Men of Galilee

I really love this picture, Men of Galilee by Simon Dewey.  I was given it as a Christmas present two years ago and it hangs in my bedroom so I can see it every morning.  Here are a couple of lessons I have been taught by looking at this picture.

I am in the navy and like the Men of Galilee, I have had to be out to sea for long periods of time.  So I can not be home all the time to watch and teach my two kids.  But if I invite the Savior into my home, He will watch over them when I am gone.  The key is I have to invite His Spirit into my house while I am home and teach my children to love and follow Him.  I know my kids love the Savior.  I have had some wonderful experiences with this. 

One morning a couple of weeks ago, my son who just turned six told me that he had a dream where he watched Jesus create the world.  Now I do not know what he saw, but there was a reverence about him that normally is not there and I know whatever he dreamt was a special experience.  An experience that probably was to sacred to share, so I did not prod him more about the dream.  I just hope that he remembers it for many years to come. 

In another experience I was watching this bible video about Christ with my daughter on my Kindle Fire.  About half way through the video my daughter hugs the Kindle Fire as tight as she can and says “I LOVE JESUS!”   No words could express the joy and pride I felt for my daughter right then.

The other thing I like about the picture is that the older boy is holding a toy boat.  He wants to be just like his dad.  All kids start out admiring and in awe of their dads.  I need to be worthy of the admiration.  I need to worthy of this admiration I need to model my life after Christ.  I know my kids look up to me.  They see me as their superhero.  And if I want them to grow up to be happy and righteous persons, then I need to be a happy and righteous person.  I have to show them the way.

The Master Mechanic

I have read a lot of questions recently about the relationship of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost and and the meaning of Oneness in the Godhead. So to clear up any misconceptions as best I can I have written the following post.

Here is the basic fundamental definition of what we believe the Godhead to be:

 D&C 130:22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

So we believe that there are three separate beings that are members of the Godhead.  They are Heavenly Father (Elohim), Jesus Christ (Jehovah) and the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, etc.)  Here is a more detailed description from Elder Bruce R. McConkie

“Three glorified, exalted, and perfected personages comprise the Godhead or supreme presidency of the universe. … They are: God the Father; God the Son; God the Holy Ghost. …
“Though each God in the Godhead is a personage, separate and distinct from each of the others, yet they are ‘one God’ … , meaning that they are united as one in the attributes of perfection. For instance, each has the fulness of truth, knowledge, charity, power, justice, judgment, mercy, and faith. Accordingly they all think, act, speak, and are alike in all things; and yet they are three separate and distinct entities. Each occupies space and is and can be in but one place at one time, but each has power and influence that is everywhere present” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 319)

So in a scripture that says that They “are one” (here are a bunch: John 10:30, 1John 5:7, John 17:22-23, 3 Nephi 11:27, D&C 93:3, D&C 20:28) they are saying that they are completely united in all They do.  It does not matter which one is speaking because all three would say and do the EXACT same thing.

There is a oneness in the Godhead as well as a distinctness of personality. This oneness is emphasized in the sayings and writings of prophets and apostles in order to guard against the erroneous idea that these three may be distinct and independent deities and rivals for our worship” (Joseph F. Smith, “Answers to Questions,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1901, 228).

So what is our relationship with Members of the Godhead between the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost?

Bruce R. McConkie answers this question in a talk he gave at BYU on March 2, 1982 (click to read the whole talk)

 First, be it remembered that most scriptures that speak of God or of the Lord do not even bother to distinguish the Father from the Son, simply because it doesn't make any difference which God is involved. They are one. The words or deeds of either of them would be the words and deeds of the other in the same circumstance. 

Further, if a revelation comes from, or by the power of the Holy Ghost, ordinarily the words will be those of the Son, though what the Son says will be what the Father would say, and the words may thus be considered as the Father's. Thus any feelings of love, praise, awe, or worship that may fill our hearts when we receive the divine words will be the same no matter who is thought or known to be the author of them. 

And yet we do have a proper relationship to each member of the Godhead, in part at least because there are separate and severable functions which each performs, and also because of what they as one Godhead have done for us. 

Our relationship with the Father is supreme, paramount, and preeminent over all others. He is the God we worship. It is his gospel that saves and exalts. He ordained and established the plan of salvation. He is the one who was once as we are now. The life he lives is eternal life, and if we are to gain this greatest of all the gifts of God, it will be because we become like him. 

Our relationship with the Father is one of parent and child. He is the one who gave us our agency. It was his plan that provided for a fall and an atonement. And it is to him that we must be reconciled if we are to gain salvation. He is the one to whom we have direct access by prayer, and if there were some need—which there is not!—to single out one member of the Godhead for a special relationship, the Father, not the Son, would be the one to choose. 

Our relationship with the Son is one of brother or sister in the premortal life and one of being led to the Father by him while in this mortal sphere. He is the Lord Jehovah who championed our cause before the foundations of the earth were laid. He is the God of Israel, the promised Messiah, and the Redeemer of the world. 

By faith we are adopted into his family and become his children. We take upon ourselves his name, keep his commandments, and rejoice in the cleansing power of his blood. Salvation comes by him. From Creation's dawn, as long as eternity endures, there neither has been nor will be another act of such transcendent power and import as his atoning sacrifice. 

We do not have a fraction of the power we need to properly praise his holy name and ascribe unto him the honor and power and might and glory and dominion that is his. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. 

Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is quite another thing. This holy personage is a Revelator and a Sanctifier. He bears record of the Father and the Son. He dispenses spiritual gifts to the faithful. Those of us who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost have the right to his constant companionship.

So putting this in simple terms that I can understand I picture this as a father that is a master mechanic who owns an auto repair shop that has an adult son who is not officially certified to work but knows all that his father knows and is being certified as a master mechanic by fixing us, the broken down cars.  By doing all the work the Son is becoming like the Father.  The Father is ALWAYS looking over the Son’s shoulder and is intimately involved with the repairs but He is letting the Son be hands on and do the work for His Son’s benefit.  So the Son can become like his Father.

In this scenario, the world and everything in the world are the cars that are being fixed, so to us both the Father and the Son are the mechanics (Gods) because they are both working on us.  To us when one speaks of the mechanic it does not make much of a difference if we are talking about the Father or the Son because they are both working on us and both are performing exactly how the other would act if they were to act alone. 

But when we have issues and when we want to talk to the mechanic (pray in this case) we pray to Heavenly Father, because not only is He the master mechanic, he is our Father, He created us, just like He created His Son.

I hope this helps.  I know this scenario does not include an example of the Holy Ghost but I have never had that hard of a time to understand His role.  But it took me some time to wrap my head around the idea of the roles of Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.  By knowing the true nature of God and our relation to each member of the Godhead we know more about ourselves.

Failed to Promote

A few months ago I found out that I was passed over for promotion. I was very very hurt because I thought I was doing a good job and thought the promotion was a sure thing. In the military this means that I am going to be forced out and will need to find a new job.



So when I found out that I wasn't promoted, I was completely heartbroken and extremely depressed. My wife tried to console me, but I just wanted to be alone.  So I went upstairs to my bedroom and decided to pray. I got down on my knees and talked to my Heavenly Father and told Him how I felt. He responded, and told me He was the one who did not want me to be promoted. I remembered a talk by Elder Hough B. Brown called The Current Bush about a time when Elder Brown failed to promote and how this turned into a great blessing in his life. (If you have never read or heard this talk please do. It is one of the greatest talks ever given, in my opinion.)

While on my knees praying and asking for help, comfort and guidance the Holy Ghost whispered: Heavenly Father has a different path for you!  I do not know yet what that path is but I am trusting in Him. I do know though, when this life is said and done and I look back on all the experiences in this life that this experience this will be one of my greatest blessings--my failing to promote. 



While I was praying my daughter who was two at the time came upstairs looking for me. When she found me, she huddled up next to me and hugged me. I felt like an angel was sent to give me comfort. I hugged her back and cried for a minute or two and then took my family out to eat for dinner.  I have gone on with my life not knowing what lays ahead but trusting in the Lord.

I still have over a year left in the Navy before I will be forced to leave and it is hard meeting and associating with my peers because most assume that I must be a subpar sailor if I did not promote.  But the fact that I know that this is part of Heavenly Father’s plan for me then it does not hurt too bad.  I know where my 

trust is…

(2 Nephi 4:34) O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

Marriage and Eternal Happiness

It has seemed to me that the media and society is promoting same-sex-marriage, infidelity in marriage, and promiscuity out side of marriage and it has really started to bother me.  I was reading in Moses chapter 3 about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and I really felt such a peaceful reassurance of what God’s design of marriage and sexual relations are designed to be like.  And I just want to share some of what I have learned and know to be true. Most of this post has been taken from the Institute Manual: The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual

In their proclamation on the family, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declared: “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102; see also Hebrews 13:4; D&C 49:15). Of note it only says between a MAN and a WOMAN.  No other coupling or scenario is ordained of God.  A fullness of joy in this life and the highest degree of exaltation in the celestial kingdom are obtained by entering into the new and eternal covenant of marriage (see 1 Corinthians 11:11; D&C 131:1–4; see also Boyd K. Packer, in Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 27–31; or Ensign, Nov. 1993, 21–24). 

God joined Adam and Eve together in marriage before the Fall. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “Marriage as established in the beginning was an eternal covenant. The first man and the first woman were not married until death should part them, for at that time death had not come into the world. The ceremony on that occasion was performed by the Eternal Father himself whose work endures forever. It is the will of the Lord that all marriages should be of like character, and in becoming ‘one flesh’ the man and the woman are to continue in the married status, according to the Lord’s plan, throughout all eternity as well as in this mortal life” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:71).

The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in their proclamation on the family, taught: “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

President Howard W. Hunter said the following about the relationship between a husband and wife: “A man who holds the priesthood accepts his wife as a partner in the leadership of the home and family with full knowledge of and full participation in all decisions relating thereto. … The Lord intended that the wife be a helpmeet for man (meet means equal)—that is, a companion equal and necessary in full partnership” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 68; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 50–51).

In Moses 3:24 it says:

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be done flesh.

The word cleave means to be closely united. Adam and Eve were commanded to be “one flesh,” meaning to be one mentally, socially, sexually, and spiritually. This oneness was a command with which they could not fully comply until after the Fall.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained:

“Human intimacy is reserved for a married couple because it is the ultimate symbol of total union, a totality and a union ordained and defined by God. From the Garden of Eden onward, marriage was intended to mean the complete merger of a man and a woman—their hearts, hopes, lives, love, family, future, everything. Adam said of Eve that she was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, and that they were to be ‘one flesh’ in their life together [see Genesis 2:23–24]. This is a union of such completeness that we use the word seal to convey its eternal promise. The Prophet Joseph Smith once said we perhaps could render such a sacred bond as being ‘welded’ [see D&C 128:18] one to another.

“But such a total union, such an unyielding commitment between a man and a woman, can only come with the proximity and permanence afforded in a marriage covenant, with solemn promises and the pledge of all they possess—their very hearts and minds, all their days and all their dreams” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 100; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 76).

Referring to the charge for a man to leave his parents and cleave to his wife, President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Do you note that? She, the woman, occupies the first place. She is preeminent, even above the parents who are so dear to all of us. Even the children must take their proper but significant place” (Ensign, Mar. 1976, 72).

I know that we will be happier and healthier by following this council.  I have been married for over 13 years now and I definitely do not know everything but I do know that the happiest and wonderfulness times have been with my wife and children.  It has been following the guidance of having my wife be my helpmeet.  By cleaving to her and to none else.  I know if the world will support God’s design for the family and upholds His commands on this matter that the world will be a happier and healthier place.