tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320878012651190142024-02-19T09:34:56.559-06:00Musings on Life and LivingAlex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.comBlogger247125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-89988966801574134752024-02-11T19:07:00.002-06:002024-02-12T05:57:45.976-06:00Who Am I? On Iconography, Faith, and Self-IdentityIn one of the great classic works of French literature, the author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo" target="_blank">Victor Hugo</a> tells the story of Jean Valjean, a man who spent nineteen years in prison, growing angrier and more filled with hate toward the world with each passing day. The first five years were for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving family, but then he suffered for fourteen additional years for attempting to run away. The story of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24280.Les_Mis_rables" target="_blank">Les Misérables</a> follows his journey from his release from prison on parole to a life of service, sacrifice, love, mercy, grace, and, ultimately, redemption.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.playhousesquare.org/assets/img/LesMiserables_Spotlight_22-622e52c3ff.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="800" height="183" src="https://www.playhousesquare.org/assets/img/LesMiserables_Spotlight_22-622e52c3ff.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />In the musical adaptation of this story, a pivotal moment takes place early in the story when Jean Valjean, who had been gifted a meal and safe shelter for the night from a kindly bishop, gives in to temptation, steals the bishop’s silverware and runs off, only to be captured by the local constables. Valjean claims that the silver was given as a gift from the bishop but the police, not believing the words of a criminal, bring him back to the bishop. In an act of true mercy, the bishop tells the men that he had indeed given Valjean the silverware as a gift but says that Valjean forgot the silver candlesticks that were also given as a gift. The bishop thanks the policemen for the service and sends them on their way. <br /><br />Jean Valjean, who has never been treated this way before, responds in shock. In the musical, the bishop tells Valjean:<br /><br /><i>And remember this, my brother<br />See in this some higher plan<br />You must use this precious silver<br />To become an honest man<br />By the witness of the martyrs<br />By the Passion and the Blood<br />God has raised you out of darkness<br />I have bought your soul for God!</i><br /><br />What follows next is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1EqaPqjX-8" target="_blank">this soliloquy from Jean Valjean</a>:<br /><i><br />What have I done?<br />Sweet Jesus, what have I done?<br />Become a thief in the night<br />Become a dog on the run<br />Have I fallen so far<br />And is the hour so late<br />That nothing remains but the cry of my hate<br />The cries in the dark that nobody hears<br />Here where I stand at the turning of the years?<br />If there's another way to go<br />I missed it twenty long years ago<br />My life was a war that could never be won<br />They gave me a number and murdered Valjean<br />When they chained me and left me for dead<br />Just for stealing a mouthful of bread</i><br /><br /><i>Yet why did I allow that man<br />To touch my soul and teach me love?<br />He treated me like any other<br />He gave me his trust<br />He called me brother<br />My life he claims for God above<br />Can such things be?<br />For I had come to hate the world<br />This world that always hated me</i><br /><br />Jean Valjean accepts this precious gift of freedom from the bishop and leaves. Realising that he will never be able to escape the demons of his past, he breaks his parole and changes his name, and starts life anew. Staying true to his word, he becomes a model citizen, running a factory and serving as mayor of his town. <br /><br />However, his past forever haunts him in the actions of his parole officer, Inspector Javert. Javert arrested a man he believed to be Jean Valjean and the real Valjean, learning of this, goes to the trial, thinking that this may be his ticket to freedom. Realising that an innocent man is about to be found guilty, though, Valjean experiences internal turmoil and makes a decision that is reflected in these lines:<br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Who am I?<br />Can I conceal myself for evermore?<br />Pretend I'm not the man I was before?<br />And must my name until I die<br />Be no more than an alibi?<br />Must I lie?<br />How can I ever face my fellow men?<br />How can I ever face myself again?<br />My soul belongs to God, I know<br />I made that bargain long ago<br />He gave me hope, when hope was gone<br />He gave me strength to journey on<br />Who am I? Who am I?<br />I'm Jean Valjean!</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ztnfYML7p9w" width="320" youtube-src-id="ztnfYML7p9w"></iframe></div><br />I wish to ask this question and try to answer it: Who am I? I invite you to ask this question of yourself.<br /><br />Who am I?<br /><br />I am a son. I am a brother. I am a nephew. I am a cousin. I am an uncle. I am a husband. I am a father. I am a teacher. I am an Eagle Scout. I am a former small business owner. I am a bibliophile. I am a tabletop gaming enthusiast. I am a volunteer substance abuse prevention specialist and youth leadership trainer. I am an avid listener to podcasts and a political junkie. I am the kind of person who listens to NPR when I am not listening to podcasts and watches late-night comedy shows to get the news because the actual news is often too depressing to process without interjecting comedy. I am, in short, many things.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCdCcj8d8n-Q6OveynkTGX-_HM1cfQE3tjJllaH5Ur-gxyBvXnF6LtnWy-YFCCxx8CKhN9qQp6i0JEfTC-FuAtd9Uucaf8OuasVf4UMSFANjEGSAJo5s-_tlJWVioWeXeYttUAaoZlMneN1UNPsbqQzHrVLfTe7Kxs4rWoVKG9POoy5kK4ouQduxWxaMm/s4032/unnamed.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCdCcj8d8n-Q6OveynkTGX-_HM1cfQE3tjJllaH5Ur-gxyBvXnF6LtnWy-YFCCxx8CKhN9qQp6i0JEfTC-FuAtd9Uucaf8OuasVf4UMSFANjEGSAJo5s-_tlJWVioWeXeYttUAaoZlMneN1UNPsbqQzHrVLfTe7Kxs4rWoVKG9POoy5kK4ouQduxWxaMm/s320/unnamed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Take a look at me on any given day, and you will see signs of all these things that make up parts of who I am: my wristbands for a podcast I listen to and for Operation Snowball, Inc, an organisation I have been a part of for more than 25 years; my backpack with the symbols of the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute, a youth leadership program that has been a part of my life since I was 16 years old, a pretzel to remind others where I work. Even the small metal slinky is there for a purpose. My laptop computer is covered in stickers. If you were to visit my home or my office, you would see the symbols and icons of many things that are a part of who I am.</div><div><br /></div>And yet, these are all just <b><i>parts </i></b>of me; they are not <b><i>me</i></b>.<br /><br />I am a member of <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng" target="_blank">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a>. I am a holder of the Aaronic Priesthood and the Melchizedek Priesthood. Most importantly, I am a son of God and a disciple of Jesus Christ. That is who I am. It is my past, my present, and my future.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A7ONpaEj0eQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="A7ONpaEj0eQ"></iframe></div><div><br />However, you may not know this about me if you were to rely upon the symbols that surround me, the iconography of organisations and programs. As Latter-day Saints, we are Christians. And as Christians, we are often asked by other Christians, “Why don’t you use the cross as a symbol of your faith?” (Other than on the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith/cross?lang=eng" target="_blank">military uniforms of Latter-day Saint chaplains</a> and, as of last year, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/lds/comments/165qjkd/the_church_updates_its_icon_on_google_maps_to_a/" target="_blank">the markers in Google Maps</a>, you will not find the cross associated with us in the same way you might with other faiths.)<br /><br />The shortest and least interesting answer is simply that Christians in the early 19th century America did not generally use the cross on their buildings until after the Latter-day Saints had traveled across the Great Basin and settled in the very northern reaches of Mexico, later to become the Utah Territory, and so they were cut off from the larger Christian community when the cross began to become a more common symbol of Christianity.<br /><br />But that’s the boring answer to a boring question. A much more interesting and more thorough answer comes to us as we consider a better question: why didn’t we start using the symbol of the cross when we learned that this was the symbol being used widely? <br /><br />In the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/10/41holland?lang=eng" target="_blank">October 2022 General Conference</a>, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explored this question about the cross. After sharing several historical examples about the evolution of the cross as a symbol of Christianity, he referenced <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1975/04/the-symbol-of-christ?lang=eng" target="_blank">this statement from a talk then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley of the Council of the Twelve gave</a> nearly 50 years earlier in 1975:<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTq9V1Q2i7v5bNnR-S-lBbSqmL51TieoXimZp5PGUUseevGEjQP9aRQ3UCH-Na0vhMNMzKfAPg3Fv1gO8W7WumhuaXn7CgClHw1jEavVWgYveKLUvxMsQaGW-TYClDUr9EnUGXaagdQAIXt6a4DAKAUWoRkC30nXEyqCPeWoAe8rNPf20Fe_82EpJpB5ix/s2441/gordon_b_hinckley.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2441" data-original-width="1955" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTq9V1Q2i7v5bNnR-S-lBbSqmL51TieoXimZp5PGUUseevGEjQP9aRQ3UCH-Na0vhMNMzKfAPg3Fv1gO8W7WumhuaXn7CgClHw1jEavVWgYveKLUvxMsQaGW-TYClDUr9EnUGXaagdQAIXt6a4DAKAUWoRkC30nXEyqCPeWoAe8rNPf20Fe_82EpJpB5ix/w160-h200/gordon_b_hinckley.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.”<br /></i><br />When asked what was the symbol of our faith, if not the cross, Elder Hinckley replied that “the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.”<br /><br />As is so often the case, this sounds much simpler than it really is. What does it mean for us, as members of the Lord’s Restored Church in these latter days, to become the “only meaningful expression of our faith”?<br /><br />Each morning in seminary, I ask the youth to take turns reciting the Rockford Stake vision and invitations:<br /><br /><i>With faith in Jesus Christ, we joyfully walk the covenant path that leads to life eternal, inviting all God's children to join us in the journey.<br />We will read the Book of Mormon daily.<br />We will strive to minister as the Savior would.<br />We will testify daily of the Saviour and His love.<br />We will attend the temple as often as we can.</i><br /><br />To be the “only meaningful expression of our faith” is to commit to walking the covenant path. Studying the Book of Mormon daily can help us understand the power of walking this path, not with murmuring as Laman and Lemuel did, but with joy, as Nephi did. Through the Book of Mormon, we learn from Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Himni, Alma, Amulek, and many others how to minister as the Saviour would. As we walk the covenant path, we are inspired to testify of the Saviour as we “love, share, and invite,” often by simply living the Gospel in our day-to-day actions. As we commit to attending the temple as often as we can, we realise the power of inviting all of God’s children to join us on the covenant path, not just those now with us but also those who have gone before us. <br /><br />By doing these things, we, too, will be able to “sing the song of redeeming love,” having “the image of God engraven upon our countenances” (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/26?lang=eng&id=13#p13">Alma 26:13</a> and <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/5?lang=eng&id=26#p26" target="_blank">Alma 5:26</a>). As this happens, we become more and more like our Father in Heaven, with “hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.”<br /><br />While this all sounds fine and dandy on a Sunday morning when we are surrounded by our brothers and sisters in Christ, it becomes much more challenging once we go out among our brothers and sisters in the world around us. Perhaps this is why Elder Holland shared these further insights regarding our decision as Latter-day Saints to not use the cross as a symbol of our faith:<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0H5e45gY9ggzlAjO8lq-FayHwJheLggWgCjKm0XRh2urVazYgkFqkgL2Y-RKCdMqZ7BR9NfVRpUyJuLLGfPmzhhlCNELDFplRXascNjiNSZZxE8gOvZQ1eRF-7kvN7SgJ3QnupT30iWkMbEG_Ji_7lcK6whu0nylZUUe9BbE_IsLfNTLOszDN6cJS4QD/s1600/official_portrait_jeffrey_holland_2018.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0H5e45gY9ggzlAjO8lq-FayHwJheLggWgCjKm0XRh2urVazYgkFqkgL2Y-RKCdMqZ7BR9NfVRpUyJuLLGfPmzhhlCNELDFplRXascNjiNSZZxE8gOvZQ1eRF-7kvN7SgJ3QnupT30iWkMbEG_Ji_7lcK6whu0nylZUUe9BbE_IsLfNTLOszDN6cJS4QD/w256-h320/official_portrait_jeffrey_holland_2018.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div>These considerations—especially the latter—bring me to what may be the most important of all scriptural references to the cross. It has nothing to do with pendants or jewelry, with steeples or signposts. It has to do, rather, with the rock-ribbed integrity and stiff moral backbone that Christians should bring to the call Jesus has given to every one of His disciples. In every land and age, He has said to us all, “If any man [or woman] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”<br /><br />[For the members of the Church to be the symbols of our faith] speaks of the crosses we bear rather than the ones we wear. To be a follower of Jesus Christ, one must sometimes carry a burden—your own or someone else’s—and go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable. A true Christian cannot follow the Master only in those matters with which he or she agrees. No. We follow Him everywhere, including, if necessary, into arenas filled with tears and trouble, where sometimes we may stand very much alone.</i><br /><br />What does it mean to bear a cross? What burdens do we carry?<br /><br />Perhaps you, like me, carry the burden of personal or family struggles, of a life that is nothing like you planned. Perhaps you have the burden of caring for a loved one with an infirmity or other illness. Perhaps you carry the burden of addiction, whatever it may be. Perhaps you carry the burden of bitter disappointment, seeking after righteous desires that, for reasons that defy logic, have been denied to you. <br /><br />Whatever your burden, know this:<br /><br />You are <b><i>not </i></b>alone. <br /><br />As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are joined together through the sacred covenants we made at baptism and beyond. Do we remember the terms that our Father in Heaven has laid out before us? If we wish to be “redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that [we] may have eternal life,” as Alma taught in Mosiah 18, then we must be willing to “mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death” (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/18?lang=eng&id=8-10#p8" target="_blank">Mosiah 18:8-10</a>).<br /><br />At the end of his life, Jean Valjean found the redemption he so desperately sought. He finally saw himself as God had always seen him. As he passed, we are asked to consider these words:<br /><br /><i>Do you hear the people sing?<br />Say, do you hear the distant drums?<br />It is the future that they bring<br />When tomorrow comes!<br />Will you join in our crusade?<br />Who will be strong and stand with me?<br />Somewhere beyond the barricade<br />Is there a world you long to see?<br />Do you hear the people sing?<br />Say, do you hear the distant drums?<br />It is the future that they bring<br />When tomorrow comes!</i><br /><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5TXOGAWUYNg" width="320" youtube-src-id="5TXOGAWUYNg"></iframe></div><br /><div>We do not have to wait until tomorrow comes. We can be strong and stand with our Father in Heaven and with our Saviour today. We can start to make the future a brighter place today as we tear down the barricades in our lives and walk with full purpose of heart along the covenant path. As we do so, I testify that God will lead us, guide us, and walk beside us. With faith in Jesus Christ, we joyfully walk the covenant path that leads to life eternal, inviting all God's children to join us in the journey. And join us in the journey they will, because they will see the light of the Gospel shining brightly in each of us, “the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.”</div>Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-39018349277919715622023-04-09T08:57:00.006-05:002023-04-09T12:37:55.223-05:00That We May Be Made Perfect In OneAlmost exactly 38 years ago today, Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave his final public address to the membership of the Church. In this talk, which he titled <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1985/04/the-purifying-power-of-gethsemane?lang=eng" target="_blank">The Purifying Power of Gethsemane</a>, he made this declaration:<br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/ldsorg/church/news/04/24/299-McConkie2-Apr22.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="250" height="269" src="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/ldsorg/church/news/04/24/299-McConkie2-Apr22.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>I feel, and the Spirit seems to accord, that the most important doctrine I can declare, and the most powerful testimony I can bear, is of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.<br /><br />His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creation’s dawn through all the ages of a never-ending eternity.<br /><br />It is the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a god could perform. Through it, all of the terms and conditions of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation became operative.<br /><br />Through it are brought to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Through it, all men are saved from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment.<br /><br />And through it, all who believe and obey the glorious gospel of God, all who are true and faithful and overcome the world, all who suffer for Christ and his word, all who are chastened and scourged in the Cause of him whose we are—all shall become as their Maker and sit with him on his throne and reign with him forever in everlasting glory.<br /><br />In speaking of these wondrous things I shall use my own words, though you may think they are the words of scripture, words spoken by other Apostles and prophets.<br /><br />True it is they were first proclaimed by others, but they are now mine, for the Holy Spirit of God has borne witness to me that they are true, and it is now as though the Lord had revealed them to me in the first instance. I have thereby heard his voice and know his word.</i><br /><br />On this Easter Sunday, I wish to echo Elder McConkie’s testimony and, much like him, I shall use my own words, though you may think they are the words of scripture, words spoken by other Apostles and prophets because, just like Elder McConkie said, they are now mine, for the Holy Spirit of God has borne witness to me that they are true.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/05/0a/050a5c110989b6fc8ebef182d714a455ab075c02/jesus_praying_in_gethsemane.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="728" height="179" src="https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/05/0a/050a5c110989b6fc8ebef182d714a455ab075c02/jesus_praying_in_gethsemane.jpeg" width="163" /></a></div>The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the single most important event in all the history of mankind. It is through our Saviour’s atoning sacrifice, his suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross on Golgotha, that he took upon himself the pains and sufferings of all mankind, not just those associated with sin, but all pain and all suffering, thus bringing to truth His proclamation that those who take His yoke upon themselves with find rest to their souls (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/matt/11?lang=eng&id=28-30#p28" target="_blank">Matthew 11:28-30</a>). By descending below all things He was able to rise above them, breaking the bands of death and hell and making it possible for all of our Father in Heaven’s children to return to live with Him in His celestial kingdom on high (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88?lang=eng&id=6-13#p6" target="_blank">Doctrine & Covenants 88:6-13)</a>.<br /><br />It seems odd, therefore, to realise that the word “atonement,” in our English translation of the New Testament, appears just one time, in the fifth chapter of the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/rom/5?lang=eng" target="_blank">Romans</a>. How blessed we are, then, as Latter-day Saints, to have so much more than the words of Christ’s disciples in Israel in the first century after His birth, to guide and instruct us! Through the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng" target="_blank">Book of Mormon</a>, truly another testament of Jesus Christ, the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng" target="_blank">Doctrine and Covenants</a>, the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp?lang=eng" target="_blank">Pearl of Great Price</a>, Joseph Smith’s <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/jst?lang=eng" target="_blank">inspired translation of the Bible</a>, and the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference?lang=eng" target="_blank">teachings of latter-day prophets and apostles</a> we are able to come to know the one true God and Jesus Christ, whom He had sent (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/17?lang=eng&id=3#p3" target="_blank">John 17:3</a>).<br /><br />What, exactly, is atonement? It is, in actuality, a word that defines itself: atonement is the process of being at one.<br /><br />At one with what, though?<br /><br />Our Saviour answered this question in His great <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/17?lang=eng" target="_blank">Intercessory Prayer</a>, recorded in John 17:21-23:<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/24/cd/24cd2bf5d4aee8aad8f62df53f2afb1f75ae41b5/jesus_christ_portrait_j_kirk_richards.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="628" height="181" src="https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/24/cd/24cd2bf5d4aee8aad8f62df53f2afb1f75ae41b5/jesus_christ_portrait_j_kirk_richards.jpeg" width="142" /></a></div><br />That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.<br /><br />And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:</i><div><i><br />I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.</i><br /><br />Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we may be one with Him, one with our Father in Heaven, and one with each other.<br /><br />And how do we achieve this perfect unity? Mormon, that great Nephite prophet and historian of old, in <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng" target="_blank">a sermon given to the few remaining faithful followers of Christ</a> following the destruction of their society, taught this:<br /><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/magazine/en08oct40b_orig.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="700" height="168" src="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/magazine/en08oct40b_orig.jpg" width="178" /></a></div>But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.<br /></i><br /><i>Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.<br /></i><br />It is my testimony that the only way to “be made perfect in one” with our Father, our Saviour, and each other, is to be filled with charity, which is the pure love of Christ. (How we can do this is surely another topic for another time!)</div><div><br /></div><div>I close where I started, with the words that Elder McConkie spoke on that April morning nearly four decades ago:<br /><br /><i>… in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.<br /><br />But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way.</i><br /><br />I so testify in the name of the Holy Messiah, who is full of grace and truth, even Jesus Christ.<br /><span class="”fullpost”"></span>
</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gf_Diac7Mb8" width="320" youtube-src-id="gf_Diac7Mb8"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div>Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-70895979914945739602022-06-13T21:12:00.000-05:002022-06-13T21:12:14.454-05:00Thoughts On SeminaryI was called to be an early morning Seminary teacher in May 2019. At the time, I had just two students: a sophomore, and a junior. Because both students would have had to go past my house to get to the church, where Seminary had previously been held, I decided to have class in my living room, instead. By late November of that year, our class doubled with the arrival of a brother and sister who had moved in from another state. Harnessing the power of Google Meets and Zoom, the siblings joined our class remotely while the two boys continued to come to my house. Little did any of us know at the time that this foray into a hybrid model of Seminary would eventually turn into nearly a year and a half of what we lovingly came to call Zoominary! With the halt of in-person church gatherings in March of 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our class increased in size again as two more students joined us from their homes.<br /><br />In August 2020, the size of our Zoominary class grew again as we added three freshman girls to our little group of stalwart youth. For the next year, I got to know these amazing nine youth very well, almost as well as I got to know their ceiling fans as we continued to hold Seminary via Zoom. I wish to point out that, unlike nearly every Seminary class in our stake and around the world, all nine of these students attended and participated every single day—many other teachers reported that their classes were lucky to have students attend once or twice a week.<br /><br />This brings us to this last school year. Our class got two more students, both freshmen, and our ward added another Seminary teacher who has been teaching her three children while I taught the remaining six. With so many students and with the return of in-person instruction, we outgrew my living room and have been meeting in the Young Women Room in the church building each morning at 6 am.<br /><br />Throughout the years, there have been three main messages I have wanted the Seminary students to learn:<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The purpose of Seminary is to spiritually fortify the youth each day as they head out into the world and are bombarded by the fiery darts of the Adversary. As Elder M. Russell Ballard taught in 2016,<br /><br />“We give medical inoculations to our precious missionaries before sending them into the mission field so they will be protected against diseases that can harm or even kill them. In a similar fashion, please, before you send them into the world, inoculate your students by providing faithful, thoughtful and accurate interpretation of gospel doctrine, the scriptures, our history and those topics that are sometimes misunderstood" (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/broadcasts/article/evening-with-a-general-authority/2016/02/the-opportunities-and-responsibilities-of-ces-teachers-in-the-21st-century?lang=eng" target="_blank">The Opportunities and Responsibilities of CES Teachers in the 21st Century</a>).<br /><br /></li><li>Heavenly Father loves them and wants them to be happy and to find joy in this life and in the next, as does our Saviour, Jesus Christ. How does Seminary help the youth learn this? President Henry B. Eyring shared in 2007,<br /><br />“It is the Holy Ghost who testifies that Jesus Christ is the Beloved Son of a Heavenly Father who loves us and wants us to have eternal life with Him in families. With even the beginning of that testimony, we feel a desire to serve Him and to keep His commandments. When we persist in doing that, we receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost to give us power in our service. We come to see the hand of God more clearly, so clearly that in time we not only remember Him, but we come to love Him and, through the power of the Atonement, become more like Him” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/10/o-remember-remember?lang=eng" target="_blank">O Remember, Remember</a>).<br /><br />We learn to see the hand of the Lord in our lives as we immerse ourselves in the Scriptures and see how He has blessed his faithful children.<br /><br /></li><li>Our perfect Father in Heaven allows imperfect men and women to carry out His perfect Plan of Salvation imperfectly. This is a lesson that has been particularly apparent as we studied the second half of the Doctrine and Covenants last semester and the first half of the Old Testament this semester. It is tempting to place ancient and modern prophets, apostles, and church leaders on pedestals, believing them to be like Mary Poppins–practically perfect in every way. However, this is not the case. These men and women made mistakes. Some of those mistakes were pretty major whoppers. Does this mean that the Church is false? Does this mean that prophets were not called of God? Does this mean, as some popular voices in society claim, that it is all a lie?<br /><br />NO! Emphatically and clearly, let me repeat: NO.<br /><br />God is perfect. The plan of salvation, also called the great plan of happiness or the plan of redemption, is perfect. But me? Other teachers? Prophets or apostles? No, we are not perfect. We make mistakes. All of us. We are all in need of the saving power of the Atonement of Christ. So did Joseph Smith and BrighamYoung. So did Adam and Eve and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Even Elijah and his people, who were taken up unto the Lord after becoming a Zion people who “were of one heart and one mind, [dwelling] in righteousness, [with] no poor among them” (see Moses 7:18). Each and every single person born on the face of the earth, save Jesus only, has been imperfect and therefore has carried out their part in the plan of salvation imperfectly, relying on the “merits, mercy, and grace” of Jesus Christ (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2.8?lang=eng" target="_blank">2 Nephi 2:8</a>).<br /><br />Elder Jeffrey R. Holland testified of this truth in 2017 when he said,<br /><br />“I am grateful to know that in spite of my imperfections, at least God is perfect—that at least He is, for example, able to love His enemies, because too often, due to the “natural man”<a href="https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/be-ye-therefore-perfect-eventually?lang=eng&adobe_mc_ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.churchofjesuschrist.org%2Fstudy%2Fgeneral-conference%2F2017%2F10%2Fbe-ye-therefore-perfect-eventually%3Flang%3Deng&adobe_mc_sdid=SDID%3D2004E3140CD43074-4C16FC923A526EAC%7CMCORGID%3D66C5485451E56AAE0A490D45%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1653185604#note6">6</a> and woman in us, you and I are sometimes that enemy. How grateful I am that at least God can bless those who despitefully use Him because, without wanting or intending to do so, we all despitefully use Him sometimes. I am grateful that God is merciful and a peacemaker because I need mercy and the world needs peace” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2017/10/be-ye-therefore-perfect-eventually?lang=eng" target="_blank">Be Ye Therefore Perfect–Eventually</a>).</li></ol>I know that God lives and that He loves each and every single one of His children. He wants each of us to find joy and happiness in this life so that we may experience greater joy and greater happiness in the life to come. I am grateful that He has entrusted me, imperfect man that I am, with the Gospel teaching of some truly amazing young men and young women. I am glad that we are led by prophets and apostles today, who are themselves led by our Saviour, whose church and work this is<br /><span class="”fullpost”"></span>
Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-24206069677928917932022-05-24T20:53:00.004-05:002023-03-29T18:56:11.331-05:00When Will It End?<br /><br />I was born on January 26, 1983. What follows is a list of school shootings in the United States in my lifetime that have resulted in the deaths of at least five students and/or teachers.<br /><br />January 17, 1989. Cleveland Elementary School, Stockton, California. 6 dead. 32 injured.<br /><br />November 1, 1991. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. 6 dead. 1 injured.<br /><br />March 24, 1998. Westside Middle School, Craighead County, Arkansas. 5 dead. 10 injured.<br /><br />April 20, 1999. Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado. 15 dead. 21 injured. (This was the first such major event in my lifetime with double-digit fatalities. It would not be the last.)<br /><br />March 21, 2005. Red Lake Senior High School, Red Lake, Minnesota. 10 dead. 7 injured.<br /><br />October 2, 2006. West Nickel Mines School, Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. 6 dead. 5 injured.<br /><br />April 16, 2007. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia. 33 dead. 23 injured.<br /><br />February 14, 2008. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. 6 dead. 21 injured.<br /><br />April 2, 2012. Oikos University, Oakland, California. 7 dead. 3 injured.<br /><br />December 14, 2012. Sandy Hook Elementary School. 28 dead. 2 injured. (The first such major event in my lifetime to take place at an elementary school. It would not be the last.)<br /><br />October 24, 2014. Marysville Pilchuck High School, Marysville, Washington. 5 dead. 1 injured.<br /><br />October 1, 2015. Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon. 10 dead. 9 injured.<br /><br />February 14, 2018. Marjory Stoneman High School, Parkland, Florida. 17 dead. 17 injured.<br /><br />May 18, 2018. Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe, Texas. 10 dead. 13 injured.<br /><br />May 24, 2022. Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas. 22 dead. 18 injured.<div><br /></div><div>March 27, 2023. Covenant School, Nashville, Tennessee. 6 dead. 1 injured.<br /><br />34 years. 16 schools. 190 dead. 194 injured.<br /><br />This does not include the dozens of school shootings with less than 5 fatalities or the dozens of school shootings with 0 fatalities but multiple injuries.<br /><br />My heart aches. But I am also filled with anger.<br /><br />Anger at every politician who stands in front of a microphone and says that their thoughts and prayers are with the victims and then votes against any legal measures that might, just might, save one life.<br /><br />Anger at every pro-life activist who proclaims that the only thing more important than the sanctity of life is the sanctity of the Second Amendment.<br /><br />Anger at every judge who has said that the antecedent phrase "well-regulated militia" found in the Second Amendment has nothing to do with the direct object of the right to keep and bear arms.<br /><br />Anger at every parent, teacher, administrator, or neighbour who has ignored the red flags of a deeply disturbed individual who believed that the murder of students, the murder of children, is the solution to their problems.<br /><br />Anger at the National Rifle Association for not backing legislation that would require every gun owner in the nation to take gun safety training classes and complete comprehensive background checks, and for not backing legislation that would close loopholes, eliminate duplicative and/or contradictory regulations, and making it harder for those intending to do harm to carry out their murderous plans.<br /><br />Anger at every person who is going to post on social media today or tomorrow with a hashtag and a declaration that, while what happened in Nashville was a tragedy, now is not the time to point the finger of blame or talk about legislative action. (It has been 34 years. If not now, when?)</div><div><br /></div><div>Anger that I had to update this post less than a year after first writing it to update with another mass shooting at a school in our nation.<br /><br />But perhaps most of all, today I am angry at myself for not doing anything other than expressing my anger and wondering why it is that the men and women I am electing to do something are unable to stop the men and women elected by others who are content to weep in front of a microphone and then do nothing because, after all, what can we do?<br /><br />And I am angry at myself for not knowing what else to do.<br /><br />All I know is that tomorrow morning I am going to stand in front of a class of high school students who may ask about this, but may not because it is going to be at 6 am and, after all, this is just another tragic headline in a long line of headlines. Then I am going to go to an elementary building with 245 students and walk past them as I go to a series of meetings all day and I am going to know that at least some of them are going to look at me and wonder, "What will Mr. V do if a gunman comes into our school?" And my colleagues and I will be looking at each other and wondering what each of us will do.<br /><br />I know my answer. I've known my answer since I first set foot in Wiley Elementary School in Urbana, Illinois, in 2011 as a newly hired fourth grade teacher.<br /><br />I shouldn't have to know this answer. I shouldn't even have to ask this question. But until those who can finally do something, I am going to continue to go to work each day knowing that one day my story may be summed up on social media as a hashtag while those who have the power to do something choose instead to do nothing.<span class="”fullpost”"></span>
</div>Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-88066315889176920732022-02-20T21:48:00.003-06:002023-04-09T08:27:38.547-05:00"Lord, Is It I?"<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/12/20/19/12/the-last-supper-1921290_1280.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="800" height="183" src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/12/20/19/12/the-last-supper-1921290_1280.jpg" width="365" /></a></div></div><div>Toward the end of His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ gathered with His chosen apostles to participate in the Passover Feast. During this meal, which would come to be known as the Last Supper, Christ declared, “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/matt/26?lang=eng" target="_blank">Matthew</a> records the disciples' response to this statement: ”And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, ‘Lord, is it I?’”</div><div><br /></div><div><br />From time to time, I have found myself asking this same question in response to prophetic calls admonitions: “Lord, is it I?” This has been particularly true of the calls to beware of pride–something that has happened in General Conference at least 27 times over the last 39 years of my life.<br /><br />President Ezra Taft Benson warned of the danger of pride nearly 33 years ago when he taught:<br /><br /></div><i>Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. (See <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Mosiah 3:11</a>; <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">3 Ne. 6:18</a>.) In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride—it is always considered a sin. Therefore, no matter how the world uses the term, we must understand how God uses the term so we can understand the language of holy writ and profit thereby. (See <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">2 Ne. 4:15</a>; <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Mosiah 1:3–7</a>; <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Alma 5:61</a>.)<br /><br />Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing.<br /><br />The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us </i>(<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Beware of Pride</a>, April 1989).<div><br />Consider three examples of pride recorded in the Old Testament.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Cain_and_Abel._Mironov.jpg/1013px-Cain_and_Abel._Mironov.jpg?20150508174515" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Cain_and_Abel._Mironov.jpg/1013px-Cain_and_Abel._Mironov.jpg?20150508174515" width="268" /></a></div>In <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/gen/4?lang=eng" target="_blank">Genesis 4</a>, we read the story of Cain and Abel. Many know the story: The Lord commanded Adam, Eve, and their children to offer up the firstlings of their flocks as a sacrifice in similitude of the Father offering up His Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of the world. One of Adam and Eve’s children, Abel, was a shepherd. He had no problem following this commandment because he had an abundance of flocks and firstlings. But Cain, “a tiller of the ground,” had no flocks from which to take a firstling, and so he, upon the advice of Satan, offered up the first fruits of the field. The Lord chastised Cain for his lack of faith and invited him to repent and to turn back to the path of righteousness. Instead of repenting, Cain allowed his enmity toward his brother to fester to the point that he took his brother’s life. When asked where his brother was, Cain responded, “I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?”<br /><br />In pondering this account, I realised two things: Cain did not have the means to offer an appropriate offering to the Lord, but the commandment was in full force. Second, he could have asked his brother, Abel, for help. In referencing this account, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once declared, “although I may not be my brother’s keeper, I am my brother’s brother, and ‘because I have been given much, I too must give’” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2014/10/are-we-not-all-beggars?lang=eng" target="_blank">Are We Not All Beggars?</a>, October 2014). Surely Abel, a righteous son of God, would have given if Cain had just asked.<br /><br />Cain also could have asked the Lord for advice on what to do. He could have said, “Lord, thou hast commanded that I offer up the firstlings of my flocks, but I have no flocks. What wouldst thou have me do?” Why didn’t he? Pride. Those who allow pride to grow in their hearts are unwilling to ask for help from others.<br /><br />Lord, is it I?<br /><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Sodom_and_Gomorrah_afire%2C_by_Jacob_Jacobsz._de_Wet_d._J.%2C_probably_K%C3%B6ln%2C_c._1680%2C_oil_on_canvas_-_Hessisches_Landesmuseum_Darmstadt_-_Darmstadt%2C_Germany_-_DSC01149.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="800" height="255" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Sodom_and_Gomorrah_afire%2C_by_Jacob_Jacobsz._de_Wet_d._J.%2C_probably_K%C3%B6ln%2C_c._1680%2C_oil_on_canvas_-_Hessisches_Landesmuseum_Darmstadt_-_Darmstadt%2C_Germany_-_DSC01149.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Later in Genesis, we come across the story of the destruction of two early cities, <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/gen/19?lang=eng" target="_blank">Sodom and Gomorrah</a>. It can be tempting to read this account as evidence that sexual sin is so grievous that the Lord would utterly destroy a people rather than let them continue in their sinful ways. But the prophet Ezekiel explained the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was more than just sexual sin, although that was part of it: <br /><br /></div><i>Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me… </i>(<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Ezekiel 16:49-50</a>).<div><br /><div>Brother James Fullmer, the seminary and institute director for our region, has taught that “when we point the finger at a sin ‘others’ have, we are missing an opportunity to learn to self-reflect. If Sodom’s primary sin was pride (the universal sin) then there is a great opportunity to [consider] all of the various ways that pride can manifest in our lives” (email communication, 11 February 2022). It is also worth noting that Ezekiel’s prophetic declaration included a warning that the children of Israel were more corrupt than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because, unlike them, the Israelites had broken sacred covenants made with the Lord.<br /><br />President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught this about the sin of pridefully pointing our fingers at others in judgement:<br /><br /></div><i>I don’t know exactly how to articulate this point of not judging others with sufficient eloquence, passion, and persuasion to make it stick. I can quote scripture, I can try to expound doctrine, and I will even quote a bumper sticker I recently saw. It was attached to the back of a car whose driver appeared to be a little rough around the edges, but the words on the sticker taught an insightful lesson. It read, “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you” (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">The Merciful Obtain Mercy</a>, April 2012).</i><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://crossref-it.info/files/images/Naaman_in_River_Jordan.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div><br /></div>Lord, is it I?</div><div><br />The last example I would like to share comes from the Second Book of the Kings. Naaman, a captain of the Syrian army, was stricken with leprosy. Upon the advice of a faithful handmaid who served his wife, he sent a letter to the king of Israel, asking for a blessing of healing from the prophet Elisha. While the king of Israel was worried that this was a ruse to cause war between Israel and Syria, Elisha agreed to perform this miracle. Naaman went to Elisha's home and was met at the door by a servant who told Naaman what the prophet wanted him to do: Wash seven times in the River Jordan. Naaman was insulted. He was a man of great importance and the prophet did not even come personally. And the River Jordan? It was small and dirty! Why couldn’t he wash in the mighty rivers of Damascus instead?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/a4/bca49778fdd62fe0e72377fcd7ddc72a80e4f9ef/bca49778fdd62fe0e72377fcd7ddc72a80e4f9ef.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/a4/bca49778fdd62fe0e72377fcd7ddc72a80e4f9ef/bca49778fdd62fe0e72377fcd7ddc72a80e4f9ef.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Naaman was about to storm off when his servants said to him, “If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, ‘Wash, and be clean?’” Naaman repented of his pride, washed seven times in the Jordan, and was cured of his leprosy (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/2-kgs/5?lang=eng" target="_blank">2 Kings 5</a>).<br /><br />How often do we, like Naaman, declare our desire to do great things in the name of the Lord, but resist doing the simple things, such as ministering to a brother or sister, accepting an invitation to speak in Sacrament meeting, or doing something that has been urged by the First Presidency rather than given as a commandment?<br /><br />Lord, is it I?<br /><br />Truly, pride is one of the greatest sins. It destroys our relationships with others, our relationships with God, and our relationships with ourselves. So how can we overcome pride? What can we do to avoid the pitfalls and traps of pride?<br /><br />When we face the temptation to be prideful, we can remember our sacred covenants and the teachings of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Unlike Cain, we can ask for help. Unlike the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, we can show kindness to others, especially those who are strangers. Like Naaman, we can follow the words of the prophets, even when they ask us to do something simple–especially if that simple thing is not something we want to do.<br /><br />Let us return to President Uchtdorf’s talk from ten years ago:<br /><br /><i>Do you harbour a grudge against someone else?<br />Do you gossip, even when what you say may be true?<br />Do you exclude, push away, or punish others because of something they have done?<br />Do you secretly envy another?<br />Do you wish to cause harm to someone?<br /><br />If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to apply [this] two-word sermon: stop it!<br /><br />In a world of accusations and unfriendliness, it is easy to gather and cast stones. But before we do so, let us remember the words of the One who is our Master and model: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.”<br /><br />Brothers and sisters, let us put down our stones.<br />Let us be kind.<br />Let us forgive.<br />Let us talk peacefully with each other.<br />Let the love of God fill our hearts.<br />Let us do good unto all men.</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Elder Dale G. Renlund has recently suggested that we not only put down our stones but, when possible, place ourselves between those who would cast stones and those at whom they would cast them and become stone catchers (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/25renlund?lang=eng" target="_blank">Infuriating Unfairness</a>, April 2021).</div><div><br /></div><div>By doing these things, we can once again ask, “Lord, is it I?” but this time we will do so with joy, not sorrow.<br /></div></div></div>Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-21554509523366236582021-09-19T10:29:00.000-05:002021-09-19T10:29:13.086-05:00The Blessings of Education<span id="docs-internal-guid-e4d2a0f0-7fff-061b-0160-0735c8f9aa2e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1833, the Lord declared through His prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr, that “the glory of God is intelligence” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/93?lang=eng&id=36#p36" target="_blank">D&C 93:36</a>). A decade later, he explained that “whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life... will rise with us in the resurrection [a]nd [that] if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130?lang=eng&id=18-19#p18" target="_blank">D&C 130:18-19</a>).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More than 150 years later, President Gordon B. Hinckley said this to a worldwide audience of youth and young adults: “The Lord wants you to educate your minds and hands, whatever your chosen field. Whether it be repairing refrigerators, or the work of a skilled surgeon, you must train yourselves. Seek for the best schooling available. Become a workman of integrity in the world that lies ahead of you. I repeat, you will bring honor to the Church and you will be generously blessed because of that training” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2001/01/a-prophets-counsel-and-prayer-for-youth?lang=eng" target="_blank">A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth</a>, Liahona, April 2001, 30–41).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A couple of years after President Hinckley’s address to the youth, the church announced a restructuring of its welfare services through an emphasis on provident living. Provident living, or self-reliance, encompasses six core components: education, physical, mental, and emotional health, employment, home storage, finances, and spiritual strength. This morning I will focus on education. There are many types of education and many ways to become educated. I would like to talk about just two broad categories of education: secular and spiritual. In discussing these, I will examine them from both the formal and informal approaches to learning.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of us are familiar with secular education: reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, art, music, languages. For some, our formal secular education started in a public school when we were five or six years old and continued until high school graduation. Others experienced this education at home. Some graduate high school and go directly into the workforce while others attend a college, university, or trade school for advanced training and study. Educators and philosophers have argued and debated for years about what should and should not be included in this education. In the late 1890s, a committee of ten educators and business leaders met and developed a sequence of formal public education that is still largely in place today. Roughly one hundred years later, American educator E.D. Hirsch wrote a book called “Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.” The standards movement in EC-12 education across the world has been an attempt by educators in different states, provinces, or even entire countries to come to a consensus on what matters most when it comes to learning. While there is disagreement about what we ought to know and when we ought to learn it, there is agreement that we ought to have things we all know: how to read, how to communicate in writing and in speaking, how to use mathematics, how to understand the world around us. As Latter-day Saints, we have been commanded to “seek… out of the best books words of wisdom” and to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88?lang=eng&id=118#p118" target="_blank">D&C 88:118</a>).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1847, as the Latter-day Saints were preparing to leave Winter Quarters to begin the long trek across the Great Basin, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued this proclamation:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It is very desirable that all the Saints should improve every opportunity of securing at least a copy of every valuable treatise on education—every book, map, chart, or diagram that may contain interesting, useful, and attractive matter, to gain the attention of children, and cause them to love to learn to read; and, also every historical, mathematical, philosophical, geographical, geological, astronomical, scientific, practical, and all other variety of useful and interesting writings, maps, etc... from which important and interesting matter may be gleaned to compile the most valuable works, on every science and subject, for the benefit of the rising generation” (see <a href="https://news-ph.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-follows-counsel-to-seek-ye-out-of-the-best-books" target="_blank">Messages of the First Presidency, 1:331</a>).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While I have been sharing examples of formal secular education, this quote shares many examples of informal ways of learning. My father was one of the most educated people I knew, yet his highest level of education was a couple of years of college. (Due to a car accident, he never finished his degree program.) Instead of formal education, he learned through books. For many years, he had a job that had him on the road for long periods of time and he used that time to listen to audiobooks on a wide variety of topics. Today we have many other ways to expand our knowledge and understanding of the world around us: documentaries, YouTube videos, podcasts, TED talks, lectures at the library or other public forums, and many others.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord wants His children to be skilled, competent, and well-educated members of society. As Elder John A. Widstoe wrote in 1938, “Among Latter-day Saints, education becomes a life-long process. Young and old alike must be engaged in the development of their natural endowments. In fact, it is expected of the members of the Church that they continue their education throughout life” (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Program-Church-Christ-Latter-Day-Saints/dp/B000H2E26E" target="_blank">Program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a>, p. 45).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the Lord also wants us to be knowledgeable of spiritual things. This, too, requires mental effort and dedicated study. As Elder B. H. Roberts wrote, ““It requires striving—intellectual and spiritual—to comprehend the things of God—even the revealed things of God. In no department of human endeavor is the aphorism ‘no excellence without labor’—more in force than in acquiring knowledge of the things of God. The Lord has placed no premium upon idleness or indifference here… Mental laziness is the vice of men, especially with reference to divine things. Men seem to think that because inspiration and revelation are factors in connection with the things of God, therefore the pain and stress of mental effort are not required” (<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60492/60492-h/60492-h.htm" target="_blank">Seventy’s Course in Theology, Fifth Year</a>, pp. IV–V)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do we become students of the Gospel?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a child, I often heard others jokingly refer to “the Sunday School” or “Primary” answers: go to church, read your scriptures, and pray. The suggestion in this tongue-in-cheek comment was that if you were in a church class and you weren’t sure of the answer, one of these three would almost certainly w. While I do not think this is particularly true, I do think that these three things are some of the most important things we can do to grow in our Gospel knowledge. What better way to learn about the Lord and His great plan of salvation for the children of men than by studying the Scriptures? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year, every member of the church was invited to read, study, and discuss The Book of Mormon, as individuals, as families, and as Sunday School classes. In this sacred book, we learn of the Lord’s covenants with a branch of the House of Israel here upon the American continent and have revealed many of the “plain and precious things” that were lost from the Bible through years of translation, mistranslation, omission, and addition. This year we are studying The Doctrine And Covenants Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, Containing Revelations Given To Joseph Smith, The Prophet, With Some Additions By His Successors In The Presidency Of The Church. (Is it any wonder that we often refer to this book by its abbreviated name, “The Doctrine and Covenants”?) Next year we will be studying the Old Testament, in which Jehovah’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is recorded, along with the history, poetry, and prophecies of the children of Israel. And in the year after that, we will study the New Testament, containing the words of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, and the teachings of His apostles. We would not know any of these things if we did not prayerfully study the Scriptures and attend our classes to learn with and from others.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The youth of the Church have additional opportunities to study the scriptures and grow in their Gospel knowledge by attending seminary. Yes, it is a sacrifice for them to wake up early each morning to attend class each day, but in that sacrifice comes the blessings of being spiritually fortified each and every day. I cannot think of a better way to start the morning than by drinking deeply from the “well of living water” that the Lord has given us through His revealed word! Young adults are able to continue their Gospel learning by attending Institute classes. (If you are not sure how to sign up for Institute, simply go to <a href="http://institutemidwest.org">institutemidwest.org</a>.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just as with our secular education, we live in an age in which we can continue our Gospel study through informal means, as well. There are many wonderful podcasts available that allow us to learn from one another. The church’s websites are a treasure trove of Gospel resources, from digital editions of the Scriptures to General Conference talks, from church magazines to articles on nearly every Gospel topic imaginable. (There is even an article on education, which I referred to as I was preparing this talk!) There are podcasts and YouTube channels with content created and shared by faithful members of the Church that invite us to join with them in their learning. There are books and even research journals that share the latest scholarship on church history and doctrines.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A word of warning: Not everything you find in a book or on a website is going to be true, reliable, or accurate. There are some things that are shared that may look and sound appealing but they may contain falsehoods, half-truths, or misrepresentations. In his Sunday morning General Conference address last April, President Russell M. Nelson warned against lazy learning and lax discipleship (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/49nelson?lang=eng" target="_blank">Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains</a>, General Conference, April 2021). One example of “lazy learning” is to take something you read on the Internet at face value, whether it is a report of gold plates with Egyptian script found in Panama or supposed proof that the Nephite civilisation was located in the heart of North America. (The report of Panamanian plates was revealed to be a hoax; the church has repeatedly issued statements of neutrality regarding the specific geographic location of Book of Mormon events.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the 9th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord revealed to Oliver Cowdery and, by extension, all of us, one formula for knowing the truth of a thing: “you must study it out in your mind; then you must </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">c</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">d</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/9?lang=eng&id=8#p8" target="_blank">D&C 9:8</a>).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the 1999 Disney animated film “Tarzan,” singer-songwriter Phil Collins included this line in his song “Son of Man”: “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” With this in mind, I would like to talk briefly about the power of teaching to help us learn.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-WcHPFUwd6U" width="320" youtube-src-id="-WcHPFUwd6U"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has become something of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nEDK4JtlIg" target="_blank">a joke within our church</a> that someone who is asked to speak will declare that they learned more from preparing their talk than their listeners will. However, this is true. When we are teaching, we often go far beyond the topic itself. I have learned this from my 25 years of gospel teaching. (And yes, for those who know that I am 38 and are quickly doing the math, I started teaching in Sunday School when I was 13.) Once upon a time, it seemed that there was a strong push to “teach what is in the manual” and to not use any other sources. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In February 2016, then-Elder M. Russell Ballard gave a talk to religious educators in which he issued this profound challenge:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Gone are the days when a student asked an honest question and a teacher responded, ‘Don’t worry about it!’ Gone are the days when a student raised a sincere concern and a teacher bore his or her testimony as a response intended to avoid the issue…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“... [W]hat are your opportunities and responsibilities as [gospel] teachers in the 21st century? Obviously, you must love the Lord, His Church, and your students. You must also bear pure testimony sincerely and often. Additionally, more than at any time in our history, your students also need to be blessed by learning doctrinal or historical content and context by study and faith accompanied by pure testimony so they can experience a mature and lasting conversion to the gospel and a lifelong commitment to Jesus Christ. Mature and lasting conversion means they will ‘stay in the boat and hold on’ throughout their entire lives…</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Through your diligent efforts to learn by study and faith, you will be able to help your students learn the skills and attitudes necessary to distinguish between reliable information that will lift them up and the half-truths and incorrect interpretations of doctrine, history, and practices that will bring them down.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Teach them about the challenges they face when relying upon the Internet to answer questions of eternal significance. Remind them that James did not say, ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him Google!’” (<a href="https://ca.churchofjesuschrist.org/an-evening-with-elder-m-russell-ballard" target="_blank">An Evening with Elder M. Russell Ballard</a>, February 26, 2016).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would like to share three accounts about how others have been blessed, spiritually and temporally, by heeding the Lord’s counsel to be educated:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My mother graduated high school in 1969 and attended Gannon College in Erie, Pennsylvania until she and my dad got married in 1970. She dropped out of school to become a full-time stay-at-home mom while my dad continued his education. In 1974, my parents moved to Davenport, Iowa, so that my dad could enroll at Palmer College to study chiropractics. As mentioned earlier, he was unable to continue his studies due to a car accident and yet he continued to learn. My mum, too, continued to learn informally. After a job transfer brought my parents to central Illinois, she took a substitute janitorial job at the Libby’s pumpkin plant in Morton. Over the next 37 years, she went on to become a full-time janitor, then a cook room worker, then a cook room supervisor, before taking the role of water and sanitation specialist, which she did until retiring in 2020. At the age of 78, two years before retiring, she was invited to enroll in BYU Pathway Worldwide program. Pathway is a church program that provides “access to spiritually based, online affordable higher education” (see <a href="http://byupathway.org">byupathway.org</a>). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now 70 years old, my retired mother is currently enrolled in a four-year degree program with BYU-Idaho. I recently asked her how Pathway has spiritually strengthened her. With her permission, here is what she said: “Pathway has helped me to expand my own horizons. I am a better person because of my associations with others in the program. I expect more of myself as I have become aware of Gospel teachings in learning about the world and everything around me.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My sister, Amanda, had a long and winding road toward reaching her goal to become trained and certified as an interpreter for the deaf. Along the way, she attended half a dozen colleges and universities, served a mission, got married, and had four children. She recently completed her certification and has been able to work from home, providing interpreting services during video relay calls. Around the same time, she and her husband, Cameron, realised that he needed to change careers. This career change required going back to a trade school to begin an apprenticeship as an electrician. Even though his prior degree means that he was paid slightly more than other apprentices, they knew that this career change would have meant lower income. However, my sister’s education and training have allowed her to work and make up the difference. While talking about this last night, she shared that her education has allowed them to have more financial stability in their home, which has led to more peace. More peace in their daily lives has allowed them to serve others and find joy in the Lord.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gretch is also enrolled in an online degree program through BYU-Idaho, having finished the Pathway program last year. This semester, she is taking four classes: one on the Book of Mormon and three related to her genealogy professional certificate. Her genealogy classes have helped her grow closer to her father, her grandmother, and her great-aunt as they have explored family history together. Her Book of Mormon class has helped her gain a deeper understanding of the Gospel. As we have gone on walks together, we often discuss her studies. Some of the best conversations have been when she was grappling with a difficult passage, such as the words of Isaiah quoted by Abinadi. While Gretch will likely never become a professional genealogist, her classes have helped both of us in our family history research, bringing to light the promise of Malachi of the hearts of the children turning to the fathers (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/mal/4?lang=eng" target="_blank">Malachi 4:5-6</a>).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Truly, the glory of God is intelligence; our Father in Heaven wants His children to be skilled, knowledgeable, intelligent beings. We have been blessed to live in a day and age with greater access to information than ever before. As we use the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us discern between right and wrong, to seek out words of wisdom, we will be blessed in our efforts and will be given opportunities to bless the lives of those around us. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[NOTE: This is the text of a talk given in Sacrament meeting in the Freeport Ward, Rockford Stake, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on 18 July 2021.]</i></span></span></p></span><span class="”fullpost”"></span>
Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-71704952187579172019-12-08T19:15:00.001-06:002019-12-08T19:15:31.198-06:00And This Is Life Eternal<span id="docs-internal-guid-a0b44afe-7fff-e1f4-b676-47778379224f"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of you know that I am a professional educator. I work in the Freeport School District as the Curriculum Coordinator for 21st Century Teaching and Learning. Whenever I have the opportunity to share this with others upon meeting them for the first time, one of the first questions I get is, “Is that your real hair?” Apparently, there are things people care about more than know what it means to coordinate the teaching and learning efforts of an entire century. (The answer, by the way, is yes, this is my real hair; no, I don’t dye it; yes, it really is this curly; and no, you cannot touch it to see if it is actually a wig.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once I am able to get the discussion about my amazing naturally curly hair out of the way, we get back to the question of what it is I actually do. My favourite way to describe my job is that I am a teacher of teachers and that my main responsibility is to get them to put away the worksheets and step away from the PowerPoint so that they can engage their students in active learning opportunities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes this is met with approval. Other times, often when I am talking to other educators, I get a lengthy rebuttal insisting that worksheets are a valuable tool to monitor student learning. While I do not disagree that a worksheet can be useful, I have yet to encounter a student who is excited to go home to tell his or her parents all about the amazing worksheet they did in math class that day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So what does it mean to engage students in active learning opportunities? While there are literally hundreds of books written on this topic, many of which are weighing down my bookshelves at home and at work, one of the most effective methods that I have found is called <a href="https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl" target="_blank">project-based learning</a>. This is a framework for organising instruction that is built around one essential question, ideally one that is selected by the students themselves, with a final culminating public product that demonstrates what has been learned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all of this as background, I would like to share a little bit about the process that my students have gone through over the past few months as they have been attending <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/si/seminary" target="_blank">early morning seminary</a> in my home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One component of the seminary program is called Doctrinal Mastery. For those of you who attended seminary back in the 1900s, you may recall something called Scripture Mastery. For each of the four <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/standard-works?lang=eng" target="_blank">standard works</a>, there were 25 scriptures that you had to memorise. In order to aid in this, your teacher probably had you play innumerable games that helped you turn to these passages as quickly as possible. Scripture chases filled seminary classrooms. Super Saturday events were held on a regular basis so that we could show off our amazing scripture mastery skills with youth from multiple stakes before having a spaghetti dinner with lots of garlic bread and then having a dance during which, thanks to the aforementioned garlic bread, the adults present never had to worry about bodies getting too close to one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today we take a slightly different approach. While there are still 25 scriptures for each of the standard works, <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/13266_eng.pdf?lang=eng" target="_blank">Doctrinal Mastery</a>, as opposed to Scripture Mastery, emphasises, well, doctrine. Specifically, seminary students are asked to gain a deeper understanding of the doctrines of the Gospel as they relate to the Godhead, the Plan of Salvation, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Restoration of the church through Joseph Smith, prophets and revelation, Priesthood and priesthood keys, ordinances and covenants, marriage and family, and the commandments of God. Additionally, students are taught the importance of acquiring spiritual knowledge by learning how to not just read the scriptures, but to study, ponder, and pray about them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This, in a nutshell, is what my students have been doing each Wednesday morning as we set aside time for doctrinal mastery. However, rather than me presenting lessons and talking with or at them, I decided to draw from my experience as the 21st century coordinator in my district. I asked them to come up with a list of doctrinal questions that they could research throughout the semester. To help generate possible questions, we turned to the <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?lang=eng" target="_blank">Articles of Faith</a>. Just looking at the first four, they generated questions such as “Who is God?” “Why should we worship Him?” “What is faith?” “What is the Atonement?” and “Is baptism truly necessary for salvation?” After researching their chosen question, they were asked to prepare a sacrament meeting talk to share what they had learned. (That is the public product.) I challenged each of them to prepare a 15-minute talk, but explained that I would be speaking afterwards and would be tasked with filling the time remaining.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In thinking about Doctrinal Mastery, perhaps the first question we need to ask is what is meant by “the doctrines of the Gospel” in the first place. According to Joseph Smith, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nephi in The Book of Mormon tells us that his father taught that “redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth… Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise” (2<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng" target="_blank"> Nephi 2:6, 8</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah testified of the Christ that should come when he declared, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/9?lang=eng" target="_blank">Isaiah 9:6</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And let us not forget the simple yet profound statement made by the Saviour Himself: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/17?lang=eng" target="_blank">John 17:3</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every prophet that has ever lived has testified of Christ and of His atoning sacrifice on behalf of mankind. Why? Because that is what is necessary for eternal life. As Nephi testified, “it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do” (see <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/25?lang=eng" target="_blank">2 Nephi 25:23</a>). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What does this mean?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It means that there is one thing, and one thing only, that will lead to eternal life: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Saviour said that eternal life is based upon knowing God and Christ, I will point out that there is a difference between knowing about Them and truly knowing Them. Knowing our Father in Heaven means that we understand His plan of salvation. It means that we recognise the importance of the ordinances of the Gospel. It means that we heed to the words of His prophets, both those in ancient days, those of yesterday, and those of today. It means that we read, study, ponder, and pray about the messages we are given. Knowing God is knowing His voice. It is knowing that He speaks to us in our day. It is knowing that when He speaks, we ought to go and do. Knowing Jesus Christ means understanding that while He was an amazing teacher, servant, leader, friend, counselor, and performer of miracles, He was also the divine son of God, and that he was, in very fact, God incarnate, both fully mortal and fully God. It is having absolute trust in Him and in His word. This knowledge not just about but of our Father in Heaven and of our Saviour is why we join our voices together as we sing, “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish to close with the words of my favourite Christmas hymn. It was originally written as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A brief history of this poem is worth noting. Shortly before penning the poem, “Christmas Bells,” his wife died in a tragic fire. Later, his son left home to join the Union Army during the Civil War and was gravely injured. Here are the words Longfellow wrote:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I heard the bells on Christmas day</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their old familiar carols play,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And wild and sweet the words repeat</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of peace on earth, good will to men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I thought how, as the day had come,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The belfries of all Christendom</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Had rolled along th’unbroken song</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of peace on earth, good will to men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“And in despair I bowed my head:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘For hate is strong and mocks the song</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of peace on earth, good will to men.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With peace on earth, good will to men.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Till, ringing, singing, on its way,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The world revolved from night to day,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of peace on earth, good will to men!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we enter into the often frenetic busyness of the holidays, I pray that each of us will pause to remember the real business of these holy days. It is my testimony that Jesus is the Christ. God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.</span></div>
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-37276444540180134342019-09-07T17:36:00.000-05:002019-09-07T17:36:01.846-05:00All These Things Shall Give Thee ExperienceTwo Jehovah's Witnesses came to our door this afternoon. The gentleman at the door (I believe the other person with him was his wife) did most of the talking. He somehow knew that our last name was Valencic and thought perhaps we spoke Croatian. I explained that my ancestors came from present-day Slovenia but most of them spoke Polish. However, my parents and my grandparents spoke only English, except for a few words and phrases in Polish.<br />
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Abandoning his attempts at speaking Croatian and connecting with us that way, he asked me if I felt like the Hurricane Dorian is God's fault. I told them that I do not blame God for natural disasters and they responded by pointing out that insurance companies call them "acts of God." I observed that there are many archaic terms that we still use but that doesn't change the fact that God is not to be blamed for weather patterns. (If anything, people are, but that gets us into a different topic altogether.)<br />
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He quickly moved on to his point, which was to share with what it says in Mark 4:39:<br />
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"[Jesus] got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm."<br />
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He then asked me, "Does it bring you comfort to know that Jesus has power to stop the storms?"<br />
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I responded in the affirmative and mentioned that I am familiar with the passage because I teach an early morning New Testament study course for high school students each day in my home. His wife asked me what church I attend and I responded that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This quickly ended the conversation as they handed me a pamphlet and bid me a good day.<br />
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While mowing the lawn later in the afternoon, it occurred to me what I should have said:<br />
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It is true that God has the power to stop the storms in our lives and that He has given that power to His Son, Jesus Christ. I, as a holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, also have the power to stop storms. However, just because we <b><i>can </i></b>do something is rarely a reason for us to actually <b><i>do </i></b>it.<br />
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When I think about the storms of life, real or metaphorical, I am reminded of the story of a prophet in the Scriptures named Joseph. He was a righteous man who found himself wrongly imprisoned, betrayed by his closest associates, cut off from his family and loved ones, and wondering why it was that he was experiencing such great trials and tribulations. As he poured out his soul to God in prayer, the Scriptures record these words:<br />
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"If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;<br />
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"If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;<br />
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"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.<br />
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"The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?<br />
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"Therefore, hold on thy way... Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."<br />
(Doctrine and Covenants 122:5-9)<br />
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Another prophet at a different time taught his children that<br />
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"... it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things. If not so... righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad...<br />
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"And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away."<br />
(2 Nephi 2:11, 13)<br />
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It is my witness that God does not cause the storms of our lives; he allows us to experience storms so that we can learn from them, and grow as a result of what we have learned. Just as a toddler learns to walk by falling down, we learn by making mistakes, by failing forward, and by experiencing trials and tribulations--the storms of life. I don't want to live in a world without any storms, without any struggles, without any challenges. Such a world would be void of learning, of growth, of faith. That is not God's plan for us.<br />
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I thank God for the storms of life that allow us to exercise faith in Him, to learn from our experiences, and to grow more like Him.Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-61519606481940107122018-12-30T18:32:00.002-06:002018-12-30T18:40:58.769-06:00With Steadfast Faith in ChristI am a collector of quotes. At one point, I had notebooks full of wise and pithy sayings, sprinkled with the humourous and witty. Later in my life I began to collect the quotes on various word document files, but when a computer died, the quotes often died with them. Eventually I stopped recording all of them in one place and started sharing them on social media, usually using Facebook and attaching a hashtag of some sort to help me keep track of them. Now, it turns out that none of these systems are particularly effective in helping me remember, locate, and share quotes. However, I have been able to at least remember the gist of some of the ones that had the greatest impact on me at different times in my life. Here are a few of them:<br />
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Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the courage to make the right things happen.<br />
~Reverend Peter Marshall (United States Senate Chaplain)</blockquote>
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Right is right, even if everyone is against it; wrong is wrong, even if every is for it.<br />
~Sir William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania colony)</blockquote>
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.<br />
~Marianne Williamson (author and social advocate)</blockquote>
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If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him... We need not wait to see what others do.<br />
~Mahatma Gandhi (Indian liberation activist)<br />
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I don’t think anyone would argue that living your life in accordance with the statements I just quoted would lead you to do anything unkind, cruel, or wicked. In fact, I would go so far as to say that these, and the thousands, if not millions, of statements like them could easily serve as an excellent guide in living a positive, healthy, moral, upright life. In 1903, Leo Tolstoy actually set about putting together just such a guide. After roughly seven year of work, he compiled what he called <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/03/15/a-calendar-of-wisdom-tolstoy/" target="_blank">A Calendar of Wisdom</a> (sometimes called “The Path of Life,” “A Cycle of Readings,” or “Wise Thoughts for Every Day”). Within it, Tolstoy shared quotes from all of the great religious and philosophical leaders from the history of the world, writing in the introduction, “I hope that the readers of this book may experience the same benevolent and elevating feeling which I have experienced when I was working on its creation, and which I experience again and again when I reread it every day, working on the enlargement and improvement of the previous edition."<br />
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As I think about the many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of quotes I have collected in my own lifetime and the influence they have had on me at different times, I have to ask myself: Is it enough to be a good person? Can I be satisfied with using the <a href="https://www.scouting.org/discover/faq/question10/" target="_blank">Scout Law</a> as my personal guide, to live a life of trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thriftiness, bravery, and reverence?
The answer is a resounding no. Being a good person is not enough, not when we take an eternal perspective. As members of <a href="http://www.mormon.org/" target="_blank">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a>, we know that it is not enough to just be a good person because we know that this life is about so much more than, well, this life. Now, lest anyone misunderstands my point, we of course need to strive to be good people. The first and greatest commandment God has given His children is to love Him, love others, and love ourselves. So if being a good person, or trying to be a good person, is not enough, what else do we need to do?<br />
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Well, first, I suppose we should be asking, “enough for what?” If your goal in life is to be a good person, to leave this world better than you found it, well, in that case, yes, trying to be a good person is enough. But if your goal in life is to learn all you can, to do as much good for as many people as you can, for the purpose of becoming more like your Heavenly Father so that you can return to live with Him in His presence one day, then we have a much higher objective before us. We don’t strive just to be good; we strive to be perfect. We don’t want to leave this world better than we found it; we want to leave this world better than we were when we entered it.
How do we do this? How do we become better than we are, how do we become perfect, how do we become more like our Father in Heaven, how do we, in short, attain exaltation?<br />
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To find our answer, let us turn to the <a href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/bofm/title-page?lang=eng" target="_blank">Book of Mormon</a>, Second Book of Nephi, thirty-first chapter, and thirteenth verse, in which Nephi tells us this:<br />
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Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel. </blockquote>
What does this mean, though? Do we just need to, as our first Article of Faith tells us, have faither in Christ, repent, be baptised, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and then, poof, we are on an irreversible path toward salvation and exaltation? Well, no, not quite. If we continue to read Nephi’s sermon, we find that he was asked the same thing. Listen carefully:<br />
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And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen. </blockquote>
Did you catch the formula Nephi gave us? After we begin to exercise faith through repentance and baptism, we must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, loving God and loving all men (and women and children); we must feast upon the word of Christ and we must endure to the end. That’s a tall order and, to be quite frank, it would be impossible for us to do on our own because we are, every single one of us, imperfect beings. There is not a single person among us who is completely perfect, not even babies, for one very simple reason: being perfect is more than just being without sin. Adam and Eve were without sin when they were in the Garden of Eden but they were not perfect because they had not learned to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, they had not learned to love God and all mankind, they had not learned to feast on the words of Christ, and they had not even begun the process of enduring to the end.<br />
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Even Jesus Christ Himself, the only one born on earth who was without sin, was not perfect at first. As Luke tells us in his testimony, Jesus had to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and with man. As He grew, as He came to learn of His mission as the Messiah, as He taught, He gave us an example to follow. He showed us the way because He was the way. Correction: He is the way. In fact, Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It is only and through Him that we may return to live with our Father in Heaven again.<br />
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As I was thinking about this, I found myself wondering, were the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth really that different from the religious teachings of other sects and faiths around the world? The answer I found was, honestly, no, not really. We can find similar messages of faith, of love, of service, of duty, and sacrifice throughout the world’s religions. Even the teachings of a Messiah, a saviour of mankind, are not unique to the story of Christ. So what makes Him different? While pondering this, I recalled the writings of James E. Talmage, a latter-day apostle who, in 1915, wrote <a href="https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-christ?lang=eng" target="_blank">Jesus the Christ</a> under the direction of the First Presidency in 1905. (Yes, it took him a decade to complete the project, although the actually writing only took about seven months.) In the introduction, he tells us this:<br />
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Judged by the standard of human estimation, Jesus of Nazareth is supreme among men by reason of the excellence of His personal character, the simplicity, beauty, and genuine worth of His precepts, and the influence of His example and doctrines in the advancement of the race. To these distinguishing characteristics of surpassing greatness the devout Christian soul adds an attribute that far exceeds the sum of all the others—the divinity of Christ’s origin and the eternal reality of His status as Lord and God…
It is the the divinity of Jesus Christ that sets Him apart from all other religious and philosophical leaders of the world. </blockquote>
Jesus of Nazareth was not simply a great teacher, although a great teacher He surely was. He was not just a profound spiritual leader, although He was that, too. He was not just a man who preached a radical love of all mankind, decrying the xenophobia and tribalism of ancient, and dare I say even modern, civilisations, but He did that, too. Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who died and rose the third day, breaking the bands of physical death and securing salvation for every person born on this earth. He also took upon Himself the pain and agony of all our sins, a sinless sacrifice who paid the price so that we would not have to. In doing this, He broke the bands of spiritual death and made possible the gift of exaltation to all who would follow Him.<br />
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So now we know what to do and we know why we need to do it. The last question to consider is how. How do we press forward with a steadfastness in Christ? How do we love God and all mankind? How do we feast upon the word of Christ? How do we endure to the end. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer, no simple formula. There is no checklist of things to do that you can refer to each morning and night and say “Yep, I did all of those things, therefore I must be on the path to exaltation!” Sorry, friends, but nothing in life is that simple. In fact, the only real guidance I can offer is to learn to feel and recognise the promptings of the Holy Spirit and then act on them. In the eleventh section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord gave this counsel to His young prophet, Joseph Smith, in verses twelve through fourteen:<br />
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And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;
And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive. </blockquote>
Remember Nephi? He wrote that he was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand what he should do (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/4.6?lang=eng" target="_blank">1 Nephi 4:6</a>). In a later section of the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith counseled the brethren, “Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man” (<a href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/84.85?lang=eng" target="_blank">D&C 84:85</a>). As we study the scriptures and come to know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we will seek to know God’s will for us. Perhaps we may be called upon to do some great act of service. So many of us in the Church proclaim that we would have gladly dropped everything and gone across the plains during an early winter storm to rescue the members of the ill-fated Martin handcart companies. What brother has not heard the story of the <a href="https://www.lds.org/study/ensign/2006/12/go-and-bring-them-in?lang=eng" target="_blank">Sweetwater Rescue</a> and said, ‘If only I lived at the time, I would have joined in helping carry the stranded Saints across the icy river!” My experience, however, has been that we are more often called to do small and simple things. For some, it will be a prompting to visit someone in the hospital or in an extended care facility. For others, it will be a desire to share a witness of the Saviour with a friend or a family member. Some of us may feel an urge to call someone we haven’t seen in a long time just to say we were thinking of them. Or maybe it is simply the prompting to read your scriptures a little more carefully, to pray with more sincere intent, or to really ponder the meaning of the Atonement as we partake of the Sacrament each Sabbath day.<br />
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Let us all commit ourselves more fully to trust following our Lord and Saviour. Let us be more diligent in talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, preaching of Christ, and testifying of Christ so that all we meet may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/25.26?lang=eng" target="_blank">2 Nephi 25:26</a>).<br />
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<br />Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-34385476880659815892018-07-31T18:59:00.000-05:002018-07-31T18:59:07.636-05:00My Recipe for SuccessI have had the privilege this week of volunteering with the 44th annual Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute. As most who read my blog know, this is a summer leadership conference for middle and high school students throughout Illinois. (We also have participants who come from out of state.) This was my 17th Teen Institute. This year I was a part of the Headquarters Staff. You can read more about my experiences in this role <a href="https://coordinatingthecentury.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/reflections-on-a-youth-leadership-conference/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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The speakers we had for our opening session are good friends of mine, Matt Matkovich and Phil Januszewski, both educators in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, who offer inspirational and motivational messages as <a href="http://www.mppresentations.com/" target="_blank">M&P Presentations</a>. I first met them five years at the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute and, through the power of social media, have been able to keep connected. Their keynote this year was about their recipe for a happy and healthy life.<br />
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During their presentation, they suggested that everyone to consider what their own personal recipes. I've been thinking about this a lot since then. Before I go on, I feel like I should make a huge disclaimer: this is a list that I generated while brainstorming and it is very much subject to change in the future. That being said, I would like to think that these are some of the things I try to do consistently and are things that I have noticed contribute to me feeling happier and healthier. So, Matt and Phil, if you're reading this, here's my recipe:</div>
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<li>Read for 15-30 minutes every day.</li>
<li>Listen to the music.</li>
<li>Keep connected with family and friends.</li>
<li>Make new connections with others.</li>
<li>Whenever possible, simplify.</li>
<li>Serve others.</li>
<li>Choose kindness.</li>
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Now, each of these seven points have some pretty important caveats:</div>
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<li>Reading for work or school doesn't count; it can be related to work or school, but if you are required to read it, you need to read something else, also. I know that this can seem like a lot of time for reading, but you can be creative and find ways to fit it in.</li>
<li>The type of music you listen to matters a great deal. Whatever your musical taste is, try to make sure the music you listen to feeds your soul. Uplifting music isn't necessarily happy music. (I feel greatly uplifted by the song "Reflection" from Disney's <i>Mulan</i>, not because it is a happy song but because it reminds me that many struggle with figuring out who they are and what they want to be and that is okay.) I do think that music full of vulgar, profane lyrics is not likely to be uplifting and would suggest staying away from it. (You may disagree; this is my recipe, though.)</li>
<li>Keeping connected isn't just liking and commenting on posts on Facebook; keeping connected means phone calls, personal visits, Skype or FaceTime, etc. I challenge you to go through your social media networks and do a 26-day purge: each day, go through a letter of the alphabet and remove anyone who you don't remember. Not only will it clear up the clutter, it will help you maintain your connections with people who matter.</li>
<li>It may seem counter-intuitive to purge your connections on one hand and turn around and add new ones on the other, but, really, it isn't. You are hopefully engaging with new people in your life through work, mutual friends, religious or service organisations, and conferences. Make new connections with people who will challenge you and support you. (I love doing this through Twitter chats; pick a hashtag, join in a chat, and start following people who will help inspire you to be a better person and a better whatever-it-is-you-do-for-work.)</li>
<li>My go-to strategy for simplifying is the two-pile method. (The piles are sometimes metaphorical.) Earlier this week, I had to alphabetise a stack of nearly 500 applications that were not even remotely organised. It could have been a long, tedious, and daunting task. To simplify it, I made two piles: A-L and M-Z. Then I separated the A-L piles in A-G and H-L, then I separated A-G into their respective letter piles, alphabetised those, and then used the same idea for M-Z. The entire process took about 75 minutes. So here's your challenge: pick a daunting task and find a way to break it into manageable chunks. Maybe the two-pile method works for you. Maybe it is colour-coding. Maybe it is only doing a part of the task each day. Whatever strategy works for you, try it out.</li>
<li>Serving others does not mean always putting others' needs before your own. Rather, it means finding opportunities to do small acts of service throughout the day. As a Boy Scout, I learned to Do a Good Turn Daily; I would argue that you should do several good turns each day: hold the door for another, pick up some trash on the sidewalk, help someone with a task. If you are always putting others' needs before your own, though, you may end up burning out or burning up, neither of which is useful. So find balance while you do that.</li>
<li>Choosing kindness means to give others meaningful compliments to smile, to avoid speaking ill of others and not participating when others do. I admit that this is something I sometimes struggle with, especially in regards to certain prominent public officials, but I swear, I really do try to choose kindness in my words and my deeds.</li>
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So there's my recipe. Like I said, I don't always follow it. (Sorry.) And maybe it won't work for you. That's okay. Find the ingredients you need for your life. And hey, if you need some inspiration, check out the <a href="http://www.mppresentations.com/the-mp-recipe.html" target="_blank">M&P Recipe</a>; these guys are amazing! (And no, they did not pay me to say that.)</div>
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-52627386679995396312018-07-25T14:54:00.001-05:002018-07-25T14:54:21.390-05:00Tennessee Teen Institute 2018For something that has been such an integral part of my life for the past nineteen years, I have blogged a surprisingly low number of times about my experiences with Teen Institutes. I honestly have no idea why this is.<span class="”fullpost”"></span>
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My first Teen Institute was in Illinois in 1999. I attended as a youth participant. I don't remember much of what I learned that year, although I do recall listening to Mike Bruni give a keynote address outside because the building we were using at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, lost power. I recall working with a group of teens from my community to come up with a plan of promoting a youth recreation program in the summer that never took off. And I remember having to be taken to the hospital to be treated for poison ivy exposure. (The staff member who took me was a giant of a man who advocated for me at the hospital when the nurse told me that there was no shot that could be given to me when he and I both knew there was.) I am sure I have other memories of this event, but those are the ones that stand out in mind.</div>
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The other thing you need to know is that that experience was impactful enough that I went back the next year, and the year after that. Here's a rundown on the many roles I have filled as a Teen Institute volunteer:</div>
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1999 - First year attending the Illinois Teen Institute as a participant when I was offered a scholarship through my high school's Operation Snowball program.<br />
2000 - Attended ITI as a member of the Administrative Team (aka the A-Team). Was frequently mistaken for an adult staff member. (I was 17). I quickly became known as "The A-Team Guy" because the only other two people were the coordinators.<br />
2001 - Returned to the A-Team.<br />
2002-2004 - Missed ITI due to serving a full-time mission for the LDS church in California.<br />
2005 - Had planned on doing A-Team again but, due to shifts in policy, came as a new staff member and served as a Co-Facilitator (Co-Fac), per the director's request. Still remember my interview with a member of the Leadership Team: "Why should we accept you as a new staff member?" "Um... Because the director says so?" (Okay, so I gave a lot of other answers, too).<br />
2006 - Second year as a Co-Fac. Also traveled to the West Tennessee Teen Institute to help implement some ideas they learned from us the previous year. Was the self-proclaimed Assistant to the Director.<br />
2007 - Was asked to be advisor to teens in their first year of the Peers with Advanced Leadership Skills (PALS) program.<br />
2008 - Had applied as PALS 1 Advisor again but never got a response. Got married about a month before the Institute. The day of staff training, I got a call from a member of the Leadership Team asking where I was. It turned out my acceptance letter was emailed to an old address that I only used for junk mail. Oops. Was scheduled to work that whole week so couldn't make it.<br />
2009 - PALS 1 Advisor with two others. We had a HUGE group of amazing teen leaders, many of whom are regular staffers. Gretchen came for her first year at ITI and was a Co-Fac.<br />
2010 - PALS 1 Advisor again with two others (one from the last year, one who had come back after a brief hiatus). Gretchen came for her second year as a Co-Fac, too.<br />
2011 - Headquarters Staff (what used to be known as the A-Team) with four others, experiencing what we called "the Tower of Terror" (the university had given the Teen Institute one large tower building for the entire program: general sessions, dorms, discussion groups, CAT groups, etc. It was crazy. Gretch was unable to attend due to health issues; she has not returned.<br />
2012 - The Illinois Teen Institute received a very generous funding grant from the Larry and Lillian Goodman Foundation and became the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute. I served as a Community Action Team (CAT) advisor. When not working with my CAT, I helped Headquarters a lot.<br />
2013 - Became an advisor for the Middle School program, which consisted of about 50 middle schoolers who were staying for the entire week working with three others. Also worked with the CAT from Champaign's SYEP program.<br />
2014 - Missed CGTI because of grad school.<br />
2015 - Youth Staff Advisor with two others. Mentored a phenomenal group of youth leaders. Also helped the CAT from Jefferson Middle School.<br />
2016 - Middle School Co-Fac (only my third time as a Co-Fac). Also CAT mentor for a group of six Edison Middle School 7th grade girls (and one boy who just graduated).<br />
2017 - Middle School Co-Fac again. Also mentored the same CAT of now-8th grade girls from 2016.<br />
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And now we are to this year. I am a part of the Leadership Team for CGTI again, returning to Headquarters. But I had the opportunity to go with several others to Tennessee to visit their program for a weekend in June. One of the members of the CGTI team had gone before when she lived in Tennessee; I had gone twelve years ago when it was a regional teen institute; this was my first time visiting when they were holding a statewide institute. As with every other experience with a teen institute, I had an amazing four days!<br />
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We arrived on Saturday afternoon and got to acquaint ourselves with the staff and get settled in. Sunday morning was the last day of staff training and was primarily a time for the group leaders to make final preparations for the rest of the week. One unique feature of their Sunday morning was that there was a special speaker, Jamie Adams, who invited to come in and talk to the staff. Because it was a Sunday morning and the speaker was a newly ordained minister, she had a spiritual take on her message, which she based on Psalm 139. I thought that was pretty cool. It made me want to restart Sunrise Sharing at our teen institute.<br />
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On Sunday evening we had our first keynote speaker, Kevin Wanzer, whom I have seen in Illinois a few times. He shares a fairly similar message, but I love how he adapts it to his own environment. I am not going to share the key points of his message, as that is literally what he does to make a living, but I wanted to take time to observe that my key takeaway was his message of finding joy in what happens, rather than disappointment in what doesn't happen.<br />
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On Monday morning we had our second keynote speaker, Joe Beckman, who was going to be attending CGTI in July. I very much appreciated his message of being present in the moment. After listening to him, I've recommitted myself to taking time to look up, look around, and find ways to serve others. Later in the day we heard a second keynote speaker, Harriet Turk, whom I seen in Illinois. (We had a great encounter when she saw me but couldn't figure out what I was doing in Tennessee because she knew that I was in Illinois.) Harriet's message is one of loving yourself and being proud of being you.<br />
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We left on Tuesday morning, but I enjoyed our few days with our friends in Tennessee. I admire how involved their adult mentors are in the programming offered by TTI and hope that we can bring some of their strategies to Illinois. I hope that we will get to see each other again and more often than every decade or so!</div>
Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-29723935538191493402018-04-15T15:41:00.001-05:002018-04-15T15:41:51.482-05:00Sacrifice, Service, and Cub Scouts<i>[NOTE: I was asked to give a 3-5 minute report on a Cub Scout service project in my ward's Sacrament meeting this morning. Remembering the counsel of my mission president to never speak in Sacrament on a topic that did not directly relate to the teachings of Jesus Christ, I wrote and presented the following.]</i><br /><br />The Prophet Joseph Smith, in his lectures on faith taught to the brethren in the <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/school-of-the-prophets?lang=eng" target="_blank">School of the Prophets</a> in Kirtland, Ohio, said that “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (<a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/lectures-faith-historical-perspective/lectures-faith-1990-edited-version/lecture-6" target="_blank">Lectures on Faith 6:7</a>).<br /><br />King Benjamin, in his final address given to his people, recorded in the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, taught that one of the outward signs of true conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to “succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish” (<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/4.16" target="_blank">Mosiah 4:16</a>). <br /><br />And, of course, we have the two great commandments given by Jesus Christ himself: to love God and to love our neighbours (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/22.34-40" target="_blank">Matthew 22:37-39</a>).<br /><br />Yesterday afternoon I had the joy of taking a group of Cub Scouts, leaders, and families, along with our full-time missionaries who happened to be there at the same time as us, to Memorial Stadium to participate in the Sixth Annual <a href="http://dayofservice.cuvolunteer.org/" target="_blank">Campus and Community Day of Service</a> with over 1,000 other volunteers. For about two hours, our group alone package hundreds of Fast and Hearty Family Rice Casserole meals for <a href="http://illinifightinghunger.org/">Illini Fighting Hunger</a>. These meals will be distributed to local food pantries and given to those in need. We also assisted with cleaning equipment, stacking chairs, and gathering up materials. In the process, the boys learned how to work together, to wait patiently, to help each other, to listen to and follow directions, and to provide selfless service with no thought of reward. While we may never know any of the individuals who will specifically benefit from our efforts, it was a wonderful feeling to know that we were giving of our time to serve those in need and, in so doing, were showing our love for our neighbours and our Heavenly Father.<br /><br />A friend of mine once observed that, while the doctrines of the restored Gospel are beautiful and inspiring, it is the day-to-day living of Gospel principles that actually lead us, step by step, closer to the Lord. I testify that this is true. As I have served with the Cub Scouts in various capacities for the past several years, I have seen that these are principles that can and should be taught at an early age. I am grateful for my own experiences in Scouting as a youth which taught me to love and serve others. I know, through a personal and indescribable witness of the Holy Ghost, that our Heavenly Father lives and that He loves us. He sent us here to earth to learn, to grow, and to become more like him. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to give us a perfect example of faith, service, and sacrifice. As we follow our Saviour’s example and set aside our own selfish interests so that we can serve others, we draw that much closer to God.Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-24808649572198547952018-03-25T18:08:00.002-05:002018-04-22T08:29:41.794-05:00Remembering the Love of the Lord<span id="docs-internal-guid-0b5e02b0-5f65-f57a-2190-167cd25af31f"></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-0b5e02b0-5f65-f57a-2190-167cd25af31f"><span style="font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[As a member of my stake High Council, I am occasionally asked to visit another ward or branch in the stake and speak in Sacrament meeting. Today I visited the Urbana Young Single Adult Branch. What follows is the talk that I gave.]</i></span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-0b5e02b0-5f65-f57a-2190-167cd25af31f"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For several months now, our stake goal has focused on recognising and remembering times we have felt the love the Lord in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. As I was preparing for this talk, my first as a member of the High Council, I asked my brother-in-law, Jonas Reger. if there was any particular topic or insight he would like me to address when speaking on this topic. His response was, “Oh, you are talking about that again? We’ve been hearing about that every time someone from the High Council speaks!” This comment caught my attention because I had just been at a High Council meeting where someone said that nobody really remembers what we say when we speak in Sacrament meetings. (As an aside, I did some calculations and estimate that I've heard something in the range of 4,725 talks in Sacrament meetings in my life and I think I remember one.) So now the pressure is on. Can I say something that will a) be memorable, at least for a few days or weeks, and b) not be the same old thing you’ve been hearing for months now? I pray the Spirit will guide my words as I try to do both.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I grew up in Washington, Illinois, a small community about an hour and a half northwest of here. While there were a handful of Latter-day Saint families in my hometown, and I was friends with several of the children my age in those family, the majority of my friends were members of other faith communities. We often shared our religious beliefs with one another. My circle of friends included Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, non-denominational Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and atheists. Growing up with such a diverse group of friends helped me to have a better understanding of and appreciation for their religious beliefs while also strengthening my own convictions.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-f3f1528f-ed89-5651-043d-7b8b5f028713"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I distinctly remember the evening of October 29, 1999. I was at my friend Melissa’s seventeenth birthday party. Several of us were gathered around a bonfire in her backyard, drinking soda and chatting amiably about whatever random topics of conversation arose. Somehow it came up that my parents had been raised Catholic and that they joined the LDS church in 1977. My friend Meredith turned to me and asked what religion I was. Just as I answered, “Latter-day Saint,” my friend Luke said, “Mormon.” Then my friend Jill said, “Alex is a Mormon” and I replied again that I was a Latter-day Saint. Meredith was confused and asked whether I was a Mormon or a Latter-day Saint, and I explained how Latter-day Saints were given the nickname of Mormons because of our belief in The Book of Mormon. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This led to a question that, to many, that may sound like a golden opportunity to expound on the principles of the Gospel and bear witness of the Restoration: “What do Mormons believe, anyway?” To sixteen-year-old me, though, it was an opportunity to share my faith in Christ with others who also believed in Christ, even if our understanding of how that belief is manifest in our day-to-day lives was different. My friend Emily said that she wanted to bring her youth group to one of our church meetings, which they eventually did. However, none of other my friends who were present, to my knowledge, have ever come to one of our church meetings, met with the missionaries, or read The Book of Mormon. But they did learn that I have a deep love of my Saviour and a desire to serve Him to the best of my ability. It has been nearly 20 years since that day and, while I doubt Meredith, Melissa, Luke, Emily, or anyone else there remembers that conversation, it has stuck with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jump ahead two years. I was a freshman here at the University of Illinois, living in Scott Hall, one of the Champaign Area Residence Halls on campus. My roommate was, unfortunately, one of the most unpleasant people I have ever known in my life, and so I avoided our room as much as possible. A guy who lived across the hall, Mike, though, became, if not a friend, at least a friendly acquaintance. We would often chat in his room in the evenings. I learned that he aspired to become a Lutheran minister and he knew that I was a Latter-day Saint. We had several pleasant conversations about our faiths and then one day he gave me a print out of some questions he had about Mormonism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To this day, I don’t remember what any of the questions actually were. I remember that Mike seemed sincerely interested in asking me about them. Sadly, these were not questions about my faith. Instead, they were attacks on the early history of the church, on the authenticity of The Book of Mormon, and on the character of the early Saints. In short, it was a list of anti-Mormon dreck meant to question my convictions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had initially intended on responding to every question on that page. I wanted Mike to know that there were perfectly good explanations for every attack, for every question. I worried over it for several days, to the point that it began to consume me. A few days after this, I had gone to my evening Institute class, where we were studying The Book of Mormon. I remember leaving and wondering why I felt so strongly that in the truthfulness of the Gospel, of the Restoration, of the Scriptures, but I couldn’t answer Mike’s questions. These questions tumbled through my mind as I walked home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, as I was walking down Wright Street toward the Main Library, a sudden thought came to me: I had already received a witness of the Gospel. I had felt the Spirit whisper to my heart and my mind that the things I had been taught in my childhood were true. If I had felt that witness once, twice, three times, then why was I suddenly wondering if any of it was real? I took the paper out of my bag, crumbled up in a ball, and threw it in the trash can next to the bus stop. Mike never asked me about those questions and I never brought them up. We continued to have our friendly chats from time to time, but the school year came to an end, we parted ways, and I never saw or heard from him again. Just as with my conversation with Melissa when I was fifteen, I doubt that Mike even remembers me, let alone the time he handed me a list of anti-Mormon questions seventeen years ago. But I remember.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remembering is an interesting thing. It is a frequent charge we are given in the Scriptures. According to my search of the online topic index of the Scriptures, the word appears 167 times in the Old Testament, 36 times in the New Testament, 157 in The Book of Mormon, and 45 times in the Doctrine & Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. The Lord has commanded us to remember over 400 times. What does it mean to remember? While the dictionary defines it as being able to bring to one’s awareness, I think it is much more than that. Just as listening is more than just hearing, but thinking about what is heard, so, too, is remembering more than just recalling. Remembering is a contemplation of those things that have been brought back to one’s awareness. Many of us were taught in Primary as children to search, ponder, and pray about the Scriptures; I would suggest that we ought to search, ponder, and pray about those things which we are commanded to remember. With this in mind, listen to the words of Helaman, an ancient prophet who lived in the Americas over 2,000 years ago, as he gave his final counsel to his sons, Nephi and Lehi, as recorded in the fifth chapter of the Book of Helaman in The Book of Mormon:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> your names ye may </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> them; and when ye </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> them ye may </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> their works; and when ye </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that he cometh to redeem the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now, my sons, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty stormshall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Helaman 5:6, 9-10, 12, emphasis added)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Helman commanded his sons to remember thirteen times. And what did he want them to remember? The faith of their fathers and the redemption that comes only in and through Jesus Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brothers and sisters, have you built your foundation upon the rock of our Redeemer? Is your faith in Him or is it in those around you? Do you have a testimony in and of God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost? Have you read and pondered the Scriptures and asked if their words are true? Have you sought a personal witness that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the “only true and living church upon the face of the earth with which the Lord is well pleased”? (See Doctrine and Covenants, 1:30.) Strengthened and supported by this faith, have you been able to withstand the blows of the devil, standing steadfast and immovable in Christ, the Lord Omnipotent? (See Mosiah 5:15.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps some of you are listening to me now and thinking, “Of course, Brother Valencic! I have never doubted, never questioned, never waivered!” I feel confident, however, that many, if not all, of you have had experiences like mine, when something has been presented to you that made you question and doubt whether any of it was ever real, if even for a moment. Please know that this does not make you unworthy of God’s love or His blessings. I testify that your Heavenly Father is not disappointed in or angry with you when you waiver. He knows that we walk by faith and not by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). He also knows that it is through the trial of faith that we pass through the refiner’s fire and emerge stronger than ever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me close with one other scripture, this from the 6th section of the Doctrine & Covenants, verses 22-23. Here Oliver Cowdery, scribe for the Prophet Joseph Smith, Second Elder of the church, and one of the Three Witnesses of The Book of Mormon, had been questioning his calling and his testimony, despite all he had seen and witnessed, including angelic ministrations. Here is what the Lord said to him:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you find yourself doubting, I challenge you to do as Oliver Cowdery did and cast your mind upon the times in the past when you have felt the Lord speak peace to your mind. Grasp hold of those things as you plead with the Lord to help you. Turn to your Branch President, to your Stake President. They and their counselors love you, they pray for you, and they have been called of God to serve and help you. I testify that I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the way back to His presence, and that He has given us prophets and apostles in our day to guide us. Search the Scriptures, pray often, and trust in the Lord your God with all your heart, acknowledging Him in all thy ways (see Proverbs 3:5-6). As you do these things, I bear my witness that you will be better able to both recognise and remember times you have felt the love of the Lord in your life. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.</span></div>
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-29677357242145902072018-02-18T18:46:00.001-06:002018-02-18T18:46:11.438-06:00A New Chapter<div>
I have started writing this blog post half a dozen times. I keep struggling with knowing how to start it. I'm still not sure how I want to do it, but I am hoping that if I just keep typing then, somehow, something coherent will come out of it. I don't know. Maybe I will end up deleting all of this. Maybe I will end up deleting the entire blog post. Or maybe I won't. I guess I'll know in a few minutes when I finish writing this.</div>
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I guess I should start with the beginning. Well, maybe not the very beginning, but at least the beginning of this story. It starts when I was nearly eight years old and I had a decision to make. The decision was whether or not I wanted to be baptised and confirmed as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After I made the decision to be baptised, I was then asked to make another decision: who would do the baptising.</div>
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For many young Latter-day Saints, this is an easy decision; they ask their fathers to do it. I certainly could have asked my father. He had the Priesthood authority to do so and had baptised almost all of my older brothers. But there's the kicker: almost. You see, my oldest brother, Tom, was a Priest in our church, which means he was able to perform baptisms. (Confirmations, however, have to be performed by someone who is an Elder or a High Priest.) My brother Adam, who is two years older than me, was born eight years to the day after my brother Tom was born, and so Tom baptised Adam. For whatever reason, I decided I wanted my oldest brother to baptise me, as well. My father, who was an Elder in the church at the time, performed my confirmation.</div>
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Four years later, I was given the opportunity to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained to the office of a Deacon. Two years later, I was ordained as a Teacher, and then two years after that, I followed the examples of many of my brothers and was ordained as a Priest. (I suppose this is where I pause to explain that, in the LDS church, we have a lay priesthood; young men between the ages of 12 and 18 are part of the Aaronic Priesthood; men over the age of 18 are part of the Melchizedek Priesthood.)</div>
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After I had turned 18 and graduated from high school, I was given the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordained as an Elder. And here's an interesting quirk: every man in the church who is part of the Melchizedek Priesthood can trace his "line of authority" going back all the way to Jesus Christ Himself. For my brothers, when my father ordained them, he was an Elder, and so their line of authority followed that specific line. For me, though, Dad had been ordained as a High Priest a year or so earlier and so my line of authority follows that line, instead.</div>
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About a week ago or so, I got a text message from a member of my Stake Presidency (the ecclesiastical body that oversees our stake, or group of 10 congregations) asking if he could meet with me and my wife. He asked me if I would accept a call to serve on the High Council, which the body of High Priests who support the Stake Presidency by providing support, instruction, and training to the wards and branches (congregations) and auxiliary organisations in the church locally. I willingly accepted this call, knowing that it meant a few things:</div>
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First and foremost, I would need to be ordained as a High Priest. Second of all, I would need to transition out of my responsibility as Cubmaster and take on a supporting role in our Cub Scout program. Third, I would be giving up singing in my ward choir because I will be gone on different assignments on many Sundays.</div>
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I was asked if I had someone I would like to ordain me. My initial response was, "Well, I wish I could have my dad do it, but he passed away about a year ago, so I would like to ask my oldest brother, Tom, to do it." I was given permission to do so and then made a couple of phone calls. First I called my mom and told her about this new calling. We talked for about half an hour or so and then I called Tom. The conversation went something like this: "Hey, bro, what are the chances you could make a trip to Champaign in the next week or so to ordain your baby brother as a High Priest? I've been asked to serve on the High Council." He quickly checked his schedule, determined he could, and made the arrangements.</div>
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And so it was that last night he came to our house from Kansas City, Missouri. He took me and Gretchen out to dinner and then he and I stayed up for several hours, talking about just random things: Scouting, church, the Priesthood, funny videos on YouTube, family. Like I said, random stuff. Then this morning he went to church with us. My mother and baby sister drove in from Washington to be there. Gretchen's parents and two siblings in the area came, also. Tom ordained me as a High Priest and then I was set apart as a member of the High Council. Because Dad was the one who ordained Tom, my Priesthood line of authority is almost identical to the Priesthood line I had as an Elder. The only change is the insertion of my brother's name in that line. To bring it all full circle, I also wore the tie that used to be Dad's that I got right before his funeral.</div>
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Tom went with me to my first ever meeting with group of High Priests in my ward. (The High Priests meet separately from the members of the Elders Quorum.) My father-in-law, who is also a High Priest, was there, too. I was definitely the youngest person in the group, but I was welcomed warmly and included in the discussions we had. It felt right.</div>
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I won't know until this coming Thursday what specific assignments I will be given as a High Councilor. I don't know what the Lord has in store for me. I do know that this was not something I would have ever expected, but I feel confident that it is what God wants me to do, for however long it is He wants me to do it.</div>
Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-3408454287073453262017-10-29T19:14:00.000-05:002017-10-29T19:14:22.614-05:00Genealogy, Family History, and Temple WorkThose who know I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (i.e., I am a Mormon), may know that we seem to place a large emphasis on not our living families but also our family histories. The LDS church is known for its extensive Family History Libraries and Centers throughout the world, for its free online program, FamilySearch, and maybe even our partnering with the International Genealogical Index to digitise census, birth, marriage, and death records.<span class="”fullpost”"></span>
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Growing up in the church, I never really did much with family history. Sure, from time to time I would write out a four or five generation pedigree chart, but I didn't know my family's stories. (There were a lot of reasons for this that I won't go into here, but suffice it to say that there were a lot of hard feelings when my parents left Pennsylvania and then left the church they had both been raised in.)</div>
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As a young adult, I first began to dabble in family history when I was asked to lead and coordinate temple and family history work in my student congregation while at the University of Illinois. I found joy in my service and loved being able to arrange ways for my friends to go to the temple regularly and to help them find resources for learning their own family histories, but it genealogy still wasn't something that totally grabbed my attention.</div>
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About two years ago, the LDS church announced that all members of the church would be given free access to ancestry.com. Gretchen and I both eagerly signed up and began digging through archival records online, building our respective family trees. And then the Spirit of Elijah finally hit me. I felt my heart turned to my fathers (and mothers) and frequently called home to tell Mum or Dad about something I had found out or ask them if they knew about such-and-such ancestor. I realised that there are stories hidden in the census reports if you read them carefully, like the fact that both of grandmothers found themselves helping to raise and support their brothers and sisters after their mothers had passed away at a relatively early age. Stories about marriage, childbirth, infant loss, divorce, second and third marriages, moving across town or across the country: all of these were found in documents that were, on the surface, simply lists of names, dates, and places.</div>
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I started connecting the records I found on Ancestry to my FamilySearch account and coordinating temple work with my oldest brother. (A side note about temple work: In the LDS church, we believe that men and women are taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the next life if they have not had the opportunity to accept it in this, and that we can act as proxies to vicariously perform ordinances such as baptism on their behalf so that they can accept the ordinances in the next life.) Within the church, members often talk of taking "names" to the temple. I realised something, though: I don't do that. In fact, I have long since stopped taking names to the temple, although I try to go to the temple to worship as often as circumstances allow. (Temple worship is different from our regular Sunday services and takes place in temples instead of meetinghouses.)</div>
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After Dad passed away this past February, my family was blessed to come into contact with a professional genealogist who has collected and digitised thousands of records from Slovenia. Finally, after years of only knowing the names of my great-great-grandparents, Andrew Valencic and Josephine Barbish or Nadah (we didn't know for sure what her maiden name was), we were given access to several more generations and family members we never knew about. For the past seven months or so, I have been collecting and organising digital records of my family on all sides: Valencics, yes, but also Szymkowiaks, Wilsons, and Tesslers, not to mention the Potocnis, Barczykowskis, Bards, and Harchicks.</div>
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In Sunday School today, I was asked to prepare a few thoughts about genealogy, family history, and temple work. (This blog post represents a greatly expanded version of what I shared.) One thing I wanted to emphasise was the point I made above: I don't prepare or take names to the temple. No, I prepare and take family members to the temple. They are not just names on a screen or on a card; they are real people with real stories that mean something of great value to me and, I hope, to the rest of my family.</div>
Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-78097056897088836662017-07-26T16:24:00.001-05:002017-07-26T16:24:20.085-05:00Wend Your WayJuly is a special month for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the month we celebrate Pioneer Day: July 24, 1847. This was the day that the first party of Mormon refugees arrived in the Salt Lake Valley and Brigham Young, then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, looked upon the desert and proclaimed, "This is the right place!"<span class="”fullpost”"></span>
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The Latter-day Saints had fled their city of Nauvoo, Illinois, in February 1846, about a year and a half after their prophet and leader, Joseph Smith, Jr., had been assassinated with his brother, Hyrum, in Carthage, Illinois. This was the latest of many migrations the Saints had made in their 16 years as an organised religion. They had moved from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois and, after Joseph's death, sought to find a place where they could worship God "according to the dictates of their own conscience" in peace and freedom. (The Salt Lake Valley was, at the time, a part of Mexico.) After trekking across Iowa with teams of oxen and covered wagons, they settled in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, for the winter of 1846-47. In the spring, the first advance company left, arriving in present-day Utah in July 1847.</div>
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I do not have pioneer ancestors. I do not have pioneer heritage. I have some distant relatives who may have been a part of the pioneer companies, but even those relations are questionable, due to some poor genealogical work done nearly a century ago. (That is a story for another post.) What I do have is a rich spiritual heritage of the faith of these early Latter-day Saints. Growing up in Illinois, the son of Mormon converts, I loved the stories of the pioneers and I continue to find strength in their convictions. One of my favourite stories has to do with a man named William Clayton.</div>
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William Clayton was a member of one of the advance party. When Brigham Young asked him to leave Nauvoo, he left behind his family, including a pregnant wife, Diantha. As the Saints struggled to cross Iowa, Clayton worried about his wife and unborn child. It is reported that, while camping along Locust Creek, he received word from Nauvoo that Diantha had given birth to a healthy baby boy. In his journals, he penned this poem, reflecting that, despite all of their challenges, he and his family would be reunited and all would be well:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Come, come, ye saints, no toil nor labor fear;<br />But with joy wend your way.<br />Though hard to you this journey may appear,<br />Grace shall be as your day.<br />Tis better far for us to strive<br />Our useless cares from us to drive;<br />Do this, and joy your hearts will swell -<br />All is well! All is well!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?<br />'Tis not so; all is right.<br />Why should we think to earn a great reward<br />If we now shun the fight?<br />Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.<br />Our God will never us forsake;<br />And soon we'll have this tale to tell-<br />All is well! All is well!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We'll find the place which God for us prepared,<br />Far away, in the West,<br />Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;<br />There the saints, will be blessed.<br />We'll make the air, with music ring,<br />Shout praises to our God and King;<br />Above the rest these words we'll tell -<br />All is well! All is well!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And should we die before our journey's through,<br />Happy day! All is well!<br />We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;<br />With the just we shall dwell!<br />But if our lives are spared again<br />To see the Saints their rest obtain,<br />Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-<br />All is well! All is well!</span></div>
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This song quickly became an anthem for the Saints as they trekked across the Great Plains, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and made their new homes in the Salt Lake Valley. In my mind, as the journey became tedious or challenging, a rich baritone voice would begin singing the first verse. Other voices would join in, until the entire company was singing, "All is well! All is well!"<br />
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One phrase, though, always grabs my attention: "wend your way." It is such an unusual word, "wend," that I looked it up. To wend is to go in a specific direction, usually by an indirect route. In other words, it is the dogged pursuit of a goal. Wending, to me, is not just making your way there, then; it is making your way there no matter how many twists and turns it takes. And that, to me, is a perfect explanation of what I admire about the early Latter-day Saints as they sought a refuge from persecution. It didn't matter how often they had to backtrack or how many times they had to pick up and leave. They knew what the desires of their hearts were and they sought after that.<br />
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As July draws to an end and the new school year approaches, I hope that I will continually wend my way, fearing no toil nor labor!Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-34383576656636909312017-07-23T09:31:00.002-05:002017-07-23T09:31:46.610-05:00Each Life That Touches Ours for Good<span class="”fullpost”"></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We live in a college town. That means that many of our friends are college students; more particularly, many of them are graduate students. (The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign being a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Classification_of_Institutions_of_Higher_Education" target="_blank">Research I institution</a>.) What this means for us is that many of these dear friends come into our lives for a period of approximately five to seven years and then leave as they accept jobs elsewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gretch and I have now been married for nine years, one month, and three days. (And yes, I am always counting.) Each summer we have said goodbye to friends as they have graduated and moved all over the nation (or occasionally even overseas). But this summer seems to have been particularly jarring, likely because many of our friends who have moved were people we helped move in and welcomed to our community, especially our faith community. They have been the best of friends; in fact, many of them are like family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I have dealt with the emotional roller coaster that has accompanied these departures, I have been comforted by the words of Karen Lynn Davidson's beautiful hymn, <i>Each Life That Touches Ours for Good</i>, written in 1985 and published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' hymnal of that same year, that has perfectly captured the many thoughts and feelings I have had over the past several months:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Each life that touches ours for good</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thou sendest blessings from above</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thru words and deeds of those who love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What greater gift dost thou bestow,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What greater goodness can we know</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When such a friend from us departs,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We hold forever in our hearts</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A sweet and hallowed memory,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For worthy friends whose lives proclaim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Devotion to the Savior's name,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Who bless our days with peace and love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.</span></div>
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To all of our friends who have departed, know that you are not to be forgotten! And, in the words of another beloved hymn, God be with you 'til we meet again!Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-32224602110894850012017-03-23T09:01:00.000-05:002017-03-23T09:01:55.899-05:00Presidential Budget Cuts<i>[NOTE: This is an email I sent to my United States Representative, Rodney Davis, regarding President Donald Trump's budget proposal.]</i><span class="”fullpost”"></span>
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Dear Representative Davis:</div>
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I've been reading through Pres. Trump's budget proposal and I am just getting angrier and angrier. I am a fiscal conservative who believes strongly in a smaller, smarter, more efficient federal government that returns power to local and state governments and clears a path for non-governmental organizations to make lasting, sustainable changes in our communities.</div>
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The problem I have with this budget is simple: it doesn't do any of these things. It will not result in a more efficient government, it will result in just confusion. It will not empower state and local governments, it will harm them by removing resources and support. It won't clear a path for NGOs, it will make it more complicated.</div>
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Here is one example that I directly impacts our community in the 13th Congressional District: the elimination of the Sea Grant program. This is a collaborative project that involves the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Commerce, and 33 colleges and universities, including the University of Illinois as part of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. Among many other things, the Sea Grant program helps maintain access to safe drinking water, provides means to research and collaborate on protecting and conserving our nation's seaways and coasts. The Sea Grant also provides training for educators such as myself to better teach students about the ecology of our water systems and how they impact our environment and our community.</div>
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So many of Pres. Trump's budget cuts are for programs that have very little impact on the overall federal budget but have a very large impact on their people they will affect. Instead of eliminating programs that impact the health and safety of our neighbours, I am asking that you vote against Pres. Trump's budget and instead work with your fellow House Representatives to formulate a budget that will result in a smarter, smaller, more efficient federal government.</div>
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-32260765719075068062017-03-23T08:49:00.000-05:002017-04-02T10:28:42.121-05:00H.R. 610 - The Choices in Education Act 2017<i>[NOTE: This is a letter I recently sent to my United States Representative, Rodney Davis, in regards to H.R. 610, a bill recently introduced in Congress. Much of the text was inspired by a Facebook post that I modified and then shared publicly. Feel free to use this text as a template for your own letters to your Representatives if you feel so inclined to contact them.]</i><br />
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Dear Rep. Davis:<br />
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I am writing to you in regards to H.R. 610, the so-called “Choices in Education Act of 2017.” It may sound like having a school voucher system is a good idea. As a fiscal conservative, I believe there are many instances in which competition and choice improves the overall quality of the organization, program, or system. However, public education should never be about pitting one class, one school, one district, or one state against another. Public education is about teaching all children in all settings. This is enshrouded in our Illinois State Constitution, which states in Article X Section 1: "A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the educational development of all persons to the limits of their capacities."<br />
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But H.R. 610 doesn't just allow parents the option to choose any school they want their children to go to; it will also result in completely dismantling the public education program as we know it. This bill would start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17 and, in the process, defund public schools by by removing crucial fiscal support for students who receive services such as special education and early childhood education. These groups of students are often among the least served in private schools, and yet the proposed voucher system will take money from public schools and give it to private schools, many of which not only charge tuition but also operate as for-profit entities.<br />
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Even more concerning to me, as an educator, than the funding inequities is that this bill will eliminate the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), which is the nation's educational law that provides equal opportunity in education for all students. (It was reauthorized under President George .W. Bush as No Child Left Behind and again under President Barack Obama as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Repealing ESEA/ESSA without replacing it removes every safeguard and guarantee you have to protect your child's rights as a student and your rights as a parent.<br />
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Rep. Davis, surely you know that ESSA, a bill you voted for, is the comprehensive law that covers programs for struggling learners, advanced and gifted students in AP classes, bilingual, dual language, and English-language learning classes, provides resources for rural education, requires schools to teach students who are homeless, promotes school safety, authorizes monitoring and compliance of federal law, requires teachers to be qualified in their fields, provides funding for research, supports school libraries, encourages the use of 21st century technologies, and promotes family engagement (including the idea that parents should be a part of the decision-making process in schools). H.R. 610 has no wording whatsoever protecting students with special needs because, even though the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires it, repealing ESSA eliminates the ability to monitor and enforce it. All of these are safeguards that directly impact your constituents; the families in the communities you represent.<br />
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Finally, H.R. 610 would also abolish the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. Regardless of how much your kids complain about school lunches, the No Hungry Kids Act not only ensures they are receiving nutritious food, but it also makes it possible for food insecure families to feed their children at least two solid meals a day. Again, I am not talking about theoretical children in distant lands; I am talking about children in the communities you represent whose families rely on this program to make sure their children are well-fed and able to learn while at school so that their parents can focus on job-training and job-seeking as they try to improve their situations.<br />
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Please vote NO on H.R. 610. This isn't about political party; it is about doing what is best for the students of our nation, our state, and our communities. As always, I welcome you to visit my classroom to meet my students, see what they are learning, and talk about education with teachers in your congressional district.<br />
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UPDATE! I received the following replay from Representative Davis:<br />
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<tr><td colspan="3" style="font-family: serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 25px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Dear Mr. Valencic,<br /><br />Thank you for contacting my office regarding H.R.610, which would distribute Federal funds in the form of school vouchers. I appreciate hearing from constituents in my district and the time you took to share your thoughts.<br /><br />I share your concerns with private school vouchers and the quality of education received by students who utilize them. I believe funding for education is critical to investing in our nation's future, and when it comes to improving education, Congress must work together to get the job done. As you may know, H.R. 610 would repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. I voted for ESEA Reauthorization in the 114th Congress and therefore cannot support H.R. 610. I will continue to fight for federal education policies that empower our local administrators, teachers and parents so they can provide for the needs of their schools and students. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as I continue to closely monitor this piece of legislation and education issues.<br /><br />Please let me know if my office can be of assistance to you in the future. If you are facing a challenge with a federal agency or are planning a trip to our nation's capital and would like a tour, please call my office or visit my website. In addition, if you would like to stay informed on what is happening in Washington, DC and around the 13th District, please sign up to receive my e-newsletter by visiting <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://rodneydavis.house.gov/contact/newsletter&source=gmail&ust=1491232976703000&usg=AFQjCNHduoplHNGAqYVvcu25aL8E1aOa_A" href="https://rodneydavis.house.gov/contact/newsletter" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://rodneydavis.house.gov/<wbr></wbr>contact/newsletter</a>. It is truly an honor to represent you.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="font-family: serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px;">Sincerely,<br /><img alt="(signed)" class="CToWUd" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhh5vKFYVhDBIfZD1l4twqoUGeCIoxFhr7u5KyQlUT0_8bSyj7t1AaGUNFlopHZvkCqLCSnKDsodX-YvLYO8miHvWrXxhRjMZgR3jtTsb_YLjNYv9Nqjl7qhXtdnCC3zXKrNzXVpGnDgaVUwoIHZFNBOTrSVxhrJ2fXDQL4Cw=s0-d-e1-ft" /><br />Rodney Davis<br />Member of Congress</span></td></tr>
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-3627039650516051232017-02-02T16:28:00.001-06:002017-02-04T07:25:54.496-06:00Secretary of Education for the United States of America, Part II<i>[The following is an email I sent to Senator Rob Portman, R-OH, friend and close ally of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whom I supported throughout the Republican presidential primary campaign. I sent a similar message to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL. As with my letters to Sen. Duckworth and Sen. Durbin, I share because I think it is important to make my voice heard as clearly as possible on the issues that matter most to me.]</i><br />
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Dear Senator Portman,</div>
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I recognise that I am not a constituent of yours. I have never lived in Ohio and the likelihood of that ever happening is slim. However, I have been a great admirer of yours ever since your friend, and the man I supported in the Republican presidential campaign from Day One, Gov. John Kasich, stood by you. I have spent considerable energy learning more about you, examining your positions on the issues that matter most to me, and believe I would have voted for you if given the chance.</div>
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It is with this in mind that I reach out to you, not as a constituent, nor as a donor, but as an American citizen, a conservative, a Republican, and, perhaps most importantly in this matter, as an educator.</div>
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I believe in public education. I have taught in public schools in east central Illinois for nine years. I am the product of public schools. I value the experiences I received from them and would not trade them for anything in the world. However, I was also fortunate to attend schools in a strong middle-class community. Poverty was not an issue for us and our schools were strong. I know many who were not so fortunate. As an educator, I have watched the rise of charter schools and the school choice movement grow and I have not been opposed. There are many great charter schools in our nation that work side by side the public schools in their communities to provide students greater choice and greater access to the type of education that is best for them. While I have disagreed with some of their decisions, I have watched as experts in education leadership have guided the growth of charter schools. One such expert is former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee. If she had been nominated for the position of Secretary of Education, I would have gladly stood with her.</div>
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I am gravely concerned, however, by the notion that Mrs. Betsy DeVos, someone who has never attended public schools, who has never worked in public schools, and has never been a part of school leadership should be considered qualified to lead our nation's top education policymaking department. Senator Portman, Betsy DeVos may want more local control for schools, which is admirable, but she is not qualified to lead the Department of Education. I am begging you, imploring you, to back away from your decision to vote to confirm her for this position that will impact the lives of over 67 million children and young adults in our nation's public K-12 and higher education institutions.</div>
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Senator Portman, you have made a name for yourself as being a man of integrity. The time to do what is right is always now. Please do what is best for education and tell President Trump to send the Senate a nominee who can lead the Department of Education with knowledge, experience, and expertise.</div>
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Yours most sincerely,</div>
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~Alexander T. Valencic</div>
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Fourth Grade Teacher</div>
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Wiley Elementary School</div>
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Urbana School District #116</div>
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Urbana, Champaign, Illinois<br />
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-64107276257715805502017-01-18T18:03:00.002-06:002017-02-02T16:28:53.520-06:00Secretary of Education for the United States of America<i>[The following is a letter I sent to both Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, my United States Senators, as well as Senator Lamar Alexander, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, regarding the upcoming confirmation hearing for Mrs. Betsy DeVos, President-Elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education. I share it here because I think it is important to stand up for what I believe in, whether it is popular with others or not.]</i><br />
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Dear Senator,<br />
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I write to you as a fourth grade teacher in Urbana, Illinois, and as a future administrator of a public school somewhere in our state. By way of biographical background, I am a registered Republican election judge and have cast my ballot for members of that party more often than I have cast ballots for members of your own party. I share my political views because I think it is important for you to know that many of your constituents, regardless of political affiliation, are alarmed by the prospect of President-Elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, being confirmed by the United States Senate.<br />
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Mrs. DeVos has made her name in education by funneling vast sums of money into campaigns and initiatives that have promoted charter schools in her home state of Michigan. I am not opposed to charter schools; in fact, I believe they have a place in our nation's public school system to promote innovation and to serve as laboratories for testing and implementing research-based practices. However, I do not believe Mrs. DeVos is right for this job. The Unites States Secretary of Education is an individual who should have experience at multiple levels of education, from the classroom to administration. He or she should have advanced degrees in education, including a doctoral degree in education policy and/or organizational leadership, which would show others that the candidate knows and understands education research, knows how to conduct that research, and knows how to connect research to practice.<br />
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Additionally, the Secretary of Education ought to be willing to lead the Department in becoming a clearinghouse of resources for states, districts, schools, and individual teachers, at all levels from early childhood through college and adult learning, to access when they are looking to improve their teaching practices and policies. The department should be funding research and innovation. This is especially true for charter schools, that have become something much different than what they were originally intended. (Charters were meant to be a way for a district to try out an innovative model and, if it was successful, expand it. Instead, they have become public-private schools with little to no accountability.)<br />
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For the next four years, I want a Department of Education that will either slow the pace or halt the release of new initiatives so that the ones currently in place across the nation can be implemented with fidelity. This includes the Common Core State Standards (not federal policy, but influenced by federal decisions), #GoOpen and #FutureReady (two major technology initiatives), and ESSA. I also want the department to come up with real, practicable solutions to the student loan debt crisis that we are facing, whether that is by creating an expanded path to loan forgiveness, lowered interest rates, or incentives for universities to provide more access to scholarships. I don't know the solution, but I do know that there needs to be a real discussion about that. Ultimately, I am looking for a Secretary of Education who will set aside ego and lead the Department in doing what is actually best for the children of this nation. I believe there are many men and women in this nation who can fill this role; I do not believe Mrs. Betsy DeVos is such a person and thus I ask that you vote against her confirmation.<br />
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-3008997524218720812016-08-06T10:25:00.001-05:002016-08-06T16:01:08.214-05:00Thoughts on Mosiah 18 on the Day of Your Baptism<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">[I was asked to give a talk this morning for a young friend's baptism. In the LDS church, children may choose to be baptised when they are eight years old. Later in the day, one of nephews chose to enter the covenant of baptism, also. What follows is the message I shared with my young friend and what I would have said to my nephew if he had asked.]</span><br style="color: rgb(108, 97, 89); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Today is your Baptism Day. As a child who has been raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you have heard about this day at least once or twice a week every week for your entire life. For the past few months, you’ve probably been talking about this every day. That means that you’ve heard about or talked about baptism nearly a thousand times by now. My point, other than showing that math is something we use every day, is that there is probably very little I can say that you’ve haven’t heard yet. However, as you asked me to share a few thoughts, so here we are.</span></div><div><br></div><div>When it comes to baptism, there is probably no scripture cited by members of the church more than the few short verses found in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah, chapter 18, verses 8-10. Here Alma was teaching a group of people the Gospel message as he had learned it and was challenging each of them to cast self-interest and pride. As part of this challenge, he said the following:</div><div><br></div><div><i>And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; </i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?</i></div><div><br></div><div>Alma had to explain the baptismal covenant, but when he did it, he was pointed out that they were already doing those things! I’d like to do the same thing, focusing on the first part. But instead of asking this as a question like Alma did, I am simply going to ask you to think about how you have done these things:</div><div><br></div><div><i>“...as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people,...”</i></div><div><br></div><div>How do you do this? By going to church, by participating in your classes and in Primary Sharing Time, by reading the Scriptures with your family, and by praying frequently and regularly. (Yes, we often joke in church that these are “Primary answers.” That’s because they are fundamental!</div><div><br></div><div><i>“...and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;...”</i></div><div><br></div><div>How do you help to bear another’s burdens? What does that even mean? To me, it means helping someone when they are struggling. It may be a physical burden, such as carrying in the groceries. But it may also be an emotional burden, such as worrying about an upcoming project or test or worried that a friend is mad at them. Bearing one another’s burdens is simply being kind to others.</div><div><br></div><div><i>“...yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort,...”</i></div><div><br></div><div>To mourn is to feel great sorrow, or sadness. When you notice that your mom is sad, do you feel sad for her, too? Do you give her a hug and let her know that you love her? Likewise, we comfort others by once again choosing to be kind or, more specifically, as author J.M. Barrie once wrote, choosing to be kinder than is necessary.</div><div><br></div><div><i>“... and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in…”</i></div><div><br></div><div>Now, I don’t think Alma was saying that you should formally bear your testimony everywhere you go. But you should be living your life in such a way that others look at you and see the light of the Gospel in your words and your actions. As another author, Christopher Nolan, once wrote, and I am paraphrasing here, when you are with others, they should “see the face of God in human form. It will glimmer in your kindness to others, it will glow in your awareness of others’ needs, it will be hinted at in your caring.”</div><div><br></div><div>It seems to me, then, that your responsibility, once you are baptised, is to be kind to others. It seems simple, but there will be times when it is challenging. Your baptismal covenant isn’t to be perfect in doing these things, though; it is to be willing to do them. It is my testimony, my witness, and my promise, as one who entered into this same covenant some twenty-five years ago, that as your trust in the Lord and seek His help, you will be blessed with His Spirit to guide you. And remember that you have family, friends, and teachers to help you, also. We are so proud of you for taking this first step that I pray will be a lifetime of Christlike service and discipleship.</div><div><br></div>Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-75585402462311181742016-07-13T16:00:00.000-05:002016-07-13T16:00:52.879-05:00Scouting: Prepared. For Life.Scouting has been a part of my life since I was eight years old and joined a Wolf Den while attending the Peoria (Illinois) Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shortly after, my family started attending church in Morton, Illinois, and I joined Pack 229, which then led me to Troop 229. I earned my Eagle, the highest rank possible in the Boy Scouts of America, in 2001, right before my 18th birthday. This was a huge challenge for me and required me to leap over several hurdles, including not learning how to swim until I was 16, coordinating a blood drive for the American Red Cross, and taking on leadership roles in my Troop. After earning my Eagle and graduating from high school, I didn't do anything else with the Boy Scouts of America again until September 2010, when I began serving as Webelos Den Leader, which I did for three years.<br />
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As a Webelos Den Leader, I had primary responsibility for making sure my boys were ready to cross over into Boy Scouts. We went on hikes, learned about the community, performed service, made videos, and guided the boys in exploring personal interests. During this time I was also the unofficial Assistant Cubmaster, helping two different Cubmaster plan pack meetings and filling in for him when he was unable to attend. The first Cubmaster was my very good friend Noah, who served in the position for slightly more than two years. The second Cubmaster was another friend of mine, Joseph, who only served for a year before given a new responsibility within our church, which is the chartered organisation for our unit. (For those who may not be aware, within the LDS church, ecclesiastical leaders select BSA leaders as a church assignment.)<br />
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On July 31, 2013, I took on a new role as the Cubmaster of Pack 111. This put me in charger of six Den Leaders and about two dozen Cub Scouts. For the first two years, I did not have a very reliable Committee Chair, so I essentially fulfilled that role, as well. (I have an amazing Chair now who has made my life so much easier!) As Cubmaster, I learned to navigate interpersonal conflicts, provide a program that appeals to boys between the ages of 8 and 10, took on parent criticism and adapted as needed, and learned the ins and outs of running a quality unit. I have also learned how important it is to delegate responsibilities to others, including my Den Leaders, Committee members, parents, and a good friend who has become my Assistant Cubmaster in charge of the annual Pinewood Derby.</div>
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A memory that will always stay with me when I first started as Cubmaster was when I completed our recharter application for 2014 and submitted--two months late. I went to the Scout Office and apologised profusely for our tardiness. The response I received was like a knife to the heart. Linda looked at me, shrugged, and said, "It's okay; we are used to the LDS units being late." I made a promise to myself right there and then that I would never hear those words again and made it a personal goal to do all I could to make our LDS units exemplars in the community.</div>
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While continuing to serve in as Cubmaster, I also took on the role of a Unit Commissioner in January, 2015 and joined the District Committee of the Prairie Fire District, finally getting more involved with the Scouting community at large. As a Unit Commissioner, I keep an eye on a local Cub Scout unit, Pack 147, and make sure their leaders are aware of resources and training in the area. I also provide advice and counsel as needed. As a member of the District Committee, I help coordinate the district-wide program and offer insights and ask questions to guide our leadership. </div>
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A year later I was asked to take on a new role within the district committee: Vice Chair - LDS. This gave me primary responsibility with coordinating the Scouting program for the different LDS units in our district. This has made it possible for me to share information with our church leaders about the Scouting program and direct them to resources that will help us improve the quality of our program. This was something that I was already doing through informal conversations with fellow Scouters, but this role gave me the authority of the BSA Council when encouraging changes that could strengthen our units and improve the Scouting experience for the boys and young men.<br />
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As of today, I have one more hat to wear as Scout leader: Assistant District Commissioner. I will be helping our District Commissioner supervise the unit commissioners in our district, especially those assigned to the LDS units (one pack, three troops, a varsity team, and a venturing crew). I will also work with her more generally to identify and recruit new leaders for units throughout the district.<span class="”fullpost”"></span>
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I am proud to be a leader in the Boy Scouts of America. I believe in the mission of Scouting. I personally have benefited from Scouting and internalising the Scout Oath, Law, and Motto. As the BSA has printed on all of their materials, the Boy Scouts of America gives opportunities for boys, families, and leaders to be prepared. For life.</div>
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Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-33526776103425286352016-07-03T18:55:00.001-05:002016-07-03T18:57:43.818-05:00More, Save Jesus Only[I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting on June 26 about the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith, Jr. I chose to focus on the doctrines of the Gospel that were restored through Joseph, drawing from the Articles of Faith and other latter-day scripture. What follows is a fairly accurate transcript of my message.]<br />
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“More, Save Jesus Only”</div>
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Sacrament Meeting Talk - 26 June 2016</div>
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June 27, 1844 was a dark day for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their beloved prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brother, Hyrum, had been arrested and taken to jail, again, just three days earlier, this time on charges of inciting riot after Joseph, as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, had ordered the printing press used by the Nauvoo Expositor destroyed after the paper was used to print slanderous stories about Joseph and other Church leaders, as well as treason against the State of Illinois. Accompanying Joseph and Hyrum at Carthage were two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: John Taylor and Willard Richards. Around 5 pm on this tragic day a mob of about 150 to 200 persons stormed the jail and attacked the men within. Hyrum was shot and killed first, trying to hold the door shut. Joseph attempted to hold the attackers off by firing a pistol into the hallway. John Taylor sought to deflect the barrels of the guns that made it through the doorway by hitting them with his walking stick. As the mob pushed through the door, Willard struck at the men with his cane. John was shot in the thigh as he attempted to leap from the second story window, and was then shot three more times as he took cover under the bed. Joseph, too, tried to jump from the window but was shot from both within and without and fell to the ground, his last words crying, “O Lord, my God!”<br />
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Sometime later, a tribute to the slain prophet was written and published as the final section of the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which contained many of the revelations given to Joseph Smith. (Subsequent editions of this book of Scripture have included revelations and declarations from some of Joseph’s successors, including Brigham Young, Joseph F. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, and Spencer W. Kimball.) Although many later editions of the Doctrine and Covenants attributed Section 135, as it is known, to John Taylor, the 2013 edition removed the attribution, as recent research found that it is likely that many authors collaborated on the tribute. Whoever wrote it, I have long treasured this loving proclamation regarding Joseph’s prophetic mission: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!” This verse includes one short sentence that, in my opinion, is one of the boldest statements ever made about any prophet, living or dead. It is this: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”<br />
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What a statement to make! When we think of the great prophets of old, we think of men such as Adam, who fathered the human race; Noah, who saved mankind from a flood; Abraham, the recipient of Jehovah’s great covenant; Jacob, father of the twelve tribes of Israel; Moses, the great deliverer and lawgiver; and Isaiah, the seer who prophesied of both the birth of Christ and the Last Days. And yet we claim that Joseph not only belongs in their company, but that he actually did more than any of them in bringing about the salvation of men. As I pondered this phrase, I asked a small assembly of fellow Latter-day Saints (namely, five of my in-laws, who are hopefully not yet regretting inviting us over for Sunday dinners) what they thought this meant. The first answer, unanimously agreed upon by all assembled, was that Joseph was the instrument used to bring about the restoration of the Gospel in our day. But since Bro. Goode asked me to speak for about 15 to 20 minutes, and I realised that this answer was not quite sufficient for my needs, I turned to the Church’s Gospel Topics page, hoping to find a list of unique beliefs and practices within the Church that I could point to as evidence. However, that list covers over 250 topics and that would take far more time than Bro. Goode has given me. (Besides which, I need to save something for my Youth Sunday School class!) Fortunately, there was one other source to consider: the Articles of Faith. In thirteen short statements, Joseph Smith himself explained some of the core beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<br />
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It needs to be noted that many of these core beliefs are not, in fact, unique to Latter-day Saints. For example, other Christians believe in the members of the Godhead (God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost). There are many Christians who reject the notion of Original Sin. All Christians believe that salvation comes only in and through Jesus Christ. Many recognise the need for faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Spirit in their lives. I have many dear friends who felt called of God to preach the Gospel. While on my mission, I met a man who showed me a document certifying that he was an apostle. I have met others who claimed to be prophets. Others who are pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. A belief in the gifts of tongues, prophecy, revelations, visions, healings, interpretation of tongues, and so forth are found in many Christian churches throughout the world. We are not alone in claiming the Bible to be the Word of God, nor are we alone in believing that God has, does, and will reveal his will to us. All Christians look forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and his glorious millennial reign on earth. The privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience is a protected right within our nation and hundreds of millions lay claim to it. We are definitely part of a vast majority that believes in honouring, sustaining, and obeying the laws of men. And surely we do not have a monopoly on being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, lovely, and in doing good to all men! And yet, there are doctrines within these statements of belief that truly are unique and truly do support the claim that Joseph Smith, through the restoration of the Gospel, helped to secure the salvation of man in a way that no other had. I would like to briefly discuss some of these.<br />
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<i>“We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”</i> As Latter-day Saints, we know that these three beings are separate divine entities, united in one purpose. We reject the complex, convoluted, and confusing claims that these three are somehow all the same being. We shun the philosophies of men that were voted on in a council that defined God as unknowable and incomprehensible. Instead, we embrace the glorious truth that God our Heavenly Father is a divine personage of flesh and bone, who sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to live, to die, and to rise again for us. We accept the gift and power of the Holy Ghost in our lives and welcome that divine guidance as we navigate this mortal life. And we know of these truths because a young boy, barely in his teens, thought to faithfully pray and ask God to reveal His will to him. It is because of Joseph Smith that we know not only the nature of God, but the nature of mankind as His children, capable of becoming as our Father in Heaven is.<br />
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<i>“We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.”</i> What does it mean to be in authority? To have authority? What, for that matter, is authority? I love etymology: the study of the meanings of words. “Authority” has two parts: the root word, “author,” which means “one who sets forth, create, establishes” and “-ity,” a suffix that means “the condition or quality of being.” Thus “authority” is “the condition of being one who establishes.” In other words, authority is the ability (hear that suffix -ity again?) to establish something. In this case, the validity (again with that suffix!) of the ordinances of the Gospel. As Latter-day Saints, we believe that the ordinances of the Gospel, repentance, confirmation, ordination, endowment, and sealings, are valid not just in this life, but in the life to come, but only if sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Furthermore, we believe that such a seal is only granted if the ordinance is performed by one who has been called and set apart to do so, just as Christ called and set apart His apostles. While others had taught the need for authority, others disagreed and there were bitter divisions for hundreds of years over who did and did not have the right to administer ordinances. It was through Joseph Smith that the keys of the Priesthood, the authority to act in the name of God, were restored. Through these Priesthood keys, the Church as it was established in the days of Christ was also restored. Temples were built, first in Kirtland and then in Nauvoo. After Joseph’s death and the Saints’ exodus to Utah, temples were again built and now dot the earth. When my parents joined the Church in 1977, the nearest temple was in Washington, DC. Visiting the temple was a three-day journey: one day to get there, one day to do as much temple work as possible, and one day to return. Now we can travel three hours and visit one of four different temples. In our temples we learn more about our Heavenly Father’s plan for us, we are endowed with power from on high, we are sealed in sacred ceremonies to our families, and we are able to receive saving ordinances as proxies for those who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel. It is through Joseph Smith that the power and authority of God are on the earth once more.<br />
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Of course, no discussion about the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith can be complete without bringing up the great work of translation he did, namely The Book of Mormon, which stands as an additional witness of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. Translated by the gift and power of God, this sacred volume of scripture is an abridged record of some of God’s children in the Western Hemisphere. I have had the privilege of reading this book many times, so many that I have lost count, in fact, and bear witness that it truly testifies of Christ. While we believe the Bible to be the word of God (as far as it is translated correctly--an important distinction when one considers the fact that there are over one hundred English translations of Bible!), we also believe The Book of Mormon to be the word of God. Held together, with the Stick of Jesse in one hand and the Stick of Joseph in the other, we are able to gain greater insights into our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness. Consider for a moment the teachings found in 2 Nephi chapter 31 verses 14-21:<br />
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<i>But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.<br /><br />And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.<br /><br />And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.<br /><br />Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.<br /><br />And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.<br /><br />And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.<br /><br />Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.<br /><br />And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end.</i><br />
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Faith. Repentance. Baptism. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Enduring to the end by pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Feasting upon the word of Christ. If ever you find yourself wondering what it is you should be doing in your life to draw closer to the Lord, look no further than The Book of Mormon. Despite being an ancient record of a long-departed people, it was written for us in our day. It was through Joseph Smith that this record was brought out of obscurity and darkness and given to mankind as a witness of God’s love for all of His children.<br />
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There is so much more I could say about the truths restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, but I am running short on time. So I would like to stop and share a word of caution. As with any group of people, Latter-day Saints have developed a kind of verbal shorthand when discussing our beliefs and sharing our testimonies. Next week is our Fast and Testimony meeting and it is quite likely that we will hear at least one testimony that sounds something like this: “I’d like to bear my testimony that I know the Church is true. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today.” We honour Joseph Smith as the Prophet of the Restoration. We are grateful for the truths restored through his mission. We know that He was prepared and called of God. We testify that he spent his life in the service of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and that he gave his life in the defense of that service. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget to keep the focus, as Joseph did, on Christ. Let me challenge you to move away from the formulaic statement that puts too much emphasis on the men called to represent our Saviour and instead boldly proclaim, as Joseph did, that “the fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. But in connection with these, we believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power of faith, the enjoyment of the spiritual gifts according to the will of God, the restoration of the house of Israel, and the final triumph of truth.” <br />
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I so testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.<br />
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References/Further Reading<br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/135?lang=eng">https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/135?lang=eng</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/PD10052298/martyrdom-of-joseph-smith_1440564_prt.pdf">https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/PD10052298/martyrdom-of-joseph-smith_1440564_prt.pdf</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/sections-132-138/section-135-a-tribute-to-the-martyrs?lang=eng">https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/sections-132-138/section-135-a-tribute-to-the-martyrs?lang=eng</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/site/explanations-for-the-doctrine-and-covenants-section-headings">http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/site/explanations-for-the-doctrine-and-covenants-section-headings</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1.1-13?lang=eng#1">https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1.1-13?lang=eng#1</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/topics?lang=eng&path=/topics/">https://www.lds.org/topics?lang=eng&path=/topics/</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-3?lang=eng">https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-3?lang=eng</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31">https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31</a></div>
Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-732087801265119014.post-55660955532045076132016-03-27T16:58:00.001-05:002016-07-03T18:28:55.829-05:00Easter: An Holy Celebration<br /><br />I am the Youth Sunday School teacher in my ward, so I have the privilege of teaching the young men and women between the ages of 12 and 18. They are a small group, but they have such wonderful testimonies of the Gospel and of Jesus Christ. They also have many questions as they come to learn more about God's plan for each of them. This morning I shared an Easter lesson that consisted of four short videos with discussions before and after each to help them focus on the purpose of our Easter celebrations. I am going to share all of them here for those who may be interested.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The first video we watched featured words and phrases that we associate with the life and mission of Jesus Christ. I love that this video includes scriptural references that can be used to learn more as we ponder what the Saviour means to us.<br /><br /><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" /><br /><br />The second video we watched focuses on what is possible in our lives because of Him. This was the LDS Church's official Easter video for last year and is still one of my favourite "Mormon Messages" that has been produced.<br /><br /><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" /><br /><br />The third video was the church's Easter message for this year. In traditional Christian liturgy, the forty days between Lent and Easter are days in which the word "hallelujah" is not uttered. However, Latter-day Saints do not follow all of the traditions of the Christian liturgy and so I have been sharing songs and talks about Easter on social media throughout this week, using two hashtags: #hallelujah and #holyweek. (If you go onto Facebook and search either hashtag, you will find my posts mixed with those of others throughout the world. I have not vetted any of the posts from other people, though.)<br /><br /><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" /><br /><br />The final video clip I shared was the testimony of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland regarding the Atonement of Christ. Elder Holland is a man that I believe is an apostle of the Lord, called as a special witness of Jesus Christ. While I treasure the words of all of the men who have served as apostles, I have felt a special connection to the testimony that Elder Holland shares, especially as he has focused his message of compassion.<br /><br /><img src="https://img1.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" /><br /><br />I believe in Christ. I know that He lives. On this sacred Easter day, this is not a day about candy or even a day about family and friends. It is, above all else, an holy celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who partook of that bitter cup and suffered so that we would not need to if we will accept Him and follow His way.Alex T. Valencichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06176742152052333764noreply@blogger.com0