The following transcript is intended to aid in your study. However, while we try to go through the transcript, our transcripts are primarily computer-generated and often contain errors. Please forgive the transcripts’ imperfections.

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Segment 1

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As difficult as the last six years had been for the Saints, things started to look better. In the spring of 1839, the refugee saints, they had found compassion among the citizens of Quincy, Illinois. Guards had allowed Joseph Smith and other church leaders to escape captivity in Missouri. And the church had just purchased land in Illinois where the Saints could gather once again.

Now listen, sure that land was very swampy, mosquito infested land, but compared to the challenges the Saints had already faced, this probably seemed a little more manageable. The dates of Section 123 and then 124 spans about two years time since a revelation has been given. And so today we are going to dig into Section 124 to see what the Lord has to say to the Free Saints and what he has to say to us.

Welcome to the Sunday on Monday Study Group, a Deseret Bookshelf plus original, brought to you by LDS Living, where we take the Come Follow Me lesson for the week, and we really dig into the scriptures together. I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. Now, if you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description that will explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come Follow Me study.

Just like my longtime listening friend Michelle Anderson from Mapleton, Utah, and she and I have the best, most cutest same sweaters, and we ran into each other and I loved it. Now this is my favorite thing about our study group is that each week we're joined by two of my friends. So it's always a little bit different.

And today, this is so much fun and you're gonna love how we met. I am thrilled to introduce you to TJ and Dixie Orton. Hi, you two. Hi. Hi. This is so fun. Okay, tj, tell the story. How did I meet you and how did you get your wife to be on this podcast? Well, let's see. Uh, long story kind of. So you became friends with, uh, one of, one of my family's long friends.

My parents had met your friend Pamela Bingham, years and years ago. And his, her husband was [00:02:00] my dentist. And Okay. As years passed, um, I became a plumber. And Pam, who was your neighbor? I just learned that through talking to you was, uh, mm-hmm. That you met her 'cause he was your neighbor. Um. Basically owned some houses that needed plumbing work done.

This was about, uh, three or four months ago, I believe. Mm-hmm. And we were working on it, and I was talking with her and we were just talking about the gospel. And then she brought up, uh, that she knew you. And I was like, you know, Tammy, Tammy used to like halls. She's like, yeah, we're like besties. I'm like, no way.

I listened to her podcasts all the time. Um, so she's like, really? You wanna be on the podcast? And to be honest, I kind of, my stomach dropped a little bit. I'm like, oh man, that's a great podcast. There's a lot of really good people that, that know some great things on that podcast. So initially I was like, I don't know.

But then I thought about it, I'm like, yeah, why not? Let's just do it. So that's kind of how, how, uh, this came to be. And then with, with getting Dixie on here, a lot of bribery. Yes. I love him. You love him? I hope chocolate's involved. And I love him. Yes. Chocolate is always involved. Yes. Well, it was so funny because Pam sent me a message, a voicemail.

I couldn't get the phone at the time, so she left me a voicemail and she's like, Tammy, I'm here at my house with my plumber and my friend tj, and he listens to your podcast and he just loves it so much. And I just think that is the most fun thing ever. And so I went and looked up TJ and Dixie on Facebook just to see a picture of them.

'cause I like to do that when I hear people who listen. And as soon as I saw your pictures, the thought came, have them on the podcast. And so I texted her and said, ask him if I'll be on the podcast. I, I didn't even cite unseen without even talking to these two. The spirit's like invite them to be on. And so here we are.

This is gonna be so much fun. And I have sent these to an outline. And I'm just gonna pre apologize 'cause I [00:04:00] sent you a very long, difficult section. It's only one, but what did you guys think when I sent you section 124 that has about roughly the same amount of verses? Oh man. At first I'm like, does the doctor and the s go that far?

No, I'm just joking. No. Many people are thinking that. 124 sections. Yeah. Oh. Um, uh, what did you think Dixie? Uh, well I first listened to it and I'm like 33 minutes long. This section is 33 minutes long. Yeah. I was like, wow. It's a hundred and 145 verses. Yes. Wow. Yeah. I love you Dixie. I love that. You think in terms of time.

'cause I would've been the same way. Nope. I would've put on such a fast speed. Did you double time it? Right? I double timed it while I was making dinner and I'm was like, okay, let's get it all through and get the first listen through so I can make some choices. But yeah, it took all of dinner to do with the whole thing.

I surprised it's, uh. It's, it's, well, as I, I, I joke about it being, uh, about obviously the doctor come just being that long. But, you know, I don't think I really dived into this section as much as I did preparing for this. And I was su really surprised at how much jumped out at me. I'm like, holy cow, this has got so much cool stuff in it.

So I'm excited to discuss it. Oh, me too then. Okay, well you know what? I think you're in good company. 'cause many people are probably thinking, I've never studied 1 24 in depth, so this is gonna be such a fun discussion. So anybody who's gonna be teaching this. You're gonna wanna listen to this episode because there's, like TJ said, some really good golden nuggets that are gonna come out of this section that will apply to all of our lives.

So if you wanna know more about my guests, make sure you check out their pictures and their bios, which you can find in our show notes that are found at lds living.com/sunday on Monday. So everyone grab your scriptures and something to mark them with. And let's dig into Doctrine and covenants, section 124.

Okay, you two. So share with me what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you read Section 124? [00:06:00] I don't know. Do you wanna go first, Dixie? Uh, sure. The biggest thing I kind of had a takeaway with was in, uh, the first two verses. I did listen in the whole thing, but the first two, kind of the first half of verse one and then the little of verse two, it says.

Unto this end, have I raised you up that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth? Your prayers are acceptable before me. And in answer to them, I say unto you that you are now called immediately to make a solemn proclamation of my gospel. Um, I just kind of, you know, I know he was talking to Joseph Smith at that point, but I just kind of felt like that's kind of a call for all of us.

I don't, I don't know about anybody else, but I definitely feel one of the weak things of the earth. Mm-hmm. Um, but you know, he's asked us to, to preach his gospel and to, that's kind of what I felt like the whole section was about him calling it everybody by individual names and they have such a unique gift and calling, right?

So it wasn't like you all do the same thing. It was, okay, you're doing this and you're doing this, and he knew their names and I don't know, I just kind of felt like it was, let's all work together and get this accomplished. Yeah. Oh, Dixie, that, those are some great verses. I'm so grateful you shared those because I had not planned on reading those, hoping that one of you guys would, and I think way to follow the spirit and, and here's the question I have for you, Dixie.

In verse one, where it calls Joseph Smith, and you pointed this out, it says that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth. Tell me really quickly, just off the top of your head, what, how does it make you feel knowing that the Lord is calling Joseph Smith A weak thing of the world.

It makes me feel like I'm in good company. Right. You know, there's things he didn't do right. There's things I don't do right. TJ doesn't do right. You know, but there's so much good that can come from everybody that even though we have weaknesses, he's like, we'll make 'em stronger. Keep going. Yeah. Yeah.

Amen. Great answer. Oh, thank you. Dixie. What about you, tj? Um, [00:08:00] oh, that, that was, that was perfect. Thank you, Dixie. Um, yes, I, you know, so many things stuck out with, to me on this, and I guess kind of one verse that. Wasn't brought up through the reading was 47 of doctrine covenants 1 24. And it's something, it's a thought that I kept thinking of, kind of going off of the weak things of the world a little bit.

And this is kind of diving a little bit into what the section is going to be about. But in the verse it says, and it shall come to pass, that if you build a house unto my name and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath, which I make unto you neither fulfill the promises which you expect at my hands, sayeth the Lord.

And I've given this thought, keeps coming to my mind when he says, I will not. And to me it comes off as almost like that's kind of harsh. He will not. And to me, the way I tie it into like the weak thing of the world is the Lord wants us to be meek and lowly. This is how you get meek and lowly. Unless you do these things, I won't do it because the weak things need to be protected.

We're the weak things. And I told these meek and lowly, they stayed meek and lowly. You're not allowed to be here to be their oppressors anymore unless you do these things to make yourself weak and lowly and meek. I will not let it happen because these guys have done what it takes to be meek and lowly and you're not gonna touch 'em anymore.

It's like when you, it is like when he says, I swear in my wrath that you will not enter the gates of heaven because listen, I'm protected. I'm, I'm protecting my. My weak thing, you can't touch them anymore. It's just him having our back really, in my mind. Well, I think you're absolutely right, and especially when we take verse 47 and the house he's talking about is the house in Jackson County that they were asked to build that they probably won't be able, that they're not going to be able to build, but he is going to continue to ask his people to build temples.

And then if we apply that verse to us [00:10:00] today, and we've said this before on the podcast, you know, can you imagine if at some point people in the church are like, we have enough temples. Like we don't really need anymore. And the Lord consistently builds them everywhere the saints are. And then you read this again and he says, if you come to pass, if you build a house into my name and do not the things that I say, I will not perform the oath or fulfill the promises.

I mean, what a great I, that just seems like a little obscure verse and I love how you just applied that to what Dixie said and, and when he says which he expected, the hands sayeth the Lord. We expect blessings and promises, the weak things of the earth. We really hope for those. And the Lord's saying, great, just build a temple.

Or from us today, go to the temple. Right? Yeah. That's how we kind of build our temple is to go, so, right. Oh, thank you, both of you. Well, that was a great discussion of those. I love what the Holy Ghost taught you. So do this with me in section 124. Let's read the section heading to this whole section. And Dixie, will you read the section heading for us, please?

Yes. Revelation given to Joseph Smith, the prophet at Navu, Illinois, January 19th, 1841. Because of increasing persecutions and illegal procedures against them by public officers, the Saints had been compelled to leave Missouri. Extermination order issued by Lilburn w Boggs, governor of Missouri dated October 27th, 1838 had left them no alternative.

In 1841 when this revelation was given, the city of Navu occupying the site of the former Village of Commerce, Illinois, had been built up by the Saints, and here the headquarters of the church had been established. Thank you very much. Okay. Given that section heading right now, this is pretty interesting because in the next segment I'm gonna share with you what this whole section is called and what we're [00:12:00] gonna write below Section 124, and we'll do that next.

Segment 2

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Tj, I want you to tell me something, because you told us at the very beginning that you were a plumber. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. Tell me, in your profession, how important are blueprints? What do they tell you as a plumber? How important are blueprints? Mm-hmm. Um, very important. I would say a lot of times, uh, without blueprints.

Well, I'll give an example. One time, um, I didn't have 'em one day and, uh. I pretty much messed up the whole house. I, uh, put things in the wrong place. I thought, well, I'll, I'll see what I can do, because I, I called the guy and I'm like, listen, I need, I need plans so I can see, see where things go. I need the, I need the prints.

And so with those, you know, you can figure out layouts of a bathroom, but I'd done enough houses, I suppose, and I could figure it out. So I went ahead and drilled some holes and, and it was too far from this, and it wasn't close enough to that. And the, the toilet was on the opposite wall. And I was like, ha, oh, that wasn't smart.

So it was very important to have, have blueprints and, and, uh, have a, uh, a plan before you move forward with, uh, oh my goodness, I wrote so many notes. That was a great, great example. Thank you for sharing that. Here's why I ask you that question. Go to your section 124 and somewhere on that page, or underneath where it says Section 1 24, there's a little space.

Here's what we're. I love the name of what people and scholars are calling Section 124. They call it the blueprint for the development of Navu and the church. Isn't that great? So I just want, yeah, that's great blueprint for the development of Navu and the church. So from what TJ said, section 1 24 is going to be very important.

And if we don't follow, or the Saints don't follow the instructions in 124, then the whole [00:14:00] house or Navu is gonna get messed up as he says. And we, and I love this because the saints just can't put point, you know, pipes here or pipes there. And like you said, 'cause the toilet's on the opposite wall. And so if we can follow section 124 and the Saints can follow it, they're going to be able to set up a really great.

House and that theme house is gonna be going throughout this entire discussion today. So I love this idea of what you just shared with us about the house. So let's dive into these blueprints and before we can get fully into the blueprints, Dixie, you read for us at the end of segment one that this revelation was given to Joseph Smith, the prophet at Navu, Illinois.

So we're gonna take a couple of minutes because I wanna tell you about this word navu. It is so, so cool. So before I do answer this question for me and Dixie, this is for you. Okay. Tell me, what does the world have to say to us about being beautiful? Um, I think at different times in history, it's probably been different things, but I feel like right now it's what AI thinks is beautiful.

Mm. If you look at my, I have a daughter right now who's going to school for interior design up at Enzy College, and the biggest challenge she has is when she searches things up, she finds some things, oh, that's beautiful. But AI created it. Oh. Or they'll see things on the internet and it's like, oh, that's so cool.

Oh, but AI created it. I think, you know, it takes a lot away from us looking at what's really beautiful If we think, oh, it's only beautiful if somebody else does it. Wow. In fact, you could even say it's fake beauty. Yeah. Fake because AI created it. Yes. And that it could never, you can never live up to it.

Right. Right. You know, back, back in our day it was, you know, photoshopped and airbrushed things where now it's AI has created it. Wow. Okay. Excellent example. Thank you for sharing that. So I want us to take this idea of beauty because we have what the world has to say about it. But here's something interesting.

The Lord has something to say about being beautiful as well. So in your scriptures and somewhere to the outside of section 124, [00:16:00] I've put a square around the name Navu, and I'm gonna put a little cross reference next to that name, Navu. And I'm going to put Isaiah chapter 52, verse seven, and we're gonna go there.

Let's go to Isaiah chapter 52, verse seven. And you can go there on your phone, your device, or your hard scriptures, paper scriptures, as they call 'em, in seminary. Now these scriptures, specifically, this one, is repeated throughout all the standard works. It's a very important verse of scripture and it's very important to section 124.

So, tj, can you please read for us verse seven? Sure. It says. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bring us good tidings, that publishes peace, that bring us good tidings of good, that publishes salvation that says unto Zion, thy God raininess. Okay, now look back at that verse. According to God, what is he saying is beautiful?

Um, it looks to me like he is saying that people that, um, basically proclaim the gospel, that bring good tidings of good, um, that bring his peace, publishes peace that go about preaching Jesus Christ. Mm-hmm. And basically, I I, I've thought of this for a while now, but good. I, uh, look at as synonymous with light.

Mm. Good. Brings light. And so you're, you're spreading these tidings of light and we know also. The doctrine covenants, light is intelligence. So you're bringing intelligence as well to the world. And the Lord finds that beautiful. Tj, I'm so appreciative that you just pointed out in that verse that you said, when you see the word good, you think light.

So I went and marked that in my scriptures. How wonderful that it says that bringeth light, tidings of light. And I think the word light is we know a moniker or a name for Christ, so that bringeth, Christ's tings of Christ that publish with him and it, it falls in perfectly in line with verse seven because go back to the beginning when it says how beautiful [00:18:00] upon the mountains, mark the word beautiful right there.

Because there's something really wonderful about this word in Hebrew. There are two different ways you can say, beautiful. There's the first way, which is Y Fe, and that's an adjective. That's how we describe something. Oh, it's so beautiful. And the world is all about Y Fe. The world is all about the adjective.

Beautiful. There's another way to say beautiful in Hebrew, and it's na ah, it's spelled NAAH. And that word is a verb. And isn't that crazy? The verb of becoming beautiful. So then when we go to Isaiah 52, verse seven, that word right there. How beautiful. Just knowing how great God is, which beautiful. Is it the, the adjective or the verb?

I would think it's the verb. Yeah. 100% the best. That's cool. Yeah. Yes, it is the verb That is so cool. He's saying how beautiful the people are becoming because they bring good tidings of good, they publish peace, they bring Christ, all those wonderful things. Now, this is my favorite part, is the, the word for beautiful in verse seven, the way that it is translated in Hebrew.

So it's the Hebrew word naha, and it's translated into what's called a third common plural, and it's the word navu, and that's where Navu, Illinois got its name. That. Yeah. Wow. That's really cool. That's awesome. Isn't that great? Yeah. So now when you go back a revelation given to Joseph Smith, the prophet at Navu, Illinois at a beautiful Illinois or this place of beauty, and it's named that because the saints are going to publish peace, they're going to publish light, just like you taught tj, they're going to bring tidings of salvation and they will become beautiful.

And the Lord saying, how beautiful are the people who belong to the gospel of Jesus Christ? So that's where the city got its name from, is that verse, and that that translation of the Hebrew word na ah, which is navu. Now this is pretty cool. We're gonna read a quote. And Dixie, I'm gonna [00:20:00] have you read this 'cause this tells us a little bit about Navu and what the Saints are doing in Navu.

And then we're gonna play a sound for you. The Saints drained the swamp and drafted a charter for a new city, which they named Navu. It means beautiful in Hebrew, though it was more an expression of faith than an accurate description, at least at first. Meanwhile, the Lord was impressing his prophet with a sense of urgency.

He had more truths and ordinances to restore, and he needed a holy temple where he could crown his saints with honor, immortality, and eternal life doctrine in covenants 1 24, 55. In many ways, these same feelings of faith and urgency are evident in the Lord's work today. Thank you. So I found a perfect example of this at the very end when it said that.

These same feelings of faith and urgency are evident in the Lord's work today. And this is for me, an example of this is in Sierra Leone, Africa. So here's a little bit of history about Sierra Leone in the 1980s, and I did not realize this. I mean, I was alive, but this is really incredible. So in Sierra Leone in the 1980s, there were people who were joining the church who were Sarah Leonians.

And they were joining the church in other countries. And then they slowly started returning back to Sierra Leone and they began to find that the church had not yet been established there. And so they worked on their own to build the church in the country. In 1988, the very first missionaries arrived in Sierra Leone and a branch in Freetown was soon established.

I think this is awesome. But then unfortunately, a civil war broke out in 1991, and missionaries were evacuated. Just over 1000 members were living in the country at this time. And so from 1991 to 1992, latter Day Saints in Sierra Leone, they met to worship in their homes rather than in public. Due to this civil unrest for nearly 11 years, as they endured violence, hunger, and death members [00:22:00] put their trust in God, they continued to meet often and they supported and uplifted one another, and they preached the gospel to their neighbors so that by the end of the war in 2002, that's a long time church membership had grown.

To fourfold nearly 5,000 people. So in the decade after the war, despite this ongoing regional conflict as well as the Ebola epidemic, there was still continued growth for membership of the church. And so the church created a stake in Sierra Leone. And the cool part is it's the 3000 stake ever to be created in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

So there's a really great video about this. It's on the church's website, and we're gonna include the link in our show notes so you can watch the whole video. Highly recommend 10 outta 10. It's so good. But we're just gonna share with you a sound clip right now of what Elder Holland says in this video about the members in Sierra Leone.

I am so impressed with their faith and their, their spirituality and their happiness, and, and for me, those are inseparable. That's the, that's the feeling that I get. That's, that's the thing. I carry home. I just feel their faith, the image, the image that I carry home. Uh,

is always their faces. They just are beautiful people, especially the children, especially these little children. Absolute beauty in their countenance. They just, they just look like the people of God that they are, they just simply are. So after watching that video, and I love that video so much about how he says, the people are beautiful, and I just wanted to know from the two of you in your life experience and from what we've talked about today, is how do you think the gospel of Jesus Christ makes beautiful people?

I just, to me, the gospel of Jesus Christ, it comes down to that, uh, [00:24:00] to me it comes down to that word light. Um. It just something about when, you know, we always hear the stories of pe people that go into other countries and not, they're not allowed to share the gospel, but, um, they, they share it through their eyes and through their, through their countenance, and it's just, they become beautiful through that, through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They're always told there's something about them. Mm-hmm. There's something different, you know, and that's that beauty, that's that beauty that, that God brings out of you when you, when you get closer to him, he brings it out of you. You know, we're obviously, he is the source of. He is the source of that beauty.

And so we're pretty much, just as we get closer, we're, we're reflecting that light, um, that goodness, that beauty, uh, from him basically is what is what we're doing. That's, that's what I feel. And that's when I watched that video, that's kind of what I got too, is those people that've been through so much, they'd been through so much and, and they didn't want that anymore.

They knew something different when they felt it, and that was that, that brought that beauty out of them after mm-hmm. After what, what they've been through that horrible situation. So, um, that's, that's what I, that's what I think the beauty came from as, as Jesus Christ and drawing close to him. Oh, I agree.

Um, I just, the immediate thought that came to me is I remember on my mission seeing people who had the desire. I didn't necessarily have a whole lot that we taught the gospel to, but instead they were people who had just chosen to come back to the church and come back to changing their lives and seeing them from when they first kind of came in and it was like, you want what?

Mm-hmm. And yet you would see, you know, like I remember, you know, they a lot of heavy makeup or jewelry or just different things that just marked them very of the world. And yet they, as they progressed in the path of the gospel, those things softened. Not because anybody had [00:26:00] said, oh, don't wear that much makeup, or don't wear those clothes to church.

Or people loved them. You know, the members in the wards we were serving and still loved these people coming to back to church, but they just, the gospel just softened them and then they wanted to change their appearance to, to become more, I don't know, soft, I get mm-hmm. You know, just more of that. Mm-hmm.

So that they could welcome others into the gospel. I don't know. It was just interesting to see how then they wanted to spread the gospel once they had that in their lives. And again, a lot of it was what they looked like, ch you know, they changed that. Yeah. Yeah. You could see it with the light that came in them.

Well, and I think though, the two words that both of you used are so applicable to beautiful, soft and light. Isn't that great? So thank you. Where'd you serve your mission? Dixie, Orlando, Florida. Oh, that's my, one of my best friends served there. That's awesome. Yay. Oh, she loved that mission. So we loved it.

We loved it. You both served there. Another twist to our story is we met in Florida on both of our missions, and, and she ca I, she, I came home a year before she did. Yes. And then since the end of his mission, beginning of mine. Yeah. And so for those listening out there, nothing happened on the mission. Nope.

I have to clarify with everybody. But we, you know, mission reunion is where we met back up again. Yep. And, uh, it's, uh, well that is beautiful. How beautiful are the feet of them? The proclaimed piece. You went on a mission, you got married. Very beautiful. I love it. Oh, that's great. Well, thank you. Thanks for sharing that.

That was fun. Okay, well, so then in the next segment we're gonna continue this discussion. We're gonna find out, this is interesting. We're gonna find out about a building that's going to make the people beautiful. And it's probably not the building you're immediately thinking of. We'll talk about that next.

Segment 3

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Okay. You two. I would love [00:28:00] for you guys to describe in detail your house. Tell us your house. Like one story, two story, what does it look like on the outside? All that fun stuff. Go you to tell her. What? Well, if you have, have you, uh, read Harry Potter? The Weasley house, the borough? Mm-hmm. How they kind of just built on stuff.

That's kind of our house. We didn't build all of it, but when we bought it, the original house is 1840. Yeah, no, 1940. No, it's 1840. No, it's 1940. Oh, okay. It's 1940. Then the owners before us built on a family room and then upstairs to that In the eighties. Yeah, something like that. And then the same owners built a three car garage behind it with a frame of an apartment above it.

In 2000. In 2015. Yeah. So, and then that's when we bought it. And so we finished that apartment and we have recently cut the roof off the original home and built a second store. We're in the middle of building, so it's just lots of building and growing and. Okay, that's so perfect. So you guys understand blueprint and building.

Yeah. So you're gonna love the idea of what the Lord's asking the people to do in these verses. So let's go into section 124. We still are here. We're gonna look at verses 22 through 24, and then we're gonna read verse 60. And here's what I want us to do while we're reading because here's a house that has the potential to make these people beautiful.

But as we read these verses, I want us to mark what the Lord's instructions are regarding what he wants this house to be. So we're talking not necessarily what it's gonna look like so much as what he wants it to be on the inside. Okay, here we go. Section 1 24 and we'll start with you, Dixie. Will you please read verses 22 and 24?

And then TJ verse 60. Let my servant George and my servant lineman, and my servant, John Snyder, and others build a [00:30:00] house upon my name, such as one is my servant. Joseph shall show unto them upon the place which he shall show unto them also. And it shall be a house for boarding, a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein.

Therefore, let it be a good house worthy of all exception, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord and the cornerstone I have appointed for Zion. This house should be a healthful habitation if it be built upon my name. And if the governor, which shall be appointed unto it shall not suffer any pollution to come unto it and it shall be holy, or the Lord, your God will not dwell therein.

And then go to verse 60 and tj, read that for us. And let the name of that house be called Vu House and let it be a delightful habitation for man and a resting place for the weary traveler that he may contemplate the glory of Zion and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof. Nice. Okay. What did you mark?

What does the Lord want this house to be? Um, I really liked that it said that be for the wary traveler that they might find health and safety, that while he contemplates the word of the Lord. I really, tell me why you like that. Why? Um, well, again, I know that he is talking about the Navu house, but it just made me think of the temple.

That's where, you know, and, and, you know, well, it's one of my biggest reasons for going to the temple is to help me when I just feel so wary from the world that I just wanna go in and just rest with the Lord. Mm-hmm. And not have to have to bother me. And so I, I go to the temple. Mm-hmm. There's lots of reasons to go, but that's my biggest one, is to leave the world out and just go inside.

That's kind of what he was having. Pe as people come, they're, they're accepting the church and they're coming here to be, um, there and helps [00:32:00] those that are traveling there, whether even they're traveling through or coming to live. I liked that. Yeah. Oh, I like that too. Tell me what you think it could mean when it's talk.

'cause I like how you said for you it's the temple, but when he's talking about it, I love how he says Let it be a good house. Okay, we'll, we'll let it be a good house. Yeah. But what is he teaching us about the idea that this house could be a place where you can contemplate the word of the Lord? For me, lately I've been really trying hard to up my temple attendance.

And you know, you hear a lot of people say that when going to the temple, it's like, it's the same thing every time. And it was my stake president at one time, just before I started going a lot more. He's like, just, just when you're listening to my words, don't listen to what I say. Listen to what the spirit teaches.

And I swear like the next time I went to the temple I was like, I'm, that's that phrase stuck out in my mind. And I'm like, I'm gonna start listening to what the spirit teaches. And from that week I went till, till now. It's not a time. But that I go to the temple, I don't learn something. Mm-hmm. Like something sticks out to me and I'm like, I didn't see that before.

That's, that's awesome. So the same words are being spoken, but the spirit's going, okay, you need to pay attention to this. This is what this means. This is what that means. And it's really, um, it's really opened my mind and God's really ready to teach us when we're ready to just let him do that. And if you're ready to contemplate his word and go to him and sacrifice your time, he'll teach you.

And, and it's blown me away. The things that, the things that, uh, once I committed myself to being like, wow, this is, this stuff's really cool. And I'm so thankful for the temple. Mm-hmm. For that reason. Oh, excellent. Thank you. Okay. Anything else that stood out to you about the instruction on this house? Um, yeah, I got one thing that kind of stuck out to me in verse 24.

It says a healthful habitation. And I thought that [00:34:00] was interesting. Um, a healthful habitation, and this is one thing that when I was in the temple that contemplating the word the work of the Lord. If you don't mind, if we, and I'm, I'll probably just go jump back a little bit, but when I was reading in, uh, section 89, the word of wisdom, the word word stuck out to me a lot.

And I was like, what does the word mean? And then John, one stuck, John one, one stuck out to me. So the word is Jesus Christ. God was with God was with him in the creation. So I started reading a little different 'cause the God of wisdom and the word of wisdom is a way that we can be more healthful. To have God join us in our lives, to prepare ourselves to be the tabernacle in the temple of God ourselves, as well as go to the temple.

That's, that's kind of what I got outta that healthful habitation. Yeah, that's a cool connection. I like that. Okay, so the two of, you're gonna love this so much, by the way. I had no idea your house was in those conditions that you cut off the roof. So this is gonna be so fun because I have a picture for you of the Navu House, and I want you to tell the listeners exactly what you see when we show you this picture.

And this is, this is the, the Navu house as far as it got. Oh, wow. What do you see? Why are you laughing? Uh, there, it's, it looks like it's unfinished. How can you tell? Uh, there's no, uh, roof. There's no roof on it. Yeah. Is that so fun? Yeah. You last year when we cut off the roof just real flat, like fun. Okay.

That is so fun. Yes, that's exactly it. Here's a fun fact about the Nabu house. It never got finished. Like that's as far as they got was this picture with no roof on it. And so as a result, the foundations, they were only up till about ground level when Joseph and Hiram were killed in Carthage. So that's as far as it got.

After Brigham Young began, um, leading the church as president of the 12, the decision was made to focus on the completion of the Navi Temple. So as a result of [00:36:00] that work on the Navu house was halted, the structure built by the prophet's widow, Emma and her second husband, Louis Bitman, was known as the Riverside Mansion.

And today, many still refer to it as the Navu House, and it is now currently owned and maintained by the community of Christ. So knowing that then, okay, so here's what I want us to think about. If God knew that this, he, of course he did, God knew that the Nabu house was not going to be completed. He absolutely knew, and he still said to the Saints, I want you to build this house.

Tell me what your thoughts are. Why would he command them to build this and give them these instructions about this house? Not even a temple yet. Just a house. What can we learn from that? Well, I think of like the novel house like that is kind of like our church buildings, right? It's where we welcome in the weary traveler.

It's like, come in, come be a part of it. And our purpose is to prepare them to get them to the temple, help them feel loved and welcomed, and help them to let go of the world. Things that keep them from going to the temple and then when they're ready. They'll make that journey for that. So I feel like that's kind of the, that no, I don't know at this time did they have church buildings they were going to, or I don't know how they were meeting.

Yeah. And an upper storehouse and Yeah. And they had left Kirtland where they were, be able to meet in that temple. So yeah, now they're in Navu, just putting up buildings, trying to get the Navu house, trying to get the Navu temple built. So Dixie, what a cool connection because now I look back at these verses and when I see the idea of my church building my ward house, that it is, and I read, and I'm reading what you shared, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord at church and what you shared, tj, that he shall, there will be a, that the house will be a helpful habitation at church.

Look at verse 60. It's called the N House, but who cares about the name when you compare it to our church? Let it be a delightful habitation for man, a resting place for the weary traveler that he may contemplate the [00:38:00] glory of Zion and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof. Now that is cool. Yeah. Such a good connection.

Dixie, I love that you made that. There's a really neat connection to this because Elder Suarez, he had, there's a video and we're gonna put the link to it in our show notes so you can watch this video. But I asked TJ and Dixie to watch this video. It's Elder Suarez talking about his conversion story, and I wanted to know from the two of you when you watched this, tell me what made the ward that Elder Suarez went to as a little boy beautiful.

What made it navu and compare it to this Navu house. Um, the thing that I noticed that it was just, just, you know, how they, he said his parents weren't, didn't have habits that were normally of the member of the church as they joined yet, that they still welcomed them in and came and had them come and taught them the things that would help them to get their lives again to the temple and get to those things.

Yeah. Yeah. I, I, when I watched it too, I, going off kind of what Dixie said, that, that, uh, I love that the people did, didn't let it bother 'em that they didn't have the health, you know, habits and they really took what the Lord said and, and said that everybody is welcome. Everybody has a place. And I love that the ministers went over there, you know, I think it said like two or three times a week maybe at some points and, or maybe at least two or three times a month.

And just fellowshiped them just with their friends did stuff for 'em. And that's what made the difference And, um. Turn their hearts. It's uh, an old quote by Gordon b Hinkley. I'm gonna butcher it 'cause I don't have it in front of me. But it basically said, we're more likely gonna convert people through our love than anything else.

Just, just loving people. That's what will convert them. And that's what I kind of got from this, this video. Yeah. In fact, I'm thinking now, wouldn't it be so cool if we could get some vinyl lettering for every chapel or every church [00:40:00] building where there would be a sign that would say a delightful habitation.

A resting place. You know, all the things we've said, come contemplate the word of the Lord. Right? And I think that's what every one of our buildings are. And, and as we do that, we become such beautiful people because we're welcoming people in and making them feel at home. So thank you to both of you for your discussion and for watching that video and for sharing your thoughts on this novel house that never even got built, that didn't even have a roof.

Just like your house. Yeah. Right. That is so cool. Okay, so in the next segment then we have another house we're gonna talk about. And this house will for sure make the people beautiful. We'll do that next.

Segment 4

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So I have another house to show you guys. You ready for this one? So this time I want you to describe it in as many details as you can. So tell the listeners what it is that you see when you see this picture. Ooh, I see. Uh, where that pops, pops into my mind first is beautiful. Yeah. Mm-hmm. White, light white.

Yeah. Clean. Um, awe inspiring. Yeah. Um, oh, I love those. Well maintained. Yes. Well maintained. Um, straight mm-hmm. Square. They're little straight edges. And there's some round ones, but everything's like symmetrical. Yeah. And, uh, um, you could tell someone put a lot of thought into, into building that house. Like no, uh, corners were cut.

No, uh, expenses spared, anything like that. 'cause you could tell a lot of work and a lot of time and, and energy went into the building, that house. And probably the finest craftsman too. Yeah. Yes. Oh yeah. Dixie, describe the tower thing at the top. Uh, like api? Yeah. Just, you know, definitely looks like the temple, like the [00:42:00] mm-hmm.

Yeah. Just, you know, point towards that and it's, yeah. Oh, I like that. Speaking. Yeah. Mm-hmm. A beacon pouring towards heaven. Okay. This is so fun because on March 19th, 2022, ground was broken for the Sierra Leone temple in Africa. Oh. And this is the temple. That's cool. That is so cool. That is really cool. I would never have guessed that though.

This is the Sierra alone, the Sierraville temple. That's beautiful. I know. I think it's so cool. It's the very first to be constructed in the country, and it will be dedicated in 2027, so we have another two years for it to be completed. This is what it's going to look like. And it doesn't look, I mean, everything you described is a perfect description of a temple, but it's unique, isn't it?

I don't know. Another temple that looks like this. No, in the way you described it, it's very unique that, I love how you brought that in. I actually got a little teary eyed there thinking about those saints. That'll, that'll have that now. That's really, really cool. Yeah. Yeah, so we, oh, thank you for, for expressing that.

So let's go into section 124 and we're gonna tie this picture to this other house that the Lord is asking the saints to build. So we're gonna read verses 25 through 28, and then we're gonna skip over to verses 39 through 40. So tj, since you were so good at describing this temple with the materials and the things that it must have been built with, will you please read for us verses 25 through 28 And we're gonna read about a house that the Lord wants the people in N to build.

Sure. And again, verily I send to you, let all my saints come from afar and send ye swift messengers, yay chosen messengers and saying unto them, come ye with all your gold and your silver and your precious stones. And with all your antiquities and with all who have knowledge of antiquities. With that will come, may come and bring the box tree and the fur tree and the pine tree together with all the precious trees of the.

With iron, with copper, and with brass and with zinc and with all your [00:44:00] precious things of the earth, and build a house to my name for the most high to dwell they're in for. There is not a place found on earth that he may come to and re and restore again. That which was lost unto you, or which he have taken away even the fullness of the priesthood.

Thank you. And then Dixie, will you please read verses 39 and 40? Yep. Therefore, verily I say unto you that your anointings and your washings and your baptisms for the dead and your solemn assemblies and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi and for your oracles in your most. Hi holy places wherein you receive conversations and your statutes and judgements for the beginning of the revelations and the foundations of Zion and for the glory, honor and endowments of all her municipals are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name and verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal my ordinances therein unto my people.

Thank you. At the end of verse 39, let's highlight which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name. There it is. He's always commanded his people to build a temple. And so when you think through their whole experience in the doctrine and cabinets in our church history, every place they have landed, he has said, build a temple.

Knowing full well they're not going to be able to build a temple in Far West, in Adam Andon in Jackson County. They'll only build one in Kirtland and then Navu and that's it. But he does this because he, he's always commanding people to build a house unto his holy name, and we're so grateful for that throughout section 124.

I asked Dixie and TJ to do this. I asked them to look through several different verses and to make a list of all the reasons they could find why the Lord would ask us to build a house unto his name. What did you guys find? Will you just [00:46:00] give us the verse and tell us what you found? Yeah. I thought it was so interesting.

39. I kind of. Passed over at first, but then as I focused in, I'm like, there's so much in this one verse. There's enough that you could spend like talks and, and discussions for a really long time on this one verse. But what stuck out to me was, I know you brought up, brought up that people are always commanded to build and they are, but I was like, what does ordained by my ordinance mean?

So I, I kind of dove into that a little bit and thought, well, what basically what we're being asked to do is by the ordinances that we perform in the temple, this is how I interpret it. Mm-hmm. The ordinances we perform in the temple, we are ordained to basically build Zion at that point. So we go to the temple, we learn these ordinances, and that ordains us to be able to get to municipals, which all the cities that form Zion.

And that point is when we become that Zion people, and obviously if you go to the ordinances and the covenants you make in the temples, that's what changes you and that's what forms that Zion. That's what I kind of got outta that last part of that verse right there. I thought, uh, that just, I'm ordained by the ordinance.

That was threw me off there for a second. But I don't know. Well, what a cool connection. We, we've been ordained to build Zion. I can't think of a better way to say that. Every single one of us who've entered into a covenant with Jesus Christ, that's the whole point, is to build Zion. Mm-hmm. So, good job, tj.

Excellent. Keep going. I was gonna say my biggest thing that I noticed, and maybe it's just 'cause I'm tired, it's all that it talked about, right? That to have the weary traveler come again, I know it was talking about the Navu house, but when I read it really stuck out to me that like, that's the temple also, right?

That we have so much of the world that bogs us down and can cloud us from what we're doing, but then when we go and enter in to the temple, he can help relieve that from us. So I remember on our [00:48:00] mission the, we could go to the temple every. Three months, I think it was three months. Yeah, I think it was every three months if a member would take us.

And so this is my, I had just been out for three months and it was, you know, a shocker. And people weren't very nice. I mean, the members were, but other people were not. And you know, it was kind of hard getting used to living with a companion and getting up and the rigorous, and you were just exhausted, like physically exhausted.

And so I remember going to the temple and just like everything, you know, when we go to the temple now, everything you're trying to do to get to the temple seems to fall apart. And you're like, I know I need to go. I just gotta get there. But everything's keeping me from it. And I remember walking through the door and I really honestly felt like angels pushed everything off.

And I walked through almost like I could turn around and go, oh, it's lighter. It feels lighter. And ever since then, mm-hmm. Every time I go to the temple, I think of that same feeling of when all of that was put off me and I walked in and I think, oh, this is why I go so that I'm safe, I'm secure, and I can just listen to what the Lord wants without all the interruptions.

Right. I mean. It's always hard when they tell us to turn our phones off and turn those things so that I think, you know, as a mom, okay, hopefully my kids don't need me. Hopefully there's not a fire in the house while I'm in here. All these things just please nothing while I'm in here so I can calm down and focus.

But having that quiet from the world makes it feel like, okay, I'm here. I'm part of this and I want, you know, I want that time to learn. So good. Dixie. In fact, Dixie, will you read verse 55? Because as you were talking, I went to that verse 'cause it just reminded me of, again, one of the reasons he asked us to build a temple and connecting it to what you said.

And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place that you may prove yourself unto me that you are faithful in all things whatsoever. I command you that I may bless you and crown you with honor, immortality, and eternal life. And I just think of you walking through the temple and immediately [00:50:00] filling that.

I may bless you. What a blessing because it's different for everyone. Your blessing is a feeling of just ah, 'cause you're tired, you know? And I think we're all weary travelers, aren't we? Mm-hmm. When we enter the house of the Lord and we just wanna be blessed. Yeah. Whether we're weary because we're in the service of our fellow men, which is a mm-hmm.

Great thing. Or we're weary because our thoughts on our kids are consuming every thought of what we're doing. Or we're weary because there's things that we've done that we worry that, ah, will the Lord ever forgive me for, you know, those things, whatever it is that's wearing us, we can let it go. Yeah. And I like that.

I, I, I had brought up earlier about going to the temple and what the things that I teach, but, um, and that's awesome and all, but like Dixie said, the worry. And one thing that surprised me as I decided to dedicate myself more to going. And I know why it surprised me 'cause the prophets talk about it all the time.

But, um, once I decided to go more, I just have had this overwhelming sense of peace. There's been so much peace in my life since I've gone more often. It was just like, almost like this sense of, yeah, life's life. Life can get crazy. You know, we were missing a roof off our house and that was the most wild week and a half of my life last year.

But it was like, this underlaying of peace has pervaded my life, uh, since I've gone more. Just, I don't know. It's hard to describe it except for that's, that's the Lord's peace, right? That's, that's the spirit. Wow. Um, he gives us that peace, but everything will be okay. Yeah. Everything, even when you don't have a roof over your house and you're worried it's gonna rain or storm or, yeah.

Oh. Thank you to both of you for doing such a wonderful job of expressing and sharing with us the feelings you have about attending the temple and what it means to you. I really appreciate that. We're gonna end this segment with this quote, because it falls perfectly in line with what both of you have shared and why the Lord commands us to build temples in his name.

Dixie, will you read this quote for us [00:52:00] please? Mm-hmm. Since the N temple was built in the 1840s, over 300 temples have been built or announced. President Russell M. Nelson taught. We know that our time in the temple is crucial to our salvation and exaltation and to that of our families. The assault of the adversary are increasing exponentially in intensity and in variety.

Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. Thank you. And absolutely, I think we all can agree with that. And this idea that the need for us to be in the temple on a regular basis is so great that in the next segment we're gonna discover an ordinance that so many people can participate in that makes everyone beautiful who does it.

We'll do that next.

Segment 5

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This next ordinance that we're gonna talk about when I said so many people can join in on I, I say that because teenagers and adults, like we all can do this one together, which is so cool. And I remember when my kids had, were finally old enough to go, I'm like, we are going as a family on a regular basis.

Wah wa, whatever regular meant. But we did get there. But I love it when we're there as a family in section 124, I want you to bracket off verses 29 through 36 because it details one specific ordinance that makes us beautiful. So bracket off 29 through 36 and we're going to read specifically verse 29 and 30.

And tj, can you read that for us? Yes. For a baptism of font, there is not upon the earth. They, my saints may be baptized for those who are dead for this ordinance belongs to my house and cannot be acceptable to me only in the days of your poverty wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me. Thank you.

Oh, actually [00:54:00] first 31, 2. This is a good one. Okay. But I command you all ye my saints to build a house unto me. And I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me. And during this time, your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me. Thank you. Now, the reason I wanted you to read 31, 'cause as a, as a a plumber slash builder, you're gonna appreciate this.

When the Navu temple was being built, there's an interesting word in verse 31 where he says, I grant unto you sufficient time to build a house unto me. Circle the word time. And then he says, during this time, there it is again. Circle the word time. Your baptism shall be acceptable unto me. And the reason why I wanted you to circle that word is 'cause this is something really interesting about the Navu temple.

When the Navu temple was being built, the temple was not finished all at the exact same time. It progressed incrementally. And so as it was being built, the basement was the first place to be built and enclosed. And so they de, and in the basement is where they had the baptismal font. So they dedicated just the basement.

That's it. And they b and so isn't that interesting? They dedicated different parts of the Navu temple as it was being built. So the first part to be built was the basement. They dedicated that. So in early November of 1841, under the direction of the prophet Joseph Smith, baptisms for the dud commenced in the house of the Lord, and then they'd work on another part of it.

So the first ordinance to be done in the house of the Lord would be baptisms for the dead. Isn't that kind of cool? Yeah, that is cool. That's that's good. It's smart. It's the Lord's smart. Making good use of, and we're making good use of time, aren't we? Yes. Yeah. That word is so important there. So they started getting work for the dead.

Now we're not gonna go into the whole storyline of work for the Dead for another week. 'cause when we get there, I'm gonna tell you the story about how Baptisms for the Dead started. But what I wanted us to focus on right here is a discussion with us because you have children and you understand baptisms for the dead.

Talk to me about this idea of baptisms for the dead and how they can make us more beautiful. Do you guys have an experience of doing them with your family or on your own? [00:56:00] Um, yeah, I, um, I guess for me, um, growing up I did grow up in the church and, and, um, and I did do baptisms as a youth. And for me it's, it's always been, you know, I'm kind of jealous of the youth a little bit because they're kind of the, the, the preferred ones to go.

But, uh, it's always been one of my favorite things to do there. But, um, I just love that the Lord has provided a way for, uh, I don't, to me, it, it, it shows of his love for everybody everywhere. And that's one of the very first things we do in the gospel to accept Jesus Christ. And the fact that he makes that available to everybody everywhere beyond this life is just proves that he's so loving and it's just such a beautiful thing.

I love it when I get a chance to go with my kids because the joy that I feel doing it, I'm able to see. Them experience that same joy. And it's just something that's, so when you have something that's so special to you and you share it with your kids, you always hope that, you know, they'll find it special too.

Mm-hmm. And, you know, when you're young, I, I feel like you don't understand it as much as you do when you're older, but, um, it's something I hope that they, they can look back at and look at as such a special experience because it truly is. I mean, these people have been waiting for who knows how long, you know?

Yeah. Mm-hmm. For this to be done. And it's such a special experience to join in and do that for them. Yeah. I definitely think that that's, you know, growing up, I grew up in Arizona, um, and so I lived in Tucson. Um, we went to the temple as youth group and it was, you know, two hour drive. We'd all gather in vans or you know, people's cars and go up and it was always this fun activity that we went and did.

So I didn't necessarily go a whole lot just as my family growing up, but I remember our home teacher when I [00:58:00] was 13 or 14, I think their family had all boys and she had done some of her family's work and asked if I wanted to go up as and do the girls' names for baptisms. And so I remember getting picked up after school and we drove up there, got there in the evening and got all ready to go.

And, um, there's a group ahead of us that, so once I, I got changed. Um, we sat down and they called our group and all of us were like, um, they, they were here first. It wasn't us. And they're like, no, it's your people's time. We thought, how, how interesting. They said, Nope. The, the, the, the spirit's telling us that it's your group's time.

And I thought this is more, you know, that was just such a testimony as a youth to be like, this is more than just people's names. This is people. Yeah. And the, they had us go for, I always remember thinking, I felt so weird that we went ahead of this other group, but they're like, Nope. It happens in the temple sometimes, where if someone's ready, we, we take that and follow that spirit.

I remember thinking, that is so cool. And that's kind of why once all of our kids could go to the temple, it was like, let's go, let's go as a family, and you know, it's, again, it helps eases the mom's mind. We're all together in the temple, so nobody's gonna be calling, asking an emergency. We're all here.

We're all good. I can see my family and I mean, they're, none of them are old enough. I mean, our oldest is, you know, preparing to go to the temple as an adult, but the kids, you know, just having them there as a mom, I just feel like, okay, okay. Mm-hmm. We're all good. I can, I can rest as a mom again. Boy, this whole weary thing, I must be really tired.

It's just having them in the temple altogether as a family, I just feel like, okay, it's not perfect, but we're here. Yeah. It's a starting point. Yeah. Well, and how? How cool to think right now For me, when I went to the temple to do baptisms for that, it was a once a year gig and you could only go with your youth group.

Mm-hmm. There was no going on your own after school or on a Saturday when you had free time. And I love how we've changed that narrative. I love how now kids can, my daughters will just go up whenever, I don't even know [01:00:00] when they're going. They just go up on their own and they do the work. And how wonderful that in the Syracuse, Utah temple that's just been recently dedicated, there's two baptismal fonts.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why I was floored when I got a tour of that one on each side of the temple. That's how many you right. Are going to the temple and then we connect it to what both of you said. This is pretty neat. Let's go to doctrine and cabinet section 1 38. I love teaching from this section because there's a verse in here that I love to teach my students.

It's the section on the spirit world. It's verse 32 and 33, and this section right here is talking about how there are missionaries or messengers, clothed with the power and authority in the spirit world who are teaching those who are in darkness, who haven't heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ at all.

And so these messengers are teaching them. And I would go here with my students and I would say, let's find out what they're being taught right now as I'm teaching you. Here's what the spirits are being taught today. And so we go into section 1 38 and we read verse 32 and 33. And so, Dixie, will you read that for us?

Yep. Thus was the gospel preached to those who died in their sins without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression having rejected the prophets. These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.

Thank you. So verse 33 is the fourth article of faith, the four principles of the gospel with one variation of the word. It's faith, repentance, but not just baptism. But then I have my kids highlight vicarious baptism. Can you imagine being taught the gospel of Jesus Christ? But the caveat is, oh, by the way, you've gotta wait till someone does your baptism.

Yeah. Like you're a total believer, but then you're like, wait, what? And then they're like, yeah, we gotta wait for those teenagers to get to the temple. And when we talk about how our prophets saying, we're, we're all about the gathering right now, let's provide a chance to gather as many as we can. [01:02:00] I love that the youth are going, and I, I just go back to this verse right here about the word time and how much time and the way we have progressed and how we worship in the temple and doing baptisms for the dead.

Like we don't even have enough time right now. And so we are just trying to get the work done as fast as we can, as much as we can. And so I just encourage everyone listening, find your youth, find a day, go to the temple. I know you need for many temples, uh, an appointment, but there's sometimes you can go and just sneak in one of you or two of you.

So I mean, I'll probably get in trouble for saying that, but sometimes people cancel their appointments. So just go to the temple. Yes. Yeah. I know I have family that live family that live outside of, uh, Utah, and they'll say another Utah temple. And I say, yeah, have you ever tried to make an appointment and get in?

Yeah. You have to book like three months in advance if you wanna get appointments to things. It's true, it's true. So sometimes just go up and sneak in and say, did anybody cancel? And they'll, they're really good about working in last minute appointments. Yes. So get to the chapel. Yes. And, and it helps me that, you know, think the church is in and the, the gospel is in, in good hands.

I mean these youth today that as many times as they go and a lot of 'em are self-motivated and they get a bird and go before school and I'm like, holy cow. Yeah, we were. That's so awesome. Yeah. No we weren't. That's awesome. No we weren't. So, it's so cool that these kids are doing it. We just had a kid in our ward go leave his on his mission, but him and his brothers have been going every week for.

Like a for full year or something like that. It's really cool to see. And uh, they're getting such joy out of it and stuff, so, um, yeah, the youth of the church are amazing right now. Yes. The stuff that they're doing. Yeah. So, and isn't it cool to think Section 1 24, like we started, is a blueprint for the church in Navu and how things are gonna be run.

And we can see that here today now, [01:04:00] but now we're seeing it on a bigger scale. 300 temples, two fonts in a temple. There's just, I don't even know that the pioneers and Joseph Smith had any idea of what was to come from this. And so isn't it great? We're, we're told to build a house and we're told to do baptisms for the dead, and then we're told one more thing.

So in the next segment, we're gonna discover something that can show us just how beautiful we are. We've been talking about this word, beauty, things that can make us beautiful, and now it's gonna show us how beautiful we are and we'll show you what those verses are in the next segment.

Segment 6

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So shortly after the prophet's, father Joseph Smith Sr. Passed away, the Lord called Hiram Smith to the calling that his father held. Let's find out what it is and we're gonna read it in verses 91 and 92. And who are we on reading? Who has not? Who was the last person to read? Who was the last person to read?

I think I did. Did you read Last? Okay. Okay. Tj. Tj, will you read verses 91 through 92? Yeah. And again, verily asain unto you, let my servant William, William be appointed, ordained, and anointed as counselor unto my servant Joseph, in the room of my servant, Hiram. That my servant Hiram may take the office of Priesthood, office of Priesthood and patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right.

From heads Forth, he shall hold the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people. Thank you. What? Okay, so tell me what calling did Hiram get? The patriarch? Yeah. Yes, patriarch. The patriarch of the church. Okay. So I have questions for you about patriarch. Do you both have your patriarchal blessings?

Yes, we do. Yes. Fantastic. So first of all, tell me, how would you describe a patriarchal blessing to someone who's never even heard of it? The way that I kind of always describe it to those that I have is if the Lord could sit down with you and [01:06:00] talk to you, this is what it would be if he could sit with you face to face and talk to you.

Oh, I like that. I'm writing it down. Yeah, that's true. I love, uh, for me, the patriarchal blessing is going back to kind of like the blueprints that we talked about before. You know, it's kind of like a, a pattern or of whatnot of your, of your life. And, um. You know, obviously I got it years ago, and I love that you can get a copy of it and read it from time to time.

And even recently I'm like, uh, I don't know what my patriarchal blessing says about this. I don't think it says anything about this. And then I read it and I'm like, oh, there it is, right there. It said something about this. So, you know, it's, it's almost like the spirit's like, now go back and read it again so that you can, uh, see something from a different angle that you didn't see before.

Mm-hmm. So, and I, you know, I love it and I have a special place in my heart for patriarchs. There was a patriarch on my mission that I got really close to one of my areas. We'd go over there, have dinner, and we'd go to this guy's house and I get, we would have the best gospel discussions and I'd look over and he showed me where his patriarch room is.

And it was the first time, even since I got my, um, since I got my patriarchal blessing, I could feel. I could literally feel a spirit coming from that room. There was something special about that room where he gave those blessings I could, and he was such a neat guy. And ever since then, I just had a really special place in my heart.

And our mission president. Yeah. President King. He was President King. He was a patriarch Yeah. Of our mission. And he would kinda go over our patriarchal blessing sometimes with us and, and to discuss it. It was really neat. Really neat to, to have that. Yeah. It was so, but yeah, patriarchal blessings are amazing gifts to us.

Mm-hmm. Like you said, if the Lord can sit down in front of us and talk to us, that's kind of Yeah. Kind of what we have in our lives. One of the things that I, you know, I, I love my patriarchal blessing. I remember reading it tons as I was growing up, you know, prior to being married [01:08:00] and all those things of like, is it gonna happen?

What's gonna happen? Where are gonna go in my life? Right? Yeah. Um, but I feel like I have it memorized and I remember, so two of our kids have gotten theirs. And, uh, woo. I'm gonna cry. When our oldest, she was going through such a rough time, such a rough time with friends and just who she was as a person.

And, but she wanted to get a blessing and we were kind of like, yeah, I think that'll be a great thing for you. And she got it. And I remember being there and thinking, oh my gosh, God blessed us with this child. I can't believe that he dressed at us. She's amazing. Like, and my whole idea of, yeah, there's still the teenage attitude and there's still the things that come with it, but I knew the Lord had her like that blessing.

I'm like, okay. I couldn't relax because he's got her, it's his daughter. I can just help her point her towards what this blessing says she is, and that I think changed our whole mother-daughter relationship. Was Wow. Was that, and I think that's a huge thing was her getting her blessing. Sorry. Don't apologize at all.

What a, what an incredible witness to seeing. I felt like, as you were talking about that, I'm like, you got to see how beautiful quote unquote your daughter is. Oh, the verb beautiful. The verb, right? Yes. Right. Yeah. Wow. Right. It was like the Lord was telling her and me as the mom, 'cause I got to be there and witness that.

This girl's amazing. I, you know, and so all of us can be like, oh. So I've been able to remind her several times. Remember it talks about this with you. Remember it talks about this. And she's like, but does it, does it? It's like, no, I know. 'cause the spirit was so strong it witnessed to me. Mm-hmm. This is you.

Yeah. This is you. Yeah. Trust me, I was such a strong witness. Wow. It, it is amazing being there when you kids get their patriarchal blessings. Mm-hmm. I love that. Um, we're invited to be part of it. [01:10:00] Yeah. I love that. And being able to be part of that, that experience that Yeah. That, mm-hmm. Both our daughter and our son have gotten, gotten it so far, and both of 'em, it's just, just been incredible and they've both said different things about 'em and Yeah.

And different ways it was presented different ways, but just perfect for that child. Yeah. Like goes their personality. It's like, it's like this, they, it is from God because this is this child and this is this child. It's what they need and the direction. I'm so curious to see how their lives unfold. Yeah.

Oh, wow. Well, and going to this idea, again, a blueprint for the church. Can you imagine our existence without a patriarchal blessing?

Right. I don't, I don't wanna think about that. Yeah. It's, it's so wonderful. But, and like you said, it's this idea that you're sitting down face to face with God, and he's like, let me just show you the blueprint for your life, all of the possibilities if mm-hmm. You can just continue going back to how you started continuing to be soft and have light like this is, look how beautiful you are.

Yeah. And I've, I've worked with, I've worked with guys and I'm in construction, so you, you work around some rough, rough guys, and I love 'em all. They're all great, and they're all wonderful in their own ways, and a lot of them have gotten their patriarchal blessings, and, and we've discussed a little bit about it.

They've not really active in the church anymore, and they'll, they'll make kinda light of it and, and it breaks my heart. I'm like, you guys are mm-hmm. You guys are missing, missing out on a lot of things that, that you, you know, uh, who knows when the last time they read it or anything like that. But I'm like, let's go back and read it, you know, and get back into it and it'll, it'll truly guide your life and bring that light that we talked about and that good into your life and that beauty kind of, that, that central theme of our discussion into your life.

Uh, um, because God, God is at the helm and Yeah. And, uh, and he loves us all. So, and then patriarchal blessing is one of those ways that we can, we can learn about that. Find, yeah. I feel like in your [01:12:00] life, as you seek God, you can find out his love. 'cause he truly does love us. Mm-hmm. And, uh, but mm-hmm. That, that's what converts us.

And then all of a sudden we're taught about these things and we're taught about patriarchal blessings. So we get it and then we get more information that he knows about us and how much he loves us more. Mm-hmm. And then all of a sudden he is like, well, go to the temple and I'll, I'll show you how much more I love you.

Yeah. It just grows and grows and grows. Uh, a few episodes ago you talked about. I love that you shared something that has stuck with me. The grace, grace. For grace. We, we grow this, uh, meet God with our covenants in this grace for grace moment. And in that moment is when he is like, all right, well, now that we have this trust with one another, let me, let me teach you more.

Let me show you more love. Let me, let me guide you along this path. And, and that's what I feel like it's, it's gone through with me. And it, it kind of, uh, uh, kind of almost kicked off with that, with that love and that patriarchal blessing for me. Wow. Wow. This has been such a fun discussion. Here's my challenge to everyone listening, because the testimony that we just heard from TJ and Dixie is real.

I felt the spirit so strong about patriarchal blessings. Thank you to both of you. Get your patriarchal blessing out. Everyone listening, get it out and make a photocopy of it. Okay? That's what you wanna do this week. Take the color pink. And I want you to highlight everywhere you feel and recognize that you are beautiful and loved.

And that's one of my favorite things to do. I've made so many copies of my patriarchal blessing. I've made copies and highlighted my blessings. I've highlighted the warnings I've highlighted also. But highlight where you feel beautiful and loved in your patriarchal blessing. And another fun thing to do is you can actually download it onto your um, phone.

I've done that through the lds.org. You can go in and actually apply to get your patriarchal blessing sent to you digitally. And so sometimes in sacrament meeting, I'll just sit and read it during the sacrament in that space that's just mine, where I'm taking the bread and water and being reminded of how much I'm loved and how beautiful I am.

So that's the [01:14:00] great thing about a patriarchal blessing. So thank you to both of you. We're done. That's the end of our episode. Wow. You guys were wonderful. So, Kate, do this really quickly. Gather all your thoughts and just share with me what is something, what is an eternal truth you learned from our discussion?

What's a takeaway that you have or something you'll remember from our discussion? Well takeaway that we have from our discussion. Um, shoot. I can take a, there's a lot of things I really like that, that beautiful, that beautiful quote that you had shared in that word. Um, this is how my mind works. Can I, can I share a, uh, a dad joke I thought of while you're sharing that?

Yeah. So when you shared what, I'm gonna see if I can phrase this, uh, what did Isaiah say the name Navu meant? Beautiful. Beautiful. And what did they say? Nuh. Get it. Does that,

oh my gosh, tj Nuh, that's how you say beautiful in Hebrew. That is the best joke. I'm telling that joke to Don Perry. Oh my gosh.

You such a dad, dad joke. Good Dad. I, I, that a good dad joke. The, just, just the, uh, discussion we had about, uh, for me it was the, the beauty that, that we can receive, receive from Christ. Um mm-hmm. Just if people just want to draw, draw close to him and, uh, you know, I don't know what it takes to get people to, I know what it takes, takes loving them.

Just, just loving them and showing them through the example, and, and they can hopefully see that light and that beauty and that goodness reflect off you. And they'll come to wanna know how, how do you reflect this love? And you can point 'em toward the source of that, the source of that light, which, which is Jesus Christ.

[01:16:00] So yeah, that's, that's been my takeaway, so thank you. That's a great one. Yeah. Uh, my, one of my takeaways from it that kind of was a summary of it all was just how unique and wonderful we all are. I listening to that whole, the, when I listened to the whole scripture of it, I just caught like different names and their jobs and things and how in the church we're so unique.

We have such unique gifts and talents that when used together, we can lift each other and that's what's gonna make things beautiful. When in love, we work together and we work with one another to bring the gospel to others. It's what is gonna make us happier and more beautiful ourselves and see others, the beauty in them.

Wow. I love that both of your, um, thoughts are so perfect. So thank you. Thank you. Mine is, I really appreciated our discussion on beauty and you both used the word soft and light, and I just, I really like that connection. I love words and association with words, and there is something beautiful. It is soft and light, and I think that is, we see that softness and that light in the savior, Jesus Christ.

So thanks for connecting beauty to the Savior. You did great. Thank you. Well, thank you. That's the end. You guys are done. That was Oh good. Thank you, Tammy. I really appreciate it. Yeah, and thank you, Pam. You're probably listening to this, so yeah, shout out to Pam Bingham. Oh, that was so fun. Well, and thank you Dixie, for being such a good sport.

You were exactly who needed to be on this episode. You were perfect. She did so good. Thank you. All right, well, what was your takeaway? What eternal truth did you learn? Go join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram to share what you've learned, and you can even ask questions if you want. Then, at the end of the week, on a Saturday, we post a question from this discussion, and I'm gonna ask a question this week about patriarchal blessings.

I'd love to know your answers, comment on the post that relates to this lesson, and share your thoughts. You can get to both our [01:18:00] Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at ldsliving.com slash Sunday on Monday, and go there. Anyway, it's where we're gonna have links to all the references and a transcript of this whole discussion, so go check it out.

The Sunday on Monday Study Group is a Deseret Bookshelf plus original, brought to you by LDS Living. It's written in, hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall, and today our Superb Study Group participants were the orton's. TJ and Dixie, and you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving.com slash Sunday on Monday.

Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week and please remember that you are God's favorite.