July and the opportunity was before me to apply and submit my application to become a missionary.  The plan to serve a mission was always there ever since I was a kid.  But now that the time actually was coming I was a bit concerned.  I was very anxious and nervous about the whole prospect of becoming a missionary.  It would require a great deal of sacrifice including two years away from home, family, school, and possible career opportunities.  I wasn't sure I was ready or strong enough to handle those sacrifices and even handle the stresses of missionary life.

General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, UT

So all these things are going through my head as the priesthood session starts.  The first speaker was Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his talk w

as entitled "Preparing the World for the Second Coming".  It was as if he was speaking to me throughout that whole time.  He talked of our priesthood duty to serve missions and the sacrifices we have to make.  But he also talked about the reward of serving a mission.  Not in terms of worldly rewards, but eternal rewards.

He talked about the example of Sid Going, a young man who gave up a lifetime opportunity to serve a mission.  He wouldn't trade that experience for anything.  The blessing of bringing others into the gospel outweighed anything he or anybody could imagine.  It took me a while to really soak that in when I heard his story.  However from that talk I knew that God wanted me to serve a mission.  So here I am now, serving my Father in Heaven by serving His children and my brothers and sisters.  It's taken me some time to really understand why I want to serve a mission, but I've learned this much.  That the blessings of the gospel are real and the ultimate outcome of living the restored gospel is happiness.  That's always the end result, pure joy and happiness that only God and Jesus Christ can give us.  I don't want to keep all that joy to myself, it's just to much.  I want to share it with others.  It's taken me some time to learn this lesson but now I feel my Savior's love and want others too as well.  I know this Church is true, that our Savior lives, that Joseph Smith was His prophet in these last days, that the Book of Mormon testifies of Him and helps us understand even more about Him.  As I said before, this gospel and church bring nothing but joy into my life.  This is why I serve, because I love others and love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ.

Preparing the World for the Second Coming

3 Things to Help Conference be Not So Boring

I had this problem as a kid, and I still do have this problem today.  General Conference is great but I've always noticed something that's made it hard to listen all the time.  A bunch of old guys standing at a pulpit, speaking in very monotone voices without nothing to look at but their faces from different angles isn't exactly Hollywood cinematics.  Let's face it, sometimes conference is boring.  It's hard to stay awake at times and understand what the speakers are talking about.  I missed most of April 2011 because I fell asleep for most of it.  I know many others suffer with this same problem as well.  However I found a story in a talk from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that really put things into perspective for me about conference. 

The story goes:

A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?”

“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.

The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?”

At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk.

His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”

The brother felt humbled by this exchange. He vowed that he would do better to remember the words spoken by the Lord’s servants in general conference.

Here are 3 things that I learned that I'm going to try to help me stay awake and learn at this conference.

1.  Take Notes - I know it doesn't sound fun but I've never done it before and I've heard a lot of people say it helps you stay focused and really allows you to grasp the message of what they are saying.  Don't just write down what they said.  You will get a copy in the Ensign a month from now.  Instead write down what you feel.  Write down any personal thoughts or spiritual promptings so that you can remember them later on.  This will make the talks really personal and dear to you, I promise.

2.  Take a Friend - If you are watching it at home via whatever means, invite someone, member or non-member, to come join you.  Having someone there will really keep you awake and focused.  You will be there to answer questions and you will have someone there to ask questions to.  Also, it would be really embarrassing to fall asleep during conference if your friend is there.

3.  Pray - Prayer always works.  God cares about you, even the very simplest of things.  God has helped me through personal trials that to others might seem small but meant a lot to me.  Pray to first stay awake and then ask to have the Spirit to be receptive to the messages that will be presented.  I promise you if you ask with sincere faith and real intent, God will make this conference one of the best you've ever experienced.

Remember the story President Uchtdorf told in his talk.  People might ask you about what you learned in conference and what the Prophet has said.  You want to be able to answer boldly and truthfully right?  You want to give an answer with conviction, power, and excitement right?  Then let's all make this conference the best one yet and we will all stay awake.  I promise you that you will learn so much.  You will learn things that will help you in your own unique life.  You will feel so much better, you will be inspired.  You won't ever regret what you experienced.  I know this Church is true and that we do have a living prophet today, Thomas S. Monson.

Elder Uchtdorf's Talk