"One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may." ~ Joseph Smith Jr.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Every time an old man dies, it is as if a library burns down.  African Proverb
(The same is true for a woman too!)

On Christmas Eve, 1513, the Italian monk Giovanni Giocondo wrote a letter to his friend the Countess Allagia Aldobrandeschi. In the letter, he beseeched her to look for the meaning behind the trials of mortality, the purpose behind her problems. His message is timeless and true.
                        "There is nothing I can give you which you have not got; but there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see; and to see, we have only to look. . . .
                        Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendour, woven of love, by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty: believe me, that angel’s hand is there; the gift is there, and the wonder of an over-shadowing Presence. Our joys, too: be not content with them as joys; they too conceal diviner gifts.
                        Life is so full of meaning and of purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find that earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage, then, to claim it: that is all! But courage you have; and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country, home."

Thursday, February 9, 2017

TRADITIONS OF CHRIST IN ANCIENT BRITAIN TOUR INFORMATION!

Here is our long awaited tour dates and information sheet!  

The tour is set to depart on September 4, 2017.
If you have any questions, you can call or visit Legacy Tours,
http://www.legacytoursandtravel.com/12493330_69741.htm
You can also talk with me before or after class. 

This really is an amazing opportunity and we have tried to make it as rewarding and affordable as possible.  I simply can't wait! 


Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Christmas Lesson





Midnight Christians!


Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour
When God as man descended among us
To expunge the stain of original sin
And to put an end to the wrath of his father.
The entire world thrills with hope
On this night which gives us a savior.
People, o n your knees, attend* your deliverance.
Christmas! Christmas! Here is the Redeemer!
Christmas! Christmas! Here is the Redeemer!

The ardent light of our Faith,
Guides us all to the cradle of the infant,
As in ancient times a brilliant star
Conducted the Magi there from the orient.
The King of kings was born in a humble manger;
O mighty ones of today, proud of your grandeur,
It is to your pride that God preaches.
Bow your heads before the Redeemer!
Bow your heads before the Redeemer!

The Redeemer has broken all shackles.
The earth is free and heaven is open.
He sees a brother were there was once but a slave;
Love unites those who restrain the sword.
Who will tell him our gratitude?
It is for us all that he was born, that he suffered and died.
People, stand up, sing your deliverance!
Christmas! Christmas! Let us sing the Redeemer!
Christmas! Christmas! Let us sing the Redeemer!
Image result for bleak midwinter

A Christmas Carol


In the bleak mid-winter
   Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
   Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
   Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter 
   Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
   Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
   When He comes to reign:
In the bleak midwinter
   A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty
   Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
   Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
   And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
   Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
   Which adore.

Angels and archangels
   May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
   Thronged the air;
But only His mother
   In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
   With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
   Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
   I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
   I would do my part,—
Yet what I can I give Him,
   Give my heart.
Christina Rossetti

 

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (from 'Milton')
by: William Blake (1757-1827)

      AND did those feet in ancient time
      Walk upon England's mountains green?
      And was the holy Lamb of God
      On England's pleasant pastures seen?
       
      And did the Countenance Divine
      Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
      And was Jerusalem builded here
      Among these dark Satanic Mills?
       
      Bring me my bow of burning gold!
      Bring me my arrows of desire!
      Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
      Bring me my chariot of fire!
       
      I will not cease from mental fight,
      Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
      Till we have built Jerusalem
      In England's green and pleasant land.

Friday, November 18, 2016

John 11

“How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us.

So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen; if a restiveness, like light and cloudshadows, passes over your hands and over all you do. You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; it will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any miseries, or any depressions? For after all, you do not know what work these conditions are doing inside you.”

Rainer Maria Rilke



Some Images of Fireweed



Resources to learn more about Mary Magdalene

Here is a reading list for those of you who wished to read more about Mary Magdalene and become better informed about her.

1.  Mary Magdalene, Karen Ralls
2.  The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, Margaret Starbird
3.  Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile,  Margaret Starbird
4.  Dynasty of the Holy Grail; Mormonism's Sacred Bloodline, Vern Swanson
5.  The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
6.  The Gospel of the Beloved Companion
7.  The Gospel of Phillip