Kept From Truth





LOOKING FOR ME

Elder Warren G. Tate of the Fifth Quorum of Seventy presided at our stake conference.  His wife, Suzanne also spoke and this is a paraphrase of what she said:

"A cell phone vibrated and a young boy, with a child's whisper voice, answered and said, 'Hello.'   The person calling said, 'Hello, is your father home?' 'Yes,' the boy answered.  'May I speak to him?' questioned the caller.  'No', the boy replied.  Oh, well then, is your Mother home?  'Yes,' the boy continued to whisper.  'May I speak to her?' 'No,' the boy answered again.  Okay, well is there anyone else there?  'Yes, the neighbors.'  'May I speak to them?' the caller questioned.  'No,' was the same reply. 'Is there anyone else there?' 'Yes, the police.'  'My goodness, the police, what are they doing there?'  'Looking for me.'

Looking for me, Looking for me.  D&C 123:12-15 tells us:

12. For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—

13. Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—

14. These should then be attended to with great earnestness.

15. Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.

Sister Tate continues, "I sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for about 25 years and people were greatly affected by our music and performances because the Spirit was often there in rich abundance.  On one occasion our tour bus driver was bringing us to a performance in what was formerly the Soviet Union.  Several of us befriended her as she drove us to our next stop.  We asked her about her current feelings about religion and she mentioned that she had no use for any Church and was unimpressed about what little of religion she had seen.

We gave her tickets to our performance and she said she would attend.  When the performance was over, it was standard procedure to have the full time missionaries tag along as we visited the audience.  As we approached our tour driver, she was obviously changed in her countenance.  She was crying and said, 'What has happened to me?  I have never, felt this way before.  We hugged and visited with her and then introduced her to the LDS full time elders.

On another occasion, we handed out cards with the Articles of Faith on the back, printed in Russian that explained how to contact local missionaries from the Church.  We also distributed Books of Mormon in the Russian language.  People told us that they had never even heard of 'The Mormons' and were fascinated by our performance and the way it made them feel.  Lives were touched, many were baptized.

My husband was a mission president in Las Vegas and we frequently attended the Las Vegas Temple.  The security night watchman told us of an unkempt, long bearded man who reeked of alcohol and was wearing tattered, dirty clothes.  He began asking questions of the security man about the purpose of Temples and what they were all about.  The man from security answered his questions and told him if he would attend a 9AM Sunday meeting at a certain LDS Chapel, many of his other questions would be answered.  Sunday came and this man showed up at the chapel just as the ward mission leader was going into the building.  The leader sat by the bearded man and offered to bring him home, let him shower and clean up and wear some clean clothes that the ward mission leader had.  After personal hygiene and a meal, the man confessed that he had been discharged from the military and had been in Special Forces where he had seen many atrocities that discouraged him. 

On the night that he had wandered into the Temple Grounds, he had planned to commit suicide, but because of the security man and his invitation, he had decided to give life one more chance.  He felt he had been in darkness all his life and had finally found the light.  He took the missionary lessons, was baptized and eventually was able to go inside that beautiful Las Vegas Temple he had seen that night.  His entire life was changed and he was infused with hope and the love of our Savior. 

What if the security man had not taken time with the dirty, bearded man?  What if the Ward Mission Leader had not helped him?  Excuses for not assisting someone down and out are plentiful, but because of their sincere efforts, a soul was saved.  How many of us need to reach out to others in like circumstances 'who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.'"





The Next Life

Teaching Those of Our Own Nation and Tongue (From the book, The Life Beyond, by Robert Millet & Joseph Fielding McConkie, pages 55-57)

"The heavens have decreed that 'every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power' (D&C 90:11). We have every reason to suppose that such decrees transcend the veil of death. Those in that world will also be taught by those of their same nation and tongue. A manifestation given to Oscar W. McConkie (Bruce R. McConkie's father), while he was serving as president of the California Mission, sustains such a conclusion.

 A Cochapa Indian by the name of Mark Johnson Vest was baptized in President McConkie's mission, which at that time included parts of Arizona. Mark Vest was a giant of a man with a spirit to match. He stood six feet five inches tall and weighed over three hundred pounds. By birth he would have been the chief of his tribe had his people been following the traditions of their fathers. After he had been in the Church a short time he was called to be the branch president over a small Indian branch.

Within six months he had increased the branch to seventy-five members. Brother Vest became ill and in the course of his illness lost over a hundred pounds. Both President McConkie and Elder Harold B. Lee administered to him but without lasting effect. Despite his illness, Mark Vest continued in his work with his people until his death a short time later.

When President McConkie received word that Mark had died he immediately boarded a train for Arizona to attend the funeral. All night long as he traveled, he prayed to know why the Lord had allowed this great missionary to be taken. As he prayed, a vision was opened to him of the spirit world. He saw Mark Johnson Vest standing in front of a large group of Lamanites, which he estimated to be twenty to thirty thousand. As he did so, one of the Indians in the middle of the group stood up and said: "Do not listen to this man! He is not a Lamanite. He is a Nephite!" President McConkie saw Mark Vest rise to the full stature of his height and say: "I am not a Nephite! I am a Lamanite, and when I died I was cremated according to the custom of my people." At this point the vision closed up.

Upon his arrival in Mesa, and as he drove to the chapel where the funeral was to be held, President McConkie was advised of a conflict between Mark Vest's tribe and the tribe from which his wife came.

Mark's family wanted him buried in a cemetery while his wife's people wanted to cremate his body according to their traditions. The matter had become so heated that Mark's wife's tribe had threatened to dig up his body and take it if their demands were not met. When they arrived at the chapel President McConkie learned that he was to be the speaker. In his sermon, he was able to resolve the difficulty, explaining the importance of Mark complying even in death with the customs of those among whom he had now been called to labor."

The Bible

Deciphering Scriptural Passages

9. And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.  (Mosiah 3:9)

From Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon by Millet & McConkie, Volume 2, page 148, we read about this verse:  "The popularized notion that salvation means one thing and exaltation another is without scriptural support in the Book of Mormon. Here, as in virtually every scriptural text, salvation is a synonym for exaltation."

Further, "How hard the hearts and blind the eyes of those given up to wickedness that God himself should be called a devil!  Thus those who know only darkness seek to be seen as angels of light and labor to clothe all that is light in the dark robes they wear."

And then from the same source, page 19, it states:  "Some read the scriptures seeking understanding, desiring a remission of sins.  Others quote scripture as a justification for their sins.  The devil and his legions are adept at quoting scriptures. 

Then from, "Sustaining and Defending the Faith," page 39: "The Bible is the most misused and misunderstood book ever written.  It has been used to justify all manner of impropriety, wickedness and falsehood.  Every spiritual fraud ever perpetuated in the name of Judaism or Christianity has claimed support from the Bible.  On the authority of the Bible, the Jews crucified Christ, stoned Stephen and imprisoned and beat the Apostles.  With the Bible as justification, Paul persecuted Christians unto death, binding and delivering unto prisons both men and women) (Acts 22:4).  After the death of the Apostles the Bible was taught by the authority of the whip and the sword.  To the Reformers it became the source of priesthood authority and the final will and testament of their mute God."