I Believe

In his historic “I Have Dream Speech” in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character .”   Today is the day designated to remember King and his profound moral legacy—a cry to remember men by the content of their character. In a world that is marred by wars arising from ethnic and religious divisions, I am grateful to live in a country in which our Founding Fathers declared in their initial unanimous Declaration of thirteen states, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal .”   I embrace my religion's challenges, “Let us all recognize that each of us is a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven, who loves all of His Children.”   President Gordon B. Hinckley.   “The human race is one family, and we are all, therefore, brothers and sisters.”   Elder James M. Du...

How Is the LDS Church Different? I am frequently asked to explain how the LDS Church is different from other Christian religions or to describe what we, as members of the Church believe.  This is usually a good place to start.  In an interview between Joseph Smith and then US President Martin VanBuren, the President asked Joseph how the LDS Church differed from other religions of the day.   Joseph responded, “we differ in [1] the mode of baptism and [2] in the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.”   He determined all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost. Baptism.   As to the mode of baptism, the LDS Church practices baptism by complete immersion, which baptisms are usually performed in a small pool called a baptismal font.   The Godhead .   Joseph Smith wrote thirteen “Articles of Faith” that summarize the doctrines of the Church.   The First Article of Faith discusses our belief regarding the...

Repeatedly in the scriptures and during Christ's mortal ministry, we are taught that those things that we ask of God will be given unto us: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."  Matthew 7:7 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God."  James 1:5 God "doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive."  Mosiah 4:21. Over the course of the last few years, I have on several occasion wondered why it seems to hard to receive answers to my prayers.  On some significant issues, I did not received an answer or direction until after I struggled, at length.  Yes, I realize that there are some standard reasons that prayers are not answered (immediately), including: We are not listening for an answer; We do not like the answer we are getting; We are not asking for the right things; All options we are considering are acceptable and i...