From My Dad

I got this letter from my dad in my e-mail inbox yesterday. I loved it and asked him if I could share it with all of you. I admire my dad so much. He is a spiritual giant and a man of great wisdom and learning. His testimony is so strong that there is nothing on this earth that would ruffle it or cause him to doubt the Lord. I thank my Father in Heaven every day for allowing me to be born of such "goodly parents." Their example has shaped who I am today and I hope to be as strong for my own children.

Yesterday’s edition of BYU’s “The Daily Universe” had an article entitled “Proposition 8 stirs controversy while church members wait for results.” The article quotes a University of Utah student who thinks the Church’s involvement in the issue is inappropriate: “I can’t believe they’re supporting Prop. 8. The church is supposed to be neutral. That’s changed now. They can’t support a candidate but they can support a proposition. They’ve warped their stance. I’ve had to separate myself from the church because of the way they’re handling the ‘problem’ of homosexuality. It’s so against what the church teaches. It’s unchristian.”

As soon as I read that I immediately thought of a statement from Elder Boyd K. Packer:

“In the Church we are not neutral. We are one-sided. There is a war going on, and we are engaged in it. It is the war between good and evil, and we are belligerents defending the good. We are therefore obliged to give preference to and protect all that is represented in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have made covenants to do it” (Address to Religious Educators at Brigham Young University, August 22, 1981).

And Elder Dallin H. Oaks just explained why the Church is involved with the current issue in an interview with the Church’s Public Affairs staff:

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must take a stand on doctrine and principle. This is more than a social issue – ultimately it may be a test of our most basic religious freedoms to teach what we know our Father in Heaven wants us to teach.”

I bore my testimony to my students today. Those who claim that “prophets ought to keep their noses out of politics” have never read the Old Testament! Think about Moses, and Elijah, and Isaiah, and Amos, and others; they went directly to their respective political leaders and told them what the Lord wanted them to do, what course to pursue. (Can we limit what God can say about anything?)

I testified that the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles is the wisest group of leaders on earth (!), and not just from their cumulative intellectual prowess (world-class heart surgeon, nuclear physicist, judge and legal mind, etc., etc.) but because of their direct connection with Heaven, and living by the Spirit every day. I testified that the sifting has begun. And I encouraged them to remember that we’re on the winning team – the Lord’s Team. In all other dispensations the truth has been lost; there has always been an apostasy; but not anymore. The truth is restored to stay. It will never again be lost or taken away from this sphere. This great Cause, in the end, will triumph. So, I warned them, don’t ever quit the Team! In the future, stay with this wisest group on earth – whatever the issue.