I've Got the Power!

Last week I shared Zeezrom’s story.  I shared my thoughts about his conversion and healing.  What I didn’t do and intend to address now is specifically how his healing came about.

I mentioned the Priesthood.  If you break it up, you get 2 parts that most people recognize.  First, most everyone could identify a priest as a member of some Christian denominations’ clergy.  And –hood is the same suffix we find in the word “brotherhood”.  It implies a connected group.  Combining the two, it’s natural to assume that the Priesthood could refer to some sort of religious organization.  If that was your thought process when you first read/heard that word, it’s pretty awesome you would think that way, but you’re also very right.

The Priesthood, in Japanese, is written: 神権.  The character on the left means God.  The one on the right means authority.  Therefore, if you take these two parts you get exactly what the Priesthood is; it’s God’s authority given to men.  Yes, people hold the priesthood.  Adam, Noah, Moses, and other Old Testament prophets held the Priesthood.  Lehi, Nephi, Alma, and other Book of Mormon prophets also held the priesthood.  Jesus Christ held the priesthood and gave it to his disciples when he set up his church.  The Priesthood was the special power these prophets held.  Their actions qualified them to communicate with God and gave them the authority to share his teachings with the world.  However, prophets have never been known to say very nice things.  If he said something that opposed one of your habits, you would begin to second guess whether or not he had actually spoken with God.  There came times where, as a group, the people who once believed the prophet rejected him because he was telling them to stop whatever misdeeds they were guilty of.  They stopped listening to him, and God removed the prophet and his priesthood.  I mean, if you were talking to your friend and said the same thing over and over and over again, you’d assume he couldn’t hear you and hang up.  God knew they weren’t listening, so he stopped talking.  When he knew they were ready to listen again, he assigned a new prophet and gave him the Priesthood.  Jesus Christ was one of these new prophets.  Up to today, countless people have looked to him and his teachings for guidance and salvation.  However, 2000 years ago, he wasn’t respected quite as much.  He said some beautiful things, but they were hard to follow, and he was rejected.  He was killed, and his apostles who held the Priesthood and authority to communicate with God soon followed him along the martyr’s path.

The heavens seemed to have been silent.  It was thought that everything needed was known.  The Bible had become the source of many religions that all interpreted it in different ways.  And, without living prophets, no one could tell them they were wrong.  Joseph Smith found this confusing.  He saw that what these churches were spreading was their teaching, not necessarily God’s.  So, he looked diligently for God’s truth.  He found it in a small forest where God and Jesus Christ, two separate beings, appeared to him as an answer to his prayer and searching.  First John the Baptist, then Peter, James, and John came and gave Joseph Smith the priesthood and he received the authority to once again act as God’s mouthpiece for us.  Joseph Smith gave the priesthood to other men.  And, like many of the prophets before him, he was murdered.  However, unlike his predecessors, Joseph had given the priesthood to other men who then were appointed by God in his stead to be his prophet.  One followed another, and today we are lucky to have a prophet on the earth today, named Thomas Spencer Monson.  There are 12 apostles “under” him who also have the priesthood, and 70 other men that are area administrators…the same organization as Christ’s church.  And they give the Priesthood to Stake Presidents(they look over a smaller area of the church), who then give it to Bishops that use it to teach and guide a congregation.  The Bishop gives it to other men in his ward(congregation) until every worthy male over 12 years old holds the priesthood. 

It’s the power to do what God would if he were here.  According to God’s will and the faith of the recipient and priesthood holder, it is the power to work miracles, as was the case with Zeezrom.  It’s the power to talk with God.  Though anyone influenced by the Holy Ghost can receive personal messages, Priesthood holders can receive guidance for those they have been assigned by God to look after.  Fathers receive guidance for their families; bishops for their wards, stake presidents for their stakes, and prophets receive revelation for the world. 

I am grateful for the opportunity I have to hold the priesthood.  I have a duty to serve everyone around me and strive harder to live more like Christ.  I have no power to bless myself-only to help others.  I know that Joseph Smith received his power and authority to be a prophet directly from God.  What is taught in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon are true, and you cannot go wrong if you follow the teachings in both.  If you don’t know our current prophet, President Monson, listen to him speak.  Learn about him.  The more you know, the more impossible it is to deny his calling.  He is a prophet.

Healing With a Side of Healing

I've been continuing my study of the Book of Mormon.  I try to read a chapter a day, but I'm struggling to make it a habit with my somewhat unpredictable schedule.  But, I'm not about to discuss all the things I'm not doing right.  So I thought I talk about all the wrong things someone else has done.  His name is Zeezrom.  He is a character that first makes his appearance in the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 11.

Alma had just met his new companion, Amulek, when they went to preach about Jesus Christ to the people of Amulek's city.  The people really didn't like all the mean things that were being said about their habits and their hobbies, so they sent lawyers to catch "The A-Team" in their words.  The lawyer they chose to represent them was named Zeezrom.

Zeezrom starts by offering them money to deny their testimony.  An very transparent trick that is easy for them to refuse.  But he asks very short questions, twisting Amulek's words, that sends him into a short sermon about Christ saving us from our sins, not in them.  In other words, Christ will help us be clean of our sins, but he will not save us if our movements and motives are to rebel against God's teachings.  After Amulek's speach, Zeezrom begins to shake a little.  Then Alma gets up and proceeds to talk about life after death and judgement and such which causes Zeezrom to tremble even more.  After they finish preaching, Zeezrom is left speechless, and The A-Team is arrested and then harassed while imprisoned.  They have had enough and then pray for strength to escape their captors and suddenly there is an earthquake that knocks out the prison walls and causes a fire that destroys the city.

Alma and Amulek then move to a city called Sidom where they meet an unexpected acquaintance:  Zeezrom.  He is bed-ridden with a fever and a deeply guilty conscience for having denied God's existence and surely sending Alma and Amulek to their graves.  His body was sick, and his mind was sick.  What happens next is what has caught my eye .  Alma is summoned by Zeezrom when he hears that they're alive and in the town.  He pleads with them to heal him.  Alma first confirms Zeezrom's faith in the Atonement, or healing power of Christ, and then erases his fever, and rests his troubled mind.  Zeezrom turns around, is baptized by Alma, and becomes an outstanding member of the church.  So much so, that Alma takes Zeezrom with him on a missionary trip that we can read about in Alma chapter 31.

Zeezrom's healing is complex.  It's miraculous, but it's also layered.  The disappearance of his fever demonstrates the healing power of the Priesthood, or the power males in our church hold that gives us the ability to perform tasks that God would if he were present himself.  The Priesthood is a power, and the holder's individual worthiness and attentiveness to it gives him the authority to perform ordinances, teach, lead the church, and give blessings which may or may not involve physical healing.

Zeezrom did experience a 2nd tier to his recovery: spiritual.  He had so much guilt.  He was certain he had essentially killed Alma and Amulek.  He had denied God's presence even though he knew it was true and sought to take down the two people that had come to tell his hometown about the only thing that could save them.  Looking at it now, this was probably all brought on by depression.  His depression most likely weakened his immune system and then he developed a fever.  But his depression finally subsided when he openly accepted Jesus Christ as his savior and healer.  He understood the possible consequences of his previous lifestyle.  He desired the change that has been promised by the prophets since the beginning of time.  Zeezrom obtained faith and then saw Alma and Amulek alive.  Zeezrom's mind was finally at peace, and then he was finally totally healed.

Zeezrom's story beautifully illustrates the different levels of healing we frequently have to deal with.  Everyone gets a cut or a bruise or breaks something to various extremes.  Most things can be fixed naturally, some need to be operated on, and in some stories, God intervenes.  Our mental health is much different.  We have a situation that we need to get out of.  There may be a problem that needs to be resolved, or we just need to throw it away and decide it isn't actually important.  Either way, we will get cut, bruise our pride, and will definitely need spiritual surgery.  Jesus Christ's Atonement can heal.  He brings us the reassurance we need that we're in the right place now.  And then, as Zeezrom so beautifully demonstrated, if we turn around and do what we now know to be true, we can do so much good.

The messages of Jesus Christ ring ever true in this story.  This man who was bitterly against the teachings of the church.  He then became a missionary and shared what he once rejected.  This isn't the first and is not the last story in the Book of Mormon where a rebellious person turns around and does so much good.  I learn so many lessons from stories like Zeezrom's.  I realize that it doesn't totally matter what I've done, but Christ will still help me.  It's never too late.  I am not unsavable.

And neither are you.

Is Seeing Believing?

I believe that if I put a stamp on an envelope and leave it outside, the mailman will deliver the letter inside to the address specified.

I believe that the dishwasher cleans the dishes and there aren't little gnomes flying around inside eating the residue.

I believe that Jesus Christ can help us progress to perfection with our faith and cooperation.

I cannot physically see these processes.  I trust my letter with the mailman.  I rely on the dishwasher to get my dishes washed and cleansed.  I "blindly" follow Jesus Christ with confidence his path is the one to happiness.  

Alma clearly states that faith is "not a perfect knowledge" (32:26), but that it is a "hope for things which are not seen, which are true." (32:21).  Faith, in Japanese, implies belief and a direction for that belief-specifically, the character used means to look up.  Belief is not written in stone.  It is not admissible evidence in a court of law.  It is not taught in schools.  To some, it's not to be trusted.  But, to those of us who call ourselves Christians, our belief in Jesus Christ has brought us to a different state.

Throughout Christ's ministry and The Book of Mormon, we are taught that our belief should eventually lead to action:  to follow Christ (see previous post "Come, Follow Me).  When our belief is executed and tested, it becomes faith.  We face new scenario and our belief is tested anew.  With each victory, our faith grows and strengthens.  As we continue to pray to God, read the scriptures, attend church, and follow all other guidance received from our Father in Heaven, our faith strengthens in small doses.  What used to seem like a difficult decision or laboring trial may now seem inconsequential as you look at it with new, enlightened eyes.  What may have seemed like coincidence may now look like guidance and divine intervention.  

As we stay true to our beliefs and develop our faith, we are promised that we can "do whatsoever thing that is expedient in [God]" (Moroni 7:33).  We will never be asked to do something we shouldn't do, and we will never face something we can't do.  There is a solution to any problem and an answer to every question.  With every solution and answer, our faith grows.  As our faith grows, our problems may intensify and our questions may deepen, but as long as we press on in the same habitual path of reading and praying, our faith will stand strong and we will soon find our solution or answer.  Things you may have thought impossible are now realistic.

Faith fuels fantasy.

I believe in the power of Jesus Christ.  He can wash our sins and make us clean.  Through him, our prayers make it to our Heavenly Father and they are heard.  Through our faith, we find answers.  He is the way to eternal life.  

I believe in the story told by Joseph Smith.  He saw God and Jesus Christ, and then translated the Book of Mormon solidifying the keystone to my religion and life.

My faith has made me who I am.  My faith has fallen.  My faith has been strong.  But with whatever faith I have at any point in time, I am always able to do more than my capabilities allow.  I believe that is God's influence, and I now have faith that he will and can do it again.

The Secret Life of the Mormon Missionary

Today is the first Sunday of July.  The weather in Las Vegas is getting hotter, and it's time to set goals for the coming month.  Part of my fast and goals this month relate to missionary work.  I want to do more to be a missionary.  I want to seize opportunities to introduce and explain the Gospel.  I want to relive some of the joy I experienced as a missionary...

Sundays were always the busiest.  Even if we didn't have meetings or lessons scheduled up the wazoo, we were outside on the streets or climbing seemingly endless stairs to talk to people.  Even on Fast Sundays in the middle of the summer when I was wearing just as much sweat as clothing, we were diligently outside looking for someone, anyone to accept an invitation to church.  

Our day always starts in the morning with some exercise.  Some missionaries utilize it well.  Some do too little.  Some do too much.  Either way, we prepare and begin our private study of the scriptures and words of the prophets.  During this time, throughout my mission, I came to realize how the spirit speaks to me.  I learned new concepts from verses of scripture I have read countless times.  I have received specific guidance for a friend we were teaching.  I have been taught the answers to questions I have stewed over for weeks or months.  I learned my role as a missionary...a servant.  

After an hour, we get with our respective companion and share our insights, prepare lessons for the day, and teach each other.  This time is either incredibly effective, or a colossal waste of time.  I always loved to use this time to try and understand my companion more.  It was prime time to bear testimony to each other and to become more unified.  We were unified in that we both knew what was going on, but we also sought unity in having the same purpose, goal, and plan.  I learned so much from my companions and am who I am today largely because of my relationships with them.

For me, I continued on studying Japanese.  It is a difficult language that required all my effort to learn.  I still stumble and confuse words, but I used my time in study preparing myself to be guided by the spirit in a manner that language wouldn't get in the way.  I tried to soften the communication barrier that many Japanese people saw between them and me.  I tried to make myself a more useful and helpful tool in terms of language and communication.

After that varied.  Some days we had lessons where we tried to help our new friends understand the church's doctrine and how accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior could improve their life and give them eternal life.  We would visit with members of the church to share our love for them and help them understand their responsibility to share the gospel with their friends.  We would visit those who have not been to church for a varied period of time.  We tried to help them remember the testimony they once had, but since forgot.  We tried to help them see that the church has not necessarily moved on and forgotten about them, but still stands waiting with open arms for them to come back.  In any free time, we would talk to people on the street with the firm belief that God has put them in our path for a reason, or we were put in theirs.  Some didn't see it quite like we did.  Others saw exactly the same.  My friend and, as of almost a year ago, my brother in the church, firmly believes that we were sent to each other.  The events in his life do not suggest coincidence, and our determination to talk to him eliminates the element of chance.  

I have been ignored, insulted, and yelled at.  Japan was very hospitable compared to other places in the world, but I still had doors slammed in my face, people run away from me, and had my testimony rejected.  I don't care what manner of rejection you receive as missionary, to bear sincere testimony only to have it thrown down and stepped on hurts more than any cut or bruise.  On the other hand, I have felt no greater joy than to see a light come on in someone's eyes as they find hope in the words of my testimony.  There can be no joy greater than helping a friend overcome challenge after challenge until and beyond their acceptance of Christ and the baptismal covenant.  

I fondly cherish the time I spent as a missionary, but these activities all can still be practiced without the designation of full-time missionary in some way or another.  We should still study the scriptures.  We should still share our insights with our friends.  I don't know, write a blog or something.  For those of us who apply, we should continue to study our language, and I wholeheartedly agree that teaching it to our children would be beneficial.  We needn't walk up and down the street in our downtime commanding everyone to repentance, but why not strike up conversation with those sitting around us at work or school or public transportation?  Why do we need a nametag to visit those of our friends who haven't been to church in a while?  Why do we need a nametag to feel the joy of missionary service?  

We don't!  Serve.  Nothing can bring you closer to Christ than serving.  And the best, most rewarding form of service is sharing the gospel.  Tell your friends that don't know.  Invite them to an activity!  And, for those who may not have joined us for church services before, feel free.  Our church does not claim a monopoly on happiness, but we do profess the possession of truth.  Come, and join with us.  No matter who you are, you are welcome, and you will feel something you may not recognize, but will never forget.