It just makes sense.

     As we become more aware of chaos in every part of the world, most people begin to wonder what can we do to avoid further bloodshed, anger, and conflict? Religion, which used to be thought of as a way to try to understand chaos and figure out how to avoid it, has become a major source of conflict itself. If there are nearly as many concepts of religion as there are people, how do we find peace?
     Nearly a century before the birth of Jesus Christ, a man named Korihor traveled about on the American continent preaching dissension from the religious beliefs held by the majority of people. He is referred to as "Anti-Christ" because he preached against the belief in Jesus Christ. John, in the New Testament warned: "as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are many antichrists.." As long ago as Jeremiah the Lord warned: "The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart." Followers of the mortal Jesus Christ heard Him warn: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24) John in the book of 1 John 2:22 says, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." The most extensive description of religious conditions in our times is given by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-17. I won't quote the whole thing but it's worth examining. Another prophet, Nephi, in the Book of Mormon quotes Isaiah and explains more about our day in 2 Nephi 25. Again I won't quote the whole thing but he says, "Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews."
     I have no intention of adding to the contention surrounding religion. My purpose in composing this little essay is to give guidance or reassurance to anyone who sincerely wants to know if anybody is right about religion and who that might be. It makes no sense to me that God would punish people for not being able to discern truth from error. It makes sense to me that God has wisdom and if He cares at all for any of us (which I believe He does), He wants to share with us what He knows. It makes sense to me that He would not force us to follow Him because everybody knows that a militant, demanding dictator is hated and eventually loses all followers.It makes sense to me that more than one person at a time on the earth would have some awareness of His existence and His preferences for our behavior. Again I would refer to some words of Paul in the New Testament, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ..."(Ephesians 4:11-15) God appoints those He wants to teach us. Our job is not to train anyone for this ministry but to find those God has appointed. We have an inert ability in us to recognize good and evil. We may not always behave accordingly, but even little children will shout, "That's not FAIR!" Even children will reach out to try to comfort or save from harm others around them. We know what makes us feel good. Sometimes we try to find artificial means to gain a good feeling: drugs, alcohol, spending money, beating someone else in some kind of competition, sleeping too much, eating too much, too much sex, and on and on. Many people actually gain wisdom enough to stop those behaviors recognizing they will not make them feel good or truly happy. God is wiser, more powerful, and more advanced than any of us. He can show us a better way. He's just waiting for us to WANT to know a better way, then ask Him. We don't have to compete with each other. This is not a big court of law where the one with the best argument will win. God wants everyone to know. He wants everyone to win. We have to stop trying to compete and just seek and be willing to listen and learn. God will answer when we really want to know.

Christmas with Nauvoo Missionaries

One of the Christmas traditions I recall most fondly was baking cookies with my sisters, brother, mother, and families. We would gather annually on a Saturday close to Christmas to bake cookies so we could have a wide variety and they would all be fresh. I spent hours ahead of time planning it so we could manage to keep everybody busy and get them all baked in only one regular oven, plus the stove top and microwave for candies. The last year we were together in Dryden, New York, we managed to make 100 dozen cookies which we then divided up so everybody had treats to take home then disperse to teachers, mailmen, friends, etc. as well as some to eat for themselves. Because of our complex schedules, I knew that getting together with other missionaries to bake cookies would be impossible but we did the next best thing- a cookie exchange. Avoiding the complexity of contacting all 22 couples then knowing our apartments were too small for that many people anyway, I just mentioned an appointed time and place to a few people. It was delightful to have just 5 other couples and quite a variety of cookies- no duplicates and we didn't even discuss it ahead of time!

The temple was closed Christmas Eve day but we didn't lounge around in the morning. At 8:45 Russ and I walked to the nearby chapel to help set up tables, chairs, and decorations for the missionary Christmas dinner. I have mentioned numerous times how refreshing it is to be among people who are always willing to help anybody anytime. This dinner was on Christmas Day and included all of the Nauvoo temple missionaries and the missionaries who serve in the historic sites. I think there were about 126 people altogether, most in their 70's, some a little more, some a little less. The man whose face is nearly hidden by the branch on the table (sitting on Russ's right), is 85 years young.

Not only are there plenty of helping hands to set up, decorate, put on a program, and cook the food, but when the event is over, all you need to do is tell everybody how much to clean up and what to leave (or they will find places to dismantle and put away EVERYTHING). So this was the scene after the dinner and short program.

The tables were cleaned off in a matter of minutes with NO complaints! The entire event lasted less than 2 hours which was nice because Russ and I got to spend most of the day in our casual clothes putting together a puzzle, opening a couple of presents, and Skyping with loved ones. It was very nice!

Russ's Thoughts

Russ's turn. The other day, on the way home, I had a short conversation with a man that was anti-Mormon. It started by my noticing he was pushing his bike up the hill and remarking that the hill gets in the way. As we passed he asked if I was here for a wedding and I said I was going home and that I worked here. He then very vehemently said,"God is not an exalted man!" I stopped and we talked briefly and parted on fair terms when we both agreed we would be "saved" through the blood of Jesus Christ. I pondered for a while on what would agitate him so about the possibility that God was once as we are and here are my thoughts. I am sure, in his mind, the idea would in some way diminish God and how that would compare to how I feel. First, most Christians believe that we are all children of God. (not literally in the flesh like Christ) The scriptures are pretty clear on that. Thinking about my earthly father, Bill Fellows, I realized that at this point in life I am much of what he was as my father. I am a father, husband, grandfather, veteran, bread winner, etc. In my mind, this in no way diminishes my father in my feelings for and admiration of him. In like manner, if I were to progress and become like my Heavenly Father, it would in no way lessen who and what he is. It seems natural to me to think that if I am his child, as Christ taught, I would be able to become like him. I did not have enough time to go into this with this man but do wish that he didn't feel that I in no way disrespect God by believing, if I mature properly, could become to Him, as I am to my father Bill Fellows, a man (a God) and a son, always a son, always following.

It's a small price to pay

     I have been continuing to work on understanding the words of Isaiah. The 58th chapter is pretty clear, though. I have to wonder how many people, because they are intimidated by the complexity of this awesome prophet's writings, just avoid trying to read him. If so, they may be missing some really straight-forward advice, like in the 58th chapter. He starts off with the Lord telling him to "spare not" in sounding like a trumpet to His people. The Lord goes on to talk about how people pretend to seek Him, even fasting, yet don't do it with a sincere heart then question why He doesn't recognize their great sacrifice. He tells them why- "Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors." What He means by exacting labors is people who will have others work for them so they can seem more pious in their avoidance of worldly labors. That happens among people today who will not cook at home because it's the Sabbath yet they will eat out requiring the labor of others. That happens with people of certain religions who reportedly like to invite guests over so they can do the labor they so piously avoid. Then He goes on to accuse them for fasting only to cause "strife and debate" as they give in to the crabbiness that often results in the effort to overcome the natural man in us by refusing to eat for a little while. Just as the mortal Lord later criticizes those who pray aloud for the purpose of impressing others rather than humbly seeking the Lord, through Isaiah He explains what is meaningful to Him as we fast or observe the Sabbath.  He wants us to fast to "undo heavy burdens" that are a part of being mortal- in other words, as a means of overcoming the natural man in us. He also wants us to "deal thy bread to the hungry" meaning that even if we have little to give others, if we skip a meal, we can donate what we didn't eat to the poor. (We call that a fast offering in the LDS Church.) But He doesn't just scold us to make us miserable. He goes on to promise that He will be our "rereward" (which means He's got our back!) and if we cry, He will answer "Here I am".
     The chapter ends with His instruction about the Sabbath day. It's really a shame that the Sabbath has become so meaningless to so many people. Even those who purport to be religious ignore God's commandment to keep the Sabbath "holy". It's supposed to be one day in seven that we show Him we care about Him but we can't even seem to do that. Too often, we feel that not pursuing recreation or shopping or eating out is unjustly restrictive.  But He is so clear here: "If thou turn away they foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord..." and He goes on to give promised blessings. Is it so difficult to spend just one day a week striving to please the Lord when we spend the other 6 doing what we want? He has given us everything. God has given us His Son and His Son gave His life for us. Jesus never got to ride a roller coaster, shop at Sam's Club, or eat at Wendy's! The Lord spent His life teaching, serving, giving, then allowed Himself to be crucified after suffering in Gethsemane. Is it such a sacrifice for us to give one day out of seven to Him and skip a couple of meals occasionally? I can never thank God or Jesus Christ ENOUGH to justify all I have been blessed with and continue to be blessed with every day. I may whine about things sometimes but, truly, I have suffered almost NOTHING compared to what my Heavenly Father suffered in allowing His Only Begotten Son to suffer so I can have the chance to make a mess of my life then be forgiven when I recognize the extent of my foolishness and rebelliousness. I only have to love Them enough to give Them my will because They love me more than I even know how to love and They will see to it that I will have happiness forever beyond what I can even imagine.

Magic in Nauvoo

I have mentioned before that Nauvoo is a small town and NOT primarily LDS so there is not an excess of resources. However, when including some of the nearby small towns, there are 2 wards (church units) that meet in the church building here. These two wards combined their talents and time to set up a magical themed party for Christmas. Then they had their members come on successive nights so they could all enjoy the scene and still have room for everyone to sit and eat and enjoy a program. One of the men (who also works every week in the temple) is an artist. (You can purchase his work in a little store here in Nauvoo.) He made this wonderful introduction to the theme of the night- the first thing you see when you enter the building and follow railroad tracks on the floor (made of duct tape.)

 Once you have the "conductor" at the door of the cultural hall (gym) punch your tickets, you enter the room and see yet another "train", the engine of which is attached to the back side of the piano which is used during the program after dinner.

 The man who emceed the program did an amazing job impersonating the Tom Hanks voice from the movie.

 Basketball hoops are a permanent fixture in LDS cultural halls and it's always fun to see how they are incorporated into decorations for various events. The hoops can be raised so they're not as much in the way. Here they used the raised hoop to extend lights down to a large hoop on the floor, creating a giant lighted "tree".

 The ceiling, high as it is, was laced with strings of lights and giant paper snowflakes. The walls were covered with sheets upon which the youth of the wards painted unique Christmas trees.

 The meal served was breakfast and people were invited to come in pajamas. We had a blueberry stuffed French toast casserole, a hashbrown/bacon/onion/cheese casserole, sliced ham, cinnamon buns, orange juice, water or milk and lots of various fresh fruits. Below you can see the people lined up for the yummy food but you can't actually see the food. sorry.....

After the meal, the program began, including some little clips of the movie followed by some of the young women dancing to the "Hot Chocolate" song as the young men came out appropriately dressed with carts filled with hot chocolate and cookies. The end was a live nativity scene presented by the teenagers and some Christmas carols. It was a wonderful evening!

Messiah

These aren't necessarily really good pictures but they're all I've got. Russ has been rehearsing with a community group for a couple of months to perform Handel's Messiah. Considering that Nauvoo is a tiny town in the middle of cornfields, putting this together was quite ambitious. Apparently they have done it annually for several years now. The conductor is the Nauvoo temple recorder. He knows former Tabernacle Choir director Craig Jessop and is startling similar in appearance to him!

I actually recorded some parts of the performance but somehow when transferring from my phone, the videos ended being upside down. If anyone reading this knows how to turn them over, please let me know because I would love to be able to include some of the recording.

As I looked over the names listed in the program, there were 14 for sure that I knew from the temple, mostly temple missionaries but some local ordinance workers, too. It's just another case of generous active Latter Day Saints are in volunteering their time and how much we support quality arts and the sharing of talents. (By the way, it was somewhat painful for me to not participate. I have had to excuse myself from performance singing because my voice is no longer dependable. I have only one functioning vocal cord and it is old and worn out. After singing all of my life, this is tough.)

Christmas in Old Nauvoo

 

 Last night Russ and I attended the annual Old Nauvoo Christmas celebration.It started with a couple of high school choirs and a high school jazz combo presenting some musical numbers followed by a local politician turning on the lights for the big tree in the Visitors Center. The place was filled with the proud parents of the performers as well as lots of the temple missionaries who were fortunate, like us, to be on the morning shift so we were free in the evening.Without any long speeches or further fanfare, everyone was invited to ride in one of the horse drawn wagons down Main Street.

 The wagons pulled by these hard-working horses, normally filled with tourists, were festively decorated.We were delighted to find that the group of people of various ages that filled the wagon we got on happily sang all the Christmas songs we could collectively remember off the tops of our heads. The kids were the most exuberant and sang some of their favorites more than once, but we just enjoyed the happy spirit of the occasion. By the way, everything was free, just like it always is in Old Nauvoo.

 The night was cold, but not too cold and fairly still with lots of stars you could see because electric lighting in old Nauvoo is minimal. The sidewalk next to the street had been lined with luminaries (paper bags with cut-out stars containing battery powered tea lights). This picture gives you an idea but doesn't give the full effect of the old-time festive atmosphere. There are more site missionaries than temple missionaries, especially over the winter, but the site missionaries continue to work just as hard yet cheerfully as ever. In 4 of the buildings there were  couples who told stories of the origins of Christmas songs then sang them, a cappela, with guitar, or a keyboard. Outside each of those buildings was a group of missionaries standing around a burning barrel to keep warm while they enthusiastically sang Christmas carols. In the cultural hall (the largest historic building), there was a live nativity scene re-enacted every half hour. In the family living center where missionaries usually show visitors how rope, or rugs, or bread were made by the pioneers, there were refreshments. Hot cocoa was served along with cheese and crackers, vegetables and dip, and cookies. I had made candy cane cookies and dropped them off earlier but there were none of mine left when we got there. That wasn't a problem because there were others to try and I had some of mine still at home!