lds poetry by kelly miller: Meridian Magazine - Lesson 22, The Word of Wisdom: "A Principle with a Promise" - Page 3 - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Meridian Magazine - Lesson 22, The Word of Wisdom: "A Principle with a Promise" - Page 3 - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

God made mankind pure and capable
Who, then, sought to create inventions.
Soon, his vices became innumerable
Succumbing to a word of temptations.

His taste became vitiated.
His judgment and will, impaired.
To diseases he was initiated.
Till, he prayed and wisdom was shared.

...A law to remove beastly appetites
And the disposition to kill.
...A hope to restore once healthy delights
And vigor, where one thinks well.

Our body is but the instrument
For our heaven-bound spirits to know joy.
It amplifies each response to truth, and
Assists us in the friendships we enjoy

But...

As "the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak"

When tempted, we must yield to our spirits to grow

Lest Satan overcome both the body and spirit he seeks

Now, there is wisdom that all of us should know!

'Everything has become degenerated from what it was in its primitive state; 'God made man pure, but he has found out many inventions:' his vices have become innumerable, and his diseases multiplied; his taste has become vitiated, and his judgment impaired; he has fallen-fallen-fallen, from that dignified state that he once occupied on the earth; and it needs a restorative that man has not in his possession-wisdom which is beyond the reach of human intellect;-and power which human philosophy, talent and ingenuity cannot control. God only is acquainted with the fountain of action and the main springs of human events; he knows where disease is seated, and what is the cause of it;--he also is acquainted with the spring of health; the balm of Gilead-of life; he knows what course to pursue to restore mankind to their pristine exeelency [sic] and primitive vigour, and health; and he has appointed the word of wisdom as one of the engines to bring about this thing, to remove beastly appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of man; to restore his body to health, and vigour…" (Times and Seasons, 1842; 3:799-800).

Purpose, Power, and Spiritual Control of Physical BodiesThe Prophet Joseph Smith, through whom the word of wisdom was originally revealed, taught "we came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. That great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment" (TPJS, 181). In a talk to the students at Ricks College (newly renamed Brigham Young University-Idaho), Elder David A. Bednar quoted the statement of Joseph Smith above and further explained that one of the blessings of mortality is "our physical bodies make possible a breadth and a depth and an intensity of experience that simply could not be obtained in our Premortal estate. As President Boyd K. Packer has taught, 'Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit' (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, p. 211). Thus, our relationships with other people, our capacity to recognize and respond to truth, and our ability to obey the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ are amplified through our physical bodies" (Ricks College Devotional, Jan. 11, 2000, p. 2).In this same talk, Elder Bednar also quoted Brigham Young about the nature of our agency in regard to our bodies and their appetites. "You are aware that many think that the Devil has rule and power over both body and spirit. Now, I want to tell you that he does not hold any power over man, only so far as the body overcomes the spirit that is in man, through yielding to the spirit of evil. The spirit that the Lord puts into a tabernacle of flesh, is under the dictation of the Lord Almighty; but the spirit and the body are united in order that the spirit may have a tabernacle, and be exalted; and the spirit is influenced by the body, and the body by the spirit. In the first place the spirit is pure, and under the special control and influence of that fallen nature that is of the earth. If the spirit yields to the body, the Devil then has power to overcome the body and spirit of that man, and he loses both…. When you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has placed into your tabernacles, take the lead. If you do that, I promise that you will overcome all evil, and obtain eternal lives" (Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 69-70).'

Meridian Magazine - Lesson 22, The Word of Wisdom: "A Principle with a Promise" - Page 3 - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

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The Captain of the Soul- Invictus/ The Soul's Captain by Elder Orson F. Whitney

Invictus by William E. Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

The Soul's Captain [The Answer]
by Elder Orson F. Whitney
of the Quorum of the Twelve
Art thou in truth? Then what of him
Who bought thee with his blood?
Who plunged into devouring seas
And snatched thee from the flood?
Who bore for all our fallen race
What none but him could bear.
The God who died that man might live,
And endless glory share?
Of what avail thy vaunted strength,
Apart from his vast might?
Pray that his Light may pierce the gloom,
That thou mayest see aright.
Men are as bubbles on the wave,
As leaves upon the tree.
Thou, captain of thy soul, forsooth
Who gave that place to thee?
Free will is thine — free agency
To wield for right or wrong;
But thou must answer unto him
To whom all souls belong.
Bend to the dust that head "unbowed,"
Small part of Life's great whole!
And see in him, and him alone,
The Captain of thy soul

He's Been There Before

He's Been There Before by Elder Troy Whittle
The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets
A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?
It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes

The morning activities follow- study, prayer and such
When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much
"We have a super day planned," My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath, "Yeah, if anyone lets us in."

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street prepared to
Face another day of humidity and heat
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through
My champion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air Box"
We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep
In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray
I need to talk to father, but I'm not sure what to say

"Oh, Father" I begin, "What happened to us today?
I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away
My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street"

"Why on missions are the days so much alike?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see"

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back"

"And what about my family: They don't have much to say
I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day after day
Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind"

"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?
"The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see
Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you"

My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead
Sleep start to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day

I'm standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice
A man walks to wards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ"
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet
"Arise," He states, "Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak"

My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete
He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me
I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you"

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you
At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do
I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds"

"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood from ev’ry pore, oh the agony was great!
I see you don't like your companion- you'd rather have someone else-
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth"

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back"

"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way
It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see
I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me"
He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed
My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"
I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"

No matter what we go through, when we feel we can't take more
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before
By Elder Troy Whittle
Texas Houston Mission

153 Countries Visited! June 2015

Global Statistics

Visits from 153 countries registered.

No.	Country	Date of Last Visit	Percent & Number of Visits
1	United States	June 15, 2015	82.86%	25,281
2	United Kingdom	June 14, 2015	2.61%	795
3	Canada	June 13, 2015	2.42%	737
4	Australia	June 13, 2015	1.81%	551
5	Philippines	June 14, 2015	1.35%	412
6	New Zealand	June 14, 2015	0.99%	303
7	India	June 14, 2015	0.79%	241
8	Brazil	June 14, 2015	0.58%	176
9	Germany	May 15, 2015	0.49%	151
10	Mexico	June 3, 2015	0.40%	121
11	South Africa	June 8, 2015	0.34%	105
12	Russian Federation	Apr 20, 2015	0.26%	80
13	France	June 3, 2015	0.21%	64
14	Malaysia	June 5, 2015	0.14%	44
15	Czech Republic	Apr 17, 2015	0.14%	42
16	Pakistan	Mar 21, 2015	0.13%	41
17	Spain	Apr 28, 2015	0.13%	41
18	Italy	June 8, 2015	0.13%	39
19	Netherlands	May 28, 2015	0.12%	38
20	Europe	June 11, 2015	0.11%	35
21	Indonesia	May 18, 2015	0.11%	35
22	Cote D'Ivoire	May 17, 2015	0.11%	35
23	Japan	Apr 17, 2015	0.11%	33
24	Singapore	May 28, 2015	0.11%	33
25	United Arab Emirates	Apr 25, 2015	0.10%	32
26	Argentina	Apr 27, 2015	0.10%	31
27	Korea, Republic of	Feb 1, 2015	0.10%	31
28	-	May 10, 2015	0.10%	31
29	Thailand	Apr 5, 2015	0.10%	30
30	Ireland	May 19, 2015	0.10%	29
31	Jamaica	June 1, 2015	0.09%	28
32	Turkey	June 14, 2015	0.09%	28
33	Trinidad and Tobago	May 18, 2015	0.09%	26
34	Sweden	May 8, 2015	0.09%	26
35	Guatemala	May 5, 2015	0.08%	24
36	Denmark	May 10, 2015	0.08%	23
37	Saudi Arabia	May 1, 2015	0.07%	20
38	Nigeria	Apr 4, 2015	0.07%	20
39	Hong Kong	Apr 18, 2015	0.07%	20
40	Colombia	May 29, 2015	0.07%	20
41	Chile	Mar 23, 2015	0.06%	19
42	Finland	Mar 25, 2015	0.06%	19
43	Taiwan	Mar 28, 2015	0.06%	18
44	Romania	May 17, 2015	0.06%	18
45	Fiji	Feb 27, 2015	0.06%	17
46	Ghana	May 8, 2015	0.06%	17
47	Belgium	May 30, 2015	0.05%	16
48	Switzerland	Apr 12, 2015	0.05%	16
49	Poland	Apr 6, 2015	0.05%	15
50	American Samoa	Apr 10, 2015	0.05%	14
51	Ecuador	Feb 23, 2015	0.05%	14
52	Serbia	Mar 10, 2015	0.05%	14
53	Austria	Apr 8, 2015	0.04%	13
54	Senegal	Nov 24, 2014	0.04%	13
55	Norway	June 1, 2015	0.04%	13
56	Uruguay	Aug 18, 2014	0.04%	12
57	Peru	Apr 13, 2015	0.04%	12
58	Portugal	Apr 6, 2015	0.04%	12
59	Kenya	Oct 29, 2014	0.04%	12
60	Tonga	Dec 9, 2014	0.04%	11
61	Dominican Republic	Mar 12, 2015	0.04%	11
62	Hungary	Feb 16, 2015	0.03%	10
63	Guyana	Apr 28, 2015	0.03%	10
64	Bangladesh	Jan 19, 2015	0.03%	9
65	Algeria	Feb 5, 2015	0.03%	9
66	Kuwait	Mar 30, 2015	0.03%	9
67	Egypt	Apr 4, 2015	0.03%	9
68	Belize	May 8, 2015	0.03%	9
69	Costa Rica	Feb 4, 2015	0.03%	8
70	Bahamas	Jan 9, 2015	0.03%	8
71	Israel	Feb 27, 2015	0.03%	8
72	Ukraine	Jan 24, 2015	0.03%	8
73	Asia/Pacific Region	June 9, 2015	0.03%	8
74	Honduras	Feb 6, 2015	0.02%	7
75	Cyprus	Mar 21, 2015	0.02%	7
76	Guam	Apr 10, 2015	0.02%	7
77	Greece	June 2, 2015	0.02%	7
78	China	Dec 16, 2014	0.02%	7
79	Panama	Apr 7, 2015	0.02%	6
80	Morocco	Mar 3, 2015	0.02%	6
81	Sri Lanka	Sept 28, 2014	0.02%	6
82	Iraq	Feb 25, 2015	0.02%	6
83	Togo	June 6, 2015	0.02%	6
84	Botswana	May 7, 2015	0.02%	6
85	El Salvador	Apr 23, 2015	0.02%	5
86	Vietnam	Oct 30, 2014	0.02%	5
87	Cook Islands	June 3, 2015	0.02%	5
88	Bulgaria	Oct 27, 2014	0.02%	5
89	Lithuania	June 23, 2014	0.02%	5
90	Slovakia	Jan 19, 2015	0.02%	5
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Mar 23, 2015	0.02%	5
92	French Polynesia	Nov 23, 2014	0.02%	5
93	Bahrain	Nov 11, 2014	0.02%	5
94	Slovenia	Jan 16, 2015	0.02%	5
95	Grenada	Mar 10, 2015	0.02%	5
96	Qatar	Jan 15, 2015	0.02%	5
97	Saint Lucia	May 8, 2015	0.02%	5
98	Puerto Rico	Feb 27, 2015	0.01%	4
99	Tunisia	Jan 23, 2015	0.01%	4
100	Malta	Mar 22, 2015	0.01%	4
101	Croatia	Jan 20, 2015	0.01%	4
102	New Caledonia	Jan 13, 2015	0.01%	4
103	Barbados	Apr 29, 2014	0.01%	4
104	Azerbaijan	Jan 14, 2015	0.01%	4
105	Moldova, Republic of	Nov 29, 2014	0.01%	3
106	Lebanon	Feb 11, 2014	0.01%	3
107	Zimbabwe	July 23, 2014	0.01%	3
108	Benin	Feb 19, 2015	0.01%	3
109	Antigua and Barbuda	Aug 1, 2014	0.01%	3
110	Isle of Man	Dec 20, 2014	0.01%	3
111	Bhutan	June 8, 2015	0.01%	3
112	Venezuela	May 14, 2014	0.01%	3
113	Georgia	Mar 3, 2015	0.01%	2
114	Namibia	Oct 22, 2014	0.01%	2
115	Armenia	Jan 12, 2015	0.01%	2
116	Virgin Islands, U.S.	June 20, 2014	0.01%	2
117	Jordan	May 19, 2015	0.01%	2
118	Mozambique	June 23, 2014	0.01%	2
119	Uganda	Aug 4, 2014	0.01%	2
120	Marshall Islands	Jan 28, 2015	0.01%	2
121	Mauritius	Feb 20, 2015	0.01%	2
122	Oman	May 12, 2014	0.01%	2
123	Curacao	Apr 29, 2015	0.01%	2
124	Sierra Leone	Apr 26, 2015	0.01%	2
125	Samoa	Nov 1, 2013	0.01%	2
126	Saint Kitts and Nevis	June 30, 2013	0.01%	2
127	Macau	July 18, 2014	0.01%	2
128	Albania	Aug 17, 2014	0.01%	2
129	Dominica	Mar 12, 2013	0.01%	2
130	Ethiopia	Jan 8, 2015	0.01%	2
131	Estonia	Mar 20, 2015	0.01%	2
132	Cape Verde	May 27, 2013	0.00%	1
133	Cayman Islands	July 27, 2014	0.00%	1
134	Cambodia	Sept 16, 2013	0.00%	1
135	Myanmar	July 18, 2014	0.00%	1
136	Lesotho	Jan 12, 2013	0.00%	1
137	Mongolia	Mar 14, 2015	0.00%	1
138	Zambia	Apr 22, 2013	0.00%	1
139	Montenegro	Nov 19, 2014	0.00%	1
140	Kazakhstan	Jan 9, 2015	0.00%	1
141	Nicaragua	May 29, 2014	0.00%	1
142	Paraguay	Mar 10, 2013	0.00%	1
143	Haiti	Feb 1, 2015	0.00%	1
144	Timor-Leste	Feb 21, 2013	0.00%	1
145	Iceland	June 20, 2014	0.00%	1
146	Aruba	Jan 9, 2014	0.00%	1
147	Liberia	Jan 3, 2014	0.00%	1
148	Northern Mariana Islands	Oct 9, 2014	0.00%	1
149	Gibraltar	Jan 27, 2014	0.00%	1
150	Swaziland	June 16, 2014	0.00%	1
151	Jersey	Mar 30, 2013	0.00%	1
152	Niue	Nov 30, 2014	0.00%	1
153	Latvia