Responce to Mike's letter

I recently received a latter from someone identifying him self only as "Mike" with a P.O. Box as a return address. I found the letter quit interesting, describing someone who had lived a sinful life and finally found the saving power of Jesus' Atonement. I decided to respond, and sent him the following in an e-mail:

Dear Mike,

Thanks you for your sincere letter. It is hard to find time to read and reply to such things these days with all that I have going on, but I wanted to applaud you in your efforts to take them time to compose and distribute such a letter. I hope that you can find the time to also read my sincere response. I believe that one of the biggest problems our country faces today is lack of people willing to share their beliefs and values. Instead we seem to be losing faith to secularism, charity to socialism, chastity to self-gratification, morality to wickedness, and so on.

However, amid all this I do find hope, in a very strong and growing group of people, from many faiths, who truly accept Jesus as their Lord and savior. These people don’t just go to church once a week, and say pray’s expecting to be saved while doing nothing more to achieve that salvation; “[these] people draw near unto [the Lord], and with their mouth, and with their lips do honor [him], but have removed their heart far from [him], and their fear toward [him] is taught by the precepts of men” - Isa. 29: 13, 2 Ne. 27: 25. No, the people I refer to, truly have charity, “the pure love of Christ” - Moro. 7: 47, and love their fellow men because they understand how much their savior also loves them.

They are more concerned with giving then receiving, more concerned with helping others then trying to make their own way to the top. They give freely of their means; paying tithing that helps build up God’s Kingdom on this earth, and even more to help the sick and the needy. They also give of their time and talents, while working hard to become perfected thru Christ’s Atonement.

It is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, ourselves, and the world. Satan wants us to think that we cannot repent, but that is absolutely not true. The Savior has promised us forgiveness if we will do what is required. The sooner we repent, the sooner we will find the blessings that come from forgiveness.

My belief in repentance includes the following steps:

1. Sorrow for sin with a sincere desire for change and a willingness to submit to every requirement for forgiveness.

2. Abandonment of sin with an unyielding, permanent resolve to not repeat the transgression.

3. Confession of sin. You always need to confess your sins to the Lord. If they are serious transgressions you may need to be confessed to a bishop or other priesthood leader who as the proper authority.

4. Restitution for your sins to restore as far as possible all that which is stolen, damaged, or defiled.

5. Obedience to all the commandments. Full obedience is the only thing that can bring the complete power of the gospel into your life.

6. Of all the necessary steps to repentance, the most critically important is for you to have a conviction that forgiveness comes because of Christ’s Atonement.

I too believe that God has a plan for us. Our lives do have a purpose. He is the father of our spirits, and as such we are all brother’s a sisters. If more people could truly understand that on simple concept, I believe this world would be a much better place. I encourage you to continue to share your testimony of this to all those you meet.

Sincerely,

SJ Hollist.

How Mormon's will Spend their Easter Weekend.

"More than 100,000 Church members, friends and invited guests are expected to attend the 180^th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions more will watch or listen to conference proceedings via television, radio, satellite and Internet broadcasts. Five sessions of the conference will be held Saturday and Sunday, 3–4 April 2010, in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah."



For a detailed broadcast schedule see www.bonneville.info. Audio and video streams via the Internet can be found at www.lds.org/broadcast. It will also be broadcast live on BYU Television. For more additional information on availability in your area, rebroadcasts and live Internet streaming visit www.byutv.org.

It has taken months of preparation by nearly 800 dedicated workers to delivery of conference worldwide in 92 languages to millions of viewers and listeners world wide.

"Foreign language interpretation began in 1961 beneath the Tabernacle on Temple Square. Initially general conference was interpreted in four languages. Today there are 58 translation booths located inside the Conference Center, including a large control room with Tieline technology that continues to expand the reach of the Church’s foreign language capabilities."

What it takes to get a President in the Classroom

Here is what Obama needs set up to talk to a few school children:



Here's What Bush needed to talk to a few school children:



I wonder what the reason for the differences are? Maybe it has something to do with the kind of books Obama likes to read:

LDS Church reasserts it's Political Neutrality while incuraging activism.

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently issued a letter . . . encouraged Latter-day Saints to attend their local precinct caucus meetings.

In doing so the Church has also reasserted it's stance on being politically neutral:

"The Church does not:

• Endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.
• Allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes.
• Attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to. This policy applies whether or not a candidate for office is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader.

The Church does:

• Encourage its members to play a role as responsible citizens in their communities, including becoming informed about issues and voting in elections.
• Expect its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.
• Request candidates for office not to imply that their candidacy or platforms are endorsed by the Church.
• Reserve the right as an institution to address, in a nonpartisan way, issues that it believes have significant community or moral consequences or that directly affect the interests of the Church."

On a somewhat related topic the LDS Church is also encouraging it's U.S. Members to "participate in the 2010 United States Census", sighting that "The Church also uses census data for planning purposes."

BSA celebrates 100 years of Scouting

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is celebrate 100 years of Scouting. They have vowed to "continue [their] journey into the next century!" Check out the energy and excitement of their 100th Anniversary Audiocast Kick-Off Rally!

As the FRC put it, ". . . 100 years of molding boys into men worthy of respect. Despite being under relentless pressure to make their message more politically correct, the Boy Scouts have never wavered from instilling traditional values into generations of young leaders. Although the Scouts have been under fire from the Left, they continue to show the same character that the organization has developed in millions of American boys. We applaud the Boy Scouts for its commitment to faith and for serving as an example to other groups of what it means to continue stand up for the truth after years of dedicated service."

In 2001 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the largest single sponsor of Scouting units with over 30,000 units nationwide, "more than 400,000 Mormon boys participate in church-sponsored troops, 13 percent of scouting's total". This is due to it being the Church's main program "for boys and young men ages 8-18". The church also has strong affiliations with Scouts Canada, the Scouting Associations of Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain, and other associations in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. The vast majority of Latter-day Saint Scouting affiliations, however, are in the western and central United States and Canada.