Another life-lesson learned from Sesame Street!

Ok, the lesson was learned from Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland (which isn't exactly the Sesame Street from the good-ol'-days but there are most of the original characters from the famous street in NY, plus Mandy Patinkin to boot and Elmo!) and the lesson came from Grizzie, the grouch from Grouchland, who says that the reason that grouches let Huxley (played by Mandy Patinkin) take anything he wants from them is that: in order to stop him, all of the grouches would have to cooperate and they just hate doing that!

Let's make a parallel with the people of the Earth to the grouches in Grouchland:

-- Each grouch (and are the people on Earth also grouches?) is focused on his or her own personal interest, to the extent that they can't see beyond themselves--beyond what they want for themselves or what they are doing!

-- They are focused so much on themselves, they can't see beyond themselves to other people, their wants, their desires, their wishes, their hopes, their cares, and their loves.

-- Grouches don't care about anything that's going on that doesn't directly effect themselves.

So, the grouches could stop Huxley if they would just band together and cooperate to stop him.  But they won't.  Why?

The grouches in grouchland do band together and cooperate in the movie Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland because they are all rallying around and trying to help Elmo.  The only reason why they get beyond themselves and cooperate is to rescue Elmo's blanket for Elmo (from Huxley).  Because they were all focused on something other than themselves (etc.), they were able to help each other and especially Elmo get his blanket back (and simultaneously thwarting Huxley's designs).

Now, let's make a parallel with the grouches in Grouchland to the people on Earth in terms of what the people on Earth need to do:

-- Each person needs to get beyond themselves and their own interests.

-- They need to be focused on others, see beyond themselves to other people, see other's wants, other's desires, other's wishes, other's hopes, other's cares, and other's loves.

-- People of the Earth need to care about something other than themselves and what effects them directly.

If, then, people of the Earth band together and cooperate, they can and will accomplish many things even greater than retrieving Elmo's blanket; they can, actually, accomplish many, many, many things.  And if, then, the people of the Earth band together with God or with Christ, they can accomplish anything (that is God's will)!

They, we, will build a temple in the New Jerusalem.  We will preach the Gospel to all the world.  We will build Zion.  We will prepare the Earth for the Second Coming of the Jesus Christ.

We will stop Satan as we band together and cooperate to stop him.  Why don't we?  We will!  We are!

JPS

Doctrine & Covenants section 88, verse 6

"He that ascended up on high, as well as descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;"

That seems to be saying that Jesus Christ did not comprehend all things until he ascended up on high as well as descended below all things--or in other words, He only comprehended all things when He had performed the atonement.  He suffered at the Garden of Getsemane but also on Galgotha, or on the cross.  

The Light of Christ was around since before the world was created and before man, because as all men and women are born into this life, they are born with the Light of Christ.  

Light of Truth and Light of Christ cannot be the exact same thing.  We know from the Gospels that Christ had Light and Truth, but there must be some sort of difference between the Light of Christ--which is a specific concept powering all of God's creations, and the Light of Truth--which seems to be a less specific concept but just more of an adjective for Christ, right?

This seems like a quandary that I'm going to have to wait till I understand more of everything to know the answer, because I still can't form a question from this--only to say that I don't understand...

JPS?

I am he, as you are he, and we are we...

I am the walrus; coo-coo-ca-chube!

Ok, really, I'm not...  But I fooled you, didn't I?

I am employed, finally!

I work for sBioMed!  You know the makers and producers of Steriplex, the household and hospital grade disinfectant and cleaner?  That's it...  They are also owned and operated by the same man who created Results R.N.A. and Solutions IE--the manufacture pharmaceutical supplements and additives.

Can you believe it?  I am a training analytical chemist!!!

That's right.  Three years of graduate school and two years of school counseling and whataya got?  A chemist and an analytical one at that..

All right, leave me alone.  I'll be back to my counseling soon...

JPS

ok, ok, ok, ok...  I am the Eggman.

No, I am sitting on a cornflake!

You got me.  I am John.  No wait, Paul is dead!

I can't keep it straight anymore...  I'm off to bed.

To rely on our Savior's grace...

The more we rely on our Savior's grace, the more likely we will be on the path our Heavenly Father intended for us.

For more than two years, I was unemployed (and by unemployed, I have to admit that I did have one job that I was extremely overqualified for and for which I was extremely underpaid) and that was following directly after three years of graduate school--that's five years in a row.  There was fasting and prayers and more fasting a more prayers, and finally my Elder's Quorum President and the High Priest's Group leader in my ward, which they called, "A Full-court Spiritual Press," in faith that it would result in me being employed.

My new job is not in the field that I graduated in or that I had hundreds upon hundreds of applications for and dozens of job interviews, but it's heaven sent and, need I spell it out, a grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Will it always take a draught or an accident or a famine (literal or of employment, etc.) to help us recognize that 1) we are nothing and 2) that we must always rely on the grace of Jesus Christ?  If not, then how can we rely on the grace of Jesus Christ more fully?

Excellent question to ask yourself, because I certainly don't claim to have all the answers (though my posts my seem that they are answering a question definitively, I don't think I'll even try to bully you into thinking that I have all of the answers for this question--but, don't expect me to take the same or a similar position in my other posts).  Let us break the question down a bit, so that we can get at the problem from every angle that we can see:

• Where does Christ's grace come from?

Well, it comes from the Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He suffered, bled, and died for each of us first in the Garden of Getsemane and then on the cross in Calvary.  He experienced every pain, sorrow, guilt, griefs, wounds, mental problems, diseases, shames, regrets, etc. that man has ever or will experience.  In the Book of Mormon, book of Mosiah, chapter 14, verse 4 it reads, "Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." And, this man of griefs, suffered wrongfully all of this, for he was the only perfect and sinless man to be born and live on Earth.  He paid the ultimate price for each and every one of us.  Since He is the fulcrum or focal point of this infinite amount of suffering and He is the one perfect man to ever live on this Earth, and because He always did His Father's will, He has the right and glory to ask Justice to give way to His mercy.  This is where His grace emanates from and blesses each and every one of us (mortals) who turn to the Lord.

• What do the bible Gospel writers mean by Christ's grace mean exactly?

There are two meanings, that I'm aware of:  One meaning is like saying step by step, or grace for grace.  That, it seems, is pretty straightforward.  But relying on the Savior's "grace" is what I intended to speak about--and that is what I would like to clarify.  What are we relying on?  In the New Testament of the Bible, book of Hebrews (an epistle written by Paul), chapter four, verse 16, we can read: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  We rely on the Savior's goodness, His graciousness, His bounteous mercy, and His sinlessness.  We actually are borrowing His "sinless status" as we enter into the Eternal Palaces of God.  

I think that what Paul is saying is that, although man is imperfect and does not merit the chance to be in the presence of God the Father (we are nothing!), because of Jesus Christ's perfect life and atonement, He has granted each of us "permission" to go where He already is worthy to go, without offending Justice (which is why we sinners couldn't enter His presence without Christ's atonement), and there (in the Presence of God the Father and His Son), plead for the mercy that all sinners need; forgiveness of sins.  Grace, then provides forgiveness but also allows imperfect beings to enter into and come before the thrown of God. 

• What sort of blessings could I presume to receive with Christ's grace?

Anything that is asked with a sincere heart, with real intent, and asked in faith will be granted.  You and I know that it is going to necessarily be according to the Father's will because it was asked in faith and anything short of that faith will fail.

The problem is that so few people take advantage of this grace, thinking that they don't want to ask amiss or think they would be asking too much.  The thing is...  if it's asked in faith, it isn't and it will be granted, just as the brother of Jared's prayer was answered when he asked a mountain to move.

However, most have no reason to move a mountain and so there is no prompting to ask that in faith.  There are things, though, that should be being prayed for and have faith centered upon.  We live in a day of hastening.  Hasten away!  You will be guided and prompted.

--

To rely on the Savior's grace means simply to be allowed to go where we otherwise wouldn't be allowed to go and become the person that we wouldn't otherwise be allowed to become!

JPS

Spiritual Event Horizon re-run or critical mass

Since I first posted this idea, I have had several things happen that have strengthened this idea of mine and absolutely nothing contradicting it or making me second-guess the theory (I say theory, because this isn't a proven or spoken about authoritatively by anyone but me and so I can't say it's a "truth" but only my theory...).  Another phrase to illustrate this point would be "critical mass," meaning that it is just at or just beyond the tipping point for a nuclear reaction to occur.  So, one might say, "A blessing doesn't get granted until critical mass is reached..."  Or something like that, but if you haven't read the article, don't stop now.  Read.  Oh, I guess that's what you would do naturally after finishing this sentence.

What is an event horizon?  What do I mean by saying “spiritual critical mass”?

From what I understand (and this is without referring to any notes or websites, because I'm positive that I could google "event horizon" and have a plethora of scholarly and otherwise sites pull-up giving me a definition), an event horizon is:

the shadow of the pull of gravity of a black hole that once breached or entered into, an object can no longer escape the black hole but is doomed to collapse or enter into the center of a black hole.  Likewise, critical mass is the event of an element no longer being able to sustain itself and it either implodes because of its own weight or explodes because its weight has exceeded a sustainable size.

Now, what does spirituality have to do with black holes?  What is, exactly, a black hole anyway?

Once again, I will give you my layman understanding with no reference to websites or notes:

a black hole is a phenomenon where gravity becomes so strong or forceful that it will "suck-in" or pull everything to the point that nothing can escape that pull--even light cannot escape--and everything is crushed into that one point (however large it is).  That point (however large or small it may be) is what is known as a BLACK HOLE.

So, what I mean by spiritual event horizon is:

the amount of faith, the number of prayers offered, the amount of righteousness inspired by, the number of good deeds solicited from, the lessons learned, and the patience suffered by a person or people who are asking for a certain blessing from their Heavenly Father before their righteous desires are granted and that prayer answered (and this needs to have both acts/prayers quantitatively and qualitatively considered and understood as adding to the faith involved—in some scenarios it’s only the faith of one person [for example, a Joseph Smith—though all ancestors and descendants not to mention those on the other-side-of-the-beil] or an Abraham or an Adam!).

There can be no granting of that blessing without it being the will of God, but as the President and prophet Spencer W. Kimball has taught me: we can change the mind of God or better put, we can change our mind to match the mind and will of God--for God's mind is immovable and faithful--and He has seen the end from the beginning.

President Kimball also told us, in the February 1981 Liahona/Ensign that:

I have learned that where there is a prayerful heart, a hungering after righteousness, a forsaking of sins, and obedience to the commandments of God, the Lord pours out more and more light until there is finally power to pierce the heavenly veil and to know more than man knows. A person of such righteousness has the priceless promise that one day he shall see the Lord’s face and know that he is (see D&C 93:1). 

It's that piercing of the veil that I am calling the "spiritual event horizon".

Remember how President Kimball spoke about hastening-on the Second Coming with our righteous desires and works?  He taught that we could make it happen sooner (or not and later) by our own choices and I believe he is right.

What?  How is that?

Let's say that the entire world and the even smaller, entire church, wanted to speed up the process or have Jesus return again to the Earth in His glory.  Now, let's use our event horizon premise:

the amount of faith, the number of prayers offered, the amount of righteousness inspired by, the number of good deeds solicited from, the lessons learned, and the patience suffered by a person or people who are asking for a certain blessing from their Heavenly Father before their righteous desires are granted and that prayer answered with regards to Christ's return to the Earth transpires.

Once there has been offered and exists a sufficient amount of faith, once a sufficient amount of prayers have been offered, once a sufficient amount of righteousness has been inspired and good deeds contributed, the lessons learned (both collectively and individually), the patience learned and or suffered gained, then Christ will have His triumphant return and not before then.

That would be a "spiritual event horizon" but you could apply that principle to anything or everything.

Don't push this adaptation of what I've explained to a literalness of concepts and remember that I've not researched anything about either concepts of black hole or event horizon, so stop holding both of these phases and my concept up to the light of your scientific understanding or spiritual one--this discourse will immediately fall apart and you will have entered too far into and past the shadow of the event horizon and would be crushed, destroyed, obliterated, squished, and demolished.  So, don't!

JPS

Xmas = Christmas, with no difference in meaning (no, seriously!)

Is writing Xmas offensive to you?  It is to some!  It shouldn't be...  Xmas isn't taking the "Christ" out of Christmas, but is a Greek writing for Christ that literally means Christ (or Χριστός) and doesn't lose one jot or title of the meaning.  In fact, the X in Xmas is actually as old as Christianity itself.

The Greek word for Christ is "chi"just as the third letter of the Greek alphabet is "chi."  So, Xmas is a capitalized writing of Christmas!  Even written in the 1948 Vogue's Book of Etiquette where it warns that "'Xmas' should never be used" in greeting cards (Fenwick, Millicent, Vogue's Book of Etiquette: A Complete Guide to Traditional Forms and Modern Usage, Simon and Schuster, 1948, p 611, retrieved via Google Books, December 27, 2008; full quote seen on Google Books search page).  But, for those of us who are offended by the use of Xmas may very well just be completely unfamiliar with the long history of Christians using an X in the place of 'Christ' (Wikipedia, "Xmas").

I understand where the feelings of having your God slighted or eliminated comes from and feels like, but, a little understanding and charity needs to be applied here.  Even if it's written by a person simply to abbreviation, we can not cast the first stone.

JPS

Hanging onto that pain, suffering, or offense?

It seems to me that when we are hurt or afraid (fearful) or just hanging onto that feeling of sorrow or pain, we do ourselves a disservice and simultaneously, and necessarily are blaming someone else for that pain or sorrow or hurt or fear...

Why?  Why would we want to do that?

In the words of Bob Newhart, "Stop it!"

Also, in the words of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Stop it!"

Why can't you, or I, or we, just stop it?  Why do we feel that we have no choice but to feel hurt (which implies that someone or something is hurting us), feel afraid (implying that someone or something is frightening us), or are sorrowful (implying that something or someone is making us feel sad or low or depressed).  Why can't we just stop feeling that way?  At other times in our life we are burden-free and happy, even joyful; so why can't we always feel that way?  Why is it so easy to plunge our psyche, our feelings, our self-worth, and our whole person into this mess-of-a-way-to-feel?  Why would we choose to be in this funk?

Why is it so hard?  The answer to this last question is: We are gaining or getting something that outweighs the pain/sorrow/hurt/fear.

Huh?  We want to keep hurting, want to keep feeling sorrow, or want to keep feeling fear?  That just doesn't make sense...

It does, however, explain why anyone would choose to continue feeling this way.

What could possibly outweigh the pain or sorrow that we feel?  Maybe feeing the pride of being correct when another (or others) is (are) wrong.  Maybe feeling the pride of superiority ("well, at least I don't do that" or "at least I am not that way").  We want to feel that pride more than we don't want to feel hurt?   Yes, every time we betray ourselves and choose to act in a way that we know we shouldn't.

Betray ourselves?

In actuality, that feeling of pride or the numbness that blankets the pain is the same thing--a sort of slow poison that eats at us until we become the poison itself.

So, what does "betraying ourselves" or "self-betrayal" mean?

I think it means that you are acting fundamentally in way that contradicts or goes against what you know deep in your heart; deep in your mind; deep in your soul to be wrong.

It's more than just telling a lie or an untruth.  So, can you give me an example?

When you see a situation and you have that initial impulse to make a choice--that choice will be honest and correct 9 times out of 10--but choosing to do anything else (no matter what reasons or evidence you have to choose differently) is self-betrayal.

For example, you awake to hear your new baby stirring; your initial impulse is to get-up and see what's wrong or sing the baby back to sleep.  To get right-up and do just that, is to live honestly--to be honest with yourself.  Whereas, to stay in bed and wait to hear your spouse wake-up and get take care of the baby's needs is, you guessed it, self-betrayal (Bonds that Make Us Free, Warner, C. Terry).

Just stop it.  Get yourself up and out of bed to take care of your baby.  Stop conjuring-up excuses about why you shouldn't, why somehow you deserve to not get-up, or why someone else should get-up and take care of the baby (after all, it's their turn, right?).  No.  Stop it.  Stop it and get out of bed!  This, of course, is all metaphorical talk about just doing what's right!  Don't deceive yourself and act contrary to those initial feelings of doing what's right.  Just get out of bed and take care of the baby yourself and try to save your poor spouse the trouble of waking-up when you're already up yourself!

As long as you hang onto that offense or supposed-offense that you need so badly to help you to feel justified in feeling the way that you do towards someone, just let go of that sickness and feel good about yourself again.  You are a great person and are of infinite worth.  Stop conjuring-up feelings and thoughts about yourself that make you greater than you are and at the same time stop conjuring-up feelings of worthlessness or pain.  Just stop it!

...

I'll write more about this in later posts, just as I've already written about this in the past.

JPS

Movies? Escapism?

With the ever-increasing numbers of movies being produced, viewed, purchased, and seen in theaters, I ask myself, "Why?"  Why are there more and more movies "consumed" by the public?  Is it because they just keep getting better and better?  Graphically and cinematographically speaking, maybe...

It's not because there just aren't any new ideas out there and we must turn to the next set of cinematographic muses to inspire us; or is it?  Are we that pathetic?

I believe that movies have become a new drug, or better put, movies allow anyone watching to live in a different world, a different relationship, with different cars, homes, toys, and jobs than we have right-now in the present world--the real world!

Is that bad?

I guess it's better than self-medicating...  Or is it just another form of self-mecation?

Remember the "feelies" from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World?  Or the place where I originally heard "The New Drug," which was talking about pornography.  It's all the same thing, though, if you think about it.

The difference, though, would be my wife and I don't sit down to watch a movie to get high and there is not the same repercussions, in coming down off the high.  I can get addicted though, just like the new drug or watching feelies.  My brain could still go through similar changes.

Originally, I was thinking of a soft-drug called leaving reality for two hours for a small vacation.  Is this bad?  What do I mean by, "bad"?  Is it harmful?  The answer to this question is: No, it is not.  How can I respond so quickly?  Well, is it bad to escape in your head while you read a book?  No.  Is it bad to lose yourself in thought?  No.   It (watching movies) can become harmful, however, if the movies that are watched

I guess I just answered my own question, and it's not the answer that I originally anticipated: movies or the "escapism" that accompanies watching a movie, is not harmful, in and of itself.  Like most other things, though, it can become harmful if taken to an extreme.

JPS

Are Mormon's Christian? (epilogue)

As a capstone to the question of whether or not Mormon's are, in fact, Christian, I offer from the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi, chapter 25 verse 26:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Just to say, once and for all whether or not Jesus Christ we also read in 2 Nephi 25, but in verse 20:

". . . behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved."

After all, that is what we were talking about, right, being saved by Jesus Christ.

JPS

Are Mormon's Christian? (part 3)

Mormons are followers of Christ.  Of Jesus Christ.  In the April 2013 session of LDS General Conference, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles (who also happens to be a former Utah Supreme Court Justice) gave a talk during the Sunday afternoon session entitled, "Followers of Christ."

In his talk, this modern-day apostle of Jesus Christ outlined some of the ways in which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follow Him.

He begins by saying, "Like all other Christians, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints study the life of our Savior as reported in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I will review examples and teachings contained in these four books of the Holy Bible and invite each of us and all other Christians to consider how this restored Church and each of us qualify as followers of Christ."

Elder Oaks (we refer to the 15 living apostles as Elders) continues, "Jesus taught that baptism was necessary to enter the kingdom of God (see John 3:5). He began His ministry by being baptized (see Mark 1:9), and He and His followers baptized others (see John 3:22–26). We do likewise.

Jesus began His preaching by inviting His listeners to repent (see Matthew 4:17). That is still His servants’ message to the world.

Throughout His ministry Jesus gave commandments. And He taught, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15; see also verses 21, 23). He affirmed that keeping His commandments would require His followers to leave what He called “that which is highly esteemed among men” (Luke 16:15) and “the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8; see also verse 13). He also warned, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). As the Apostle Peter later declared, the followers of Jesus were to be “a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9).

Latter-day Saints understand that we should not be “of the world” or bound to “the tradition of men,” but like other followers of Christ, we sometimes find it difficult to separate ourselves from the world and its traditions. Some model themselves after worldly ways because, as Jesus said of some whom He taught, “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:43). These failures to follow Christ are too numerous and too sensitive to list here. They range all the way from worldly practices like political correctness and extremes in dress and grooming to deviations from basic values like the eternal nature and function of the family.

Jesus’s teachings were not meant to be theoretical. Always they were to be acted upon. Jesus taught, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man” (Matthew 7:24; see alsoLuke 11:28) and “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (Matthew 24:46)."

Another way that everyone can see and know that Mormons are Christian is: "As Jesus taught, those who love Him will keep His commandments. They will be obedient, as President Thomas S. Monson taught this morning. Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places. The Savior taught this principle and how we should be reminded and strengthened to follow it when He instituted the ordinance of the sacrament (communion, as others call it). We know from modern revelation that He commanded His followers to partake of the emblems in remembrance of Him. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints follow that commandment each week by attending a worship service in which we partake of the bread and water and covenant that we will always remember Him and keep His commandments.

Jesus taught that “men ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1). He also set that example, such as when He “continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12) before He called His Twelve Apostles. Like other Christians, we pray in all our worship services. We also pray for guidance, and we teach that we should have frequent personal prayers and daily kneeling prayers as a family. Like Jesus, we pray to our Father in Heaven, and we do so in the sacred name of Jesus Christ.

The Savior called Twelve Apostles to assist in His Church and gave them the keys and authority to carry on after His death (see Matthew 16:18–19; Mark 3:14–15; 6:7; Luke 6:13). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the restored Church of Jesus Christ, follows this example in its organization and in its conferral of keys and authority on Apostles."

He continues, “Some whom Jesus called to follow Him did not respond immediately but sought a delay to attend to proper family obligations. Jesus replied, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Many Latter-day Saints practice the priority Jesus taught. This includes the wonderful example of thousands of senior missionaries and others who have left children and grandchildren to perform the missionary duties to which they have been called.

Jesus taught that God created male and female and that a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife (see Mark 10:6–8). Our commitment to this teaching is well known.

In the familiar parable of the lost sheep, Jesus taught that we should go out of our way to seek after any of the flock who have strayed (see Matthew 18:11–14; Luke 15:3–7). As we know, President Thomas S. Monson has given great emphasis to this direction in his memorable example and teachings about rescuing our fellow men and women.4^"

In our efforts to rescue and serve, we follow our Savior’s unique example and tender teachings about love: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). He even commanded us to love our enemies (see Luke 6:27–28). And in His great teachings at the end of His mortal ministry, He said:

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34–35).”

Two other examples testify of Mormons being Christian: giving to the poor and needy and missionary work.  Elder Oaks tells us of some concrete numbers of both: “Most Christians give to the poor and the needy, as Jesus taught (see Matthew 25:31–46; Mark 14:7). In following this teaching of our Savior, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members excel. Our members make generous contributions to charities and give personal service and other gifts to the poor and needy. In addition, our members fast for two meals each month and donate at least the cost of these meals as a fast offering, which our bishops and branch presidents use to help our needy members. Our fasting to help the hungry is an act of charity and, when done with pure intent, is a spiritual feast.

Less well known is our Church’s global humanitarian service. Using funds donated by generous members, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends food, clothing, and other essentials to relieve the suffering of adults and children all over the world. These humanitarian donations, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in the last decade, are made without any consideration of religion, race, or nationality.

Our massive relief effort following the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami provided $13 million in cash and relief supplies. In addition, more than 31,000 Church-sponsored volunteers gave more than 600,000 hours of service. Our humanitarian assistance to the victims of Hurricane Sandy in the eastern United States included large donations of various resources, plus almost 300,000 hours of service in cleanup efforts by about 28,000 Church members. Among many other examples last year, we provided 300,000 pounds (136,000 kg) of clothing and shoes for the refugees in the African nation of Chad. During the last quarter century we have assisted nearly 30 million people in 179 countries. 6 Truly, the people called “Mormons” know how to give to the poor and needy.

In His last biblical teaching, our Savior directed His followers to take His teachings to every nation and every creature. From the beginning of the Restoration, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sought to follow that teaching. Even when we were a poor and struggling new church with only a few thousand members, our early leaders sent missionaries across the oceans, east and west. As a people, we have continued to teach the Christian message until today our unique missionary program has more than 60,000 full-time missionaries, plus thousands more who serve part-time. We have missionaries in over 150 countries and territories worldwide."

Finally, Elder Dallin H. Oaks bears his testimony to the world and confirms his apostolic words and truths: "I testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose teachings and example we seek to follow. He invites all of us who are heavy laden to come unto Him, to learn of Him, to follow Him, and thus to find rest to our souls (see Matthew 4:19; 11:28). I testify of the truth of His message and of the divine mission and authority of His restored Church in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

JPS