Memphis, Tennessee
80th operating temple
16 Apr 2000
By: James E. Faust
Jesus Christ, Redeemer
Alma 42:15
And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.
Book of Mormon
3 Nephi 19:1-29
D&C
128:1-14
"Come Follow Me"
127:2-4; The Lord knows my joys and sorrows
OctGenCon
"The Savior's Abiding Compassion"
Elder Ulisses Soares
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
The Savior acted compassionately toward all who would come unto Him - without distinction - and most especially toward those who most needed His help.
The Living Christ
#10
We testify that He will someday return to earth. "And in the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together" (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.
Inklings
I will allow my persistence . . .
to be met with patience.
Up at 4:21. I realized our electric bill was due, so I paid it on my phone. I began reading 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath, as part of Inklings assignment for the week. I also listened to "Follow Him." Dr. Jennifer Reeder is the guest this week. She work the book I read earlier this year, "First, the Life and Faith of Emma Smith."
Dr. Reeder made me aware of a poem written by Eliza R. Snow regarding the rescue of the Saints by the people of Quincy, Illinois. It is called, "To The Citizens of Quincy." I could not find it in a search on Googleso I went to my Deseret Book Plus app and searched "The complete poetry of Eliza R. Snow. A book came up and I downloaded it to my app. It is an ebook so I was able to read the poem. It is rather long and I am trying to decide if I should include it in this blog post.
To the Citizens of Quincy
Eliza R. Snow recalled that Saints exiled from Missouri "were received with generous hospitality" by the citizens of Quincy, Illinois.
Shortly after arriving there in late March or early April 1839, she wrote this poem of gratitude to the town's "Sons and Daughters of Benevolence"
Ye Sons and Daughters of Benevolence,
Whose hearts are tun'd to notes of
sympathy
Who have put forth your liberal hand to
meet
The urgent wants of the oppress'd and
poor!
Ye high-ton'd spirits; who have nobly dar'd
To stem the foaming tide of vile reproach,
And brave the pois'nous, deadly current of
Detraction and fell hate; in rescuing
Oppressed innocence, from the hard hand
Of the Oppressor!
In return for this,
Though it perpetuates your City's name
And makes the sound of Quincy, echo
sweet
And full of moral meaning to the soul
Of ev'ry true philanthropist: you get
No regal honors. - No loud trump of fame
Will blazon forth your deeds, except to
throw
A dark'ning shade upon them; thus to aim
A cruel missile at the rescued ones.
No laurel branch nor cypress bough will
wave
In graceful dignity about your heads, to
tell,
In speechless eloquence what you have
done.
No sculptur'd marble monument, will rear
Its head, as if in bold defiance to
The stern, untiring, withering hand of
Time,
To teach your name and deeds to passersby.
No; we have no insignia of this kind -
No medal of an earthly mould to give:
But yet, we fain would proffer you a boon
Of more congenial texture - one that's
wrought
In the fine fibres of the human heart,
Not in that heart where selfishness, and mean,
And low, and sordid feelings sit enthron'd:
And whose dull pulses are like clods
confin'd
By the unwieldy chains of Ignorance.
For there are some, who, "privily have
crept
Among us unawares" whose hearts are
set
On gain, for filthy lucre's sake: - and while
We say to you, BEWARE OF SUCH, lest
they
Abuse your liberality - we say,
Esteem them our MISFORTUNE, not our
FAULT;
For tares must grow among the wheat,
until
The time of harvest; therefore, the upright,
Must often suffer an unjust reproach.
Pure Gratitude, our free-will off'ring, is
The product of an elevated mind;
When the heart beats with sensibility-
Reciprocates each high-born thought, and
stoops
Unask'd, to pay its def'rence at the shrine
-
The sacred shrine of generosity.
And SOME, yes, MANY, spirits such as
these,
We have among us; -Noble minded ones,
Who will not swerve from those
unchanging laws-
The steadfast principles of righteousness:
Whose firm integrity would yet remain
Unmov'd tho' "mountains skip like rams,
and all
The little hills like lambs."
The Gratitude
Which emanates from spirits such as these;
Is no mean offering - neither cheaply won
Ye noble, gen'rous hearted Citizens
Of Quincy!
Dr. Reeder is a cancer survivor. She had leukemia four times and has had two bone marrow transplant surgeries. She was the Relief Society President when she was taking cancer treatments. She has a picture of her presidency all in hats to honor her because she had no hair. I believe Dr. Reeder is one of my favorite guests on this podcast.
I finished the ice cream puzzle today and sent Sheri a picture. She texted me back and said, "I knew you could do it!!!"
I also finished my book, "A Heart Revealed." This is one of my all-time favorite proper romance books about a girl with alopecia. Alopecia is sudden hair loss that starts with one or more circular bald patches that may overlap. Alopecia areata occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles, and may be brought on by severe stress.
Amber Sterlington, the belle of the ball in London, looses all of her hair and is exiled to a small cabin in Yorkshire. Her entire life style changes and she truly finds herself. It is a story of change and redemption and unconditional love.
We had stir fry for lunch using the noodles left over from our Panda bowls. I also added green onions, red bell pepper, celery, and mushrooms along with a bag of cabbage salad. It was delicious.
James is trying to get paid for the DaCroix job. Hopefully by the end of the week or early next week.
The weather has been so wonderful, perfect for working outside. James works for awhile and then comes in for awhile because he has no stamina or energy. We both started new books today. The one I started with James is called "My Fair Gentleman" by Nancy Campbell Allen. My book is "Lady Helen Finds Her Song" by Jennifer Moore.
James felt so badly today that he took two Tramadol, something he very rarely does. Kacey texted to see how he was doing and told me about the problems she is having with her kids. Parenting can be hard. I am so grateful we have the Savior to help us through our difficult times.
We watched a movie tonight while walking. The movie, "One Hour Behind" was on GAC and starred Emily Rose and Barry Watson. It was filmed in Provo and Salt Lake City. James and I both really liked it.
I got the conference notebooks I ordered, four of them. One for myself, one for Kim, Ginger, and Catherine.
