www.kevinhinckley.com
I have often thought that
Nephi's being bound with
cords and beaten by rods
must have been more
tolerable to him than
listening to Laman and
Lemuel's constant
murmuring.
Surely he must have said at
least once, "Hit me one
more time. I can still hear
you."
…we never began to build a temple without the
bells of hell beginning to ring. I want to hear
them ring again. All the tribes of hell will be on
the move, if we uncover the walls of this temple.
But what do you think it will amount to? You have
all the time seen what it has amounted to
T
Why would there be
such opposition?
This is a church
dedicated to being
“honest, true, chaste,
benevolent…and
doing good to all
men.”
Ephesus
Acts 19:24-31
Paul’s Response
and Warning
Acts 20:22-31
During the Mexican Revolution, Rafael Monroy was the
president of the small San Marcos Mexico Branch, and
Vicente Morales was his first counselor. On July 17,
1915, they were apprehended by the Zapatistas. They
were told they would be spared if they would give up
their weapons and renounce their strange religion.
Brother Monroy told his captors that he did not have any
weapons and simply drew from his pocket his Bible and
Book of Mormon. He said, "Gentlemen, these are the
only arms I ever carry; they are the arms of truth against
error."
When no arms were found, the brethren were cruelly tortured to make them divulge
where arms were hidden. But there were no arms. They were then taken under
guard to the outskirts of the little town, where their captors stood them up by a
large ash tree in front of a firing squad. The officer in charge offered them
freedom if they would forsake their religion and join the Zapatistas, but Brother
Monroy replied, "My religion is dearer to me than my life, and I cannot forsake it."
They were then told that they were to be shot and asked if they had any request to
make. Brother Rafael requested that he be permitted to pray before he was
executed. There, in the presence of his executioners, he kneeled down and, in a
voice that all could hear, prayed that God would bless and protect his loved ones
and care for the little struggling branch that would be left without a leader. As he
finished his prayer, he used the words of the Savior when He hung upon the cross
and prayer for his executioners: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do." With that the firing squad shot both Brother Monroy and Brother
Morales..
James E. Faust, Oct 2006 General Conference
Acts 19: 1-8
Why is the Gift of the Holy
Ghost so critical?
“Unless and until a person is
baptized by the Spirit, his
soul is not cleansed, evil
and iniquity are not burned
out of him as by fire, and
he cannot go where God
and Christ are”
(Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. II [Salt Lake
City: Bookcraft, 1971], p. 166).
2 Nephi 31:14,15
What is the ‘new tongue’ and what does
that mean?
The Spirit of truth leads men to
righteousness, but we must have
a desire to seek truth and to take
the time to form spiritual habits
and respond to spiritual
impressions if we are to keep
our souls alive—and is not now
the time to begin?
A person who has developed
spirituality may suffer deeply
and know frustration; but yet he
is able to continue in showing
forth kindness and love because
of a power that rises up from his
spiritual base that governs his
actions and urges him to “speak
with a new tongue” as Nephi
said, and to be his best despite
obstacles and setbacks.
Please know that your Father in
Heaven loves you and so does His
Only Begotten Son. When They
speak to you—and They will—it
will not be in the wind, nor in the
earthquake, nor in the fire, but it
will be with a voice still and small,
a voice tender and kind.
It will be with the tongue of angels.
May we all rejoice in the thought
that when we say edifying,
encouraging things unto the least
of these, our brethren and sisters
and little ones, we say it unto God.
"Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and
be sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it
will lead them right. Be careful and not turn
away the small still voice; it will teach you
what to do and where to go; it will yield the
fruits of the kingdom.
Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to
conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost
comes to them, their hearts will be ready to
receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord
from all other spirits; it will whisper peace and
joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred,
strife and all evil from their hearts; and their
whole desire will be to do good, bring forth
righteousness and build up the kingdom of
God.
Tell the brethren if they will follow the spirit of
the Lord they will go right. Be sure to tell the
people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if
they will, they will find themselves just as they
were organized by our Father in Heaven
before they came into the world."13