#D. Todd Christofferson

[j-the-latter-gay-saint]

"too diverse"????

[kat-formerly-submissive-mrs-c]

You can add strength to your chain.

D. Todd Christofferson

[rucbarthatbowtiesarecooldw]

Sunday Afternoon Session

Conducting: Quentin L Cook

Come Rejoice

D Todd Christofferson

A limiting trait is not being valiant in your testimony

Wholehearted devotion is what we should strive for

To make it to and stay in the Celestial Kingdom we must have a firm testimony of Jesus Christ and act on that testimony

Being Valiant in your testimony of Christ

Includes nurturing and strengthening that testimony

Heading His messengers

Encouraging others by word and example

We will not let anything keep us from being together forever

Do the things Jesus shall teach and command you

Taylor G Godoy

God hears our prayers and answers them in a personalized way

Mosiah 5:12

This life by its nature brings about experiences

Call Him, don’t fall

Just because you aren’t answered immediately doesn’t mean your call wasn’t answered at all

Confidence in the Lord’s answers requires accepting that they are not always what would expect in our minds for them to be.

The Lord is the first option for help

Call Don’t Fall (pray)

After prayer do all you can to obtain the answers you pray for

Humbly accept His answers

Softly and Tenderly, Jesus is Calling

Gary E Stevenson

Where is the foundation of your bridge?

The two towers are love the Lord thy God and love your neighbor as thyself – these are the towers that the bridge of the gospel is supported by

Loving the Lord leads to eternal Happiness

Bridges our heavenly upward gaze to our heavenly outward gaze

Love of the Lord is not complete if we do not love our neighbors

Loving your neighbors includes Christlike deeps of love and service

How are you building your tower of love?

“did God call on you specifically, or were you simply the one who listened?”

These towers need to function together in balance, equal devotion, and harmony

God loves everyone and so should we; we seek out those in need and serve them regardless of race, wealth, gender identity, sexual orientation, or anything else

God commanded us to love one another. Leave judgement up to Him

How do we build our own bridge of faith and devotion?

Early drafts become polished blueprints

Mathias Held

Consequences are a part of agency

Repentance is where growth happens

Seek to learn and accept support from the Lord

In the darkness of night we can turn on our lights

We can still choose how to respond to things out of our control

We are agents not objects.

Opposites don’t exist apart from each other, they can complement each other.

Where there is sunshine, shadows must be there too. Floods brings destruction but they bring life as well

Our difficulties do not define us – it is our attitudes and choices that define us much better than our situations

How Firm a Foundation

Niel L Anderson

It is breathtaking to see the works of God

Discipline your faith, what does that mean to you?

Eleazer Cearcy – sealing story – this is why listen to promptings

Angels have charge over us

Through the power of the Holy Ghost we are filled with strength and peace and joy and unspeakable hope.

Many different ways to see the face of Christ and no better place than in His holy house

Mark L Pace

Transform our homes into sanctuaries of faith

The scriptures are here to help us draw closer to Him

How can you avoid personal apostasy?

We are responsible for our own personal spiritual growth

The most important copy of the book of Mormon is the one you read

Heavenly Father wants you to know yourself – but you must put in the effort

Russell M Nelson

Called to apostles 40 years ago!

Six temples when he was born

Ponder what the Lord’s promise means for you personally

The priesthood was restored prior to the church – to ensure that the church could be organized with the correct authority

The priesthood keys are the only way we get the essential ordinances and covenants, the only way we can have blessings the way we do – we can extend all the blessings promised to/by Abraham to all God’s children

D&C 110

The gathering of Israel is evidence God loves all of His children everywhere

The gospel of Abraham is further evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere

The sealing power is supreme evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere and wants them to return to Him

Study Kirtland temple dedicatory prayer in D&C 109

Regular temple worship will enhance how you see yourself

The temple empowers us to take on the challenges of life

You do not have to face life alone

What courage does it give you to know that angels really will help you?

No combination of wickedness will prevail over those who worship in the house of the Lord

Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than attending the temple as regularly as you can, nothing will protect you more, nothing will bolster your testimony of Christ and His atonement, or recognize the significance of His plan, nothing will soothe your spirit more, nothing will open the blessings of Heavens more

15 temples:

Uturoa, French Polynesia

Chihuahua, Mexico

Florianopolis, Brazil

Rosario, Argentina

Edinburgh, Scotland

Brisbane, Australia South Area

Victoria, British Colombia

Yuma, Arizona

Houston, Texas South Area

Des Moines, Iowa

Cincinnati, Ohio

Honolulu Hawaii

West Jordan Utah

Lehi Utah

Maracaibo, Venezuela

Now Let Us Rejoice

[nerdygaymormon]

Hey, I don't want to be a bother, but I'm not sure who else to speak to about this.

I haven't got my patriarchal blessing, and I want one. But I'm queer and pro masturbation as, being aroace, I can't exactly get past god's marriage paywall for that sort of thing (not to mention the idea that only other people, specifically men, are allowed to touch my body is super ick to me)

There are a lot of things I struggle to keep up with in the church because it leaves me feeling bad about myself, such as prayer, scriptures, and listening to the lessons.

But does that mean I'll never be "worthy" to get my blessing?

I don't want to lie, because even if I feel I'm in the right, it would still leave me feeling vile.

I'm also worried that the blessing will tell me I'm to get married and have children or something, or go on a mission.

It's something that's bothered me for years, as well the fact that I may never be allowed in the temple again. Would appreciate some insight from a fellow queer Mormon.

Masturbation and being queer do not disqualify a person from getting a patriarchal blessing.

When you are ready, contact the ward clerk to setup an appointment with your bishop. Your bishop will ask a few questions, as I recall they're basically the same as the questions for a temple recommend.

From what you wrote, I suppose there's 2 questions that you're worried about. One would be if you're striving to keep the Law of Chastity. If you read the Church's website on chastity or the For the Strength of Youth, masturbation is entirely absent. You can answer that you live the law of chastity even if you masturbate (if masturbation disqualified people from the temple or callings, we wouldn't have many people who would qualify)

The other question you may be worried about asks if you support or promote any teachings, practices, or doctrine contrary to those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave this response when asked if a person can support gay marriage and still be worthy of a temple recommend: "We have individual members in the church with a variety of different opinions, beliefs and positions on these issues and other issues…In our view, it doesn't really become a problem unless someone is out attacking the church and its leaders — if that's a deliberate and persistent effort and trying to get others to follow them, trying to draw others away, trying to pull people, if you will, out of the church or away from its teachings and doctrines."

In other words, as long as you aren't attacking the church, you're okay with supporting gay marriage and having other beliefs that differ from the LDS Church.

—————————

In addition to declaring your tribe, most patriarchal blessings include these things: Serving a Mission, Education, Marriage, Children, the First Resurrection. It's easy to see that most people in the LDS Church live a life that follows a path similar to this.

I've spoken with a patriarch who says he gets an impression and then has to turn that into words. For example, he gets the impression you'll find someone and get married, he may say this as "one day a young man will take you to the temple where you'll be sealed for eternity." It doesn't necessarily mean the patriarch specifically saw that you will marry a man in the temple, but he's using words that would describe what commonly happens in the church for people who get married. I've heard that some patriarchs intentionally try not to use gendered words, will simply say something like "you'll have the opportunity to marry in the temple," or something similar.

—————————

Another thing to keep in mind is a patriarchal blessing isn't a list of things that will happen, it's more like here's a list of possibilities, here's the potential ahead for you. There's many single people who have a blessing that says they'd get married, and just because it didn't happen for them doesn't mean they were unworthy or there's anything wrong with them.

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When someone has met with the bishop and then made an appointment to get a patriarchal blessing, when they show up there's usually a chance to chat with the patriarch. If you're feeling brave (I wasn't brave enough to do this), you could mention that you're a little concerned because you're queer and worried what might be said about marriage and children, that you don't think that fits with how you understand how God created you.

[demoisverysexy]

D. Todd Christofferson

Hhh. This one I wasnt a fan of. While not as outwardly dismissive as Godoy's talk, this one had some issues I would like to talk about.

To begin, I appreciate that he attempts to generalize the sealing power beyond temple marriage and family sealing. I think this is something that we should focus on more. Problem is, he almost immediately undercuts this by focusing on family sealing, marriage, etc. He specifically calls family sealings the "ultimate blessing if the gospel," and while in a sense I agree, I feel that this framing leaves out huge swathes of people: those who live in families with abuse, those who have experienced divorce, those who cannot find a loving partner to have a family with, those for whom a nuclear family would be a curse rather than a blessing, and those who would be best in family structures the church disapproves of.

He even recognizes this in the talk! Repeatedly, Christofferson applies asterisks to the idea that nuclear families and heteronormative families are the center of the gospel, attempting to console those who cannot fit in this mold. But it wont do. This privileging of nuclear families hurts more than it helps, and turns a doctrine that has the potential to provide great comfort and joy to families and relationships of all shapes, sizes, and configurations, into a blunt instrument. In a sense, we have taken the words of Christ and used them as a weapon rather than as a healing balm.

Lets look at this in a different way. We can keep the idea of the sealing power, binding together families. But lets expand it. Joseph smith has gone on the record as stating that "the same sociality that exists here will be had in the world to come." I think we are better off reading the sealing power as the power to connect the whole of the human family together. Limiting exaltation to merely the nuclear family, I think, misses the scale and grandeur of God's plan for us. God does not want to save individual families. Indeed, there is no such thing. He wants to save the entire human family. After all, As Christofferson himself put it, "no-one can be exalted alone."

[miss-nerd-alert]

“God’s pattern for families begins again with you.”

— D. Todd Christofferson

[stillebesat]

Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony. We can have our hearts knit together in love, be one in faith and doctrine, and still cheer for different teams, disagree on various political issues, debate about goals and the right way to achieve them, and many other such things. -D. Todd Christofferson

[thecaptainbriarrose]

“You do belong!”

-D. Todd Christofferson

[teressamdraher]

A sense of belonging is important to our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

D. Todd Christofferson

[educateothers]

D Todd Christofferson | The Doctrine of Belonging | October 2022 General...

[picturemylifejay]

恩典是「來自神的幫助和天賜的力量，讓現在有著各種缺陷和限制的我們得以成長進步，成為超升的人。」—迪特·鄔希鐸會長 Grace is “the divine assistance and endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now into exalted beings.”—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf 事實上，恩典是一項恩賜。你不需要贏得恩賜，你只需要選擇接受它。—倫兆勳，總會男青年會長 The truth is, grace is a gift. You don’t have to earn a gift. You simply need to choose to receive it.—Steven J. Lund, Young Men General President 我們不需要先達到某種最低程度的能力或良善，才能獲得神的幫助——也就是說我們可以每天時時刻刻獲得神的協助，不論我們是在服從的道路上的哪一點。—陶德·克理斯多長老 We do not need to achieve some minimum level of capacity or goodness before God will help—divine aid can be ours every hour of every day, no matter where we are in the path of obedience.—Elder D. Todd Christofferson 一起來接受神的恩典：https://bit.ly/3IM2j4E 原文出處：https://bit.ly/3PHEKwp https://www.instagram.com/p/CgLltC_Pd9PULgpiVN-V8Tp9KIcOOvoQ4hsw_w0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rucbarthatbowtiesarecooldw]

September 30, 2023 Saturday Morning Session

How Wondrous and Great

How Firm a Foundation

Conducting: President Eyring

Elder David A Bednar

The Stalwart souls who travelled with the last wagons

They of the last wagon pressed forward

Captain Moroni – if more were like him the devil would never have power Alma 48:17

Walk in the path of your duty and press forward

Samuel the Lamanite: most walk clearly

Quiet members who often go unrecognized with their sustaining influence

Reverence the sanctity and importance of Life in God’s plan

Heavenly Father loves those who minister to children with love and unending kindness

Sister Amy A. Wright 1st Counselor Primary

Parable of the ten virgins Matt 25:1-13

Spiritual preparedness and discipleship

Cancer – “everything is going to be okay

At one point it will be too late to put more oil in your lamps – every drop matters now – but remember that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we will all be ok.

That is the greatest power on earth

Here is your reminder that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers so many more things than just repentance or helping with forgiveness – it is also there to help us gather strength when filled with pain or sorrow, help us know that we are not alone even in the darkness of our mental health.

Gather and focus light

God with infinite knowledge, love, and glory

We cannot share our oil but we can share His light

We need more holy and revelatory experiences

He is the reason why there is never an end to our story

Eternal Life is Eternal Joy

Look to Jesus Christ and Live – like the story about the people of moses looking to the snake on a staff

I Feel My Savior’s Love

Elder Robert M. Daines, 70

Face blindness from being shot

How do you suffer from spiritual faceblindness?

Do you see Heavenly Fathers love and mercy, or a thicket of rules and thorns?

Spiritual faceblindness = seeing the rules but not recognizing God’s love

Can you sometimes only lipsync and not sing the song of redeeming love?

Does this activity/lesson help people see Jesus?

Also are we being inclusive in how we are presenting the activity/lesson?

Pray and study to see who He is and what He loves

God is completely devoted to His children in every age and nation

They are not rules to earn His love – He already loves you perfectly!

We worship our Father and not a formula

Covenants are the shape of God’s embrace

Elder Carlos A. Godoy, Presidency of the 70

Got in the wrong taxi

Heavenly Father does not do coincidences.

Omar ended up returning, being baptized and baptizing his wife and children, and then were able to be sealed a year later

Felt it was about time to go back to church for the sake of their children

Anything broken can be mended with Jesus Christ

The decision of one will impact whole generations

Not just from someone choosing to leave – also because of what caused them to leave

We should always be asking where will this lead?

Decisions, impact on self and future generations etc.

Shouldn’t we be more valiant and less lukewarm

High on the Mountain Top

D Todd Christofferson

What is the purpose of this gathering?

Protection of the covenant people

A defense and refuge from the storm

He holds the keys to administer in all authority

Keeping a proper and faithful record

Eternal families by the sealing powe

Baptisms and sealings for the dead

Add strength to your chain

Ian S. Ardern 70

Love your neighbor, refugees?

“lets all talk about Africa” – ahhh Uganda

Give to humanitarian efforts – Partners in Health (Green brothers approved donation website)

Compassion is an attribute of Christ, it demonstrates love to others and knows no boundaries

God will guide you in compassionate acts of discipleship

True compassion is more than merely flinging a coin to a beggar, it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs reconstructuring- MLK

Compassion does not require us to know them, it only requires us to love them.

Faith in Every Footstep

President Dallin H. Oaks

Fullness of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ

Heavenly Father loves all His children so much, that He wants us all to live in a kingdom of glory forever.

In our Fathers house is many mansions

Your divine potential has everything to do with God’s love for you, and nothing to do with which glory you might possibly obtain later in life – this is something to be between you and God

You will be where you are comfortable

Do not just go through the motions and make “deposits”  - less of a checklist

He will force no one into a sealing relationship against his or her own will

TW - Plan of Salvation, Family Proclamation

Come Listen to a Prophets Voice

[pressforwardsaints]

[haylionthemoose]

Those who profess no religion can be and often are good and moral people.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

[andallshallbewell]

[mormonchannel]

What Matters Most

"Many things are good, many are important, but only a few are essential." —D. Todd Christofferson

Read the talk here.