How do we reconcile the fact that we can feel guilty and yet have a divine nature within us

19 January 2018

In response to my friend and former stake member Diana (Ross) Ikoa's question to me how does religion reconcile the fact that religious people can feel guilty (or that they're evil) and at the same time believe they have a divine nature.

Diana,

Nice to see you this morning. Thank you again for trying to help and guide the (name). I hope someday they’ll yet visit with you again.

You asked a deep question this morning that obviously has weighed on you for a long time.

I don’t know that I have an answer that will satisfy you, but believe it or not, religion has an answer…at least the Mormon faith does. I don’t expect you to buy it, but if you want to know how Mormons reconcile the underlying feeling that as humans we’re flawed and yet still divine, here’s how Mormons answer that question. I don’t know how other Christians address it, but Mormons address the conflict from the following perspective.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS

To understand the conflict between our dual natures we must understand some foundational truths as per Mormon doctrines. They are:

• God lives and He is our literal parent, the Father of our spirits. So naturally He loves us, just as we love our own children and grandchildren.

• God is a dual being consisting of a tangible body that houses a spirit. We, too, are so made up with a tangible body and a spirt. The biggest differences are two-fold: (1) He is immortal, we are mortal (vulnerable to disease, pain and ultimately destined to die); (2) He uses his agency to consistently make right choices every time; we are not so wise and quick to obey, we make mistakes (unwise choices).

• We lived with God before coming to this earth. We are the literal spirit offspring of Heavenly parents—Heavenly Father and we suppose a Heavenly Mother, though we know little or nothing about Her. Our Heavenly Father (God) was and is a glorified personage of body and spirit. We were spirits only.

• God loves His children so much He wants us to become like Him, to enjoy an existence with complete joy, happiness, contentment, integrity, wisdom, etc. He wants us to know the joy of being a family inasmuch as we are part of His family.

• For us to become like Him, we must have agency (freedom of choice to learn how to concisely make right choices). We must learn to choose God and His ways over the enticements and temptations of other paths. To learn to do that, we must experience evil, consequences of mistakes, emotional challenges, sometimes illness, and, through our experiences, learn (with His help) to sort through the evil in the world, the challenges of mortality and even natural tendencies to rebel, detest, or even hate and eventually to love completely as He loves and make right choices consistently as He does.

GOD’S PLAN FOR HIS CHILDREN

So how did God put us into that type of “laboratory” experience?

He came up with a Plan, a Plan He introduced to us in the pre-mortal life. As His children, we accepted His plan. We did more than accept His plan, we rejoiced that God had provided a plan for us not only to return to His presence but to ultimately become like Him.

The Plan would only work if there was a Savior. Jesus Christ, the first-born of God’s spirits, stepped forward and accepted that role to become the Christ, to rescue all of God’s children who will accept Him and follow Him. By the way, Satan brought forward another plan—a counterfeit plan--and when we and God rejected that plan, Satan rebelled and has been determined ever since to disrupt and destroy God’s plan.

WHY THERE NEEDED TO BE A FALL

The next step in God's plan for us was for there to be a Fall.

Adam and Eve, the first humans on the Earth, fulfilled that role. They were completely innocent. Like all of us, a veil of forgetfulness was drawn over their minds upon being placed on earth so they, too, must use their agency to choose God and follow Him without seeing Him. That, of course, is the essence of faith.

Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the Earth and, among other things, not to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. Satan, always in rebellion and using half-truths, convinced Eve (and she convinced Adam) to partake of the fruit. Fortunately, Adam and Eve, despite the fact that it was a form of rebellion or disobedience, discovered on their own that is precisely what God needed them to do—to partake of the fruit. 

You see, we believe that God, in His perfect and pure state, could not introduce sin and death into the world and still remain as God. The Fall of Adam and Eve accomplished that for Him. 

There were two significant consequences of the Fall:

• They could now have children. Even though God had commanded them to multiply and replenish, for whatever reason they were not capable of having children (possibly because they were as innocent as little children and did not know how to accomplish that until the Fall, which possibly introduced hormones into their bodies; we don’t know for sure). Thankfully, there was a Fall so all of us could come to Earth and receive a physical, tangible body—like God.

• We could now die. We became mortal. Coming into mortality Adam and Eve were no longer under the close influence of an immortal and glorified God so now Adam and Eve (and all of us) were and are exposed to the temptations, rebellions and evil of Satan’s ways. In a real way, our natures became different—the scriptures describe it that we are naturally inclined to be an “enemy” to God. It doesn’t mean we hate Him, we are naturally inclined to ease, pleasure, sensory excitement, even, at times, sin.

HOW DO WE CHANGE?

This is where the Savior comes in. Through the life and example of Jesus Christ and then His suffering and death and eventually His resurrection, He has shown us the way out of our dilemma—the “trap” we’d be in if there was no Savior.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ provides a way to reverse the effects of the Fall of Adam and Eve in two ways:

1. Because of the Savior’s resurrection, all mankind will be resurrected. So we will all ultimately become like God with an immortal body that houses our spirit—just like God. But we need more than just a body to become like God. We must have a nature like His.

2. Christ, through His own mortal journey—including his intense suffering, paid the price of our sins and mistakes. And, just as important, He felt every pain, every type of suffering of body or spirit that we can ever experience in this life so He knows how to help and heal us through this mortal, painful journey. But we must be willing to listen and accept His help and His rescue.

OUR DUAL NATURES

So that is why Mormons believe we have dual, even conflicting, natures. 

Our mortality has brought us into a fallen world where we are inclined to making mistakes which result in feelings of guilt. As we come to understand and accept the role of Jesus Christ in God’s Plan to rescue us, we discover that truly inside of us is a divine nature—we are the literal offspring of God and our natures begin to change so ultimately we will like what He likes, love like He loves, enjoy what He enjoys and eons down the road actually become like Him.

It is God's plan for his children. As parents and grandparents we can relate to how He feels. We, too, yearn for our own children to experience full and constant joy and happiness.

Again, I don’t expect you to buy this (even though you were once LDS), but I at least wanted you to know that the Mormon faith can reconcile why we all, at some point, wrestle with our dual natures. 

I hope this is helpful. 

Always a pleasure to see you at chamber,

Crismon

Helping a newly called EQ President understand the importance of tithing

13 January 2018

Bishop,

Following up to our visit on the phone this evening…

So you’re aware, had I known what I know now about President (name)'s tithing status, we would have delayed the call or gone in another direction. You don’t need to share that with (name) when you meet with him, but I want you to know that It’s that important that an EQ president be temple worthy so he he speaks with moral authority when he counsels his quorum members.

What concerns me most is that there appears to be an attitude in the (family) that a "delayed confession” is acceptable. They knew all along that they weren’t full tithe payers and likely knew they wouldn’t be by the end of the year. I saw Jay in the temple just last month so he was using his recommend even though he knew he was not worthy.

For them to keep that from you suggests that they had convinced themselves they’d write off the year, make a token effort at the end of the year, confess their failure in tithing settlement and promise to be full tithe payers going forward…and promptly get their temple recommend renewed.

That’s akin to breaking the Word of Wisdom all year long, confess at the end of the year and promise never to break the commandment again and expect to considered worthy for a temple recommend. I don’t think either you or I would accept that. I believe you and I would issue some level of informal probation (restriction on membership privileges) until he proved that he could keep the Word of Wisdom over a period of several months. 

That’s why, in your meeting with (name) and possibly (wife), you determine their level of understanding of repentance…and their intentions all along. Besides helping them understand (1) how important it is, when we can’t pay tithing, to notify the bishop and seek financial help, if needed, so they can pay tithing, but (2) for him/them to also understand that in lieu of a restriction on their membership privileges, there is an expectation that they work closely with you (even to be humble enough to receive assistance, if necessary) for them to get right with the Lord, i.e. find a way to catch up on all or most of their tithing for 2017.

In his priesthood leadership position, it’s important for him to not only understand what the Lord expects us to do when we feel we can’t pay tithing (acknowledge immediately and work with our bishop), but that repentance in this case should include more than just a delayed confession of “I’m sorry.”

Because of his calling and his having received a temple recommend, we now have the expectation that he will make a good-faith effort to get right with the Lord for 2017. Surrendering his temple recommend and resigning his calling for a period is not an option. He has been called and received priesthood keys. We need him now to step up and earn the moral authority he needs in the calling by working with you to establish a plan to get right with the Lord for 2017.

I look forward to your report back.

Thanks,

PrL

Reduction in summer camp fees for families in 2018

11 January 2018

Bishops and Branch Presidents…

Attached is a letter to all parents of youth and children in our stake. 

Will you please email this letter to those in your ward / branch? Or print and hand deliver via your ward/branch leadership?

We realize we are entering “new territory” with this announcement. We’ve never lowered the summer camp fees to this level. What a blessing it will be to families! We feel strongly the Lord will continue to bless us with His generous hand as we seek ways, like this, to follow the Brethren's counsel to “reduce and simplify."

We can only eliminate fundraising and still lower summer camp fees to families by reducing the allocations to our stake and ward/branch budgets. As we have done so over the past five years, somehow the Lord continues to bless us with the miracle of year-end surpluses. It’s as miraculous as the widow of Zarephath’s cruse of oil! (see 1 Kings 17)

Our stake surplus is such that we are prepared to supplement, if needed, your ward budgets for YM, YW and Primary. Please keep us apprised of your efforts to “reduce and simplify” and still meet the needs of the youth and children in your ward or branch. If you are feeling constrained by reductions in allocations, even after your own 2017 surpluses, please let us know. We are happy to work with you in making sure you have adequate funds for all you desire to do in Scouting, YM, YW and Primary. And still meet your overall ward/branch needs.

We’re in this together and we don’t want anyone to feel they can’t function because of budget constraints, but to enjoy the blessing of the miracle we’re watching unfold in our stake year after year. Thank you for your faith and faithfulness that is bringing this about.

Will you please let us know when the attached letter has been distributed to all parents of youth and children in your ward/branch?

Thank you,

The Stake Presidency

2018 Summer Camp Funding Policy

TO: All Parents of Youth and Children in the Mount Hood Stake

FROM: The Stake Presidency

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We value greatly the summer camp experiences the youth of our stake enjoy each year, especially when the gospel is taught and testimonies are strengthened around a campfire with other youth who share their beliefs and standards.

Therefore, we have tried to make these camps as accessible and affordable as possible.

The Church discourages fundraising (see Handbook 2, 13.6.8) and suggests ALL youth activities, including summer camps where possible, should be covered by ward budget funds. In 2012 we suspended all fundraising and began applying budget funds to cover summer camp fees.

While we have not been able to cover all the camp fees with budget funds, we continue to use these funds to minimize the financial burden on families. For several years we have been able to reduce the family’s cost for summer camps to $100 or less per child or youth.

The Lord continues to work a miracle in our stake so we are now able to announce yet another reduction in the summer camp fee schedule for families, effective 2018:

                  • $100 per boy for Boy Scout Camp (regularly $305 to $320 per boy)

                  • $50 per child or youth for other camps, including:  Young Women Camp
                                    (reg. $125), High Adventure (reg. $150), Camp Helaman for Priests-age
                                    young men (reg. $170), and Cub Scout Day Camp (reg. $125)

                  • NO FEE for Church-operated summer camps for Primary-age children, including:

                                    Primary Activity Days (girls ages 8-11) and 11-Year-Old Scout Day Camp

The above fee schedule applies to only one summer camp per youth—except young men, ages 16-18, may also attend Camp Helaman at the reduced $50 fee because of the value we believe this multi-stake camp provides in preparing young men to serve full-time missions.

Furthermore, the above fee schedule also applies to non-members, preferably those who are registered in the troop or have already been actively involved in ward youth programs.

We appreciate your support of this policy and urge parents to teach their children the importance of earning their reduced summer camp fee ($50 or $100) on their own.

The miracle return to activity of the wonderful Sims family

10 January 2018

In response to a request for examples of less-active Melchizedek Priesthood holders being rescued.

We were trained in late October 2017 by Elder Blunck on rescuing less-active Melchizedek Priesthood holders. Sadly, it’s been slow getting off the ground, though all the wards and branches are giving it attention and are moving forward.

We are now going into ward conferences and we’ve specifically requested that our home ministering visits (stake presidency matches up with our counterparts in each bishopric) are scheduled with less-active MP holders.

My wife, Vivienne, and I hold our FHE on Sunday evening together (we’re empty nesters). Then, when possible, we go on visits each Monday night to homes where we know there probably won’t be a FHE—homes of less-actives, elderly living alone or those who may be seriously ill. We’ve had many wonderful experiences.

In one of our November visits, we went to the home of Matt and Brandie Sims. They were in our ward when they joined the Church in 2002. They were a wonderful young family of 3 children, full of energy and love for the gospel. Within a year of their baptism, they were sealed in the temple and seemed to be on their way to a wonderful life of faithfulness in the Church. But soon the world crept in, sports started taking a bigger role in their lives, they got offended by a church leader, they moved to another city for a short time, and when they moved back there had been a boundary change and now they were “lost” in their new ward. 

Despite “routine” efforts to reach out to them by those in their new ward, including VT and HT, their lives had become too busy outside the Church. They had lost interest in becoming involved and they had convinced themselves they didn’t need the Church and gospel to be happy. In 2015, Brandie had come in to ask for help with her marriage. Despite our efforts to help, she wasn’t sufficiently humble enough to accept counsel; to draw close to the Lord through Church activity and gospel living.

I’m ashamed it took so long to make an appointment for Vivienne and I to visit the Sims, but they started coming to my mind. I knew I needed to act. It was a wonderful visit allowing them to share some of their heartaches and even an acknowledgement that they still knew the Church was true. While I did most of the asking of questions, Vivienne slowly turned her attention to their 8-year-old daughter, seated near her mother and quite bored with the conversation. As our discussion went into an hour or more (finishing with: “We love you and need you.”), little Zoie slid a little closer to Vivienne inch-by-inch until by the end of the evening she was snuggled up against her and they were looking at a family picture album together. Zoie was feeling the Spirit, thanks to Vivienne’s tenderness and goodness, and was being drawn to Vivienne because of it.

Just last week (Jan 7) I “happened" to attend Fast and Testimony meeting in the Sims’ ward. I was stunned and thrilled to see the Sims family sitting near the back of the chapel, I noticed they were among the first to arrive. The bishop explained that they had been coming regularly now for the past several weeks unbeknownst to me. 

But it got better.

Near the end of the testimonies, Matt came to the pulpit and bore his testimony that despite their inactivity for the past 8 years, the Lord has been tugging at his heart; that the past week was a "roller-coaster of emotions” that resulted in him being prompted to take his wife to the temple. They walked the gardens together one evening. Then Matt, still at the pulpit, looked at his wife in the audience and announced: “I want my wife to know I love her and I want us to go again this time inside the temple together.” 

Needless to say the joy I felt was incomparable and couldn’t wait to tell Vivienne, in our monthly family testimony meeting, of the miracle i had witnessed that very day; a miracle she had been a part of. We never know with whom the Lord is working and how a brief, unpretentious visit can suddenly pull the curtain on the Lord’s miraculous doings.

I hope this is helpful.

Crismon Lewis

President, Mount Hood Oregon Stake

503-667-5843

P.S. Maybe this also helps demonstrate how a sister can make such a difference in these ministering visits.