Another week down!  Although, it was a rather unproductive week due to the fact that we were confined to the house all week.  We also got changes on Sunday!  Very interesting ones to say the least.  I’ll mention those in a little bit.

So after last P-day we weren’t able to do much other than go to church on Sunday.  Church was good though.  It was raining that morning, so we were a tad wet, but everything was good.  We sang one of México’s favorite hymns.  “Jesús es mí luz.”  I don’t know why they love that one so much.  I don’t know if I mentioned before, but our ward also has a fondness of “La Alba ya rompe.”  They sing that one like every other week.

Anyways,  Sunday evening we received changes!  Me and Elder Jones both stayed, but we got put in a trio with… Elder Custodio!  Back with my first companion again.  So Monday morning, we had to go to the offices to pick him up, and then we had to stay in the house for the rest of the day to finish up my week of rest.  Today I can walk again though!

This morning we went back to San Juan de Dios and walked around a little bit, and ate some Subway, and bought some groceries.  That’s about it for this week though.

Just to finish off, I wanted to share a little tidbit that I learned from my personal study this week.  I started Alma this week and read this from Alma 7.

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

It’s just so amazing to think about everything that Christ has given us and everything that He has done for us.  That our transgressions may be blotted out according to the power of his deliverance.  So amazing!

Anyways,  that should about do it for this week.  I hope you guys all have a great week!

Elder Humpherys

 

This week was pretty good.  No more hospital visits which was nice.

Wednesday, we had divisions with the Zone Leaders which was super awesome.  I went with Elder Powely.  As of today, he has about 4 days left before he goes home.  🙂

Sunday was pretty good day also.  I was a little bit worried that not very many people were going to come to church due to the fact that Mexico played Germany in the World Cup at 10 Sunday Morning.  The same time as our church meetings.  🙂  I was pleasantly surprised though.  We were a little bit lower than normal, but there was still a fair amount of people there though.  We did found out almost immediately who won the game though.  México!  I didn’t believe it at first since they were playing Germany.

Anyways,  Monday we had interviews with President Clayton.  Last ones before they leave.  It was super awesome.  Hermana Clayton told us a little bit more about Presidente and Hermana Reyes.  The only “bad” thing that came out of interviews was that President Clayton had talked a little bit more with the mission doctor and was worried that there were some bone on bone problems in my ankle.  So, he told me that I have to stay completely off it for a week.  So that started on Monday.  It’s pretty bad.  Boring at least.  I should be all good to go after a week though.

Elder Bender and Elder Beckman did come and do divisions with us yesterday so that Elder Jones and Elder Bender could go to an appointment that we had.  That appointment turned out pretty good from what I understand.  I’m excited to meet the guy.  That is, if I don’t get changed on Sunday.  🙂

Anyways,  that should about do it for this week.

Adios!

Elder Humpherys

This week has been pretty good.  Two more visits to the hopsital.  (Don’t worry, I’m fine).  Tuesday was the first of said vists.  After district class we took the bus over there to have the MRI taken.  “Resonancia Magnetica” as they are called in Spanish.  That was an interesting experience.  50 minutes in a very loud machine.  The only bad part was when my foot fell asleep about 10 minutes in and was tingling the whole time.  I think I fell asleep at one point though.  Did I mention that it was very loud?  Even with ear muffs it was very loud.

On Wednesday, we went back to the hospital!  We had to wait for the MRI results to be in, and to have an appointment with the doctor.  The doctor looked at the MRIs and X-rays and told me that I have “osteocondritis de la cúpula del astrágalo grado IV/IV”  who knows what that means…  Anyways, those results also got sent to the Mission Doctor in Mexico City who told me that I just need to ice it 3 times a day and wear an ankle brace, and that we’ll see how it’s doing to 3 months.  I think that he said that I have a piece of cartilage missing in my ankle, and that it could get worse, but that for right now I’m fine.  We shall see though.

The rest of the week we did some missionary work!  Finally.  I got tired of hospitals pretty fast.  We haven’t had too much success finding people to teach, but we did find some people that I think have some potential on Sunday.  We will see how it goes with them.

But on Saturday, I made another amazing discovery.  I’ve been kind of missing good old cheddar cheese, and haven’t found anything here that is remotely like it.  But, there is cheddar cheese!  It’s just white.  But, it tastes amazing and smells like cheddar cheese.

We had an English class on Saturday which was good.  Sunday was also good.  Elder Jones spoke in church and gave a pretty awesome talk.  After we ate some tacos de soya.  Basically a little bit pastor meat and a lot of soy.  It’s actually pretty good.

The interesting part of the day was when it started raining super hard about 5 or 6.  I had my rain jacket on me, but still got pretty wet, and Elder Jones got absolutely soaked.  It was interesting.

Today has been a good day though.  This morning we went to Home Depot.  🙂  Such a good store.  We ate some tacos de birria that were all right and went to Walmart.

That should about do it for today though.  I hope you guys all have a good week!

Elder Humpherys

Another week in good old Guadalajara.  To start off this week, we had Zone Conference on Tuesday.  We were combined with the Lomas Zone, but had the conference in our “home” stake center in Independencia.  Zone Conference was amazing.  It was actually President and Sister Clayton’s last zone conference.  They will be going home in like 3 weeks, and ours was the last of the zone conferences.  One highlight of the conference was that we had about an hour and a half activity to go out around the chapel and contact.  I went with Elder Velazquez, one of the assistants.  It was pretty good.

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty normal but then on Thursday we helped Independencia move houses across their area.  That was some work.  Their new house was on the second floor of an apartment building.  Just to provide some background to my next statement, their is no gas from the street or as a utility here.  So if you need gas (and that’s how everybody cooks) you have to have a tank.  Some people have permanent tanks that trucks will come around and fill up, but most people have the “small” 30kg tanks.  Their are about 5 feet tall and maybe a foot in diameter.  And to refill them, there are these trucks that drive around with full ones in the back (and they all play their own “jingle” that you eventually memorize pretty well)  So far I’ve heard of Global Gas, Zeta Gas, Vela Gas, Rosa Gas, and I’ve seen several others.  Anyways, when you either successfully flag one of these trucks down or call in an order, the guy comes and just carries the old tank out and the new one in.  But he does it likes it’s nothing.  Just slings it onto his shoulder and then walks away with it.  When we had to replace ours the guy jogged across a busy street with it.  The most impressive I’ve heard of is that they will literally jog up to the 4th floor of an apartment building with these heavy steel tanks full of gas on their shoulders.  Anyways, I got to experience a part of this on Thursday.  They had an empty 30kg tank to be carried up and a like half full smaller 20kg tank.  It actually wasn’t that hard.  🙂  Maybe they aren’t that impressive after all.  I definitely didn’t jog up to the 4th floor though.  🙂

On Saturday, we went to the hospital.  Don’t worry, I’m not too broken.  I sprained my ankle like 4 months ago, and it’s still been bothering me a little bit, so Elder Jones texted Hermana Clayton on my behalf (it wasn’t my idea I promise)  :).  She told us to go and see an Orthopedic doctor to see if I needed physical therapy or anything to fully heal with all of the walking we are doing.  So on Wednesday we went to the “Hospital Angeles del Carmen.”  Not quite as “fresa” as the last one we went to but it was still pretty nice.  We saw the doctor, he examined my ankle and told me that there was something a little bit wrong but nothing too bad.  He also explained a whole bunch of stuff while pointing to a picture of a foot about tendons and ligaments and stuff, but it was all in Spanish and he used very big words, so we didn’t understand anything.  Oh well.  The joys of Mexico.  🙂  Anyways, he gave me some medicine, and ordered some X-rays and an MRI.  After that, we went to get the X-rays and MRI.  We had to wait a little while for the insurance company to send back the approval, but then I went and took the X-rays.  Elder Jones couldn’t go back there, so I went alone, and I actually understood everything the lady said!  Even when she used the word “calzado” for footwear.  (I’d learned that word like two weeks ago when looking up the definition of “calzada”.  “Calzada” means street or avenue and “Calzado” means footwear.  Weird.  I know.)  The X-ray machine was super fancy.  They were going to take the MRIs, but their machine was broken, so we have to go back tomorrow.

Sunday was good.  They announced the devotional by President Nelson, but we weren’t able to see it.  Sounds like it was pretty awesome though.  This morning we went to a super fancy “plaza” mall thing called “plaza andares.”  It was super fancy.  There was a Chili’s, Outback steakhosue, P.F. Changs, all sorts of fancy stuff.  That’s about it for this week though.

To finish up, I just wanted to share something that President Clayton shared in Zone Conference.  He talked about power, and how in physics power is equal to energy over time.  So in order to increase our power, we can’t change how hard the work is or the people, we can just change how long it takes us to do.  Less time means more power.  So that’s the thought for the week!  Less time equals more power!

I hope you guys all have a good week.

…  And that’s were English fails me.  I want to say “Para terminar,” but I’m not sure what a good way to say that in English is.  Maybe,

¡Adios!

Elder Humpherys

 

This week has been pretty good.  Week 2 of change number 5!

Tuesday was a pretty exciting day.  We had district class in the morning, and then at about 6 we had a district activity.  (My first of 7 and a half months)  Basically we set up a table with a bunch of folletos (pamphlets) and Books of Mormon, a sign that said “Conozca a los Mormones” (Meet the Mormons), and a big poster of the cover of the Book of Mormon.  (Only problem was that our poster says “Libro de Mormon” instead of “El Libro de Mormon.”  We got a few good contacts and addresses so that was good.

Wednesday was exciting too.  We’ve been knocking on the door that we have listed as a member for about 8 weeks now, but no one is ever home, and the neighbors never see them come or go.  But on Wednesday, we actually found the guy!  Turns out that he works in a call center on the other side of Guadalajara, so that’s why he’s never home.  He also speaks really good English.

The only other real thing of note was from Thursday through Sunday when I had a cold.  It was a pretty bad one too.  I took lots of cold medicine but it never did anything.  Medicine just doesn’t seem to work for me.  I’m mostly better now though so that’s good.

Sunday was also good.  I played the piano again for the 7th week in a row, but they also picked the same opening song for like the 4th time.  “El alba ya rompe.”  No clue what the title is in English.  I would say that it goes “da da da da da da da da da da da da,” but that probably wouldn’t help very much.

Just to conclude,  I wanted to share some really awesome scriptures that I read this week in 2 Nephi chapter 28.

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

31 Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

So God will give us counsel little by little, and by receiving the first bit, he promises to give us more.  We can also never be “satisfied.”  We must always keep asking the Lord for help and seeking his guidance.  Something else that I found really interesting, is that we shouldn’t hearken unto the precepts of men.  We should always go to the Lord, or to His servants for guidance and we should seek to be guided by the Holy Ghost.

Anyways, I hope that you guys have a good week!

¡Adios!

Elder Humpherys

Another week in the books in the good ol’ city of Guadalajara.  (I’m actually in the Municipality of Guadalajara, at least I think that that is the translation of municipalidad de Guadalajara).  The first week of my second change in the area of Huentitán 2 was pretty good overall.  Nothing extraordinary happened Monday or Tuesday, other than we didn’t have district class on Tuesday due to the fact that the Sisters in our district had to “cuidar” two new sisters who got here on Monday.  (See my first week in the field for further information on this mission sponsored program 🙂  ).

Wednesday we went to Zapopan to get my new plantillas or whatever the word in English is.  I think that they are insoles?  Anyways, we got those and boy are they uncomfortable.  It feels like I’m walking on a bag of rocks all the time, because there is this bump right behind the balls of my feet.  The doctor explained that it is to push my toes down and make them take more weight, but it sure is uncomfortable.  We will see how that goes though.  We also stopped by the temple store when we were down there and I bought some new Spanish scriptures and a Spanish hymnal since I’ve been playing so much in Sacrament meeting and now I can mark my hymnal with all sorts of stuff.  🙂

Thursday was pretty normal, and on Friday we had district class and we started our divisions with the Zone Leaders.  We had divisions on Friday and Saturday and then came back to our area on Saturday.  Went to church on Sunday and then that evening we went with our Investigator from Michigan.  We were able to sit down with her outside of her store (in the past we have just taught her standing in the store) and review over Lesson 1.  It was honestly the best lesson I’ve had so far, mostly because it was in English and I felt like I was able to express everything that I wanted to.  I felt the Spirit super strongly during the whole lesson and hope that she felt it to.

Today hasn’t been too different other than today was Elder Jones’s birthday.  We went to Soriana this morning and then went to a buffet called “Sirloin Stockade” at about 1.  It’s basically your average American buffet with half decent food and a tad of Mexican stuff.  I am very full after that experience.

That’s about it for this week though.  I hope that all of you guys can keep going and I just want to let you guys know, that like I told our investigator from Michigan yesterday, I know that this church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Church that Christ established on the earth restored once again upon the earth, and that we as missionaries aren’t here to convince anyone of anything.  We don’t convince.  All we do is invite others to come unto Christ and to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true or not.  And I know that it is.  There is so much power in this book.  A super awesome talk that I’ve listened to a couple of times is one the Tad R. Callister gave at BYU while I was there.  It’s called “The Book of Mormon: Man-Made or God-Given”  I’ll paste it here, but you can also listen to him give at speeches.byu.edu.  It’s super awesome.  Anyways,  I hope that you all have a good week!

¡Adios!

Elder Humpherys

Editor’s Note: The talk follows below the pictures. I removed all the footnote references because they were not formatted correctly, but they can be seen if you go to the talk through the link above.

THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE KEYSTONE OF OUR RELIGION

It is good to be with you today. I love BYU. It is where I attended school, where I met my wonderful wife, and where all six of our children have attended.

The title of my talk today is “The Book of Mormon: Man-Made or God-Given?” Because the Book of Mormon is “the keystone of our religion,” as described by Joseph Smith, the Church rises or falls on the truth of it.

As a result, if the Book of Mormon can be proved to be man-made, then the Church is man-made. On the other hand, if its origin is God-given, then Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if he was a prophet, then The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. It is that simple.

Once we have a foundational testimony of the Book of Mormon, then any question or challenge we confront in life, however difficult it may seem, can be approached with faith, not doubt. Why? Because the keystone of our religion—the Book of Mormon and its witness of Jesus Christ—has also become the keystone of our testimony, which keystone holds our testimony securely in place.

Thus the Book of Mormon has become the focal point of attack by many of our critics: disprove the Book of Mormon and you disprove the Church and undermine testimonies.

But this is no easy task—in fact, it is impossible, because the Book of Mormon is true. Eleven witnesses, in addition to Joseph Smith, saw the gold plates, millions of believers have testified of its truthfulness, and the book is readily available for examination. Critics must either dismiss the Book of Mormon with a sheepish shrug or produce a viable alternative to Joseph Smith’s account; namely, that he translated it by the gift and power of God.

What then are those alternative arguments presented by our critics for the origin of the Book of Mormon, and what is the truth?

ARGUMENT 1: JOSEPH SMITH, ALLEGED TO BE AN IGNORANT MAN, WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON

In 1831 a clergyman named Alexander Campbell proposed that Joseph Smith wrote rather than translated the Book of Mormon:

 

There never was a book more evidently written by one set of fingers, nor more certainly conceived in one cranium . . . , than this . . . book. . . . I cannot doubt for a single moment that [Joseph Smith] is the sole author and proprietor of it.

Campbell also declared that “[Joseph was] as ignorant and as impudent a knave as ever wrote a book.” But this assertion that Joseph Smith, who was “ignorant” and lacked education, could write such a work as the Book of Mormon seemed so preposterous to other contemporary critics that they readily dismissed it. Even Campbell himself, who proposed this theory, later abandoned it in favor of another alternative.

So the early theories about the origin of the Book of Mormon started to focus on the premise that Joseph Smith, an unlearned man, was simply incapable of writing such a complex book. After all, he was but twenty-three years of age, a simple plowboy from western New York, and he had little formal education. Consequently the early critics concluded there must be some other explanation for the origin of the Book of Mormon than the unlikely possibility that Joseph wrote it.

ARGUMENT 2: SOMEONE ELSE WROTE IT

Accordingly, some critics proposed the theory that Joseph Smith conspired with someone who had the education, intelligence, and skills to write the Book of Mormon. One candidate for its authorship was Oliver Cowdery. After all, he was a schoolteacher, a scribe, and later a lawyer. But a major problem arose for the critics: Oliver never claimed to have written any portion of the book; in fact, he testified to the contrary:

I wrote, with my own pen, the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith, as he translated it by the gift and power of God. . . . That book is true.

Even though Oliver was excommunicated from the Church and it was some years before he returned, he remained true at all times to his testimony, even on his deathbed. As a result, this argument receives little acceptance today.

Another candidate for authorship of the Book of Mormon was Sidney Rigdon. He was a Protestant minister and theologian. The supreme irony of this argument, however, is that he was converted by the very book he was supposed to have written. Parley P. Pratt, a former member of Rigdon’s congregation, introduced him to the Book of Mormon in October 1830—about six months after the Book of Mormon had already been published. Do we have any witnesses that this is how Sidney Rigdon was converted? We do. In fact, the historical evidence is compelling.

First, Sidney Rigdon’s daughter, Nancy Rigdon Ellis, was eight years old when Parley P. Pratt and Oliver Cowdery presented her father with a copy of the Book of Mormon in their home. She said that she recalled the event because of the conflict that arose:

I saw them hand [my father] the book, and I am as positive as can be that he never saw it before. He read it and examined it for about an hour and then threw it down and said he did not believe a word in it.

Later, however, he did accept the Book of Mormon, joined the Church, and became one of its leaders.

Second, Sidney Rigdon’s son John spoke to his father as he lay on his deathbed: “[Father], you owe it to me and to your family to tell [the truth about the Book of Mormon].”

In other words, this is the day of reckoning; be totally honest before you go to the judgment bar.

The son then recounted his father’s response: “My father looked at me a moment, raised his hand above his head and slowly said, with tears glistening in his eyes: ‘My son, I can swear before high heaven that what I have told you about the origin of that book is true.’”

After this tender moment, the son said, “I believed him.”

Later, John joined the Church, and thus another argument fell by the wayside.

ARGUMENT 3: THE BOOK OF MORMON WAS PLAGIARIZED FROM OTHER BOOKS

Other critics offered a different line of attack; namely, that Joseph Smith plagiarized the Book of Mormon (at least its historical content) from other existing books. One such theory alleged that Joseph Smith copied from the Solomon Spaulding manuscript—an unpublished manuscript written about 1812 by a man named Solomon Spaulding, who had once been a Protestant minister. It is a fictional account of ancient Romans who were sailing for England but were blown off course and landed in North America. When the critics were asked to produce the manuscript for comparison with the Book of Mormon, they conveniently claimed it was lost.

However, with the passage of time, the manuscript was found in 1884 by a Mr. L. L. Rice. He found the alleged smoking gun in the personal historical papers of one of the very critics who had claimed the manuscript was lost. Knowing of its alleged connection to the Book of Mormon, Mr. Rice, Mr. James Fairchild, and others (none of whom were members of the LDS Church), reviewed it and concluded, “[We] compared it with the Book of Mormon and could detect no resemblance between the two, in general or in detail.”

When I was in my twenties, I saw a notice from the Church History Department that stated that a copy of the Solomon Spaulding manuscript could be purchased for a dollar. I ordered a copy and likewise found no meaningful relationship whatsoever between the two books.

With the demise of this argument, critics alleged that the supposed source for the Book of Mormon was another book titled View of the Hebrews, written by Ethan Smith in 1823. This book was an attempt to prove that the Native Americans were descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel. In essence, the critics claimed that this was the historical basis for the Book of Mormon.

There is a simple test to determine if the Book of Mormon was copied from View of the Hebrews: simply compare the two books and decide for yourself. With complete academic honesty, B. H. Roberts, one of the leading scholars of the Church, listed some possible parallels between the two books, but he then reached this conclusion: “I am taking the position that our faith is not only unshaken but unshakable in the Book of Mormon, and therefore we can look without fear upon all that can be said against it.” Shortly before his death, Roberts ­further declared, “Ethan Smith played no part in the formation of the Book of Mormon.”

I too have read View of the Hebrews and the Book of Mormon. Suffice it to say, these two books have totally different objectives and writing styles. For example, the Book of Mormon’s principal focus is to testify of Jesus Christ and His doctrine. Accordingly, the historical setting is not the focus, but it is rather the background music that gives context and emphasis to the doctrine. The principal focus, however, for View of the Hebrews is to historically connect the Native Americans to the ancient Hebrews. In addition, View of the Hebrews is a series of independent quotes and purported evidences to prove its theory. On the other hand, the Book of Mormon is a cohesive narrative—a story of families and prophets who struggled to live God’s word. The purpose and style of these two books is most disparate. Any honest reader can determine that for himself.

ARGUMENT 4: JOSEPH SUFFERED FROM A MENTAL ILLNESS

Those who advanced this argument alleged that such mental disorders bestowed upon Joseph Smith additional powers and skills that enabled him to write what he could not otherwise have written on his own.

In 1931 Harry M. Beardsley wrote, “The Book of Mormon is a product of . . . a mind characterized by the symptoms of the most prevalent of mental diseases of adolescence—dementia praecox,” sometimes referred to as schizophrenia.

There are fatal defects, however, with such an argument. First, there is no credible evidence that Joseph had any form of mental illness. Second, there is no substantiating evidence that such physical or mental conditions magically bestow upon an untrained writer, such as Joseph Smith, the ability to instantly become a skilled writer. And third, the book is not characteristic of the mentally ill. Even Fawn M. Brodie, an avid critic of Joseph Smith, acknowledged this latter fact:

Recent critics who insist that Joseph Smith suffered from delusions have ignored in the Book of Mormon contrary evidence difficult to override. Its very coherence belies their claims. . . .

. . . Its structure shows elaborate design, its narrative is spun coherently, and it demonstrates throughout a unity of purpose.

As you would expect, these arguments that Joseph Smith suffered from a mental illness never got much traction.

ARGUMENT 5: JOSEPH SMITH WAS A CREATIVE GENIUS WHO, SHAPED BY HIS ENVIRONMENT, WROTE THE BOOK OF MORMON

This argument has become a principal one used by many if not most critics today. It is a 180-degree turnabout from the premise of earlier critics; namely, that Joseph was illiterate, ignorant, and incapable of writing such a work on his own. In fact, we have come full circle, back to the same argument originally made by Alexander Campbell in 1831, except that now Joseph Smith is considered brilliant rather than ignorant.

Fawn Brodie, perhaps the chief proponent of this argument, opined that Joseph Smith, the unschooled farm boy, was a creative genius who, fashioned by his environment and the influence of local history books and resources, personally wrote the Book of Mormon. Remarkably, Fawn Brodie wrote:

Never having written a line of fiction, [Joseph Smith] laid out for himself a task that would have given the most experienced novelist pause. But possibly because of this very inexperience he plunged into the story.

When one contemplates that assertion, it is nothing short of mind-boggling. Was it this same inexperience that helped him create hundreds of names, weave them into the most complex set of events, and then thread them together in a harmonious story resplendent with profound doctrinal insights? By her very acknowledgment of Joseph’s inexperience, she has magnified the improbability of Joseph writing this monumental work on his own.

Nonetheless, others have bought into this ­argument—lock, stock, and barrel. Why? Because they have nowhere else to go except to admit that Joseph translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God—a place they desperately do not want to go. These latter critics have added one more ingredient to the mix. Joseph Smith, they said, besides being a genius, was suffering from narcissistic personality disorder or dissociative disorder or depression. Here we are back again to the mental disorder theories that proved so ineffective in the past.

In order to account for the history of the Book of Mormon, these critics claim that Joseph must have read or been conversant with a staggering number of books or ideas related to them. In fact, one author has suggested that Joseph may have read or gleaned information from more than thirty books in nearby libraries in order to gather necessary information about the early Americans. The claim is then made that these books—or discussions of the same in newspapers or conversations—became the basis for the historical narrative in the Book of Mormon.

How might one counter this argument? Here is a list of questions that an honest seeker of truth might raise:

• Is there a single reference—just one—in Joseph’s journals or written correspondence suggesting he might have read or had conversations concerning any of these historical sources before translating the Book of Mormon? No.
• Is there any evidence he visited the libraries where these books were supposedly located? No.
• Did Emma Smith, who was married to him, ever comment that he referred to any of these books before the Book of Mormon was translated? No.
• Is there any record that he had any of these books present when he translated the Book of Mormon? No.

How many nos does it take to expose the critics’ arguments as pure speculation—nothing more than sand castles that come crashing down when the first waves of honest questions appear on the scene.

Do the critics expect us to believe that Joseph searched out and studied all these resources on Native American life; inhaled the related conversations on the topic; winnowed out the irrelevant; organized the remainder into an intricate story involving hundreds of characters, numerous locations, and detailed war strategies; and then dictated it with perfect recollection, without any notes whatsoever—no outline, no three-by-five cards, nothing—a fact acknowledged even among the critics? And during it all, no one remembered him going to these libraries, bringing any such books home, having any conversations concerning this research, or making any diary entries to the same. Where, I ask you, is the hard evidence?

WHERE DID JOSEPH GET THE DOCTRINE?

Even if Joseph had obtained historical facts from local libraries or community conversations—for which there is no substantiating evidence—the real issue still remains: Where did he get the deep and expansive doctrine taught in the Book of Mormon—much of which is contrary to the religious beliefs of his time? For example, contemporary Christianity taught that the Fall was a negative, not a positive, step forward, as taught in the Book of Mormon (see 2 Nephi 2).

Likewise, contrary to contemporary beliefs, the Book of Mormon refers to a premortal existence in Alma 13 (see Alma 13:1–11) and to a postmortal spirit world in Alma 40 (see Alma 40:11–14). Where did Joseph Smith get these profound doctrinal truths that were in fact contrary to the prevailing doctrinal teachings of his time? Where did he get the stunning sermon on faith in Alma 32? Or one of the greatest sermons ever recorded in all scripture on the Savior’s Atonement as delivered by King Benjamin (see Mosiah 2–5)? Or the allegory of the olive tree with all its complexity and doctrinal richness (see Jacob 5)? When I read that allegory, I have to map it out to follow its intricacies. Are we supposed to believe that Joseph Smith just dictated these sermons off the top of his head with no notes whatsoever?

The doctrinal truths taught in the Book of Mormon are overwhelming evidence of its divine authenticity. Nephi prophesied that in our day an exceeding great many would stumble in finding the truth. Why? “Because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the [Bible]” (1 Nephi 13:29). Here are but two examples of plain and precious doctrinal truths that were clarified or restored in the Book of Mormon:

1. Baptism. Much of the Christian world debates whether or not baptism is essential for salvation; they stumble over this issue. Let me read just one of many scriptures on this subject from the Book of Mormon: “[God] commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, . . . or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 9:23). Should there be any debate about the necessity of baptism after that scripture? The Book of Mormon makes clear that which is unclear to much of the Christian world.

The majority of the Christian world embraces sprinkling and pouring as legitimate modes of baptism. The Savior Himself addressed this issue in the Book of Mormon: “Then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water” (3 Nephi 11:26; emphasis added). What is ambiguous for many is crystal clear in the Book of Mormon. Must one be baptized by authority, or is sincerity sufficient? Do we make covenants at the time of baptism, and, if so, what are those covenants? Should infants be baptized?

Again and again the Book of Mormon comes to the rescue, giving answers and restoring many plain and precious truths about baptism that were distorted or lost during the Apostasy. How did Joseph Smith know all these answers when the rest of the Christian world was so confused? Because he received them by revelation from God as he translated the Book of Mormon.

1. What about Christ’s Atonement—the central doctrine of all Christianity? The clarity and expansiveness of this doctrine as taught in the Book of Mormon is beyond honest dispute. The Old and New Testaments have some scattered doctrinal gems on the Atonement (which we greatly appreciate and benefit from), but the Book of Mormon has numerous sermons—entire master­pieces—on the subject. For example:

a. 2 Nephi 2 is a mind-expanding sermon on the relationship between the Fall and Christ’s Atonement. While the rest of the Christian world believes that the Fall was a step backward in man’s progress, Lehi taught us the truth—that the Fall coupled with the Atonement is a giant step forward.

b. 2 Nephi 9:7 introduces for the first time the phrase “an infinite atonement,” revealing the expansiveness, scope, and depth of Christ’s saving power.

c. Mosiah 2–5 is King Benjamin’s sermon. It gives insights about the depth of Christ’s suffering, the retroactive as well as prospective nature of Christ’s Atonement, and the power of the Atonement to remove our guilt as well as our sins.

d. Alma 7 explains that the Savior suffered not only for our sins but also for our “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind” (Alma 7:11).

e. 3 Nephi 11 is the most powerful witness we have of the resurrected Lord, as 2,500 believers, consisting of men, women, and children (see 3 Nephi 17:25) came forth and “thrust their hands into his side,” felt “the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet,” and “did know of a surety and did bear record” (3 Nephi 11:15) that He was the Son of God. Who can read that account and not feel the witness of the Spirit testifying of its truthfulness?

f. The Bible teaches us that, through the Atone­ment, Christ can make us clean; the Book of Mormon teaches us that, through the Atonement, Christ can also make us perfect (see Moroni 10:32–33).

Does anyone honestly believe that Joseph Smith somehow invented these profound doctrines with their compelling powers of reason, their mind-expanding insights, and their language, which is divinely eloquent? If these doctrines were the product of Joseph’s creative mind, one might ask, “Were there no other creative geniuses in the 1,800 years following Christ’s ministry who could produce similar doctrines?”

The argument that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon is simply counter to the realities of life. It is one thing to have creative ideas; it is quite another to put them into a complex but coherent and harmonious whole, inundated with majestic doctrinal truths and all done in a single draft in less than ninety days. Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma, the person who knew him better than any other, confirmed this conclusion: “Joseph Smith [as a young man] could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictat[e] a book like the Book of Mormon.”

A PARABLE THAT COUNTERS THE ARGUMENTS PROPOSED BY CRITICS

In response to critics’ arguments as to the origin of the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley published the following parable:

A young man once long ago claimed he had found a large diamond in his field as he was ploughing. He put the stone on display to the public free of charge, and everyone took sides. A psychologist showed, by citing some famous case studies, that the young man was suffering from a well-known form of delusion. An historian showed that other men have also claimed to have found diamonds in fields and been deceived. A geologist proved that there were no diamonds in the area but only quartz. . . . When asked to inspect the stone itself, the geologist declined with a weary, tolerant smile and a kindly shake of the head. . . . A sociologist showed that only three out of 177 florists’ assistants in four major cities believed the stone was genuine. A clergyman wrote a book to show that it was not the young man but someone else who had found the stone.

Finally an indigent jeweler . . . pointed out that since the stone was still available for examination the answer to the question of whether it was a diamond or not had absolutely nothing to do with who found it, or whether the finder was honest or sane, or who believed him, or whether he would know a diamond from a brick . . . , but was to be answered simply and solely by putting the stone to certain well-known tests for diamonds. Experts on diamonds were called in. Some of them declared it genuine. The others made nervous jokes about it and declared that they could not very well jeopardize their dignity and reputations by appearing to take the thing too seriously. To hide the bad impression thus made, someone came out with the theory that the stone was really a synthetic diamond, very skilfully made, but a fake just the same. The objection to this is that the production of a good synthetic diamond [in that day and age] would have been an even more remarkable feat than the finding of a real one.

To suggest that Joseph Smith, a farm boy with little formal education, produced a synthetic work of God in 1829 that has baffled the brightest of critics for almost two centuries would be a more remarkable feat than the simple fact that he obtained the gold plates from an angel of God and translated them by the gift and power of God.

OTHER EVIDENCES THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON IS NOT MAN-MADE

What other evidence do we have that the Book of Mormon was a God-given translation and not a man-made creation? There are many evidences, but for the sake of time I refer to but one, because it is personal to me. Emma Smith gave the following testimony, as reported by her son Joseph Smith III:

My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity—I have not the slightest doubt of it. I am satisfied that no man could have dictated the writing of the manuscripts unless he was inspired; for, when acting as his scribe, your father would dictate to me hour after hour; and when returning after meals, or after interruptions, he would at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the manuscript or having any portion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for him to do. It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible.

This may seem insignificant to some, but to me it is astounding. For thirty-four years, as a lawyer, I regularly dictated to my secretary. As I did so, I was often interrupted by a phone call or a question. After such interruptions I would invariably ask my secretary, “Where was I?”

But Joseph was not dictating or writing a new work; he was receiving revelation by the power of God and therefore did not need to ask, “Where was I?”

When all is said and done, Joseph Smith’s explanation of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is the only viable option on the table. Why? Because it is as true as true can be.

HOW WE CAN DISCOVER THE TRUTH OF A DIVINE WORK

If I were to ask my good Christian friends how they unquestionably know the Bible is the word of God, I do not believe they would cite archaeological discoveries or linguistic connections with ancient Hebrew or Greek as their prime evidence; rather, they would make reference to the Spirit. It always comes back to the Spirit. The Spirit that helps me know the Bible is true is the very same Spirit that helps me know the Book of Mormon is true.

The Spirit is the decisive, determining factor—not archaeology, not linguistics, not DNA, and certainly not the theories of man. The Spirit is the only witness that is sure and certain and infallible.

As a boy of about fifteen or sixteen, I was reading the story of the 2,000 sons of Helaman. I marveled at their bravery and the Lord’s protecting hand. Then a voice came to my mind: “That story is true.” Since then, other confirmations have come.

Why is it so important for you individually to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon? Because if you do, it will become your personal iron rod. The mists of darkness may come and the unanswered questions may arise, but through it all you will have your iron rod to cling to—to keep you on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life.

The Lord has promised that if we pray “with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto [us], by the power of the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 10:4). If we want the truth that badly, if we are willing to pay that price and be unrelenting in that quest, the answer will eventually come.

By that promised power of the Holy Ghost I bear my personal witness that the Book of Mormon is God-given and that it is all it claims to be—a pure and powerful witness of Jesus Christ, His divinity, and His doctrine. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Tad R. Callister, general president of the Sunday School of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered this devotional address on 1 November 2016.

Well.  你好.  Olá.  ¡Hola!  Ah.  There we go.  I think my keyboard had a few malfunctions in there or something.

This week I don’t have too much to stay.  Nothing too extraordinary happened.  We taught some lessons, talked to some people in the street, and talked to some drunk people.  We did finally make it to the foot doctor place this week.  The insurance company finally approved it.  We went Thursday morning, and they scanned my feet with what was basically a flat bed scanner on the ground, and I stepped in some foam to make molds of my feet.  I have to go back on Wednesday to pick up the insoles and have them fit them to my shoes.

We also called home yesterday which was nice.  Another weird thing about Mexico is that Mother’s Day is always on the 10th, so that was the holiday here and not on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, I had my most interesting food yet.  It’s called cueritos.  Basically just little pieces of cooked pig skin.  Really good.  🙂

The only other thing that I can think of is that I had to give a talk on Sunday.  Basically I shared a story of my great-great-grandpa, James Parker, and how he shared the Book of Mormon with a tribe of Indians.  It’s a super awesome story, I just don’t think I did it justice in my attempt to translate it to Spanish.  I’ll attach my talk, and those of you that might speak Spanish can make fun of it.  🙂

That should about do it for today though.  I hope you guys all have a good week!

¡Adios!

Elder Humpherys

Editor’s Note: McKay’s talk in Spanish follows the pictures, along with images of the original family history story he translated.

McKay’s talk from May 13, 2018

¡Buenos Días!  El día de hoy, voy a discursar un poco acera de la importancia de la obra misional.  Para comenzar, quiero compartir una historia de uno de mis antepasados, y la importancia del Libro de Mormón  Es una historia de mi tatarabuelo, Obispo James Parker y los indios crees.  Traté a traducirlo de inglés a español, pero estoy seguro que hay muchas errores, entonces perdón, y espero que pueden entender algo.

“Una banda de indios estaba a lado de un río.  Habían viajado mucho, y habían encontrado mucho abuso de los colonizadores blancos.  Habían viajado más de 400 millas del norte en busca de un pueblo que el Gran Espíritu había mostrado en visión a un joven de la tribu.  Un pueblo que podía contarles de sus antepasados, y del Gran Espíritu Blanco, de quien habían aprendido en las leyendas contadas por los ancianos de su tribu.  Las leyendas explicaban que el Gran Espíritu Blanco vendría otra vez, y traería felicidad y libertad.  La visión del joven les había instruido a viajar al sur hasta encontrar un cierto pueblo.  Habría ciertas señales por las cuales sabrían cuando habían encontrado este pueblo.  Los hombres serían honorables y les darían bienvenidos a sus hogares y tierras para acampar.

“Se necesitaban muchos días para viajar, y se requería mucha fe para continuar en las circunstancias difíciles.  El invierno vendría muy pronto, y no estaban preparados.  Por supuesto es por esto que su fe empezó a fallar y que sentían tristes  Rápidamente prepararon para la noche y para descansar.

“Mientras que duermen, nos vamos a acercar a su campamento y vamos a aprender un poco más de quienes son y de donde su viaje les ha tomado.  Los crees son un tribu de indios de un inteligencia más alto y de carácter moral más alto que los otros indios un este parte del país  En el tiempo cuando los tribus diferentes fueron puestos en las reseras, los crees rechazaron a ser confinados a una reserva.

“Solo un parte del tribu estaba acampado en la embarca del rió esta noche.  Aproximadamente 60 tipis, y 200 de la tribu.  El resto estaba en su tierra de acampar en el desierto norteño en Canadá.  Cara-Amarilla, el Cacique de la tribu, había venido con su familia y otros por causa de un incidente extraño que había ocurrido en su hogar del verano a uno de los jóvenes de su tribu.  Durante un enfermedad grave, el joven se dio cuenta de que iba a morir, y suplicó al tribu que no le enterara hasta que toda parte de su cuerpo estuviera fría  Hacia mucha calor, y su cuerpo empezó a estropearse, pero, abajo de su brazo izquierda, sobre su corazón, permanecía un parte caliente, y vacilaron a enterarle.  Después de cuatro días el reanimo otra vez y dijo a su pueblo que había estado en el Mundo de los Espíritus y que se había dado un mensaje para ellos: que había un pueblo al sur que tenía un registro de sus antepasados, y que tenían que ir al sur y encontrarles.  También, les dio algunas señales para que pudieran saber cuándo hubieran encontrado a este pueblo.  Les dio una descripción del hombre a quien tenían que ir, y les dijo muchas cosas acerca del Mundo de los Espíritus y el Gran Espíritu  Después de algunos días se murió y era enterado.

“Lo más pronto posible, los indios empezaron a hacer lo que les había mandado.  Habían viajado al sur hasta el lugar que es conocido como el Rancho de la Iglesia en Alberta, Canadá.  En este tiempo, el rancho tenía uno a tres mil cabezas de ganado, y más de 250 kilómetros cuadrados.  El Obispo James Parker del Barrio Mountain View era el Patrón del rancho.  Los indios crees estaban acampados en el Rió Belly muy cerca a la casa del rancho.  La mañana después que llegaron los indios, tres o cuatro de los vaqueros vieron al campamento de los indios y montaron a caballo y fueron para ellos.  Los indios tenían miedo que habían venido para mandarles a seguir viaje, pero los vaqueros eran amables.  Compraron algunos mocasines y guantes de ellos, y al salir, les invitaron a venir a la casa del rancho.  Aquí, con gozo, presenciaron el primero señal cumplido.  ¿No mostraron estas jóvenes un espíritu de bondad y amor?  Su fe era renovada; se tuvo un consejo, y dos de las mujeres fueron mandados a la casa.  Un hombre y su esposa, Señor y Señora Olesen, que vivieron en el rancho y tenían la orden cuando Obispo Parker no estaba, la cual era bastante frecuente, porque con su propio rancho, familia, y deberes del barrio, tenía que estar afuera por muchos días a la vez cuando el trabajo en el rancho de la Iglesia no era urgente

“Las mujeres fueron acomodadas por Señora Olesen que les habló el mejor posible con su conocimiento limitado de inglés.  Ellas le cayeron bien y Señora Olesen anotó la diferencia de estas mujeres y las de otras tribus.  Estas indias no perdieron limosna, pero sin saber porque lo hizo, ella les dio comida — carne, pan, y fruta seca — cuando estaban saliendo.  Cuán grande era el gozo de la tribu cuando regresaron al campamento.  El segundo señal se cumplió y se les dio comida por las manos de estas personas.

“Era necesario que hicieran una esfuerza para encontrar el hombre a quien tenían que ir para la información que estaban buscando.  El siguiente día, el Cacique y algunos de sus hombres, con un intérprete, fueron a la casa del rancho.  Cuando vieron a Señor Olesen, supieron que él no era el hombre que estaban buscando, pero pidieron permisión para acampar en el río.  Señor Olesen les dijo que tenían permiso hasta que el Patrón viniera para verlo.  Preguntaron, “¿Como parece el Patrón?”, y al recibir la descripción, supieron que se terminó su busca, porque solo tenía que esperar hasta que el Patrón viniera.  Por supuesto no sería mucho tiempo, pero la decepción una vez más trataría su fe y paciencia.  Las visitas del Obispo Parker siempre eran rápidas.  El barrio y el hogar eran 7 millas del rancho de la Iglesia y la manera más rápida para ir y venir era a caballo, y aunque se le había dicho que los indios eran muy ansiosos para verle, el suponía que solo querían permiso para cazar y atrapar, o algunos de los otros muchos favores que los indios siempre eran pidiendo, y él no había hecho un esfuerzo especial para verles.  Los indios habían movido su campamento arriba del rio una milla de la casa del rancho.  Cuando venían buscándole, no estuvo, porque cuando estaba en el rancho, no permanecía en la casa pero estaba afuera en el prado con el ganado.  Por fin dijeron a la Señora Olesen que tenían un mensaje muy importante para el Patrón.

Varias semanas pasaron y era noviembre.  Un día, hubo una tormenta de nieve tan severo que era inútil montar a caballo y andar en el prado.  Nevaba tan denso y rápido que solo podía ver algunos metros.  Obispo Parker estaba en el rancho, y después de la comida, le propuso al Señor Olesen que fueran y vieran lo que los indios querían.  Señor Olesen era muy feliz para ir, porque él y la Señora Olesen habían presenciado la ansiedad de los crees, y estaban muy curiosos para saber lo que podía significar.

Humo estaba subiendo de los tipis cuando los dos hombres llegaron al campamento.  Estas personas, también, no se alejaban mucho del refugio.  Afuera de uno de los tipis, dos compradores de piel estaban trocando con Cara-Amarilla y los hombres para algunas pieles, y nadie se dio cuenta de la aproximación de los visitantes hasta que Señor Olesen habló, diciendo a Cara-Amarilla que había traído el Patrón.  Cara-Amarilla volvió y una expresión de gozo cubrió su cara.  Luego, dio dos gritos estridentes los cuales asustaron a los visitantes.  Despidió los compradores de piel sin ceremonia y guió los visitantes a su propio tipi grande en el centro del campamento.  Al acercarse al tipi, se dieron cuenta que todos estaban apurando en el mismo dirección.  Los gritos del Cacique debían de haber sido señales que todos se unieran.  En la puerta del tipi, se dieron cuenta de un alboroto que estaba pasando dentro.  Varios perros que estaban disfrutando el refugio y el calor estaban siendo expulsados por la esposa del Cacique con un palo grande y con tanta fuerza que no estaban perdiendo tiempo en irse.  Las dos hijas del Cacique estaban limpiando el tipi, e hicieron un asiento al extender un traje de ceremonia de piel de puma.  Cuando todo estuvo listo, Cara-Amarilla tomó Obispo Parker por el brazo y le sentó sobre el asiento, poniendo su intérprete a un lado del tipi, de pie, y si mismo de pie enfrente donde podían ver las caras de los dos.  Señor Olesen se agachó a lado del Obispo Parker y, por una señal, todos los otros atestaron dentro el tipi y se sentaron en el piso.  Las dos hijas de Cara-Amarilla se sentaron directamente enfrente del Obispo Parker con su obra de aguja.  Todo esto era hecho con maravillosa orden, y luego todo era quieto.  Cara-Amarilla habló, asintiendo con la cabeza a Obispo Parker, “Tu Hable,” él dijo.  Obispo Parker no tenía ninguna idea de la naturaleza de su misión y había sentido una sensación peculiar todo el tiempo cuando habían estado reuniéndose delante de él.  ¿Qué significa?  ¿Por qué tanto honor?  Luego les respondió, “No, he venido a escucharte — para ver lo que quieras.  Me dijeron que tienes un mensaje para mí.”  “No,” dijo Cara-Amarilla, “tú tienes un mensaje para nosotros.  Dinos de nuestros antepasados.”

Obispo Parker se sorprendió y se emocionó tanto por causa de esta experiencia que no sabía que decir ni dónde empezar.  Su vida y trabajo había estado en la frontera.  Nunca había sido un estudiante de las escrituras, ni había estudiado libros mucho.  Había leído el Libro de Mormón, sabia de su veracidad y valor, y lo había estudiado en algunas clases de la Escuela Dominical, pero sentía completamente incapaz a contar su historia a ellos en su propio idioma.  Fue una vista que nunca se puede olvidar — sus caras miraban hacia él, viendo cada movimiento de sus labios, teniendo tanto interés en cada palabra que les hablara.  Todos estaban quietos.  Parecían estatuas.  Por cinco horas, estuvieron sentados escuchando la historia de sus antepasados.  Cara-Amarilla estaba de pie.  Era alto, derecho, y tenía sus brazos cruzados sobre su pecho.  No se movía, sino que hacía algunas preguntas de vez en cuando, u ofrecía algunas palabras de explicación, y a veces decía por que ellos habían venido, de sus pruebas, y de las señales que habían recibido.  Sus hijas, con sus agujas en una mano y una cuenta en la otra, estuvieron sentadas por las cinco horas sin mover ni un musculo de su cara, o así parecía.

La historia progresaba con éxito maravilloso, por que el Señor estaba ayudando con Su Espíritu y poder para recordar al cuentacuentos de cosas olvidadas, y para darle poder a continuar la historia de nuevo sin vacilación cuando los intérpretes tenían que traducir, y para hacer la historia impresionante a las personas a quienes la historia importaba tanto.  Por qué la historia contenía — quienes eran — de dónde venían — y lo que el futuro tenía para ellos.

Cuando Obispo Parker había dicho su historia, Cara-Amarilla se dirigió a su pueblo y en su propia lengua habló por una media hora.  Aunque Obispo Parker no podía entender las palabras, sintió el espíritu y sabía que Cara-Amarilla estaba enseñándoles y exhortándoles a vivir vidas buenas.  Luego, hablando a través del intérprete, se levantó la mano derecha y dijo que sabía lo que el Obispo Parker había dicho era verdadero.  “Porque el Gran Espíritu me ha dicho aquí,” dijo, poniendo su mano sobre su pecho.  Luego dijo muchas leyendas de sus antepasados del Gran Espíritu Blanco ministrando a su pueblo.  También contaba de experiencias que su propio padre había tenido con visitaciones del mundo de los espíritus — cosas que él consideraba tan sagradas que suplicaba que Obispo Parker y Señor Olesen nunca las contaran.  Obispo Parker nunca ha revelado estas cosas a nadie.

Noche viene pronto en las fronteras en noviembre, y era con pesar que tenían que pararse y regresar a la rutina de la vida.  Pero estaban felices — todos — en las bendiciones del día.

El Libro de Mormón era puesto en sus manos y habían los entre ellos que lo podían leer.  Cacique Cara-Amarilla y Obispo Parker llegaron a ser grandes amigos.  Los indios crees acamparon por los meses del invierno en la propiedad del rancho de la iglesia mientras que Obispo Parker era el Patrón, y podía darles ayuda en muchas maneras.  Hasta ahora, nadie se ha bautizado, pero las semillas se han sembrado. De lo que él supo, estaban estudiando los libros, y que cuando el tiempo viene, tendrán un conocimiento de la verdad.

Me encanta esta historia de mi tatarabuelo, Obispo Parker.  Siempre estoy asombrado a la fe de estos indios.  A veces me pregunto si somos come Obispo Parker en el principio.  Tenemos muchas cosas para hacer, y no tenemos mucho tiempo.  Pero, como Obispo Parker en el final de esta historia, tenemos que hacer tiempo para las cosas importantes.

También, quiere relacionar esta historia a la importancia de la obra misional.  Los indios crees no sabían nada del Libro de Mormón, pero sabían de la importancia de su mensaje.  Viajaron más de 400 millas para encontrar una persona  y una historia usando información que recibieron de un joven que estaba muriendo.  Ellos tenían la fe necesaria para superar todos los desafíos que tuvieron.

Esta vida no va a ser fácil.  Vamos a tener desafíos, pruebas, y problemas.  Pero hay alguien que puede ayudarnos en todo aspecto de nuestras vidas.  Nuestro Padre Celestial siempre esta allí, esperando hasta que nos demos cuenta que él quiere bendecirnos, que él se preocupa para nosotros.

La obra misional, no es solo el deber de nosotros, los misioneros de tiempo completo.  Es el deber de todos nosotros.  Tal vez las personas que conocemos no están tan animadas como estos indios, pero el mensaje tiene la misma importancia a ellos, que tiene para los indios de esta historia, y la misma importancia que tiene para cada uno de nosotros.  El profeta José Smith declaró: “Después de todo lo que se ha dicho, el mayor y más importante deber es predicar el Evangelio.”

No sé para ustedes, pero para mí, uno de las razones para las cuales que estoy aquí en la misión es para compartir la felicidad y gozo que tengo en mi vida por cause del Evangelio.  Yo quiero que todas las familias puedan ser eternas.  Yo quiero que todos los hijos e hijas de nuestro Padre Celestial, mis hermanos y hermanas, puedan recibir las bendiciones que Dios tiene para todos nosotros.

Yo les testifico que la obra misional es la obra de Dios.  Les testifico que las familias pueden ser eternas y que podemos vivir con nuestros seres queridos después de esta vida si somos fieles a los mandamientos de Dios.  Les testifico que aunque no vemos bautismos como el Obispo Parker, podemos sembrar semillas del Evangelio.  Podemos compartir el gran gozo que tenemos con todas las personas que no lo tienen.  Podemos trabajar en la obra y gloria de Dios.  “Porque, he aquí, esta es mi obra y mi gloria: Llevar a cabo la inmortalidad y la vida eterna del hombre.”  Yo sé que la obra misional es un parte importante de la obra y gloria de Dios, y que es algo que todos nosotros podemos hacer para traer almas a nuestro Padre Celestial.

Les comparto esto en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

I suppose I’ll start with the usual summary.

To start off the week, I had the best food I’ve had in six months.  Tacos.  But American tacos.  With the little seasoning packet and everything.  Nothing too exciting happened on Tuesday or Wednesday, but on Thursday, we had divisions or inter-changes or whatever you want to call them with our district leader in his second area.  Basically, the elders in the Independencia ward have a pueblo that they have to go to every week.  That’s where we went.  It’s called Arandas, and it’s very Catholic.  Like very Catholic.  There isn’t a branch in Aranadas, it’s just a group, but we met with a couple of members who were pretty nice.

On Saturday we had our “limpieza profounda.”  Translated directly we had our “profound cleaning.”  Basically since it was the last Saturday with a P-day after before changes, we had to clean the house for two hours and send pictures to the offices.  We also had our “junta missional” which I think in English they call a “Missionary correlation meeting” or something like that at least.

Sunday was an interesting day.  Church was awesome, but then after Church, something happened, and we had to go back home so that Elder Jones could change some things.  Water was involved also.  I later had similar problems.  We think it was some spaghetti from Saturday.  Real fun…  Neither of us felt too good this morning.

We were going to go to a Brazilian steakhouse similar to Tucanos today, but we didn’t.  We went to San Juan de Dios instead.  Basically it’s just a huge indoor market.  I’m also officially Mexican, since I bought my first soccer jersey.  It’s super awesome.  After we finished up at San Juan de Dios we got some ice cream at Burger King and went back to the house to lay down for a little bit.  Anyways, it’s been an interesting week.

I hope that everything is going well for you guys. We have a new challenge in the mission to read 3 Nephi in the month of May.  I started a couple of days ago and found something that is common throughout all of the Book of Mormon, but that makes me want to reach into the Book of Mormon and slap some sense into some people just as much as ever.

In 3 Nephi 1:22 we read:

22 And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen; but notwithstanding these lyings and deceivings the more part of the people did believe, and were converted unto the Lord.

Satan had only just begun to try to lie to the people and tell them that these wonderful signs that they had seen as part of the coming of Christ were not true.  I’d imagine that he was pretty persistent about it too and didn’t give up.  Literally on the same page in the next chapter we read:

2 Imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing.

3 And it came to pass that the people began to wax strong in wickedness and abominations; and they did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given; and Satan did go about, leading away the hearts of the people, tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land.

They had forgotten these signs.  They had fallen into the trap that Satan had put for them.  The lesson to learn is that we can’t do the same.  We have to remember the experiences that we have had, the signs that we have seen, and we can’t let persistent Satan win.  It’s not easy, but we’ve got to do it.

I hope all of you guys have a good week though!

¡Adios!

Elder Humpherys

¡Hola!  Just to start off, here’s a quick summary!

Not much exciting happened Tuesday or Wednesday, but on Thursday we had “divisiones” or “divisions” or “inter-changes” or whatever you want to call them.  Elder Bender is our district leader right now from Oregon.  His companion is Elder Beckmann from Argentina.  We met up with them on Thursday for the food and after that I went with Elder Beckmann.  We went and taught a 9 year old recent convert.  In this lesson, I tried to use the example of how when the people killed Jesus Christ, it was like they broke a light bulb with a hammer.  I then proceeded to use the word “light bulb” several times.  Only problem was that I used the word “foca” in Spanish instead of “foco.”  “Foco” means light bulb which is what I wanted to use.  “Foca” means seal.  So basically the people tried to break a seal with a hammer.  Oh Spanish…

The other fun thing that happened was  that we found a bed bug in their house.  Apparently they had been infested a couple of weeks ago and had thought they were clean up to this point.  So when we got back to our apartment, we soaked all of our clothes and bags and everything in scalding hot water to try and keep them from spreading.  I think we succeeded since we have yet to find anything.

Sunday was pretty good as usual, and we had a rather interesting experience contacting later in the evening.  We ran into a drunk guy who wanted to talk to us (nothing unusual) but this drunk had quite the story.  First off, apparently he has the Bible memorized.  Secondly, he started crying and telling us about he broke up with his girlfriend, Third, something about a jeep, World War 2, Ronald Reagan, and George Walker Bush.  We didn’t catch more because of how hard he was to understand.  The best part is still to come though.  He spent the last 20 minutes telling us about this plan he had.  Supposedly we had to call someone named David Copperfield who would give us money, tanks, and helicopters, which we could then use to go to Dubai and preach the gospel.  And also, David Copperfield is his godfather.  I sure am excited to go to Dubai!

On Sunday, I also realized two very important facts about church activities in Mexico.  They are two very important people to any activity in Mexico.  The number one person brings the water.  And by water they mean water of jaimaca or Horchata, or whatever.  And lots of it.  Like 40 or 60 liters.  The second person is the one who brings the tortillas.  Like 10 kilos of tortillas in a cooler.  Without those two things, you can’t have an activity.  🙂

Just to finish up the weekly summary, this morning we went to a store called “la casita.”  It’s basically nothing but American goodness.  It was good to see some American food again, and to buy a tiny bit of it.  We also went to a place called “cuarto de kilo” which sells hamburgers with a quarter of a kilo of meat.  The one I had was very, very Mexican.  It had the meat, some chorizo (Mexican sausage basically), salsa verde (green salsa), and cilantro.  It was pretty good though.

Anyways, to finish up the week I wanted to share a verse that I read this week in the Book of Mormon.  It’s in 2 Nephi 9:21.

21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.

I think it’s super important to remember the “if” of this verse.  Christ will save all IF we hearken unto his voice.  And the reason that He can do that is because he suffered all of our pains.  He knows how we feel, felt, and will feel.  We just have to hearken unto his voice and repent, and live His commandments.  Simple, but definitely not easy.  Anyways,  I hope you all have a good week!

¡Adios!

Elder Humpherys

To start off the week, I hit 6 months.  We didn’t do anything too crazy other than buy a huge pizza.  We also had district class which was pretty good.

One really awesome experience from this past week.  When we were writing last week, there were people sitting outside the bench speaking in English.  At first I wasn’t sure I had heard English, but we both heard it a couple of times, and so after we had finished up writing, we went to go over and talk to them.  Turns out that they were visiting their daughter from Michigan.  She lives down here and owns/runs the store that’s just next to the cyber that we use.  That was the family’s last day in town, but we stopped by a couple of days later and talked to the daughter for about an hour.  She’s super awesome.  That “lesson” even though it wasn’t a traditional sitting down lesson, (we were standing in her store talking to her) was one of the lessons in which I’ve felt the Spirit the most strongly.  She was super interested in the Book of Mormon and overall, super teachable and willing to learn.  We happened to have a Book of Mormon in English in the house that we gave to her, and she was super excited to start reading.  It was a super awesome experience.

We also made an appointment with the foot doctor (I think he’s technically orthopedics or something like that “ortopedia”).  I’ve been having some problems with blisters and stuff recently, so Hermana Clayton told us to go ahead and go to the doctor.  On Saturday, Hermana Clayton actually told us to stay inside most of the day since I was having a real hard time walking.  All is well now though.  The appointment was for Monday, which turned the whole day into a rather interesting experience.  We had district class in the morning since our P-day got moved to Tuesday “por cupla de” (I can’t think of how to say that in English right now, maybe “because of?” or “for the fault of?”  English is hard – Ah!  got it)  “due to the fact” that we went to the temple this morning.  Anyways, after district class, we had food, and got on a bus to go to the hospital.  The hospital we went to is on literally the other side of the city.  It was about 2 hours in 2 different buses.  When we finally got there, this hospital is absolutely huge.  The part we went to (which are just the consultorios, or however you say that, for doctors) is 11 or 12 stories.

I had the appointment, and after we took a couple of buses back to the house (2 more hours).  That’s just half of the story though.  We got back at about 8:40 and our water jug or “garrafón” had run out of water, so we went to go and buy some more before we had to be in the house at 9:00.  The only problem is that there are no door knobs on most exterior doors in Mexico, so if you close the door, you have to have the key to open it again.  Elder Jones accidentally left the keys on the counter when we grabbed the water jug.  So, we were locked out.  We weren’t able to get a hold of the owner, or find anybody else with a key, but we were eventually able to call a locksmith who came and unlocked it.  In all, it was an eventful day.

Just to close, I’d like to share part of an absolutely amazing talk I listened to a couple of times this week.  It’s by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  The talk is titled “Feed My Sheep” and is one that he gave in the MTC during a devotional.  I’m going to share a few paragraphs from towards the end where he is explaining about what happened to Peter after Christ died.  (It’s even better when Elder Holland gives it though, so you should listen to it if you can).  He says:

“Let me close with the point that I began with, about you. Contrary to the parlots of the day, this is about you. I’ve thought long and hard about the apostleship. I’m not going to go into that tonight, but sometime seated around a living room fire with some popcorn or some hot chocolate, we’ll talk about calls to the apostleship. But setting that aside, it’s prompted me to read everything I could read about apostles; ancient or modern, just to try to learn. Just to try to come to grips with it. That’s the part I’ll leave to tell you another day.

But in so reviewing that, I’ve been drawn again and again and again to Peter, the chief apostle, still the chief apostle. The apostle that brings the Melchizedek priesthood and the apostolic keys back to the earth, this dispensation, Peter has a premiere role in the apostleship and the Melchizedek priesthood work of this world.

But when the Savior had lived his life and pursued His ministry, and had gone, Peter was as bereft as most of you feel right now. And if you don’t feel bereft now, wait until you get into the Mission field for the first 24-hours. Then give me a jingle. You’ll know what I’m talking about, okay? And he knew, he somehow knew he was in charge. He knew he was the President of the Church, so to speak. Whatever the senior apostle would have been. But now Jesus is gone, he’s been crucified, the tomb is empty, he and John ran to the tomb, and it was empty, and this cascade of experience has tumbled down on them in a few hours, a couple of days at best.

And then people are saying, “Well what do we do now?” I don’t know that anybody had ever asked that question, because frankly, they never got it. They weren’t literally, truly, what, look, they had been in the Church at best 36 months? Can you imagine picking a quorum of the twelve out of new converts, who have not been in the Church in any case longer than 36 months? We have to give them a little credit, and a little courtesy that they were doing any portion of what they were doing.

But they didn’t get a lot of this. He kept saying, “I’m going.” He kept giving parables. He kept talking about how people would destroy the temple in three days, and He’d build it back up. Well they didn’t understand any better than the Pharisees what He meant. Everyone thought He was talking about the temple itself. They thought, “Well, I guess He can build the temple back up…,” and they just didn’t get it. And He kept trying to be sweet and gentle and prophetic, but they were young, and green, and that’s why they kept saying, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” And now they’re gone, and people turn to the new Eleven, turn to Peter and say, “Well, what do we do?”

And what does he say? “Well, it’s been a great 36 months. This last little while has been terrific, and all of it was pretty good. We saw great teachings. We saw wonderful miracles. We saw healings. There we were on the mount of beatitudes. We saw Him walk on the water.” – Peter probably wasn’t so bold as to say that he had actually, for a moment or two, but they’ve got all those memories. And he says, “Wasn’t it great? Wasn’t it terrific? Let’s go fishing.”

He didn’t know what to do. It’s over. He’s gone. Maybe they thought somehow this was going to turn into this political Messiah, too. Maybe good orthodox Jews that they were once, and probably still are a little bit, maybe they thought, “Well, whatever we thought the Messiah-ship was, I guess it’s gonna be something else. Let’s go fish. Let’s go do the thing we know to do. That’s what we were doing when He found us, so let’s go.” And they did. And they went back to Galilee, and fished. And I guess life was going to go on.

But something happened. It’s early morning, they fished all night, they’ve caught nothing. You fish at night on the sea of Galilee. They’ve caught nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nothing. Nada. No fish. And in the distance, because the sight is quite clear on a lake, and the sound is very good across the surface of a lake, they see a figure, who has made a little fire. And calls out to them and says, “How’s your fishing gone?” And they said, “Lousy. It’s been terrible.” (You’re going to have days like that.) They said, “It’s been a disaster. We haven’t got anything.”

And He said, “Well, uh, cast your net over on the right side of the boat.” And I’m sure there was somebody there who said, “Oh well, now, who is this? Who is this that’s got such a cute idea about how to fish after we’ve been at it all night, and is going to tell us out here, laboring as we are, there he is safely on the beach, we’re out here in these boats, He’s going to tell us how to…” I don’t know if someone said that, but I bet someone did.

But reluctantly, and maybe out of desperation, needing a catch – they are, after all, now back to doing what they used to do, and if they’re going to fish, they’ve got to fish – they cast their net over to the right side of the boat, and they can’t pull the catch in. It starts to sink the ship, one of the miracles being that the nets didn’t break, there were so many fish. They couldn’t get the fish in the boat. And John said, “It’s Him. It’s Him.”

And Peter, sweet Peter, who didn’t know better than to say, “Let’s do what we know how to do.” Sweet people who cuts people’s ears off, and then they have to be put back on, and… Sweet, loyal, devoted Peter, looked at John, heard what he said, looked at the shore, saw the Master, and bailed over the edge of the boat. And said, “The rest of you can row if you want, I’m going in.” And he just started going to shore.

Well they arrived. The Savior and this marvelous act of courtesy has fixed their breakfast. He’s built a little fire, and cooked some fish. Just a little passing thought on His magnificence – they’re going to be hungry, they haven’t had a good night, and I’m going to fix their breakfast. And they followed his feet, and then Jesus starts this little interrogation, and with this, I close.

“Peter, do you love me more than you love these fish in this net here, and these boats, and these oars?”

And Peter said, “Yes, I do love you, more than these.”

And a second time, Jesus says, “Peter, do you love me more than you love these fish, and your nets, and your battered old boat?”

And a little distressed at that, Peter said, “Yes, I do. I said I did. I do.”

And the Savior probably took a deep breath and smiled and looked Peter right in the eye. And though He didn’t verbalize it, apparently He was conveying to Peter, “May I now say to you for the third time, do you love me?” And Peter is very very sensitive about threes right now.

And Jesus says, really in effect, “Okay,” for the last time, “do you love me more than these? Than what you do? And what you’ve just been doing?”

And Peter says, “I do. I do love you. More than anything.”

And that is the moment that Peter became the great apostle. Forget the denials, whatever they were. Forget the cut off ears. Forget the impetuousness. Forget the confusion. Forget not knowing more than to come back to fish. Right here, face-to-face, again from the honesty of his heart he said, “I do love you, more than anything.”

And to that, the Savior of the world said, “Then feed my sheep! I have asked you before to leave your nets. And I’m asking you again, and I don’t want to ask you a third time. When I said, ‘Leave your nets,’ it was forever. When I asked you to follow me, it was forever. When I asked you to be an apostle, it was forever. When I asked you to be a Missionary, it was forever. When I asked you to see this through to the end, it was because it’s not over ’til it’s over. Now forget your nets, and forget the fish, and jettison your boat, and throw those oars away for the second time, and feed my sheep. We’re in this ’til the end.”

And that’s the day Peter strode into eternity, and became the man within hours, within days at the very least. When people plead that they could be taken into the street and left on their cot in hopes the shadow of Peter would pass over them. That’s the Peter that he became with that little confrontation on the shore. And the issue is for all time and eternity, “Do. You. Love. Me? Do you love me?”

It’s a little bit of a long quote, but it has an amazing point.  Do we really love Christ?  Do we really love our Heavenly Father?  What are we going to do because we love Them?  It’s something to think about.  I’d just like to finish by encouraging all of you to strengthen your faith and love in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  They are willing to help us and want to do everything they can to help us prepare during this life to return to them someday.

Thanks for everything!  Tengan un buen día!

Adios!

Elder Humpherys