Working Smarter Not Harder

One of my mission president's favorite things he liked to tell us was to work smarter not harder. He told us that we wasted a lot of time on nonessential things. That we needed to get the members to give us referrals since tracting wasn't as efficient and effective in terms of convert baptisms.

He continually told us to use our time more wisely that we needed to keep tract of converts more effectively by using our convert checklist. They had developed the early forerunner to the convert form that is now used throughout the world. In a few of my areas we actually had notebooks with tracting records and notes about the person living there. I read a few where they told how unresponsive the person contacted was. I usually disregarded them since I had a different personality from the other elders who made the initial assessment. In fact those were the very people I thought we should follow-up on. Most of my companions disagreed but I felt in these cases since they had such a strong opinion that we shouldn't return that they would want to engage us in conversation.

My mission president discouraged us from working too long with those who weren't progressing since we were there to find the "elect." It took me a while to get over my backward thinking as exhibited above. I learned from Bruce R. McConkie and Joseph Fielding Smith that not only are we sent to gather in the elect but we are sent out to warn the nations. Since my mission president was opposed to contending it was better to keep moving along. We found a lot of receptive people by just following the spirit.

I think if a person has progressed in the past that sometimes it is good to come back to them from time to time to see how they are doing. One of my favorite things to do was to get referrals from them. President Ballard taught us that many times they would refer you to a friend just to get rid of you. So I scrupulously employed this method of referral. I would ask you were interested in the gospel do you have any friends you think might be interested. I improved on the method by asking them to write on a slip a paper the name of the friend. I would then show the slip of paper to the friend and say "Hi, Jeff Jones sent us to see you. I would say you do know Jeff Jones?" They would usually respond Yeah. I would say could we come in and speak to you briefly. Most let us in. A few times we got results.

When I was a ward mission and missionaries would say they didn't have enough referrals. I would say come with me elder. I would take them to a less active family I might be home teaching. I would say Sister Smith do you know any friends or relatives that might be interested in hearing from the missionaries. She would give the name of three or four people. I would say could you write a small note saying I am sending the missionaries to talk to you. Usually she would write a couple lines saying that exact thing. The missionaries would later tell me these were some of their best contacts. I learned it all from M. Russell Ballard on how to work smarter not harder.

Other than this aspect I never could figure out just what he meant. We worked sixty-five hours a week. Some of the things he had us do were to go to grocery stores and offer to take out people's groceries. We had a yellow button with a black question mark we wore. If people saw it and asked us what it meant we would say, What do you know about the Mormon Church and would you like to know more? We only got limited success from the button.

We did enjoy hearing about how Elder Franklin D. Richards would go all over and ask people the questions. I wish we had served in areas with more buses since a bus or subway is a great place for those to work. You need a large mass of people. We were also encouraged to give a few hours a week in service.

When I was a library director I would encourage the missionaries to come shelve books. I would tell them you can't actively proselyte but I will let you wear your name tag. A lot of times later when they were contacting a person would say I remember you from the library and let them in. Sometimes little things can return good results. Sometimes we are too impatient to realize we need to try a lot of different approaches.

I think M. Russell Ballard needs to do a talk called working smarter not harder so he can more fully expand what he means. I never fully understood what he meant when I served under him. Most business types are always referring to time management when they use this term. I think he knew from his experience what he meant but I was a little inexperienced at the time to fully understand.

When a person says you should work smarter not harder they usually mean we not waste time. We should keep phone calls or emails short and to the point. That we maximize our time such as staying on task. Missionaries should keep their dinner appointments to the one hour allotted. They should go out on time and go home on time. Their white handbooks outline their activities for the day. Just doing the work doesn't always produce results. Missionaries in order to think smarter need to think outside the box. They should try a few creative approaches. I guess that is why you need the spirit in missionary work. The spirit is the wild card in working smarter.

The biggest thing I came away from Elder Ballard saying this to me was to stay focused on missionary work. When you are young you tend to have attention deficit problems it is hard to sustain your effort because missionary work is hard repetitive work. You are like a mail person whether rain or snow or sleet nor ice you are out there on the streets teaching the gospel.

How to Deal with People Who Live Together

As a missionary from time to time we would run across couples who lived together. Thirty years ago it wasn't as common as today. In the last ten years I have even seen it in my own family who are not members. Both my brothers lived with their wives for five years before they married them. One brother's wife ran off with another man and my other brother's wife divorced him also. My first brother is remarried and might have learned his lesson since he didn't live with her first. My wife's sister has lived with her significant other now for about fifteen years. I worked with a professor at SDSU who used to brag to me about how common law wives in some states got half the assets but he knew how to hide them. I am not sure of every state but he told me some states they don't get common property. I worry about my sister-in-law if something happened she could be left with little or nothing if his family contested his will. I have told all of them the should get married since they will have better protection legally and morally but most don't care.

When I was a missionary I learned an important lesson about marriage. I was especially useful on the chastity concept since I didn't have any embarassment giving it. I knew a lot about it since my sister got pregnant at fifteen and my parents had to get married as my sister was born three months after they were married. My family were a case study in the problems associated with premartial sex.

The fascinating thing is that there isn't anything from drugs to sex to crime that I haven't seen vicariously done by one or another of my family members. People think that because I am so inflexible and hard line on not doing these things that I don't understand human foibles. The truth is that because I have seen them up close and personal I can see the train on the track quicker than most other people. Unfortunately no one wants to be told they are about to get hit ahead of time since it is so obvious after the fact. I guess you lose the ability to learn from your sins by people like me who warn you.

Companions didn't like me telling people living together to knock it off and get married in such direct terms. They felt we should ease in to the discussion. One of my best pieces of wisdom is don't put out because it will drive them crazy and they will marry you faster. My other favorite piece of advice as a missionary was in order to join the Church you need to quit bonking your girlfriend. Most of my companions told me I needed a more subtle and gentle approach. I found my approach is what the investigators expectation is to be told. The expect you to stand for something and as a minister tell them to walk the straight and narrow.

It was always funny to me at the bafflement of my companions when the two people did the strangest thing. Not only didn't they join the church most of them broke up. It might have had something to do with the fact I would say to them after the marriage discussion. In order to join the church you have to get married or stop living together. We would explain how they could be married for eternity. Most of the women would gasp and say "are you kidding me I would never want to be married forever to him." I always felt so sorry for the poor guy. The couple would blow us off for a few weeks since they had to reevaluate their relationship. Then when we got back in one of them would no longer be there or they would tell us they weren't willing to make the commitment. Usually that was the end of their interest in the gospel too. In retrospect I think we should have worked on helping them build a better relationship so they would have felt like being married for eternity. I think you need to overcome their objection and they need to see a greater value from the more traditional role.

I know a lot about people living together. In dealing with people who live together you need to find out why they have such an arrangement. You need to be clear on the church's policies. You need to be patient with them and convert them to the principles of the gospel. Get smaller commitments from them such as attending church. Integrate them in to the church slowly. They need to see a value to getting married such as what it can do for their future children. Many people who live together don't have children. The only reason my second brother got married was he eventually got his girlfriend pregnant. People who live together have to see a value in joining the church. Sometimes it will take a few set of elders before enough time has passed for them to assimilate in the gospel. The most important thing to remember is not to be judgmental if they don't do what you want. So be patient and reinforce why marriage is important.

Missionaries need to consult with their mission president for guidance when there are serious moral issues. He will instruct them in how to deal with each case. I remember our mission president had us work with the local bishop.

Remember you have to reeducate them since society doesn't stress traditional values as much today. Many people would get married if they felt their spouse felt a long-term commitment to them. Most people want to marry someone that loves and values them.

When they don't immediately get married remember that many times we are planting seeds or new ideas or expectations that might be realized later. I feel many of these couples would join the church if they were to associate with us in family focused wards. If they do decide to get married when you teach them you will have done some social good by helping form another traditional family with a father and mother.

Above All Else Let Us Think Straight

When I was a missionary in the Toronto Canada Mission my mission president M. Russell Ballard used to talk to us in zone conferences about the importance of missionary work. The goal of every mission president is to get their missionaries to use their time wisely and effectively to teach, testify and bring souls to Christ.

I can still remember on at least three zone conferences when he shared with us some counsel. He even told us that he was giving us counsel. One one occasion he stood up and said "He wished he had a magic wand so he could tap each missionary with it. So that you could wake up."

He then would quoted to us 2 Nephi 1: 13, 23

13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.

23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.

He would tell us that we were in a deep sleep and that we needed to break out of Satan's grasp so that the work could go forward in Ontario and Canada.

He liked to use his grandfather Melvin J. Ballard as a talking point. One of his favorite stories was to tell us Melvin J. Ballard's death bed experience which illustrates how to be an effective missionary. Elder Ballard shared that experience in a 29 November 1983 BYU devotional six years after his mission:

In my office I have a little plaque that reads, "Above all else, brethren, let us think straight." These were the last words in mortality spoken by my grandfather Melvin J. Ballard. As I understand the circumstance, Grandfather, after the very grueling experience of preaching the gospel all through the eastern part of the United States, drove his car from New York to Salt Lake City. When he came into the driveway of his home at 80 North Wolcott Avenue in Salt Lake City, he collapsed. He was rushed to the LDS hospital, where he was found to have acute leukemia. He never came out of the hospital. He went in and out of a coma. As I have had it told to me by my father, who was there, Grandfather pushed himself up in bed, looked into his hospital room as though he were addressing a congregation or a group, and said clearly, "And above all else, brethren, let us think straight." Then he died. I don't go into my office any day of the week that I don't see those words, and I find that they help me a great deal.

He would then tell us that as missionaries we needed to think straight. He told us as straight thinking missionaries we would put away foolishness such as worldly distractions like thinking about girl friends or home or goofing off. Instead we would put our mind, heart and souls on bringing to pass righteousness. Translated that means we were to get to work and teach and baptize. We were sent on missions to be hunters and fishers of the elect of God.

I believed every word the man said. I would come away motivated to bring more people in to the Church. On a different occasion he told us that we were like wind up toys. When he would speak to us we could sustain our efforts for a few days or a couple of weeks but most of us missionaries couldn't keep it up for the five or six weeks between zone conferences.

When he would give us the "talk." I would do what Elder Ballard suggested and "brainstorm" with my companion. We used a method called brainstorming in the CTM. Wikipedia gives a good description of it but doesn't see much value other than as a team building exercise. Mind Tools is a little more complimentary of the process:

Brainstorming is a useful and popular tool that you can use to develop highly creative solutions to a problem.

It is particularly helpful when you need to break out of stale, established patterns of thinking, so that you can develop new ways of looking at things. This can be when you need to develop new opportunities, where you want to improve the service that you offer, or when existing approaches just aren't giving you the results you want.

We used it in the CTM as a way of coming up with fresh ideas for finding and teaching people. I think it had limited success but it reminded us to try different ways of proseltying. Elder Ballard coming from a business perspective used it in his businesses. I think the reason we didn't see as much success with it was that we only heard it described and not modeled. Also many of us were too lazy to even read the handouts.

I only had one companion who used it and that was Elder Lodholm. As a junior companion I seldomly did anything other than what I was told and none of my companions ever took out the handout and discussed it. Being a convert I usually practiced mindless obedience since I didn't know any better than that since I was only a member one year and didn't know jack about missionary work let alone the cultural mores of the church. Elder Ballard beat it in to our heads that we needed to be united and good leaders would follow their brethren. I learned that we don't have to like them just follow them.

There are some that would question my quality of obedience because I slept in on occasion and didn't master the discussions one hundred percent word perfect. But the truth is I followed my companions around like a lap dog. I spoke when called on and gave my limited concepts that I knew. As a junior companion for almost two years I prayed for them and lent my support whenever possible. I was never pressed too hard and usually was called on to bear testimony, to pray or to support what my companion said. I never contradicted them even when a few times they said things that just weren't true. Being a junior companion for two years prepared me for future church callings were men with limited gospel mastery who had never served missions would be my leaders. I learned discipleship.
I know that Elder Ballard was just trying to get us to focus on the missionary work. Missionaries get easily distracted. I think that is why he would tell us not only to think straight but to work smarter not harder. I will address the latter in my next post.

Wasted Time

Yesterday on Monday I was driving back home after dropping off two of my children at swim practice on the Ashley Ridge High School Swim Team. Their coach doesn't care if it is pouring since they are just going to get wet anyway. He makes them exercise if there is lightning. Practice is usually never cancelled. They swim through rain and thunder which it usually does in South Carolina during hurricane season.

I was moving at a good clip around 48 mph in a 45 mph zone on a two-lane city road. Considering it was raining pretty hard and you could only see a short distance it probably wasn't a smart thing to be doing. My attention was drawn to the side of the road when another car pulled in to a grocery store parking lot. I saw something white that caused me to refocus my attention about a half a block down. When my mind caught up I saw two Elders walking in the rain neither with their umbrellas up even though I saw umbrellas in their hands.

My initial reaction was that I should stop and pick them up. Unfortunately I was in the left lane moving pretty fast. I actually started thinking about how I should go down and turn around. I was surprise to see these two elders without their car. I knew they had a car because I had them over for dinner twice this last month. Also they had come to my house a couple of times to wash their car.

Then I had a couple of conflicting thoughts my first thought was that it was inconvenient to pick them up as I was heading home and was tired having wolfed down my dinner and spent an hour and a half getting home from work since traffic had been diverted on to the country highway from the interstate due to an accident and caused me to take one and one half hours to go twenty miles. I shook off that feeling and started to make a U-turn. I thought I bet their car is in the shop so that is why they are walking. I thought I should pick them up so they don't waste a lot of time walking.

They were walking on a commercial street and there were no houses for about a half an mile. I knew it would take them ten to fifteen minutes to get to a residence. At first I wondered if they were going to a dinner appointment but I knew this set of elders were sticklers for obeying the mission rules. I looked at my clock and saw that it was 6:12 p.m. so that wasn't the case.

Then I processed something interesting I noticed when they were walking that they were in a rather animated conversation with one another. They seemed oblivious to the fact there was a major down pour taking place. I received a strong impression not to pick them up.

Maybe I was projecting something into them but I remember some of my greatest moments on a mission where what my mission president would have considered wasted time. I knew that the two elders had only been companions for about two weeks. Being as P-Day was just ending and proseltying beginning I believed they were either talking about their personal lives or doing some informal discussion about the way their missions were going.

I never really considered it wasted time even though our minds weren't fully single to the work as our mission president M. Russell Ballard would remind us. I never had much in the way of social skills growing up as a kid. I had few friends. I learned most of my social skills on a mission. Many of those skills have carried me through twenty-five years of marriage and through my LDS Church callings. I learned to listen to the life stories of my companions. I had one companion Harry Lodholm three times. He was a fascinating man. He wasn't like most of us other missionaries. He had gone in to the United States Coast Guard and went on a mission when about twenty-four. He had come from a farm in Washington State and was very handy with his hands he could fix just about anything. He had a bright inquisitive mind and had undertaken a study of philosophy and religion while serving his country.

It whetted my appetite to learn about different cultures and climates as he would go in to a litany on various religions. He would talk about his family with great love and admiration. He would discuss the merits of good health and vitamins. He even put the juice from vegetables in to the pancake mix. He would share his Shakelee vitamins that his mother sold with me. I can honestly say that I heard every story he had to tell at least three times in the seven months I spent as his companion.

Some could argue that missionaries walking around repeating their limited life experiences about girls, sports, religion, and family is not productive but I disagree. I saw and heard many things that later helped me in life. A byproduct of a mission is that missionaries learn how to functionally cope better in life. It makes them better missionaries as they progress in their mission. They learn to pick up on the nuances of what investigators are saying. They learn to work with members better. Even if they don't produce great numbers of converts they are remade in to being socialized in to the Mormon culture.

As a convert to the LDS church I didn't have a lot to go on. I came from a dysfunctional home where my parents constantly fought. I father a recovering alcoholic had such a low self-esteem that he verbally abused his family most of our lives. He had to take Valium to put up with five kids. He never came home at night and played poker his entire life. We saw our father about one to two hours a day since he was either at work or out gambling. When we did see him he criticised us constantly telling us what losers we were. My parents cussed at each other like sailors and physically came to blows over money and accusations of adultery.

If it hadn't been for those wasted moments on my mission I doubt I would have been able to raise eight children as well as I have. Missionaries need to take advantage of every moment on their mission learning ways of being better men and women. Believe it or not in a matter of a couple of minutes I processed all that in my mind and didn't stop to pick up those two missionaries because what they were doing walking and talking might just be some of their most memorable moments in life.

Debating Intellectual Dishonesty in the BYU Religion Department

Ifinally received a very interesting comment to my post that bears repeating. The commenter supports the idea that has become the status quo in academia. It really needs to be flushed out so that we can raise our consciousness about why it exists as the status quo in many institutions of higher learning:

JimF argues:

I have several bones to pick. First, I suspect that you are wrong about the how often professors at universities other than BYU abuse students. Second, though I am sure that there are those in Religious Education who are intellectually dishonest, I doubt that intellectual dishonesty is "pervasive" in that college. One instance--if what you cite is an instance--doesn't indict the whole group. Third, I'm not sure what the professor asked your daughter to do that was dishonest. You are right that she ought not to rely on his offer of future help. But whether his request that she help with his work amounts to dishonesty depends on what she does and what he does with it. If he publishes what she writes substantially unrevised, and he doesn't explictly give her credit for writing it, that is intellectually dishonest. But he could ask her for research reports and then use them to write up his results without making her a co-author. Of course, sometimes the line between those two is difficult to discern, and a professor ought to err on the side of giving more rather than less credit. But using research assistants to do research without making them co-authors doesn't necessarily amount to intellectual dishonesty or student abuse.

I countered with:

You seemed to justify a system of publishing and perishing at any cost. It is actually a very dishonest system to feel that you shouldn't give credit where credit is due.

I have seen abuse even with the so-called using research assistant where they perform the task of finding stuff. In the case of my daughter he asked her to write some initial things.

Professors don't necessarily direct their research assistants other than to give them a topic, which means many time they find information and insights the professor knew nothing about.

The person then does more than go to the library and find material. Many timees they write rough notes which are used very often with the professors editing them and putting in transitions.

That fact that you buy in to a system where publications are built on the intellectual finds of unnamed research assistants is dishonest in itself. I prefer an environment where I did my doctoral work where people collaborated.

I had a library employee once who did all the research for a bibliographic work on Black Progressivism. The full professor gave him a grateful mention despite the fact the librarian did seventy percent of the work. I questioned him and told him what he was doing was dishonest. He cussed and swore and finally to my surprise not only did he give my employee a second co-authorship he gave him all the royalties to their second book. That is more impressive than what you are suggesting.

My professor and I have continued our relationship for fifteen years co-writing, sometimes I carry my cognate professor and sometimes she cares me. We have not had a problem in the RTP process both having obtained rank and promotion to the full professor level.

I think since I have spent twenty years of my life in academia I can speak from experience here. I was granted tenure at San Diego State University which will compare with anywhere you might have worked. I had to go up against three RTP committees including the main SDSU review committee and I made it in four years. I have worked in six universities and have published. I have seen abuse in the publlication process and I have determined not to use students work dishonestly.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself if you are a professor that doesn't build up his students and raise them up. Because your are promulgating a dishonest practice. I can see you have bought in to the idea that is okay to use the intellectual property of others because you gave them a fellowship or ten bucks an hour. How sad you don't consider them colleagues to be respected and develolped.

The system you believe in is a form of slavery. Mormon scholars should be the most ethical not calling for the status quo.

I am not going to out the professor at BYU I worked for but one time I found a unique fact of Mormon history that had nothing to do with what he paid me. I naively shared it with him. Later he used it as if his own in a publication.
Since I depended on my graduate assistantship there wasn't much I could do about it since I had a wife and two kids to feed.

A lot of times the research assistants become experts at the topic. I remember Bruce Satterfield and a few guys like David Whitaker and Bruce Van Orden that were treated better. They went on to great things. Itis better to err on the side of the student than to make your career on their intellectual finds.

Having worked in five universities I am sure there is a wide range of opinion on this matter. I am fascinated that LDS scholars should be the strongest in favor of the status quo rather than in to building a collaborative approach. I have worked at two of the three LDS universities and watched some peculiar rationalizations on why they did what they did. I frankly perceived a lot of guilt also as many would tell me why the screwed over somebody. I saw the downside up close and personal and done to a lot of faculty members. Never in those conversations did the person telling me about their deeds, deny they should give credit but usually they took the expedient way out and considered it standard operating procedures. I watch people's lives destroyed as professors were transferred to the library. I saw two nationally known scholars get the boot to the library and saw less qualified people put in their place. Even when they produced professors didn't always fare well as others wanted the credit for their work when they wouldn't back down they were removed from their place. I am not talking about myself personally in these cases because being a librarian I see my colleagues in other departments like a fly on the wall.

Having been a dean of libraries where faculty members had to publish I have seen people lie on resumes and claim publications. I have seen plagarism and had to fire people for dishonesty. I would rather walk in the noon-day sun like Elder Kikuchi suggests. Plus it is no skin off my nose to give someone a co-authorship when he or she did more than a minimum effort researching or writing. I have even edited my faculty members publications just so they could publish and do it in a manner that wouldn't embarass themselves or our institution. Why would any institution perpetuate a practice that is more harmful than good by not promoting their graduate students.

Blessing Missionary Apartments

When I was in the Canada Toronto Mission our mission President M. Russell Ballard was very concerned that we have the Spirit in our missionary apartments. During a round of zone conferences he instructed all the elders in the field to kneel down and bless our apartments. He told us to invoke the holy priesthood and to command any unclean spirits to depart and be bound and to not enter again in to our apartments. He promised us if we would do this we would have the Spirit to guide us. Being somewhat naive I knelt down and with some boldness did exactly as instructed. An unusual thing began to happen. I couldn't speak because it was an intense experience. A battle ensued for my very soul as two spiritual beings fought over me. I was very scared and had to lie down after finishing the prayer. My companion was concerned and wanted to know what was the matter with me. I continued to pray to God who finally delivered me from the evil being. I was delivered by an angel. I had a vision that I would one day become a leader in the Church. Later when I told Elder Ballard about the experience he laughed and said that Satan didn't bother with us little guys and that I should record my experience in my journal.

What to Do When You Don't Like Your Companion

Many times we don't like someone because they seem odd to us. Ezra Taft Benson and Flora Amussen Benson's favorite poet was Edgar A. Guest. Sister Benson like to quote from his book It Takes O' Heap of Living. In that book there is a poem When You Know A Fellow that is the key to coming to like your companion:

When you get to know a fellow, know his joys and know his cares,
When you've come to understand him and the burdens that he bears,
When you've learned the fight he's making and the troubles in his way,
Then you find that he is different than you thought him yesterday.
You find his faults are trivial and there's not so much to blame
In the brother that you jeered at when you only knew his name.

You are quick to see the blemish in the distant neighbor's style,
You can point to all his errors and may sneer at him the while,
And your prejudices fatten and your hates more violent grow
As you talk about the failures of the man you do not know,
But when drawn a little closer, and your hands and shoulders touch,
You find the traits you hated really don't amount to much.

When you get to know a fellow, know his every mood and whim,
You begin to find the texture of the splendid side of him;
You begin to understand him, and you cease to scoff and sneer,
For with understanding always prejudices disappear.
You begin to find his virtues and his faults you cease to tell,
For you seldom hate a fellow when you know him very well.

When next you start in sneering and your phrases turn to blame,
Know more of him you censure than his business and his name;
For it's likely that acquaintance would your prejudice dispel
And you'd really come to like him if you knew him very well.
When you get to know a fellow and you understand his ways,
Then his faults won't really matter, for you'll find a lot to praise.

From the book "A Heap o' Livin'" ©1916

As you get to know your companion better you will gain an appreciation for them. Most of the time when we don't like someone it is because we don't know them or their hearts very well.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell in Stockholm, Sweden Area Conference in 1974 gave us some insights in to overcoming negative feelings: "As we serve in the Church we must remember that the genius of the gospel includes not merely helping those who are already friends to love each other more. The gospel also helps those who might not naturally like each other to appreciate each other; those who are strangers, even enemies, can become friends.

In living together as Saints, we will surely see each other’s faults, but when we look at each other through the lens of the gospel and by the light of heaven, we also see in others attributes and qualities that we little imagined were there! The gospel does not ask us to close our eyes to any reality; rather it helps us open our eyes more widely and more appreciatively! Where others see disarray, the disciple can, with patience, see purpose. Where others feel hopelessness, the disciple does not despair, for he has “a perfect brightness of hope” (“Konferens: A Report of the Scandinavian Area General Conference Held at Stockholm, Sweden,” Ensign, [October 1974]: 77).

If after getting to know your companion better you still don't like him or her then I suggest you pray for them every morning and night. Each day try to say something positive and uplifting to them. Try holding companionship study and really seeking to hear each others suggestions. Do a kind deed each day for your companion. If you can't overcome your reservations try talking to your companion and being open and honest about your feelings. Remember George Albert Smith lived by the motto: "One is it kind. Two need it be mentioned." If you are kind and you still feel the Spirit is not in yhour companionship, try prayerfully in a companionship meeting to resolve concerns.

If after all this it still isn't working out you should then discuss your concerns with your district and zone leaders. Counsel together to come up with ways of having a harmonous relationship. Go with your companion don't do it behind his or her back.

The last resort is to let your mission president know there are some problems. It is his stewardship to decide if you should be together. If you still remain companions learn to appreciate that people have differences and strengths. Yours might be to learn to have patience. Remember that the Lord will bless us if we are faithful and obedient. Remember that usually there is a reason you are with a particular companion and that eventually you will have a different one or go home after your service is over. Endure to the end.

Smiling in Missionary Service

When I worked at San Diego State University we hired a consultant to come and help do focus groups with employees on ways of improving our relations with people we came in contact with. The employees decided that smiling was so important and wasn't done enough that they actually wrote it in to the job descriptions that all of us should smile each day. They said this made people we were dealing with feel better and the employee have better customer satisfaction. This simple thing is something that missionaries should do each and every day. The missionary carries the good news so they should be happy. Happy people tend to smile since they are bringing a glad message to those they encounter. Investigators associate smiling with a happiness or joy for missionary service and are more inclined to listen to our message.

Happy people just naturally smile. We even teach our primary children no one likes a frowny face change it for a smile. Make the world a better place by smiling all the while. Scientific evidence says that smiling has some therapeutic health results, which include: smiling makes us attractive, smiling changes our mood, smiling is contagious, smiling relieves stress, smiling boosts your immune system, smiling lowers your blood pressure, smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers and serotonin, smiling lifts the face and makes you look younger, smiling makes you look more successful, and smiling helps you stay positive.

There is nothing more depressing than seeing a missionary who has a frown on his face instead of a joyous countenance. The message that missionaries bring is one about eternal life. In D&C 18:15-16 it says "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great shall be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me."

Joe J. Christensen said:

If you’re not happy, you should be. Here’s why.

Let’s try an experiment. Are you ready? SMILE. Force it if you have to, but smile. I’m guessing many of you, when you receive the invitation, will immediately smile very naturally and normally. It’s something you do with regularity. You must be basically happy people by nature.

I’m also assuming there were some of you who at least were obedient and were just barely able to get the corners of your mouths up—not too much, mind you—to fulfill the assignment.

Odds are there were probably a few of you who didn’t smile at all, and it makes me wonder why. Ask yourself, “Am I really a happy person?” If you are not, and if it is difficult for you to smile, then analyze yourself. Know there is help available. Some of it can come from recognizing that difficulties are part of life. There are ups and there are downs, which reminds me of this little account shared by Elder Marion D. Hanks:

“A father [is] aboard an airplane on a short business trip. He has with him his five-year-old son and is almost wishing his son were not there because it is a very rough trip. There are downdrafts and updrafts and head winds alternating with tail winds, and some passengers are feeling a bit queasy. Apprehensively, the father glances at his son and finds him grinning from ear to ear. ‘Dad,’ he says, ‘do they do this just to make it fun for the kids?’ ” (Ensign, Nov. 1990, p. 38).

How many times in the scriptures does the Lord command us to “be of good cheer” or “lift up your heart and rejoice” and be exceeding glad? We should remember that it is a commandment and not merely a suggestion. (See D&C 78:17–19; D&C 31:3.)

This has to be the most marvelous time in the history of the world to be alive. It is true, there are many problems. But there are so many blessings for which we should be grateful.

Even though it is a simple concept missionaries should try smiling more on their missions as it will attract more people to the gospel. Try it you might get good results from it.

President Monson Puts Into Action Missionary Principles in Panama

Photo by Jason Swenson©Church News

On Sunday, 10 August 2008 President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the Panama City Panama Temple calling on the Lord to "provide a spirit of peace to all who observe its majesty." Throughout the world Latter-day Saint members in our temples often pray for the Prophet and that missionaries may be lead to the honest in heart and that the leaders of the world would open their doors to missionary work.

It is refreshing to see that President Monson is making strides to keep open offical channels as he and his daughter Ann Gibbs, Elder Dieter Uchtdorf and his wife Harriet, Elder Richard G. Scott, and Elder Don Clark and his wife Mary Anne, all met with Panama's President Martin Torrijos and his wife, First Lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos, at Panama's Presidential Palace on Monday, 11 August 2008 to discuss what the church was doing for the Panamanian people. During the meeting President Torrijos commended the church for its humanitarian efforts and discussed ways of improving literacy with President Monson. President Monson and Elder Uchtdorf discussed the value of the temple for the Panamanian people. The First Lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos had actually attended the open house before the temples dedication.

Jason Swenson of the Church News reported :

President Monson presented the President and Mrs. Torrijos with a small statue of a child taking her first steps.

President Monson and his fellow Church leaders also offered direction and encouragement to missionaries in the Panama City Panama Mission.

President Monson and President Uchtdorf both testified of the divine inspiration that can be found behind each missionary assignment. In his remarks, the Church president spoke of the importance of missionaries working closely with local members to find people to teach the gospel.

In his remarks to the missionaries, President Uchtdorf said Sister Uchtdorf's family had been taught and baptized into the Church by missionaries who persisted in knocking on every door in the apartment complex where her family lived. The missionaries experienced rejection at each door until finally finding Sister Uchtdorf's receptive family in the last apartment on the last floor.

A fluent Spanish-speaker, Elder Scott said it was important that the missionaries broaden their language skills while taking advantage of the unique opportunity a mission affords to study the gospel in depth and to better know the Savior.

It has always impressed me that prayer needs to be followed up with action on the part of our leaders. It is great to have such a missionary-minded President like Thomas S. Monson forging ties with leaders throughout the world.

Mission President Styles

I had a couple of elders over from the Columbia South Carolina Mission for dinner. Just as we were starting dinner another Spanish-speaking elder called who had left his laundry at the two missionaries apartment. I said he is lucky he didn't lose it at a commercial laundermat, no telling what could have happened then. The elder said: "yeah especially since he washed his garments but since he did it at our apartment he should be fine."

Then he told me an urban tale that he claimed was true. He said there were a couple of elders in Georgia or South Carolina who were at a commercial laundermat who were jumped by some guys who sprayed painted their garments. One of the GA's who he thought was Thomas S. Monson dusted them. The laundermat burned to the ground in a couple of weeks. When they rebuilt it after the fire it burned down a second time. My wife and I said it sounded like a Mormon legend but the elder swore it happened.

During dinner we got to talking about our mission presidents. The two elders were in a joking mood and one said "my mission president claimed he could look in to my soul." He claimed he was able to tell when an elder wasn't reading his scriptures or praying. He would look at the elder and say "You haven't been praying, have you Elder?" He said, "I bet you think your mission president did the same thing. All missionaries think their mission presidents can look in to their souls."

His companion turned to him and said "you will never guess who his mission president was?" The elder responded Thomas S. Monson. I said you guessed the right mission anyway. His companion said "Bro. B's mission president was M. Russell Ballard." The elder said "what does the M. stand for?" I said Melvin. He said "No wonder he uses the M. instead of his real name. I said "that is not the reason he goes by Russell and to close friends Russ. His father and grandfather all had the same first name so they chose different names."

He said, "How many mission presidents did you serve under?" I said, "Three." He said, "That is quite a few, that must have been interesting. Was your mission president tough?"

My wife said, "His mission president used to poke the elders in the chest and had a hot seat that he would put them in when he inerviewed them."

I told him my mission president liked to pride himself on the fact that Thomas S. Monson created a stake and he did the same and that Thomas S. Monson never sent a boy home dishonorably and that he was able to do the same.

The elder then told me his mission president was even tougher than Elder Ballard. In fact his mission president learned everything he knew about missionary work from Elder Ballard who spoke to him every week. Elder Ballard usually called him to check on the mission or he would call him. I knew Elder Ballard was the head of Missionary Executive Committee and wondered if he called all 350 mission presidents each week or just a few. The said that President Brailsford and Elder Ballard were close friends.

The elder told me that his mission president led his missionaries by fear and intimidation and he was the most successful mission president in the history of the Southern States Missions in the twentieth century. At first I thought I misheard him so I asked him "What do you mean your mission president led by intimidation?" I am planning on writing a blog called "Mission President's Styles from what you just said." He said that is okay but don't tell my name but his mission president kept missionaries in line by saying he could send anyone home in only three days."

He explained that his mission president demanded complete obedience. He told the missionaries that he would send one home in under three days for disobedience. I said he actually sent missionaries home. Both elders said yes. I said do you have a problem with his being so hard. They said no his success came from the fact that he didn't put up with elders being disobedient. It helped them to live the rules to the letter and they were blessed with 116 baptims. My wife said "Your mission president did the same thing." I said, "No he didn't. He said that the grasp of Satan would be broken if we ever passed 100 in a month. But a couple of months when we could have passed it he didn't feel the candidates were taught sufficiently so we only had 98 or 97 a couple of months."

One missionary said that Elder Yoshihiko Kukuchi had prophesied that the Columbia South Carolina Mission would have 200 baptisms and that President Brailsford having 116 was a fulfillment of that prophesy." I asked them if he shared the story of the missionary when he was mission president in Hawaii that had 1,000 baptisms. I told them I had a small part to play in that elder having such success. He was serving in Laie when I worked at BYU--Hawaii. I made a copy of Alvin R. Dyer's The Challenge and gave it to the kid telling him the time I baptized eight people in one month and told him if he used it he would baptize dozens of people. He went on to become a traveling assistant. My wife replied "Sure we know Elder Kikuchi he married us."

I told them to be careful using the challenge since I shared the same thing in the San Diego Mission with a zone leader in Calexico who had 79 baotisms. His mission president thought he was an arrogant young man and busted him down. The amazing thing was that all the missionaries he trained continued being successful for weeks after he was gone and every missionary wanted to be in our ward where I was ward mission leader. The elders told me they challenge every person on a first discussion before they leave. I told them I would challenge the person first thing then say "How wonderful it is to be with you this evening. Before we leave tonight we would to welcome you to entrance in to Christ's true Church. I am not asking for your response now but before we leave." I told them you had to depend on the spirit after that.

My wife shared the style of her mission president who had been the head of housing at BYU. He was used to dealing with college students who were more mature. He trusted in his elders and sisters to live the mission rules. Unfortunately his trust was misplaced as the sisters and elders sometimes did things like hold dances together. He learned to be tougher as a mission president as a few of them ended up marrying each other. She said for a while they called her mission the Canada Marriage Mission.

I asked the two elders if their new mission president was anything like their last mission president. They said they didn't know since they had only one zone conference to compare them. I said if President Stephen L. McConkie were anything like his father or his brother Joseph Fielding he was probably pretty tough too.

I told them they should try him out next time they saw him. I said Joseph Fielding like to trap return missionaries in the religion department at BYU by asking "How are you, elder?" If you replied, "Good." He would laugh and say "My father says there is only one good man that has ever walked this earth. You know who that is don't you elder."

As I think back over the three mission presidents I served under Leopoldo Larcher, M. Russell Ballard, and Raymond Russell all three men were quite different. President Larcher was a young man who was idealistic but a very caring and loving man. He was in to building the elders and the church but in that order. Elder Ballard had a tough demeanor and concentrated on building the kingdom and was a no nonense kind of mission president. He had a soft side but he didn't let anything keep the work from progressing. He felt if missionaries obeyed the rules they would be successful and the Lord would bless them. A few including me came close to going home but he succeeded in saving just about all of his boys. Raymond Russll was more of a people person who was in to maximizing your potential. He felt if he built the elders they would then have success. All three men had success but each in a unique way. I bet there are all kinds of styles among mission presidents.

Joseph Smith Jr.'s Doctrinal Teachings on Missionary Work

I conducted a poll recently on the greatest LDS missionary of all times. Joseph Smith received so far the most amount of votes. I am not sure other than the "No unhallowed hand can stop" quote that I have heard many doctrinal statements over the LDS pulpit that speakers have shared by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The interesting thing was that thirty years ago I heard more things quoted by Joseph Smith than I do today. I don't know if the younger generation have not been exposed to him until the past year's priesthood/relief society use of his teachings or if it could be some other reason. I think we should be versed in the teachings of the man we consider the greatest Prophet of this dispensation.

I am glad they are going to release the Joseph Smith Papers soon so we can reacquaint ourselves with his life and teachings. I recently applied to work on the papers and received an editing test, it was a killer of a test but I think I did a fairly passable job. I haven't heard back from them whether I will be involved but I will blog about that either way later. It is an honor to even be considered. I noticed they have more chiefs than Indians so I would make a good worker.

Just to prove I'm not whacked out, here is a copy of the email:

From: "Deborah Bradford"
To: "tenbrunos@yahoo.com"
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:01:47 -0600
Subject: Proofreading test

Hello,

The Joseph Smith Papers team would like to arrange for you to take a proofreading test. Do you have a fax number we could send it to?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

I have compiled in to this post all his missionary quotes that I could find. If you have more please add them as comments at the end of the post.

Here goes:

The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978, 4:536).

We don’t ask any people to throw away any good they have got; we only ask them to come and get more. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 5:259).

Have the Presbyterians any truth? Yes. Have the Baptists, Methodists, etc., any truth? Yes. They all have a little truth mixed with error. We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true 'Mormons. (Joseph Smith Jr., quoted in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, ed. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976. p. 316).

I ask how righteousness and truth are going to sweep the earth...I will answer. Men and angels are going to be co-workers in bringing to pass this great work. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 2:260).

Take Jacob Zundell and Frederick H. Maeser, and tell them never to drink of ale, wine, or any spirit, only that which flows right out from the presence of God; and send them to Germany; and when you meet with an Arab, send him to Arabia; when you find an Italian, send him to Italy; and a Frenchman, to France; or an Indian, that is suitable, send him among the Indians. Send them to the different places where they belong. Send somebody to Central America and to all Spanish America; and don't let a single corner of the earth go without a mission. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 5:368).

But now, the gloomy cloud is burst, and the gospel is shining with all the resplendent glory of an apostolic day; and that the kingdom of the Messiah is greatly spreading, that the gospel of the Lord is carried to divers nations of the earth, the scriptures translating into different tongues; the ministers of truth crossing the vast deep to proclaim to men in darkness a risen Savior, and to erect the standard of Emmanuel where light has never shone; and that the idol is destroyed, the temple of images forsaken; and those who but a short time previous followed the traditions of their fathers and sacrificed their own flesh to appease the wrath of some imaginary god, are now raising their voices in the worship of the Most High, and are lifting their thoughts up to him with the full expectation that one day they will meet with a joyful reception in his everlasting Kingdom! (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 2:6).

After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel. (History of the Church, 2:478).

It should be the duty of the elder to stand up boldly for the cause of Christ, and warn the people with one accord to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and for the Holy Ghost; always commanding them in the name of the Lord in the spirit of meekness. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Co., 1978, 2:262).

From a retrospect of the requirements of the servants of God to preach the Gospel. . . .if a Priest understands his duty, his calling, and ministry, and preaches by the Holy Ghost, his enjoyment is as great as if he were one of the Presidency; and his services are necessary in the body, as are also those of Teacher and Deacons. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978, 2:478).

Baptism is a sign to God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be saved, and enter into the kingdom of God, except faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins...; then you have the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost." (History of the Church, 4:555).

Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976, p. 24).

Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1902, 6:364).

Oh, ye elders of Israel, hearken to my voice; and when you are sent into the world to preach, tell those things you are sent to tell; preach and cry aloud, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; repent and believe the Gospel.” Declare the first principles, and let mysterious alone, lest ye be overthrown. Never meddle with the visions of beasts and subjects you do not understand. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Conference Report, 8 April 1843 quoted in The Mind and Will of the Lord—Joseph Smith, compiled and indexed by Harold B. Pease, Taft, CA.: WestWood Book, 2001, p. 142).

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; let your light shine, and show yourselves workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Apply yourselves diligently to study, that your minds may be stored with all necessary information. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986, p. 176).

The gift of tongues by the power of the Holy Ghost in the Church is for the benefit of the servants of God to preach to unbelievers, as on the day of Pentecost. When devote men from every nation shall assemble to hear the things of God, let the Elders preach to them in their mother tongue, whether it is German, French, Spanish, or Irish. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1902, Vol. 4:485).

Also, I saw Elder Brigham Young standing in a strange land, in the far south and west, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of about a dozen men of color, who appeared hostile. He was preaching to them in their own tongue. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1902], Vol. 2:238).

First, it becomes an elder when he is traveling through the world, warning the inhabitants of the earth to gather together, that they may be built up an holy city unto the Lord, instead of commencing with children....they should commence their labors with parents, or guardians; and their teachings should be such as are calculated to turn the hearts of the fathers to children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers; and no influence should be used with children, contrary to the consent of their parents or guardians....And if children embrace the gospel, and their parents or guardians are unbelievers, teach them to stay at home and be obedient to their parents or guardians, if they require it; but if they consent to let them gather with the people of God, let them do so, and there shall be no wrong; and let all things be done carefully and righteously and God will extend all such his guardian care.

And secondly, it is the duty of elders, when they enter into any house, to let their labors and warning voice be unto the master of that house; and if he receive the gospel, then he may extend his influence to his wife also, with consent, that peradventure she may receive the gospel; but if a man receive not the gospel, but gives his consent that his wife may receive it, and she believes, then let her receive it. But if a man forbid his wife, or his children, before they are of age, to receive the gospel, then it should be the duty of the elder to go his way, and use no influence against him, and let the responsibility be upon his head; shake off the dust of thy feet as a testimony against him, and thy skirts shall then be clear of their souls....Thirdly, it should be the duty of an elder, when he enters into a house, to salute the master of that house, and if he gain his consent, then he may preach to all that are in that house; but if he gain not his consent, let him not go unto his slaves or servants, but let the responsibility be upon the head of the master of that house, and the consequences thereof. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978, 2:262-263).

Souls are as precious in the sight of God as they ever were; and the Elders were never called to drive any down to hell, but to persuade and invite all men everywhere to repent, that they may become the heirs of salvation. It is the acceptable year of the Lord: liberate the captives that they may sing hosannas. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, p. 77).

The Elders would go forth, and each must stand for himself... to go in all meekness, in sobriety, and preach Jesus Christ and him crucified; not to with others on account of their faith, or systems of religion, but pursue a steady course. This I delivered by way of commandment; and all who observe it not, will pull down persecution upon their heads, while those who do, shall always be filled with the Holy Ghost; this I pronounced as a prophecy, and sealed with hosanna and amen. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 2:431).

Let the elders be exceedingly careful about unnecessarily disturbing and harrowing up the feelings of the people. Remember that your business is to preach the Gospel in all humility and meekness, and warn sinners to repent and come to Christ. Avoid contentions and vain disputes with men of corrupt minds who do not desire to know the truth. Remember that 'it is a day of warning, and not a day of many words.' If they receive not your testimony in one place, flee to another, remembering to cast no reflections, nor throw out any bitter sayings. If you do your duty, it will be just as well with you, as though all men embraced the Gospel. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976, p. 176).

Seek to help save souls, not to destroy them: for verily you know, that 'there is more joy in heaven, over one sinner that repents, than there is over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance.' Strive not about the mysteries of the kingdom; cast not your pearls before swine, give not the bread of the children to dogs, lest you and the children should suffer, and you thereby offend your righteous Judge. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976, p. 172).

When we arrived, some of the young elders were about engaging in a debate on the subject of miracles. The question-'Was it, or was it not, the design of Christ to establish his Gospel by miracles?' After an interesting debate of three hours or more, during which time much talent was displayed, it was decided, by the president of the debate, in the negative, which was a righteous decision. I discovered in this debate, much warmth displayed, too much zeal for mastery, too much of that enthusiasm that characterizes a lawyer at the bar, who is determined to defend his cause, right or wrong. I therefore availed myself of this favorable opportunity to drop a few words upon this subject, by way of advice, that they might improve their minds and cultivate their powers of intellect in a proper manner, that they might not incur the displeasure of heaven; that they should handle sacred things very sacredly, and with due deference to the opinions of others, and with an eye single to the glory of God. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976, pp. 176-177).

Preach short sermons, make short prayers, deliver your sermon with a prayerful heart, and you will be blessed, and the truth will prosper in your hands. (Joseph Smith Jr., to 17-year-old George A. Smith who was called on a mission, cited in Elders Journal, 4:108).

Remember that your business is to preach the gospel in all humility and meekness, and warn sinners to repent and come to Christ. Avoid contentions and vain disputes with men of corrupt minds, who do not desire to know the truth. (D&C 10:62-63). Remember that "it is a day of warning, and not a day of many words" (D&C 63:58). If they receive not your testimony in one place, flee to another, remembering to cast no reflections, nor throw out any bitter sayings. If you do your duty, it will be just as well with you, as though all men embraced the gospel. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 1:468).

Oh, ye elders of Israel, hearken to my voice; and when you are sent into the world to preach, tell those things you are sent to tell; preach and cry aloud, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; repent and believe the gospel." Declare the first principles, and let mysteries alone, lest ye be overthrown. Never meddle with the visions of beasts and subjects you do not understand. Elder Brown, when you go to Palmyra, say nothing about the four beasts, but preach those things the Lord has told you to preach about--repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, 5:344).

You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost” (History of the Church, 5:499).

The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use; they are necessarily and inseparably connected” (History of the Church, 6:316).

Baptism by the water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost. (Joseph Smith, Jr. History of the Church 5:499).

If thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation...thou must commune with God. (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976, p. 137).

Faith comes by hearing the word of God, through the testimony of the servants of God; that testimony is always attended by the Spirit of prophecy and revelation. (History of the Church Vol. 3, page 379).

Tell the brethren to be humble and faithful and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord, that it will lead them aright. Be careful and not turn away the still, small voice; it will teach them what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them their hearts will be ready to receive it. They can tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits—it will whisper peace and joy to their souls; it will take malice, hatred, strife and all evil from their hearts, and their whole desire will be to do good. (Joseph Smith, Juvenile Instructor, [19 July 1873]: 114).

It is a time-honored adage that love begets love. Let us pour forth love—show forth our kindness unto all mankind, and the Lord will reward us with everlasting increase; cast our bread upon the waters and we shall receive it after many days, increased to a hundredfold. Friendship is like Brother Turley in his blacksmith shop welding iron to iron; it unites the human family with its happy influences. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978, 5:517).

I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." (History of the Church, 4:461).

The Prophet felt that the field of souls was white for harvest and that it was incumbent upon him to thrust in his sickle and gather the honest-in-heart. On the 5th day of October, 1833, he departed from Kirtland upon a missionary journey to Canada, in company with Sidney Rigdon and Freeman A. Nickerson. At various places on the road, they stopped and proclaimed the world of the Lord unto the inhabitants. In some villages they found God-fearing men and women who were praying for the light and were willing to obey when the simple gospel was presented before the eyes of their understanding. On the 12th day of October they arrived at Perrysburg, New York, where they halted for a little time. Here the Prophet received a revelation (See D&C 100) in which the Lord instructed him that Zion must be chastened for a season, although she would finally be redeemed. (George Q. Cannon, Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1907, p. 142).

If you have a great Joseph Smith quote from primary sources be sure to put it in a comment below.

The MTC Experience

I thought it would be interesting to see what missionaries do while in the MTC. I hunted all over the internet to find pictures of them in action. I think it is very entertaining. Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Enjoy!

Moral Worthiness, Lying and LDS Missionaries

A few months ago I did a post on Masturbation and Missionaries. A few of the commenters didn't seem to find anything wrong with masturbating and felt it was no one's business but their own. I had a roommate at BYU that told me that he had been immoral and that it was between him and the Lord. I have known people and read blogs and information on the Internet of people who thought it was no big deal to lie their way on a mission. Some of the disaffected ones point to the lack of inspiration on the part of their bishop, stake president, MTC leadership, and mission president to catch them in their bad behavior. Some think this proves the Church untrue.

I have never felt comfortable with the belief that lying is an acceptable practice in any circumstance. I have even had close relatives that have experienced sexual problems but never fully resolved them. As a convert I myself did not fully understand the importance of a full proper confession. Today with the bar being higher interviews by church leaders with young people going on a mission needs to be more thorough and complete. Even when careful there will be a few who will still lie their way on a mission.

In 1994 Gene R. Cook shared this experience that he had to handle:

Let me tell you of a young man I knew some years ago. He began dating long before he was 16. He took young ladies out alone, to places where he and a girlfriend ought not to have gone. He began going steady. Hand-holding led to kissing, kissing to more passionate kissing, then petting, and finally fornication a number of times in his later teen years.

From the earliest parts of that downhill road, his parents and priesthood leaders fervently counseled him to turn away from bad practices. He always dismissed the counsel.

“I never planned on going all the way,” he said once, “I thought a little involvement with the world would give me experience.”

When it was time for his missionary interviews, he made matters worse by lying to his bishop and stake president. I was amazed to learn later that he’d even transgressed morally after he had received his call and been to the temple. How disappointed the Lord must have been to see one of his servants take a call so lightly. How much more disappointed the Lord must have been to see him set aside his temple covenants.

In the Missionary Training Center, this young man felt great agony. He couldn’t sleep most nights. The Spirit of the Lord came strongly upon other missionaries, but he felt miserable. His leaders asked if there were transgressions that had not come to light. He kept on lying.

In the mission field, the intensity of the Spirit increased. The other missionaries began to have spiritual experiences, to teach the missionary discussions with power and authority, to baptize, and to experience solid growth as they served the Lord.

Finally, this young man could go no further in deceiving his companions, his parents, his local leaders, and his mission president. Several weeks into his mission, in total agony for his sins, he confessed them to his mission president.

What a sad experience! He felt greatly relieved that he’d finally confessed, but with all his heart wished he had done so four or five years earlier. With great sadness for all, the young man was sent home. One can only imagine the pain, humiliation, and regret. How his parents and family wept! How the heavens must have wept!

He told me that in the beginning it was hard to lie, but it became easier as he went along. The Lord told us that in the telestial kingdom, the lowest of the three kingdoms of glory, will be found the murderers, the adulterers, and the liars. Lying is that serious! We may temporarily deceive our fellowman, but we will never deceive the Lord. We will suffer agony and misery until the truth is finally known. However smart, educated, or talented you may be, you cannot fool the Lord.

As the years have gone by, this young man has faced serious trials as a result of his sins and lies of his youth. He was finally married and had children, but later separated from his wife. Because of additional transgressions he was excommunicated.

Now this man is at last back in the Church, reunited with his wife, and trying his best to raise up his family to the Lord. But it has been a long, difficult road. As a young man, he never would have believed how serious the consequences would be for having transgressed and then not corrected the situation when he was young. He has learned through bitter experience that those transgressions tend to follow one through the years and affect parents, spouses, and children.

I had a child that suffered from a pattern of dishonesty. She rationalized why she sometimes told falsehoods. When she was young I would catch her and check her behavior. One time she even stole a package of gum and I took her to the manager and described the theft. She seemed remorseful at the time and for a while it seemed to help. I noticed as she became a teenager that she began a viscious cycle of deception. The sad thing was that I caught her many times in a lie. It was hard to know when she was being honest. She was a great actress and could convince people she was sincere and she knew how to tell people what they wanted to hear.

Many of our youth had learned to be deceptive at times. We teach them that it is okay some times to tell a small untruth in order to justify the greater good such as not offending someone. I like the philosophy of Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi who once told me that we should always walk in the noon day sun rather than be dishonest.

When I was a missionary many missionaries would say when I felt guilt toward not keeping a mission rule. Aw elder we can always get forgiveness rather than permission. I remember M. Russell Ballard would tell us that the road to hell was paved with good excuses. As a missionary I find that it is just as easy to get permission.

If a missionary has a problem he or she should straighten it out with their leaders before they go on a mission. If they get in to the field without resolving it they should confide in their mission president. Remember that you and the Lord know what you have done in order to finalize the process of repentance you need to confess and forsake it. It is better to be honest and go home then to live dishonesty.

George W. Pace: Reactions to Recent Wikipedia Entry

I made a couple of comments in passing about George W. Pace in two of my former posts: Bruce R. McConkie: Missionary Extraordinaire and Boyd K. Packer My Hero. The latter comment about him was cited in a recent Wikipedia entry about George W. Pace.

In the Boyd K. Packer piece I only mentioned him as a professor I liked with no commentary:

When I was a student at BYU working on a bachelor and master degrees from 1981 until 1987 I had a wide range of professors. I always tended to be on the conservative side. I felt comfortable with people like Keith Perkins, Donald Q. Cannon, Robert J. Matthews, Spencer Palmer, Richard O. Cowan, Lamar C. Berrett, George Pace, Larry Porter, and Robert Millett. I could handle James Allen and Thomas Alexander. I didn't relate at all to Marvin Hill and Michael Quinn. Marvin Hill was my graduate advisor and was quite pessimistic. He liked telling the dirt about everything. He was a tough unrelenting no nonsense professor who expected you to experience a history degree similar to what he experienced at the University of Chicago.

In the Bruce R. McConkie post I told an encounter I had with both Elder McConkie and George W. Pace:

My next experience with him was walking up behind the current Church Conference Center. Several years back in the early 1980s there was a parking lot and on the top of the hill a few small buildings. I was visiting the Church Archives and I parked up near the old Deseret Gym. At five o'clock having finished my research I crossed the street by the Salt Lake Temple on the Church Family History side. I was heading up a few blocks towards the old rest home when who should appeared walking by my side but Elder Bruce R. McConkie. He had given a talk at a BYU devotional just a few weeks before about the Holy Spirit that was tough on George Pace who was teaching his students they needed to get a born again type of experience. I was working in the religion department as an assistant and had talked to Brother Pace who expressed genuine remorse about maybe being too zealous. I mentioned my conversation with Brother Pace to Elder McConkie. He reiterated his position but told me he wasn't really singling out George Pace individually that he was talking about not getting too wrapped up in extreme behavior for everyone. He mentioned he wasn't really thinking about him only when he gave the address.

I was a bit perplexed about the brevity of the article on Brother Pace. The Wikipedia bio states:

George W. Pace was a professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, and a writer of books on religious subjects.

Pace beame notable when Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), presented a sermon that was interpeted as an attack on Pace's book, What It Means to Know Christ. Pace issued a formal apology in which he stated that his opinions had been misinterpreted, and he was glad that McConkie had clarified the issues.[1][2] In his sermon, McConkie did not mention by name Pace's teaching.[3]

In 1996, Pace came out with a revised version of the book titled, Knowing Christ.[4] Pace also compiled a book entitled The Faith of Young Mormons.[5]

Pace was a professor who spent large amounts of time helping students and was nominated as professor of the century for BYU.[6] For a time Pace served as a professor at the BYU Jerusalem Center.[7]

Pace was one of the contributors of the article on the Doctrine and Covenants to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism.[8]

In the LDS Church, Pace served in various callings including as a Sunday School teacher in the Oak Hills 5th Ward on the east side of Provo, Utah.[9]

Pace has also been a speaker at various addiction recovery programs.[10]

I had one of my strangest experiences in the Church when George Pace was the stake president in the BYU Tenth Stake. I was called in by one of the counselors who told me he was considering me for a Church calling. He spoke to me for about five minutes. He asked me about myself. I told him about being a convert and serving a mission in Toronto Canada under Elder Ballard. I told him I would be glad to serve in any capacity. The guy who I can't remember name said that is okay I just wanted to get to know you. I asked him if I was being called to anything. He replied no. Being kind of brash I said were you really considering me for a position. He said no but I was asked to talk with you about a possible position. Then I said why did you call me in then if you weren't really considering me. He said because I felt like it. That was my first clue Mormon leaders could be bozos. I didn't say or do anything offensive other than answer his questions and be perplexed about being summoned by him. After that I knew any time a leader summoned you it wasn't going to be pleasant. Now when I am called by a secretary I ask straight up what it is about then I determine if I am going to the meeting or not.

Although I was flattered that the Wickipedia author cited me there is a great deal that could be added to the treatment. The author should have consulted Lavina Fielding Anderson's Alliance website which discusses what she considered as secondary abuse of Dave Pace, one of his sons. Although I don't share in her interpretation of the events she has some useful biographical details.

George W. Pace, according to biographical information on the jacket of What It Means to Know Christ (Provo: Council Press, 1981), grew up in Idaho, served a mission, graduated from BYU with a degree in political science, married, and returned to Burley, Idaho, with a new wife and daughter where he helped his father farm from 1954-59. A series of spiritual experiences, which he recounts in the book, led him toward religious education. He opened and directed the first LDS Institute of Religion at Fort Collins, Colorado, and also directed the Institute of Religion at Stanford University in California while he and Diane struggled with the needs of a growing family (which eventually numbered two sons and ten daughters). He became an associate professor of religion at BYU in 1967 where he was awarded a doctorate in religious education in 1976. In 1978, he was named Professor of the Year by BYU students and also, in April of that same year, became president of BYU 10th Stake. Among earlier Church callings were serving on numerous high councils, being branch president at the Missionary Training Center, and a being a counselor in the stake presidency. He was a popular speaker at BYU Education Weeks and Know Your Religion series, had a popular series of motivational tapes, and compiled a faith-promoting series of experiences called The Faith of Young Mormons....

George Pace continued to teach religion classes until his retirement from Brigham Young University. An advertisement on KSL-TV before and after sessions of general conference on 5-6 October 1996 mentioned that he narrated a "family preparedness video" for Emergency Essentials, a company that creates food storage items and personal and car seventy-two hour kits. Emergency Essential products are sold by Deseret Book stores and ZCMIs, both Church-owned corporations.

I am not sure George would have ever wanted his son to leave the Church nor for students he worked so hard to convert to question their faith. A Winter 1998 Dialogue letter by Lisa Garfield said:

I applaud David Pace's courage in "going public" with his article, "After the Second Fall: A Personal Journey Toward Ethnic Mormonism" (Spring 1998), especially given his illustrous Mormon background.

I was one of those adoring BYU students in the mid-1970s who basked in the charismatic glow of his father. As a 'backward" Mormon--I had been converted to Christ at thirteen, and to Mormonism at sixteen--I loved George Pace's emphasis on our personal relationship with the Savior. When he was chastised by the church for teaching such doctrine, I was quite bewildered. When he caved in "to follow the Brethren," I was angry. This was a seminal moment in my own journey.

David's choice to resign his membership raises questions about my own choice to stay in. I wonder if his is the wiser choice. I wonder what he will tell his children. I wonder from which side in or out I will best serve the church I love. I wonder if I am doing any good by my years of service on ward and stake councils, where I am generally considered a gadfly, but afforded some respect. Am I helping to build Zion or a Tower of Babel?

In a recent conversation with my husband, he asked, "Do you think the Church is on target in building a Zion community?" "No, unfortunately not," I replied. "What will it take to change that," he queried. "Revolution. Revelation. People who see. People who listen. People who love truly."

I can only hope that David is right to leave, as I hope I am right to stay. I can only pray that we visionary revolutionist--all those, both in and out of the church who dream of Zion--will pursue the journey with integrity, will see clearly, listen carefully, and love purely. God bless us all.

It saddens me that George Pace and his wife paid a such a heavy price in the loss of one of their children but we all make choices including each of our children. It is interesting that our children pick up on our disappointments in church leaders and sometimes it affects them. I myself have been guilty of voicing my concerns. I have been fortunate that my children think I am less than perfect and side with others. I remember at the time of his correction he never said a bad word about Elder Bruce R. McConkie. I don't know what he said privately but I doubt he encouraged his son to leave the church. I know people have to follow their conscience but I have never considered those to have left as being true revolutionaries. My idea of a true revolutionary is one who endures to the end being true to themself. I love when a leader chastens me I sit on the front row even without a call and smile at them week after week. The loss of a member even a dissident one is grevious to me since diversity keeps us from having a boring church.



I also remember the period the letter writer described with great clarity. George Pace was a very popular teacher who liked to talk about Developing a Personal Relationship with the Savior. He taught in some of the larger classrooms. His popularity was hugh. He had hundreds of students each semester. I personally took one of his classes which was held in the Clyde Building and was similiar to the snake pit in the Eyring Science Center or the big classrooms in the Marb that he also taught in. They should have put him in the Joseph Smith auditorium. I remember I went to his class because a girl I liked gushed about how spiritual Brother Pace was and how he made such a difference in the lives of his students. She swore I would have a spiritual conversion. It was like a revival experience to be in his classes. The classes were so packed you had to sit on the floor if you were even five minutes late. He let anyone in even though the rooms had a capacity of around 100. He told me he did that because lots of times people didn't come to class and to get there early. You had to be ten minutes early to get one of the seats at the tables. The only other teacher that drew numbers like George Pace before the McConkie talk was Stephen L. Covey. Covey only took five or ten over the room capacity. In a George Pace class there could be twenty of thirty on the steps or sitting around the parameter of the room. After the McConkie talk he had average numbers and his popularity was similar to other men in the department before he had an almost super-star popularity.

Ramona R. Hazett relates why she nominated George W. Pace as one of the teachers of the century:

I would like to nominate Brother George Pace, not only for his teaching ability, which is wonderful, but also for his compassion and commitment. He truly cared for his students and gave hours of his time, even taking them into his home when the need arose. As one of those students who had the opportunity to spend a week in the Pace home, I know that he lived the things that he taught, as did his lovely wife. He gave hours to counseling and strengthening students’ testimonies, both in class and individually. In the years following my time at BYU, my five brothers also had the opportunity to learn from Bro. Pace. Perhaps the greatest lesson he taught was by example during what must have been difficult time for him. My brother, who was in his class, sat in a devotional where a general authority straightforwardly denounced a teaching on prayer which Bro. Pace had been teaching in all sincerity. Later that day, as my brother walked into his class, he wondered what would be said. Bro. Pace responded by stating his love for the general authority and faithful following of the brethren. My brother and others in that class learned more in that moment about truly following the Lord, without excuses or rationalization, than all the lecturing in the world could have taught. As a family, we will always be grateful for the great influence that Brother George Pace had in all of our lives.

When I took George's class having been saved in the Baptist Church and having attended a couple of revival meetings before I joined the Church I wasn't as awed or enamored of him as some students. He was very sincere and a good speaker but so were men like Stephen Robinson and for that matter Reed Benson or Cleon Skousen. He was entertaining in that he went in to how we should develop a personal relationship with the Savior. I already had a personal relationship so he didn't influence me other than to confirm what I already felt about Jesus being our personal savior.

He liked to talk about his life in Idaho and told us how he was a spud farmer, one of the common people. He was playing to a lot of kids who were Idaho or Utah farm kids that hadn't experienced the mighty change of heart. He liked to tell us about Enos and how he went and prayed three days and nights. He talked about how he personally went out in to the mountains and gained his own personal testimony. He challenged us to do the the same thing. I was on the safe side and though I was willing to pray about the matter there was no way I was going to wander up in to the mountains above the spacious house George told us some generous rich women sold to him for a pitance near the Provo Temple. I had gone with a roommate overnight camping my first couple of weeks. The guy backpacked with a young attractive co-ed in tow. I was his chaperone. My friend had told me of how he had backpacked the High Uintahs that summer and almost died as he missed a switchback and had to spend two days finding it again which luckily he did or I wouldn't have been chaperoning him. Not to mention the thought of mountain lions being in them there hills. Several of his young female co-eds actually described to me going up above the Provo Temple to pray. One young lady read me poetry back behind the temple one day which was kind of romantic.

When I read his son's account in Lavina Fielding Anderson's site my reactions were. How come nobody gave me an almost free house in Provo since I have eight children including seven daughters and one son. Why didn't I get a plum job in the BYU Religion department where I could stay for thirty years? I wondered why he was embarrassed over something that wasn't really anything more than a philosophical disagreement.

The present generation don't really remember the doctrinarians of days gone by in the Church. Men like Bruce R. McConkie and Joseph Fielding Smith his father-in-law and to some extent John A. Widtsoe and James E. Talmage answered doctrinal questions. Their approach was to set the record straight in their writings and addresses. They were no nonsense kind of men who administered the affairs of the kingdom and tried to establish gospel doctrine.

No one fired Brother Pace. He went on for sixteen more years until he retired. He had a commmendable career and was held in high regard all the years he worked in Religious Education. His numbers went down a little for a time but he had a perfectly fine teaching career touching the lives of thousands of students.

I don't deny his was super-sensitive because he fell in to the group that McConkie was addressing. Guys like Elder McConkie and Elder Packer were pretty consistent in straightening out when they felt educators drifted. I remember that I was there on the day Elder McConkie gave his talk. I didn't realize it would have resulted in such a hullabaloo. I remember what Elder McConkie said:

Please do not put too much stock in some of the current views and vagaries that are afloat, but rather, turn to the revealed word, get a sound understanding of the doctrines, and keep yourselves in the mainstream of the Church.

Now, it is no secret that many false and vain and foolish things are being taught in the sectarian world and even among us about our need to gain a special relationship with the Lord Jesus. I shall summarize the true doctrine in this field and invite erring teachers and beguiled students to repent and believe the accepted gospel verities as I shall set them forth.

There is no salvation in believing any false doctrine, particularly a false or unwise view about the Godhead or any of its members. Eternal life is reserved for those who know God and the One whom he sent to work out the infinite and eternal atonement....

There are yet others who have an excessive zeal which causes them to go beyond the mark. Their desire for excellence is inordinate. In an effort to be truer than true they devote themselves to gaining a special, personal relationship with Christ that is both improper and perilous.

I say perilous because this course, particularly in the lives of some who are spiritually immature, is a gospel hobby which creates an unwholesome holier-than-thou attitude. In other instances it leads to despondency because the seeker after perfection knows he is not living the way he supposes he should.

Another peril is that those so involved often begin to pray directly to Christ because of some special friendship they feel has been developed. In this connection a current and unwise book, which advocates gaining a special relationship with Jesus, contains this sentence:

Because the Savior is our mediator, our prayers go through Christ to the Father, and the Father answers our prayers through his Son.

This is plain sectarian nonsense. Our prayers are addressed to the Father, and to him only. They do not go through Christ, or the Blessed Virgin, or St. Genevieve or along the beads of a rosary. We are entitled to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

And I rather suppose that he who sitteth upon the throne will choose his own ways to answer his children, and that they are numerous. Perfect prayer is addressed to the Father, in the name of the Son; and it is uttered by the power of the Holy Ghost; and it is answered in whatever way seems proper by him whose ear is attuned to the needs of his children.

Now I know that some may be offended at the counsel that they should not strive for a special and personal relationship with Christ. It will seem to them as though I am speaking out against mother love, or Americanism, or the little red schoolhouse. But I am not. There is a fine line here over which true worshipers will not step.

It is true that there may, with propriety, be a special relationship with a wife, with children, with friends, with teachers, with the beasts of the field and the fowls of the sky and the lilies of the valley. But the very moment anyone singles out one member of the Godhead as the almost sole recipient of his devotion, to the exclusion of the others, that is the moment when spiritual instability begins to replace sense and reason.

The proper course for all of us is to stay in the mainstream of the Church. This is the Lord's Church, and it is led by the spirit of inspiration, and the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture.

And you have never heard one of the First Presidency or the Twelve, who hold the keys of the kingdom, and who are appointed to see that we are not "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:14)--you have never heard one of them advocate this excessive zeal that calls for gaining a so-called special and personal relationship with Christ.

You have heard them teach and testify of the ministry and mission of the Lord Jesus, using the most persuasive and powerful language at their command. But never, never at any time have they taught or endorsed the inordinate or intemperate zeal that encourages endless, sometimes day-long prayers, in order to gain a personal relationship with the Savior.

Those who truly love the Lord and who worship the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Spirit, according to the approved patterns, maintain a reverential barrier between themselves and all the members of the Godhead.

I am well aware that some who have prayed for endless hours feel they have a special and personal relationship with Christ that they never had before. I wonder if this is any or so much different, however, from the feelings of fanatical sectarians who with glassy eyes and fiery tongues assure us they have been saved by grace and are assured of a place with the Lord in a heavenly abode, when in fact they have never even received the fullness of the gospel.

I wonder if it is not part of Lucifer's system to make people feel they are special friends of Jesus when in fact they are not following the normal and usual pattern of worship found in the true Church.

Let me remind you to stay in the course chartered by the Church. It is the Lord's Church, and he will not permit it to be led astray. If we take the counsel that comes from the prophets and seers, we will pursue the course that is pleasing to the Lord.

Would it be amiss if I reminded you that Jesus maintained a reserve between him and his disciples and that he did not allow them the same intimacy with him that they had with each other? This was particularly true after his resurrection.

For instance, when Mary Magdalene, in a great outpouring of love and devotion, sought to embrace the risen Lord, her hands were stayed. "Touch me not," he said. Between her and him, no matter what the degree of their love, there was a line over which she could not pass. And yet, almost immediately thereafter, a whole group of faithful women held that same Lord by the feet, and, we cannot doubt, bathed his wounded feet with their tears.

It is a fine and sacred line, but clearly there is a difference between a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord, which is improper, and one of worshipful adoration, which yet maintains the required reserve between us and him who has bought us with his blood.

Now I sincerely hope that no one will imagine that I have in the slightest degree downgraded the Lord Jesus in the scheme of things. I have not done so. As far as I know there is not a man on earth who thinks more highly of him than I do. It just may be that I have preached more sermons, taught more doctrine, and written more words about the Lord Jesus Christ than any other man now living. I have ten large volumes in print, seven of which deal almost entirely with Christ, and the other three with him and his doctrines.

I do not suppose that what I have here said will be an end to controversy or to the spread of false views and doctrines. The devil is not dead, and he delights in controversy. But you have been warned, and you have heard the true doctrine taught. Those who need to study the matter further would do well to get and study a copy of what I have said when it is published by Brigham Young University.

Let us then end on the note of testimony and of prayer. I bear record of the divine sonship of him whom we have this day spoken. He is or should be our best Friend through whom we can be reconciled to God.

And I pray that the true doctrine of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, who, as the Book of Mormon says, are one God, may be found in the hearts and souls of all of us.

Elder McConkie was just checking a trend that was getting out of hand in that students were moving towards a charismatic movement. I saw it with my own eyes the worship like devotion some of Brother Pace's students felt. I didn't get overly heated about it because I like different styles of preaching. Don't get me wrong George did a lot of good for many students and helped them gain or strengthen their testimonies, I just felt myself it was a bit over the top like Protestant charismatic movements. On my mission I saw a couple members join a Catholic prayer group that spoke in tongues. Some of his students told me some interesting things. In principle I liked that he excited them but sometimes people get carried away. Mormons are a bit staid compared to the churches I saw in places like Houston Texas where men like Joel Olsteen preach. George at the time was a big draw and McConkie was just humbling him a little.

I believe George Pace realized how out of hand some of his students were at the time and so he apologized. He took it pretty hard. I think it is sad that McConkie didn't have a private talk with him but having approached McConkie he didn't see it as an attack on an individual so much as an attack on a philosophical difference. I know George Pace talked with Joseph Fielding McConkie at the time who worked with him so I'm would be surprised if he didn't passed on George Pace's concerns. Having taught for a couple of years at BYU-Hawaii I experience to a minor degree the almost reverential feeling students have for you. Every word you say is considered by them to be like scripture. You get caught up even if your intention is to just help them be more spiritual in a kind of movement. You really crave speaking in those student stakes every month and seeing the students' eyes light up and realizing the connection you are making. It is a real rush. It can be intoxicating to have that much influence.

They even quoted in a piece in the Church News in 1991 which shows he was considered one of the orthodox professors:

The Sermon on the Mount is not merely a system of ethics to help us understand the kinds of blessings we can and must enjoy to truly be sanctified saints, but they are a standard to measure whether or not we have truly been baptized of the fire and the Holy Ghost and are indeed growing in the stature of Christ by and through the powers of the Holy Ghost. The power needed to acquire the blessings promised centers in Christ and is a natural by-product of a dynamic relationship we have with Him.

The very key to overcoming the fallen condition we are all in, that is the ``poor in spirit,'' is to truly come to Christ. We are reminded and taught so powerfully that the purpose of the Church, the gospel, the programs of the Church is to truly come to Christ - the power of the life-changing powers we need center in Him and are available through the Church, the gospel and the programs only if we really focus on Christ.

The very connecting link between the Savior and ourselves is the Holy Ghost. If we truly hunger and thirst for the companionship of the Spirit, we will indeed be filled and its impact in our daily lives will enable us to fulfill the sacrament covenant and have His Spirit with us always. Note the statement of President Marion G. Romney:

``Now I tell you that you can make every decision in your life correctly if you can learn to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. . . .'' - George W. Pace, BYU associate professor of Church History and Doctrine

I can also understand George's disappointment. I talked with him personally three times about his experience. He was a sincere man whose heart was in the right place but he got caught up in something that was a concern to when of the Twelve. George handled it well in my opinion he moved on and had a career that was exceptional. I mean here I am spending two hours of my life blogging about him.

George is lucky he didn't end up the Rodney Dangerfield of BYU Religous instructors. How would he like to be me? I couldn't buy a job there. People kick me in the teeth for believing I should get even a little recognition for compiling the Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. The only one who ever gave me real consideration was when Dean Garrett was chair of the church history department. I had student taught in his class in American Fork and he respected my work. He actually told me to apply but at the time I wasn't interested. I was screwed out of a job in the CES and in applying to BYU I have been turned down for jobs over twenty times despite having degrees, experience, and dedication to the cause. George Pace had the kind of life that all returned missionaries dream of including significant church positions.

I wish we didn't have to take intellectual beatings from time to time in universities but, let's get real, in academia differences help us to grow and improve both in writing and our teaching. There is nothing like a good discussion or disagreement over the lecturn. I like Reed Benson's philosophy when someone insults him or criticized him he would say to them "God bless you." I think George should bless Elder McConkie for he made him in to a stronger man.

I hope that George Pace, or anyone quoted will respond to my post. As Orson Scott Card has said: History is a creative reconstruction of the past. All of us have different perceptions of the McConkie-Pace episode. I remember George Pace reminding me once about something Gordon B. Hinckley said about seeing the wart on an otherwise beautiful face. I don't feel George Pace's legacy is wrapped up in something that is ancient history. I think all of us should analyze this and remember that Christ was about forgiving and perfecting our lives and moving on. George Pace at least taught me that much and to hold to the rod and stand behind our leaders.

George Pace was one faithful dude I thank God for men like him who have stayed the course in the face of personal opposition. I am sure that the sum of George Pace's life is more than one brief encounter with Bruce R. McConkie. George Pace touched the lives of thousands of Latter-day Saint young adults and helped many gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and that there are Apostles on earth who guide his church today.