Why Am I a Mormon? (2/2/14)

Today we were instructed by the recently released 1st Counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency, Daniel Harbuck.  Kudos to him for not only asking permission to still have the privilege of teaching the lesson even though  he had recently been released ,but for also earnestly praying and seeking inspiration as to what the lesson topic should be weeks in advance.  This preparation and humility really shone through in the lesson and helped to culminate in what, in my estimation, was one of the watershed moments of spirituality and testimony strengthening in this quorum’s history.

To help set the tone he asked everyone in advance to read one or more short lessons from Bro. Clayton Christensen’s ‘The Power of Everyday Missionaries’ website.  He also asked select people  to come prepared to class with a paragraph explaining, “Why am I a Mormon?”, with corresponding encouragement to post that explanation on their mormon.org profile page.  In addition, he asked a few class members if they’d be willing to read/recite the account of Joseph Smith’s first vision in either their mission language or their native or alternate language.

As the time for the actual lesson arrived, he began by citing Doctrine and Covenants, section 6; a missionary-minded section given in the very early history of the Church  in April, 1829.  The section is written by Joseph Smith in response to a request by Oliver Cowdery, his scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon, to gain a further witness of the divinity of the work in which they were engaged.  The Lord responded (through this revelation in section 6 to Joseph Smith), “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.  Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter?  What greater witness can you have than from God?”  The “cast your mind upon the night” concept resonated, clearly with Daniel, and I think with many of us in the class as well.  Many of us in the Church have groped for answers to our peculiar and trying faith, often pleading with the Lord for validation and assurance.  Casting our collective minds upon the night we cried unto the Lord and remembering the peace that eventually followed was a provocative reminder of our human yearnings and the Lord’s continually outstretched arm (Isa 5:25, 9:12, 10:4).

He then asked for any volunteers that could share their prepared paragraph on why they are a Mormon.  David spoke up and shared his powerful story of how he had doubted his faith for many years, and was almost excited to leave the house and go to school, and was actually sitting on his bed making plans to leave the church for good when a miraculous thing happened -- he received a witness that the Lord needed him in the Church.  (And he has humbly and dutifully served in the Church ever since.)  [FULL STORY HERE.]

Daniel then asked a few previously selected people to recite Joseph Smith’s account of what is known as the ‘First Vision’ in which he went to a grove of trees in Palmyra, NY, to pray to know which church he should join and was visited by God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Son, who instructed him to join none of them, but eventually to assist in restoring the same church which existed on and off in The Savior’s era and in Moses’ era, and with all the holy prophets.

Ben Burgoyne, who served a mission in Germany several years ago, commenced with a recitation in German.  He could scarcely get the first word before he was apparently flooded with a recollection of all the sacred, the challenging, the joyful, and the agonizing moments of his mission, and was nearly overcome with emotion before reciting from memory the all-important lines,

“...sah ich gerade über meinem Haupt, heller als das Licht der Sonne, eine Säule aus Licht, die allmählich herabkam, bis sie auf mich fiel. Kaum war sie erschienen, da fand ich mich auch schon von dem Feind befreit, der mich gebunden gehalten hatte. Als das Licht auf mir ruhte, sah ich zwei Personen von unbeschreiblicher Helle und Herrlichkeit über mir in der Luft stehen. Eine von ihnen redete mich an, nannte mich beim Namen und sagte, dabei auf die andere deutend: Dies ist mein geliebter Sohn. Ihn höre!”

"...I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

All told, we had it read by the following members of the quorum in 13 languages:
Ben Burgoyne (German)
Rey Benitez (Spanish)
Han Lee (Mandarin)
Dan Kim (Korean)
Azzaya Nyam-Ochir (Mongolian)
David Sessions (Polish)
Karl Sneider (Turkish)
Elder Gledhill (Ukrainian)
Andrew Smith (Indonesian)
Andrew Cusick (French)
Anthony Latta (Russian) [I will not soon forget the image of an investigator reading the account in Russian while a nearby Russian-speaking return missionary wept with emotion]
Daniel Harbuck (Portuguese)
Elder Christensen (English)

Truly, this standard of truth will penetrate every continent, visit every climb, sweep every country, and sound in every ear.

It’s pretty remarkable to belong to a group of men that can be spiritual and emotional with each other in such a constructive way; and to catch a glimpse of their testimonies and their experiences which range the entire globe, really.

Hi, My Name is David, and I'm a Mormon (2/2/14)

I spent the morning watching “I’m a Mormon” videos trying to brainstorm as to why I am a Mormon. That I have to watch videos about other Mormons to discover why I am a Mormon is, well, somewhat shameful, and I realized that I have not seriously contemplated my reasoning for being a Mormon in several years. I guess Alma was speaking to me when he said  “if ye have experienced a change of heart, . . . I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26)

I made the decision to be Mormon on July 4, 2004 when I was 18 years old. I had recently graduated from high school and was trying to decide if being Mormon was worth it. I had made plans to attend college where I would conveniently stop going to church  and be able to forget the whole church thing. I was somewhat like Amulek who recalled that he “harden[ed] [his] heart, for [he] was called many times and ... would not hear; ... [he] knew concerning these things (meaning the truthfulness of the gospel), yet [he] would not know; [and] ... went on rebelling against God.” I knew the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-­day Saints taught truth and was God’s Church on Earth, but like Amulek I would not believe.  I was distracted  by the world; the commandments were restrictive, and I wanted to [be] free from it.

July 4th was a Sunday, and I was lying in bed thinking about my plans to leave the Church when I received inspiration from God. I remember specifically hearing a voice in my mind that said, “Do not leave, I need you in this Church.” It was a strange sensation at the time because my mind was talking to me in third person, but when I think about it now, I realize that the voice speaking to me was the Holy Ghost. I learned in those few seconds that God knew me, that He loved me, and that He had a plan for me. Learning these truths changed my decision to leave the church and consequently the trajectory of my life.

Since that summer day, I have had other experiences that explain my decision to be a Mormon. I have read the Book of Mormon in its entirety several times and know that it is from God because of the guidance and inspiration I have gained from its pages. I have felt the redemption of the Atonement of Jesus Christ as I have repented, and I have seen how the commandments protect us from difficult experiences, allow God to provide us with blessings, and bring lasting peace to our lives.

While I may have spent a little too much time this morning watching the “I’m a Mormon” videos, I enjoy watching them because they inspire me. The videos allow me to see how other Mormons navigate life and how the Church influences their lives for the better. I hope you know off the top of your head why you are a Mormon. But, if you [are] like me, and the question leaves you scratching your head, I hope you take the time to sit down, ponder, and write down why you are a Mormon.

My name is David. I am a law student, a father, a husband, and yes, I am a Mormon too.

B-Ball Champs! (4/4/14)

Honor: Restored

After coming up short year after year, we finally got the monkey off our back and beat our arch nemesis, the McLean 2nd Ward, to win the McLean Virginia stake basketball tournament.

Some season highlights:

• Winning our first game by Aaron Dodini stealing the inbounds pass with 2 seconds left and putting up a quick layup to win it.
• Christian Dees earning the nickname, “Coast to Coast” by doing just that, while also adding the flare of a 360 spin and a never-ending hangtime finger-roll.
• Any time Daniel Harbuck shot one of his patented, high-arching 3-pointers (with great accuracy, it must be added)
• The Abraham Smith no-look, over-the-shoulder assist
• The devoted fan club (special props to Aubrey, Penny, and Nelly)
• The increasingly disappearing shot clock substituted usually by some unwitting fan with an iPhone.
• Andrew Smith jetpack rebounds
• Devan Hanneman knowing his own deadly combination of rage and size and opting to leave the premises entirely when he was the victim of too many bad officiating calls.  
• Victory shakes at Burger 7 on Lee Highway
• Repeated weekly announcements in Priesthood opening exercises  to make sure everyone got the word that our team had won this year

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon (6/1/14)

JFS Manual, Chapter 9

Because of the Relief Society's 1st-Sunday Visiting Teaching Conference, many of our quorum members had to go down to Primary and Nursery to spell the sisters from their normal assignments and free them up to attend their all-hands conference.  This meant that attendance in our quorum was poor; though the lesson itself was rich.

Andrew taught from the Joseph Fielding Smith manual.  Before commencing the formal lesson, however, he opened up the class for the sharing of any spiritual experiences that any of the quorum members might have had in the past week.  One class member, John, shared an experience about feeling inspired to suddenly call his father on Friday which somehow culminated in him doing temple work for his great great grandfather on Saturday; a day he described as, "one of the most spiritual days of my life."  Andrew then went on to encourage us all, in what has become his broken-record mantra, "I know the Lord is blessing you guys with spiritual experiences, and I invite you to write them down cause I know you're having them."

In diving in to the lesson we covered the background of the 3 witnesses and then the 8 witnesses of the Book of Mormon; men who were permitted to see and touch the gold plates, and who, though in many cases took issue with Joseph Smith and/or the Church, continued to affirm their witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

The 8 Witnesses

We then discussed what it means to be a witness and how one comes to 'know' a thing.  The method of trial-and-error was put forth as one way we can know, and the corresponding example of touching a hot stove to learn that it's hot was discussed.  From that, Andrew shared a neat experience of an incident on his mission in France when a man asked him to prove to him why he, Andrew, could say that he "knows" so many things (e.g. God lives, Jesus died for us, etc.).  In his best French, he shared the analogy of the wind.  He asked the man if he had ever seen the wind, to which the man admitted he hadn't; he had only seen the manifestations of the wind.  Andrew explained that this is like the principles of the gospel.  When we test our faith we often receive blessings, or we hear someone else testify of a principle, or we receive an answer to prayer, etc.  These instances are like the leaf blowing on the tree or the water rippling -- manifestations of a greater power at play.  It was noted, however, that the Book of Mormon is unique because it is not the wind, it is the hot stove.  It physically exists.  Though we don't have the fortune of handling the original gold plates we can read the divinely translated copy, and we can put Moroni's promise (Moroni 10:3-5) to the test and learn for ourselves that it is true.  As the prophet Joseph Fielding Smith said in 1956,

“I bear witness to you that the Lord has made it very clear to me by revelation which I have received, and many of you who are here present can bear witness likewise, that these things are true, and that is the privilege of any sincere person who will endeavor to read with a prayerful spirit and a desire to know whether the book is true or not; and he will receive that testimony according to the promise that was made by Moroni, who sealed the record to come forth in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.”

The missionaries, Elder Gustafson and Elder Black, were then invited up to demonstrate the typical way in which they share the story of the Book of Mormon with investigators.  They showed us the painting of Moroni praying over the plates before burying them around 420 A.D. in the hopes that they would be found by some future generation -- basically a message in a bottle.  They asked us to ponder what words Moroni might have said as he prayed over these plates and over the future generations that would read them.  They invited us to note the specifics of Moroni's promise in chapter 10 (e.g. remember the kindness of the Lord, ponder the words of the book, ask with faith, demonstrate real intent, etc.) and gain (or reaffirm) our own witness of this divine testament of Jesus Christ.

Ultimate Frisbee (5/7/14)

Can it still be considered 'ultimate' when it's just a 2-on-2 frisbee game involving halftime donuts: YES.

Motivation

The poor turnout (out of 50 or so invites) was really just a function of poor marketing & communication--an unfortunate hallmark of many elders quorums in the Church.  Had I not inadvertently marked the event on the evite calendar as May 24th (instead of May 17th) and had I not sent out the correction email at midnight on the eve of battle, there's no telling what kind of turnout we might have had.

As it was, we still had a great time.  The weather couldn't have been much better, and the donut: elder ratio  was indeed favorable.  Also, the field presented us with some nice bonuses to make things more interesting: a roughly 4-foot wide puddle on the visiting side's 10-yard line from the rainfall the night before, and an elevated manhole on the home team's 20-yard line.  We deemed that the puddle, if inadvertently trodden upon, would result in an immediate point for the team with the mud-bespattered player; no small consideration in a game where the first team to gain 4 points wins.

Halftime

Based on a very arbitrary heads/tails frisbee toss we split the teams into James and Matt ("JM") vs. Alfredo and Pace ("AP").  Both teams came out ferociously, gunning for the endzones and running Brady/Moss-style wide-receiver routes most every play, with a very low success rate it must be noted.  This caused both teams to tire very quickly and reconsider their strategies.  JM started running a lot of short-pass, Wes-Welker routes, often making passes of less than 2 feet in distance, while AP continued to try for the long bombs.  JM managed to win the first game (with the help of a Matt puddle splash) and then we all broke for donuts and whole milk.

Refueled and re-invigorated, AP came out guns blazing and things started to click for their long bomb strategy.  They won the next 2 games, and with enough collective panting between us all we decided to call it a day.

Game Notes

• The obscure ruling that any team with a player that vomited any of the halftime donuts during the 2nd half of play would be awarded a point did not factor in.  

Postgame Tricks (2 frisbees at once)

The Vineyard