Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Why I served a Mormon Mission Part V
As I stepped into President Clark's office so that I could talk to him about getting ordained to the higher priesthood I felt like I was climbing a ladder rung by rung. I knocked on the door to President Clark's office and he called for me to enter and we shook hands and he asked me to sit down. "Well JD, what can I do for you today?" he asked. "Well, President Clark I really want to get the Melchizedek Priesthood and Bishop Donaldson told me to come and talk to you about it." He then explained something to me that deflated me a little. "JD, what can you tell me about the Melchizedek Priesthood?" Well I really didn't know anything about it other than it was above the Arronic Priesthood and that's what I told him. "JD why do you want the Melchizedek Priesthood?" he asked. I felt like I had just been knocked off my ladder. "Well the only reason I really want it is so that I can do stuff in the temple, take the next step in the Gospel and it just seems so much better than something called the lesser priesthood." I told President Clark that and then he opened up to the Doctrine and Covenants and read me something about some oath and covenant of the priesthood. However as I listened to the words he read I started to get some understanding of just how serious this whole thing might be. He then gave me a homework assignment and told me to come back and talk to him about the verses and chapters he assigned me and to tell him what I thought and we would talk some more about the priesthood. Since Christmas break was coming up I decided I would have plenty of time to read these assigned chapters. Well I really don't remember to much about that Christmas other than I paid a little bit more attention to the reason for the season this year than I had in years before. As I read about the oath and covenant of the priesthood I was amazed by the promised blessings but didn't pay attention to what I had needed to do to obtain those blessings. Well when January finally arrived I started institute again and college and took the second part of the Book of Mormon Class from President Clark and also a Doctrine and Covenants class from Brother John Cardon and a New Testament class. I remember that first day of class with President Clark. He was teaching about accountability and he pointed to one of the young ladies in the room and asked if sister so and so committed X sin and so did JD who would be more accountable. Sister so and so (so and so because I don't remember her name) said she would because I was a new convert and she knew more than I did. President Clark then said something that has stuck with me to this day. He said, "While you may have been a member longer than JD and certainly know more about the Gospel than JD does he has the Arronic Priesthood and he is held to a higher standard." President Clark then went on to explain how as we progress in the gospel and as we gain more light and knowledge we become more accountable for our actions. He explained that when someone receives the Melchizedek Priesthood they become more accountable then someone who hold the Arronic Priesthood and someone who goes to the temple become even more accountable and receives even greater blessing but also receives greater condemnation if they fail to live up to their covenants. Well that got me thinking about if I really wanted to have the Melchizedek Priesthood. It didn't seem like a wise thing to put myself into a position where my chances of damnation only got higher. However as I thought about this class ended and as I walked out President Clark who always waited at the door leading out of the classroom so he could shake every ones hand( I still kinda thought the Mormon handshaking was a bit excessive and weird) as I shook his hand he asked if I had a few minutes to meet with him in his office. I told him I did and we walked over to his office which wasn't far from the classroom. Once in there he asked me how my Christmas break went. I told him my father gave me a hard time about joining the church and that he told me I was brainwashed and part of a cult. President Clark then explained to me that my father simply loved me and was watching out for me like any good father should and to love my father and not argue with him but at the same time stay strong in the faith(talk about a huge order). President Clark then asked me if I had read what he asked me to. I replied that I had but had some questions. We went over my questions and I don't really remember what they were but he answered them. He then asked me how I felt about receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. I answered that honestly I was scared it seemed like something that required a lot of dedication. He smiled back at me and simply answered, "Well JD, it does. Do you know what the full name of the Melchizedek Priesthood is?" I responded, "No." He then told me to open my scriptures to D&C 107:3-4 and asked me to read what it said. I read, "Before his [Melchizedek's] day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood." I then asked him what the responsibilities of the Melchizedek priesthood were and if he thought I could handle them (thinking about being more accountable for my actions had given me some humility). He explained what the Melchizedek Priesthood was by having me read some verses in the Doctrine and Covenants and then he told me something that made my heart swell with joy. He said if I did a good job at magnifying the Arronic priesthood that I now held and blessed or passed the sacrament every Sunday and did my home teaching that he saw no reason that I might not be able to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood at Stake Conference in the Spring. I was excited about this and even more so because once I received the Melchizedek priesthood I could help baptise people in the temple and do other things there as well or at least so I thought. Well weeks passed by and I continued to read my scriptures and go to church and institute. I blessed or passed the sacrament every Sunday and I found it very easy to do my home teaching because the people I was supposed to visit lived across the hallway from me and one of them was Sheena so I had no problem getting one visit in a month since I was there every day. However during these early Spring months I was saddened to learn that once you are baptized the Sisters stopped visiting you very often. However I still could go to institute and ask questions and I also took up a lot of Bishop Donaldson's time with my questions and concerns.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Why I served a Mormon Mission Part IV
As that conference approached I was looking forward to speaking what the Lord would have me speak. I remember walking over to the stake center which was over past the wave pool. It was a building that I had never been to. I got to the stake center about thirty minutes early because we were supposed to have a prayer before hand. As I walked into the chapel in the stake center I felt my courage depart out the door. There were chairs that filled up both the overflow and the gym. I then thought. . . well they are just planning for a lot of people not that many people will come.
I found the room where President Clark and some of the other speakers were waiting and we said a prayer asking God to help us speak what he would have us say. Well that was fine with me I had been asking that for the last few weeks. We then left the room to go to the chapel and wait for Stake Conference to start. Well as I sat there on the stand and listened to the prelude music I saw the chapel start to fill up. I then saw the overflow fill up and I then watched the gym start to fill up and I just sat there dumb founded at the number of people that were there. It seemed like everyone had come and brought a friend. Now I had been on the debate team and was used to speaking before people but I had never spoken before a group this large before. To be honest it was all I could do not to feign some kind of sudden sickness, however I didn't and once the meeting started I began to regain some of my courage despite the feeling of inadequacy that I had when I looked at the few scribbles I had written down compared to the pages of printed material that the others seemed to have. As the first speaker spoke I began to search frantically through the scriptures for more to talk about. I had learned a few minutes before the first speaker got up that I was supposed to talk for fifteen minutes and I knew that I only had about five minutes worth of talking to do. As the speaker spoke that wonderful calm comfort that only comes from the Holy Ghost spoke to me and I quickly found some more scriptures to share.
The first speaker sat down and I knew it was my turn to speak so I stood up. My knees weren't shaking to bad but I had to put my hands on the pulpit so that they wouldn't shake to badly. I then started to read the little thing I had written. I read a scripture that talked about the fruits of the spirit and talked about how the Holy Ghost made me feel. I then talked about the fruits of the spirit and how I knew that the book of Mormon was true. I then bore a quick testimony of God and Jesus Christ and sat down. It took all of about 5 minutes. (Looking back on that now I feel really sorry for the next few speakers who had to make up for my short talk. Overall it was a wonderful experience that helped to strengthen my faith and it helped to give me courage in sharing what I now believed in and why I believed in it.)
One of the things that really bugged me about the church that I learned in these weeks after stake Conference was that I didn't get visiting teachers. I thought this was crap. I mean I really wanted to girls to come over and visit me and it would be even better if it could have been Sheena since I was her home teacher. But alas I learned much to my dismay that guys don't get visiting teachers. Go figure.
With Stake Conference now over the only thing that really frightened me was the upcoming Christmas break where I would have to go home and see how my parents really felt about me becoming a Mormon. However before Christmas I decided that I really wanted the Melchizedek Priesthood but was saddened by what President Clark told me.
I found the room where President Clark and some of the other speakers were waiting and we said a prayer asking God to help us speak what he would have us say. Well that was fine with me I had been asking that for the last few weeks. We then left the room to go to the chapel and wait for Stake Conference to start. Well as I sat there on the stand and listened to the prelude music I saw the chapel start to fill up. I then saw the overflow fill up and I then watched the gym start to fill up and I just sat there dumb founded at the number of people that were there. It seemed like everyone had come and brought a friend. Now I had been on the debate team and was used to speaking before people but I had never spoken before a group this large before. To be honest it was all I could do not to feign some kind of sudden sickness, however I didn't and once the meeting started I began to regain some of my courage despite the feeling of inadequacy that I had when I looked at the few scribbles I had written down compared to the pages of printed material that the others seemed to have. As the first speaker spoke I began to search frantically through the scriptures for more to talk about. I had learned a few minutes before the first speaker got up that I was supposed to talk for fifteen minutes and I knew that I only had about five minutes worth of talking to do. As the speaker spoke that wonderful calm comfort that only comes from the Holy Ghost spoke to me and I quickly found some more scriptures to share.
The first speaker sat down and I knew it was my turn to speak so I stood up. My knees weren't shaking to bad but I had to put my hands on the pulpit so that they wouldn't shake to badly. I then started to read the little thing I had written. I read a scripture that talked about the fruits of the spirit and talked about how the Holy Ghost made me feel. I then talked about the fruits of the spirit and how I knew that the book of Mormon was true. I then bore a quick testimony of God and Jesus Christ and sat down. It took all of about 5 minutes. (Looking back on that now I feel really sorry for the next few speakers who had to make up for my short talk. Overall it was a wonderful experience that helped to strengthen my faith and it helped to give me courage in sharing what I now believed in and why I believed in it.)
One of the things that really bugged me about the church that I learned in these weeks after stake Conference was that I didn't get visiting teachers. I thought this was crap. I mean I really wanted to girls to come over and visit me and it would be even better if it could have been Sheena since I was her home teacher. But alas I learned much to my dismay that guys don't get visiting teachers. Go figure.
With Stake Conference now over the only thing that really frightened me was the upcoming Christmas break where I would have to go home and see how my parents really felt about me becoming a Mormon. However before Christmas I decided that I really wanted the Melchizedek Priesthood but was saddened by what President Clark told me.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Why I served a Mormon Mission Part III
One of the things that really bugged me about the church that I learned in these weeks leading up to something called stake conference was that I didn't get visiting teachers. I thought this was crap. I mean I really wanted to girls to come over and visit me and it would be even better if it could have been Sheena since I was her home teacher. But alas I learned much to my dismay that guys don't get visiting teachers. Go figure.
Well about a two weeks before stake conference President Clark called me into his office again. "JD, would you do something for me?" he asked. "Sure President Clark, what do you need?" "Well we would like you to give a talk at stake conference." At this time in my life I really didn't realize how big a thing stake conference was and if you remember I was the same guy who thought a stake dinner was really a steak dinner and was pretty upset to find only casseroles and jello when I hadn't ate all day in preparation for an awesome dinner. I told President Clark "Sure, no problem." I only thought it would be a lot like sacrament meeting with maybe a few more people. I then pulled out my trusty five star notebook that I still wrote down questions in and asked my newest questions from my reading to President Clark. Only this time he did something a little different than just give me the answer or show me where to find it or discuss it with me. He showed me something that was called the index that sat in the middle of my standard works. He showed me how I could find all the scriptures that related to a topic and learn for myself what the Lord had said. So we opened up to the subject of one of my questions and lo and behold right there on that page was my answer. It was the sixth or seventh verse listed under that topic but it answered my question.
President Clark had given me a whole new world of discovery and innovation that led me learn more than I ever thought possible. I truly started to learn precept upon precept and line upon line.
However as Stake Conference loomed closer I was presented with a feeling of gloom and despair. I didn't know if I really wanted to talk at conference I was scared and wondered if I would mess up and if everyone would make fun of me or even worse if I really messed up and they told me I couldn't come back to church ever.
I called Bishop Donaldson one night and asked him if he could meet with me because I had some things I needed to talk about. We set a meeting for later on that night around nine or ten.
Bishop Donaldson truly is an amazing man. He helped me overcome obsticles and wade through tribulation. I am truly greatful that he was there for me to help me in my times of need and with Stake Confrence just around the corner I needed his help.
I arrived at Bishop Donaldson office at the old institute building about ten minutes early so I sat down outside his office and waited. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Bishop D finished with whoever was in his office and they came out and he invited me in.
"What can I do for you JD?" Bishop D asked. I looked up at him and said, "I'm scared. I really don't know what to do about talking at stake confrence. I want to say the right things Bishop and I don't want to get in trouble by saying the wrong things." "What do you mean by wrong things JD?" "Well . . . I don't want to say something thats wrong and get kicked out of the church or to say something wrong and make someone mad." (you have to remember that the first time I bore my testimony I called Jesus Christ a stud and Joseph Smith a freaking awesome guy) He looked at me as only a Bishop can and with loving eyes that bespoke that everything would be allright he said, "JD, if you will speak from your heart and listen to the Holy Ghost you will have nothing to worry about." "Bishop, I just don't want to sound dumb or stupid either. There are just so many people who know so much more than I do and can do a better job at this then me." He told me there was not a thing for me to worry about and that if I listened to the Holy Ghost and studied my scriptures I would know what to say and how to say it. I was still afraid but I felt that what Bishop had told me to do was right.
I left Bishop D's office and started to walk home thinking about what to say. I was still scared but it was no longer an overwhelming feeling. When I got back to my apartment and sat down in my bedroom and opened up my scriptures and started to study.
As confrence weekend finnaly arrived I felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders and I looked forward to confrence even though I had only been baptized about a month or so now.
Well about a two weeks before stake conference President Clark called me into his office again. "JD, would you do something for me?" he asked. "Sure President Clark, what do you need?" "Well we would like you to give a talk at stake conference." At this time in my life I really didn't realize how big a thing stake conference was and if you remember I was the same guy who thought a stake dinner was really a steak dinner and was pretty upset to find only casseroles and jello when I hadn't ate all day in preparation for an awesome dinner. I told President Clark "Sure, no problem." I only thought it would be a lot like sacrament meeting with maybe a few more people. I then pulled out my trusty five star notebook that I still wrote down questions in and asked my newest questions from my reading to President Clark. Only this time he did something a little different than just give me the answer or show me where to find it or discuss it with me. He showed me something that was called the index that sat in the middle of my standard works. He showed me how I could find all the scriptures that related to a topic and learn for myself what the Lord had said. So we opened up to the subject of one of my questions and lo and behold right there on that page was my answer. It was the sixth or seventh verse listed under that topic but it answered my question.
President Clark had given me a whole new world of discovery and innovation that led me learn more than I ever thought possible. I truly started to learn precept upon precept and line upon line.
However as Stake Conference loomed closer I was presented with a feeling of gloom and despair. I didn't know if I really wanted to talk at conference I was scared and wondered if I would mess up and if everyone would make fun of me or even worse if I really messed up and they told me I couldn't come back to church ever.
I called Bishop Donaldson one night and asked him if he could meet with me because I had some things I needed to talk about. We set a meeting for later on that night around nine or ten.
Bishop Donaldson truly is an amazing man. He helped me overcome obsticles and wade through tribulation. I am truly greatful that he was there for me to help me in my times of need and with Stake Confrence just around the corner I needed his help.
I arrived at Bishop Donaldson office at the old institute building about ten minutes early so I sat down outside his office and waited. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Bishop D finished with whoever was in his office and they came out and he invited me in.
"What can I do for you JD?" Bishop D asked. I looked up at him and said, "I'm scared. I really don't know what to do about talking at stake confrence. I want to say the right things Bishop and I don't want to get in trouble by saying the wrong things." "What do you mean by wrong things JD?" "Well . . . I don't want to say something thats wrong and get kicked out of the church or to say something wrong and make someone mad." (you have to remember that the first time I bore my testimony I called Jesus Christ a stud and Joseph Smith a freaking awesome guy) He looked at me as only a Bishop can and with loving eyes that bespoke that everything would be allright he said, "JD, if you will speak from your heart and listen to the Holy Ghost you will have nothing to worry about." "Bishop, I just don't want to sound dumb or stupid either. There are just so many people who know so much more than I do and can do a better job at this then me." He told me there was not a thing for me to worry about and that if I listened to the Holy Ghost and studied my scriptures I would know what to say and how to say it. I was still afraid but I felt that what Bishop had told me to do was right.
I left Bishop D's office and started to walk home thinking about what to say. I was still scared but it was no longer an overwhelming feeling. When I got back to my apartment and sat down in my bedroom and opened up my scriptures and started to study.
As confrence weekend finnaly arrived I felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders and I looked forward to confrence even though I had only been baptized about a month or so now.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Why I served a Mormon Mission part II
As it got into about mid November and I decided that after blessing the sacrament for a few weeks now I pretty much understood what this priesthood thing was about I decided I needed to go to the temple. During my trip in October to General Conference we had walked around temple square and I had often heard people talk about how wonderful and great the temple was. Most of the LDS people I knew said they wanted to get married in the temple or had been married in the Temple. When I was up at temple square I was informed that I couldn't enter the temple unless I was a member of the Church.
Well guess what? Now I was a member of the church and very much planned on entering the temple to see what was so great about it and why it had to be kept a secret from the rest of the world. So I went to my good friend Bishop Donaldson and asked him if I could a recommend(that's what I was told I had to get to be allowed inside the temple) to go to the temple. He then told me that I couldn't go to the temple until I had been a member a year. This upset me pretty bad. I asked Bishop why I couldn't go... I was a member now and had been baptized and made clean wasn't I worthy enough to enter the temple. Bishop Donaldson told me that it was church policy that new converts had to wait a year to enter the temple. Well that just didn't cut it for me as far as an explanation went. However Bishop Donaldson being the inspired and wonderful man that he is then mention to me why I might not be able to go to every part of the temple right now there was something that I could do.
Guess what... that night I received my first temple recommend so that I could go and do baptisms for the dead.( I was happy and relieved to know that we weren't going to go and dig up graves so that we could baptise people but I still wondered how the whole thing worked.) That weekend I went up to Vernal to meet more of Sheena's family I had met her Father, Mother, and two of her sisters at the Miss Carbon Pageant but there were still some brothers and sisters I hadn't met. But what I was really looking forward to was the opportunity to go to the Vernal Temple.
When we arrived at the Vernal temple we went to a door that seemed to lead down to the basement. However when we opened the door I saw a medium sized shelf with many pairs of shoes on it. The elderly gentlemen then asked me to take off my shoes because I was standing on holy ground. I quickly took off my shoes and put them with the others and went into the rest of the temple following the cute old man.
Participating in the saving ordinances for those who didn't have the chance to be baptized in this life or to receive the Holy Ghost is one of the most amazing experiences a person can have in this life. To know that you are helping a fellow brother or sister do something that they didn't have the opportunity to receive is wonderful. It made sense to me then and now that if God requires that men be baptized to enter into the Kingdom of God what happens to those who never get baptized or those who don't even get to learn about Christ. It didn't seem like a loving or merciful God in Heaven who would damn over half his children when they didn't even get a fair swing at being a part of his kingdom. So baptisms for the dead made sense to me as it provided those who didn't get to be baptized in this life and opportunity to get it done in the next.
Going into the temple of the Lord is like floating above the ground. It is a place where the cares of the world simply washed away from me as I entered onto that holy ground. When I feel the spirit strongly I can't help but smile and throughout my time doing baptisms there in the Vernal temple I couldn't stop smiling and being filled with joy. It truly was a house of God and I am glad that I went to it so soon.
Going to the temple helped me to understand more of what the Gospel was about and why somethings that happen in the temple are so sacred and wonderful that it almost makes them somehow less special to talk about them outside of those holy walls.
After going to the temple my desire to go was somewhat lessened because I had felt why the temple was important and amazing. If you can't tell by now I like to experience the gospel first hand and don't like taking someone else's word for how amazing something is when I can learn for myself why it is so wonderful.
In early December as we prepared for final exams I decided that I really needed to have the Melkzidech Priesthood. I felt like the gospel was something to sucked up and once I had sucked up everything that I had I simply wanted more. I had developed an appetite for gospel knowledge that was unwavering. It seemed the more I learned and gained the more I desired. As I learned line upon line I only wanted to have more lines. I didn't want this light and truth to suddenly dry up without me getting all that I could. The more I learned about the temple the more often I wanted to go and do baptisms. When I was informed one day at the temple that I didn't have the right priesthood to perform ordinances in the temple I made it a personal mission to obtain that priesthood so that I might more fully understand the temple and it blessings.
Well guess what? Now I was a member of the church and very much planned on entering the temple to see what was so great about it and why it had to be kept a secret from the rest of the world. So I went to my good friend Bishop Donaldson and asked him if I could a recommend(that's what I was told I had to get to be allowed inside the temple) to go to the temple. He then told me that I couldn't go to the temple until I had been a member a year. This upset me pretty bad. I asked Bishop why I couldn't go... I was a member now and had been baptized and made clean wasn't I worthy enough to enter the temple. Bishop Donaldson told me that it was church policy that new converts had to wait a year to enter the temple. Well that just didn't cut it for me as far as an explanation went. However Bishop Donaldson being the inspired and wonderful man that he is then mention to me why I might not be able to go to every part of the temple right now there was something that I could do.
Guess what... that night I received my first temple recommend so that I could go and do baptisms for the dead.( I was happy and relieved to know that we weren't going to go and dig up graves so that we could baptise people but I still wondered how the whole thing worked.) That weekend I went up to Vernal to meet more of Sheena's family I had met her Father, Mother, and two of her sisters at the Miss Carbon Pageant but there were still some brothers and sisters I hadn't met. But what I was really looking forward to was the opportunity to go to the Vernal Temple.
When we arrived at the Vernal temple we went to a door that seemed to lead down to the basement. However when we opened the door I saw a medium sized shelf with many pairs of shoes on it. The elderly gentlemen then asked me to take off my shoes because I was standing on holy ground. I quickly took off my shoes and put them with the others and went into the rest of the temple following the cute old man.
Participating in the saving ordinances for those who didn't have the chance to be baptized in this life or to receive the Holy Ghost is one of the most amazing experiences a person can have in this life. To know that you are helping a fellow brother or sister do something that they didn't have the opportunity to receive is wonderful. It made sense to me then and now that if God requires that men be baptized to enter into the Kingdom of God what happens to those who never get baptized or those who don't even get to learn about Christ. It didn't seem like a loving or merciful God in Heaven who would damn over half his children when they didn't even get a fair swing at being a part of his kingdom. So baptisms for the dead made sense to me as it provided those who didn't get to be baptized in this life and opportunity to get it done in the next.
Going into the temple of the Lord is like floating above the ground. It is a place where the cares of the world simply washed away from me as I entered onto that holy ground. When I feel the spirit strongly I can't help but smile and throughout my time doing baptisms there in the Vernal temple I couldn't stop smiling and being filled with joy. It truly was a house of God and I am glad that I went to it so soon.
Going to the temple helped me to understand more of what the Gospel was about and why somethings that happen in the temple are so sacred and wonderful that it almost makes them somehow less special to talk about them outside of those holy walls.
After going to the temple my desire to go was somewhat lessened because I had felt why the temple was important and amazing. If you can't tell by now I like to experience the gospel first hand and don't like taking someone else's word for how amazing something is when I can learn for myself why it is so wonderful.
In early December as we prepared for final exams I decided that I really needed to have the Melkzidech Priesthood. I felt like the gospel was something to sucked up and once I had sucked up everything that I had I simply wanted more. I had developed an appetite for gospel knowledge that was unwavering. It seemed the more I learned and gained the more I desired. As I learned line upon line I only wanted to have more lines. I didn't want this light and truth to suddenly dry up without me getting all that I could. The more I learned about the temple the more often I wanted to go and do baptisms. When I was informed one day at the temple that I didn't have the right priesthood to perform ordinances in the temple I made it a personal mission to obtain that priesthood so that I might more fully understand the temple and it blessings.
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