Six Consequences the Coalition Has Identified If Proposition 8 Fails
Children in public schools will have to be taught that same-sex marriage is just as good as traditional marriage.
The California Education Code already requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage.
Therefore, unless Proposition 8 passes, children will be taught that marriage is between any two adults regardless of gender. There will be serious clashes between the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children their own values and beliefs.
Churches may be sued over their tax exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings open to the public. Ask whether your pastor, priest, minister, bishop, or rabbi is ready to perform such marriages in your chapels and sanctuaries.
Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. Catholic Charities in Boston already closed its doors in Massachusetts because courts legalized same-sex marriage there.
Religions that sponsor private schools with married student housing (i.e. BYU) may be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if counter to church doctrine, or risk lawsuits over tax exemptions and related benefits.
Ministers who preach against same-sex marriage may be sued for hate speech and risk government fines. It already happened in Canada, a country that legalized gay marriage. A recent California court held that municipal employees may not say: “traditional marriage,” or “family values” because, after the same-sex marriage case, it is “hate speech”.
It will cost you money. This change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits, including some already lost (e.g., photographers CANNOT now refuse to photograph gay marriages, doctors cannot now refuse to perform artificial insemination of gays even given other willing doctors). Even if courts eventually find in favor of a defender of traditional marriage (highly improbable given today’s activist judges), think of the money – your money – that will be spent on such legal battles.
And think of all the unintended consequences that we cannot even foresee at this time. Where will it end?
It’s your children, your grandchildren, your money, and your liberties.
When God created earth, he created Man and Woman and commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth. It’s been His plan ever since the beginning of time.
God LOVES all His children. But this doesn’t change His plan in making Man for Woman and Woman for Man.
If this law were to pass – what will happen to the separation of Church and State? This will jeopardize our Religious freedom and our freedom to hold true to our Religious beliefs. Just standing up for our right to practice our Religion will now COST us. How fair is that?
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that same-sex marriage was legal in California. Recognizing the importance of marriage to society, the Church accepted an invitation to participate in ProtectMarriage, a coalition of churches, organizations, and individuals sponsoring a November ballot measure, Proposition 8, that would amend the California state constitution to ensure that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be legally recognized. (Information about the coalition can be found at http://www.protectmarriage.com/).
On June 20, 2008, the First Presidency of the Church distributed a letter about “Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families,” announcing the Church’s participation with the coalition. The letter, which was read in Latter-day Saints’ church services in California, asked that Church members “do all [they] can to support the proposed constitutional amendment.”
Members of the Church in Arizona and Florida will also be voting on constitutional amendments regarding marriage in their states, where coalitions similar to California’s are now being formed.
The focus of the Church’s involvement is specifically same-sex marriage and its consequences. The Church does not object to rights (already established in California) regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the family or the constitutional rights of churches and their adherents to administer and practice their religion free from government interference.
The Church has a single, undeviating standard of sexual morality: intimate relations are proper only between a husband and a wife united in the bonds of matrimony.
The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility towards homosexual men and women. Protecting marriage between a man and a woman does not affect Church members’ Christian obligations of love, kindness and humanity toward all people.
As Church members decide their own appropriate level of involvement in protecting marriage between a man and a woman, they should approach this issue with respect for others, understanding, honesty, and civility.
Intending to reduce misunderstanding and ill will, the Church has produced the following document, “The Divine Institution of Marriage,” and provided the accompanying links to other materials, to explain its reasons for defending marriage between a man and a woman as an issue of moral imperative.
The Divine Institution of Marriage
Marriage is sacred, ordained of God from before the foundation of the world. After creating Adam and Eve, the Lord God pronounced them husband and wife, of which Adam said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”Jesus Christ cited Adam’s declaration when he affirmed the divine origins of the marriage covenant: “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.”
In 1995, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” declared the following unchanging truths regarding marriage:
We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children . . . The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.
The Proclamation also teaches, “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” The account in Genesis of Adam and Eve being created and placed on earth emphasizes the creation of two distinct genders: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Marriage between a man and a woman is central to the plan of salvation. The sacred nature of marriage is closely linked to the power of procreation. Only a man and a woman together have the natural biological capacity to conceive children. This power of procreation – to create life and bring God’s spirit children into the world – is sacred and precious. Misuse of this power undermines the institution of the family and thereby weakens the social fabric.Strong families serve as the fundamental institution for transmitting to future generations the moral strengths, traditions, and values that sustain civilization. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms, “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society.”
Marriage is not primarily a contract between individuals to ratify their affections and provide for mutual obligations. Rather, marriage and family are vital instruments for rearing children and teaching them to become responsible adults. While governments did not invent marriage, throughout the ages governments of all types have recognized and affirmed marriage as an essential institution in preserving social stability and perpetuating life itself. Hence, regardless of whether marriages were performed as a religious rite or a civil ceremony, married couples in almost every culture have been granted special benefits aimed primarily at sustaining their relationship and promoting the environment in which children are reared. A husband and a wife do not receive these benefits to elevate them above any other two people who may share a residence or social tie, but rather in order to preserve, protect, and defend the all-important institutions of marriage and family.
It is true that some couples who marry will not have children, either by choice or because of infertility, but the special status of marriage is nonetheless closely linked to the inherent powers and responsibilities of procreation, and to the inherent differences between the genders. Co-habitation under any guise or title is not a sufficient reason for defining new forms of marriage.
High rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births have resulted in an exceptionally large number of single parents in American society. Many of these single parents have raised exemplary children; nevertheless, extensive studies have shown that in general a husband and wife united in a loving, committed marriage provide the optimal environment for children to be protected, nurtured, and raised.This is not only because of the substantial personal resources that two parents can bring to bear on raising a child, but because of the differing strengths that a father and a mother, by virtue of their gender, bring to the task. As the prominent sociologist David Popenoe has said:
The burden of social science evidence supports the idea that gender differentiated parenting is important for human development and that the contribution of fathers to childrearing is unique and irreplaceable.
Popenoe explained that:
. . . The complementarity of male and female parenting styles is striking and of enormous importance to a child’s overall development. It is sometimes said that fathers express more concern for the child’s longer-term development, while mothers focus on the child’s immediate well-being (which, of course, in its own way has everything to do with a child’s long-term well-being). What is clear is that children have dual needs that must be met: one for independence and the other for relatedness, one for challenge and the other for support.
Social historian David Blankenhorn makes a similar argument in his bookFatherless America.In an ideal society, every child would be raised by both a father and a mother.
Challenges to Marriage and Family
Our modern era has seen traditional marriage and family – defined as a husband and wife with children in an intact marriage – come increasingly under assault. Sexual morality has declined and infidelity has increased. Since 1960, the proportion of children born out of wedlock has soared from 5.3 percent to 38.5 percent (2006).Divorce has become much more common and accepted, with the United States having one of the highest divorce rates in the world. Since 1973, abortion has taken the lives of over 45 million innocents.At the same time, entertainment standards continue to plummet, and pornography has become a scourge afflicting and addicting many victims. Gender differences increasingly are dismissed as trivial, irrelevant, or transient, thus undermining God’s purpose in creating both men and women.
In recent years in the United States and other countries, a movement has emerged to promote same-sex marriage as an inherent or constitutional right. This is not a small step, but a radical change: instead of society tolerating or accepting private, consensual sexual behavior between adults, advocates of same-sex marriage seek its official endorsement and recognition.
Court decisions in Massachusetts (2004) and California (2008) have allowed same-sex marriages. This trend constitutes a serious threat to marriage and family. The institution of marriage will be weakened, resulting in negative consequences for both adults and children.
In November 2008, California voters will decide whether to amend their state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has joined in a broad coalition of other denominations, organizations, and individuals to encourage voter approval of this amendment.
The people of the United States – acting either directly or through their elected representatives – have recognized the crucial role that traditional marriage has played and must continue to play in American society if children and families are to be protected and moral values propagated.
Forty-four states have passed legislation making clear that marriage is between a man and a woman. More than half of those states, twenty-seven in all, have done so by constitutional amendments like the ones pending in California, Arizona, and Florida.
In contrast, those who would impose same-sex marriage on American society have chosen a different course. Advocates have taken their case to the state courts, asking judges to remake the institution of marriage that society has accepted and depended upon for millennia. Yet, even in this context, a broad majority of courts – six out of eight state supreme courts – have upheld traditional marriage laws. Only two, Massachusetts and now California, have gone in the other direction, and then, only by the slimmest of margins – 4 to 3 in both cases.
In sum, there is very strong agreement across America on what marriage is. As the people of California themselves recognized when they voted on this issue just eight years ago, traditional marriage is essential to society as a whole, and especially to its children. Because this question strikes at the very heart of the family, because it is one of the great moral issues of our time, and because it has the potential for great impact upon the family, the Church is speaking out on this issue, and asking members to get involved.
Tolerance, Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Freedom
Those who favor homosexual marriage contend that “tolerance” demands that they be given the same right to marry as heterosexual couples. But this appeal for “tolerance” advocates a very different meaning and outcome than that word has meant throughout most of American history and a different meaning than is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Savior taught a much higher concept, that of love. “Love thy neighbor,” He admonished.Jesus loved the sinner even while decrying the sin, as evidenced in the case of the woman taken in adultery: treating her kindly, but exhorting her to “sin no more.”Tolerance as a gospel principle means love and forgiveness of one another, not “tolerating” transgression.
In today’s secular world, the idea of tolerance has come to mean something entirely different. Instead of love, it has come to mean condone – acceptance of wrongful behavior as the price of friendship. Jesus taught that we love and care for one another without condoning transgression. But today’s politically palatable definition insists that unless one accepts the sin he does not tolerate the sinner.
As Elder Dallin H. Oaks has explained,
Tolerance obviously requires a non-contentious manner of relating toward one another’s differences. But tolerance does not require abandoning one’s standards or one’s opinions on political or public policy choices. Tolerance is a way of reacting to diversity, not a command to insulate it from examination.
The Church does not condone abusive treatment of others and encourages its members to treat all people with respect. However, speaking out against practices with which the Church disagrees on moral grounds – including same-sex marriage – does not constitute abuse or the frequently misused term “hate speech.” We can express genuine love and friendship for the homosexual family member or friend without accepting the practice of homosexuality or any re-definition of marriage.
Legalizing same-sex marriage will affect a wide spectrum of government activities and policies. Once a state government declares that same-sex unions are a civil right, those governments almost certainly will enforce a wide variety of other policies intended to ensure that there is no discrimination against same-sex couples. This may well place “church and state on a collision course.”
The prospect of same-sex marriage has already spawned legal collisions with the rights of free speech and of action based on religious beliefs. For example, advocates and government officials in certain states already are challenging the long-held right of religious adoption agencies to follow their religious beliefs and only place children in homes with both a mother and a father. As a result, Catholic Charities in Boston has stopped offering adoption services.
Other advocates of same-sex marriage are suggesting that tax exemptions and benefits be withdrawn from any religious organization that does not embrace same-sex unions.Public accommodation laws are already being used as leverage in an attempt to force religious organizations to allow marriage celebrations or receptions in religious facilities that are otherwise open to the public. Accrediting organizations in some instances are asserting pressure on religious schools and universities to provide married housing for same-sex couples. Student religious organizations are being told by some universities that they may lose their campus recognition and benefits if they exclude same-sex couples from club membership.
Many of these examples have already become the legal reality in several nations of the European Union, and the European Parliament has recommended that laws guaranteeing and protecting the rights of same-sex couples be made uniform across the EU.Thus, if same-sex marriage becomes a recognized civil right, there will be substantial conflicts with religious freedom. And in some important areas, religious freedom may be diminished.
How Would Same-Sex Marriage Affect Society?
Possible restrictions on religious freedom are not the only societal implications of legalizing same-sex marriage. Perhaps the most common argument that proponents of same-sex marriage make is that it is essentially harmless and will not affect the institution of traditional heterosexual marriage in any way. “It won’t affect you, so why should you care?’ is the common refrain. While it may be true that allowing single-sex unions will not immediately and directly affect all existing marriages, the real question is how it will affect society as a whole over time, including the rising generation and future generations. The experience of the few European countries that already have legalized same-sex marriage suggests that any dilution of the traditional definition of marriage will further erode the already weakened stability of marriages and family generally. Adopting same-sex marriage compromises the traditional concept of marriage, with harmful consequences for society.
Aside from the very serious consequence of undermining and diluting the sacred nature of marriage between a man and a woman, there are many practical implications in the sphere of public policy that will be of deep concern to parents and society as a whole. These are critical to understanding the seriousness of the overall issue of same-sex marriage.
When a man and a woman marry with the intention of forming a new family, their success in that endeavor depends on their willingness to renounce the single-minded pursuit of self-fulfillment and to sacrifice their time and means to the nurturing and rearing of their children. Marriage is fundamentally an unselfish act: legally protected because only a male and female together can create new life, and because the rearing of children requires a life-long commitment, which marriage is intended to provide. Societal recognition of same-sex marriage cannot be justified simply on the grounds that it provides self-fulfillment to its partners, for it is not the purpose of government to provide legal protection to every possible way in which individuals may pursue fulfillment. By definition, all same-sex unions are infertile, and two individuals of the same gender, whatever their affections, can never form a marriage devoted to raising their own mutual offspring.
It is true that some same-sex couples will obtain guardianship over children –through prior heterosexual relationships, through adoption in the states where this is permitted, or by artificial insemination. Despite that, the all-important question of public policy must be: what environment is best for the child and for the rising generation? Traditional marriage provides a solid and well-established social identity to children. It increases the likelihood that they will be able to form a clear gender identity, with sexuality closely linked to both love and procreation. By contrast, the legalization of same-sex marriage likely will erode the social identity, gender development, and moral character of children. Is it really wise for society to pursue such a radical experiment without taking into account its long-term consequences for children?
As just one example of how children will be adversely affected, the establishment of same-sex marriage as a civil right will inevitably require mandatory changes in school curricula. When the state says that same-sex unions are equivalent to heterosexual marriages, the curriculum of public schools will have to support this claim. Beginning with elementary school, children will be taught that marriage can be defined as a relation between any two adults and that consensual sexual relations are morally neutral. Classroom instruction on sex education in secondary schools can be expected to equate homosexual intimacy with heterosexual relations. These developments will create serious clashes between the agenda of the secular school system and the right of parents to teach their children traditional standards of morality.
Finally, throughout history the family has served as an essential bulwark of individual liberty. The walls of a home provide a defense against detrimental social influences and the sometimes overreaching powers of government. In the absence of abuse or neglect, government does not have the right to intervene in the rearing and moral education of children in the home. Strong families are thus vital for political freedom. But when governments presume to redefine the nature of marriage, issuing regulations to ensure public acceptance of non-traditional unions, they have moved a step closer to intervening in the sacred sphere of domestic life. The consequences of crossing this line are many and unpredictable, but likely would include an increase in the power and reach of the state toward whatever ends it seeks to pursue.
The Sanctity of Marriage
Strong, stable families, headed by a father and mother, are the anchor of civilized society. When marriage is undermined by gender confusion and by distortions of its God-given meaning, the rising generation of children and youth will find it increasingly difficult to develop their natural identity as a man or a woman. Some will find it more difficult to engage in wholesome courtships, form stable marriages, and raise yet another generation imbued with moral strength and purpose.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has chosen to become involved, along with many other churches, organizations, and individuals, in defending the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman because it is a compelling moral issue of profound importance to our religion and to the future of our society.
The final line in the Proclamation on the Family is an admonition to the world from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve: “We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.” This is the course charted by Church leaders, and it is the only course of safety for the Church and for the nation.
________________________________________________
Genesis 2:24.
Matthew 19:4-6.
Genesis 1:27.
M. Russell Ballard, “What Matters Most is What Lasts Longest,” Ensign, November 2005, p. 41.
United Nations, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III), 10 December 1948.
David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem (New York: Basic Books, 1995); Barbara Schneider, Allison Atteberry, and Ann Owens, Family Matters: Family Structure and Child Outcomes (Birmingham AL: Alabama Policy Institute: June 2005); David Popenoe, Life Without Father (New York: Martin Kessler Books, 1996); David Popenoe and Barbara Defoe Whitehead,The State of Our Unions 2007: The Social Health of Marriage in America(Piscataway, NJ (Rutgers University): The National Marriage Project, July 2007 ) pp. 21-25; and Maggie Gallagher and Joshua K. Baker, “Do Moms and Dads Matter? Evidence from the Social Sciences on Family Structure and the Best Interests of the Child,” Margins Law Journal 4:161 (2004).
David Popenoe, Life Without Father (New York: The Free Press, 1996) p. 146.
Ibid., p. 145. See also Spencer W. Kimball, “The Role of Righteous Women,”Ensign, November 1979, pp. 102-104.
David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America, pp. 219-220.
Stephanie J. Ventura and Christine A. Bachrach, “Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States, 1940-99,” National Vital Statistics Reports 48:16 (18 October 2000); and Brady E. Hamilton, Joyce A. Martin, and Stephanie J. Ventura, “Births: Preliminary Data for 2006,” National Vital Statistics Reports 56:7 (5 December 2007).
Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States,” In Brief, July 2008.
Christine Vestal, “California Gay Marriage Ruling Sparks New Debate,” stateline.org, 16 May 2008, updated 12 June 2008. Stateline.org is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Matt. 19:19.
John 8:11.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Weightier Matters,” BYU Devotional speech, 9 February 1999.
Maggie Gallagher, “Banned in Boston: The Coming Conflict Between Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty,” The Weekly Standard, 15 May 2006.
Jonathan Turley, “An Unholy Union: Same-Sex Marriage and the Use of Governmental Programs to Penalize Religious Groups with Unpopular Practices,” in Douglas Laycock, Jr., et al., eds., Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: Emerging Conflicts (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008, forthcoming).
Marc D. Stern, “Gay Marriage and the Churches, paper delivered at the Scholar’s Conference on Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty, sponsored by the The Beckett Fund, 4 May 2006.
“European Parliament Resolution on homophobia in Europe,” adopted 18 January 2006.
NPR.org,June 13, 2008 · In recent years, some states have passed laws giving residents the right to same-sex unions in various forms. Gay couples may marry in Massachusetts and California. There are civil unions and domestic partnerships in Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Oregon. Other states give more limited rights.
Armed with those legal protections, same-sex couples are beginning to challenge policies of religious organizations that exclude them, claiming that a religious group’s view that homosexual marriage is a sin cannot be used to violate their right to equal treatment. Now parochial schools, “parachurch” organizations such as Catholic Charities and businesses that refuse to serve gay couples are being sued — and so far, the religious groups are losing. Here are a few cases:
Adoption services: Catholic Charities in Massachusetts refused to place children with same-sex couples as required by Massachusetts law. After a legislative struggle — during which the Senate president said he could not support a bill “condoning discrimination” — Catholic Charities pulled out of the adoption business in 2006.
Housing: In New York City, Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a school under Orthodox Jewish auspices, banned same-sex couples from its married dormitory. New York does not recognize same-sex marriage, but in 2001, the state’s highest court ruled Yeshiva violated New York City’s ban on sexual orientation discrimination. Yeshiva now allows all couples in the dorm.
Parochial schools: California Lutheran High School, a Protestant school in Wildomar, holds that homosexuality is a sin. After the school suspended two girls who were allegedly in a lesbian relationship, the girls’ parents sued, saying the school was violating the state’s civil rights act protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination. The case is before a state judge.
Medical services: A Christian gynecologist at North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group in Vista, Calif., refused to give his patient in vitro fertilization treatment because she is in a lesbian relationship, and he claimed that doing so would violate his religious beliefs. (The doctor referred the patient to his partner, who agreed to do the treatment.) The woman sued under the state’s civil rights act. The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in May 2008, and legal experts believe that the woman’s right to medical treatment will trump the doctor’s religious beliefs. One justice suggested that the doctors take up a different line of business.
Psychological services: A mental health counselor at North Mississippi Health Services refused therapy for a woman who wanted help in improving her lesbian relationship. The counselor said doing so would violate her religious beliefs. The counselor was fired. In March 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with the employer, ruling that the employee’s religious beliefs could not be accommodated without causing undue hardship to the company.
Civil servants: A clerk in Vermont refused to perform a civil union ceremony after the state legalized them. In 2001, in a decision that side-stepped the religious liberties issue, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that he did not need to perform the ceremony because there were other civil servants who would. However, the court did indicate that religious beliefs do not allow employees to discriminate against same-sex couples.
Adoption services: A same-sex couple in California applied to Adoption Profiles, an Internet service in Arizona that matches adoptive parents with newborns. The couple’s application was denied based on the religious beliefs of the company’s owners. The couple sued in federal district court in San Francisco. The two sides settled after the adoption company said it will no longer do business in California.
Wedding services: A same sex couple in Albuquerque asked a photographer, Elaine Huguenin, to shoot their commitment ceremony. The photographer declined, saying her Christian beliefs prevented her from sanctioning same-sex unions. The couple sued, and the New Mexico Human Rights Commission found the photographer guilty of discrimination. It ordered her to pay the lesbian couple’s legal fees ($6,600). The photographer is appealing.
Wedding facilities: Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association of New Jersey, a Methodist organization, refused to rent its boardwalk pavilion to a lesbian couple for their civil union ceremony. The couple filed a complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. The division ruled that the boardwalk property was open for public use, therefore the Methodist group could not discriminate against gay couples using it. In the interim, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection revoked a portion of the association’s tax benefits. The case is ongoing.
Youth groups: The city of Berkeley, Calif., requested that the Sea Scouts (affiliated with the Boy Scouts) formally agree to not discriminate against gay men in exchange for free use of berths in the city’s marina. The Sea Scouts sued, claiming this violated their beliefs and First Amendment right to the freedom to associate with other like-minded people. In 2006, the California Supreme Court ruled against the youth group. In San Diego, the Boy Scouts lost access to the city-owned aquatic center for the same reason. While these cases do not directly involve same-sex unions, they presage future conflicts about whether religiously oriented or parachurch organizations may prohibit, for example, gay couples from teaching at summer camp. In June 2008, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals asked the California Supreme Court to review the Boy Scouts’ leases. Meanwhile, the mayor’s office in Philadelphia revoked the Boy Scouts’ $1-a-year lease for a city building.
SALT LAKE CITY30 June 2008 The following letter was sent from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Church leaders in California to be read to all congregations on 29 June 2008:
Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families
In March 2000 California voters overwhelmingly approved a state law providing that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The California Supreme Court recently reversed this vote of the people. On November 4, 2 008, Californians will vote on a proposed amendment to the California state constitution that will now restore the March 2000 definition of marriage approved by the voters.
The Church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children. Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage.
A broad-based coalition of churches and other organizations placed the proposed amendment on the ballot. The Church will participate with this coalition in seeking its passage. Local Church leaders will provide information about how you may become involved in this important cause.
We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.
The Church’s mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to elect politicians. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is neutral in matters of party politics. This applies in all of the many nations in which it is established.
The Church does not:
Endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.
Allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes.
Attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to. This policy applies whether or not a candidate for office is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader.
The Church does:
Encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.
Expect its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.
Request candidates for office not to imply that their candidacy or platforms are endorsed by the Church.
Reserve the right as an institution to address, in a nonpartisan way, issues that it believes have significant community or moral consequences or that directly affect the interests of the Church.
In the United States, where nearly half of the world’s Latter-day Saints live, it is customary for the Church at each national election to issue a letter to be read to all congregations encouraging its members to vote, but emphasizing the Church’s neutrality in partisan political matters.
Relationships With Government
Elected officials who are Latter-day Saints make their own decisions and may not necessarily be in agreement with one another or even with a publicly stated Church position. While the Church may communicate its views to them, as it may to any other elected official, it recognizes that these officials still must make their own choices based on their best judgment and with consideration of the constituencies whom they were elected to represent.
Modern scriptural references to the role of government: Doctrine and Covenants,Section 134
A lesson I found as I read the Book of Mormon , the mere principle of it is incredibly helpful and could be just what you’re looking for.
The past week I have been so frustrated, so full of rage & frustration, so deeply down in the dumps. Finally, within the past 24 hours I’ve been rising to the surface and seeking for answers to ‘where the heck I went’ as I’ve been out of reality and wanting to die. Extreme… but that’s pretty much the story of my life: Extreme.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily abeset me.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have atrusted.
20 My God hath been my asupport; he hath led me through mine bafflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his alove, even unto the bconsuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine aenemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me aknowledge by bvisions in the night-time.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty aprayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been acarried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath avisited men in so much bmercy, cwhy should my dheart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
27 And why should I ayield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to btemptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my cpeace and afflict my soul? Why am I dangry because of mine enemy?
28 Awake, my soul! No longer adroop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the benemy of my soul.
29 Do not aanger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.
30 Rejoice, O my aheart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the brock of my salvation.
31 O Lord, wilt thou aredeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of bsin?
32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my aheart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may bwalk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy arighteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine benemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
34 O Lord, I have atrusted in thee, and I will btrust in thee forever. I will not put my ctrust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his dtrust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give aliberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I baskcnot amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the drock of my erighteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.
Wow. I thought to myself – if NEPHI – this great man, a Hero nonetheless – can struggle as we do… wow. This amazed me. And how incredible is it that I came across this scripture just in the time I needed to hear it! Truly a miracle and a manifestation of God – that HE DOES HEAR MY PRAYERS!
I prayed last night and I prayed this morning for assistance and guidance in getting back on track. I hate my ‘down times’, but honestly – hearing that Nephi struggled with temptations and down times too was so comforting for me. I mean, I feel bad for Nephi – the he had to go through those times, but to see him pull through them with Faith and continued strength is such a inspiration for me. This morning, Clark and I had companion study and again, God heard my prayer as we read these scriptures:
11 For, behold, it is I that speak; behold, I am the alightwhich shineth in darkness, and by my bpower I give these words unto thee.
12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your atrust in that bSpirit which cleadeth to do dgood—yea, to do ejustly, to walk fhumbly, to gjudge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall aenlighten your bmind, which shall fill your soul with cjoy;
14 And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of arighteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.
24 Search adiligently, bpray always, and be believing, and call things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the dcovenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.
What a testimony boost. Absolutely amazing. I mean, I know why these scriptures hit me so hard and were so perfect in what I needed to hear. Because I asked God. It’s a simple as that.
I LOVED this talk by Sheri Dew. She always gives an inspirational talk and I love to listen to what she has to say. You can listen to the audio while reading this talk here:
Complete volumes of Speeches are available wherever LDS books are sold.
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My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that the Spirit will speak to each of you who is ready to hear what the Lord wishes you to hear. For I am not the teacher–He is.
Two Christmases ago I went out to my car one evening to find the passenger window smashed and my briefcase stolen with everything in it–money, credit cards, all of my ID (including the passport that had taken me to 50 countries), and irreplaceable documents. I was beside myself. Hoping the thieves had stolen the money and discarded everything else, a friend and I spent all night prowling through area dumpsters, hoping to find something. But we found nothing.
The next day I began the tedious process of replacing the contents. Suffice it to say, the whole process was a pain. Then, unexpectedly, two mornings later, my phone rang at 3:00 a.m. It was a Church operator.
“Sister Dew, did you lose a briefcase?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“I have a man on the line who says he found it in a dumpster behind a bar. Been to any bars lately, Sister Dew?” Laughing at her own joke, she connected me with this man whose pickup, as it turned out, had been robbed that night and who had been going through dumpsters. In one he had found a briefcase. My briefcase. When I asked how he had tracked me down, he replied, “When I looked inside the briefcase and saw that Mormon recommendation, I knew this must be important.”
He was referring, of course, to my temple recommend. He had then called the Church number, where the operator on duty knew how to reach me.
The phrase Mormon recommendation instantly reminded me of Mormon’s tender words to his son Moroni: “I recommend thee unto God, and I trust in Christ that thou wilt be saved” (Moroni 9:22). I have often pondered what it would mean to be recommended to God.
In essence, every time we qualify for a temple recommend, our priesthood leaders are doing just that. But on this subject of recommendation there is another dimension to consider. For God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ, with Their perfect foreknowledge, already recommended every one of you to fill your mortal probation during the most decisive period in the history of the world. You are here now because you were elected to be here now (see 1 Peter 1:2).
This is not new news. You have been told countless times that you are a chosen generation reserved for the latter part of the latter days. Just two months ago, in general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley said once again: “You are the best generation we have ever had” (“An Ensign to the Nations, a Light to the World,” Ensign, November 2003, 84). It’s akin to being chosen to run the last leg of a relay, where the coach always positions his strongest runner.
You were recommended to help run the last leg of the relay that began with Adam and Eve because your premortal spiritual valor indicated you would have the courage and the determination to face the world at its worst, to do combat with the evil one during his heyday, and, in spite of it all, to be fearless in building the kingdom of God.
You simply must understand this, because you were born to lead by virtue of who you are, the covenants you have made, and the fact that you are here now in the 11th hour.
You were born to lead as mothers and fathers, because nowhere is righteous leadership more crucial than in the family. You were born to lead as priesthood and auxiliary leaders; as heads of communities, companies, and even nations. You were born to lead as men and women willing “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places,” because that’s what a true leader does (Mosiah 18:9; emphasis added).
You were born to lead, and, in the words of Isaiah, you were born for glory (see Isaiah 62:2–3).
Now the glorious but sobering truth is that, in spite of your aeons of premortal preparation, the days ahead will at times “wrench your very heart strings,” as the Prophet Joseph told the Twelve (in John Taylor, JD 24:197). If you’ve hoped to passively, comfortably live out your lives, let me burst that little bubble once and for all. Now, please, do not misunderstand me: This is a magnificent time to live! It is a time, said President Spencer W. Kimball, when our influence “can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times” (“Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters,” Ensign, November 1978, 103). The strongest runner wants to run the last leg of the relay.
But the last days are not for the faint of heart or the spiritually out of shape. There will be days when you feel defeated, exhausted, and plain old beat-up by life’s whiplash. People you love will disappoint you–and you will disappoint them. You’ll probably struggle with some kind of mortal appetite. Some days it will feel as though the veil between heaven and earth is made of reinforced concrete. And you may even face a crisis of faith. In fact, you can count on trials that test your testimony and your faith.
Aren’t you glad I came bearing such optimistic news? Actually, I am nothing if not optimistic about you, for everything about your lives is an indicator of our Father’s remarkable respect for you. He recommended you for now, when the stakes are so high. Now is the day when His kingdom is being established once and for all, never again to be taken from the earth. This is the last leg of the relay. This is when He needs His strongest runners.
The simple fact is that our Father did not recommend Eve or Moses or Nephi or countless other magnificent exemplars for this dispensation–He recommended you and me. Do you think God would have left the last days to chance by sending men and women He couldn’t count on? A common theme of patriarchal blessings given to men and women your age is that you were sent now because our Father’s most trustworthy children would be needed in the final, decisive battle for righteousness. That is who you are, and it is who you have always been.
So how will you live up to our Father’s recommendation? Happily, though we must each walk through life on our own, we don’t have to do it alone. Four principles explain why:
First, God wants a powerful people.
Second, He gives His power to those who are faithful.
Third, we have a sacred obligation to seek after the power of God and then to use that power as He directs.
Fourth, when we have the power of God with us, nothing is impossible.
I repeat, God wants a powerful people. Ammon taught that “a man may have great power given him from God” (Mosiah 8:16; emphasis added), and Nephi prophesied that we of the latter days would be “armed with . . . the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14; emphasis added).
There are many evidences that God wants a powerful people. This is one reason that at baptism we become eligible to receive “the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost” (1 Nephi 13:37) and the privilege of constant access to the third member of the Godhead.
This is one reason that 12-year-old boys may be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood, which holds “the key of the ministering of angels” (D&C 84:26).
This is one reason every worthy adult may go to the temple, from which he or she emerges surrounded and protected by God’s power (see D&C 109:22).
God wants a powerful people. No one better understands that Satan is real and that he has power. No one better understands that none of us is smart enough or resilient enough to spar with Satan and survive spiritually. He is a snake, in every sense of that word.
I hate snakes. I’m terrified of snakes. In fact, I’ll go to almost any lengths to avoid even seeing a snake. A few years ago, while visiting the Philippines with its lush, green countryside, I asked a Filipino mission president if there were many snakes in his country. His answer was classic: “Where der is grass, der is snake”–meaning, they were everywhere.
By the same token, Satan is everywhere today. Where there is any kind of dishonesty, immorality, contention, or addiction, there is Satan. He is in blatant sin, he is in subtle deception. Stay away from him. He is “a roaring lion, [who] walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And he will devour you–unless you “put on the whole armour [or power] of God” (Ephesians 6:11), for the power of God is stronger than the power of Satan.
Indeed, the power of God and the power of Satan are as different as night and day. Satan’s power is temporary and will end–in fact, he’s almost out of time. God’s power is absolute and endless. Satan uses his power to destroy and damn; God uses His power to bless, sanctify, and exalt. Satan’s arrogance blinds him; God is all seeing and all knowing. Satan abandons those he spiritually maims, whereas God has promised to make all of His faithful children “joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
There is only one thing the power of God and the power of Satan have in common: Neither can influence us unless we allow them to. The devil can’t make us do anything. Said the Prophet Joseph: “Satan cannot seduce us by his enticements unless we in our hearts consent and yield” (The Words of Joseph Smith, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook [Orem, Utah: Grandin Book Company, 1991], 65). On the other hand, although God could manipulate us, He never has and never will. We “are free to choose . . . eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the . . . power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2:27). In short, the kind of power operating in our lives is entirely up to us.
If God wants a powerful people who can withstand the wiles of the devil–and He does–and if we were born to lead in these latter days–and we were–then we need to understand how God makes His power available to us and how we gain access to that power.
Let’s review five ways God makes His power available.
Number 1: There Is Power in the Word of God
Alma and the sons of Mosiah learned that the preaching of the word–meaning the gospel of Jesus Christ–has a “more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than . . . anything else” (Alma 31:5). There is power in the word to heal our wounded souls (see Jacob 2:8), to help us overcome temptation (see 1 Nephi 11:25), to prompt us to repent (see Jarom 1:12), to humble us (see Alma 32:14), to help us overcome the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), to bring about a mighty change in our hearts (see Alma 5:13), and to lead us to Christ.
President Boyd K. Packer taught:
True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.
The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior. ["Little Children," Ensign, November 1986, 17]
In other words, the word of God can transform us.
I have a lifelong friend whose teenage tampering with pornography evolved into a deadly addiction, and for years it has ruled him and ravaged his marriage. Frankly, I had lost hope that he would ever really change.
And then, a year ago, a remarkable sequence of events began to unfold. He began to study the scriptures for the first time since his mission. The word of God pierced his heart, and he knew he had to repent–which involved heart-wrenching confessions and subsequent excommunication. Now he is working his way back by immersing himself in the gospel as never before.
He wrote me this recently:
It was when I began to study the gospel that I realized I had been under Satan’s power for years. When I finally got on my knees, pleaded for help to change, and surrendered my sins to the Lord, my world turned upside down. This past year has been a crash course in the ways of God and His Son. It has been the most difficult but wonderful year of my life. I wish I could tell everyone who is in a situation like I was to not be afraid to surrender to the Lord. They will find joy like never before in His Atonement. They will feel the Father wrap His arms around them. They will discover there is power in the gospel to really change.
Some may be skeptical about this man’s transformation, believing that “once addicted, always addicted.” But that is not true. The gospel has the power to cleanse and make new, because the word “is quick and powerful,” it “divide[s] asunder all the cunning . . . of the devil,” and it “lead[s] the man of Christ” home (Helaman 3:29). The Atonement is real. My friend is evidence of that. His great change is the change that comes with conversion.
Do you know what we believe? Do you know there is power in the doctrine of Christ to change and overcome weakness? Do you realize that the scriptures contain the answer to every life dilemma? A casual understanding of the gospel will not sustain you through the days ahead, which is why it is imperative that you immerse yourself in the word of God.
This spring I spent two weeks at the United Nations as a White House delegate to an international commission. As I listened to women from around the world debate complex social problems, I didn’t hear them raise one issue that couldn’t be solved by living the gospel. Not one.
There is power in the word.
Number 2: There Is Power in the Gift of the Holy Ghost
The gift of the Holy Ghost is a gift of power. The Holy Ghost inspires and heals, guides and warns, enhances our natural capacities, inspires charity and humility, makes us smarter than we are, strengthens us during trials, testifies of the Father and the Son, and shows us “all things” that we should do (2 Nephi 32:5). No wonder President Hinckley has said: “There is no greater blessing that can come into our lives than . . . the companionship of the Holy Spirit” (Boston Massachusetts Regional Conference, priesthood leadership session, 22 April 1995; quoted in TGBH, 259).
Because the Holy Ghost will show us everything we should do, it only makes sense to learn how He communicates–or to learn the language of revelation. Our challenge is not getting the Lord to speak to us; our challenge is understanding what He has to say (see D&C 6:14).
I remember a time when I was desperate for guidance on a crucial decision. I had fasted and prayed and been to the temple, but the answer wasn’t clear. In frustration I told a friend that I just couldn’t get an answer. He responded, simply: “Have you asked the Lord to teach you how He communicates with you?” I hadn’t, so I began to pray daily that He would.
Not long thereafter, while reading about Nephi building the ship, I couldn’t help but notice how clearly he understood the Lord’s instructions. With that, I began to hunt for scriptural evidences of direct communication between God and man. At each one I made a little red x in the margin of my scriptures. Now, many years later, my scriptures are littered with little red x’s, each an indication that the Lord does communicate with His people–and often. The scriptures are the handbook for the language of revelation. They are our personal Liahona. If you will regularly immerse yourself in the scriptures, you’ll get clearer, more frequent answers to your prayers.
Learning this language takes time. As a young captain charged with leading the Nephite armies, Moroni sent messengers to the prophet Alma, asking him to inquire of the Lord where the armies should go. But in time Moroni received inspiration for his stewardship himself, for he became “a man of a perfect understanding” (Alma 48:11)–suggesting that he learned to speak the language of revelation, perhaps even perfectly.
What a gift to have access to a pure source of information, a source devoid of flattery or spin-doctoring, “for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not” (Jacob 4:13). The Lord will teach us directly as much truth as we are worthy and willing to learn. As Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught, “There is no limit to the revelations [we] may receive” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985], 490; emphasis added).
Having the Holy Ghost as our constant guide and protector is essential to latter-day leadership, for the gift of the Holy Ghost is a gift of power.
Number 3: There Is Power in the Priesthood
By definition, priesthood power is the power and authority of God delegated to men on earth. Those who hold the priesthood have the right to say what the Lord would say if He were here. Whatever they bind on earth is bound in heaven.
Because the priesthood was restored, we have access to ordinances: baptism and confirmation, sealings and healings and blessings, miracles, and the ministering of angels. Indeed, “the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church” (D&C 107:18; emphasis added) are available through the power and authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
There is power in ordinances. All who are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost are eligible to speak the words of Christ and qualify for eternal life. Those who are endowed with power in the house of the Lord need never face the adversary alone. Couples worthy to be sealed at an altar in that holy house are gifted with power. The power of the priesthood heals, protects, and inoculates every righteous man and woman against the powers of darkness.
I will never forget an experience in Cali, Colombia. After a long evening of meetings, the presiding officer asked the congregation to remain seated while we departed. But upon the final “amen,” several dozen priesthood leaders jumped to their feet and formed two lines, creating a pathway from the chapel to a waiting van outside. As we walked through this sheltered passageway, where priesthood leaders symbolized priesthood power, I was deeply moved by the metaphor. It is the power of the priesthood that marks, clears, and protects the path leading to eternal life. Priesthood power safeguards us from the world, binds heaven and earth, subdues the adversary, blesses and heals, and enables us to triumph over mortality. Every ordinance of the Melchizedek Priesthood helps prepare us to live in the presence of God.
I am deeply grateful for the power of the priesthood and the gift of having full access to this power, which when used righteously is the only true power on earth.
Number 4: There Is Power in the House of the Lord
It is precisely because of priesthood power–the fulness of which is available only in the temple–that we may be endowed with power in the house of the Lord. The Prophet Joseph Smith made this clear at the Kirtland Temple dedication, when he prayed “that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power” (D&C 109:22).
For years now I have attended the temple frequently. It is a place of refuge and revelation. I could never have handled the pressures of recent years without regular time there. This past year, however, a head-banging, hand-wringing challenge has driven me to attend even more. There have been weeks when the only peace I felt was in the temple. Even still, about six months ago, nine words from 1 Nephi leapt off the page: “And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft” (1 Nephi 18:3). Instantly I knew I needed to spend even more time in the temple. So I have.
The results have not been what I expected. Although I have received help with the challenge in question, it seems that the Lord simply needed me to be in the temple more where it is easier to learn certain things. That was apparently Nephi’s experience as well, for as he went “into the mount oft,” the Lord “showed unto [him] great things”–undoubtedly great things of the Spirit.
In the temple we learn how to deal with Satan, how to live in the world without letting it stain us, how to fulfill our foreordained missions, and how to come into the presence of God. The best place to learn about the temple is in the temple. Our kept covenants will eventually save us. And that is power!
Number 5: There Is Power in the Atonement of Jesus Christ
Until I was in my thirties, I thought the Atonement was basically for sinners–meaning that it allowed us to repent. But then I suffered a heartbreaking personal loss and began to learn that there was so much more to this sublime doctrine.
My solution initially to my heartbreak was to exercise so much faith that the Lord would have to give me what I wanted–which was a husband. Believe me, if fasting and prayer and temple attendance automatically resulted in a husband, I’d have one.
Well, the Lord hasn’t even yet given me a husband; but He did heal my heart. And in doing so, He taught me that He not only paid the price for sin but compensated for all of the pain we experience in life. He taught me that because of His Atonement, we have access to His grace, or enabling power–power that frees us from sin; power to be healed emotionally, physically, and spiritually; power to “loose the bands of death” (Alma 7:12); power to turn weakness into strength (see Ether 12:27); and power to receive salvation through faith on His name (see Mosiah 3:19). It is because of the Atonement that, if we build our foundation on Christ, the devil can have no power over us (see Helaman 5:12).
There is power in God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ–power that we may access through the word, the Holy Ghost, the priesthood, and the ordinances of the holy temple.
What then must we do to access this power? May I suggest three things?
First of all, have faith. Faith is the first principle of the gospel because faith is a principle of power that influences, to at least some degree, the Lord’s intervention in our lives.
By faith Noah built an ark and saved his posterity, Sara gave birth “when she was past age” (Hebrews 11:11), Moses parted the Red Sea, Alma and Amulek were delivered from captivity, and the sons of Helaman were miraculously preserved.
“So great was the faith of [the previously insecure] Enoch that . . . he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled” (Moses 7:13). So great was the faith of the 14-year-old Joseph that when he went into a grove of trees and asked “in faith, nothing wavering” (James 1:6), the Father and the Son appeared, ushering in the Restoration.
Faith is a principle of power, which explains why President Hinckley has repeatedly declared: “If there is any one thing you and I need in this world it is faith” (“God Shall Give unto You Knowledge by His Holy Spirit,” Speeches of the Year, 1973 [Provo: Brigham Young University, 1974], 109). Our prophet knows whereof he speaks.
Soon after President Hinckley was called to serve as a counselor to President Spencer W. Kimball, the health of the prophet and his two other counselors failed, leaving President Hinckley to shoulder the burdens of the presidency alone. At one point he recorded:
“The responsibility I carry frightens me. . . . Sometimes I could weep with concern. But there comes the assurance that the Lord put me here for His purpose, and if I will be humble and seek the direction of the Holy Spirit, He will use me . . . to accomplish His purposes.” [In Sheri Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 393]
Throughout his life, President Hinckley’s practice has been to simply go forward with faith.
Prophets ancient and modern stand as witnesses that the Lord will indeed use His matchless power to help us. Surely the brother of Jared’s transcendent privilege of seeing the Lord was linked to his expression of faith:
I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones. . . .
. . . O Lord, thou canst do this. [Ether 3:4–5]
In this instance, as in many others, faith allowed the Lord to do not just what was asked of Him, but much more.
Challenges that tax our faith are usually opportunities to stretch and strengthen our faith by finding out if we really believe the Lord will help us.
If your faith is wobbly, if you’re not sure the Lord will come to your aid, experiment, put Him to the test: “Even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you” (Alma 32:27). A great place to start is in the scriptures. As Jacob wrote: “We search the prophets, and we have many revelations . . . ; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken” (Jacob 4:6).
Unshaken faith activates the power of God in our lives, “for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men” (Moroni 10:7).
Second, we can increase our access to godly power through repentance and obedience.
Faith in Jesus Christ leads us to repent–or turn away from sins that hold us spiritually captive–and to obey with exactness. Great power follows those who repent and obey.
Lamoni’s father pledged to “give away” all his sins to know God (Alma 22:18). Today I invite you to do the same. What favorite sins, large or small, are you willing to give away–right now, today–to increase your access to the power of God?
Repentance is, frankly, just plain smart, because sin makes you stupid: Stupid because you are deaf, dumb, and blind to the ways of the Lord. Stupid because habitual sin drives the Spirit away, leaving you outside the protective influence of the Holy Ghost. Stupid because it makes you incapable of drawing upon the powers of heaven. Being stupid costs a lot.
Sin costs a lot, too. It can cost time, money, peace of mind, progress, self-respect, your integrity and virtue, your family, the trust of those you love, and even your Church membership.
Sin is just plain stupid. And the cost is off the charts. So repent now. Repent daily. If you want to be sanctified, repentance is not optional.
Obedience, on the other hand, is brilliant, and its fruits are endless–one of which is happiness. The only way that I know to be happy is to live the gospel.
It is not possible to sin enough to be happy. It is not possible to buy enough to be happy or to entertain or indulge yourself enough to be happy. Happiness and joy come only when you are living up to who you are. King Benjamin clearly understood this when he admonished us:
Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For . . . they are blessed in all things . . . ; and if they hold out faithful to the end . . . they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. [Mosiah 2:41]
Satan no doubt bristles at this principle, for happiness is something the ultimate narcissist will never experience. I have yet to meet the man or woman who is happier because he or she was dishonest or because they were addicted to something or because they were immoral. The Lord blessed us with covenants that keep us on the straight and narrow path because this road less traveled is actually the easier road. It is so much easier to be righteous than to sin.
This summer I was invited to speak on the subject of the family to a gathering of United Nations diplomats. I agonized over what to say to such a diverse group. In the end I simply shared my personal experience. I explained that my parents had taught me as a child that personal virtue was essential for a happy marriage and family and that in my youth I had made promises to God that I would live a chaste life.
I then acknowledged that I was about to turn 50 and that, though I had not yet married, I had kept my promise. “It hasn’t always been easy to stay morally clean,” I admitted, “but it has been far easier than the alternative. I have never spent one second worrying about an unwanted pregnancy or disease. I have never had a moment’s anguish because a man used and then discarded me. And when I do marry, I will do so without regret. So you see,” I concluded, “I believe a moral life is actually an easier and a happier life.”
I worried about how this sophisticated audience would respond to a message about virtue and abstinence, but much to my surprise they leapt to their feet in applause–not because of me but because the Spirit had borne witness of the truth of that message.
The happiest people I know are those who repent regularly and obey. They have increased their access to the power of God.
Third, to increase the power of God in our lives we must diligently seek. There is perhaps no more frequent invitation or reassuring promise in all of scripture than this one: “Seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:63).
Notice that God never said, “Seek me a zillion times. Beg again and again and, maybe, just maybe, if you’re lucky, I’ll help you a little.” To the contrary, the two greatest of all beings are ever ready to help us–no call waiting, no voice mail.
Most of the revelations received by the Prophet Joseph Smith came after diligent seeking, including this magnificent promise:
I, the Lord, . . . delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness. . . .
Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.
And to them will I reveal all mysteries. . . .
And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven. . . .
For . . . by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will. [D&C 76:5–10]
Clearly there is no limit to what the Lord is willing to teach and give us.
The question, then, for you and me is, How much power do we want to have, and what are we willing to do to obtain it? Heber C. Kimball said:
The greatest torment [the Prophet Joseph] had . . . was because this people would not live up to their [spiritual] privileges. . . . He said . . . he felt . . . as though he were pent up in an acorn shell, and all because the people . . . would not prepare themselves to receive the rich treasures of wisdom and knowledge that he had to impart. He could have revealed a great many things to us if we had been ready. [JD 10:167]
Spiritual privileges that call forth the powers of heaven are available to all who diligently seek them. God wants a powerful people; but, again, how much power we learn to access is up to each of us.
The question, then, is: Will you diligently seek? Listen to this classic passage from Alma: “Whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come” (Alma 42:27). Notice that this passage doesn’t say that just the popular ones or the smart ones on full scholarship or the ones who got married at 21 may come. It says “whosoever will”–meaning it is our choice.
Those of you who served missions didn’t ask investigators, “Would you like to come to Church? Would you like to be baptized?” Instead you asked, “Will you come? Will you be baptized?”
So today I ask, “Will you increase your faith? Will you repent and obey? Will you diligently seek? Will you learn to access the power of God so that you can live up to the heavenly recommendation that placed you here now? Will you do what you were born to do?”
In his last major address as prime minister, and while World War II still raged in the Pacific, Winston Churchill said this to his countrymen:
I told you hard things at the beginning of [this war]; you did not shrink, and I should be unworthy of your confidence . . . if I did not still cry: Forward, unflinching, unswerving, indomitable, till the whole task is done and the whole world is safe and clean. ["Forward, Till the Whole Task Is Done," London BBC radio broadcast, 13 May 1945, in Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Speeches of Winston Churchill, ed. David Cannadine (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989), 266]
I told you hard things at the beginning of this message. But I’ve also brought reassurance that if you will learn to draw upon the power of God, you will not shrink. You will go forward–”unflinching, unswerving, indomitable”–making the world safer and cleaner until you’ve done everything you were born to do. For you were born to lead. You were born to build Zion. You were born for glory. Everything you do in life should be measured against this grand standard.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said it this way at a BYU devotional in September 1996:
Stand strong. . . . You can be a leader. You must be a leader, as a member of this Church, in those causes for which this Church stands. . . . The adversary of all truth would put into your heart a reluctance to make an effort. Cast that fear aside and be valiant in the cause of truth and righteousness and faith. ["Stand Up for Truth," BYU 1996–97 Speeches (Provo: Brigham Young University, 1997), 25–26]
My dear young friends, I repeat that these are the days in which a true leader wants to live. These are days when opportunities to change lives and even destinies are nearly endless. You are running the anchor leg of the relay because you were born to lead. You were born for glory.
In conclusion, in the words of Moroni, “I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written” (Ether 12:41) so that you experience for yourself the power in Jesus Christ to strengthen you, to sanctify you, and to help you run this leg of the relay. Don’t ever underestimate the power of Jesus Christ to help you. Isaiah said it this way:
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? . . .
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. . . .
. . . They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. [Isaiah 40:28–31]
I have learned for myself that this is true–that because of our Father and His Son, we don’t have to run this last strenuous leg of the relay alone. We have access to the greatest and grandest of all power. And when we have the power of God with us, we truly can do all things–including everything we were born to do. And we were born to lead. We were born for glory.
In the sacred and holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.
SALT LAKE CITY3 July 2008 The July edition of the Ensign, a monthly magazine distributed to English-speaking Church members, features an address given by Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Elder Ballard encourages Church members to participate in the growing online discussion about the Church:
“There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time.”
A set of guidelines and helps have been developed by the Public Affairs Department for Church members who wish to use the Internet to explain their religion to those of other faiths.
In the document, Latter-day Saints are encouraged to “share personal perspectives” to “explain the Church and what it’s like to be a member.”
As authorities have investigated a polygamist sect in Texas, Mormon church leaders in Salt Lake City have largely stayed on the sidelines, weighing a response.
Church officials knew the sect’s similar name and practice of polygamy — part of Mormon church life until it was banned more than a century ago — would cause people to confuse the two.
Now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, is starting a public relations campaign that seeks a delicate balance: distinguishing itself from a small, separate group that claims some of the same history while not denigrating someone else’s beliefs.
It’s a sensitive issue for the Mormon church, which was persecuted in its early years. The initiative begun Thursday also details how it considers its 19th century practice of polygamy different from present-day practitioners like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“People have the right to worship as they choose, and we aren’t interested in attacking someone else’s beliefs,” LDS church apostle Quentin Cook said in a statement. “At the same time, we have an obligation to define ourselves rather than be defined by events and incidents that have nothing to do with us.”
“Mormons,” he said, “have nothing whatsoever to do with this polygamous sect in Texas.”
SALT LAKE CITY30 June 2008 The following letter was sent from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Church leaders in California to be read to all congregations on 29 June 2008:
Preserving Traditional Marriage and Strengthening Families
In March 2000 California voters overwhelmingly approved a state law providing that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The California Supreme Court recently reversed this vote of the people. On November 4, 2 008, Californians will vote on a proposed amendment to the California state constitution that will now restore the March 2000 definition of marriage approved by the voters.
The Church’s teachings and position on this moral issue are unequivocal. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan for His children. Children are entitled to be born within this bond of marriage.
A broad-based coalition of churches and other organizations placed the proposed amendment on the ballot. The Church will participate with this coalition in seeking its passage. Local Church leaders will provide information about how you may become involved in this important cause.
We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman. Our best efforts are required to preserve the sacred institution of marriage.
SALT LAKE CITY26 June 2008 In an effort to reduce misunderstanding among the public and occasional misreporting among the media over the question of polygamy and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Newsroom” today is doing something a little different.
The stories and linked materials on this page are designed to help the public — and the news media — draw clear distinctions between the polygamous group associated with the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Once again, as it has done many times, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reiterates that it has nothing whatsoever to do with any groups practicing polygamy.
This is not an attempt to attack the group that now calls itself the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but rather an initiative to draw clear distinctions between two very different religious entities. Like all other religions, the FLDS have the right to worship according to the dictates of their conscience, subject to the law.
To illustrate the confusion, a recent poll was conducted in which 36 percent of those surveyed thought the FLDS polygamous group was “part of” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and 29 percent said they were not sure. These results show that a sizeable portion of the population cannot tell the difference between the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the FLDS group.
Moreover, recent analysis of media around the world indicates that more than 15,000 articles were written about this topic between the end of March 2008 and the middle of June 2008. In Texas alone there were nearly a thousand. During the first month and a half, approximately 5 percent of articles accurately reported on the distinction between the two faiths. But between the middle of May and the middle of June, after the Church began to push for more clarity, the media dramatically improved its reporting, with over 60 percent of articles accurately reporting on the distinction.
Despite its rapid growth and increasing social prominence, The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints remains obscure in many ways to many people. For example, in addition to erroneous associations with the FLDS, some people still confuse the Church with the Amish, the Unification Church and Scientology. In a world of multiple and multiplying religions, it is natural for a busy public to mistake one for another. However, this does not mean that such mistakes should continue to be perpetuated without being challenged. In fact, maintaining the integrity of the Church’s identity requires constant work and attention.
As part of this effort, Elder Lance B. Wickman, Church general counsel and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, has sent a letter to newspaper publishers and editorial staffs across the nation aiming to correct this confusion. This demonstrates the seriousness with which the Church views the situation. Above all, this is a matter of a church being able to define itself. All organizations, including religions, want to be defined by who they are as opposed to who they are not.
In addition to setting the record straight, this package features profiles of ordinary, faithful Latter-day Saints across the state of Texas. Not only do they demonstrate the place Latter-day Saints occupy in mainstream society, but they also show the many good things they quietly go about doing. Perhaps more than anything else, this effort seeks to highlight the fact that Mormons are much like everyone else. Latter-day Saints strive to live happy, productive lives and contribute to the good of the whole by working hard, raising families and helping people in need. They can be found at every level of society — in business and agriculture, education and the sciences, political parties and government, the entertainment industry and news media.
These images of ordinary Latter-day Saints contrast squarely with the now familiar pictures of remote and insular polygamous groups. This contrast may surprise many people who have no tangible sense for the differences. One curious thing is that this false association perpetuates itself in a world of instantaneous information where everyone has unprecedented access to the facts. The only way to sever these associations is to let the Latter-day Saints define themselves by telling their own stories.
God is your Father in Heaven (Matthew 6:9). We call God Heavenly Father because He is the Father of our spirits and we are created in His image ( Genesis 1:27).
God has a body that looks like yours, though His body is immortal, perfected, and has a glory beyond description. He knows you personally and loves you more than you can comprehend. To help you find happiness in this life and guide you to return to live with Him, Heavenly Father provided a plan called the gospelof Jesus Christ, a guide based on the life and teachings of His Son, Jesus Christ.
From the beginning, Heavenly Father has called prophets to testify, record His word, and provide His plan for His children on the earth. The teachings of prophets are found in sacred books called scriptures ( Amos 3:7).
Your Heavenly Father knows you and loves you and wants to help you return to Him. Your life on Earth is part of His plan for you to gain a body, learn, grow, and find joy. Sometimes life is hard, lonely, or frightening, but your Heavenly Father is always there. He sorrows when you suffer and rejoices when you do what is right. He wants to communicate with you as you sincerely pray to Him, and He stands ready to give you comfort, peace, and guidance in your life.
Jesus Christ taught that you must know the only true God to have eternal life ( John 17:3). As His child, you must know who He is and what He is like to find greater peace and joy, both in this life and in the life to come.
What is the Gospel?
The following outline summarizes a few of the important events in the restoration of the gospel and the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which the Lord has declared is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30).
Early spring, 1820. Seeking the true Church of Jesus Christ, 14-year-old Joseph Smith prayed in a grove of trees near his home in Palmyra, New York. In answer to his humble prayer, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ visited him and told him that he must not join any of the churches on the earth at that time. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:11–19.) In the Church we refer to this experience as Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
September 21–22, 1823. Joseph Smith was visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni prophesied of coming events and told Joseph of the Book of Mormon record, written on plates of gold. The angel allowed Joseph to see the gold plates, which were buried in the nearby Hill Cumorah. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:27–53.)
September 22, 1827. Joseph Smith received the gold plates from Moroni at the Hill Cumorah after having met with Moroni on 22 September of each of the previous four years. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:53, 59.)
May 15, 1829. Having read about baptism for the remission of sins as they worked on the translation of the gold plates, Joseph Smith and his scribe Oliver Cowdery went to a secluded area to inquire of the Lord concerning the matter. There, on the banks of the Susquehanna River near Harmony, Pennsylvania, they received the answer to their prayer. John the Baptist, a resurrected being, came to them as “a messenger from heaven . . . in a cloud of light.” He conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then, in obedience to his instructions, Joseph and Oliver baptized each other and ordained each other to the Aaronic Priesthood. (See Joseph Smith—History 1:68–72; see also D&C 13.)
May 1829. The ancient Apostles Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. (See D&C 128:20.)
June 1829. Guided “by the gift and power of God” (D&C 135:3), the Prophet Joseph Smith completed the translation of the Book of Mormon.
March 26, 1830. The first printed copies of the Book of Mormon became available in Palmyra, New York.
April 6, 1830. The Church was organized in Fayette Township, New York, beginning with six members.
March 27, 1836. The Kirtland Temple, the first temple built in this dispensation, was dedicated. The Prophet Joseph Smith offered the dedicatory prayer, which had been given to him by revelation. (See D&C 109.)
April 3, 1836. The Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared and gave priesthood keys to Joseph and Oliver. Elijah brought the keys of the sealing power, which make it possible for families to be sealed together forever. (See D&C 110.)
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Part of our mortal training is to walk by faith, repent of our sins, and call upon the Lord in daily prayer. We rejoice in the moments when promptings by the Holy Ghost are kindly given, and we are urged along the proper path of life. But each of us faces many difficult times here in mortality. All sorts of voices are screaming at us from the stadiums of public opinion. Our course will never be the popular way of the world. There are obstacles strewn in our path upon which we trip and fall. But we must keep going. We move on in the strength of the Lord, each accountable for our own performance at the end of our mortal race. We must be able to declare with Paul:
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7–8).
“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Hel. 5:12).
Not only must we build upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, but the prophet Jacob identified Him as the “safe foundation”! This stone, he said, shall be “the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation” (Jacob 4:15–16).
Who are Prophets?
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to be led by living prophets—inspired men called to speak for the Lord, as did Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, and other prophets of the scriptures. We sustain the President of the Church as prophet, seer, and revelator—the only person on the earth who receives revelation to guide the entire Church. We also sustain the counselors in the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators.
Like the prophets of old, prophets today testify of Jesus Christ and teach His gospel. They make known God’s will and true character. They speak boldly and clearly, denouncing sin and warning of its consequences. At times, they may be inspired to prophesy of future events for our benefit.
We can always trust the living prophets. Their teachings reflect the will of the Lord, who declared: “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38).
Our greatest safety lies in strictly following the word of the Lord given through His prophets, particularly the current President of the Church. The Lord warns that those who ignore the words of the living prophets will fall (see D&C 1:14–16). He promises great blessings to those who follow the President of the Church:
“Thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me;
“For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.
“For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory” (D&C 21:4–6).
The word "Mormon" is an inaccurate nickname for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (or The Church of Jesus Christ). If you are referring to someone from the Church, that person may appropriately be called a Latter-day Saint or LDS. The term “Saint” means “member.”
It was given to the "Mormons" in the early years of the Church because of The Book of Mormon. Calling a Latter-day Saint a "Mormon" is tantamount to calling a Jew a "Moses". It's the name of a man, and it doesn't make any sense. It's like calling any other Christian a "Peter". Mormon was a prophet, not a book, and not a religion. Just as Moses was a prophet and not a religion. It was easy for non-"Mormons" to remember the name "Mormon" and unfortunately is the dominant nickname/abbreviation for the Church today.
The prophet Mormon abridged the books of several other ancient American Christian prophets, and because it was his abridgment, or his book, it is called The Book of Mormon.
One final note: it should be remembered that the nickname was originally applied to Latter-day Saints as a derogatory term of disrespect and prejudice. In my humble opinion when you call me "Mormon" you join the ranks of those who first persecuted and killed those of my faith in the past. You join the ranks of those who today display their ignorance in calling their black brothers "niggers".
If you would please, as often as you can remember - please refer to the "Mormon" Church as either The Church of Jesus Christ or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you are referring to someone from the Church, that person may appropriately be called a Latter-day Saint or LDS.
CHURCH: The kingdom of God on earth set up to help all people attain exaltation
OF: The Church belongs to
JESUS: The Savior
CHRIST: The Anointed One, or the Messiah
OF LATTER-DAY: This dispensation is the latter days, the dispensation of the fullness of times. These are the days just prior to the time when the Savior will come the second time to the earth.
SAINTS: Saints are faithful members of the Church who sanctify themselves by the way they strive to live the teachings of the gospel. The word Saint is related in meaning to the word Sanctify.
Prophet Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor Dieter F. Uchtdorf
