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00:00:02.653 --> 00:00:04.195
beautiful humans and welcome
00:00:04.254 --> 00:00:05.516
to another episode of the
00:00:05.556 --> 00:00:07.557
midlife revolution i'm your
00:00:07.577 --> 00:00:09.958
host vegan connor and today
00:00:09.978 --> 00:00:11.160
we're going to talk about
00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:13.080
what might happen if you
00:00:13.121 --> 00:00:15.063
are visited by a pair of
00:00:15.163 --> 00:00:17.463
mormon missionaries you've
00:00:17.504 --> 00:00:19.004
seen these lovely ladies
00:00:19.085 --> 00:00:20.265
and young men out there on
00:00:20.306 --> 00:00:22.106
the streets maybe knocking
00:00:22.187 --> 00:00:24.228
on doors maybe they've even
00:00:24.309 --> 00:00:25.370
come to your door
00:00:26.431 --> 00:00:27.911
the classic white
00:00:28.053 --> 00:00:30.234
short-sleeved button-down shirt with tie,
00:00:30.995 --> 00:00:32.856
the classic black name tag
00:00:32.877 --> 00:00:35.378
declaring elder or sister.
00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:37.320
You've seen them on their bikes.
00:00:38.042 --> 00:00:39.063
You've seen them talking to
00:00:39.103 --> 00:00:40.283
strangers on the street.
00:00:41.125 --> 00:00:43.186
And maybe someday they will
00:00:43.246 --> 00:00:44.328
come to your door.
00:00:44.828 --> 00:00:46.549
Here's a lovely guide on Amazon,
00:00:47.090 --> 00:00:48.490
a Catholic survival kit,
00:00:49.112 --> 00:00:49.773
what to do when
00:00:49.813 --> 00:00:50.973
missionaries come knocking.
00:00:52.454 --> 00:00:53.996
Honestly, I love to see these bright,
00:00:54.036 --> 00:00:54.976
smiling faces.
00:00:55.216 --> 00:00:56.698
My daughter served a Mormon
00:00:56.737 --> 00:00:57.798
mission right after she
00:00:57.838 --> 00:00:59.039
graduated from high school,
00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:01.881
and I always am going to
00:01:02.180 --> 00:01:03.262
talk to missionaries when
00:01:03.281 --> 00:01:05.102
they come around, invite them in,
00:01:05.843 --> 00:01:07.084
and wish them the best,
00:01:07.885 --> 00:01:09.105
although I may not be
00:01:09.165 --> 00:01:11.147
interested in listening to their message.
00:01:12.287 --> 00:01:13.608
I will talk a little bit
00:01:13.688 --> 00:01:15.430
later in a subsequent
00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:16.871
episode with my daughter
00:01:16.992 --> 00:01:18.453
about her mission experience.
00:01:19.233 --> 00:01:20.433
And you may be shocked to
00:01:20.474 --> 00:01:21.435
know that a lot of these
00:01:21.474 --> 00:01:22.475
young men and women are
00:01:22.495 --> 00:01:24.257
paying their own way to be
00:01:24.337 --> 00:01:24.856
on their mission.
00:01:26.144 --> 00:01:27.203
last time that i checked it
00:01:27.243 --> 00:01:30.224
cost about 450 a month to
00:01:30.325 --> 00:01:31.486
attend a mission and young
00:01:31.506 --> 00:01:32.626
men and women are expected
00:01:32.665 --> 00:01:34.346
to pay their own way in
00:01:34.406 --> 00:01:36.167
addition they receive very
00:01:36.227 --> 00:01:38.847
little help from the church
00:01:39.248 --> 00:01:40.408
in paying for meals and
00:01:40.427 --> 00:01:41.868
other things like that a
00:01:41.909 --> 00:01:43.349
lot of them are living in
00:01:43.489 --> 00:01:45.170
apartments that have been
00:01:45.189 --> 00:01:46.730
leased for a very long time
00:01:46.909 --> 00:01:47.790
and the missionaries in the
00:01:47.890 --> 00:01:49.531
area have been living in those apartments
00:01:50.111 --> 00:01:51.132
for years and years,
00:01:51.772 --> 00:01:53.153
just coming and going as
00:01:53.212 --> 00:01:54.174
they leave their mission.
00:01:54.194 --> 00:01:56.575
And many of them don't get
00:01:56.635 --> 00:01:57.876
enough to eat during the day.
00:01:58.256 --> 00:02:00.778
They have to be out teaching
00:02:00.837 --> 00:02:02.319
for a certain number of hours a day.
00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:04.280
They're up very early in the morning.
00:02:05.001 --> 00:02:06.302
And it used to be that the
00:02:06.341 --> 00:02:07.221
members were allowed to
00:02:07.281 --> 00:02:08.983
feed the missionaries once a week.
00:02:09.484 --> 00:02:11.164
But now they've sort of
00:02:12.604 --> 00:02:14.007
decreased the amount of time
00:02:14.046 --> 00:02:14.826
that they want to have
00:02:15.048 --> 00:02:16.849
missionaries in the homes of members.
00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:19.472
And so the last that I heard,
00:02:19.491 --> 00:02:21.074
the missionaries were
00:02:21.133 --> 00:02:21.895
allowed to come over and
00:02:21.935 --> 00:02:22.895
share a message with you,
00:02:22.936 --> 00:02:24.298
but not to share a meal.
00:02:24.418 --> 00:02:25.179
They preferred that the
00:02:25.218 --> 00:02:26.639
missionaries be out talking
00:02:27.100 --> 00:02:28.021
to people who are not
00:02:28.081 --> 00:02:28.842
members of the church.
00:02:29.423 --> 00:02:30.643
So I'm not sure how much of
00:02:30.682 --> 00:02:31.503
that has changed,
00:02:31.584 --> 00:02:32.864
but we will have more
00:02:32.903 --> 00:02:33.844
discussions about it.
00:02:34.104 --> 00:02:35.264
The reason I mention it is
00:02:35.324 --> 00:02:36.866
because whenever I see missionaries,
00:02:37.445 --> 00:02:38.746
I always want to ask them
00:02:38.806 --> 00:02:40.266
if they have enough to eat,
00:02:40.526 --> 00:02:41.927
if they're feeling safe,
00:02:42.268 --> 00:02:43.508
if they're well cared for,
00:02:43.527 --> 00:02:45.348
and if they feel safe.
00:02:45.788 --> 00:02:46.650
on their mission and with
00:02:46.669 --> 00:02:47.990
their leadership or if
00:02:48.030 --> 00:02:48.850
there's anything that they
00:02:48.871 --> 00:02:49.631
want to talk about,
00:02:49.691 --> 00:02:50.752
I open the door for that.
00:02:51.331 --> 00:02:52.612
I always offer them water
00:02:52.673 --> 00:02:53.653
when they come through my
00:02:53.693 --> 00:02:54.774
neighborhood just because
00:02:54.913 --> 00:02:56.294
they're out there in the heat a lot.
00:02:56.975 --> 00:02:58.235
And oftentimes I will send
00:02:58.276 --> 00:02:59.597
them off with food or with
00:02:59.657 --> 00:03:00.617
money to go buy food
00:03:00.677 --> 00:03:01.578
because I know a lot of
00:03:01.617 --> 00:03:02.438
them don't get enough to
00:03:02.519 --> 00:03:03.479
eat on their mission.
00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:06.001
So the mission rules have
00:03:06.040 --> 00:03:07.801
changed a lot over the years, obviously,
00:03:07.822 --> 00:03:10.203
but also the topics that
00:03:10.223 --> 00:03:11.462
the missionaries talk about
00:03:11.543 --> 00:03:12.484
have changed a lot.
00:03:13.063 --> 00:03:14.585
And you may be curious about
00:03:14.664 --> 00:03:15.585
what they might say to you
00:03:15.645 --> 00:03:16.506
if they come to your door,
00:03:16.545 --> 00:03:18.246
but you may also not want
00:03:18.306 --> 00:03:20.326
to invite them in and endure that.
00:03:20.407 --> 00:03:22.008
So this episode is just for that.
00:03:22.108 --> 00:03:23.109
I will tell you some of the
00:03:23.149 --> 00:03:24.169
things that they might talk
00:03:24.229 --> 00:03:25.810
about at your door,
00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:27.471
and then you can make a
00:03:27.510 --> 00:03:28.431
choice about whether you
00:03:28.450 --> 00:03:29.731
want to have them come in or not.
00:03:30.551 --> 00:03:31.532
first of all when a
00:03:31.573 --> 00:03:32.853
missionary comes and knocks
00:03:32.933 --> 00:03:34.594
on your door if you answer
00:03:34.634 --> 00:03:35.414
the door and have a
00:03:35.455 --> 00:03:37.776
conversation at all that
00:03:37.817 --> 00:03:39.076
conversation gets recorded
00:03:39.137 --> 00:03:40.198
in what's called the area
00:03:40.237 --> 00:03:41.519
book the missionaries want
00:03:41.538 --> 00:03:43.340
to keep a record of who
00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:44.381
answers the door and who
00:03:44.401 --> 00:03:45.561
doesn't who's friendly to
00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:46.722
the missionaries and who is
00:03:46.801 --> 00:03:48.823
not and if there's any
00:03:48.943 --> 00:03:50.724
little spark of interest at
00:03:50.965 --> 00:03:52.526
all opening the door's interest
00:03:53.126 --> 00:03:53.906
then they're going to keep
00:03:53.945 --> 00:03:55.186
your name and your contact
00:03:55.225 --> 00:03:56.347
information in their area
00:03:56.387 --> 00:03:57.806
book so that when they get
00:03:57.866 --> 00:03:59.106
transferred out of the area
00:03:59.247 --> 00:04:00.728
and the next missionaries come in,
00:04:01.548 --> 00:04:02.728
the next missionaries know
00:04:02.948 --> 00:04:04.008
that you're a safe person.
00:04:04.048 --> 00:04:05.068
You can knock on their door.
00:04:05.489 --> 00:04:06.429
They're going to notate it.
00:04:06.508 --> 00:04:07.748
If you offer them food or drink,
00:04:07.769 --> 00:04:08.669
they're going to notate it.
00:04:08.748 --> 00:04:10.028
If you come in and offer to
00:04:10.068 --> 00:04:12.270
have a conversation, if you say, no,
00:04:12.310 --> 00:04:13.330
thanks, I'm an atheist,
00:04:13.349 --> 00:04:13.930
they're going to make a
00:04:13.990 --> 00:04:14.849
note of that as well.
00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:16.471
They may still come to try
00:04:16.511 --> 00:04:17.250
and contact you.
00:04:17.831 --> 00:04:18.872
even if you declare a
00:04:19.072 --> 00:04:20.672
religious affiliation or no
00:04:21.072 --> 00:04:22.153
religious affiliation.
00:04:22.913 --> 00:04:24.014
So they keep track of all of
00:04:24.074 --> 00:04:24.913
these things and keep
00:04:24.973 --> 00:04:26.235
records so that the next
00:04:26.295 --> 00:04:27.995
missionaries have an idea
00:04:28.035 --> 00:04:28.896
of where to start when
00:04:28.915 --> 00:04:29.815
they're in your neighborhood.
00:04:30.815 --> 00:04:31.937
Now, a long time ago,
00:04:32.476 --> 00:04:34.317
there used to be actual
00:04:34.478 --> 00:04:36.939
physical pamphlets that the
00:04:36.978 --> 00:04:38.319
missionaries would use on
00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:40.060
each one of their visits to your house.
00:04:40.661 --> 00:04:43.641
And the first pamphlet that they used was
00:04:44.968 --> 00:04:46.529
a guidebook for the
00:04:46.569 --> 00:04:48.351
missionaries to use that
00:04:48.391 --> 00:04:49.233
would sort of guide them
00:04:49.293 --> 00:04:50.673
through a number of topics
00:04:50.733 --> 00:04:51.574
and lessons for you.
00:04:52.035 --> 00:04:54.036
Nowadays, missionaries will say, Hey,
00:04:54.076 --> 00:04:55.497
can we share a message with
00:04:55.517 --> 00:04:56.519
you about families?
00:04:56.598 --> 00:04:57.519
Which means they want to
00:04:57.559 --> 00:04:59.480
talk about temples, eternal families,
00:04:59.521 --> 00:05:00.841
how your family can be together.
00:05:01.403 --> 00:05:02.083
They may say,
00:05:02.182 --> 00:05:03.244
can we share a message with
00:05:03.264 --> 00:05:04.625
you about Jesus Christ?
00:05:05.086 --> 00:05:06.045
And then they want to share
00:05:06.166 --> 00:05:07.346
how they believe that Jesus
00:05:07.387 --> 00:05:08.487
Christ visited the people
00:05:08.548 --> 00:05:09.428
on this continent.
00:05:09.970 --> 00:05:11.670
And that is what is part of
00:05:11.690 --> 00:05:12.692
the book of Mormon is the
00:05:12.771 --> 00:05:13.673
record of that visit.
00:05:14.653 --> 00:05:15.273
They may say,
00:05:15.673 --> 00:05:16.754
we'd like to share a message
00:05:16.793 --> 00:05:18.334
with you about God.
00:05:18.975 --> 00:05:19.956
And then they'll probably
00:05:19.995 --> 00:05:20.935
talk about what they call
00:05:20.956 --> 00:05:22.257
the plan of salvation or
00:05:22.297 --> 00:05:23.257
the plan of happiness.
00:05:23.697 --> 00:05:24.798
And they'll take you through
00:05:25.117 --> 00:05:26.459
what they believe is what
00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:28.199
happened before we got here to earth,
00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:29.860
why we're here on the earth,
00:05:29.899 --> 00:05:30.641
and then what's gonna
00:05:30.701 --> 00:05:32.641
happen after we leave the earth.
00:05:33.122 --> 00:05:34.422
So today's missionaries are
00:05:34.482 --> 00:05:35.843
trained more just to have a
00:05:35.882 --> 00:05:36.862
conversation with you.
00:05:36.923 --> 00:05:37.923
They may even say,
00:05:37.963 --> 00:05:39.485
can we share a Bible verse with you?
00:05:40.305 --> 00:05:41.406
in which they might share a
00:05:41.646 --> 00:05:43.026
verse with you from joseph
00:05:43.067 --> 00:05:44.168
smith's translation of the
00:05:44.208 --> 00:05:45.548
bible which might differ
00:05:45.649 --> 00:05:46.629
from the version of the
00:05:46.670 --> 00:05:48.571
bible that you read it's
00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:49.851
all of this is just to open
00:05:49.872 --> 00:05:50.713
the door to have a
00:05:50.752 --> 00:05:51.932
religious conversation to
00:05:51.992 --> 00:05:53.574
find out what religion you
00:05:53.875 --> 00:05:55.036
are if you're satisfied
00:05:55.076 --> 00:05:55.975
with your religion if
00:05:56.016 --> 00:05:57.197
you're questioning religion
00:05:57.677 --> 00:05:58.937
or if you have no religion
00:05:58.978 --> 00:06:00.019
and you're searching for
00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:01.180
meaning and purpose in your
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.661
life but back in the 80s
00:06:03.862 --> 00:06:05.843
they had discussion pamphlets and
00:06:06.843 --> 00:06:08.423
when a missionary goes to
00:06:08.444 --> 00:06:09.365
the missionary training
00:06:09.425 --> 00:06:10.865
center what they were
00:06:10.904 --> 00:06:13.245
learning was how to contact
00:06:13.286 --> 00:06:14.745
a person develop a
00:06:14.786 --> 00:06:16.386
relationship with them open
00:06:16.406 --> 00:06:17.367
the door for teaching
00:06:17.427 --> 00:06:18.507
opportunities and then
00:06:18.666 --> 00:06:20.766
exactly what to teach they
00:06:20.786 --> 00:06:21.548
would go through these
00:06:21.588 --> 00:06:22.747
little pamphlets while they
00:06:22.788 --> 00:06:23.567
were sitting there at your
00:06:23.608 --> 00:06:24.987
kitchen table they had a
00:06:25.048 --> 00:06:27.209
very specific outline as to
00:06:27.288 --> 00:06:28.048
what they were going to
00:06:28.088 --> 00:06:29.408
address with you what
00:06:29.468 --> 00:06:30.649
scriptures to read what
00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:32.129
questions to ask and all of
00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:33.689
that so i want to present
00:06:33.730 --> 00:06:34.990
those today because
00:06:35.911 --> 00:06:36.951
when missionaries come into
00:06:36.971 --> 00:06:37.952
your home to teach you
00:06:38.194 --> 00:06:39.574
about mormonism or the
00:06:39.615 --> 00:06:40.536
church of jesus christ of
00:06:40.576 --> 00:06:41.958
latter-day saints they're
00:06:41.978 --> 00:06:43.119
going to paint for you a
00:06:43.338 --> 00:06:45.120
very basic picture of some
00:06:45.141 --> 00:06:46.622
of the most important
00:06:46.923 --> 00:06:48.384
doctrines to them but
00:06:48.404 --> 00:06:49.446
there's a lot of things
00:06:49.485 --> 00:06:50.848
that they're not going to tell you
00:06:51.408 --> 00:06:52.750
as well of course they're
00:06:52.769 --> 00:06:53.329
going to leave out
00:06:53.389 --> 00:06:54.752
problematic racial history
00:06:54.872 --> 00:06:55.892
of course they don't want
00:06:55.932 --> 00:06:57.033
to talk about polygamy
00:06:57.514 --> 00:06:58.375
they'll say that that's in
00:06:58.415 --> 00:06:59.997
the past of course they're
00:07:00.038 --> 00:07:00.738
not going to want to talk
00:07:00.778 --> 00:07:02.199
about things like the ces
00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:04.041
letter or anything that
00:07:04.101 --> 00:07:05.204
challenges the official
00:07:05.223 --> 00:07:06.685
mormon narrative they're
00:07:06.725 --> 00:07:07.586
not going to want to talk
00:07:07.665 --> 00:07:09.889
about the recent sec fine
00:07:10.348 --> 00:07:11.408
or any of the financial
00:07:11.470 --> 00:07:12.529
scandals that have come up.
00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:13.370
They're not going to want to
00:07:13.410 --> 00:07:14.391
talk about Tim Ballard
00:07:14.430 --> 00:07:15.471
being excommunicated.
00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:16.651
They're not going to want to
00:07:16.690 --> 00:07:18.351
talk about the abuse claims
00:07:18.872 --> 00:07:19.872
or the settlements with the
00:07:19.911 --> 00:07:21.752
Boy Scouts of America over abuse.
00:07:22.432 --> 00:07:23.553
All of those things are off
00:07:23.593 --> 00:07:25.793
the table for missionary discussions.
00:07:26.915 --> 00:07:27.074
So,
00:07:29.507 --> 00:07:30.228
Unfortunately,
00:07:30.329 --> 00:07:31.730
it's not really a situation
00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:33.391
where they're trying to
00:07:33.471 --> 00:07:35.194
convert you with informed consent.
00:07:35.654 --> 00:07:36.675
They're trying to convert
00:07:36.696 --> 00:07:38.218
you as quickly as possible
00:07:38.658 --> 00:07:40.199
by sort of appealing to
00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.221
your sensibilities about
00:07:42.262 --> 00:07:43.783
spirituality and God.
00:07:44.204 --> 00:07:45.365
They want to ask you to pray
00:07:45.425 --> 00:07:46.766
about things rather than
00:07:46.966 --> 00:07:47.927
using your critical
00:07:47.968 --> 00:07:49.290
thinking skills to
00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:51.012
logically analyze what they're saying.
00:07:51.692 --> 00:07:53.314
And their goal is to get you
00:07:53.355 --> 00:07:54.997
baptized as quickly as they can.
00:07:55.016 --> 00:07:58.000
And then more information will come later.
00:07:58.540 --> 00:07:59.742
I know this is true because
00:07:59.783 --> 00:08:00.463
I was a member of the
00:08:00.504 --> 00:08:02.386
church for 40 years of my life,
00:08:02.966 --> 00:08:04.449
arguably 45 years if you
00:08:04.488 --> 00:08:05.649
count my childhood as well.
00:08:06.630 --> 00:08:10.112
And I was also a ward missionary,
00:08:10.353 --> 00:08:11.935
which meant that my job was
00:08:12.014 --> 00:08:12.915
to meet with all of the
00:08:12.954 --> 00:08:14.076
people who'd been recently
00:08:14.115 --> 00:08:15.956
baptized and teach them a
00:08:16.036 --> 00:08:17.197
second set of lessons,
00:08:17.317 --> 00:08:18.858
the lessons that come after
00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:20.560
a person has visited with
00:08:20.579 --> 00:08:22.281
the missionaries and gone
00:08:22.302 --> 00:08:23.682
through the baptismal process.
00:08:24.463 --> 00:08:25.684
The lessons I was teaching
00:08:25.744 --> 00:08:26.803
didn't cover any of those
00:08:26.884 --> 00:08:28.545
problematic topics either.
00:08:28.725 --> 00:08:30.026
They dug a little bit deeper
00:08:30.146 --> 00:08:32.147
into what is expected of
00:08:32.206 --> 00:08:33.988
you as a member of the LDS church.
00:08:34.607 --> 00:08:36.369
And really some of it was cultural,
00:08:36.448 --> 00:08:37.529
but there was a little bit
00:08:37.570 --> 00:08:38.690
of doctrinal stuff in there.
00:08:38.730 --> 00:08:40.091
Things like the word of wisdom,
00:08:40.150 --> 00:08:41.272
not drinking, smoking,
00:08:41.912 --> 00:08:43.013
all of those kinds of things.
00:08:43.692 --> 00:08:45.494
And it was a little bit of a
00:08:45.634 --> 00:08:47.014
deeper dive into some of
00:08:47.034 --> 00:08:48.635
the doctrinal things as well.
00:08:49.155 --> 00:08:50.395
There was a set of 12
00:08:50.395 --> 00:08:52.076
lessons when I was a ward missionary.
00:08:52.157 --> 00:08:54.097
So every time a person got baptized,
00:08:54.197 --> 00:08:54.958
I would visit with them
00:08:55.078 --> 00:08:57.340
once a week during those 12 lessons.
00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:58.600
Sometimes we would give
00:08:58.640 --> 00:08:59.780
those lessons during Sunday
00:08:59.821 --> 00:09:01.182
school on Sunday,
00:09:01.221 --> 00:09:03.123
but my job was really more
00:09:03.182 --> 00:09:05.024
for those people who had gotten baptized,
00:09:05.083 --> 00:09:06.245
but weren't attending
00:09:06.304 --> 00:09:07.985
Sunday school at church on Sunday.
00:09:08.525 --> 00:09:09.927
And so I would go into their homes
00:09:10.567 --> 00:09:11.850
and try to invite them back
00:09:11.890 --> 00:09:13.134
to church say we miss you
00:09:13.174 --> 00:09:14.076
we love you we'd love to
00:09:14.157 --> 00:09:15.620
have you and also
00:09:16.583 --> 00:09:17.923
Here's a spiritual discussion.
00:09:18.325 --> 00:09:19.264
How are you feeling about
00:09:19.284 --> 00:09:20.225
your spirituality?
00:09:20.384 --> 00:09:21.065
Are you praying?
00:09:21.184 --> 00:09:22.666
Are you reading your scriptures every day?
00:09:23.105 --> 00:09:24.285
And it was my job to do that
00:09:24.326 --> 00:09:25.606
for about two years while I
00:09:25.647 --> 00:09:26.807
was an active believing
00:09:26.846 --> 00:09:27.667
member of the church.
00:09:28.326 --> 00:09:29.927
So I want to go through with
00:09:29.967 --> 00:09:32.269
you now what the discussion
00:09:32.308 --> 00:09:34.749
manuals looked like back in
00:09:34.948 --> 00:09:36.350
the 80s when there was a
00:09:36.409 --> 00:09:38.629
manual for every single lesson.
00:09:39.910 --> 00:09:40.551
These come...
00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:44.900
courtesy of IMGR,
00:09:44.941 --> 00:09:46.260
where anybody can post
00:09:46.780 --> 00:09:48.142
things and turn it into a
00:09:48.201 --> 00:09:49.402
searchable PDF format.
00:09:49.422 --> 00:09:50.322
So you can see it says,
00:09:50.361 --> 00:09:51.643
The Plan of Our Heavenly Father,
00:09:52.062 --> 00:09:53.623
Discussion 1,
00:09:53.623 --> 00:09:55.644
Uniform System for Teaching the Gospel.
00:09:55.724 --> 00:09:56.864
It was very important to the
00:09:56.903 --> 00:09:58.465
church and still is that
00:09:58.565 --> 00:09:59.605
all of the missionaries are
00:09:59.664 --> 00:10:01.065
teaching the same lessons
00:10:01.525 --> 00:10:02.346
and that they're presenting
00:10:02.365 --> 00:10:04.405
the same information in the same way.
00:10:04.426 --> 00:10:05.907
No going off book here.
00:10:06.996 --> 00:10:08.477
and there's a set of
00:10:08.538 --> 00:10:10.078
instructions here for the
00:10:10.419 --> 00:10:12.100
lesson planning for the
00:10:12.160 --> 00:10:13.062
discussion and this would
00:10:13.081 --> 00:10:14.682
all happen before they even
00:10:14.942 --> 00:10:16.264
come into your home before
00:10:16.303 --> 00:10:17.024
they even leave their
00:10:17.065 --> 00:10:18.826
apartment for the day so
00:10:19.005 --> 00:10:20.187
the lds missionaries will
00:10:20.206 --> 00:10:21.148
get up at six o'clock
00:10:21.187 --> 00:10:22.128
they're supposed to have
00:10:22.227 --> 00:10:23.428
personal scripture study
00:10:23.448 --> 00:10:24.730
then they're supposed to
00:10:24.870 --> 00:10:26.250
exercise then they're
00:10:26.270 --> 00:10:27.552
supposed to have companion
00:10:27.591 --> 00:10:28.832
study which means them and
00:10:28.852 --> 00:10:30.053
their companion will study
00:10:30.073 --> 00:10:30.955
the scriptures together
00:10:31.735 --> 00:10:33.017
and they're supposed to say
00:10:33.057 --> 00:10:34.499
a prayer about who they're
00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:35.639
supposed to teach that day,
00:10:36.140 --> 00:10:37.522
get guidance from God or
00:10:37.542 --> 00:10:38.984
the Holy Spirit about what
00:10:39.043 --> 00:10:40.085
neighborhoods to visit.
00:10:40.765 --> 00:10:41.866
And so they'll show up in
00:10:41.907 --> 00:10:42.628
your neighborhood
00:10:42.889 --> 00:10:44.890
spiritually prepared to
00:10:45.270 --> 00:10:46.393
meet somebody who wants to
00:10:46.432 --> 00:10:47.254
learn about the gospel.
00:10:48.802 --> 00:10:50.844
So when you look at this
00:10:50.943 --> 00:10:52.104
planning for the discussion
00:10:52.144 --> 00:10:53.524
phase right here, it says,
00:10:53.583 --> 00:10:54.524
prepare to teach this
00:10:54.585 --> 00:10:55.565
discussion by thinking
00:10:55.625 --> 00:10:57.144
about the investigator's needs.
00:10:57.245 --> 00:10:58.125
People who were learning
00:10:58.166 --> 00:10:58.985
about the church were
00:10:59.046 --> 00:11:00.765
called investigators at the time.
00:11:01.486 --> 00:11:03.586
And so they were instructed
00:11:03.606 --> 00:11:05.427
to think about the needs of
00:11:05.467 --> 00:11:06.528
you as an individual.
00:11:06.548 --> 00:11:09.028
And also they were
00:11:09.089 --> 00:11:10.688
instructed to pray about
00:11:10.849 --> 00:11:11.850
what you might need to hear
00:11:11.909 --> 00:11:13.809
about and what potential
00:11:13.850 --> 00:11:15.009
problems might come up.
00:11:18.174 --> 00:11:19.416
says then how plan how you
00:11:19.456 --> 00:11:20.076
might present the
00:11:20.116 --> 00:11:21.317
discussion to meet these
00:11:21.378 --> 00:11:22.719
needs for example consider
00:11:23.099 --> 00:11:23.740
which of your own
00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:24.880
experiences might be
00:11:24.961 --> 00:11:26.461
meaningful to them to hear
00:11:26.942 --> 00:11:27.962
what examples might help
00:11:28.003 --> 00:11:29.585
them understand clearly or
00:11:29.664 --> 00:11:30.684
resolve their concerns
00:11:31.166 --> 00:11:32.027
which book of mormon
00:11:32.067 --> 00:11:33.106
passages you could share
00:11:33.126 --> 00:11:34.347
with them which of their
00:11:34.448 --> 00:11:35.589
own experiences might
00:11:35.649 --> 00:11:36.690
relate to your message
00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:38.932
specifically plan what you
00:11:38.971 --> 00:11:40.133
will do to prepare these
00:11:40.192 --> 00:11:41.735
investigators to feel the spirit
00:11:42.394 --> 00:11:42.674
two,
00:11:43.115 --> 00:11:44.336
when to invite them to make
00:11:44.375 --> 00:11:46.037
commitments like praying or
00:11:46.057 --> 00:11:47.477
getting baptized, and three,
00:11:47.857 --> 00:11:48.758
how you will follow up to
00:11:48.817 --> 00:11:49.979
help them keep their commitments.
00:11:50.538 --> 00:11:51.539
The main focus of the
00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:52.440
discussion should be the
00:11:52.460 --> 00:11:53.341
Book of Mormon and the
00:11:53.380 --> 00:11:54.400
Prophet Joseph Smith.
00:11:54.801 --> 00:11:56.142
Do not spend too much time
00:11:56.241 --> 00:11:57.462
on the first two principles,
00:11:57.883 --> 00:11:58.863
especially if the
00:11:58.923 --> 00:12:00.144
investigators basically
00:12:00.183 --> 00:12:01.384
agree with what you present.
00:12:01.924 --> 00:12:03.206
Leave enough time to discuss
00:12:03.245 --> 00:12:04.466
the truths that are unique
00:12:04.505 --> 00:12:05.527
to the restored gospel.
00:12:06.187 --> 00:12:07.288
After the discussion,
00:12:07.707 --> 00:12:08.509
the investigator's
00:12:08.609 --> 00:12:09.729
strongest impressions
00:12:09.808 --> 00:12:10.950
should be of the Book of
00:12:10.990 --> 00:12:12.890
Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith.
00:12:13.471 --> 00:12:13.991
Through them,
00:12:14.052 --> 00:12:15.153
we gained our understanding
00:12:15.173 --> 00:12:16.133
of God and His plan.
00:12:16.714 --> 00:12:18.475
Now the doctrinal overview,
00:12:18.715 --> 00:12:20.216
there are six points to this,
00:12:20.816 --> 00:12:21.856
and I can totally
00:12:21.897 --> 00:12:23.116
understand why they started
00:12:23.157 --> 00:12:23.937
to narrow down.
00:12:24.577 --> 00:12:25.658
the discussion format
00:12:25.678 --> 00:12:27.059
because there's a lot of
00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:28.640
material to go over here.
00:12:29.261 --> 00:12:29.802
And you could,
00:12:29.922 --> 00:12:31.322
even if you only spent 10
00:12:31.322 --> 00:12:33.445
minutes on each one, that's a full hour.
00:12:33.865 --> 00:12:35.046
But these topics are pretty
00:12:35.105 --> 00:12:36.886
deep for just 10 minutes of discussion.
00:12:37.950 --> 00:12:39.270
So here are the main principles.
00:12:39.770 --> 00:12:40.971
God the Father has a plan
00:12:41.011 --> 00:12:41.772
for our happiness.
00:12:41.951 --> 00:12:43.352
It's called the plan of salvation.
00:12:43.832 --> 00:12:45.014
If they go into describing
00:12:45.053 --> 00:12:45.913
the plan of salvation,
00:12:45.933 --> 00:12:46.855
that's probably like
00:12:46.894 --> 00:12:48.635
another 20 or 30 minute discussion.
00:12:49.255 --> 00:12:49.736
Number two,
00:12:49.817 --> 00:12:51.236
Jesus Christ has a central
00:12:51.277 --> 00:12:52.337
mission in the plan,
00:12:52.918 --> 00:12:54.759
meaning he's very important to the plan.
00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:55.879
Number three,
00:12:56.059 --> 00:12:57.380
God reveals the truth about
00:12:57.441 --> 00:12:58.642
his plan through prophets.
00:12:59.062 --> 00:13:00.763
It's very important for prophets.
00:13:01.562 --> 00:13:03.163
investigators to understand
00:13:03.504 --> 00:13:05.344
what a prophet is and
00:13:05.683 --> 00:13:07.144
relate to you that there is
00:13:07.164 --> 00:13:08.445
a prophet on the earth today.
00:13:08.465 --> 00:13:09.684
Number four,
00:13:09.745 --> 00:13:11.025
the prophet Joseph Smith is a
00:13:11.086 --> 00:13:12.586
modern witness of Jesus Christ.
00:13:12.826 --> 00:13:13.365
Through him,
00:13:13.505 --> 00:13:14.746
God has restored knowledge
00:13:14.807 --> 00:13:15.787
about the divine plan.
00:13:15.807 --> 00:13:17.147
Number five,
00:13:17.307 --> 00:13:18.467
the Book of Mormon is another
00:13:18.508 --> 00:13:19.687
testament of Jesus Christ
00:13:19.868 --> 00:13:21.928
that clearly explains the divine plan.
00:13:21.948 --> 00:13:23.889
And six, through the Holy Ghost,
00:13:24.009 --> 00:13:25.229
each person can know this
00:13:25.288 --> 00:13:26.309
message is true.
00:13:27.389 --> 00:13:28.471
and then commitments during
00:13:28.490 --> 00:13:29.571
this discussion you need to
00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:30.831
help the investigators feel
00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:31.792
the presence of the holy
00:13:31.851 --> 00:13:33.011
spirit this will prepare
00:13:33.032 --> 00:13:33.673
them to make the
00:13:33.712 --> 00:13:34.712
commitments that lead to
00:13:34.773 --> 00:13:36.094
conversion and baptism
00:13:36.533 --> 00:13:37.793
during this discussion the
00:13:37.854 --> 00:13:39.014
investigators should commit
00:13:39.054 --> 00:13:40.975
themselves to one read from
00:13:40.995 --> 00:13:42.096
the book of mormon and pray
00:13:42.135 --> 00:13:43.777
to know that it is true the
00:13:43.836 --> 00:13:44.636
following reading
00:13:44.716 --> 00:13:46.457
assignment is suggested and
00:13:46.477 --> 00:13:48.778
then they give the specific
00:13:48.839 --> 00:13:50.019
verses and chapters that
00:13:50.058 --> 00:13:51.379
they want investigators to
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.059
read as homework after the
00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:54.221
discussion is over
00:13:54.780 --> 00:13:55.902
then they want them to pray
00:13:55.922 --> 00:13:57.102
that to know that joseph
00:13:57.123 --> 00:13:58.224
smith is a prophet of god
00:13:58.744 --> 00:13:59.784
and take part in the next
00:13:59.845 --> 00:14:01.666
discussion preferably the
00:14:01.706 --> 00:14:03.307
remaining five discussions
00:14:03.628 --> 00:14:04.928
at a specific time so
00:14:05.288 --> 00:14:06.950
missionaries were taught to
00:14:06.990 --> 00:14:08.071
go ahead and get a
00:14:08.130 --> 00:14:09.371
commitment from the
00:14:09.432 --> 00:14:11.693
investigators to come back
00:14:11.793 --> 00:14:13.596
for a second discussion and
00:14:13.655 --> 00:14:14.655
get a commitment from them
00:14:14.676 --> 00:14:15.616
that they were going to
00:14:15.756 --> 00:14:16.677
read the chapters in the
00:14:16.697 --> 00:14:17.818
book of mormon and pray
00:14:17.859 --> 00:14:19.360
about whether or not they
00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:20.360
were true in fact you'll
00:14:20.400 --> 00:14:21.481
notice it wasn't presented
00:14:21.522 --> 00:14:22.501
that way it said
00:14:23.302 --> 00:14:25.264
pray to know that the book
00:14:25.304 --> 00:14:26.586
of mormon is true pray to
00:14:26.667 --> 00:14:27.807
know that joseph smith was
00:14:27.868 --> 00:14:30.431
a prophet so they didn't
00:14:30.471 --> 00:14:32.232
want to even introduce the
00:14:32.312 --> 00:14:33.815
possibility of doubt there
00:14:35.437 --> 00:14:37.538
so once they get to the
00:14:37.578 --> 00:14:40.001
investigators home they are
00:14:40.062 --> 00:14:42.004
to create a learning atmosphere
00:14:43.207 --> 00:14:44.568
they want you to become
00:14:44.629 --> 00:14:45.690
acquainted and build a
00:14:45.710 --> 00:14:46.892
relationship of trust and
00:14:46.912 --> 00:14:48.373
they line out exactly how
00:14:48.413 --> 00:14:50.294
this how to do this you
00:14:50.335 --> 00:14:51.196
might share information
00:14:51.235 --> 00:14:52.356
about yourself including
00:14:52.397 --> 00:14:53.638
your hometown family and
00:14:53.677 --> 00:14:55.099
schooling your interests
00:14:55.239 --> 00:14:56.080
and why you came on a
00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:57.360
mission although now
00:14:57.461 --> 00:14:59.703
missionaries are counseled
00:14:59.964 --> 00:15:01.004
not to talk about their
00:15:01.044 --> 00:15:02.645
hometown or their family or
00:15:02.686 --> 00:15:04.067
their schooling they're
00:15:04.248 --> 00:15:06.090
taught to focus only on the mission
00:15:06.629 --> 00:15:07.429
So, for example,
00:15:07.490 --> 00:15:08.770
they told us as members
00:15:09.311 --> 00:15:10.750
that we were not supposed
00:15:10.770 --> 00:15:12.491
to ask missionaries where they were from.
00:15:12.511 --> 00:15:13.792
We were supposed to ask them
00:15:13.871 --> 00:15:15.212
how long they'd been on their mission.
00:15:15.732 --> 00:15:16.852
They wanted to keep the
00:15:16.972 --> 00:15:17.993
elders and the sisters
00:15:18.073 --> 00:15:19.033
focused on what they were
00:15:19.073 --> 00:15:20.333
doing and not thinking
00:15:20.394 --> 00:15:21.615
about being at home.
00:15:22.335 --> 00:15:23.534
And so that was just another
00:15:23.575 --> 00:15:24.735
way that they sort of tried
00:15:24.775 --> 00:15:26.275
to keep missionaries on
00:15:26.316 --> 00:15:27.275
track and thinking about
00:15:27.316 --> 00:15:28.557
the right things while they
00:15:28.596 --> 00:15:29.297
were on their mission.
00:15:31.815 --> 00:15:33.576
next you might find out
00:15:33.655 --> 00:15:34.735
about the investigators
00:15:34.956 --> 00:15:36.557
family work interests
00:15:36.716 --> 00:15:37.677
religious attitudes
00:15:37.856 --> 00:15:38.998
experiences that led them
00:15:39.038 --> 00:15:40.118
to investigate the church
00:15:40.317 --> 00:15:41.359
acquaintance with members
00:15:41.418 --> 00:15:42.839
of the church knowledge of
00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:43.839
the church and their their
00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:45.139
experiences with people who
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.240
are lds if you spent any
00:15:47.280 --> 00:15:48.441
time at all in sales you
00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:49.822
know that these are sales
00:15:49.861 --> 00:15:51.802
tactics this is a way to
00:15:51.922 --> 00:15:53.222
build a relationship you're
00:15:53.322 --> 00:15:54.302
asking about their
00:15:54.363 --> 00:15:55.384
important things they're
00:15:55.423 --> 00:15:56.683
asking about your important
00:15:56.724 --> 00:15:58.144
things you're sharing some things
00:15:59.125 --> 00:16:00.346
And you're asking them to
00:16:00.385 --> 00:16:01.506
share really personal
00:16:01.606 --> 00:16:03.048
information about their
00:16:03.087 --> 00:16:04.428
religious beliefs as well.
00:16:04.948 --> 00:16:07.230
So they're trying to really
00:16:07.671 --> 00:16:09.331
get you to be vulnerable in
00:16:09.371 --> 00:16:11.374
this first discussion right off the bat.
00:16:12.405 --> 00:16:12.886
Then it says,
00:16:12.986 --> 00:16:14.548
establish a reverent atmosphere.
00:16:14.568 --> 00:16:16.171
Set a reverent and relaxed
00:16:16.211 --> 00:16:17.293
atmosphere of the discussion.
00:16:17.373 --> 00:16:18.553
Remember that you're a guest
00:16:18.615 --> 00:16:19.775
in the investigator's home.
00:16:20.317 --> 00:16:20.857
You should,
00:16:21.097 --> 00:16:22.580
with the investigator's permission,
00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:24.062
arrange the seating so all
00:16:24.101 --> 00:16:25.583
can participate comfortably.
00:16:25.644 --> 00:16:26.325
That's interesting.
00:16:26.365 --> 00:16:27.447
I've never had a missionary
00:16:27.506 --> 00:16:28.467
do that in my house.
00:16:30.104 --> 00:16:31.424
Try to remove distractions.
00:16:31.485 --> 00:16:32.025
For instance,
00:16:32.225 --> 00:16:33.346
ask whether you may turn off
00:16:33.366 --> 00:16:34.447
the television or radio.
00:16:34.727 --> 00:16:36.028
I did have them do this when
00:16:36.049 --> 00:16:37.530
they were teaching my former spouse,
00:16:37.551 --> 00:16:38.511
who was not a member of the
00:16:38.572 --> 00:16:39.932
church when we first got married.
00:16:40.594 --> 00:16:41.715
They would often ask,
00:16:42.154 --> 00:16:43.496
can we turn off the TV?
00:16:44.236 --> 00:16:45.317
If he was in the kitchen
00:16:45.339 --> 00:16:47.620
doing dishes after dinner, they would say,
00:16:47.760 --> 00:16:49.162
would you join us over here?
00:16:49.743 --> 00:16:51.344
Rather than doing dishes while we talk,
00:16:51.384 --> 00:16:52.485
they really want your full
00:16:52.625 --> 00:16:53.606
undivided attention.
00:16:55.014 --> 00:16:57.075
They say, recognize the family head,
00:16:57.456 --> 00:16:59.037
which of course is going to be the man,
00:16:59.336 --> 00:17:01.557
invite all family members to participate.
00:17:02.057 --> 00:17:03.599
With the permission of the family head,
00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:04.420
offer a prayer.
00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:05.760
And then later they would
00:17:05.881 --> 00:17:07.301
ask you to be the one to pray.
00:17:08.955 --> 00:17:09.556
they're supposed to
00:17:09.596 --> 00:17:10.696
introduce the discussion
00:17:11.117 --> 00:17:12.298
and they're going to talk
00:17:12.438 --> 00:17:13.858
briefly about the points
00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:14.779
that they're going to cover
00:17:15.340 --> 00:17:16.280
in the discussion they're
00:17:16.300 --> 00:17:17.541
going to prepare you for
00:17:17.622 --> 00:17:19.143
what to expect for example
00:17:19.683 --> 00:17:20.544
they should feel free to
00:17:20.604 --> 00:17:21.924
express their feelings ask
00:17:21.984 --> 00:17:23.105
questions tell you when
00:17:23.125 --> 00:17:23.906
they don't understand
00:17:23.967 --> 00:17:25.907
something and sincerely try
00:17:25.948 --> 00:17:27.449
to find out whether your
00:17:27.489 --> 00:17:29.871
message is true so
00:17:31.532 --> 00:17:32.932
there are five actually
00:17:32.972 --> 00:17:34.413
there are six principles in
00:17:34.453 --> 00:17:36.273
this first discussion and
00:17:36.314 --> 00:17:37.753
you can see this is quite a
00:17:37.834 --> 00:17:40.275
lengthy pamphlet it's a lot
00:17:40.434 --> 00:17:42.714
to go through and i can
00:17:42.775 --> 00:17:44.015
imagine a set of
00:17:44.076 --> 00:17:44.976
missionaries spending a
00:17:45.016 --> 00:17:46.215
couple of hours on all of
00:17:46.256 --> 00:17:47.496
this especially if somebody
00:17:47.556 --> 00:17:49.317
is either not really
00:17:49.376 --> 00:17:50.596
familiar with religion or
00:17:50.636 --> 00:17:51.616
with the scriptures with
00:17:51.636 --> 00:17:53.196
the bible at all if they
00:17:53.356 --> 00:17:54.518
aren't really practicing
00:17:54.617 --> 00:17:55.718
any particular religion
00:17:56.916 --> 00:17:58.317
it would be a lot to go through.
00:17:58.337 --> 00:18:00.638
And you could spend probably
00:18:00.679 --> 00:18:01.980
a half an hour on each one
00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:02.681
of these points.
00:18:03.340 --> 00:18:04.442
And it would probably feel
00:18:04.501 --> 00:18:05.721
really overwhelming to try
00:18:05.741 --> 00:18:06.962
and get all of this crammed
00:18:07.083 --> 00:18:08.284
into one lesson,
00:18:08.324 --> 00:18:09.325
which I think is why the
00:18:09.805 --> 00:18:10.905
church has gotten away from
00:18:10.925 --> 00:18:12.866
this particular format of teaching.
00:18:13.366 --> 00:18:15.087
And they've gone to more informal,
00:18:15.228 --> 00:18:16.409
shorter discussions where
00:18:16.449 --> 00:18:17.970
you spend 15 to 20 minutes
00:18:18.049 --> 00:18:19.570
talking about a gospel principle.
00:18:20.270 --> 00:18:21.511
I think that the focus is
00:18:21.612 --> 00:18:23.074
still to try and get the
00:18:23.114 --> 00:18:24.275
person to come to church
00:18:24.355 --> 00:18:25.756
right away the following Sunday.
00:18:26.376 --> 00:18:28.377
And also the next commitment
00:18:28.498 --> 00:18:29.699
is to try and get them to
00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:30.901
agree to be baptized as
00:18:30.961 --> 00:18:31.840
quickly as possible,
00:18:31.961 --> 00:18:33.823
sometimes even with just one discussion.
00:18:34.423 --> 00:18:35.724
There used to be a rule that
00:18:35.765 --> 00:18:37.006
people had to attend church
00:18:37.086 --> 00:18:39.327
two times before they could get baptized.
00:18:39.748 --> 00:18:41.269
I don't know if that's still a rule or not,
00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:42.750
but the person getting
00:18:42.790 --> 00:18:44.612
baptized does have to go to
00:18:44.652 --> 00:18:45.673
an interview with the bishop.
00:18:46.513 --> 00:18:47.875
basically to confirm what
00:18:47.914 --> 00:18:49.816
was taught and then make
00:18:49.855 --> 00:18:50.915
sure that they understand
00:18:50.997 --> 00:18:52.717
it and make sure that they
00:18:53.038 --> 00:18:54.538
are willing to get baptized
00:18:55.058 --> 00:18:56.859
as far as i know there is
00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:59.441
absolutely no point at
00:18:59.560 --> 00:19:01.741
which a bishop interviewing
00:19:01.781 --> 00:19:03.103
a potential person to get
00:19:03.123 --> 00:19:04.923
baptized or a missionary
00:19:05.003 --> 00:19:06.244
presenting the material at
00:19:06.365 --> 00:19:07.285
no point are they going to
00:19:07.425 --> 00:19:09.046
ask you if you know about
00:19:09.145 --> 00:19:10.346
any of the other historical
00:19:10.386 --> 00:19:12.048
things of the church or
00:19:12.107 --> 00:19:13.368
attempt to teach you those things
00:19:13.828 --> 00:19:14.869
They're going to present the
00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:16.330
prescribed information and
00:19:16.351 --> 00:19:17.211
they're going to get you to
00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:19.071
commit to it as quickly as possible.
00:19:19.652 --> 00:19:21.173
So the main focus of these
00:19:21.232 --> 00:19:22.574
discussions back then was
00:19:22.614 --> 00:19:23.694
to get into the first
00:19:23.775 --> 00:19:25.375
vision of Joseph Smith,
00:19:25.435 --> 00:19:27.777
where he claimed to see God
00:19:27.936 --> 00:19:28.817
and Jesus Christ.
00:19:29.337 --> 00:19:30.538
And they told him not to
00:19:30.578 --> 00:19:31.558
join any of the churches
00:19:31.638 --> 00:19:32.940
because none of them were correct,
00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:35.280
but that he needed to wait
00:19:35.362 --> 00:19:36.521
for further instructions
00:19:36.582 --> 00:19:37.903
from God about what to do
00:19:37.962 --> 00:19:38.963
regarding religion.
00:19:39.864 --> 00:19:41.164
That's really the focus of
00:19:41.204 --> 00:19:42.786
this first discussion is to
00:19:42.806 --> 00:19:44.067
get people to understand
00:19:44.186 --> 00:19:45.688
that we can only find out
00:19:45.708 --> 00:19:47.147
about God through a prophet
00:19:47.788 --> 00:19:48.848
or through the revelation
00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:49.950
of God through a prophet.
00:19:50.150 --> 00:19:51.391
And they want to make sure
00:19:51.411 --> 00:19:52.791
that you understand that
00:19:52.832 --> 00:19:54.212
Joseph Smith was a prophet
00:19:54.292 --> 00:19:56.013
because he saw God in Jesus Christ.
00:19:56.554 --> 00:19:58.036
and then claimed to speak
00:19:58.115 --> 00:20:00.117
for him for the rest of his life.
00:20:00.877 --> 00:20:01.858
Getting you to understand
00:20:01.898 --> 00:20:03.800
that principle is really important.
00:20:04.162 --> 00:20:05.163
And the reason I want to
00:20:05.202 --> 00:20:06.304
bring this one up today is
00:20:06.344 --> 00:20:07.184
the first one that most
00:20:07.244 --> 00:20:08.705
missionaries will go over with you.
00:20:09.165 --> 00:20:10.086
But there are some things
00:20:10.468 --> 00:20:11.568
even about this first
00:20:11.628 --> 00:20:12.890
vision of Joseph Smith that
00:20:12.930 --> 00:20:14.111
they won't tell you about
00:20:14.612 --> 00:20:15.992
and things that I didn't
00:20:16.093 --> 00:20:17.875
even know about as a member
00:20:17.914 --> 00:20:18.394
of the church.
00:20:19.135 --> 00:20:21.337
And it wasn't until about
00:20:21.337 --> 00:20:22.858
2015 that the LDS Church
00:20:22.940 --> 00:20:24.260
started posting on their
00:20:24.300 --> 00:20:25.561
website these things called
00:20:25.862 --> 00:20:27.262
gospel topic essays,
00:20:27.723 --> 00:20:28.944
which addressed some of the
00:20:29.005 --> 00:20:30.266
history of the church.
00:20:30.605 --> 00:20:31.988
That's become problematic in
00:20:32.028 --> 00:20:33.108
the last years because the
00:20:33.169 --> 00:20:34.930
more people ask questions about it,
00:20:35.471 --> 00:20:37.172
the less they believe in
00:20:37.211 --> 00:20:38.532
the truth claims that they
00:20:38.553 --> 00:20:39.794
were taught since they were a kid.
00:20:40.744 --> 00:20:41.744
So we'll get back to that a
00:20:41.785 --> 00:20:42.425
little bit later.
00:20:42.445 --> 00:20:44.125
I just want to show you what
00:20:44.306 --> 00:20:45.527
is in the rest of this
00:20:46.146 --> 00:20:47.326
lesson manual and what the
00:20:47.346 --> 00:20:48.267
missionaries go over.
00:20:48.988 --> 00:20:51.028
So principle one, we believe in God.
00:20:51.387 --> 00:20:53.028
Most people believe in a supreme being,
00:20:53.269 --> 00:20:54.028
even though they may call
00:20:54.068 --> 00:20:54.910
him by different names.
00:20:55.430 --> 00:20:56.670
We know that God lives and
00:20:56.710 --> 00:20:57.651
we want to share with you
00:20:57.730 --> 00:20:58.711
our feelings about him.
00:20:59.330 --> 00:21:02.372
God is perfect, all wise and all powerful.
00:21:02.551 --> 00:21:04.553
He's also merciful, kind and just.
00:21:05.373 --> 00:21:07.055
except when he's not we know
00:21:07.095 --> 00:21:08.115
that he can have that we
00:21:08.155 --> 00:21:09.537
can have faith in him we
00:21:09.576 --> 00:21:10.718
can love him with all our
00:21:10.877 --> 00:21:12.138
hearts and then next to it
00:21:12.179 --> 00:21:13.440
it says find out what the
00:21:13.500 --> 00:21:14.760
investigators believe about
00:21:14.780 --> 00:21:16.423
god and how they feel about god
00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:19.631
Next, God is our father in heaven.
00:21:19.851 --> 00:21:21.451
We're children of our father in heaven.
00:21:21.631 --> 00:21:22.932
We're created in his image
00:21:23.311 --> 00:21:24.951
because he's the father of all people.
00:21:25.232 --> 00:21:26.772
We are brothers and sisters.
00:21:26.952 --> 00:21:28.413
And that's why LDS people
00:21:28.453 --> 00:21:30.554
call each other brother and
00:21:30.574 --> 00:21:32.015
their last name or sister
00:21:32.035 --> 00:21:33.015
and their last name.
00:21:33.394 --> 00:21:34.375
We don't really use first
00:21:34.415 --> 00:21:35.056
names in the church.
00:21:36.220 --> 00:21:37.380
God has a plan for us.
00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:39.181
As our father, God loves us.
00:21:39.401 --> 00:21:41.060
He wants us to progress and be happy.
00:21:41.521 --> 00:21:43.021
He wants us to become more like him.
00:21:43.501 --> 00:21:44.701
He prepared a plan that will
00:21:44.721 --> 00:21:46.002
bring us joy in this life
00:21:46.123 --> 00:21:47.242
and eternal life with him.
00:21:47.722 --> 00:21:50.023
This plan is called the plan of salvation.
00:21:50.763 --> 00:21:50.943
Now,
00:21:51.003 --> 00:21:52.125
sometimes they call it the plan of
00:21:52.164 --> 00:21:52.605
happiness.
00:21:53.464 --> 00:21:55.486
Then they tell the missionaries to testify,
00:21:55.746 --> 00:21:56.986
express your feelings about
00:21:57.006 --> 00:21:58.467
your belief in God, his wisdom,
00:21:58.547 --> 00:21:59.326
and his love for us,
00:22:00.147 --> 00:22:01.188
what it means to you to
00:22:01.228 --> 00:22:02.387
know that you're a child of God,
00:22:02.488 --> 00:22:03.429
and the happiness you've
00:22:03.469 --> 00:22:04.528
found through your efforts
00:22:04.608 --> 00:22:06.230
to grow and become more like God.
00:22:07.375 --> 00:22:10.596
These testify experiences
00:22:10.696 --> 00:22:11.978
sort of start to follow a
00:22:12.178 --> 00:22:13.459
really familiar pattern.
00:22:14.058 --> 00:22:15.039
And when you listen to
00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:16.621
people in the LDS church
00:22:16.661 --> 00:22:17.701
talk about their beliefs,
00:22:18.541 --> 00:22:20.222
sometimes they'll call it a testimony,
00:22:20.383 --> 00:22:21.364
and sometimes they'll say,
00:22:21.443 --> 00:22:23.005
I would like to bear my testimony,
00:22:23.045 --> 00:22:24.005
which basically means they
00:22:24.045 --> 00:22:25.926
just want to tell you what they believe.
00:22:26.727 --> 00:22:28.367
Once a month in the LDS church,
00:22:28.567 --> 00:22:29.628
there is a fast and
00:22:29.689 --> 00:22:31.328
testimony meeting where
00:22:31.368 --> 00:22:32.450
members are expected to
00:22:32.509 --> 00:22:33.691
give up two meals.
00:22:33.770 --> 00:22:35.692
They're expected to fast for
00:22:35.731 --> 00:22:37.471
two meals and then give up
00:22:37.512 --> 00:22:39.232
the cost of those meals to
00:22:39.353 --> 00:22:40.253
feed the poor and needy.
00:22:40.314 --> 00:22:41.314
This is a concept that I
00:22:41.374 --> 00:22:43.035
actually really loved as a
00:22:43.075 --> 00:22:43.796
member of the church.
00:22:43.836 --> 00:22:44.875
I thought it was wonderful
00:22:44.955 --> 00:22:46.436
for me to make a sacrifice
00:22:46.957 --> 00:22:48.137
and to give money so that
00:22:48.218 --> 00:22:49.377
other people could be fed.
00:22:49.499 --> 00:22:50.919
That made a lot of sense to me.
00:22:51.378 --> 00:22:52.359
It sounded like something
00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:53.580
that Jesus would have taught.
00:22:54.560 --> 00:22:55.662
And I really loved that part
00:22:55.701 --> 00:22:56.122
of the church.
00:22:58.273 --> 00:22:59.434
Then there's some scriptural
00:22:59.474 --> 00:23:00.435
resources over here.
00:23:01.737 --> 00:23:02.557
And what would happen in
00:23:02.597 --> 00:23:03.818
these fast and testimony
00:23:03.838 --> 00:23:04.920
meetings is that you're
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:06.422
supposed to come to church
00:23:06.461 --> 00:23:07.962
having fasted for two meals.
00:23:08.703 --> 00:23:12.087
And then the leader of the congregation,
00:23:12.147 --> 00:23:13.088
who's called a bishop,
00:23:13.288 --> 00:23:14.869
would open up the meeting
00:23:14.951 --> 00:23:16.412
for anybody to come and
00:23:16.511 --> 00:23:17.894
share their testimony or
00:23:18.034 --> 00:23:18.713
what they believe.
00:23:19.550 --> 00:23:20.451
So it was sort of like,
00:23:20.711 --> 00:23:22.032
I like to call it open mic
00:23:22.093 --> 00:23:23.534
Sunday because anybody
00:23:23.574 --> 00:23:24.755
could get up there and talk
00:23:24.815 --> 00:23:25.596
about anything.
00:23:26.375 --> 00:23:28.478
And as I got a little bit older,
00:23:28.498 --> 00:23:30.619
the church leadership in
00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:32.221
Salt Lake started to tell people,
00:23:33.101 --> 00:23:34.342
you really need to restrict
00:23:34.402 --> 00:23:36.263
your testimony to some
00:23:36.344 --> 00:23:37.765
basic gospel principles.
00:23:38.345 --> 00:23:40.166
We don't want to hear travel logs.
00:23:40.227 --> 00:23:41.708
People get up there all the time and say,
00:23:41.768 --> 00:23:43.229
I recently took a trip to blah, blah,
00:23:43.249 --> 00:23:43.528
blah.
00:23:43.548 --> 00:23:44.309
And when I attended
00:23:44.329 --> 00:23:45.391
sacrament meeting there,
00:23:45.451 --> 00:23:46.191
this is what happened.
00:23:47.051 --> 00:23:48.153
um they really don't want
00:23:48.193 --> 00:23:49.817
people to share things
00:23:50.057 --> 00:23:52.461
about their sins for
00:23:52.520 --> 00:23:53.281
example they don't want
00:23:53.301 --> 00:23:54.723
people to get up and say i
00:23:54.844 --> 00:23:55.664
really struggle with the
00:23:55.684 --> 00:23:56.787
word of wisdom and i had a
00:23:56.826 --> 00:23:57.909
drink last night and i
00:23:57.949 --> 00:23:59.010
promised myself i'm not
00:23:59.030 --> 00:23:59.811
going to do it again and
00:23:59.852 --> 00:24:00.633
i'm going to repent now
00:24:01.617 --> 00:24:02.679
They also don't really want
00:24:02.719 --> 00:24:04.961
you to share things about
00:24:05.101 --> 00:24:06.662
your personal medical journey.
00:24:06.843 --> 00:24:07.983
Although a lot of people do
00:24:08.023 --> 00:24:09.964
that because we do believe
00:24:10.025 --> 00:24:11.446
Mormons do believe in the
00:24:11.467 --> 00:24:12.728
laying on of hands for the
00:24:12.788 --> 00:24:13.667
healing of the sick.
00:24:14.209 --> 00:24:15.730
And so a lot of people use
00:24:16.029 --> 00:24:17.191
testimony meeting as an
00:24:17.231 --> 00:24:18.472
opportunity to talk about a
00:24:18.512 --> 00:24:19.933
time when they were very sick.
00:24:20.413 --> 00:24:21.675
and then were healed after a
00:24:21.715 --> 00:24:22.537
priesthood blessing.
00:24:23.178 --> 00:24:25.079
And things got out of hand a
00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:25.800
lot of the time.
00:24:26.701 --> 00:24:27.803
I heard a lot of very
00:24:27.863 --> 00:24:29.484
sensitive information in
00:24:29.545 --> 00:24:31.067
church meetings that I
00:24:31.126 --> 00:24:33.108
didn't feel was appropriate to share.
00:24:33.910 --> 00:24:34.891
And it can be really
00:24:34.971 --> 00:24:35.932
overwhelming for a new
00:24:35.971 --> 00:24:37.012
member to come in during
00:24:37.073 --> 00:24:37.974
one of these testimony
00:24:37.994 --> 00:24:39.076
meetings and hear people
00:24:39.096 --> 00:24:40.698
sharing all of this personal information.
00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:43.461
So that would have been an
00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:45.162
opportunity for somebody to come up.
00:24:45.801 --> 00:24:46.923
And the leadership of the
00:24:46.942 --> 00:24:48.042
church did tell us we need
00:24:48.083 --> 00:24:49.723
to restrict it to these five things.
00:24:49.864 --> 00:24:51.105
We want you to talk about
00:24:51.184 --> 00:24:52.705
your belief in the Book of Mormon,
00:24:53.486 --> 00:24:55.086
in the restoration of the gospel,
00:24:55.307 --> 00:24:56.587
in the prophet Joseph Smith,
00:24:56.847 --> 00:24:57.868
in the current prophet.
00:24:57.929 --> 00:24:59.190
And I forget there was another one.
00:24:59.869 --> 00:25:01.371
the scriptures or something like that.
00:25:01.451 --> 00:25:02.672
So they tried to keep people
00:25:02.711 --> 00:25:04.212
narrowed down to these little topics,
00:25:04.272 --> 00:25:05.353
but it didn't always work.
00:25:05.512 --> 00:25:06.693
And a lot of times it ended
00:25:06.753 --> 00:25:07.474
up being really
00:25:07.555 --> 00:25:08.815
uncomfortable and embarrassing.
00:25:09.395 --> 00:25:10.496
More than once I heard
00:25:10.536 --> 00:25:11.416
people make political
00:25:11.477 --> 00:25:12.557
statements from the stand.
00:25:12.837 --> 00:25:15.940
And more than once I heard people,
00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:18.221
more than once people were
00:25:18.340 --> 00:25:20.362
asked to step down before
00:25:20.402 --> 00:25:21.542
they had finished their very,
00:25:21.603 --> 00:25:22.884
very long testimony.
00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:24.400
All of that to say,
00:25:24.721 --> 00:25:26.041
testimonies can start to
00:25:26.101 --> 00:25:28.502
sound like a little bit of a prescribed,
00:25:28.943 --> 00:25:29.943
a little bit of a script.
00:25:30.823 --> 00:25:32.304
And so missionaries coming
00:25:32.324 --> 00:25:34.065
into your home will bear their testimony.
00:25:34.445 --> 00:25:35.405
They'll say something like,
00:25:35.506 --> 00:25:36.326
I want you to know.
00:25:36.870 --> 00:25:38.011
that I believe that Joseph
00:25:38.051 --> 00:25:39.251
Smith was a prophet of God.
00:25:39.671 --> 00:25:40.832
I know that he restored the
00:25:40.872 --> 00:25:42.513
gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth.
00:25:43.113 --> 00:25:44.434
And I know that the Book of
00:25:44.474 --> 00:25:45.694
Mormon is the word of God.
00:25:45.975 --> 00:25:47.896
And I know this because I prayed about it.
00:25:48.516 --> 00:25:49.837
The Holy Ghost bore witness
00:25:49.877 --> 00:25:50.877
to me that it was true.
00:25:51.337 --> 00:25:52.818
And I know that if you pray to God,
00:25:53.278 --> 00:25:54.259
that the Holy Ghost will
00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:55.399
bear witness to you too.
00:25:56.080 --> 00:25:57.060
That's kind of what that's
00:25:57.100 --> 00:25:58.701
going to sound like and look like.
00:25:59.201 --> 00:26:00.362
And at the end of the discussion,
00:26:00.402 --> 00:26:01.242
the missionaries are gonna
00:26:01.342 --> 00:26:02.283
ask you to pray,
00:26:02.903 --> 00:26:03.664
or they're going to give
00:26:03.684 --> 00:26:04.404
you an assignment
00:26:05.142 --> 00:26:06.143
to promise that you'll pray
00:26:06.183 --> 00:26:07.243
about the things they've taught you.
00:26:09.644 --> 00:26:11.145
The second principle is the
00:26:11.505 --> 00:26:14.086
divine sonship of Jesus Christ.
00:26:16.868 --> 00:26:19.209
We need help to overcome sin and death.
00:26:19.289 --> 00:26:21.090
Without the help of our Father in heaven,
00:26:21.170 --> 00:26:22.250
we could not benefit from
00:26:22.270 --> 00:26:23.331
the plan of salvation.
00:26:23.991 --> 00:26:25.712
now i'm pretty certain that
00:26:25.932 --> 00:26:26.872
the missionaries also
00:26:26.932 --> 00:26:28.192
during this lesson were
00:26:28.573 --> 00:26:30.313
asked to present the plan
00:26:30.353 --> 00:26:31.554
of salvation which was a
00:26:31.674 --> 00:26:33.074
formal written plan that
00:26:33.134 --> 00:26:34.515
wanted people to understand
00:26:34.935 --> 00:26:35.735
and again this could have
00:26:35.755 --> 00:26:37.135
been an entire lesson all
00:26:37.175 --> 00:26:39.076
by itself it feels super
00:26:39.136 --> 00:26:40.517
overwhelming to put all of
00:26:40.557 --> 00:26:41.597
this stuff just in one
00:26:41.637 --> 00:26:43.217
visit but i want to share
00:26:43.258 --> 00:26:45.078
with you what the plan of
00:26:45.118 --> 00:26:47.079
salvation looks like and i
00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:48.859
just went on pinterest and
00:26:49.540 --> 00:26:52.941
was able to find this little graphic
00:26:54.318 --> 00:26:55.739
and you can see lots of
00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:56.959
different graphics of the
00:26:56.999 --> 00:26:58.700
plan of salvation if you
00:26:58.720 --> 00:26:59.660
look it up online you'll
00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:00.481
see all these different
00:27:00.541 --> 00:27:02.121
versions and this
00:27:02.182 --> 00:27:03.822
particular one on pinterest
00:27:04.202 --> 00:27:05.003
the reason i picked this
00:27:05.083 --> 00:27:06.203
one is because they started
00:27:06.283 --> 00:27:08.324
to incorporate the idea
00:27:08.404 --> 00:27:09.485
that the plan of salvation
00:27:09.525 --> 00:27:10.885
is a plan of love and so
00:27:10.905 --> 00:27:12.206
they use the word or the
00:27:12.266 --> 00:27:14.527
letters in the word love to explain this
00:27:16.104 --> 00:27:18.006
Now it starts over on the
00:27:18.066 --> 00:27:20.489
very left side with pre-earth life.
00:27:20.709 --> 00:27:22.511
We believed that we existed
00:27:22.591 --> 00:27:24.293
as spirit children in sort
00:27:24.333 --> 00:27:25.594
of a heaven before we came
00:27:25.654 --> 00:27:27.916
to earth and that there was
00:27:27.937 --> 00:27:31.300
a war in heaven where God
00:27:31.340 --> 00:27:33.302
wanted to send his children
00:27:33.342 --> 00:27:34.824
to earth to test them and
00:27:34.864 --> 00:27:36.746
to see if they would follow
00:27:37.727 --> 00:27:38.448
his teachings.
00:27:39.443 --> 00:27:41.304
even when they weren't in his presence.
00:27:41.844 --> 00:27:44.085
And Mormons believed that
00:27:44.205 --> 00:27:45.645
Satan came forward and said,
00:27:46.065 --> 00:27:47.946
I have a great idea.
00:27:48.186 --> 00:27:50.227
Why don't we compel everyone
00:27:50.327 --> 00:27:51.107
to follow you?
00:27:51.327 --> 00:27:52.828
And then all of your
00:27:52.868 --> 00:27:54.468
children will get to return to heaven.
00:27:54.928 --> 00:27:56.069
They won't have any choice,
00:27:56.169 --> 00:27:57.629
but they will follow you.
00:27:57.789 --> 00:27:59.150
And then everybody gets to go to heaven.
00:27:59.750 --> 00:28:01.310
And Jesus came forward and he said,
00:28:01.470 --> 00:28:02.471
I have a better plan.
00:28:02.991 --> 00:28:04.791
My idea is that you give
00:28:04.851 --> 00:28:06.571
everyone free will and they
00:28:06.611 --> 00:28:08.252
can choose to follow you or not.
00:28:08.972 --> 00:28:11.772
And the legend goes that, of course,
00:28:11.852 --> 00:28:12.573
Jesus won.
00:28:13.093 --> 00:28:14.513
But God said, well, in that case,
00:28:14.553 --> 00:28:15.773
we're going to need a savior.
00:28:16.433 --> 00:28:18.034
And Satan said, you know,
00:28:18.094 --> 00:28:19.694
send me as a savior.
00:28:19.734 --> 00:28:21.394
I'll make sure everybody follows the plan.
00:28:21.494 --> 00:28:22.174
And Jesus said,
00:28:22.214 --> 00:28:23.715
send me and I'll sacrifice
00:28:23.775 --> 00:28:24.835
myself forever.
00:28:25.080 --> 00:28:27.041
So that people can repent
00:28:27.161 --> 00:28:27.942
and return to you.
00:28:28.342 --> 00:28:29.583
And the legend is that Jesus
00:28:29.643 --> 00:28:31.344
won out and became our savior.
00:28:31.865 --> 00:28:32.825
That's what happened in the
00:28:32.845 --> 00:28:33.526
pre-earth life.
00:28:34.486 --> 00:28:36.388
And then there was the creation.
00:28:36.408 --> 00:28:38.069
And then at the bottom of
00:28:38.089 --> 00:28:40.150
the L that's us coming to earth,
00:28:40.410 --> 00:28:41.471
receiving our bodies,
00:28:41.711 --> 00:28:43.472
our spirits and our bodies come together.
00:28:43.953 --> 00:28:44.913
And then we have this earth
00:28:44.953 --> 00:28:46.054
experience where we get to
00:28:46.114 --> 00:28:47.275
choose whether we're going
00:28:47.295 --> 00:28:48.235
to follow God or not.
00:28:48.756 --> 00:28:49.937
Then when we die,
00:28:50.337 --> 00:28:52.098
we immediately go to either
00:28:52.258 --> 00:28:54.800
paradise or spirit prison.
00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:56.602
Spirit prison is for those
00:28:56.682 --> 00:28:58.804
people who were not
00:28:58.844 --> 00:28:59.985
righteous on the earth,
00:29:00.506 --> 00:29:01.587
they did not have the
00:29:01.627 --> 00:29:02.828
gospel of Jesus Christ,
00:29:03.449 --> 00:29:05.711
and they had to be sort of set aside.
00:29:05.811 --> 00:29:07.093
Paradise is where you get to
00:29:07.133 --> 00:29:08.554
be with your loved ones and
00:29:09.015 --> 00:29:10.736
with Jesus Christ before
00:29:10.777 --> 00:29:11.637
the judgment comes.
00:29:12.558 --> 00:29:15.201
The Mormons believe that if
00:29:15.221 --> 00:29:16.823
you died without the opportunity to...
00:29:18.356 --> 00:29:19.556
hear the gospel of Jesus
00:29:19.576 --> 00:29:20.917
Christ or become converted
00:29:20.977 --> 00:29:22.217
to the gospel of Jesus Christ,
00:29:22.798 --> 00:29:25.979
that you can still, in spirit prison,
00:29:26.159 --> 00:29:27.419
be taught about Jesus.
00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:29.000
That's one of the reasons
00:29:29.080 --> 00:29:30.840
why Mormons do genealogy,
00:29:30.900 --> 00:29:31.841
family history work,
00:29:32.301 --> 00:29:33.101
and that's one of the
00:29:33.341 --> 00:29:34.742
functions of a temple.
00:29:35.262 --> 00:29:36.823
temples are not attended on
00:29:36.863 --> 00:29:38.744
sunday you go to the temple
00:29:38.925 --> 00:29:39.945
at other times during the
00:29:39.985 --> 00:29:40.966
week and there's a
00:29:41.006 --> 00:29:42.287
baptismal font in the
00:29:42.327 --> 00:29:43.788
temple and what you would
00:29:43.828 --> 00:29:45.669
do is you would go to your
00:29:45.709 --> 00:29:46.730
family history you would
00:29:46.790 --> 00:29:48.211
find somebody who had not
00:29:48.231 --> 00:29:49.151
been a member of the church
00:29:49.191 --> 00:29:50.032
while they were alive
00:29:50.212 --> 00:29:51.113
somebody who had passed
00:29:51.173 --> 00:29:52.894
away they had to be at
00:29:52.934 --> 00:29:55.396
least 110 years since they
00:29:55.476 --> 00:29:57.437
had been alive and you
00:29:57.457 --> 00:29:58.117
would put all their
00:29:58.157 --> 00:29:59.598
information into the lds
00:29:59.638 --> 00:30:00.799
database you would print
00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:01.800
out a little card and you
00:30:01.820 --> 00:30:02.720
would take that card with
00:30:02.760 --> 00:30:04.602
you to the baptistry in the temple
00:30:05.782 --> 00:30:07.723
then you would go into the
00:30:07.743 --> 00:30:09.624
waters of baptism dressed all in white.
00:30:09.904 --> 00:30:11.104
There would be an elder
00:30:11.144 --> 00:30:12.425
there who was going to
00:30:12.465 --> 00:30:13.845
perform the baptism and a
00:30:13.905 --> 00:30:15.106
witness there who would
00:30:15.286 --> 00:30:16.206
witness the baptism.
00:30:16.326 --> 00:30:17.247
And then somebody who would
00:30:17.327 --> 00:30:19.728
actually record the date
00:30:19.788 --> 00:30:21.128
and time that you were baptized.
00:30:21.208 --> 00:30:21.889
And you would give this
00:30:21.929 --> 00:30:22.769
little card with your
00:30:22.849 --> 00:30:25.590
ancestor's name on it to the elder.
00:30:26.130 --> 00:30:27.451
And the elder would say,
00:30:27.471 --> 00:30:29.952
he would call my name and he would say,
00:30:31.266 --> 00:30:31.966
Sister Aiden,
00:30:32.607 --> 00:30:35.248
I now baptize you for and in behalf of,
00:30:35.828 --> 00:30:37.329
and then you would say the person's name,
00:30:39.449 --> 00:30:40.010
Aunt Sarah,
00:30:41.150 --> 00:30:42.771
and he would repeat it and say,
00:30:42.871 --> 00:30:44.011
Aunt Sarah, who is dead,
00:30:44.131 --> 00:30:45.052
and then he would dunk you
00:30:45.072 --> 00:30:46.833
under the water and bring you up,
00:30:46.893 --> 00:30:47.473
and that would be
00:30:48.430 --> 00:30:49.890
a recorded ordinance that
00:30:49.910 --> 00:30:51.771
that person had officially been baptized.
00:30:52.371 --> 00:30:53.751
What Mormons believe is at
00:30:53.832 --> 00:30:55.832
that point that Aunt Sarah,
00:30:55.932 --> 00:30:57.212
who is already in heaven
00:30:57.272 --> 00:30:58.293
and has been dead,
00:30:58.833 --> 00:30:59.793
has been waiting for this
00:30:59.813 --> 00:31:01.234
day for a long time because
00:31:01.274 --> 00:31:02.614
while she was in spirit prison,
00:31:03.034 --> 00:31:04.755
she had people teaching her the gospel,
00:31:04.835 --> 00:31:06.095
teaching her about Jesus Christ,
00:31:06.175 --> 00:31:08.556
and she said, I believe it, I accept it,
00:31:08.896 --> 00:31:10.296
and they say, oh, that's great,
00:31:10.376 --> 00:31:11.836
but you don't have a body anymore,
00:31:11.877 --> 00:31:13.037
so you can't be baptized,
00:31:13.077 --> 00:31:14.757
so you can't progress and
00:31:14.797 --> 00:31:16.518
go to paradise until
00:31:17.776 --> 00:31:19.778
somebody on earth gets baptized for you.
00:31:20.378 --> 00:31:22.981
And so we as LDS people
00:31:23.041 --> 00:31:24.322
believed that once we were
00:31:24.362 --> 00:31:25.723
baptized for that person,
00:31:26.204 --> 00:31:27.365
that they could then move
00:31:27.525 --> 00:31:29.667
out of spirit prison and into paradise.
00:31:31.569 --> 00:31:33.070
So that's a little tangent
00:31:33.390 --> 00:31:35.953
about baptism that came
00:31:36.013 --> 00:31:37.214
about mainly because I was
00:31:37.254 --> 00:31:38.075
trying to talk about the
00:31:38.115 --> 00:31:38.975
plan of salvation.
00:31:39.055 --> 00:31:40.397
So we'll go back to that now.
00:31:43.496 --> 00:31:45.557
So after being in paradise
00:31:45.617 --> 00:31:46.478
or spirit prison,
00:31:46.878 --> 00:31:47.938
then we believe that
00:31:48.659 --> 00:31:50.260
everybody on earth who ever
00:31:50.320 --> 00:31:51.640
lived will be resurrected
00:31:52.421 --> 00:31:53.541
and their body and their
00:31:53.581 --> 00:31:54.842
spirit will come back together.
00:31:55.402 --> 00:31:57.183
And then we will all be judged.
00:31:57.563 --> 00:31:59.464
And we will go to one of
00:31:59.544 --> 00:32:01.666
three kingdoms based on our faithfulness.
00:32:01.726 --> 00:32:01.946
Now,
00:32:02.326 --> 00:32:04.227
Mormons believe that the telestial
00:32:04.267 --> 00:32:06.368
kingdom is basically going
00:32:06.408 --> 00:32:08.169
to be heaven on earth.
00:32:08.329 --> 00:32:08.929
It's the earth,
00:32:08.989 --> 00:32:11.231
but like in a renewed paradisical state.
00:32:12.231 --> 00:32:13.452
And that the terrestrial
00:32:13.492 --> 00:32:14.612
kingdom is going to be even
00:32:14.692 --> 00:32:15.433
cooler than that.
00:32:15.593 --> 00:32:16.713
And the celestial kingdom is
00:32:16.733 --> 00:32:17.894
going to be the only place
00:32:17.914 --> 00:32:18.894
where you can live with God
00:32:18.954 --> 00:32:20.855
and Jesus Christ and your family members.
00:32:21.476 --> 00:32:23.397
In order to get into the celestial kingdom,
00:32:23.477 --> 00:32:25.038
you have to not only be baptized,
00:32:25.078 --> 00:32:26.238
but you also have to go
00:32:26.298 --> 00:32:27.179
through the temple and
00:32:27.219 --> 00:32:28.599
receive other ordinances
00:32:28.679 --> 00:32:30.200
and make other promises to God.
00:32:30.820 --> 00:32:31.981
Then you have to live those
00:32:32.021 --> 00:32:33.542
commandments for your entire life.
00:32:34.182 --> 00:32:35.603
and quote unquote endure to
00:32:35.623 --> 00:32:38.184
the end before you can move
00:32:38.284 --> 00:32:39.605
on to the celestial kingdom
00:32:40.285 --> 00:32:42.626
and if i were good to go to
00:32:42.666 --> 00:32:43.766
the celestial kingdom but
00:32:43.806 --> 00:32:44.827
some of my family members
00:32:44.847 --> 00:32:46.067
didn't make it i could go
00:32:46.087 --> 00:32:47.028
down and visit them in the
00:32:47.068 --> 00:32:48.729
other kingdoms but they
00:32:48.789 --> 00:32:49.869
couldn't come up and visit
00:32:50.009 --> 00:32:51.270
me in the celestial kingdom
00:32:51.710 --> 00:32:52.831
now on this particular
00:32:52.911 --> 00:32:54.552
graphic there is one part
00:32:54.592 --> 00:32:56.593
that is left out and that
00:32:56.734 --> 00:32:58.315
is outer darkness it's
00:32:58.735 --> 00:32:59.836
something that they kind of
00:32:59.856 --> 00:33:00.977
have stopped talking about
00:33:01.077 --> 00:33:02.037
in the plan of salvation
00:33:02.077 --> 00:33:02.798
but it's definitely
00:33:02.838 --> 00:33:03.638
something that i learned
00:33:03.678 --> 00:33:05.440
about as a child it's that
00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:07.561
scary version of mormon
00:33:07.601 --> 00:33:10.243
hell basically where you're
00:33:10.283 --> 00:33:11.764
separated from god and from
00:33:11.784 --> 00:33:13.065
your loved ones because at
00:33:13.265 --> 00:33:14.926
one point you knew the
00:33:14.986 --> 00:33:17.008
truth but then you rejected
00:33:17.068 --> 00:33:18.429
it so in this larger
00:33:18.489 --> 00:33:19.950
graphic over here to the right
00:33:20.430 --> 00:33:24.094
You can see things are a little bit more,
00:33:24.234 --> 00:33:25.856
let's see if it'll go, if I visit here,
00:33:25.896 --> 00:33:26.076
yeah.
00:33:26.417 --> 00:33:30.782
Things are a little bit more analyzed,
00:33:30.822 --> 00:33:31.723
a little more clearly.
00:33:32.143 --> 00:33:34.165
We have premortal existence over here,
00:33:34.365 --> 00:33:35.286
and then there's a veil of
00:33:35.347 --> 00:33:36.468
forgetfulness that comes
00:33:36.548 --> 00:33:37.709
over us when we're born,
00:33:37.769 --> 00:33:39.311
when we come to the earth.
00:33:39.719 --> 00:33:41.139
So we don't remember being
00:33:41.159 --> 00:33:43.620
in our pre-mortal existence
00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:47.342
with our family and the war
00:33:47.382 --> 00:33:48.482
in heaven and all of that.
00:33:48.982 --> 00:33:49.922
So then when you die,
00:33:49.962 --> 00:33:51.083
the spirit goes to either
00:33:51.123 --> 00:33:52.443
paradise or spirit prison
00:33:52.943 --> 00:33:54.364
and your body goes to the grave.
00:33:54.584 --> 00:33:55.984
Then at the resurrection,
00:33:56.004 --> 00:33:57.585
your spirit and body are united.
00:33:58.125 --> 00:33:59.225
Then there's the final
00:33:59.285 --> 00:34:00.486
judgment where you can go
00:34:00.526 --> 00:34:01.806
to one of these three kingdoms.
00:34:02.246 --> 00:34:03.767
And it does mention outer
00:34:03.807 --> 00:34:04.607
darkness over here.
00:34:04.667 --> 00:34:06.648
Now, our outer darkness is for people
00:34:07.168 --> 00:34:09.571
who knew the truth or had
00:34:09.611 --> 00:34:11.072
the fullness of the truth
00:34:11.633 --> 00:34:13.595
and then rejected it so
00:34:13.835 --> 00:34:15.597
anybody who leaves the
00:34:15.637 --> 00:34:16.798
church of jesus christ of
00:34:16.838 --> 00:34:18.400
latter-day saints is going
00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:19.801
to outer darkness because
00:34:20.682 --> 00:34:21.864
it said that we knew the
00:34:21.924 --> 00:34:22.985
truth we accepted it we
00:34:23.025 --> 00:34:23.986
made these promises and
00:34:24.026 --> 00:34:25.607
covenants and then at some
00:34:25.647 --> 00:34:26.649
point in our lives we
00:34:26.849 --> 00:34:28.050
rejected it so we don't get
00:34:28.070 --> 00:34:29.532
to go to any of the kingdoms
00:34:30.032 --> 00:34:30.973
But we get to go to our
00:34:31.013 --> 00:34:32.114
darkness where we'll be
00:34:32.154 --> 00:34:33.296
separated from God and from
00:34:33.336 --> 00:34:34.797
our families and where we
00:34:34.917 --> 00:34:35.919
basically get to hang out
00:34:35.959 --> 00:34:37.420
with Satan for the rest of eternity.
00:34:37.721 --> 00:34:38.622
So that's pretty cool.
00:34:39.943 --> 00:34:41.265
Not something that's usually
00:34:41.305 --> 00:34:43.147
mentioned in the missionary lessons.
00:34:44.753 --> 00:34:45.935
unless you just get a
00:34:45.975 --> 00:34:47.697
missionary who is
00:34:47.737 --> 00:34:48.799
interested in talking about
00:34:48.819 --> 00:34:49.460
those kind of things,
00:34:49.580 --> 00:34:50.141
or if you have an
00:34:50.161 --> 00:34:51.924
investigator who asks about it.
00:34:52.665 --> 00:34:54.788
So back to the super long
00:34:54.848 --> 00:34:56.010
lesson that you're going through,
00:34:56.030 --> 00:34:56.931
the first time the
00:34:56.951 --> 00:34:58.033
missionaries are coming over,
00:34:58.113 --> 00:34:59.355
at least they did this back in the 80s.
00:35:00.592 --> 00:35:02.313
So the plan of salvation
00:35:02.393 --> 00:35:03.754
gets wrapped up and then we
00:35:03.794 --> 00:35:04.674
go to principle two.
00:35:04.995 --> 00:35:05.855
All of that, you guys,
00:35:05.875 --> 00:35:07.096
it was just principle one.
00:35:08.717 --> 00:35:09.917
So in principle two,
00:35:10.278 --> 00:35:11.418
it's important for
00:35:11.478 --> 00:35:12.499
missionaries to teach you
00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:14.320
that Jesus Christ was the
00:35:14.380 --> 00:35:15.421
divine son of God,
00:35:15.441 --> 00:35:17.702
that he was sent to earth
00:35:17.802 --> 00:35:19.723
to fulfill the plan of salvation,
00:35:20.263 --> 00:35:21.444
that he is our savior,
00:35:21.544 --> 00:35:23.305
that he overcame sin and death,
00:35:23.926 --> 00:35:25.486
and that he showed us how
00:35:25.526 --> 00:35:26.707
to fulfill the plan by
00:35:26.847 --> 00:35:27.888
repenting of our sins.
00:35:28.348 --> 00:35:29.630
now there is a ton of
00:35:29.790 --> 00:35:31.252
information here lots of
00:35:31.312 --> 00:35:32.714
scriptural references again
00:35:32.754 --> 00:35:33.595
you could spend a whole
00:35:33.696 --> 00:35:34.877
hour with investigators
00:35:34.937 --> 00:35:35.959
talking about this if they
00:35:35.999 --> 00:35:37.180
didn't know about jesus
00:35:37.220 --> 00:35:38.883
christ or believe that he
00:35:38.903 --> 00:35:40.825
was a savior prior to this
00:35:42.111 --> 00:35:42.992
Then there's sort of this
00:35:43.012 --> 00:35:44.153
little challenge down here.
00:35:44.213 --> 00:35:45.234
Find out whether the
00:35:45.274 --> 00:35:46.455
investigators have seen
00:35:46.495 --> 00:35:47.636
blessings enter their lives
00:35:47.696 --> 00:35:48.617
because they followed the
00:35:48.657 --> 00:35:49.898
example of Christ or did
00:35:49.918 --> 00:35:50.658
Christ-like things.
00:35:50.718 --> 00:35:51.079
So again,
00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:51.839
you're trying to get the
00:35:51.879 --> 00:35:53.941
investigators to engage in
00:35:53.981 --> 00:35:55.002
a discussion where they
00:35:55.062 --> 00:35:56.363
reveal really personal
00:35:56.423 --> 00:35:57.804
experiences and information
00:35:57.864 --> 00:35:58.645
about themselves.
00:35:59.085 --> 00:36:00.306
And that sort of helps bond
00:36:00.367 --> 00:36:01.347
them to the missionaries.
00:36:02.268 --> 00:36:03.129
which of the teachings of
00:36:03.189 --> 00:36:04.150
christ have meant the most
00:36:04.190 --> 00:36:06.271
to them and then have faith
00:36:06.312 --> 00:36:07.913
to do what he taught they
00:36:07.953 --> 00:36:09.134
want you to know if you
00:36:09.174 --> 00:36:10.275
have faith to do what jesus
00:36:10.655 --> 00:36:11.656
christ taught you'll find
00:36:11.716 --> 00:36:13.558
peace in this life and also
00:36:13.618 --> 00:36:14.718
you can become more like
00:36:14.759 --> 00:36:15.879
him and like our heavenly
00:36:15.919 --> 00:36:17.080
father and return to live
00:36:17.100 --> 00:36:18.281
with them after this life
00:36:18.842 --> 00:36:20.183
and again there's another
00:36:20.223 --> 00:36:22.245
little section for a testimony over here
00:36:24.181 --> 00:36:26.062
Then on to principle three,
00:36:26.903 --> 00:36:28.424
they talk about God's pattern.
00:36:29.084 --> 00:36:30.225
He chooses witnesses,
00:36:30.545 --> 00:36:32.146
the prophets testify of Christ,
00:36:32.507 --> 00:36:34.228
the Holy Ghost confirms the truth,
00:36:34.608 --> 00:36:35.809
and we're invited to obey.
00:36:35.909 --> 00:36:36.569
And they're going to come
00:36:36.609 --> 00:36:37.890
back to this God's pattern
00:36:37.990 --> 00:36:39.411
all the time while they're teaching you.
00:36:40.052 --> 00:36:41.132
And they're also going to
00:36:41.172 --> 00:36:43.134
remind you that in the Bible,
00:36:43.174 --> 00:36:44.555
there's an example of this
00:36:45.075 --> 00:36:47.036
where God chose a witness,
00:36:47.577 --> 00:36:49.178
the prophet testified of Christ,
00:36:49.278 --> 00:36:51.439
the Holy Ghost confirmed the testify,
00:36:51.619 --> 00:36:53.601
and then we're invited to obey.
00:36:54.381 --> 00:36:56.022
And they send you to this
00:36:56.062 --> 00:36:58.544
scripture in Amos 3.7, which is,
00:36:58.924 --> 00:37:00.325
God will do nothing save he
00:37:00.385 --> 00:37:02.226
reveal his secrets to his servants,
00:37:02.326 --> 00:37:02.866
the prophets.
00:37:02.966 --> 00:37:03.506
That was one of the
00:37:03.546 --> 00:37:04.867
scriptures that we had to memorize.
00:37:04.947 --> 00:37:06.748
It's still back there in my
00:37:06.768 --> 00:37:07.729
Mormon memory banks.
00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:10.761
So then they wanna find out
00:37:10.941 --> 00:37:11.981
whether the investigators
00:37:12.081 --> 00:37:13.201
understand what a prophet
00:37:13.281 --> 00:37:15.382
is and how he can help us know the truth.
00:37:15.482 --> 00:37:16.422
And there are some examples
00:37:16.502 --> 00:37:18.223
over here of biblical prophets.
00:37:18.983 --> 00:37:19.924
No doubt they're gonna talk
00:37:19.964 --> 00:37:21.484
about Moses and how the 10
00:37:21.484 --> 00:37:22.965
commandments were revealed to him.
00:37:22.985 --> 00:37:25.065
And that was an example of a prophet.
00:37:25.425 --> 00:37:26.786
Basically anybody in the
00:37:26.846 --> 00:37:27.966
Bible that testified of
00:37:28.006 --> 00:37:29.427
Jesus Christ was a prophet.
00:37:30.047 --> 00:37:31.367
And then you want to know
00:37:31.407 --> 00:37:32.668
whether they understand how
00:37:32.708 --> 00:37:34.328
the Holy Ghost can help you
00:37:34.388 --> 00:37:36.349
recognize the truth of a prophet's words.
00:37:36.989 --> 00:37:38.110
often at this point the
00:37:38.150 --> 00:37:39.531
missionaries will talk
00:37:39.571 --> 00:37:40.852
about prayer and about the
00:37:40.912 --> 00:37:43.134
holy ghost and lds people
00:37:43.194 --> 00:37:44.616
believe that if you pray to
00:37:44.656 --> 00:37:46.417
god and then just sit
00:37:46.617 --> 00:37:48.439
quietly that you can have a
00:37:48.499 --> 00:37:49.940
spiritual confirmation of
00:37:50.020 --> 00:37:51.561
something being true and
00:37:51.601 --> 00:37:52.822
basically what that is is
00:37:52.883 --> 00:37:55.184
just a good warm feeling so
00:37:55.465 --> 00:37:57.406
if you say a prayer and at
00:37:57.426 --> 00:37:59.168
the end of the prayer you feel peaceful
00:38:00.328 --> 00:38:02.529
you feel a warm feeling then
00:38:02.689 --> 00:38:03.610
that's supposed to be the
00:38:03.650 --> 00:38:04.970
Holy Ghost confirming to
00:38:05.010 --> 00:38:06.371
you that something is true
00:38:06.911 --> 00:38:08.492
when really sometimes it's
00:38:08.532 --> 00:38:10.313
just the act of praying and
00:38:10.373 --> 00:38:11.653
getting quiet with yourself
00:38:12.153 --> 00:38:13.554
and having some meditation
00:38:13.594 --> 00:38:14.354
that makes you feel
00:38:14.414 --> 00:38:15.995
peaceful and then people
00:38:16.055 --> 00:38:17.136
learn to relate that
00:38:17.296 --> 00:38:19.176
feeling to getting some
00:38:19.216 --> 00:38:20.437
kind of a revelation from
00:38:20.497 --> 00:38:22.698
God and this can become
00:38:22.838 --> 00:38:24.739
really problematic because
00:38:26.075 --> 00:38:27.156
at this point you're
00:38:27.196 --> 00:38:28.677
basically teaching yourself
00:38:28.877 --> 00:38:31.259
to confirm your own bias
00:38:31.439 --> 00:38:32.680
about what you do or do not
00:38:32.720 --> 00:38:35.683
want to believe so i could
00:38:35.743 --> 00:38:37.224
pray for example to know if
00:38:37.924 --> 00:38:39.666
i'm supposed to be the next
00:38:39.726 --> 00:38:42.148
leader of the church and if
00:38:42.228 --> 00:38:43.609
i get a good warm peaceful
00:38:43.669 --> 00:38:45.170
feeling and i sort of hear
00:38:45.210 --> 00:38:46.631
a still small voice telling
00:38:46.651 --> 00:38:48.713
me yes megan you're going
00:38:48.733 --> 00:38:50.374
to be the next bishop of
00:38:50.414 --> 00:38:52.416
the digital first ward then
00:38:52.436 --> 00:38:53.857
i can go out and declare
00:38:53.897 --> 00:38:54.878
that to people and say
00:38:55.558 --> 00:38:56.821
I received a revelation from
00:38:56.862 --> 00:38:58.325
God that I'm supposed to be
00:38:58.365 --> 00:39:00.029
the bishop of the digital first ward.
00:39:00.671 --> 00:39:02.114
And nobody can argue with me
00:39:02.174 --> 00:39:03.618
because it came from God.
00:39:03.959 --> 00:39:05.222
I received that revelation.
00:39:05.615 --> 00:39:07.216
witness i received that warm
00:39:07.256 --> 00:39:08.877
feeling in my heart and so
00:39:08.917 --> 00:39:09.677
you can see where it's
00:39:09.697 --> 00:39:10.678
really easy for this to
00:39:10.718 --> 00:39:12.679
become problematic now the
00:39:12.739 --> 00:39:13.759
leaders of the church in
00:39:13.819 --> 00:39:15.240
salt lake have always said
00:39:15.780 --> 00:39:17.221
nobody can get revelation
00:39:17.281 --> 00:39:18.582
for anyone but themselves
00:39:19.322 --> 00:39:20.503
the only person that can
00:39:20.543 --> 00:39:21.563
get revelation for the
00:39:21.603 --> 00:39:22.724
worldwide church is the
00:39:22.784 --> 00:39:24.465
prophet the only person
00:39:24.505 --> 00:39:26.466
that can get revelation for the word
00:39:27.046 --> 00:39:28.427
is the bishop so the bishop
00:39:28.527 --> 00:39:29.488
assigns leadership
00:39:29.528 --> 00:39:31.830
positions no person is
00:39:31.870 --> 00:39:32.811
supposed to be able to go
00:39:32.831 --> 00:39:34.592
to the bishop and say hey i
00:39:34.612 --> 00:39:35.793
got a revelation that i'm
00:39:35.833 --> 00:39:37.534
supposed to be the head of
00:39:37.574 --> 00:39:38.915
the women's organization or
00:39:39.035 --> 00:39:40.136
any of that so there is
00:39:40.176 --> 00:39:41.217
supposed to be a chain of
00:39:41.277 --> 00:39:43.319
authority but i hope that
00:39:43.359 --> 00:39:44.780
it's easy for you to see as
00:39:44.820 --> 00:39:46.481
it is for me to see that
00:39:46.721 --> 00:39:48.082
this idea of receiving
00:39:48.122 --> 00:39:49.824
personal revelation and
00:39:50.004 --> 00:39:51.245
using good feelings or
00:39:51.385 --> 00:39:52.726
elevated emotions to
00:39:52.806 --> 00:39:54.587
confirm that something that
00:39:54.607 --> 00:39:56.008
you're hearing or feeling is from god
00:39:57.145 --> 00:39:58.486
can be really problematic
00:39:58.626 --> 00:40:00.347
and we have seen it lead to
00:40:00.467 --> 00:40:02.448
a lot of really disturbing things,
00:40:03.088 --> 00:40:04.489
not the least of which are
00:40:04.509 --> 00:40:06.030
the Chad Daybell and Lori
00:40:06.070 --> 00:40:08.191
Vallow horrible case that
00:40:08.231 --> 00:40:09.191
we've just been through.
00:40:09.771 --> 00:40:11.392
So I want you to know where
00:40:11.432 --> 00:40:12.153
that comes from.
00:40:13.814 --> 00:40:16.355
Now, if we go back to the lesson,
00:40:17.385 --> 00:40:18.346
The missionaries are gonna
00:40:18.406 --> 00:40:19.427
confirm with you that you
00:40:19.467 --> 00:40:20.849
understand God's pattern
00:40:20.989 --> 00:40:22.350
and that you understand how
00:40:22.430 --> 00:40:23.732
to receive a witness from
00:40:23.772 --> 00:40:25.714
the Holy Ghost that something is true.
00:40:26.255 --> 00:40:27.115
And then they want the
00:40:27.156 --> 00:40:28.517
missionaries to express
00:40:28.557 --> 00:40:30.059
their feelings about their
00:40:30.099 --> 00:40:31.180
faith in God and how the
00:40:31.220 --> 00:40:32.481
Holy Ghost has confirmed
00:40:33.082 --> 00:40:34.403
their understanding of the truth.
00:40:35.184 --> 00:40:36.986
Finally, in principle four,
00:40:37.066 --> 00:40:39.909
we're going to get to the first vision,
00:40:40.269 --> 00:40:41.570
which was really the goal
00:40:41.711 --> 00:40:43.292
of this whole lesson in the
00:40:43.332 --> 00:40:44.754
first place was to tell you
00:40:44.794 --> 00:40:46.295
what a prophet is and then
00:40:46.355 --> 00:40:47.697
to tell you that we have a
00:40:47.757 --> 00:40:49.078
prophet on the earth today
00:40:49.578 --> 00:40:51.861
because of what Joseph Smith did.
00:40:53.222 --> 00:40:53.402
Now,
00:40:53.762 --> 00:40:54.623
they're going to go through these
00:40:54.683 --> 00:40:55.604
points methodically.
00:40:55.945 --> 00:40:56.485
In our day,
00:40:56.585 --> 00:40:57.987
God has followed his pattern
00:40:58.007 --> 00:40:58.968
for revealing truth.
00:41:00.136 --> 00:41:01.357
chose a prophet who learned
00:41:01.377 --> 00:41:02.538
about the plan of salvation
00:41:02.598 --> 00:41:04.060
from first-hand experience
00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:05.501
this prophet was joseph
00:41:05.561 --> 00:41:07.483
smith he was confused about
00:41:07.523 --> 00:41:09.304
religion so in 1820 joseph
00:41:09.364 --> 00:41:10.765
smith was just a 14 year
00:41:10.826 --> 00:41:12.707
old boy he was confused by
00:41:12.747 --> 00:41:14.569
the different ideas being
00:41:14.629 --> 00:41:15.510
taught about religion
00:41:15.530 --> 00:41:17.391
churches all claim to teach
00:41:17.431 --> 00:41:18.492
the truth about god but
00:41:18.552 --> 00:41:20.194
joseph was confused by the
00:41:20.234 --> 00:41:21.355
differences among their
00:41:21.395 --> 00:41:23.397
teachings and he described
00:41:23.437 --> 00:41:25.158
his feelings in these words
00:41:25.198 --> 00:41:26.559
and then they tell you to read
00:41:27.340 --> 00:41:29.201
from joseph smith history
00:41:29.261 --> 00:41:30.302
which is printed in the
00:41:30.322 --> 00:41:32.082
mormon scriptures and so it
00:41:32.162 --> 00:41:33.083
comes in a big book of
00:41:33.123 --> 00:41:34.664
scripture it makes it look
00:41:34.704 --> 00:41:35.424
like it's part of the
00:41:35.464 --> 00:41:36.305
scriptures like the
00:41:36.365 --> 00:41:38.646
revealed word of god and
00:41:39.266 --> 00:41:40.367
then they go on to say one
00:41:40.387 --> 00:41:41.607
day joseph read a passage
00:41:41.647 --> 00:41:42.628
in the bible that showed
00:41:42.688 --> 00:41:44.029
him how to overcome this
00:41:44.089 --> 00:41:46.210
confusion and that was to pray
00:41:46.970 --> 00:41:48.090
They're going to read from
00:41:48.110 --> 00:41:51.271
the book of James where they say,
00:41:51.391 --> 00:41:53.312
if any man lacks wisdom,
00:41:53.712 --> 00:41:54.852
let him ask of God.
00:41:54.872 --> 00:41:57.993
And so Joseph decided to go
00:41:58.293 --> 00:41:59.633
and do just as the Bible said.
00:42:00.113 --> 00:42:01.333
He would ask God in prayer.
00:42:01.634 --> 00:42:02.374
One spring morning,
00:42:02.434 --> 00:42:04.134
he went into a nearby grove of trees.
00:42:04.554 --> 00:42:05.735
He knelt down and began to
00:42:05.795 --> 00:42:07.175
pray to God with all of his heart.
00:42:07.755 --> 00:42:08.995
Because of his great faith,
00:42:09.235 --> 00:42:10.516
he fully expected God to
00:42:10.636 --> 00:42:11.376
answer his prayer.
00:42:11.996 --> 00:42:12.216
Now,
00:42:12.576 --> 00:42:15.358
this is the story that I was taught as
00:42:15.398 --> 00:42:16.899
a girl growing up in the church.
00:42:17.439 --> 00:42:18.820
It was the story that was
00:42:18.920 --> 00:42:19.708
portrayed
00:42:20.390 --> 00:42:22.051
In numerous types of media,
00:42:22.251 --> 00:42:24.193
there were books, there were songs,
00:42:24.273 --> 00:42:26.215
there were posters, there were stories,
00:42:26.255 --> 00:42:27.175
there were movies.
00:42:27.876 --> 00:42:29.917
We got all kinds of
00:42:30.478 --> 00:42:31.318
information that was
00:42:31.398 --> 00:42:32.699
printed based on the story
00:42:32.739 --> 00:42:33.780
that you just heard.
00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:35.582
I'm going to expand on it
00:42:35.622 --> 00:42:36.562
just a little bit so you
00:42:36.602 --> 00:42:38.284
have all of the information
00:42:38.324 --> 00:42:39.264
that you need to have for
00:42:39.284 --> 00:42:40.065
the information I'm going
00:42:40.085 --> 00:42:41.886
to give you next after this.
00:42:42.987 --> 00:42:44.829
Joseph saw God the Father
00:42:45.109 --> 00:42:46.270
and Jesus Christ the Son.
00:42:47.090 --> 00:42:49.032
In his own words, this is what happened.
00:42:51.098 --> 00:42:52.339
Joseph says, quote,
00:42:52.799 --> 00:42:54.060
I saw a pillar of light
00:42:54.200 --> 00:42:55.401
exactly over my head,
00:42:55.721 --> 00:42:57.062
above the brightness of the sun,
00:42:57.522 --> 00:42:58.763
which descended gradually
00:42:58.923 --> 00:43:00.123
until it fell upon me.
00:43:00.644 --> 00:43:02.044
When the light rested upon me,
00:43:02.285 --> 00:43:04.146
I saw two personages whose
00:43:04.206 --> 00:43:05.627
brightness and glory defy
00:43:05.747 --> 00:43:07.448
all description standing
00:43:07.508 --> 00:43:08.448
above me in the air.
00:43:08.909 --> 00:43:10.189
One of them spake unto me,
00:43:10.509 --> 00:43:12.090
calling me by name and said,
00:43:12.311 --> 00:43:13.331
pointing to the other,
00:43:13.831 --> 00:43:16.093
this is my beloved son, hear him.
00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:18.182
In answer to his prayer,
00:43:18.283 --> 00:43:19.626
God the Father and Jesus
00:43:19.686 --> 00:43:21.591
Christ visited young Joseph.
00:43:23.193 --> 00:43:23.693
So next,
00:43:23.893 --> 00:43:25.774
Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.
00:43:25.915 --> 00:43:27.656
Through this and other experiences,
00:43:27.776 --> 00:43:29.417
Joseph Smith was called as a prophet.
00:43:29.777 --> 00:43:31.137
He was much like Moses and
00:43:31.258 --> 00:43:32.298
other biblical prophets.
00:43:32.418 --> 00:43:33.959
They also saw God and were
00:43:33.999 --> 00:43:35.240
called to preach his message.
00:43:36.595 --> 00:43:38.236
Joseph is a witness of Christ.
00:43:38.536 --> 00:43:39.936
Because he saw and talked
00:43:39.996 --> 00:43:41.217
with the resurrected Savior,
00:43:41.277 --> 00:43:42.597
Joseph Smith is a powerful
00:43:42.637 --> 00:43:43.797
witness of Jesus Christ.
00:43:44.318 --> 00:43:44.878
Through him,
00:43:45.038 --> 00:43:46.498
God revealed the truths of the
00:43:46.538 --> 00:43:47.399
plan of salvation,
00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:48.899
including the divine
00:43:48.999 --> 00:43:50.800
mission of Jesus Christ.
00:43:51.440 --> 00:43:52.420
They asked the missionaries
00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:54.021
to testify that Joseph Smith's
00:43:54.601 --> 00:43:55.401
vision is true,
00:43:55.882 --> 00:43:56.962
that he really did see God
00:43:56.982 --> 00:43:57.703
in Jesus Christ.
00:43:57.743 --> 00:43:58.983
They want you to testify the
00:43:59.023 --> 00:44:00.364
importance of his divine
00:44:00.424 --> 00:44:01.625
call as a witness of Christ
00:44:02.325 --> 00:44:04.246
and to testify about Joseph
00:44:04.266 --> 00:44:05.547
Smith's calling to restore
00:44:05.587 --> 00:44:07.768
the truth about the plan of salvation.
00:44:08.308 --> 00:44:09.309
Then they want you to find
00:44:09.409 --> 00:44:10.709
out how the investigators
00:44:10.769 --> 00:44:12.390
feel about your instruction
00:44:12.490 --> 00:44:13.251
on Joseph Smith.
00:44:13.691 --> 00:44:14.291
And there are a bunch of
00:44:14.351 --> 00:44:15.372
other scriptures that they
00:44:15.412 --> 00:44:17.253
will read you that back all of this up,
00:44:17.753 --> 00:44:18.773
one from the Book of Mormon
00:44:18.874 --> 00:44:20.574
and three from the Doctrine and Covenants,
00:44:20.654 --> 00:44:23.416
which were Joseph Smith's own writings.
00:44:23.836 --> 00:44:24.917
so that's what they're going
00:44:24.957 --> 00:44:27.039
to use to back all of that
00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:30.802
up now keep in mind the
00:44:30.843 --> 00:44:32.504
first vision it's the
00:44:32.604 --> 00:44:34.606
cornerstone of mormonism
00:44:35.487 --> 00:44:37.649
the church stands and falls
00:44:38.009 --> 00:44:40.391
on the first vision if
00:44:40.511 --> 00:44:41.973
joseph smith did not see
00:44:42.013 --> 00:44:44.155
god in jesus christ and if
00:44:44.195 --> 00:44:45.416
he was not told by god in
00:44:45.436 --> 00:44:47.258
jesus christ not to join
00:44:47.318 --> 00:44:48.359
any of the churches but to
00:44:48.399 --> 00:44:49.580
wait for further instruction
00:44:51.137 --> 00:44:52.198
If that didn't happen,
00:44:52.558 --> 00:44:54.319
then all of Mormonism
00:44:54.359 --> 00:44:55.960
pretty much is made up.
00:44:56.941 --> 00:44:59.023
If Joseph Smith made up his first vision,
00:44:59.043 --> 00:45:01.905
then probably Mormonism is made up too.
00:45:02.745 --> 00:45:03.386
At least that's the
00:45:03.446 --> 00:45:04.827
conclusion that I came to.
00:45:05.367 --> 00:45:06.868
So imagine how disturbing it
00:45:06.908 --> 00:45:08.509
was for me to then go to
00:45:08.589 --> 00:45:11.591
the lds.org website to the
00:45:11.631 --> 00:45:13.553
gospel topic essays and
00:45:13.633 --> 00:45:15.134
find out that there's more
00:45:15.174 --> 00:45:17.956
than one version of the first vision.
00:45:26.134 --> 00:45:26.274
Now,
00:45:26.314 --> 00:45:29.056
these gospel topic essays were sort of
00:45:29.136 --> 00:45:30.497
buried on the church website.
00:45:30.597 --> 00:45:33.159
You do have to go looking
00:45:33.239 --> 00:45:34.900
for them in order to find them.
00:45:35.501 --> 00:45:36.361
And the church didn't
00:45:36.461 --> 00:45:37.822
announce really that they
00:45:37.862 --> 00:45:38.823
were putting these gospel
00:45:38.843 --> 00:45:40.004
topic essays up here.
00:45:40.064 --> 00:45:41.745
So I didn't even know about
00:45:41.785 --> 00:45:43.807
these essays until after I
00:45:43.887 --> 00:45:45.468
left the church over
00:45:45.528 --> 00:45:46.348
learning some other
00:45:46.388 --> 00:45:48.110
problematic parts of church history.
00:45:48.630 --> 00:45:49.891
And so it was really
00:45:49.931 --> 00:45:51.152
disturbing to me to know
00:45:51.392 --> 00:45:53.333
that at least five years
00:45:53.453 --> 00:45:55.195
before I stopped going to church,
00:45:55.975 --> 00:45:57.496
that this information was
00:45:57.636 --> 00:45:58.937
out there and the church
00:45:58.977 --> 00:46:00.158
just quietly put it out
00:46:00.198 --> 00:46:01.939
there without telling
00:46:01.979 --> 00:46:03.560
members about it or really
00:46:03.620 --> 00:46:05.741
announcing it to anybody so
00:46:06.241 --> 00:46:07.342
here's what the church's
00:46:07.402 --> 00:46:08.663
own website you can see
00:46:08.743 --> 00:46:09.984
right up here at the top of
00:46:10.024 --> 00:46:11.865
the tab that it's churchofjesuschrist.org
00:46:12.765 --> 00:46:14.167
If you type into your search
00:46:14.287 --> 00:46:17.010
engine LDS gospel topic essays,
00:46:17.531 --> 00:46:18.992
you can get directed to this site.
00:46:19.152 --> 00:46:21.315
And then it gives you, I'll just go back.
00:46:22.596 --> 00:46:25.319
When you go to the essays page, actually,
00:46:25.339 --> 00:46:27.361
this is the church history topics page.
00:46:27.882 --> 00:46:29.544
So I'll even go back and
00:46:29.584 --> 00:46:30.985
tell you how hard this is to find.
00:46:31.646 --> 00:46:31.806
So.
00:46:33.047 --> 00:46:34.968
If you go to lds.org or
00:46:35.008 --> 00:46:36.789
churchofjesuschrist.org,
00:46:37.149 --> 00:46:38.070
this is what you're going to see.
00:46:38.110 --> 00:46:39.331
This is the main page.
00:46:39.851 --> 00:46:40.591
Actually, no, it's not.
00:46:40.731 --> 00:46:41.392
I'll go back one more.
00:46:41.592 --> 00:46:41.992
There we go.
00:46:42.412 --> 00:46:43.873
This is the main page of the
00:46:43.913 --> 00:46:45.214
churchofjesuschrist.org.
00:46:45.294 --> 00:46:46.694
It used to be lds.org.
00:46:48.555 --> 00:46:49.796
Here is what we believe.
00:46:49.836 --> 00:46:50.897
Learn about Jesus Christ.
00:46:50.957 --> 00:46:51.977
Find meaning in your life.
00:46:52.157 --> 00:46:53.598
Navigate life's challenges.
00:46:54.298 --> 00:46:55.399
Come visit a church.
00:46:55.479 --> 00:46:56.419
You can put your full
00:46:56.580 --> 00:46:57.520
address in there and find a
00:46:57.560 --> 00:46:58.601
church building to go to.
00:46:58.681 --> 00:47:00.382
Here's some FAQ for you.
00:47:01.476 --> 00:47:02.837
You can request a visit from
00:47:02.857 --> 00:47:03.737
the missionaries.
00:47:04.418 --> 00:47:05.718
Here's a message from the
00:47:05.779 --> 00:47:07.299
current president of the
00:47:07.339 --> 00:47:08.340
Corporation of the Church
00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:09.761
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
00:47:09.841 --> 00:47:10.741
Russell Nelson.
00:47:12.582 --> 00:47:13.943
These are some just, you know,
00:47:13.963 --> 00:47:15.044
what to expect at church,
00:47:15.084 --> 00:47:17.065
what our beliefs are, get to know us,
00:47:18.126 --> 00:47:19.466
latest news from the church,
00:47:19.547 --> 00:47:21.748
the official news, the whitewash news,
00:47:21.808 --> 00:47:23.229
the news that they want you to see.
00:47:24.289 --> 00:47:25.830
And then all of these down here,
00:47:26.370 --> 00:47:27.631
all the clickable things up
00:47:27.671 --> 00:47:28.852
there available down here too.
00:47:28.952 --> 00:47:30.253
So this is the main page.
00:47:31.271 --> 00:47:31.431
Now,
00:47:31.531 --> 00:47:33.392
in order to get to the gospel topic
00:47:33.452 --> 00:47:35.493
essays, I have to go here,
00:47:36.893 --> 00:47:39.254
which scriptures, general conference,
00:47:39.515 --> 00:47:40.395
come follow me,
00:47:40.475 --> 00:47:41.415
which is like the Sunday
00:47:41.455 --> 00:47:43.956
school curriculum, the gospel library,
00:47:44.036 --> 00:47:45.717
the media library, music library,
00:47:45.837 --> 00:47:47.458
life help, topics and questions.
00:47:47.478 --> 00:47:48.298
So you have to come all the
00:47:48.318 --> 00:47:49.579
way to topics and questions.
00:47:53.681 --> 00:47:55.001
And these are like the main
00:47:55.721 --> 00:47:56.662
topics right here.
00:47:59.280 --> 00:48:01.001
additional topics church
00:48:01.061 --> 00:48:02.662
history so if we go to the
00:48:02.682 --> 00:48:04.743
church history topics you
00:48:04.783 --> 00:48:06.223
can scroll through and this
00:48:06.284 --> 00:48:07.564
is alphabetical these are
00:48:07.604 --> 00:48:09.845
notable people and events
00:48:10.786 --> 00:48:12.787
in church history and
00:48:12.807 --> 00:48:14.307
around american history
00:48:14.368 --> 00:48:15.108
during the time that the
00:48:15.148 --> 00:48:16.729
church was being formed but
00:48:16.789 --> 00:48:17.789
if i want to know anything
00:48:17.849 --> 00:48:18.870
about the first vision i
00:48:19.450 --> 00:48:20.771
have to go all the way down
00:48:20.791 --> 00:48:23.232
to joseph smith
00:48:25.553 --> 00:48:27.954
uh not joseph f smith not
00:48:27.994 --> 00:48:29.035
joseph fielding smith
00:48:29.715 --> 00:48:30.576
joseph smith and plural
00:48:30.596 --> 00:48:31.836
marriage joseph smith
00:48:31.916 --> 00:48:33.397
junior joseph smith senior
00:48:33.837 --> 00:48:35.018
translation of the bible
00:48:35.018 --> 00:48:38.159
1826 trial 1844 campaign
00:48:38.199 --> 00:48:40.100
for president here we go
00:48:40.180 --> 00:48:41.941
joseph smith's first vision accounts
00:48:44.579 --> 00:48:46.060
Now there's a little blurb right here,
00:48:46.080 --> 00:48:47.780
and then you have to go to
00:48:47.820 --> 00:48:49.361
church resources where it
00:48:49.421 --> 00:48:51.782
says verse first vision accounts,
00:48:52.422 --> 00:48:55.583
gospel topics at topics.lds.org.
00:48:56.043 --> 00:48:57.364
So if you just type in to
00:48:58.324 --> 00:49:02.046
your search engine topics.lds.org,
00:49:02.086 --> 00:49:02.966
it will take you to the
00:49:03.006 --> 00:49:04.927
page of the gospel topic essays.
00:49:05.427 --> 00:49:06.047
And we're just going to
00:49:06.087 --> 00:49:07.408
click on first vision accounts.
00:49:08.348 --> 00:49:09.308
And so this is what's going
00:49:09.328 --> 00:49:10.929
to come up now.
00:49:12.753 --> 00:49:14.094
I'm going to just read this to you,
00:49:14.254 --> 00:49:15.134
and I want you to keep in
00:49:15.174 --> 00:49:16.594
mind what the missionary
00:49:16.634 --> 00:49:18.015
discussion already said,
00:49:18.695 --> 00:49:20.916
that Joseph was 14 years old,
00:49:21.456 --> 00:49:22.537
that he went into the woods
00:49:22.597 --> 00:49:23.417
to pray because he didn't
00:49:23.457 --> 00:49:24.537
know what church to join.
00:49:25.118 --> 00:49:26.578
He saw two personages,
00:49:26.678 --> 00:49:28.159
God the Father and Jesus Christ.
00:49:28.599 --> 00:49:29.759
Jesus Christ spoke to him
00:49:29.819 --> 00:49:30.860
and told him that all the
00:49:30.900 --> 00:49:32.220
churches were an abomination,
00:49:32.620 --> 00:49:34.281
that he should join none of them,
00:49:34.821 --> 00:49:36.622
and that he should wait for more people.
00:49:37.142 --> 00:49:39.265
knowledge to come from god
00:49:39.946 --> 00:49:41.509
so this is what the gospel
00:49:41.529 --> 00:49:44.313
topic essay says about that
00:49:45.034 --> 00:49:46.076
joseph smith recorded that
00:49:46.116 --> 00:49:47.037
god the father in jesus
00:49:47.077 --> 00:49:48.259
christ appeared to him in a
00:49:48.299 --> 00:49:49.321
grove of trees near his
00:49:49.361 --> 00:49:50.522
parents home in western new
00:49:50.542 --> 00:49:52.445
york state when he was about 14 years old
00:49:53.046 --> 00:49:54.287
concerned by his sins and
00:49:54.347 --> 00:49:55.547
unsure which spiritual path
00:49:55.587 --> 00:49:56.648
to follow joseph sought
00:49:56.688 --> 00:49:57.588
guidance by attending
00:49:57.628 --> 00:49:58.749
meetings reading scriptures
00:49:58.789 --> 00:50:00.509
and praying in answer he
00:50:00.569 --> 00:50:01.430
received a heavenly
00:50:01.470 --> 00:50:03.551
manifestation joseph shared
00:50:03.791 --> 00:50:04.811
and documented the first
00:50:04.851 --> 00:50:05.992
vision as it came to be
00:50:06.052 --> 00:50:07.593
known on multiple occasions
00:50:08.093 --> 00:50:09.073
he wrote or assigned
00:50:09.113 --> 00:50:10.394
scribes to write four
00:50:10.494 --> 00:50:11.434
different accounts of the
00:50:11.474 --> 00:50:12.755
vision now this is not
00:50:12.795 --> 00:50:14.296
something that i heard as a child
00:50:15.156 --> 00:50:17.918
All I knew was that there was one story.
00:50:17.978 --> 00:50:19.859
It was referred to as the Wentworth Letter,
00:50:20.439 --> 00:50:21.540
and it was someone
00:50:21.720 --> 00:50:22.941
inquiring about the church,
00:50:23.061 --> 00:50:23.781
and in response,
00:50:23.861 --> 00:50:25.182
Joseph Smith wrote down his
00:50:25.242 --> 00:50:26.403
First Vision account.
00:50:26.883 --> 00:50:27.924
I had no idea that there
00:50:27.944 --> 00:50:28.944
were other accounts or that
00:50:29.024 --> 00:50:30.125
other people wrote about it,
00:50:30.826 --> 00:50:32.426
and I had no idea that
00:50:32.507 --> 00:50:33.587
Joseph himself wrote an
00:50:33.627 --> 00:50:35.528
account that predated that
00:50:35.628 --> 00:50:36.589
Wentworth Letter account.
00:50:39.513 --> 00:50:39.693
So,
00:50:39.993 --> 00:50:41.435
Joseph Smith published two accounts of
00:50:41.455 --> 00:50:42.916
the First Vision during his lifetime.
00:50:43.076 --> 00:50:43.817
The first of these,
00:50:43.877 --> 00:50:45.818
known today as Joseph Smith History,
00:50:46.239 --> 00:50:47.359
was canonized in the Pearl
00:50:47.379 --> 00:50:48.420
of Great Price and thus
00:50:48.480 --> 00:50:49.801
became the best known account.
00:50:50.382 --> 00:50:51.743
The two unpublished accounts,
00:50:51.963 --> 00:50:53.144
recorded in Joseph Smith's
00:50:53.324 --> 00:50:55.046
earliest autobiography and
00:50:55.126 --> 00:50:56.026
later a journal,
00:50:56.387 --> 00:50:57.528
were generally forgotten
00:50:57.708 --> 00:50:58.889
until historians working
00:50:58.929 --> 00:50:59.790
for the Church of Jesus
00:50:59.830 --> 00:51:00.850
Christ of Latter-day Saints
00:51:00.910 --> 00:51:02.131
rediscovered and published
00:51:02.151 --> 00:51:03.513
them in the 1960s.
00:51:03.613 --> 00:51:05.935
Now, this is actually not true.
00:51:06.655 --> 00:51:07.736
because what actually
00:51:07.776 --> 00:51:09.837
happened is that Joseph
00:51:09.917 --> 00:51:12.019
Fielding Smith discovered
00:51:12.079 --> 00:51:13.680
the first written account
00:51:14.060 --> 00:51:15.881
of Joseph's first vision in
00:51:15.941 --> 00:51:16.962
Joseph Smith's diary,
00:51:17.742 --> 00:51:20.984
and he cut it out of the
00:51:21.004 --> 00:51:24.967
diary and secreted it away into a vault.
00:51:25.888 --> 00:51:27.549
The reason that we have this
00:51:27.589 --> 00:51:29.310
information is due to
00:51:29.430 --> 00:51:30.671
historian Sandra Tanner,
00:51:31.789 --> 00:51:33.530
researching these documents
00:51:33.610 --> 00:51:34.510
and seeing some of them
00:51:34.570 --> 00:51:36.571
firsthand and realizing
00:51:36.791 --> 00:51:38.831
that Joseph's journal now,
00:51:39.452 --> 00:51:41.052
it's very clear that
00:51:41.912 --> 00:51:43.953
somebody taped those pages
00:51:44.013 --> 00:51:45.354
back into Joseph's journal.
00:51:45.814 --> 00:51:46.994
And we do, I believe,
00:51:47.074 --> 00:51:48.214
have a firsthand account
00:51:48.274 --> 00:51:50.055
from Sandra Tanner about
00:51:50.095 --> 00:51:51.315
her research on this topic.
00:51:51.396 --> 00:51:53.076
And we also have some
00:51:53.116 --> 00:51:54.376
journal entries that
00:51:54.437 --> 00:51:56.277
confirm that this first
00:51:56.317 --> 00:51:57.678
account was cut out of
00:51:57.738 --> 00:51:58.858
Joseph Smith's journal.
00:52:00.227 --> 00:52:02.612
Let's go back and find out what it says.
00:52:09.220 --> 00:52:09.800
Since that time,
00:52:09.840 --> 00:52:10.701
these documents have been
00:52:10.741 --> 00:52:12.622
discussed repeatedly in church magazines,
00:52:12.822 --> 00:52:13.823
in works printed by the
00:52:13.863 --> 00:52:14.524
church-owned and
00:52:14.564 --> 00:52:15.784
church-affiliated presses,
00:52:16.025 --> 00:52:16.985
and by Latter-day Saint
00:52:17.045 --> 00:52:18.426
scholars in other venues.
00:52:18.926 --> 00:52:20.407
In addition to the firsthand accounts,
00:52:20.447 --> 00:52:21.328
there are also five
00:52:21.388 --> 00:52:22.349
descriptions of Joseph
00:52:22.369 --> 00:52:23.510
Smith's vision recorded by
00:52:23.550 --> 00:52:24.370
his contemporaries.
00:52:24.890 --> 00:52:25.771
The various accounts of the
00:52:25.811 --> 00:52:27.732
first vision tell a consistent story.
00:52:28.393 --> 00:52:28.793
Not true.
00:52:29.473 --> 00:52:30.174
Though naturally,
00:52:30.234 --> 00:52:32.195
they differ in emphasis and detail.
00:52:32.556 --> 00:52:33.496
That's because the story is
00:52:33.536 --> 00:52:34.217
not consistent.
00:52:35.045 --> 00:52:36.526
Historians expect that when
00:52:36.566 --> 00:52:37.806
an individual retells an
00:52:37.846 --> 00:52:38.907
experience in multiple
00:52:38.947 --> 00:52:39.787
settings to different
00:52:39.867 --> 00:52:41.248
audiences over many years,
00:52:41.688 --> 00:52:43.029
each account will emphasize
00:52:43.069 --> 00:52:44.190
various aspects of the
00:52:44.230 --> 00:52:46.291
experience and contain unique details.
00:52:46.851 --> 00:52:47.171
Indeed,
00:52:47.231 --> 00:52:48.672
differences similar to those in the
00:52:48.712 --> 00:52:50.133
first vision accounts exist
00:52:50.253 --> 00:52:51.493
in the multiple scriptural
00:52:51.553 --> 00:52:52.714
accounts of Paul's vision
00:52:53.134 --> 00:52:54.435
on the road to Damascus and
00:52:54.455 --> 00:52:55.795
the apostles' experience on
00:52:55.815 --> 00:52:57.076
the Mount of Transfiguration.
00:52:57.736 --> 00:52:58.897
Yet despite the differences,
00:52:59.097 --> 00:53:00.758
a basic consistency remains
00:53:00.878 --> 00:53:01.978
across all the accounts of
00:53:01.998 --> 00:53:02.599
the first vision.
00:53:03.279 --> 00:53:04.500
not true as we will just
00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:05.821
find out here in a second
00:53:06.342 --> 00:53:07.823
some have mistakenly argued
00:53:07.923 --> 00:53:09.284
that any variation in the
00:53:09.324 --> 00:53:10.585
retelling of the story is
00:53:10.705 --> 00:53:12.747
evidence of fabrication to
00:53:12.767 --> 00:53:14.048
the contrary the rich
00:53:14.108 --> 00:53:15.629
historical record enables
00:53:15.709 --> 00:53:17.070
us to learn more about this
00:53:17.130 --> 00:53:18.651
remarkable event than we
00:53:18.691 --> 00:53:25.877
could if it were less well documented so
00:53:25.877 --> 00:53:28.657
1832 account,
00:53:29.138 --> 00:53:30.378
the earliest known account of
00:53:30.398 --> 00:53:31.058
the first vision,
00:53:31.239 --> 00:53:32.439
the only account written in
00:53:32.479 --> 00:53:33.599
Joseph Smith's own hand,
00:53:34.060 --> 00:53:36.060
which to me arguably means
00:53:36.241 --> 00:53:37.721
it should be the most reliable.
00:53:38.481 --> 00:53:39.342
It's found in a short
00:53:39.442 --> 00:53:40.642
unpublished autobiography
00:53:40.682 --> 00:53:41.723
Joseph Smith produced in
00:53:41.743 --> 00:53:42.683
the second half of 1832.
00:53:42.683 --> 00:53:45.124
It is the earliest version
00:53:45.224 --> 00:53:46.004
and therefore the most
00:53:46.064 --> 00:53:46.905
likely to be correct.
00:53:47.685 --> 00:53:48.906
in the account joseph smith
00:53:48.946 --> 00:53:50.166
described his consciousness
00:53:50.226 --> 00:53:51.347
of his own sins and his
00:53:51.387 --> 00:53:52.588
frustration at being unable
00:53:52.628 --> 00:53:53.568
to find a church that
00:53:53.688 --> 00:53:54.649
matched the one he had read
00:53:54.689 --> 00:53:55.769
about in the new testament
00:53:56.229 --> 00:53:57.210
and that would lead him to
00:53:57.250 --> 00:53:59.091
redemption he emphasized
00:53:59.131 --> 00:54:00.251
jesus christ's atonement
00:54:00.372 --> 00:54:01.472
and the personal redemption
00:54:01.552 --> 00:54:03.093
it offered he wrote that
00:54:03.533 --> 00:54:05.134
the lord appeared and
00:54:05.194 --> 00:54:06.935
forgave him of his sins as
00:54:06.995 --> 00:54:08.015
a result of the vision
00:54:08.236 --> 00:54:09.596
joseph experienced joy and
00:54:09.636 --> 00:54:11.377
love though as he noted he
00:54:11.417 --> 00:54:12.558
could find no one who
00:54:12.598 --> 00:54:14.899
believed his account this
00:54:16.226 --> 00:54:18.468
sort of summary is already
00:54:19.008 --> 00:54:21.129
vastly different from the
00:54:21.189 --> 00:54:23.911
story that is told in the
00:54:24.592 --> 00:54:27.554
missionary lessons and that
00:54:27.594 --> 00:54:30.176
was recounted in books and
00:54:30.276 --> 00:54:32.337
movies and songs and art
00:54:34.399 --> 00:54:36.340
this saying that joseph
00:54:36.380 --> 00:54:37.561
wrote that the lord
00:54:37.681 --> 00:54:39.362
appeared and forgave him of
00:54:39.402 --> 00:54:41.443
his sins is already vastly
00:54:41.483 --> 00:54:43.385
different because there's only one person
00:54:45.602 --> 00:54:47.585
and there's no mention of
00:54:47.646 --> 00:54:48.587
which church to join.
00:54:48.988 --> 00:54:50.070
Let's read the 1832 account here.
00:54:57.189 --> 00:54:58.210
Joseph Smith's own words,
00:54:58.910 --> 00:55:02.512
at about the age of 12 years, not 14,
00:55:02.512 --> 00:55:03.912
my mind became seriously
00:55:03.952 --> 00:55:04.933
impressed with regard to
00:55:04.953 --> 00:55:06.213
the all important concerns
00:55:06.253 --> 00:55:08.074
for the welfare of my immortal soul,
00:55:08.434 --> 00:55:10.035
which led me to searching the scriptures,
00:55:10.535 --> 00:55:11.796
believing as I was taught
00:55:11.876 --> 00:55:12.877
that they contain the word
00:55:12.897 --> 00:55:15.198
of God and thus applying myself to them.
00:55:15.958 --> 00:55:17.119
My intimate acquaintance
00:55:17.159 --> 00:55:18.179
with those of different
00:55:18.199 --> 00:55:19.480
denominations led me to
00:55:19.560 --> 00:55:20.701
marvel exceedingly,
00:55:20.801 --> 00:55:22.302
for I discovered that they
00:55:22.342 --> 00:55:23.663
did not adorn their
00:55:23.723 --> 00:55:25.084
profession by a holy walk
00:55:25.224 --> 00:55:26.545
and a godly conversation
00:55:26.985 --> 00:55:28.266
agreeable to what I found
00:55:28.326 --> 00:55:30.447
contained in that sacred depository.
00:55:30.967 --> 00:55:32.308
This was a grief to my soul.
00:55:32.768 --> 00:55:33.929
He's basically saying that
00:55:34.169 --> 00:55:35.650
the leaders of the churches
00:55:36.711 --> 00:55:38.012
didn't seem to be godly men.
00:55:38.152 --> 00:55:39.192
They didn't seem to be
00:55:39.352 --> 00:55:41.033
devout or pious in any way.
00:55:41.494 --> 00:55:43.195
And he was pretty disturbed by that.
00:55:44.271 --> 00:55:46.732
Thus, from the age of 12 years to 15,
00:55:46.732 --> 00:55:48.032
I pondered many things in
00:55:48.052 --> 00:55:49.152
my heart concerning the
00:55:49.192 --> 00:55:51.333
situation of the world of mankind,
00:55:51.733 --> 00:55:53.093
the contentions and divisions,
00:55:53.453 --> 00:55:54.953
the wickedness and abominations,
00:55:55.454 --> 00:55:56.414
and the darkness which
00:55:56.494 --> 00:55:58.314
pervaded the minds of mankind.
00:55:58.934 --> 00:56:00.035
Now, later on,
00:56:00.075 --> 00:56:01.115
the church claims that
00:56:01.175 --> 00:56:02.395
Joseph Smith only had a
00:56:02.675 --> 00:56:04.195
second grade education,
00:56:04.215 --> 00:56:06.676
but his vocabulary is obviously very good,
00:56:07.196 --> 00:56:08.496
and his manner of writing
00:56:09.577 --> 00:56:10.517
seems pretty educated.
00:56:11.456 --> 00:56:17.041
He says, So in other words,
00:56:17.081 --> 00:56:18.021
he knew he was a sinner.
00:56:18.562 --> 00:56:19.723
And by searching the scriptures,
00:56:19.783 --> 00:56:21.184
I found that mankind did
00:56:21.244 --> 00:56:22.285
not come into the Lord
00:56:22.825 --> 00:56:24.587
except they had apostatized
00:56:24.747 --> 00:56:26.428
from the truth, true and living faith.
00:56:26.909 --> 00:56:28.290
And there was no society or
00:56:28.330 --> 00:56:29.951
denomination that was built
00:56:30.031 --> 00:56:31.132
upon the gospel of Jesus
00:56:31.172 --> 00:56:33.054
Christ as recorded in the New Testament.
00:56:33.794 --> 00:56:35.215
I felt to mourn for my own
00:56:35.295 --> 00:56:37.136
sins and for the sins of the world,
00:56:37.196 --> 00:56:38.117
for I learned in the
00:56:38.157 --> 00:56:39.758
scriptures that God was the
00:56:39.818 --> 00:56:41.779
same yesterday, today, and forever,
00:56:42.120 --> 00:56:43.821
that he was no respecter of persons,
00:56:44.201 --> 00:56:44.982
for he was God."
00:56:45.875 --> 00:56:47.435
For I looked upon the sun,
00:56:47.555 --> 00:56:48.836
the glorious luminary of
00:56:48.876 --> 00:56:50.236
the earth and also the moon
00:56:50.356 --> 00:56:51.536
rolling in their majesty
00:56:51.576 --> 00:56:52.816
through the heavens and
00:56:52.936 --> 00:56:54.396
also the stars shining in
00:56:54.416 --> 00:56:56.057
their courses and the earth
00:56:56.217 --> 00:56:57.657
also upon which I stood and
00:56:57.677 --> 00:56:58.977
the beasts of the field and
00:56:58.997 --> 00:57:00.177
the fowls of heaven and the
00:57:00.257 --> 00:57:02.078
fish of the waters and also
00:57:02.138 --> 00:57:03.498
man walking forth upon the
00:57:03.538 --> 00:57:04.298
face of the earth in
00:57:04.338 --> 00:57:05.938
majesty and in the strength
00:57:05.958 --> 00:57:07.559
of beauty whose power and
00:57:07.599 --> 00:57:09.139
intelligence in governing
00:57:09.179 --> 00:57:10.079
the things which are so
00:57:10.139 --> 00:57:11.399
exceedingly great and marvelous,
00:57:11.919 --> 00:57:13.160
even in the likeness of him
00:57:13.520 --> 00:57:14.420
who created them."
00:57:15.001 --> 00:57:16.815
It's pretty charismatic and flowery,
00:57:16.835 --> 00:57:17.339
I got to say.
00:57:18.930 --> 00:57:20.711
And when I considered upon these things,
00:57:20.791 --> 00:57:22.732
my heart exclaimed, well,
00:57:22.832 --> 00:57:24.072
hath the wise man said,
00:57:24.092 --> 00:57:26.033
it is a fool that saith in his heart,
00:57:26.133 --> 00:57:26.994
there is no God.
00:57:27.654 --> 00:57:29.615
My heart exclaimed, all,
00:57:30.115 --> 00:57:31.436
all these bear testimony
00:57:31.556 --> 00:57:33.016
and bespeak an omnipotent
00:57:33.117 --> 00:57:34.337
and omnipresent power,
00:57:34.857 --> 00:57:36.538
a being who maketh laws and
00:57:36.558 --> 00:57:38.699
decreeth and bindeth all
00:57:38.759 --> 00:57:39.800
things in their bounds,
00:57:39.920 --> 00:57:41.160
who filleth eternity,
00:57:41.460 --> 00:57:43.021
who was and is and will be
00:57:43.081 --> 00:57:44.722
from all eternity to eternity.
00:57:46.380 --> 00:57:47.620
That's quite a lot to unpack.
00:57:47.921 --> 00:57:49.201
And I considered all these
00:57:49.281 --> 00:57:51.382
things and that that being
00:57:51.762 --> 00:57:53.482
seeketh such to worship him
00:57:54.162 --> 00:57:56.843
as worship him in spirit and in truth.
00:57:57.383 --> 00:57:59.324
Therefore, here's the good part.
00:57:59.884 --> 00:58:01.465
I cried unto the Lord for mercy,
00:58:01.845 --> 00:58:03.005
for there was none else to
00:58:03.065 --> 00:58:05.106
whom I could go and obtain mercy.
00:58:05.706 --> 00:58:07.006
And the Lord heard my cry in
00:58:07.026 --> 00:58:07.667
the wilderness.
00:58:08.127 --> 00:58:09.607
And while in the attitude of
00:58:09.667 --> 00:58:11.808
calling upon the Lord, in the other words,
00:58:12.088 --> 00:58:13.768
while I was praying in the
00:58:14.129 --> 00:58:15.209
16th year of my age,
00:58:15.709 --> 00:58:16.690
Not the 14th year.
00:58:17.511 --> 00:58:19.072
A pillar of light above the
00:58:19.112 --> 00:58:20.113
brightness of the sun at
00:58:20.173 --> 00:58:21.414
noonday came down from
00:58:21.494 --> 00:58:22.956
above and rested upon me.
00:58:22.976 --> 00:58:24.817
I was filled with the spirit
00:58:24.837 --> 00:58:26.699
of God and the Lord opened
00:58:26.719 --> 00:58:29.141
the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord.
00:58:29.161 --> 00:58:30.823
That's it.
00:58:31.563 --> 00:58:32.104
Just the Lord.
00:58:33.814 --> 00:58:36.035
And he spake unto me, saying, Joseph,
00:58:36.135 --> 00:58:38.536
my son, thy sins are forgiven thee.
00:58:39.076 --> 00:58:41.537
Go thy way, walk in my statutes,
00:58:41.737 --> 00:58:42.818
and keep my commandments.
00:58:43.258 --> 00:58:45.539
Behold, I am the Lord of glory.
00:58:46.039 --> 00:58:47.499
I was crucified for the world,
00:58:48.080 --> 00:58:49.420
that all those who believe
00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:51.041
on my name may have eternal life.
00:58:51.581 --> 00:58:53.323
behold the world lieth in
00:58:53.423 --> 00:58:55.064
sin at this time and none
00:58:55.125 --> 00:58:57.367
doeth good no not one they
00:58:57.387 --> 00:58:58.468
have turned aside from the
00:58:58.508 --> 00:59:00.149
gospel and keep not my
00:59:00.189 --> 00:59:01.911
commandments they draw near
00:59:01.951 --> 00:59:03.753
to me with their lips while
00:59:03.793 --> 00:59:05.054
their hearts are far from
00:59:05.094 --> 00:59:07.036
me and mine anger is
00:59:07.076 --> 00:59:07.937
kindling against the
00:59:07.997 --> 00:59:09.639
inhabitants of the earth to
00:59:09.679 --> 00:59:11.721
visit them according to their ungodliness
00:59:12.181 --> 00:59:13.402
and to bring to pass that
00:59:13.482 --> 00:59:14.602
which hath been spoken by
00:59:14.642 --> 00:59:16.243
the mouth of the prophets and apostles.
00:59:16.663 --> 00:59:18.884
Behold, and lo, I come quickly,
00:59:19.305 --> 00:59:21.165
as it is written of me in the cloud,
00:59:21.346 --> 00:59:23.366
clothed in the glory of my Father.
00:59:24.347 --> 00:59:25.147
Then Joseph says,
00:59:25.287 --> 00:59:26.508
My soul was filled with love,
00:59:26.688 --> 00:59:27.969
and for many days I could
00:59:28.009 --> 00:59:29.169
rejoice with great joy.
00:59:29.650 --> 00:59:30.530
The Lord was with me,
00:59:30.890 --> 00:59:32.011
but I could find none that
00:59:32.051 --> 00:59:33.591
would believe the heavenly vision.
00:59:34.152 --> 00:59:34.712
Nevertheless,
00:59:34.992 --> 00:59:36.733
I pondered these things in my heart,
00:59:37.173 --> 00:59:38.314
which is incidentally the
00:59:38.354 --> 00:59:40.335
same thing that Mary said when she...
00:59:40.995 --> 00:59:42.936
realized that an angel had
00:59:42.976 --> 00:59:44.577
visited her now a couple of
00:59:44.617 --> 00:59:45.877
comments about this account
00:59:46.097 --> 00:59:47.398
of the first vision which
00:59:47.458 --> 00:59:48.939
is the earliest recorded
00:59:48.959 --> 00:59:49.819
account the only one
00:59:49.859 --> 00:59:51.020
recorded in joseph smith's
00:59:51.140 --> 00:59:55.361
own words and i really just
00:59:55.401 --> 00:59:57.002
want to say that first of
00:59:57.102 --> 01:00:00.364
all the fact that joseph
01:00:00.404 --> 01:00:01.624
smith could remember that
01:00:01.724 --> 01:00:03.305
entire soliloquy that was
01:00:03.385 --> 01:00:04.626
delivered by jesus christ
01:00:04.686 --> 01:00:05.826
is pretty impressive i mean
01:00:05.846 --> 01:00:07.167
that was a long soliloquy
01:00:07.227 --> 01:00:08.847
to remember all of those
01:00:08.927 --> 01:00:09.828
words word for word
01:00:11.046 --> 01:00:14.008
Secondly, the language that Joseph uses,
01:00:15.789 --> 01:00:16.850
we see this language
01:00:16.930 --> 01:00:17.830
throughout the Book of
01:00:17.850 --> 01:00:19.351
Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.
01:00:19.832 --> 01:00:21.313
And it's pretty clear to me
01:00:21.373 --> 01:00:22.613
comparing that account of
01:00:22.634 --> 01:00:24.395
the first vision to his
01:00:24.475 --> 01:00:27.597
later writings and the voices match.
01:00:28.745 --> 01:00:30.586
So the likelihood that he
01:00:30.686 --> 01:00:31.686
translated the Book of
01:00:31.706 --> 01:00:33.907
Mormon as opposed to just wrote it.
01:00:34.407 --> 01:00:36.948
I know a lot of apologists will say, oh,
01:00:36.988 --> 01:00:38.389
there's no way Joseph Smith
01:00:38.429 --> 01:00:39.449
could have come up with all
01:00:39.469 --> 01:00:40.189
of those names and
01:00:40.209 --> 01:00:41.830
characters and dates and places.
01:00:42.710 --> 01:00:43.691
And there's no way that he
01:00:43.731 --> 01:00:44.591
could have quoted from
01:00:44.651 --> 01:00:46.972
memory from the Bible all that much.
01:00:47.792 --> 01:00:49.373
And all of that aside,
01:00:49.513 --> 01:00:50.613
I just want to say the
01:00:50.653 --> 01:00:52.214
language in his own writing
01:00:52.254 --> 01:00:53.334
from the first vision and
01:00:53.354 --> 01:00:54.194
the language in the Book of
01:00:54.214 --> 01:00:55.255
Mormon and the Doctrine and
01:00:55.275 --> 01:00:56.895
Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price,
01:00:57.376 --> 01:00:58.116
the voices match.
01:00:58.805 --> 01:00:59.970
That's all I want to say about that.
01:01:00.790 --> 01:01:02.350
The other thing is that it
01:01:02.390 --> 01:01:03.511
just is starkly different.
01:01:03.571 --> 01:01:04.591
It's objectively different.
01:01:04.651 --> 01:01:05.711
If you take the two accounts
01:01:05.772 --> 01:01:06.872
side by side and you
01:01:06.912 --> 01:01:08.392
compare the facts of what was said,
01:01:08.992 --> 01:01:10.013
the first vision account
01:01:10.053 --> 01:01:11.253
that is the most notable
01:01:11.433 --> 01:01:12.113
and the one that's been
01:01:12.153 --> 01:01:13.314
canonized by the Church of
01:01:13.334 --> 01:01:14.314
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
01:01:14.374 --> 01:01:16.475
Saints clearly says Joseph
01:01:16.555 --> 01:01:17.735
went into the woods to pray
01:01:17.875 --> 01:01:19.756
as a boy of 14 years old
01:01:20.236 --> 01:01:23.217
that he was overcome with the spirit.
01:01:23.317 --> 01:01:24.597
A pillar of light came down.
01:01:24.697 --> 01:01:26.138
He saw two personages.
01:01:26.778 --> 01:01:28.378
One introduced the other saying,
01:01:28.438 --> 01:01:29.659
this is my beloved son.
01:01:29.759 --> 01:01:30.199
Hear him.
01:01:30.799 --> 01:01:32.521
and then Jesus Christ told
01:01:32.581 --> 01:01:33.482
Joseph his sins were
01:01:33.522 --> 01:01:35.004
forgiven and then told him
01:01:35.384 --> 01:01:36.806
that all of the churches on
01:01:36.846 --> 01:01:37.447
the earth were an
01:01:37.487 --> 01:01:38.528
abomination and that he
01:01:38.568 --> 01:01:39.509
should join none of them.
01:01:40.950 --> 01:01:42.552
Joseph's own account only
01:01:43.862 --> 01:01:44.883
first of all says when he
01:01:44.923 --> 01:01:47.344
was 16 it does mention the
01:01:47.364 --> 01:01:48.665
pillar of light but it only
01:01:48.705 --> 01:01:50.267
mentions one being it says
01:01:50.347 --> 01:01:53.549
the lord and he does say
01:01:53.609 --> 01:01:54.509
that joseph's sins are
01:01:54.529 --> 01:01:55.950
forgiven he says that
01:01:56.111 --> 01:01:57.131
nobody on the earth is
01:01:57.191 --> 01:01:58.873
doing good he doesn't
01:01:59.273 --> 01:02:00.654
mention anything about any
01:02:00.714 --> 01:02:02.795
churches he just tells him
01:02:02.855 --> 01:02:05.957
to go and you know go go
01:02:05.998 --> 01:02:06.758
your way and keep my
01:02:06.798 --> 01:02:07.939
commandments and walk in faith
01:02:09.115 --> 01:02:10.057
So I just wanted to point
01:02:10.097 --> 01:02:10.839
out those two things.
01:02:11.280 --> 01:02:12.021
The missionaries,
01:02:12.061 --> 01:02:13.465
when they come to visit you in your home,
01:02:13.625 --> 01:02:14.607
are not going to give you
01:02:14.667 --> 01:02:19.518
that first version of the first vision.
01:02:20.833 --> 01:02:22.013
in fact they're not going to
01:02:22.033 --> 01:02:22.834
tell you that there's more
01:02:22.874 --> 01:02:24.554
than one version of the
01:02:24.594 --> 01:02:26.455
first vision and if you
01:02:26.475 --> 01:02:28.035
bring it up they probably
01:02:28.075 --> 01:02:29.776
will tell you the same sort
01:02:29.796 --> 01:02:30.956
of apologetic answer that
01:02:30.976 --> 01:02:32.257
we read on the church's
01:02:32.277 --> 01:02:33.257
website because that's
01:02:33.737 --> 01:02:34.917
that's the official story
01:02:35.218 --> 01:02:36.518
and we're not to question
01:02:36.558 --> 01:02:38.399
the official story and i
01:02:38.439 --> 01:02:39.679
also want to note that back
01:02:39.739 --> 01:02:42.100
on the church's website they reference
01:02:43.140 --> 01:02:44.884
the validity of the
01:02:44.944 --> 01:02:46.667
canonized version with
01:02:46.968 --> 01:02:48.611
three things that are put
01:02:48.711 --> 01:02:49.553
out by the church.
01:02:50.294 --> 01:02:51.276
Let's just go back and look
01:02:51.296 --> 01:02:52.157
at that one more time
01:02:52.177 --> 01:02:53.861
because I think it is pretty important.
01:02:56.331 --> 01:02:57.292
okay so in the middle of
01:02:57.332 --> 01:02:58.673
this paragraph it says
01:03:01.296 --> 01:03:02.297
since that time these
01:03:02.357 --> 01:03:03.098
documents have been
01:03:03.138 --> 01:03:04.439
discussed repeatedly in
01:03:04.599 --> 01:03:06.821
church magazines in works
01:03:06.941 --> 01:03:08.863
printed by the church and
01:03:09.144 --> 01:03:10.505
church affiliated presses
01:03:11.145 --> 01:03:12.667
and by latter-day saint
01:03:12.767 --> 01:03:14.749
scholars so they give four
01:03:17.133 --> 01:03:19.154
reference points that are
01:03:19.274 --> 01:03:20.015
all things that are
01:03:20.055 --> 01:03:21.116
produced by the church
01:03:21.356 --> 01:03:22.897
church magazines works
01:03:22.957 --> 01:03:24.318
printed by the church owned
01:03:24.478 --> 01:03:25.779
and church affiliated presses
01:03:26.667 --> 01:03:28.228
and Latter-day Saint scholars.
01:03:28.448 --> 01:03:28.569
Now,
01:03:28.609 --> 01:03:30.370
the church has a committee that's
01:03:30.410 --> 01:03:31.671
called the Correlation Committee.
01:03:32.151 --> 01:03:33.713
They meet and make sure that
01:03:33.953 --> 01:03:35.274
all of those things match
01:03:35.354 --> 01:03:36.695
and are giving the same message,
01:03:36.795 --> 01:03:37.656
that there's nothing in the
01:03:37.696 --> 01:03:39.117
magazine that isn't
01:03:39.177 --> 01:03:40.438
corroborated also by the
01:03:40.458 --> 01:03:41.558
church-affiliated press,
01:03:41.839 --> 01:03:42.539
that isn't also
01:03:42.619 --> 01:03:44.581
corroborated by Latter-day
01:03:44.641 --> 01:03:45.381
Saint scholars.
01:03:45.742 --> 01:03:46.402
And that's one of the
01:03:46.442 --> 01:03:47.963
reasons why a lot of people
01:03:48.043 --> 01:03:50.245
who study church history
01:03:50.265 --> 01:03:52.067
end up leaving the church
01:03:52.107 --> 01:03:54.548
is because the church wants you to
01:03:55.986 --> 01:03:57.327
keep with the official message,
01:03:57.627 --> 01:03:59.389
even if the historical
01:03:59.429 --> 01:04:00.650
documents don't support it,
01:04:00.790 --> 01:04:02.051
or even if the historical
01:04:02.091 --> 01:04:03.372
documents support another
01:04:04.272 --> 01:04:05.673
version of events or
01:04:06.234 --> 01:04:08.856
another documentation of a
01:04:08.936 --> 01:04:10.217
different narrative.
01:04:10.844 --> 01:04:10.964
Now,
01:04:11.004 --> 01:04:12.548
this doesn't just go for the first
01:04:12.608 --> 01:04:12.949
vision.
01:04:12.969 --> 01:04:14.994
It also goes for any of the
01:04:15.074 --> 01:04:16.136
other lessons that the
01:04:16.176 --> 01:04:17.480
missionaries are going to teach you.
01:04:18.021 --> 01:04:19.103
And I will go through those
01:04:19.163 --> 01:04:20.707
discussions in depth as well.
01:04:22.050 --> 01:04:23.671
if it's even interesting to anybody.
01:04:24.972 --> 01:04:27.374
My main interest is just informed consent.
01:04:27.454 --> 01:04:28.675
I want people to have the
01:04:28.715 --> 01:04:29.676
whole truth before they
01:04:29.716 --> 01:04:30.817
make a life-altering
01:04:30.877 --> 01:04:31.998
decision like joining the
01:04:32.018 --> 01:04:32.999
Church of Jesus Christ of
01:04:33.039 --> 01:04:33.719
Latter-day Saints.
01:04:34.340 --> 01:04:34.940
I think that it's
01:04:34.980 --> 01:04:36.461
disingenuous to teach
01:04:36.521 --> 01:04:38.183
people just parts of things
01:04:38.363 --> 01:04:40.124
and to not bring up both
01:04:40.184 --> 01:04:41.726
sides of the story and to
01:04:41.926 --> 01:04:43.407
basically tell people not
01:04:43.447 --> 01:04:44.548
to read anything that
01:04:47.090 --> 01:04:48.790
conflicts with the official narrative.
01:04:49.110 --> 01:04:50.431
As a child,
01:04:50.651 --> 01:04:52.191
I was taught that anything that
01:04:52.231 --> 01:04:53.531
conflicted with the
01:04:53.931 --> 01:04:56.292
official narrative was anti-Mormon lies.
01:04:56.812 --> 01:04:57.972
And so when someone would
01:04:58.012 --> 01:04:59.052
bring up the fact that
01:04:59.092 --> 01:05:00.092
Joseph Smith had a
01:05:00.132 --> 01:05:01.573
different version of the first vision,
01:05:02.573 --> 01:05:03.793
I was taught to dismiss it
01:05:03.913 --> 01:05:05.053
as anti-Mormon lies.
01:05:05.333 --> 01:05:07.134
And imagine my surprise to
01:05:07.174 --> 01:05:08.514
find out later as an adult
01:05:08.594 --> 01:05:09.894
that what was yesterday's
01:05:10.014 --> 01:05:11.354
anti-Mormon lies are now
01:05:11.415 --> 01:05:12.335
being published on the
01:05:12.375 --> 01:05:13.475
official church website
01:05:14.335 --> 01:05:17.057
as truth and as truth that
01:05:17.137 --> 01:05:18.558
conflicts with the truth
01:05:18.579 --> 01:05:19.519
that i was taught as a
01:05:19.559 --> 01:05:22.522
child so i felt a lot of
01:05:22.722 --> 01:05:24.103
anger over that betrayal
01:05:24.443 --> 01:05:26.164
that i was taught to
01:05:26.225 --> 01:05:27.325
dismiss things that made
01:05:27.385 --> 01:05:29.327
logical sense to me in
01:05:29.407 --> 01:05:30.288
favor of the official
01:05:30.328 --> 01:05:32.409
narrative and i later found
01:05:32.529 --> 01:05:33.931
out that the things that
01:05:33.951 --> 01:05:35.332
made logical sense actually
01:05:35.412 --> 01:05:37.113
were true they weren't lies
01:05:37.633 --> 01:05:39.315
so it was really confusing to me and
01:05:39.940 --> 01:05:40.641
I think that's one of the
01:05:40.681 --> 01:05:41.904
reasons why so many people
01:05:41.924 --> 01:05:42.725
who leave the church are
01:05:42.845 --> 01:05:44.529
angry is because they feel betrayed.
01:05:45.722 --> 01:05:47.083
So just to finish up this
01:05:47.143 --> 01:05:50.164
first discussion from the missionaries,
01:05:51.064 --> 01:05:52.625
after all of that,
01:05:52.805 --> 01:05:54.005
there are still two more
01:05:54.085 --> 01:05:55.666
principles they want to discuss with you.
01:05:56.106 --> 01:05:57.027
One is that the Book of
01:05:57.047 --> 01:05:58.327
Mormon is another testament
01:05:58.367 --> 01:05:59.187
of Jesus Christ.
01:05:59.788 --> 01:06:00.988
They'll tell you that Joseph
01:06:01.068 --> 01:06:02.669
Smith found the gold plates
01:06:03.129 --> 01:06:03.989
buried in a hill.
01:06:04.129 --> 01:06:05.210
He was directed there by an
01:06:05.330 --> 01:06:06.430
angel and that he
01:06:06.490 --> 01:06:07.711
translated those plates
01:06:08.311 --> 01:06:10.052
into what is now the Book of Mormon.
01:06:10.692 --> 01:06:11.633
And that's another rabbit
01:06:11.673 --> 01:06:12.773
hole that we can go down
01:06:12.793 --> 01:06:13.754
and that I will go down,
01:06:13.794 --> 01:06:15.015
just not today because it's
01:06:15.175 --> 01:06:16.575
already getting a little long here.
01:06:17.156 --> 01:06:18.296
But I just want you to know
01:06:18.537 --> 01:06:19.657
that this is the next thing
01:06:19.677 --> 01:06:20.698
they want to teach you is
01:06:20.738 --> 01:06:21.718
about the Book of Mormon,
01:06:21.778 --> 01:06:23.399
how it came about,
01:06:24.040 --> 01:06:25.120
and that the Book of Mormon
01:06:25.721 --> 01:06:27.181
teaches about Christ and
01:06:27.241 --> 01:06:28.502
about Christ's visit to the
01:06:28.562 --> 01:06:31.764
people on this continent after he died,
01:06:31.884 --> 01:06:34.986
but before he was resurrected.
01:06:36.225 --> 01:06:36.986
if that makes sense.
01:06:37.006 --> 01:06:38.347
So there's a lot to unpack there.
01:06:39.048 --> 01:06:40.189
And the final point of this
01:06:40.249 --> 01:06:41.710
discussion is that the Holy
01:06:41.770 --> 01:06:43.331
ghost is a witness of truth.
01:06:43.472 --> 01:06:44.352
And they're basically going
01:06:44.372 --> 01:06:45.493
to teach you how to receive
01:06:45.533 --> 01:06:46.695
a witness of the Holy ghost.
01:06:47.255 --> 01:06:48.356
As we discussed before,
01:06:48.436 --> 01:06:49.197
they're going to teach you
01:06:49.237 --> 01:06:50.818
how Mormons pray over here.
01:06:51.319 --> 01:06:52.380
And we'll go through that as
01:06:52.460 --> 01:06:53.841
well in another episode.
01:06:54.542 --> 01:06:55.803
And basically they're going
01:06:55.823 --> 01:06:57.765
to leave you that day with
01:06:57.805 --> 01:06:58.705
a commitment that you're
01:06:58.745 --> 01:07:00.247
going to read some passages
01:07:00.287 --> 01:07:01.128
in the book of Mormon.
01:07:01.908 --> 01:07:02.329
In fact,
01:07:03.867 --> 01:07:05.208
I believe they're listed here.
01:07:05.288 --> 01:07:06.148
Commitments, yes.
01:07:07.009 --> 01:07:07.729
Remember during this
01:07:07.769 --> 01:07:09.030
discussion that the
01:07:09.070 --> 01:07:10.130
investigator should commit
01:07:10.170 --> 01:07:11.251
to read in the Book of
01:07:11.271 --> 01:07:13.292
Mormon and pray to know that it is true,
01:07:13.792 --> 01:07:14.713
pray to know that Joseph
01:07:14.733 --> 01:07:15.633
Smith was a prophet,
01:07:16.234 --> 01:07:17.234
and to set up an
01:07:17.274 --> 01:07:18.815
appointment for the next discussion.
01:07:18.915 --> 01:07:19.776
So at the end of this,
01:07:19.816 --> 01:07:20.536
they're going to say,
01:07:21.096 --> 01:07:22.337
are you free next Tuesday
01:07:22.457 --> 01:07:23.538
or are you free tomorrow?
01:07:23.598 --> 01:07:24.338
They like to get these
01:07:24.378 --> 01:07:25.939
things done as quickly as possible.
01:07:26.479 --> 01:07:27.159
And then they're going to
01:07:27.200 --> 01:07:28.960
commit you to do your homework.
01:07:29.081 --> 01:07:29.641
And then they're going to
01:07:29.661 --> 01:07:30.341
close with a prayer.
01:07:30.381 --> 01:07:31.622
They're going to invite you to pray.
01:07:32.423 --> 01:07:34.745
and get you to say how you
01:07:34.785 --> 01:07:36.046
felt after that prayer so
01:07:36.087 --> 01:07:37.007
that it's going to end up
01:07:37.068 --> 01:07:38.489
on a really spiritual note.
01:07:38.789 --> 01:07:41.713
So that's what would have
01:07:41.753 --> 01:07:43.214
happened in the 80s if you
01:07:43.254 --> 01:07:43.855
had invited the
01:07:43.895 --> 01:07:45.176
missionaries into your home.
01:07:45.256 --> 01:07:47.499
Nowadays, it's a much shorter,
01:07:47.659 --> 01:07:48.700
streamlined message.
01:07:48.900 --> 01:07:49.000
And
01:07:50.318 --> 01:07:51.978
To my mind, honestly,
01:07:52.018 --> 01:07:52.919
that's a little worse
01:07:53.119 --> 01:07:54.419
because rather than giving
01:07:54.459 --> 01:07:55.319
you comprehensive
01:07:55.359 --> 01:07:56.940
information in the first discussion,
01:07:57.380 --> 01:07:58.060
they're just going to give
01:07:58.080 --> 01:07:59.640
you a little snippet of information,
01:08:00.080 --> 01:08:01.201
try to get you to feel the
01:08:01.261 --> 01:08:03.741
Holy Ghost and commit you
01:08:03.861 --> 01:08:05.542
to coming back to coming to
01:08:05.562 --> 01:08:06.982
church with them on the following Sunday.
01:08:07.062 --> 01:08:08.403
And then let's say that you
01:08:08.663 --> 01:08:09.763
invite them in on a Monday.
01:08:10.964 --> 01:08:11.745
they're going to try to set
01:08:11.805 --> 01:08:12.786
up another meeting for you
01:08:12.806 --> 01:08:13.747
like the next day.
01:08:14.528 --> 01:08:16.971
And Sunday may be a few days away.
01:08:17.031 --> 01:08:18.272
So it's possible if you keep
01:08:18.352 --> 01:08:19.013
inviting them back,
01:08:19.053 --> 01:08:19.954
you could have two or three
01:08:19.994 --> 01:08:21.076
or four of these lessons
01:08:21.476 --> 01:08:22.938
before you ever even visit
01:08:22.958 --> 01:08:23.999
a Mormon congregation.
01:08:24.560 --> 01:08:26.622
So that's all for today.
01:08:26.762 --> 01:08:27.923
It's a lot to unpack.
01:08:28.464 --> 01:08:29.364
If you're new to the channel,
01:08:29.424 --> 01:08:30.705
please subscribe.
01:08:30.885 --> 01:08:32.005
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01:08:32.045 --> 01:08:32.825
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01:08:32.865 --> 01:08:34.426
will find it valuable.
01:08:34.886 --> 01:08:36.006
If you interact with the
01:08:36.046 --> 01:08:37.867
content by sharing it or by
01:08:37.947 --> 01:08:39.247
saving it to a playlist to
01:08:39.287 --> 01:08:40.088
listen to later,
01:08:40.288 --> 01:08:41.828
or even just by liking it
01:08:41.928 --> 01:08:43.109
or leaving a comment below,
01:08:43.129 --> 01:08:45.289
that helps the algorithm
01:08:45.329 --> 01:08:47.070
pick it up and get it out to more people.
01:08:47.630 --> 01:08:49.952
I recently became a full-time podcaster,
01:08:49.992 --> 01:08:50.632
so I would really
01:08:50.873 --> 01:08:52.594
appreciate your support in that way.
01:08:53.034 --> 01:08:54.055
The best way to support the
01:08:54.095 --> 01:08:55.556
channel is just to subscribe,
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to like the episodes, and to share them.
01:08:57.498 --> 01:08:58.539
That's completely free.
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If you have the means to join as a member,
01:09:01.101 --> 01:09:02.221
I highly recommend it.
01:09:02.402 --> 01:09:03.783
I do members-only content.
01:09:03.843 --> 01:09:05.404
I do live Q&As once a week.
01:09:05.904 --> 01:09:06.865
And I'd really love to have
01:09:06.905 --> 01:09:07.766
you be a part of our
01:09:07.806 --> 01:09:09.167
community over at Third Verse.
01:09:09.627 --> 01:09:11.128
If you're interested in coaching,
01:09:11.568 --> 01:09:12.468
if you're interested in
01:09:12.508 --> 01:09:13.828
learning more about the LDS
01:09:13.868 --> 01:09:15.469
Church or managing your own
01:09:15.549 --> 01:09:16.669
faith crisis or
01:09:17.069 --> 01:09:18.330
decluttering your house or
01:09:18.430 --> 01:09:20.410
navigating difficult family relationships,
01:09:20.951 --> 01:09:22.351
I do coaching on a limited
01:09:22.391 --> 01:09:24.572
basis a few days a week to
01:09:24.732 --> 01:09:26.132
individuals who are members
01:09:26.192 --> 01:09:27.693
of my channel or subscribers.
01:09:28.133 --> 01:09:29.653
You can email me at megan at
01:09:29.673 --> 01:09:31.714
third-first.com or you can
01:09:31.734 --> 01:09:34.495
just visit my website at third-first.com.
01:09:34.655 --> 01:09:37.116
I'm also on Instagram and TikTok.
01:09:37.797 --> 01:09:39.121
at third underscore verse.
01:09:39.161 --> 01:09:40.284
Thanks for being here today.
01:09:40.304 --> 01:09:42.511
And as always, be good to each other,
01:09:42.832 --> 01:09:43.896
but even more importantly,
01:09:43.916 --> 01:09:44.653
be good to yourself.