President Monson's Talk
I miss BJJ. In my previous post, I said that I wished that I could go 100 percent. That's why I miss it. I just want to go, go, and go. Because of my side, I can't do that. I have to still take it easy and be nice to my side. It just sucks though. This has never happened to me before. I was going 100 percent before my vacation. Afterwards, I went into it even harder because Roberto wanted to push us, then I get injured a week and a half from the time I got back. It sucks because I was really missing BJJ on my vacation too. This is the only sport and/or thing I've fallen in love so deeply, excluding my religion of course. I mean I love it so much because I have so much fun. I love working with the guys and rolling around with them. It's so stimulating and exhilarating. It's painful and hard work, but it pays off. It just takes so much time just to be good at a certain technique. One has to practice it over and over to be able to use it on another person.
I miss BJJ and can't wait until I can go 100 percent again. At least, my legs got a good workout yesterday. I noticed that the front parts of my thighs became sore tonight. That's a really good sign. It means that I actually did something that made me physically stronger rather than working a whole bunch of techniques. My legs never become sore. The only time I became sore was when I went to this MMA gym in Spokane and worked on all of these lunges when I was on my vacation. My thighs just above the knee were killing me for a few days. I couldn't believe how sore I was. I mean it just hurt going up and down stairs. I just want to work every part of my body and take it easy on my side. I've noticed that when it starts to hurt, it doesn't even like me use my arm. It will spaz out, which is interesting.
President Monson spoke at today's devotional. I didn't go to the Marriott Center because I had class right before and right after it. It turned out that my MMBio professor waited twenty minutes or more for people to come back from the Center. Afterwards, I was asking myself if I should have gone because one doesn't get the opportunity very much to be in the same place as the prophet. However, I think that I chose correctly because I wouldn't have listen so intently there. I'd rather be comfortable looking at a screen and being able to move about, instead of being confined to a cramped seat with a not very good view of the prophet. I might have not gotten a good view of the jumbo tron either. However, it's always so easy to second guess one's self.
His talk was the by far the most funniest talk that I've ever heard by a general authority let alone a prophet. He was telling stories about every prophet that he met and the attributes that we can take from them. I had so much fun listening to him speak. One time, I felt emotional and cried a little because it seemed like he was looking right at me and recognized my presence. I just love the prophet so much. I know that the cares and prays for me even though he doesn't know me personally. He doesn't even know that I exist because we haven't met before. That's OK because I know that he still loves me just the same. That's what I love about the church. I'm able to develop great love and compassion for the general authorities without fearing that they aren't telling the truth or going to betray my love for them in any way. It's wonderful to completely trust a person without worrying about his or her nature. I just wish that I could trust more people like this. Heavenly Father wants us to learn in this life, which means sift the wheat from the chaff. It's hard though because I'm not perfect at that by no means. That's why we have the Holy Ghost to help us choose right way.
7 comments:
I am curious as to how Mr. Thomas Monson is a Prophet?
Is that seen more as an office or station in the Mormon Church? How is it determined in succession from Joseph Smith? Wasn't he deemed a Prophet due to a vision?
How does this conception of Prophet incorporate Prophecy? Does the Mormon Prophet communicate Prophecy?
How does this differ from Mohammed, or eve the Maya People, the Hopi Indians and other Native American Shamanic traditions? What about Nostradamus, or the book of Revelation and even Jesus himself?
I'm just curious, I mean no disrespect, just seeking a little more insight into the matter you mentioned.
Since the beginning of time, Heavenly Father sent prophets to the Earth to lead the people. Prophets declare God's will and testify of Christ. The Earth's first prophet was Adam. There were other prophets after him like Abraham, Jacob, Issac, Moses, and Noah. These men are prophets because they have the priesthood which is divine authority to act and speak in His name.
When Jesus' 12 apostles were killed off, that priesthood was lost and taken off the Earth. In the 1800's, Joseph Smith wondered which church was true. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him saying none of the churches were true. Over a period of time, he translated the Book of Mormon from a set of gold plates and received the priesthood from heavenly messengers. After he was killed, a successor was chosen who was Brigham Young. That line has continued all the way to President Monson.
We know that President Monson and prophets before him can see into the future and warn us what is going to come about. Of course, many people don't believe him. Prophets tell us what God wants us to do and how we can return to live with Him again. It's different from Mohammad or the Mayan People because none of these had the priesthood.
Thanks for asking these questions. If you have any more, I'll be happy to answer them.
Why is it stated here that the Maya did not have the Priesthood? What defines the Priesthood? Is it assigned by the Divine through revelation or some process like that? If that is the case then it could be argued that the Maya DID have the Priesthood at the time, thus the reason their predictions are so accurate to date.
It can also be argued that the Priesthood existed simultaneously in different forms for different cultures.
If by Christ you draw the actual meaning of the word 'Christos' then you are correct, that means the annointing, and the annointing means the teaching of wisdom, or Sophia.
John the Baptist, in this view, had Christos, just as Jesus did, and many subsequent Prophets thereafter and before.
So it is not necessarily different than Mohammed or any of the others.
Also, according to the view you hold, why is it different than even Mohammed, whom was a Prophet in the line if Ishmael, a son of Abraham, who had also received Divine Revelation from the same God??
Where did Joseph Smith receive these tablets and how was he able to translate them?
I understand the whole logical argument that people have against this, but I don't think that logic can cover everything, especially when it comes to things such as this.
How was Brigham Young selected as his successor to the Mormon Church?
What sorts of revelations/prophecies has President Monson spoken of? Honestly, I am a big-time believer in this sort of thing, for me, it is not a matter of belief, it is a matter of fact; these are based on reasons I cannot go into in the open like this.
Thank you for your detailed response.
The priesthood is the eternal power and authority of God. Through the priesthood God created and governs the heavens and the earth. Through this power He redeems and exalts His children, bringing to pass "the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). God gives priesthood authority to worthy male members of the Church so they can act in His name for the salvation of His children. Priesthood holders can be authorized to preach the gospel, administer the ordinances of salvation, and govern the kingdom of God on the earth.
God gave Adam the priesthood. From then on, it was passed down to all the prophets that we read in the Old and New Testament. Even John the Baptist had the priesthood. The Mayans didn't have the priesthood because none of the prophets gave it unto them.
Joseph Smith received the plates from an angel named Moroni. He translated them through the power of God. When he died, Brigham Young was chosen because the was the most senior Apostle. The twelve apostles and the church has to sustain him too before he's president of the church. This happens today too.
If you have more questions about the priesthood, I'll be happy to answer them. Probably, I'll answer the rest of your questions tomorrow.
I looked up why Ishmael didn't have the priesthood. This what the Bible says in Genesis 17: 19-20.
"19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation."
A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and a person or group of people. God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions. When we choose not to keep covenants, we cannot receive the blessings, and in some instances we suffer a penalty as a consequence of our disobedience. We cannot make covenants without the priesthood. In those verses, the Bible says that the priesthood will be passed down to Issac instead of Ishmael. That's why Mohammad wasn't a prophet.
In that very same Bible verse you quoted it stated that God blessed Ishmael, but you also said that if one cannot keep a covenant then they cannot receive a blessing.
A covenant is an agreement, in this case God makes a promise in return for obedience.
In this instance God has made a promise to Abraham concerning both of his sons.
In one instance God gives the Priesthood, in another a Nation of Princes.
So it would appear that God made a covenant with BOTH sons and that Mohammed could, indeed, be a prophet, just the same as Isaac could, indeed, have the Priesthood.
In the Koran it records it the other way around.
Both are based on the Torah, so which is correct? I think in order to discover that one would have to go directly to the source and study the original Torah.
However, in both instances, there is a covenant made with both sons, God shows favor for both, it is the mother of Isaac that does not.
So, if the Maya did not have the Priesthood then they could not have been prophets and could not have practiced Prophecy?
Their prophecies have been among the most accurate.
It is said that Abraham was a star gazer, the word 'sin' means 'moon' in the ancient tongues of the middle east.
'God' is derived from the root word that meant 'Goat' which signifies the Goat Sacrifices of the Israelites and many of the people around that area.
Many of these practices are mirrored in Maya culture and many cultures the world over.
Many of them had the same revelations as Abraham.
It is also said that Abraham was a foreigner from the north, somewhere in what is now called India, where the name can be further broken down, 'Brahma.'
Brahma had a wife too, her name is Saraswati, the same root as 'Sara.'
The stories of their lives are similar as well.
I'm curious about this Angelic figure that gave the tablets to Joseph Smith?
Moroni you said? That is curious? I wonder what Moroni means? I will look that up and see what I can find.
What language were these tablets in? Does anyone know what happened to the tablets?
Also, what sort of prophecies have been made by the Mormon Church over the years? Can you point out some sources? What about President Monson? Has he made any Prophetic Revelations?
Again, I am curious. Comparative religion has always been a passion of mine.
I was an odd child. ;)
Angle Moroni is the last prophet that wrote in the Book of Mormon. The plates were written in Reformed Egyptian. When the Joseph Smith was done translating the plates, Angel Moroni took them back.
The Mayans might have been part of the Nephites that's in the Book of Mormon. The Nephites had the priesthood because a prophet and his family traveled to the New World from Jerusalem before King Nebuchadnezzar took over the city. Both lived in South America and were alive during the same time period. That can explain why they were so good at predicting things. I don' know though. They might have been some really good guesses. Satan and his angels might have told them too. I'd like to hope and think that they were Nephites.
In the our church, we consider the First Presidency, which consists of of the prophet and is two counselors, and the 12 apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. When President Monson was first counselor, The Family: A Proclamation to the World and The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles. I'll probably provide links for these and answer the rest of your questions in a post tomorrow.
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