What is your Story?

Young Amber was on her way home from her 1st Junior Olympics. As she settled in her seat, the Flight Attendant servicing her section noticed the Junior Olympic shirt Amber was wearing. She questioned Amber about the shirt and discovered that she had indeed been a participant in the recently completed World Junior Olympics.

“What event did you compete in,” the flight attendant inquired?

“The High Jump“, Amber proudly replied.

“How did you do?”

“I came in 14th place.”

“Oh! How many were there in the competition?”

“14!”

“I’m sorry,” said the Flight Attendant.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

While in the pre-mortal life, our Father in Heaven informed us that we had to conduct 5 saving ordinances during our mortal probation.

  1. Baptism
  2. Gift of the Holy Ghost
  3. Priesthood
  4. Endowment
  5. Sealing

In chiasmatic fashion, the priesthood is the catalyst to all of them. Baptism is symbolic of the Savior’s death and resurrection and in modern-day parlance, it is a signed contract of agency to the Savior. We agree to the terms of membership.

Missionary Work: A Task of Identifying

The current population of the world is in excess of 6 billion people. Of those 6 billion how many, in your opinion, need the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Most people polled on this question answer: 6 billion.

How many want it?

After a moment of contemplation, most people polled answer a lot less than 6 billion.

If the gospel of Jesus Christ were a needs-based religion, then Christianity would be the only religion in the world. Therefore, it appears that exaltation is a wants-based process.

What about the passage that says ‘every knee will bend and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Christ‘?

To Persuade

When teaching the gospel or conversing with a friend, a position of neutrality is the most powerful position from which to converse. Neutrality offers you the best chance of conversing in a space of trust and respect.

Persuading has two distinct meanings in the bible. If you wish to persuade in the proper sense, neutrality is the most effective way. It is building confidence and trust.

However, persuading in the wrong way doesn’t require neutrality. In fact, being neutral is not a concern, because deception is the operative point of view.

Here is how Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines persuade.

Situation: Inactive Members

May 24, 2010

Situation sent from Elder Owens:

You are visiting an inactive couple that is fun to talk with. They are interested in your life before becoming a missionary. They shower you with lots of positive judgments like “Oh cool!” Or “we love to bike.”

After visiting in the ‘zero conflict‘ zone for a few minutes you change the subject to the gospel and their commitment or lack thereof.

The tenor of the conversation turns from warm and receptive to cool and evasive.

Now what?

Let’s take inventory of our position and our purpose:

Teaching Tips: Going from Good to Great

Helpful Hints to Teachers Who Want to go from Good to Great

What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. Change accelerates when people understand — in specific, behavioral terms — how to reach their goals.
a. Great teachers are comfortable with resistance and can pin point the difference between being obstinate and a lack of clarity.
b. When people get it, and they want it, great change can occur.
c. The best space in teaching is getting it.
d. Having the spirit of understanding promotes having the spirit.

Dress Standards: An Outward Expression of our Inward Being

When I was young my dad was in the Marine Corps. When he took us on base, people walking by would snap off a crisp salute because of his dress. He carried a certain rank and with that rank came an expected behavior to the person who possessed that rank.

In our church, when the Bishop walks in a meeting, there is a certain respect accorded him because of his position. He dresses the part, 2 or 3 piece suit, a white shirt, and normally with a conservative tie.

The Temple

The common discussion in gospel doctrine, priesthood meetings, and Relief Society classes with respect to the temple, centers on the temple as a place to feel the spirit and to escape the world.

Feeling the spirit and escaping the world are benefits of being in the Lord’s House, but not the purpose for attending the Lord’s House.

D&C 42:36 and the 109th section with specific reference to verses 7 and 14 describe the function and purpose of the temple much the same as those of a university. We learn about the Plan of Happiness and other doctrines in the temple by various means.

Leaders vs. Managers

Leaders vs. Managers

March 27, 2010

Thoughts taken from a talk by Hugh Nibley:

Leaders to Managers: The Fatal Shift

Classic education, which Christianity embraced at the urging of St. Augustine, believed that you can’t trust revelation because revelation cannot be controlled by man. The Spirit bloweth where it listeth (John 3:8).

St. Augustine believed the Church needed something more reliable than man empowered to act according to the dictates of his heart and mind as directed by God. And so Universities took on a form counterfeiting the Temple, or as I feel it should be called-The University of God.

A World Without Intellect

My son Andrew sent his homework assignment to me recently and I thought you’d enjoy a good read.

Richard

Andrew Himmer

February 18, 2010

English 201

Synthesis Essay

A World Without Intellect

Among the many diseases plaguing our society none are more corrosive and dangerous than anti-intellectualism. Logic, reason, creativity, critical analysis, and pursuit of knowledge are among the qualities contained in intellect. This is not to be confused with the intellectualism which omits God. Intellectualism is the exploration of learning. Reason and rational thought at the expense of emotion, are discouraged in the LDS and public education. Evidence of the prejudice of mental expression is present in our Church meetings, our conversations, and in our education system. This inclination is perpetuated by Television entertainment, and a general sense of apathy. Such a disease can only be controlled by increasing one’s knowledge through reading and study.

Pain Avoidance vs. Pain Priority

Pain Avoidance vs Pain Priority

There is a certain zone for athletes called the sweet spot, that when achieved is almost impossible to describe. Any athlete who has ever hit the sweet spot craves its return. The entry price is however, very high.

The hours of training required to achieve the sweet spot means that pain must be a priority. Pain is a constant in life. We will suffer some degree of pain regardless of efforts to the contrary. Our choice is the kind of pain we wish to endure.

Teaching and holding the students accountable

Teaching:

The act of showing love by holding the student accountable for growth

What does it mean to hold someone accountable? Have you ever held someone accountable for what they want? Some years ago my son Stuart asked me to help him prepare for a mission. One of the things he asked me to help him with was cleanliness, or should I say, lack thereof.

During the initial weeks of his preparation, he heard a repeated question: “Stuart is your room up to missionary standards?” He never argued with me from that point on. Having a clean room was something he wanted. He gave me permission to hold him accountable for serving a mission and a clean room was a stepping-stone along the way.

Lot and Abraham: a contrast in priorities

Here is a letter I sent to Stuart who is serving as a missionary in the Spain, Malaga mission.

Dear Elder Himmer,

My greatest insight for today was during the 3rd hour at church. I was asked to teach a short lesson on avoiding temptation. So I studied the story of Abraham and Lot.

If you’ll remember, Lot and Abraham divided their wealth and Lot took the more fertile lands and Abraham was content with what was left over.

A Type of Christ

Jesus Is The Christ

Have you ever wondered how you’d respond had you lived during the days of the restoration? If a Mormon missionary bearing the news that the heavens were no longer sealed were to offer you a new bible bearing the unfamiliar name of Mormon, would you have listened?

I testify that the Book of Mormon was true before it was ever translated. The Lord teaches His children through many different methods, one of which is through symbolism called types. A type is a person or thing that exemplifies something or somebody else.

Freedom of Choice: In the First Place

I was taking a continuing education class the other day and came across this explanation of agency:

“Agency is a difficult concept for many people. An agent is a representative of another. Agency, then, is the set of responsibilities associated with representing another person or company. The law requires that an agent act in the best interest of the person to whom the agency relationship exists.”

If an agent is a representative of another, then how does that apply to us? Who are we representing? If we believe in the pre-mortal existence and the great plan that we voted for, then we represent our Father.