3 Matching Annotations
  1. Jun 2023
    1. “The purpose of our life should be to build up the Zion of our God, to gather the House of Israel, … store up treasures of knowledge and wisdom in our own understandings, purify our own hearts and prepare a people to meet the Lord when he comes. … “We have no business here other than to build up and establish the Zion of God. It must be done according to the will and law of God [see D&C 105:5], after that pattern and order by which Enoch built up and perfected the former-day Zion, which was taken away to heaven. … We, through our faithfulness, must prepare ourselves to meet Zion from above when it shall return to earth, and to abide the brightness and glory of its coming” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 111–12).

      a couple things:

      • as social creatures, human beings rely on establishing relationships with those around us. our existence begins within families, through the union of a mother and a father, and this pattern repeats throughout generations

      • these communal relationships form the foundation for unity, creating a shared purpose and principles. any discord within these relationships can result in separation

      • death serves as the most explicit form of separation: firstly, physical death separates the body from the spirit, and finally, spiritual death represents the separation of men from god.

      • another explicit instance of separation found in the scriptures is the scattering of Israel. our current work involves gathering israel, which requires severing our ties with our brothers and sisters across the globe. this gathering process is vital in building the zion we are commanded to establish before the second coming of christ

      [[the church is one body]]

      "1 Corinthians 12:12-14 emphasizes the idea that all individuals, regardless of their background or status, are united as one body through the Spirit of Christ. Paul teaches the importance of unity and care for one another within this body to avoid any divisions or schisms. It also emphasizes the interconnectedness of all individuals within the body, such that if one member suffers, all members suffer, and if one member is honored, all members rejoice." - The Doctrine of Belonging - Elder D. Todd Christofferson

  2. Dec 2016
    1. The third level of education is the discovery of Knowledge. Here you begin to remember your point of departure and anticipate your point of return-not because you are anxious to leave the world, but because the meaning of your being here is entirely defined by where you have come from and where you are going. It is as if you went to school one day and you stayed there for eighty years and never left the classroom. Well, after a while it would be very difficult to remember what life was like outside the classroom. But when you leave the classroom after eighty years, more or less, you go home to your "parents," who are your Spiritual Family. It was just a very long day in class, that's all-so long, in fact, that it allowed you to concentrate on the classroom entirely. If you penetrate the membrane that separates this world from the life beyond, it becomes very difficult to concentrate on being here because the life beyond is so alluring. It is so attractive. It is easier to be yourself there than it is here. That is why you must enter the world in an amnesiac state to enable yourself to concentrate on being here.
  3. Nov 2016
    1. Though your personalities may have difficulties and your orientations may be different, you will feel at home with them nonetheless because they have come from your Spiritual Family