Fishers of Men

Disclaimer: First, before we jump into the post, I want to apologize to the million of my readers!;) The High Speed Internet that is offered at my Apartment Complex has been shut down. It maybe a while before I have constant Internet Services so please bear with me!

Now to the Post!

Recently I picked up an old habit, I took that old dusty fly rod out of the closet, inherited a fly tying kit, and decided to hit the local rivers and streams. In the half-light of the evenings, I thought about the Spiritual connection. In the classic Fly Fishing book and Movie, "A River Runs Through It" Norman Maclean, the author and principle character reminisced,

"Though it was true that one day a week was given over wholly to religion, even then he [their Presbytrian Minister Father] told us about Christ's disciples being fisherman. And we were left to assume, as my younger brother Paul and I did that all first class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly-fisherman, and that John, the favorite, was a dry fly-fisherman."

In Matthew 4:19, Christ spoke to two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, and said

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"

These two brothers were fisherman, even though they probably used gigantic nets to catch their fish and not a fly rod. They were also business partners with James and John, the sons of Zebedee and "Sons of Thunder." And when Christ came to these Brothers the sacred calling of Apostleship was opened as well as the call of being a Missionary!

In Luke 9:1-6, Christ sends his Apostles out into the world and gives this direction,

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter itno, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the ver dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

Here was the first direction given to the first Christian missionaries. A little different then our MTC today, but so is the Missionary Work of today. No longer do we just enter the Mission Field, hoping upon the general goodness of mankind! But, the principle is the same, preach the Kingdom of God!! And that is what our missionaries learn to do in the MTC.

The call of being a Missionary is a sacred calling, one from God prayed over by an Apostle of Jesus Christ, signed and okayed by the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of God the Father and His son Jesus Christ! There is no greater stamp of approval by Mortal Hands then that of the very personal representative of God the Father and His son Jesus Christ!

God Bless this magnificent work of the Lord, and go forth ye Fishers of Men and may the Lord bless you. May you find those Children of God that are prepared to hear his Gospel and may you have the words of the Lord in your mind and mouth at the right time,

~is my humble prayer

Prepare Every Needful Thing

We encourage Chruch members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. -The First Presidency "All is Safely Gathered In"

I must give the reason by which I am posting on this topic. My wife and I went to Temple Square on April 26th, 2007 for the Saturday. One of the places that we stopped was the Church Distribution Services at the bottom of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. One of the prodcuts that they had advertised was the Family Home Storage Starter Kit produced and sold through the Welfare and Humanitarian Services. This had spawned a conversation between my wife and I, one in which she felt that we needed to start our food storage and I didn't think we had or have enough space in our current living situation, a studio apartment. But it seemed as if the Starter Kit could do just that for us, get us started. Well, I went this last Friday to the Storehouse Centers and picked up a Starter Kit and while I was there I really caught the spirit and the truth of Food Storage.

Thousands of years ago, in the land of Egypt, Pharoah had a dream. He dreamt that he had seen seven cows, fat and plump, rise from the ocean, after those seven cows came seven more, which were lean and malnourished. The malnourished cows devoured the plump and fat ones. Pharoah then awoke, a little disturbed, but fell back to sleep. He dreamt again, but this time there were seven, full ears of corn followed by seven withered and dried ears of corn. Once again the withered and dried ears devoured the full ears. Pharoah was upset and agitated by this dream and had his magicians adn sooth-sayers try to interpret the dream, but they couldn't. But there was one Joseph, son of Israel, who at the time was in prison, who could translate the dream. In his interpretation, Joseph answered, "Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous." Joseph was then appointed to head, what I like to call, the Ministry of Food Storage, for the Egyptian, he was almost second in command to the Pharoah. The Seven Years of plenty happened, followed by Seven Years of famine. Yet Egypt was saved because the prepared every needful thing. (this entire story can be found in Genesis 41)

In his 2002 General Conference address, entitled, To Men of the Priesthood, President Hinckley said, "We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week's food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. . . . I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all." As members of the Church, and knowing the revelation and nature of the world prior to the Second Coming, this is only the beginning of things. Is it not mindful to heed the promptings of the Prophets? Even the Prophet said begin small, just one extra week's worth of food, but we must begin.

No matter where a person lives, there is room enough for a few months of food storage. The time of famine and pestilence, wars and rumours of wars, plagues and tempest, are around the corner, but the Lord has said, in Doctrine and Covenants 38:30,

If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.

What a promise! It is scary news, watching and reading the news can fill one with foreboding and fear, stories of wars, earthquakes and floods, rice shortages and illnesses. The world groans for the return of her Master. But we should not fear, but be prepared! Food shortages or not, the Lord is with His people, he has commanded in the past that we be prepared the commandment stand today. We can hear of rice shortages, but the Lord's people should have a storage of rice and other basic food stuffs.

For help in beginning your food storage and beginning to prepare all needful things, Provident Living: Self Reliance and Welfare Services, is a great site to begin. There you can find addresses and phone numbers to local storehouses, read talks and articles by general authorities, and other well-needed preparational items as well. Be prepared and ye shall not fear, is my humble prayer!

The Heart's of the Fathers

The Bible says, "I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal 4:6)

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that to turn should be translated as bind or seal. Elijah restored the sealing power to the Earth inside the Kirtland Temple on April 3rd, 1836. How important is this principle? On September 21st, 1823, a few years after the first vision, Joseph was visited by a heavenly visitor, namely Moroni. This heavenly messenger taught many amazing principles and doctrines, but we have record of at least one principle, that of the restoration of the Sealing Power. The heading to Section 2 of the Doctrine and Covenants says,

An extract from the words of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith the Prophet, while in the house of the Prophet’s father at Manchester, New York, on the evening of September 21, 1823.

And then it continues into the actual scripture,

1.Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 2. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and thehearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. 3. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

Even before the Priesthood was restored, the Sacrement was restored, before the Book of Mormon was placed in the hands of Joseph Smith, the promise was restated that the Sealing power would be restored, turning the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children. Remember, it is sealing the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children.

To seal something is to establish or determine irrevocably. The sealing is a covenant between God and Man, a two way promise that God basically says, follow the commandments that I have set forth and I will allow you to keep yours (family) and have eternal progress. What an amazing promise and principle. Who does not have vivid, lovely memories of family; reunions, dinners, weddings, even funerals? We all do, and it is possible for these to continue, in an eternal and heavenly sphere! Who would not want that?

But why? Why do we need to be sealed, why is that principle so important. It was revealed to Joseph Smith and taught by him in Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-4,

1. In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; 2. And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; 3.and if he does not, he cannot obtain it. 4. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.

To have the gift of exaltation added upon our salvation, a person must be sealed to their spouse (marriage), and be sealed to those that have come before. If he does not, he cannot obtain that exaltation.

These are amazing gifts and principles that the Lord has promised to us if we are faithful to His commandments. Has your heart been turned to your fathers (and mothers), and has it been turned to your children? There are many ways to accomplish this;

1: Visit http://www.familysearch.org/

2: Vist your Local Family History Center.

3. Write your own personal history.

and on and on. The Church has many, many resources available if you want the privilege and blessings of doing your family history and turning your heart to the fathers.

The 1st Amendment and the 11th Article of Faith

I write this in regards to the incidents and events surrounding the FLDS community within and around San Angelo, Texas. From reports and news articles, apparently, a sixteen year old girl called from the community, dubbed a compound by the news, reporting abuse. This lead to the raid of the FLDS community displacing hundreds of children and yet the sixteen year old that called asking for help has not been located. Court hearings have ensued and DNA testing has been done. Mothers and fathers are not allowed to see their children, even to offer prayers.





Now, I do not support, condone, or sympathize with the teaching of the FLDS Church. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and have no ties with the FLDS Faith other than what I have read through the news and accredited websites, and this post.


But, as a practicing and active member of a religious faith, I cannot help seeing this as an attack on the constitutional liberties of these people. The 1st Amendment states,


Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


We have a reported abuse case regarding one person in the community, not every child in the community. Yet the government has felt that this one case is evidence enough to disregard the Constitution. Yes, the abuse of anyone, especially a child, is a horrible grievance in the sight of God and the Government, rightfully so. But, there are children and spouses that are abused by parents and spouses from all walks of life, from every religion to every government. But do we invade congressional sessions and rob every congressman from son and daughter when one of their numbers has abused said child? No!! There is due process and order that must be followed, and yet it hasn't. Why is this group, the FLDS faith being singled out and being denied their Constitutional rights? Because they are not status quo!!



Yet, I believe that the Articles of Faith discuss these topics poignantly. The 11th states,

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

This article is part of the Standard Works of the LDS church and Canon!! This statement directly correlates with the Constitution of the United States and the rights of the nation. Yet, the constitution has been waived regarding these members of this religious practice. An injustice against one is an injustice against us all! If abuse has happened, then let the ball roll, but there is not anything more than circumstancial evidence to say one way or the other. And until there is, the rights of these people should not be waived. And I feel that it is as much a religious duty as a political one to make a stand against this. For we truly believe that all men have the privilege of worshiping how, where, and what they may.

Welcome, Brethren, Sisters, and Friends All!

You have just stumbled upon the Standard of Truth. What is the Standard of Truth? Well, a Standard is a rule or principle that is used as the basis for judgement. And truth is, the true or actual state of things. Therefore the Standard of Truth is the rule or principle that is used as the basis for judgine the actual state of things. Joseph Smith Jr., Prophet and restorer of the Church of Jesus Christ, said,


The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

The Standard of Truth is the principles of the Gospel of God through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Now what does that have to do with this Blog and what are you doing here? This blog is the opportunity to discuss those principles of the Gospel, and what it is to live those same principles. Topics will range from the Journal of Discourses to the King Follet Sermon and everything in-between. As commentary to these, the Standard Works as well as the words of the Prophets, Apostles, Seventies, and other General Authorities of the Church will be used.

I hope that this becomes a place of discussion on the comment boards, for we learn from each other, and I definately do not have all the answers. No matter how much a would like to think that I do. Hopefully you will enjoy the time that you have spent and that you will return for more!

Thank you!