Beach Haven

​In May I had the High Council speaking assignment in the Snellville GA ward. The other speaker was a recently returned missionary who served in Uruguay. Here is the assigned topic and references I used from April 2024 general conference.

Topic: Prepare for and realize the blessings of the ordinances and covenants available in the house of the Lord.

Assigned conference talks and the specific quotes I pulled from them:

The Powerful, Virtuous Cycle of the Doctrine of Christ (Renlund, April 2024)
“We become vulnerable when we slow down and especially when we stop. If we maintain spiritual momentum by continually ‘rowing’ toward the Savior, we are safer and more secure because our eternal life depends on our faith in Him.”

“Spiritual momentum is created ‘over a lifetime as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ.’ Doing so, President Russell M. Nelson taught, produces a ‘powerful virtuous cycle’. Repeatedly means that we experience the elements of the doctrine of Christ over and over throughout our lives. Iteratively means that we build on and improve with each repetition. Even though we repeat the elements, we are not just spinning in circles without a forward trajectory. Instead, we draw closer to Jesus Christ each time through the cycle.”

“As the Holy Ghost exerts a greater influence in our lives, we progressively and iteratively develop Christlike attributes. Our hearts change.”

“To be clear, baptismal and temple covenants are not, in and of themselves, the source of power. The source of power is the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Making and keeping covenants create a conduit for Their power in our lives. As we live according to these covenants, we eventually become inheritors to all that Heavenly Father has.”

Temples, Houses of the Lord Dotting the Earth (Anderson, April 2024)
“On that sacred occasion in the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet prayed that in the Lord’s holy house, the Saints would be armed with the power of God, that the name of Jesus Christ would be upon them, that His angels would have charge over them, and that they would grow up in the Lord and ‘receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost.’ These powerful supplications are fulfilled in our lives as we faithfully worship in the house of the Lord.”

“As we are faithful, we are blessed with protection from temptations and distractions. We feel our Savior’s love as He lifts us from our difficulties and sorrows. We are armed with the power of God.”
“Through the power of the Holy Ghost, we are filled with peace and joy and unspeakable hope. We receive the strength to remain His disciples even when we find ourselves outside of holy places.”
“There are many different ways to see the face of Christ, and there is no better place than in His holy house.”

Mixed in with these quotes I had a few stories lined up to share. Time kept me from using all the quotes and stories, but here is what was in the hopper.

While visiting two of our children in Utah in late April and early May, we attended the Jordan River temple. Among those we took with us in the form of temple name cards were three I’d like to mention.

First was Sarah Liggett. She was very anxious to have her work done. When I was preparing and printing name-cards her ordinances were added to my list and then printed. I had not actually chosen to add her and print her card, yet it happened. I’m sure she was happy when we went ahead and took her with us.

Next was Emma Dietz. Our daughter Ashley and her husband Ryan took her among others for endowments early in the week. Later, we all attended a sealing session. During that session, Emma was sealed to her parents, husband and daughter. Several people in the room noted the feeling of the Spirit when we completed her ordinances.

Finally, Howard Beach. He is my uncle (my father’s brother). When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, Howard was a town cop. For years he’d been in the K-9 group and we got to know his police dog. He finished his career as a city detective. We heard plenty of stories from Howard. I’m sure adults in the family heard more than we kids did. Still more stories likely followed him to his grave unshared. We were able to seal him to my grandparents. I felt the Spirit most strongly for Howard when I had his baptism done in the Washington DC temple a month earlier. I was able to perform the confirmation and felt a spike in the Spirit for the 20 seconds or so it took to confirm him.

At sacrament each week we renew our baptismal covenants in that we say we are ‘willing’ to take upon us His name, meaning to be known as followers of Jesus Christ, members of His church, Christians. In the temple we take His name more directly, not just that we are willing to. I know that I am better at keeping the commandments when I go to the temple. I continue learning new thoughts there, even though I’ve been attending for more than 40 years.

I encourage all our family to keep an up-to-date temple recommend, and to make the time to go. If you don’t have a recommend, consider just visiting the temple grounds and feel the Spirit. You will be showing faith in such a simple act.
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​With the permission of my wife Michelle, I’d like to share a story of discipleship I witnessed back in March. On a Saturday evening at about 10pm she received a phone call. Anytime the phone rings that late it’s almost always bad news. In this case, a sister in our ward was calling for help. She and a friend had gone roller skating earlier that day. At some point the sister took a fall on her backside. It was now hours later, and the pain was still steady and strong. Having experienced a broken tailbone at one time in life, Michelle suggested a hospital visit. The good sister of course had no way to get to the emergency room. So well after our normal bedtime (we're old), off she went into the night to take this sister to the hospital. She knew this was an all-night task and told me to get to sleep.

The next morning as I was driving for an early church leadership meeting, Michelle was on her way home after being up all night. We chatted on the phone. She promised to get an hour or two of sleep before church. I returned home later that morning, and we went to church together. She plays piano for sacrament meeting so felt she could not put that on someone else last minute. She was also unsure if she could stay for the second hour of church. Normally she sits on the stand to avoid going up and down during the sacrament meeting. If I have no church business I sit in the congregation. On this occasion I suggested I might sit on the stand with her and nudge her when it was time to play the piano if she was having trouble staying awake. As you might guess, the opposite happened. She stayed awake and had to nudge me several times during the meeting. She was able to attend Relief Society during the second hour as well. Obviously, the Lord was helping her.

There are several points that came to mind for me in all this. It’s the simple selfless kind of service that marks a servant of the Lord. As important as visible roles in gospel service are, personal direct acts of service are the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith is the other thought that came to me in this. She had a willingness to do her part and trust that God would somehow help her through the trial in the moment. Michelle didn’t really question what she needed to do. She gave a short sigh, bade me good night, grabbed her car keys, and off she went knowing fully well she faced a sleepless night. 

Not long ago I was asked to speak at our church in Centerville, GA. The topic assigned was The Book of Mormon. The way I discussed it has to do with architecture. For example, Jesus Christ is the ‘chief corner stone’ of Christianity. Here’s just one scriptural reference:

Ephesians 2:19-21
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

In Spanish, instead of ‘chief corner stone’ he is referred to as the ‘principal angle stone’. In either way of looking at it, the first corner stone laid for a building determines both the location of the building and the direction in which it is oriented. All other parts of the building are oriented, or referenced, to that first corner stone. Without that stone, or rock if you will, the building has neither place nor direction. Perhaps another way to say it is without Christ there is no Christianity. The gospel would not exist without Him. Christianity would have neither place nor direction.

Similarly, we have The Book of Mormon. From the Introduction of The Book of Mormon:

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. That’s the same river where the priesthood and baptism were reinstituted to our church in this dispensation. Pennsylvania is also where most of The Book of Mormon translation took place. If you’ve ever gone to the visitor center the church has near the town previously known as Harmony, now called Oakland, you would note how all of these early events took place within a short distance from the river. Pennsylvania is called ‘the keystone state’, a moniker that reaches back to colonial days. As one of the original 13 British colonies in America, and later as one of the 13 states, it is physically between the northern colonies with more industrial economies formed by New York and New England, and the southern colonies that were more agricultural producing raw materials for the North and for export. Pennsylvania then and today has both a large industrial base and lots of farmland.

I'm told that an arch is the strongest architectural device in holding up building walls and roofs. In fact, it is the arch that gives the discipline architecture its name! The keystone is the upper-most and center stone in an arch. Remove the keystone and the arch falls along with any walls or roof it was meant to hold up. Just as if you remove Christ then all of Christianity falls, so too if you remove The Book of Mormon, then The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints falls. We claim it to be given through a modern prophet of God. If The Book of Mormon is false, then Joseph Smith is a false prophet. If it is true, then Joseph must be a true prophet, and the church established through him must be a true church, the true church.

Just as no stone building stands without a chief cornerstone or keystone, so too all we latter-day saints believe rests on the chief cornerstone of Jesus Christ, and the keystone of The Book of Mormon.
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