Spiritual Gifts

3/22 class with Laurel Lawrence 

Grace in the scriptures means “Help From Heaven”

1 Corinthians 12, D & C 46, & Moroni all explain and name gifts of the Holy Ghost.

At a Mission President’s seminar Elder Nelson told the mission presidents the reason that the age of missionaries was changed to 18. It wasn’t to increase the number of missionaries in order to increase baptisms and “hasten the work”. The real reason the age was changed was to SAVE THE RISING GENERATION by putting them under covenant. 

After the increase of number of missionaries in the field, the number of baptisms did not go up. Nelson said that baptisms would increase when the people truly repent. The problem was that the missionaries were too timid to call the people to repentance. The missionaries need to understand repentance. They need to have experienced the miracle of repentance in their lives so they can teach people the peace and joy that comes from knowing that your sins are forgiven and forgotten. When they have experienced repentance and the joy of forgiveness, they can better understand and be grateful for the atonement. Then they can teach from experience the need for and joy of repentance.

Too many times we make repentance sound too difficult. There really are only 3 steps to repentance:

1.      Feel sorry – not that we got caught, but for what we did wrong, sorry that we disappointed our Father in Heaven.

2.      Say sorry – to the person we offended or hurt, to our Bishop if it is a serious sin, and always we need to say sorry to our Father in Heaven. Sometimes saying sorry includes replacing what we took.

3.      Change and do better. We need to learn from our mistakes and forsake them.

We need to feel the good that comes from repentance and understand GRACE. Grace is mentioned 100 times in the scriptures but most people don’t understand what it is.  Then we can teach the joy of repentance.

At every General Conference, other religious leaders are always invited to attend. They are given  special seating, and invited to lunch with general authorities afterwards where they can have any questions answered.

Read: Ted Calister's book, “The Infinite Atonement” that teaches about grace.

One way that we are different from other churches is that we understand grace and understand that we also need to have all of our ordinances, and the Doctrine of Christ: The doctrine of Christ includes Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and enduring to the end.

Parallel story: Imagine that a billionaire gifts to you $10 million. How would you feel towards him? Would you love him? How long would you love him? Forever? Would you ever forget what he did for you? Would you try to be like him and be a generous person? When we understand the atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace, we will feel that way towards him.

Grace can be understood by comparing a worldly bank with a Heavenly Bank

Worldly Bank                                                                        Heavenly Bank

Cash/checks                                                              unlimited debit card

Limited funds; can’t go over limit                           unlimited and always sufficient funds

Only accessibly when bank is open                         God never sleeps/bank is always open

The bank can crash                                                  Always stable, never failing

As long as you are worthy when you partake of the Sacrament, you have access to the Heavenly Bank. You have a debit card

Moses 27: 5 Yea, and all their priests and teachers should labor with their own hands for their support, in all cases save it were in sickness

We are paid in GRACE (Heavenly help). And we are given spiritual gifts as part of the currency.
There is no end to gifts of the spirit.

Read the Gift of Grace by President Uchdorf: here

Some examples of spiritual gifts are musical talent, inspirational singing, discernment, faith, understanding scriptures, time management, organization, patience, testimony, teaching, understanding other’s teaching, exhortation (public speaking), personal revelation, gift of tongues, understanding tongues, prophesy, healing, to be healed, knowledge, creative ideas, dreams, peacemaking, beholding angels & ministering spirits, gift of cheerfulness, gift of recall, gift of making friends, gift of courage, integrity, leadership, compassion, grateful heart, endurance, sensitivity, invention, courage, recognition, spirituality, forgiving heart, generosity.

All gifts are given to build the kingdom and to help us grow spiritually.

As you read the scriptures, ask for the gift of recall.

Some gifts are mentioned in our patriarchal blessings. Those are starter gifts given to us without asking. We are told to ask for spiritual gifts.

Read: “why not ask” – BYU devotional 2017 by Larry Lawrence http://www.byui.edu/devotionals/elder-larry-r-lawrence-spring-2017

God is happy when we ask for specific spiritual gifts. The worldly bank doesn’t give us anything except what we put in; the Spiritual bank has unlimited resources that it wants to give us if we just ask.

Hebrews: “Come boldly before the throne of Grace” means to ask for spiritual gifts boldly, not fearing.

“Ask and ye shall receive” is one of the most repeated phrases in the scriptures. We know we can 

ASK. God wants us to ASK.

George Q Cannon counseled young mothers to ask for the gift of governing young children. ASK FOR WHATEVER YOU NEED. The spiritual bank never runs out. The only requirement is that we ask and use it for good.

Solomon was made king at 19 years old. He was told to ask for whatever he wanted and he asked for wisdom. Because he asked for a good thing, God gave him everything he didn’t ask for: riches, long life, etc.

“If any of you lack wisdom” promises that God gives LIBERALLY AND DOESN’T HOLD BACK.

Read: Brad Wilcox, “His Grace (heavenly help) is Sufficient” Sept 2013. here. He gave the comparison of Christ paying for our sins and what He expects from us to a parent paying for piano lessons and what they expect from the child. They purchase the piano, provide a place to practice and pay for lessons. They expect the child to practice and use the talent for good.

The D & C talks about grace for grace: when you help someone, God will help you. We help others with the things they can’t do for themselves, then God will help us with what we can’t do for ourselves. Examples: a mother caring for a baby, doing proxy work in the temple, teaching in Church. Whenever we do a service, we are earning credits in the Spiritual Bank and Christ will do something for us that we can’t do alone.

Remember the meaning of GRACE when reading scriptures: Moroni 9:26 – Mormon wrote to his son, “may grace (Heaven’s help) always be with you”.

Shari Dew wrote a book called “Amazed by Grace” where she said that the scripture that says we are “saved by grace after all we can do” doesn’t mean we can’t have/receive grace (Heaven’s help) until after all we can do. We can receive grace before, during and after all we can do. Grace (heaven’s help) can help us do all we can do.

Marvin J Ashton wrote a book called Spiritual Gifts.

Our gifts are connected to our spiritual progress. We can ask “What Lack I Yet?” to know what spiritual gifts we should/can ask for. The spiritual gifts are not just for this life but help us become what we need to be in the next life.

Adam and Eve

A friend of Laurel’s, who was a Seventh Day Adventist, one day commented after a particularly hard day that she wished Adam and Eve had never partaken of the fruit so we would still be living in the Garden of Eden. Other religious don’t understand how Adam and Eve fulfilled their calling to bring us into the mortal world. We are the only church that believes that Adam and Eve choose wisely.

We are the only church that believes that in the premortal life Adam was Michael. The name Michael means “one who is like God”. In the scriptures we are told that Michael “fought the dragon”. That refers to him leading the hosts who cat out Satan. He led the armies; he helped create the earth. He is the archangel, which means head angel – he still is the head angel. He holds the keys to the Priesthood. No one outside of the Godhead plays a more prominent role.

Bruce R McConkie says that when Jesus was in gethsemane, he was sent an angel and that angel might have been Michael. He was in charge of the angels and might have assigned himself.

Read: The Lord needed a Prophet

Michael (Adam) is the prince; We know he has a solid character and is trustworthy. We know that Eve is a noble spirit for them to the chosen to be the first on the earth. (D&C 107 53 Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.

54 And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.

55 And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.

56 And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation.

57 These things were all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time.)

Imagine being the first on the earth. Everythng was new. There were no parents to teach them how to cook, build a house, hunt, cook, what plants were edible or how to prepare them. There was no doctor, no midwife, no internet to look things up, no libraries, no books. They were taught by their Father and possibly angels, but it had to have been hard.

We know Adam was created in the image of God – D&C 107. 43 Because he (Seth) was a perfect man, and his likeness was the express likeness of his father, insomuch that he seemed to be like unto his father in all things, and could be distinguished from him only by his age.

This says Seth was the likeness of his father; Adam is in the same way the likeness of his Father. Paul said, Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, 

Joseph Smith described Adam as a very handsome man. He said that his brother Alvis was the most handsome man he had ever known except for Adam himself. Joseph Smith saw them because they resurrected at the same time as Jesus.

Adam and Eve were married while they were in the Garden of Eden. The first commandment given to them was to multiply and replenish the earth. That commandment is still in force.

God taught Adam everything – how to read, write; they spoke the Adamic language which continued until the tower of Babel. We know some words in the Adamic language: deseret, zion, Adam ondi Ahman (which means Man of Holiness), and others. In the millennium we will speak the Adamic language again. The Jaredites down to Ether spoke the Adamic language. In the book of Ether he names animals like Curalons and Cumin.

We know God taught Adam to write because Adam kept a record – the Book of Remembrance. Adam named the trees. The tree of life named in the Garden of Eden bis not to be confused with the Tree of Life in Lehi’s dream. They ate of the Tree of Life regularly because they had no blood in their veins – they were alive through being quickened by the Spirit, which is light. They were able to eat and drink, but not die because they weren’t mortal. When they ate of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, it changed their body chemistry. They now had blood in their veins and hormones to be able to bear children. Blood is the symbol of life and the atonement.

We don’t know how long they were in the Garden of Eden; they were in a different neighborhood and time zone, not in this solar system yet. They had to choose between good and better, like rest on the Sabbath or go save the dying pioneers. They had to choose don’t eat the forbidden fruit or multiply their seed. Life was good, but it could be better.

It is significant that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was in the MIDST of the Garden.  Adam was told that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he would die. He died when he was 930 years old. If 1000 years is a day in the Lord’s time, then Adam did day a day later after taking the fruit.

Satan spoke by the mouth of the serpent. We know he can enter bodies of animals. The dove is the only animal that he is not allowed to enter because it is a symbol of the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith said that the curse given to the devil is the reason snakes lost their legs – on thy belly thou shalt go…

The Garden of Eden was a terrestrial world. Now we are in a telestial world. In the millennium we will be in a terrestrial world again until the world is glorified, then it will become celestial.

Satan used his usual door approach on Adam and Eve: a half-truth followed by a lie or another half-truth and his own doctrine.  It’s like him saying, “It’s good to earn money for a mission, so it will be ok to work on Sundays because it is so I can go on a mission.” He is the master of rationalization.

Eve wanted to know good from evil. She wanted to have children, to be like God but didn’t want to die. Satan lied and said she wouldn’t die, so she ate the fruit.

A TRANSGRESSION is breaking a law; a SIN is rebelling against God.

Eve was a help meet – a strong equal. She made a courageous decision. Adam and Eve taught the gospel to their children. Satan came among them and commanded them not to believe; he appealed to their appetites.

Now we have scriptures and prophets and ancestors who teach and give examples. Cain and Abel weren’t the first born. Adam and Eve had grandchildren when Cain and Abel were born. Cain didn’t like to follow the rules. He loved Satan and worshipped him.

Cain was the first son of perdition. After he killed Abel, Adam and Eve prayed for another righteous sin and got SETH. The name means replacement. Seth was very righteous and was given the Priesthood - the Order, or Holy Order. Adam ordained 6 generations to the Priesthood. 

They were the great patriarchs. Before Adam died, he gathered his righteous at Adam Ondi Ahman, where he lived, and held a special meeting. The Savior appeared. It was Adam’s final talk:

D & C 107:53 Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.

54 And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.

55 And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.

56 And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation.

Adam will return right before the 2^nd coming to Adam Ondi Ahman in Davis County. He will take the Sacrament and will collect the keys from all dispensations.

At the end of the millennium Satan will be unleashed again for a short time – D&C 88. Adam will gather the armies to battle against Satan and his armies. The Battle of Great god and Satan will be cast out to outer darkness.

After Satan is defeated, Adam will open the gate to the Celestial City and admit the righteous one by one to become kings and queens. Adam will introduce us to our throne.

Gaining Patience

In 2 Peter, he counseled the saints that to make their calling and election made sure, they needed to become sanctified and gave the “ladder of sanctification”.

Faith

Virtue

Knowledge

Temperance

Patience

Godliness

Brotherly kindness (how you treat others)

Charity  (how you love others)

The prophets still counsel us to become sanctified, as in the last 3 verses of the Book of Mormon:

Moroni 10:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

Patience is the 4^th rung on the ladder of sanctification. To learn patience we have to be tested and tried. We have to go through trials.

The Epistle of James was written by James who was a brother (technically a half-brother) of Jesus. He was one of the first that Jesus appeared to after the resurrection. His book includes the verse, “If any of you lack wisdom.” He also wrote: 

 James 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

All prophets have suffered afflictions. Harold B Lee said that the prophet is Satan’s prime target on the earth. We can look to them for examples of overcoming trials and living a happy life/finding joy through and in spite of the trials.

Following are examples of modern prophets and some of the  trials they suffered.

Joseph Smith – the family was poor farmers. Each time they moved was because of crop failure. Joseph suffered Typhus fever which caused an infection in the bone. It was a miracle they found a doctor who would operate instead of amputating, which he had without anesthetic then walked with crutches for 3 years – when he was 7, 8 and  9 years old. He walked with a limp the rest of his life and was well acquainted with pain. As a child he was taken by a man to New York but the man made him walk the whole way.

As a teen he was badly persecuted. False stories were spread even about his parents and family. He and Emma had 9 children but 6 died. While he was caring for one of the twins he was attacked, tarred and feathered. In the incident a tooth got chipped and he spoke with a lisp/whistle the rest of his life. (they couldn’t fix a chipped tooth back then.

When he was in prison in Liberty Jail, there was a very low ceiling so he could never stand up straight. It was cold on the dirt ground, and damp and they had very little food. HE LEARNED PATIENCE.

He was taken to court 46 times, but was promised that “whoever goes to law with thee shall be cursed by law.” His enemies hunted him constantly, so he was always hiding and had to be away from his family. He had very little contact with them for years. HE LEARNED PATIENCE. He was only 38 when he was murdered.

Brigham Young: His mother had TB so was an invalid. He was raided by his 13 year old sister. He had only 1 pair of shoes which he only used for Sundays. He had to make the bread and do the cooking. His mother died when he was 14 so he had to start working. When he got married, his wife also got TB and died 8 years later with 2 small girls. He remarried but then was called on a mission. He served 10 missions.

Section 126 speaks to Brigham that he would not have to serve any more missions. Then he led the saints thousands of miles. He was always the first up in the morning and the last to go to bed at night. He had rheumatism but was always looking for and caring for others.

John Taylor: He was with Joseph Smith and Hyrum when they were killed. He was hit with 5 bullets, one of which stayed in his leg the rest of his life.

Wilford Woodruff: His mother died when he was 15 months old, then his father remarried. He was very accident prone: He was scalded with boiling water 3 times; had 5 broken legs, bit by a dog, charged by a bull. He said that it seemed an invisible power was with him to destroy his life because of his future role in establishing temple work.

Lorenzo Snow: was called to serve a mission in Kentucky and had to walk 5,000 miles to get there. Then he served another mission in Hawaii where he drowned in the ocean. Someone with him prayed over him and was inspired to do artificial resuscitation which had not been invented yet. He spent 11 months in jail at 71 years old for polygamy before he was a prophet.

Joseph F Smith: When he was 5 his father, Hyrum was shot and killed. When he was 7 years old he drove an ox team to winter quarters. When he was 9 years old he drove the wagon to the Salt Lake Valley. He lived in the covered wagon a year after getting there. When he was 13 years old his mother died so he cared for his sisters. He started the Friend magazine and the Family Home Evening program.

Heber J Grant: His father died when he ws 9 years old. His mother sewed to support the family. They were very poor. He was the only child and very lonely. Boys teased him and said he threw a ball like a sissy so he practiced all the time and finally played on the district team that won the valley championships.  He was the one who said that when you learn to do something it becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing changes, but our ability to do it increases. He lost his only 2 sons.

George Albert Smith: He was always embarrassed by his homely appearance. He wrote a poem about hit. He had one wandering eye. He worked the railroad which damaged his eyesight and gave him chronic fatigue. When he met Lucy Woodruff, he was so interested in her that he decided to make his front yard nice to impress her. She did compliment him and saw his good traits. She died 15 years before him so he was single when he was a prophet.

David O McKay: When he was 6 years old, his 2 older sisters died and were buried in the same grave. When he was 7 his father served a mission in Scotland. When he was 9 years old he worked to provide for the family and worked from 7am to 5pm, delivering mail on horseback.

He had no time to play; he loved animals and had a great sense of humor. He wrote a poem called My Sweet Emma. He was in a bad car accident but was blessed and healed. He was the first prophet to not have a beard – he couldn’t grow one.

Joseph Fielding Smith: when he was young his father was in hiding from persecutors of the church. His mother was a midwife so he would have to get up and drive her to the ladies houses. He always wondered why most of the babies came in the middle of the night. He was a gospel scholar of the Church. As a child he loved to read the scriptures. For years he had a column in the newspaper where he answered Gospel questions. He served a mission in England for 2 years and did not have one single baptism. His wife died when she was pregnant with their 3^rd child. The 2^nd wife died.

Harold B Lee: His wife died and his daughter died. He taught that the death of a loved one was the most difficult trial we can have. He died at 74 and was the youngest prophet except for Joseph Smith

Spencer W Kimball: He was very short. He loved basketball but was too short to play. His mother died when he was 11. As an apostle he had boils on his waist. He had to wear a suit every day and the pain was terribly around his waist. He had a heart attack and Elder Russell M Nelson performed his surgery. He got cancer on his vocal cords so they had to be removed. He spoke with a raspy whisper after that. One of his sons went inactive and one brother went inactive. He wrote to them every week bearing his testimony and encouraging them to return.

Ezra Taft Benson: When he was 13 years old his father served on a mission so he had to run the family farm which helped prepare him to serve the country as Secretary of Agriculture later. He had that post while serving as an apostle and with a big family. He initiated prayer in all cabinet meetings.

Howard W Hunter: His father was a non-member so he couldn’t get baptized until he was 12 years old. Because of that he valued his baptism and membership in the church more than most of us. He was a great musician and played in a traveling band.

He was never taught about paying tithing so when he was ready to marry in the temple, he wasn’t allowed  because he wasn’t paying tithing and had to wait until he had paid long enough to be worthy. While speaking at BYU, it was announced that a crazy man had a bomb that he was going to detonate. He was able to remain calm through it.

His son died at 6 months from birth defects; while he was an apostle his wife was an invalid for 12 years and he cared for her. He had diabetes and had a hard time walking towards the end. He eventually lost the use of both legs.

Gordon B Hinckley: He was always optimistic. When he was 8 years old they received a telegram that his oldest brother had been killed in WW 1. As a young adult his other died of cancer. He was very shy; speaking in public was a great trial for him. So the thoughts of serving a mission was very hard for him but his mother had saved money from selling eggs so he went. He was terrified and wrote home that he was wasting his time and their money. His father wrote back for him to forget himself and get to work.

As a church leader he was accused of a moral transgression and they told awful lies. It was an horrible trial for him. Eventually the accuser confessed that he had been paid say it.

Thomas Monson: His parents weren’t active but sent him to church. He went to Priesthood alone and sometimes skipped out to go play. His daughter said he was not mechanically inclined; not handy at all. He was called to great responsibility at a very young age. He was 22 when called to be bishop; 32 was a mission president in Canada; at 36 was called to be apostle. He had poor health with type 2 diabetes which affected his vision, feet and general health. But he was always cheerful.

His biggest challenge was his wife’s health. Once she fell while he was gone and was unconscious for 22 days. When she woke up the first thing she was that she forgot to mail the tax bill.

Russsell M Nelson:  His parents were inactive so he went to church alone. He was not taught all about the church at home. In his teen years he was drawn to spiritual matters and was baptized when 16. He graduated from high school at 16 as valedictorian. He was very bright. He graduated medical school at 22.

His parents were still not interested in the church and had never been sealed in the temple. Every year he gave them thoughtful gifts that he hoped with help bring them back. When his dad was 80 he was able to ordain his father to the Priesthood and was finally sealed to his parents.

When he was a young doctor 2 girls died in the operating room. There was a padded room where the doctors would tell the parents – padded so the parents didn’t hurt themselves while dealing with the grief. He always wished he could share the gospel with them at that time.

He was the father of 9 daughters. One died as an adult leaving 5 of her children behind. 10 years later his wife died at 78 and he remarried.

When on a trip to Mozambique, men entered the home where they were visiting and beat him up. They also broke the mission president’s wife’s arm.

Elder Bednar’s father was a non-member so his Primary teacher picked him up for church. He was able to baptize his father after his mission. Many apostles had inactive fathers. Elder Holland’s father smoked until he was called to teach his Primary class.

Everyone is given trials; leaders of the Church and especially the prophets are Satan’s prime target. We can follow their example to find joy in spite of and through the trials we have in this life.