Why the Lord takes the young in Death

Many have wondered why the Lord would cause a Mormon infant, baby, child, youth, or young adult to die, when he clearly has his whole life ahead of him.  To console such mourners, I quote the words of President Wilford Woodruff, which will give my answer:

One evening, as I fell asleep, I was very much troubled with evil spirits that tried to afflict me; and while laboring to throw off these spirits and their influence, there was another spirit visited me that seemed to have power over the evil spirits, and they departed from me.  Before he left me he told me not to grieve because of the departure of Abraham Hoagland Cannon [of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who died at 37 years of age]; for the Lord had called him to fill another important mission in the spirit world, as a pure and holy apostle from Zion in the Rocky Mountains - a labor which would not only prove a great benefit to his father's household, but to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth.  I feel to name this, because it is true. I have become acquainted with many things in our history that I have marveled at. While in the St. George temple I had a son, who was in the north country, drowned.  He had a warning of this.  In a dream he was notified how he would die.  We had testimony of that after his death.  I asked the Lord why he was taken from me.  The answer to me was, "You are doing a great deal for the redemption of your dead; but the law of redemption requires some of your own seed in the spirit world to attend to work connected with this."  That was a new principle to me; but it satisfied me why he was taken away.  I name this, because there are a great many instances like it among the Latter-day Saints.  This was the case with Brother Abraham Cannon.  He was taken away to fulfil [sic] that mission.  And where we have anything of this kind, we should leave it in the hands of God to reconcile. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 292)

LDS Conference Center catches fire

At around 8:15p.m. Monday night, a small fire damaged the LDS Conference Center's mechanical room.  The fire caused the sprinkler system to come on, causing thousands of gallons of water to leak through the floor and spill into the first ten rows of seats in the auditorium, the seats for General Authorities, and onto and around the pulpit.

ABC 4 said that smoke triggered the building's sprinkler system, which caused 40 fire fighters to respond to the two-alarm blaze.  When crews arrived, the sprinklers had put out the fire, and crew had to clean up "'more than a couple feet of water' in the mechanical room and around the pulpit", according to the Salt Lake Tribune.  The Deseret News reports that the fire started near a bank of batteries.  The News also reparts that Salt Lake fire spokesman Jasen Asay said that it is too early still to know what caused the fire, but that it is under investigation.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released an official statement:

The fire at the Church Conference Center was limited to a backup power supply cabinet in an electrical control room above the main auditorium.  Two sprinkler heads functioned as designed and extinguished the fire.  Water overflow to the auditorium floor below was limited to a 50-foot area in front of the podium but did not cause significant damage.  Water in the affected area has been extracted, and fans are being used to dry the carpet and chairs.  The actual cause of the fire remains under investigation.

"Go ye into all the world" 1974 Regional Representative Seminar

As The Mormon Eagle's motto is "It is better to represent ourselves than to be represented by others", I post the video of the remarks made by President Spencer W. Kimball at the 1974 Regional Representative Seminar.  At the time, there were only the Presidency of the Seventy as General Authorities; all other Seventies were Stake Seventies, called by Stake Presidents.  It was not until 1975 (the next year) when the First Quorum of the Seventy was reconstituted as a General Authority Quorum.  Now, there are 8 Quorums of the Seventy, which number of Quorums can expand to any number the Lord wants.  Contrast the statistics in this video with the Church today, and one stands in awe at the growth the Lord has caused to be throughout the world.  Here it is:

First Presidency Easter Message - 2012

The following is taken directly from the Church News, front page, for the week of 1 April 2012:

This is the season of the year when the Christian world remembers the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Out of love for His Father and for us, the Savior allowed Himself to suffer beyond the capacity of mortal man.  He said, "Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit — and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink — Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18-19).

Our Savior broke the bands of death.  Through His Resurrection there is assurance that life is everlasting.  Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so.

As special witnesses, we declare that God does live.  Jesus Christ is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh.  He is our Redeemer, our Mediator with the Father. Jesus Christ atoned for our sins.  He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection.  Because He died, all shall live again.

The First Presidency,

Religious Freedom and public colleges

According to today's USA Today, Vanderbilt University's non-discrimination policy has got a faith-base group in a bind.  Vanderbilt Catholic, a 500-member group, is being asked by Vanderbilt University to let anyone run for leadership, not just Catholics.  P.J. Jedlovec, the president of Vanderbilt Catholic, says, "If we were open to having non-Catholics lead the organization, we wouldn't be Catholic anymore" (Smietana, Bob, "Vanderbilt bias policy drives groups off campus", USA Today, Monday 2 April 2012, 3A).

This attempt to shut down religion in public life has happened elsewhere on college campuses throughout the United States.  "The University of North Carolina-Greensboro refused to recognize a Christian group called Make Up Your Mind because it discriminated on the basis of faith for leaders.  The school relented after being sued" (Ibid.).


Apparently, the aforementioned colleges do not understand either the Constitution of the United States or the fact that not letting someone into leadership because one doesn't qualify is not discrimination.  Let us look at look at the Constitution itself for an example.  Article II, section 1 of the Constitution reads, "No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States."  Does this mean that the United States is discriminating against, say, a Canadian-born, naturalized-American citizen who is 34 years of age and wants to run for the Presidency?  No!  That person could never run for it, because, even after he turns 35, he is not a natural-born citizen.  Is this discrimination?  Not in the least!!

Let's take The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as another example.  In July of 2009, "Derek Jones and his partner, Matthew Aune, were holding hands as they passed through the pedestrian mall east of the Salt Lake Temple as they returned home from a concert at the Gallivan Center.  Aune hugged and kissed Jones in the plaza, at which point church security asked the men to leave because they were being inappropriate" (Norlen, Clayton, "2 men cited in trespassing on LDS Plaza", Deseret News, 11 July 2009).  Was the LDS Church being discriminatory when they asked these persons to leave the LDS-owned Main Street Plaza (private property) because they were violating Church teachings?  No!  It is not discrimination to have policies, laws, and rules.

Is it discrimination if I am pulled over by a Black cop in Harlem because I run a red light?  No!  I broke the law, and should pay the penalty.  Laws, especially Constitutional laws, exists to keep all people safe.  Hence, Vanderbilt University is in the wrong for kicking the group Vanderbilt Catholic off of campus, because Vanderbilt Catholic clearly was exercising Constitutional law.

Mormon Theology no. 48 - The Covenant Marriage

30 April 2009

Kim Kardashian's recently failed marriage to Kris Humphries is a tragic story.  Tragic, but one that need not happen again.  In the 27 January 2012 online edition of Us Weekly, Kim remarked to her sister Kourtney, "'It's hard for me.  He's a good heart, he's a Christian -- everything on paper I want in someone, but for some reason, my heart isn't connecting,' she tells Kourtney".  The main reason that marriage failed was because it wasn't a Covenant Marriage.

What is a Covenant Marriage?

 To fully answer this question, we must first define what a covenant is.  Dictionary.com's definition of the word "covenant" reads, "an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified."  This is sufficient when we add the words "between God and man" to replace the words "between two or more persons".  We then have the definition as follows: "An agreement, usually formal, between God and man to do or not do something specified."  In other words, a covenant is a two-way promise between God and man, in which  God sets the terms, and man agrees to follow said terms.  In the case of a covenant marriage, the agreement is as follows:

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.  Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them.  Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them (D&C 132:19-20). whereby to shed innocent blood

In layman's terms, this means that when a man and a woman are married by the Lord's Holy Priesthood in one of His Temples (built only by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons), that marriage has the potential to last literally forever, even into the next life.  That couple will continue to have children in the next life, and even become Gods, as God our Father is also a God.

Not all champagne and roses

Now, of course marriage is not all champagne and roses.  Marriage is hard work.  One must realize that in order to make it work, one must forgo self.  If both the man and woman are looking out for the other's happiness, safety, security, etc., then the marriage will work, despite the troubles and trials that come upon us.  To put it in the words of modern Prophets and Apostles, "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities" ("The Family: A Proclamation to the World").  Indeed, the old adage that "the family the prays together stays together" rings true.  The Christ has established marriage as far back as the Garden of Eden to be entered into through a covenant with Him and thus to be eternal, as He is Eternal.

I hope this explains more clearly why Mormon marriages are the way they are, and why married Mormons are so happy.

What I didn't see coming

The first day of the LDS Church's Annual Conference was amazing, filled with revelation from the Heavenly Father of us all.  However, what I didn't see coming was the release of the entire Presiding Bishipric and the Relief Society General Presidency.  I'm a little excited that it did occur, however, because I think a new Presiding Bishopric will bring new zest into the Church (or at least give the three new men called a completely different perspective when it comes to temporal affairs of the Church.  I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for His Church over the next six months.  It will be interesting, and The Mormon Eagle shall keep you abreast of the issues, revelations, and announcements that come around.  Promise.