An Apostle of the Lord

Once again, Elder Lund and I had the opportunity of literally sitting (we were on the front row) at the feet of an apostle of the Lord and hear his guidance and counsel. Elder L. Tom Perry was assigned to the Riverdale Stake Conference. He spoke to the adults, and at the conclusion said that he would not be with us on Sunday as he, along with the quorum of the 12 had been called to a special meeting inside the Salt Lake Temple to be with President Monsen. Because of the overwhelming "publicity" that the church had been receiving in the last little bit, they were meeting to see if the church was doing enough, all that it should be doing, to move the church forward, ie, Mitt Romney and John Huntsman in politics,  The name of the Book of Mormon, musical and otherwise, being splashed about and was the church doing all it should be doing to spread the Gospel. Interesting huh! He said the reason he wasn't going to be with us on Sunday was not because he was going to be home watching the superbowl, but would be with the first presidency and quorum of the 12 to discuss serious matters.

It was interesting to listen to him last night. He was visibly tired from his Sat. of stake meetings, but he was strong and devout in the message he shared. Here are some of the highlights.
He said that there is an overwelming increase of pressure to be more secular than ever before. He asked if we had a sanctuary in our home that we can flee to, to have comfort and peace? He talked about how we need to build homes SECURELY for the future of our family. He related how Joseph Smith built Nauvoo as a beautiful refuge from the world. Then he gave three areas that we need to build.
1. We need to build an economic base. He then said that in the future it will be difficult for families to maintain the same standard of living as they have now. He continued we should be self-reliant and SAVE. He said we need to learn that we need to deny ourselves of immediate things until we have saved for them. He said we should learn independence and SAVE. Teach children to have jobs, newspaper routes is what he had, and help them learn about how to handle money. We need to find ways to help each other and grow a community of Saints.
2. (This was my favorite part of the talk). He said we need to build education. He talked about our world now being flat, and if someone in China sneezes, we now hear about it. We must know the things of the world. He said, that everyone needs to know how to use computers and be current with technology. He said that we must be aware of what is out in the world, on computers, with technology, as our children are growing up in the devils camp, it is up to us to protect our children with filters, blocks, etc. on all types of technology. We must teach that when there is something bad on our technology, whether music, or porn, we must turn it off. When something on the screen is wrong, we must get away from it. He then said, I challenge each of you to keep up to date. He said, "You must learn technology and keep up to date. I challenge each of you to do this so you will know how to protect your family. (Note: I was tapping on Elder Lund's knee when he was talking about learning how to use a cell phone, then he learned to use his thumbs on his Blackberry. Then he learned how to use his Ipod and Iphone. Then he learned to use his Ipad and know he is learning the second generation of Ipads.). He again said, I challenge each of you to stay current with technology so you will know how to protect your children.
3. He said we need to build our level of Spirituality. He said to take children to the temple to walk around the grounds when they are young. Then, see they have many opportunities to go inside for baptisms so they can "feel" what spirituality is like. He said the center of our homes should be a refuge from the world and be spiritual. He said that as we live worthy of the blessings, Heavenly Father will dispense those blessings to us and our families. "We have to shape up! The world is watching us and we need to be an example and show how we follow the Lord and Saviour. We need to show that what we believe in, the Lord's standards, are Not Negotiable. The 10 commandments are still in place and they are not negotiable. Truth will emanate from Christ. We must be bold enough to follow the Lord's standards.The world's morality is not acceptable. Let's be certain we have the fortitude to live for the next generation to have the religious freedoms we have. We need to go forward and bear our testimony and live examples of what we believe." He said there is a great movement to take religious freedoms away from us. This is a choice land where the gospel was restored because of the originating father's beliefs of religious freedom. We need to protect those freedoms and have the "fortitude" to give this legacy to the next generation.

I have thought about the lessons taught yesterday and both Elder Lund and I believe the line has been drawn in the sand and the righteous is definitely being bombarded by Satan and the world's standard.  Yesterday he spoke much about being thrifty and saving before spending and that the current generation's standard of living cannot be continued.  He also spoke strongly  about being tech savy so we know how to protect our children. He told us that we need to be more spiritual. Are there things we need to give up in our daily lives to become more spiritually in tuned so that we can be an example to the world? I think it wise we follow his guidance. I believe there is going to be a time that we are all going to need to stand up and be counted on the Lord's side. I hope that I can when the time comes. I am grateful to have once again, been at the feet of an apostle and hear his words of council.