This little piggy goes to the market ...

D&C 84:109-110 "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand? Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect."

I had always appreciated the value of this metaphor as it pertained to priesthood callings. I recognize that every calling, whether its the ward magazine chairperson or the Bishop plays a part in keep the church running properly. But I had never considered the implications of this metaphor breaking into the realm of reality until yesterday.

I tripped on a blanket in the hallway, and stumbled forward into the doorway of my bedroom. The door was wide open, so only the 1.5 inch wide section of the door was exposed to the hallway. As I lunged forward, my fourth and fifth toes jammed into the door, separating the first two "piggies" from their loving compatriots. The end result was a pair of toes that pointed east instead of north.

These two toes probably represent less than .1% of my body's mass, yet I am unable to walk properly without their aide. I now have taped toes, a wooden shoe, and a cane to help me perform my daily labors. I look forward to tomorrow morning when I will attempt to drive to work.

The moral of the story is that every calling in the church is important, and you're life will be immensely more difficult if you slam your toes into a doorway!

The Quickening

I have noticed a change in a number of my brothers in the gospel lately. More of us seem to be doing our home teaching. I know of many of you who diligently attend the temple every week as a group of brethren. Topics of a spiritual nature are creeping into conversations regarding football and pop culture. It feels like the level of spirituality is increasing in many members of our ward.

Why is this the case? Nephi prophesied of a time when the power of the Lamb of God "descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory." Robert Millet, author of "Men of Valor", suggests that that day and time prophesied by Nephi are upon us.

The recent changes I've noticed are evidence of that fact. As we become converted to the Lord, we naturally desire to be in his temples. As we become converted, we desire to serve the Lord and gain a relationship with Him. We can't afford to be complacent. The stakes are too high for us and for our families.

It is not enough to merely have a testimony of the gospel. A testimony is a necessary but insufficient condition for salvation. Even the devils "believe and tremble" (James 2:19). It is time for us to "awake from a deep sleep, arise from the dust and be men." It is time for us to "put on the armor of righteousness", for we are truly at war against the adversary and his minions.

"We have a world to awaken, a society to save, an ensign to erect, a message to deliver - a message containing glad tidings of great joy." (Men of Valor)

If you have not felt the Spirit working on your heart, I ask you if you can feel it now? It is time to ask yourself, "What kind of man have I become." Even more important, it is time to ask yourself, "What kind of man do I want to be?" Perhaps most important, "What kind of the man does Heavenly Father and the Savior need me to be?"

Truly, as the revelations attest, "the enemy is combined" (D&C 38:12), and modern Israel's righteous force will be successful in deflecting the fiery darts of the adversary only to the extent that the men of God take their rightful place as "mighty men of valor."

The priesthood is the power and authority of God, delegated to men on earth, to act in all things pertaining to the salvation of the human family. It is God's power, loaned for a season to you and me, to make a difference in a world that desperately needs it. It is the Almighty's authorization, a divine investiture of authority, to bless people and preserve goodness and decency in our society.

If ever there was a time, if ever there was a season, if ever there was a cause that cried out for men of purpose and men of purity to step forward and draw upon the powers of heaven, it is today.

The God of us all expects those who have been ordained to stand in the office to which they have been called; to take up their cross daily - to deny themselves of ungodliness and every worldly lust; to occupy their minds with uplifting thoughts, to ponder upon that which is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and worthy of praise; to avoid places and influences and even people that would degrade or dilute the power of the priesthood; to rise up and reach out to make a difference; and to allow the holy priesthood to be felt and enjoyed by every member of the family, thereby creating within the home a bit of heaven on earth.

It is time for us to awake, to nudge our consciences, to educate our desires, to call us to higher ground, and to provoke us to glimpse and grasp the power with which we have been endowed.

If we will let Him, Jesus Christ will shine his kindly and Kingly light upon us and through us. The time to step forward and be counted is now.

It is my hope that each of us can strive to follow the counsel of President Hinckley and strive to "Stand a little taller" each and every day. Thank you for your examples and inspiration that you have provided me. I highly encourage everyone to read "Men of Valor" by Robert Millet. It will surely inspire you and help you on your quest to become more like the Savior. I look forward to His glorious Second Coming and pray that we all might be ready.

Owen Mecham

The Peacegiver

I have to thank Jason Christensen for a great book recommendation. "The Peacegiver" provides a totally unique view of the Atonement and the power it has in our lives. The story is compelling and the examples from the scriptures shed a perspective on the Atonement that I had not read before. Without giving it all away, here is a summary of some of the insights I gleaned from this book.

1. We are each of us sinners, entitled to nothing but hell and therefore utterly and equally dependent upon the mercies of the Lord.



2. I can receive of the Lord's mercy - and the happiness, healing, and peace that attend it - only to the extent I extend the same to others.



3. The Lord mercifully removes any justification for failing to extend mercy to others. For the Lord has taken the sins of others upon his own head and personally atoned for them. What possible justification could there be for demanding more for others' sins than the Lord has given?



4. I can recover mercy by remembering Abigail's offering, the Lord's question to Jonah, and my own sins, the memory of which brings me to the Lord and invites me to rediscover his mercy and peace.

This book is a quick read but I promise that it will provide insights into the Atonement that will make you think more about the Lord's sacrifice on your behalf.

Our Beloved Prophet

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the impact that President Hinckley has had on my life. When I heard the news, my first reaction was sadness, because I had lost such a great leader. Those feelings quickly turned to joy as I imagined the sweet reunion of the Prophet and his eternal companion. I have no doubt where our prophet is and who he is with.

One of my favorite things about President Hinckley is his upbeat and positive attitude. He was always the optimist amidst a world of chaos and turmoil. His message was always one of encouragement, to "stand a little taller". That's what I want to focus on this year. To do a little bit better tomorrow than I did today.

I had the opportunity to teach in Elder's quorum today, and the discussion centered on President Hinckley and on the restoration of the gospel. During the prophet's funeral services, I couldn't help but notice that the first thing that was mentioned in the opening prayer was thankfulness for the restoration. The restoration was mentioned numerous times throughout the service. Having a testimony of the first vision and the prophet Joseph Smith is central to being a member of this faith.

In his last two addresses, the prophet bore strong testimony of the restoration. The prophet said "To you, this day, I affirm my witness of the calling of the Prophet Joseph, of his works, of the sealing of his testimony with his blood as a martyr to the eternal truth. Each of you can bear witness of the same thing. You and I are faced with the stark question of accepting the truth of the First Vision and that which followed it. On the question of its reality lies the very validity of this Church. If it is the truth, and I testify that it is, then the work in which we are engaged is the most important work on the earth."

Thank you President Hinckley for your life, for your tireless work in building the kingdom of God. I have come to know more of the Savior by listening to your council and applying it to my life. God be with you til we meet again!

Testimony of Joseph Smith

After Sunday's lesson, I have not been able to stop thinking about Joseph Smith and his mission here on earth. It was suggested that if Joseph Smith had not restored the gospel, that the Lord would have had someone else fill that void. At the time, I couldn't think of any reason why that would not be the case, but I have since come to the realization the only Joseph Smith could have brought to pass the restoration of the gospel. This is because he was foreordained in the great council in heaven to be the prophet of the restoration. He was very specifically mentioned in 2 Nephi, chapter 3. His name would be Joseph and his father's name would also be Joseph. Just as Christ was the only one capable of performing the Atonement on our behalf, Joseph Smith was the only person able to bring to pass the restoration of the gospel, as he was foreordained to do so by the Lord.

The Lord Jesus Christ called Joseph Smith as a prophet to prepare the way for His coming in glory. Joseph Smith's life is a testimony to the reality of that calling. "I was called of my Heavenly Father to lay the foundation of this great work and kingdom in this dispensation, and testify of His revealed will to scattered Israel."

"This 'dispensation'" is our time—the time prophesied when God will "gather . . . all things in Christ." Ancient prophets foretold a final gospel dispensation and prophesied of Joseph Smith, who would lead it. Jesus Christ and His prophets Moses, Moroni, and Joseph of Egypt are just a few that spoke of a great prophet to come.

Joseph Smith was foreordained by God to restore His work from all previous dispensations. "Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world," taught Joseph Smith, "was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council."

I invite anyone who is doubting their testimony of the prophet Joseph to read 2 Nephi 3 and the testimony of the prophet and pray for a witness of the divinity of the prophet's calling. You can also visit http://josephsmith.net to learn more information about the life of the prophet. I testify that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration and that without his sacrifice and labor on our behalf, we would not have the opportunity to live the gospel today.

Daily Focus

Recently, I saw a portion of a program on public television by Dr. Wayne Dyer. He adopted a practice while studying Taoism that I think would be great to apply to scripture study. He would take four lines of text and try to apply the principles of the text to his life for 3 days. The result of focusing intently on one or two principles for a space of time helped him to master those principles. Think of it as literal application of Nephi's "liken" doctrine 2 Ne 2:23.

As a side note, I do believe Dr. Dyer is crazy, as he believes that he is akin to Jesus and that people who read his book will be using his work as a ladder to reach enlightenment and eternal life. I guess he is either unfamiliar with the story of the tower of babel or he really believes that he can create a ladder to reach the heavens.

In any event, I want to start applying principles that I find in the scriptures to my life in a similar fashion. My first application will come from:

2 Ne 9:39 "O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.

Over the next 3 days, I will focus all my energies on thinking thoughts of a spiritual nature. I will try to avoid the thinking that directs my attention towards the things of this world. I will resist the temptation to make rude remarks by trying to think of those around me as the Lord thinks of them. This will be a hard task to measure progress since the results are entirely hidden from view.

This concept is spoken of by King Benjamin in one of my favorite sections of scripture. In Mosiah 4:30, he gives us a clear formula. He states, "watch your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds". There is a clear progression from things that we think, becoming words that are spoken, which then become actions. If we can stop the thoughts, we will be able to hold our tongues and keep ourselves from acting out spoken plans of evil.

This formula is certainly cyclical in nature. As temporal beings, our first instinct is to try and stop the behavior that is leading us astray. We set goals to be nice to the person in the office that gets on our nerves. We do our best to perform kind gestures and strike up conversation. But we still have trouble not talking about this person when they are not around. Over time, our hope is that by changing our actions, we will also be able to avoid speaking about this person in an unkind fashion. After we are able to do that, we hope that we will be able to actually stop having thoughts about this person when they do things that annoy us.

While changing our behavior first may be the most common approach to overcoming bad habits or temptations, I believe that it is also possible for this process to work in the same fashion as described by King Benjamin. I believe that if we were to have enough faith, with prayer and fasting, we could have our thoughts replaced by the power of the Atonement with the thoughts of the Savior. This is our greatest struggle in my opinion. Our greatest wrestle may be with our own thoughts. It is much easier to change behavior and words than it is to avoid thinking certain things at all. Truly, if we can control our thoughts, we will be in control of our lives at a level that would most certainly lead to Christ. Until that is possible, I will continue to repent for my natural way of thinking and strive to think better thoughts.

Self Evaluation

"There is not a man or boy in this vast congregation tonight who cannot improve his life. And that needs to happen. After all, we hold the priesthood of God. If we are boys who have received the Aaronic Priesthood, we are entitled to the ministering of angels to guide and direct, to bless and protect us. What a remarkable and wonderful thing that is. If we have had conferred upon us the Melchizedek Priesthood, we have been given the keys of the kingdom that carry with them eternal powers. These were spoken of by the Lord when He laid His hands upon the heads of His disciples."

(Gordon B. Hinckley, "Rise Up, O Men of God," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 60)

I have been thinking alot lately about ways that I can and should improve my life. Every once in a while, it is good to take an inventory of your life and see if you are on a path that will lead to your ultimate desired destination.

That being said, I am trying to make improvements in the following areas:

1. Improve Physical Fitness
1. Start using the elliptical sitting in my family room
2. Perhaps start something like p90x
2. Improve Spirituality
1. Begin Reading Scriptures in the am
2. Pray more regularly
3. Continue with family history work in the temple

If I am able to make progress in these areas, I think I will find more satisfaction in everyday living. I also believe that I would be better able to serve in my callings at church and find greater peace. I challenge anyone who reads this to similarly take a look at your life and see where you have room to improve. In so doing, I am confident that you will be better able to achieve your goals and live a richer, more meaningful life.