The Doctrine of Mothers

"In a poignant exchange with God, Adam states that he will call the woman Eve. And why does he call her Eve? 'Because she [is] the mother of all living.' (Genesis 3:20; Moses 4:26.) ...Eve was given the identity of 'the mother of all living' --years, decades, perhaps centuries before she ever bore a child.

It would appear that her motherhood preceded her maternity,

just as surely as the perfection of the Garden preceded the struggles of mortality. I believe mother is one of those very carefully chosen words, one of those rich words--with meaning after meaning after meaning. We must not, at all costs, let that word divide us.

I believe with all my heart that it is first and foremost a statement about our nature, not a head count of our children.

...some women give birth and raise children but never 'mother' them. Others, whom I love with all my heart, 'mother' all their lives but have never given birth. And all of us are Eve's daughters, whether we are married or single, maternal or barren. We are created in the image of the Gods to become gods and goddesses."

-Patricia Holland

(Ensign, October 1987, pp. 32-33)

The Purpose of Life

God's purpose is this:

This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Moses 1:39

Pretty Awesome that we are his work and his glory. His whole desire is to bring us back into his eternal life. He wants for us what he has. He's very giving like that.

But life is hard, full or trials, tests and challenges. Why? Because we were born into a fallen world both physically and spiritually. To get what he has we have to go through tests.

Abraham 3:25
We will ^aprove them herewith, to see if they will ^bdo all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

from Hugh Nibley:

If every choice I make expresses a preference, if the world I build up is the world I really love and want, then with every choice I am judging myself, proclaiming all the day long to God, angels and my fellowmen where my real values lie, where my treasure is, the things to which I give supreme importance. Hence, in this life every moment provides a perfect and foolproof test of your real character, making this life a time of testing and probation. (see this for more information of earth life being a probationary period)

Thus we must do this:
...becometh as a ^jchild, ^ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. Mosiah 3:19

Sometimes the word of the Lord tries us, as in Psalm 105:19
The Lord has told us that he will prove us all, (D&C 132:50-51)
in all things to see if we will abide in his covenant that we may be found worthy. (D&C 98:14)

So the purpose of this life if to
pass trials, temptations, and tests!

The crazy thing is were also suppose to be happy and of good cheer, etc

And Brigham Young said once: The purpose of our life is to build up the Zion of our God. So, God's purpose is also our purpose.

Book of Mormon Re-Translation

REFLECTIONS OF SAMI HANNA RECORDED BY RUSSELL M. NELSON:

My neighbor, Sami Hanna, is a native Egyptian. He is an academic scholar who moved into our neighborhood to accept an assignment with the university as a specialist in Middle Eastern Studies and the Semitic group of languages such as Arabic, Abyssinian, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Assyrian. Being a newcomer to the community, he felt that Mormons were a bit of a curiosity. Upon learning the name Mormon came from our belief that the Book of Mormon is divine scripture, he was intrigued by the existence of the Book of Mormon.

He had erroneously thought this was American Literature. When he was told that the Book of Mormon was translated from the ancient Egyptian or modified Hebrew type of hieroglyphic into the English language by the prophet Joseph Smith, he became even more engrossed, for this was his native language and he knows much about the other Semitic languages as well as the modern languages.

So challenged was he by this book that he embarked on the project of translating the Book of Mormon from English to Arabic. This translation was different from other translators, for this was to be a translation back to the original language of the book. To make a long story short, the process of the translation became the process of his conversion, for he soon knew the Book of Mormon to be a divine document even though he knew virtually nothing of Church organization or of its programs. His conversion came purely from the linguistics of the book which he found could not have been composed by an American, no matter how gifted. Some of these observations I think will be of interest to you, as they were to me, for they clarify some of the unique aspects of the book.

1. Jarom 2: "It must needs be..." This expression, odd and awkward in English, is excellent Arabic grammar. Elsewhere in the book, the use of the compound verbs "did eat", "did go", "did smile"... again, awkward and rarely used in English, are classical and correct grammar in the Semitic languages.

2. Omni 18: "Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory." Brother Hanna indicates that this is a typical custom of his Semitic forbearers to recite their genealogy from memory.

3. Words of Mormon 17: Reference is made here as in other parts of the Book of Mormon, to the "stiffneckedness" of his people. Brother Hanna perceives that this word would be a very unusual word for American youth, Joseph Smith, to use. An American would likely prefer an adjective such as stubborn or inflexible. But the custom in Arabic language is to use just such a descriptive adjective. Stiffnecked is an adjective they use in describing an obstinate person.

4. Mosiah 11:8: "King Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings and ornamented them with fine work and precious things, including ziff." Have you ever wondered about the meaning of the word "ziff" in this scripture? This word, although in the Book of Mormon, is not contained in dictionaries of the English language. Yet it translates freely back into the Arabic language, for ziff is a special kind of curve sword somewhat like a scimitar which is carried in a sheath and often used for ornamentation as well as for more practical purposes. The discovery of the word "ziff" in the Book of Mormon really excited my neighbor, Brother Hanna.

5. Alma 63:11: Reference is made to Helaman, son of Helaman. Why did not Joseph Smith interpret this as Helaman, Jr., which would have been more logical for him, bearing the same name as his father, Joseph, and being named Joseph Smith, Jr. In Arabic, Brother Hanna explains, there is no word "junior" to cover this circumstance. Their custom is to use the terminology Joseph, son of Joseph; Helaman, son of Helaman, etc.

6. Helaman 1:3: Here reference is made to contending for the judgment seat. Brother Hanna observes that the use of the term "judgment seat" would be quite strange to an American who might have used a more familiar noun such as governor, president, or ruler. Yet, in Arabic custom, the place of power rests in the judgment seat, and whoever occupies that seat is the authority and power. The authority goes with the seat and not with the office or the person. So, in the Semitic languages, this connotes the meaning exactly.

7. Helaman 3:14: In this verse, there are a total of eighteen "ands." Reviewers of the Book of Mormon have, on occasion, been critical of the grammar in such a passage where the use of the word "and" seems so repetitious. Yet Brother Hanna explains that each of the "ands" in this verse is absolutely essential to the meaning when this verse is expressed in Arabic, for the omission of any "and" would nullify the meaning of the words.

8. Helaman 3: 18-19: Have you wondered why the Book of Mormon cites a numbering system such as this. Do we say, "forty and six, forty and seven, forty and eight?" No! Joseph Smith's natural interpretation would more appropriately have been forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight without the "ands." Brother Hanna excitedly observes that the use of "and" in "forty and six" is precisely correct Arabic. Remember they number, as well as read, from right to left and recite their numbers with the "and" to separate the columns.

Well, I have just cited a few of these examples. There are many more! As Latter-day Saint leaders, we are aware of the Semitic origin of the Book of Mormon. The fact that an Arabic scholar such as this sees a beautiful internal consistency in the Prophet Joseph Smith's translation of the book, is of great interest. The Prophet Joseph did not merely render an interpretation, but a word of word translation from the Egyptian type of hieroglyphic into the English language. Brother Hanna said the Book of Mormon simply flowed back into the Arabic language.

Baptism For The Dead

Jason was explaining why we do genealogy to his Uncle Carl. He said it was talked about in the Old Testament. I wanted to correct him, that no it was in the New Testament. But we are both right.

1 Corinthians 15:29 Else what shall they do which are ^abaptized ^bfor the dead, if the dead ^crise not at all? why are they then baptized for the ^ddead?

The key to understanding this verse is to remember verse 22 in the same chapter: For as in ^aAdam all ^bdie, even so in ^cChrist shall all be made ^dalive. The point being that all the dead will rise and all need to be baptized as taught in John 3: 1-10.

The Book of Mormon teaches this:

1. 2 Ne. 31: 5, 7
   5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being ^aholy, should have need to be ^bbaptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be ^cbaptized, yea, even by water!
   • • •
   7 Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be ^aobedient unto him in keeping his commandments.

All of God's Children need baptism to enter into his presence. Becuase there are so many people past, present and future who have not heard of Jesus, it would seem that God will damn them to hell for being born at the wrong time and the wrong place. The is a plan of damnation, not a plan of salvation. Baptisms for the dead, make God a merciful God.

While the Old Testament never mentions the speaks of Baptism for the Dead specifically, it goes speak of this:

Malachi 4: 5 ¶ Behold, I will ^asend you ^bElijah the prophet ^cbefore the coming of the ^dgreat and dreadful ^eday of the Lord:

6 And he shall ^aturn the ^bheart of the ^cfathers to the ^dchildren, and the heart of the ^echildren to their fathers, lest I come and ^fsmite the ^gearth with a ^hcurse.

Also Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of ^aElias, to turn the hearts of the ^bfathers to the children, and the ^cdisobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people ^dprepared for the Lord.

While Luke is specifically about John the baptist, it is also in alignment with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, the hearts of the children being turned to their fathers is genealogy work. Unless the whole earth is connected together with a welding link- a sealing, which begins with a baptism the earth will be wasted. When Moroni came to Joseph Smith he quoted Malachi! The purpose of the restoration is to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and vis-a versa.

How is it that the hearts of the Fathers will turn to their children? I believe that is explained in Luke 16: 19-31. It is the story Christ tells of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar. The rich man does not find himself in heaven, as Lazarus does. He begs for Lazarus to bring him water to quench his tongue. He is not allowed as there is a "gulf" that separates them. The rich man learning that he is stuck where he is, wants to tell his family still down on earth to save them from his fate. He is told, that he has Moses and the Prophets. The rich man knowing that he did not believe Moses and the Prophets, says that will not work, but if you send someone back from the dead they will believe. Abraham tells of of course this is not true.

The message is clear. The dead are aware of their family on earth and their hearts are turned towards them.

But what about this gulf? Verse 26: ... between us and you there is a great ^agulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

That can be explained by 1 Peter 3: 18-20 and 1 Peter 4: 6

18 For Christ also hath once ^asuffered for sins, the just for the ^bunjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to ^cdeath in the flesh, but quickened by the ^dSpirit:

19 By which also he went and ^apreached unto the ^bspirits in ^cprison;

20 ^aWhich sometime were ^bdisobedient, when once the ^clongsuffering of God waited in the days of ^dNoah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were ^esaved by ^fwater.

v.6 For for this cause was the ^bgospel ^cpreached also to them that are ^ddead, that they might be ^ejudged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

The dead shall hear the voice of the Lord(John 5:25-29). There are dead spirits preaching to those in spirit prison, like those who died in the flood, who did not except the gospel. But we with out bodies are able to do a vicarious work for them by being baptized in their stead, as the savior stood in our place to take upon him our sins.

definition of vicarious:

performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another: vicarious punishment. taking the place of another person or thing; acting or serving as a substitute.

One can see by this illustration the place of spirits after death- either paradise or prison. There was a gulf that separated the 2 places, until Christ came during those 3 days before he was resurrected.

Elijah has returned and the work of turning hearts is taking place. This happened after the dedication of the Kirkland Temple in Ohio, the first temple in this dispensation. From Doctrine and Covenants 110: 13-15

13. After this vision had closed, another great and glorious ^avision burst upon us; for ^bElijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

15 To ^aturn the ^bhearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

16 Therefore, the ^akeys of this ^bdispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful ^cday of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

For further explanations of this vicarious work of turning hearts, baptisms for the dead and sealing families together in an unbroken chain, " lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse", please see D&C 138.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, does this sacred work in Holy Temples. We have over 130 around the world and we are researching our family lines and connecting the whole of the family of Adam together. A daunting task? Yes, but we are doing it and it will continue to be done and when the Millennium comes we will have further help.

From Gordon B. Hinckley:
How thankful I am for the wonders of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is indeed a marvelous work and a wonder, which has been brought to pass by the power of Almighty in behalf of His sons and daughters. we of this season in His work can serve in a work of salvation in behlaf of the whole human family., including all the generations of the sons and daughters of God who have lived upon the earth in past centuries. The work is true. (Teaching of Gordon B. Hinckley, 1997, 242)

For other scriptures concerning this matter:
D&C 2:2, 124:29, 127:5, 128:1

It is my testimony that this is a true work, that is a part of the Fathers merciful Plan of Salvation.

How I Feel About Abortion

(written Feb, 2009)
Today was the last day to write to law makers and tell them how you want them to vote regarding abortion. I got an email with links to make it easier, and then passed it on to almost everyone on my email list. I avoided those I thought would be "Pro-Choice", but I did get one email back letting me know that they were pro-choice and supported Planned Parenthood. This person was very nice about it, but the whole thing got me thinking.

First of all, this person is Christian. She believes in Jesus Christ. I can't imagine how anyone who believes in the Savior would believe in abortion. Jesus would not think abortion is OK. He would not be on the "Pro-Choice" side. But then I don't know how anyone who believes in Jesus as the Son of God, can think fornication or breaking the sabbath, or homosexuality is OK. But there are those kinds of people out there and it is my belief that they don't really know who Jesus is. They may know about him, but they don't know him. There is a difference. I also believe that these people are thinking temporally, or in the now, this earth life only. They have NO eternal perspective. If they did surely they could not hurt a Child of God. (Psalm 82:6)

The other thing is that even the terms Pro-Choice and Pro-Life are not opposites. They do not oppose each other logically. Of course every American is pro-choice. We love our freedom. We fought for ours and others freedom. We are also all pro-lifers. We decry murder of innocent animals, of the elderly, of the young, of any age. We put murders in prison. It's not pro-life and pro-death or pre-birth murder. Those who support abortion would never except that label. It's not pro-choice and anti-choice. Everyone would be for choice. How could anyone purposefully except anti-choice?

The real opposite I believe is between choice and choices. The only difference being that little 's'. I've come to realize that parenting begins in the womb. As Americans we are against pregnant women smoking, or drinking, or doing drugs. We think it awful if a child is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or is a Cocaine baby. Those women made Bad Choices for them and for their baby. They are bad parents even before the child is born. Most pregnant women eat healthy and do all the right things for their child.

The choice for abortion is ONE choice, for ONE person, when there are TWO to be considered. The woman with an unwanted or unexpected pregnancy who does not have an abortion is thinking of TWO people. She is making a good choice for the child and is thinking selflessly, while the one who has the abortion is thinking here and now and only of her self.

Yesterday I was going to post this with a video I saw that was well.... anti-abortion, but done by a comedian. I tried to find something serious. I looked around and watched some. I don't suggest that. I began to see how they abort babies. I stopped the video, because I just couldn't keep watching. I watched a Dr. explain partial birth abortion with a doll. I didn't know what to do. I froze. I listened to nurses tell how when abortions happen and the baby is still alive they take them and leave them alone to die- no matter how long it takes; 20 min, 1 hour, 8 hours. Ya. And there are thousands of people who WANT babies, but can't have them! SELFISH, SELFISH, SELFISH!

I read my scriptures last night with those images coming to my head. The Savior quotes the 2 great commandments in section 59. Love your neighbor as yourself! Love your neighbor as your self! LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF!

Oh, how far and sick the world has come to have people choose to do something like that to their own flesh and blood, to elect a president who will that happen with reckless abandon. The depth of the power of Satan to twist things so people actually applaud this, actually cheer for this. Oh they are sick and they are in for a TERRIBLE DAY come judgment. I can't imagine the pain one person who lets this happen will feel, let alone the doctors who perform it, the nurses who let it happen, who wash their hands of it, as did Pilate at the death of The Christ(Matt 27:24), but is never more guilty. And then the TORMENT of those that signed legislation. I believe some of that TORMENT for all of those people will be knowing what could of been, what dastardly deeds they did in the name of FREEDOM.

Satan is cleaver bastard. He does not have a body and he does not want anyone else to have the privilege to live on this earth with a body, created by the Savior.

Did you know this about The Book of Mormon?

• Book Magazine cited The Book of Mormon as one of the "20 books that changed America"


• More than 100 million copies of the BOM have been printed since 1830. It has been translated into over 100 different langauges, thus making it one of the most widely published books in history.


• The Book of Mormon fulfills Biblical prophecies.



• The Book of Mormon stands as a witness of the truthfulness of the Bible.



• The Book of Mormon Testifies of the divinity of Jesus Christ, of his atonement on an average of every 1.7 verses.



• The Book of Mormon is a tangible evidence of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith.



• The Book of Mormon contains a promise that God will tell us the truthfulness of the book, if we simple read it and pray to know that it is true. (Moroni 10:3-5)



• Joseph Smith translated The Book of Mormon from ancient gosl plates by the gift and power of God. With only a 3rd grade education, it would have been impossible for him to compose such a complex book in only 60 days, the total time of writing.



• Eyewitnesses to the existence of the ancient gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated.

3 witnesses were shown the plates by an angle of God. They heard the voice of God declaring from heaven the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon.

8 other eyewitnesses also saw the plates.

all 11 remained true to their testimoneis for the rest of their lives.

• Numerous archaeological and anthropological links to the old world.


• Literary parallels to ancient languages and practices (i.ie. Hebraisms, personal names) and modern day word print computer analysis shows multiple authors, none of whose style is similar to that of Joseph Smith.