I thought you all might be interested in this—an account of the Chile earthquake from the Santiago Temple President’s wife.
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…we heard from our Santiago Temple President, Tom & Cheryl Lyon, written by his wife, Cheryl:

Thanks to all of you who have emailed your concern for us. We can state unequivocally that we’re fine. We can also state with the same emphasis that riding through that quake in our rocking fourth-floor apartment was for me the scariest experience I’ve ever been through!

I was sure we were about to die – that either the ceiling would fall on us or that we’d collapse through the floor. It truly was an emotion I’d never experienced before. My whole body shook for the next two hours, and after that I couldn’t stop crying.

We didn’t even have the presence of mind to get out of bed during the quake. I felt paralyzed, staring at the ceiling and wondering when the earth would stop rolling. It was the longest two minutes of our lives! We could hear things falling out of cupboards, and pictures falling off the walls. But the sound and the movement was the worst.

Our sturdy building held up fine. Just lots of dust and a few broken dishes. But elsewhere, as I’m sure you’ve seen on the news, people didn’t fare as well. Lots of damage. Virtually no stores open. Most parts of Santiago still have no electricity. Collapsed overpasses have closed major highways. The airport is closed because of damage, and planes have been rerouted to northern Chile or to Argentina. Our new missionary doctor was to arrive this morning, so I don’t know where he and his wife have ended up.

What a joy to walk into the temple and find it in perfect condition. We just had to close a few drawers and straighten a few crooked pictures. It felt so good to be there in that peaceful refuge and find normality. Moroni did lose his trumpet, however! That was the only noticeable damage.

How grateful we are for how well the Church takes care of us. We’ve often thought the 24-hour emergency lights in our building were excessive, but we were surely thankful for them at 3:30 this morning as everyone was evacuating the building – including the missionaries downstairs in the MTC. It was so disconcerting to get out of bed in the dark and stumble over fallen items in the bathroom. We got just a taste of what the Haitians have suffered, though their damage and deaths have been so much more devastating, even though their quake a weaker one. So far here they’re reporting 123 deaths, but we assume the toll will climb.

We had to decide what to do about the temple. We had every session booked for the day, and wondered if people would arrive. We met with one of Tom’s counselors – who had arrived at 5:00 for the early shift, as faithful as ever – and our registrar. We knew it would be difficult for the employees and workers to get to the temple and there was not electricity at the time. One faithful laundry sister came a great distance to help, but there was no gas for the dryers, so she had baptismal clothes from last night lying out all over the laundry.

The temple has an emergency generator which roars into action the second the power goes out. But we learned that it runs on petroleum which lasts only four hours. By 8 a.m. we knew we were about to go dark again, so we made the decision to simply close the temple for the day. Then, just in the second that the lights began to dim, the power came back on! (We’ve learned since that we’re the only section of Santiago that has power yet.) So then we decided to hold just one session, since we had three out-of-town couples staying in the hospedaje who were expecting to receive their endowments and be sealed today. We mustered all the missionary couples, along with a group of faithful sisters who work the late shift on Fridays and then stay over for the Sat morning shift. We had a most moving morning. The quake had brought such a sense of unity to workers and patrons, and the Spirit was amazing. I’ve seldom had such a moving experience at the veil – with three consecutive young sisters who were receiving their endowments.

Right now we’re sleep-deprived, and Tom has already gone back to bed. The stress has left us exhausted – but we’re alive and well! We’re still feeling aftershocks – called “replicas” in Spanish. They’re reported about 25 of them. One just rolled by as I was writing this.

So, that’s the report. After some rest we may venture out and about to see what we can see.

Thanks for your love and concern.

Tom and Cheryl
President of the Santiago Temple

In my institute class we are going through the different parables of Christ found in the New Testament. Below is what we have documented, but there are disagreements among bible scholars on the official count of the parables. Anyway, I asked the teacher to email me the below handout for the benefit of everyone else. All the scriptures are linked to the scripture database at lds.org. May you find your precious coin as you read these.

Parables of Christ in the New Testament

1. Barren Fig Tree – Luke 13:6–9
2. Chief Seats – Luke 14:7–11
3. Empty House – Matthew 12:43–54; Luke 12:24–26
4. Foolish Rich Man – Luke 12:13–21
5. Friend at Midnight – Luke 11:5–13
6. Good Samaritan – Luke 10:25–37
7. Gospel Net – Matthew 13:47–50
8. Great Supper – Luke 14:16–24
9. Hidden Treasure – Matthew 13:44
10. King’s Warfare – Luke 14:31–33
11. Laborers in the Vineyard – Matthew 19:27 – 20:16
12. Leaven – Matthew 13:33
13. Lost Coin – Luke 15:8–9
14. Lost Sheep – Luke 15:1–7
15. Lost (Prodigal) Son – Luke 15: 11–32
16. Man Taking a Far Journey – Mark 13:34–37
17. Mustard Seed – Matthew 13:31–32
18. Pearl of Great Price – Matthew 13:45–46
19. Pharisee and Publican – Luke 18:9–14
20. Pounds – Luke 19:11–27
21. Rich Man and Lazarus – Luke 16:19–31
22. Royal Marriage Feast – Matthew 22:1–14
23. Sheep and the Goats – Matthew 25:31–46
24. Shut Door – Luke 13:23–30
25. Talents – Matthew 25:14–30
26. Ten Virgins – Matthew 25:1–13
27. Treasures New and Old – Matthew 13:51–52
28. Two Debtors – Luke 7:36–50
29. Two Sons – Matthew 21:28–32
30. Seed Growing Secretly – Mark 4:26–29
31. Sower – Matthew 13:1–9, 18:23; Mark 4:1–8, 14–20; Luke 8:5–8, 11–15
32. Uncompleted Tour – Luke 14:25–30
33. Unjust Judge – Luke 18:1–8
34. Unjust Steward – Luke 16:1–13
35. Unmerciful Servant – Matthew 18:21–35
36. Unprofitable Servant – Luke 17:5–10
37. Wheat and Tares – Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43
38. Wicked Husbandman – Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12, Luke 20:9–18

Parables of Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants

1. Twelve Sons – D&C 38:26–27
2. Labors in the Field – D&C 88:51–61
3. Nobleman – D&C 101:43–62
4. Woman and Unjust Judge – D&C 101:81–91

Much of Haiti lies in rubble. Collapsed roofs lie at angles, smashed against the floor below them. Cinder blocks slant in heaps along the roads. Some streets in Port-au-Prince look like old pictures of bombed-out Berlin after World War II. It’s a horror, an apocalypse.

Yet, amidst a shoddy neighborhood stands a jewel, the Croix-des-Missions LDS church and sounding through the air is a hymn: How Firm a Foundation.

It is a particularly well-chosen song in a land whose physical foundations could not stand the earth’s tremors, but whose Latter-day Saints have proven to be remarkably resilient. They know that though all but a handful have lost their homes, their foundation is in the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is firm.

Attending the 3-hour church block on Sunday felt remarkably normal to us. There were the Saints dressed well, many in crisp, white shirts that looked newly ironed. The deacons wore their white shirts and ties as they reverently passed the sacrament.

How can this be? Without homes, they are living on the street in hastily-assembled, makeshift shelters on any flat land that is available. Their walls may be sheets hung over ropes or pieces of cardboard. Their beds are concrete or hard earth. Everything they owned—and that already wasn’t much—has been stripped from them by an initial quake that lasted about 45 seconds and after shocks that continued for days.

Haiti, right now and for the foreseeable future, is a land sleeping out. People fill the church’s courtyards at night—and instead of woe, they laugh and talk. They have shanties on the median strip between two lanes of riotous traffic.

We asked member after member, how can you be so beautifully groomed on Sunday, given your conditions? They answered that because most everyone is now living in the street, they are indeed dirty during the week, plagued by all the ills that befalls a newly-made street person, but, they added that though they had no water to drink, they had water good enough to wash their clothes.

So there they were singing about what really is their firm foundation and looking like any other LDS congregation across the world—except they are homeless.
Their Lessons and Talks

That is not all. Their lessons and talks were sophisticated and scripturally based, as if they had a library and computer at their fingertips to prepare instead of the side of the road.

The sacrament meeting began with strains of “Come, come ye Saints, no toil, nor labor fear, but with joy wend your way.” For most of us who come from other nations, we would be hard-pressed to find joy in impoverished and broken Haiti before the earthquake, let alone now, but they sang like they meant it, “Happy day, all is well.”

They prayed, “We are all thankful to be counted among the living. We are grateful to know of thy truth. There are many outside the walls of this church who do not have this truth to sustain them through the trials. We know we were kept alive because we have a mission to complete. Bless us all that we can be strong and take care of each other.”

We listened tearfully. The sacrament was passed and each of the seven children sitting on the row next to us took not a single piece of bread but a scoop each. They are hungry.

Then we heard a talk, a surprising, enriching talk from France Nathalie Desir—so beautifully done.
She told the audience:
“For some of the adversity we face, we can place the weight on our own shoulders because we are not obeying God’s laws. That adversity we can control, but there are some kinds of adversity we can’t control like the earthquake. We didn’t do anything to attract it. We all had friends and families who were killed. A lot of people are discouraged and have lost faith, but we as members of the Church now have a mission.

“We know why we have adversities. They are to make us stronger. We have the freedom to either let them overcome us or to make us strong. Just as we send little children to school, the Lord has sent us here for a school.

“Our big enemy is our pride that keeps us from loving our neighbour and obeying the commandments…Since January 12, we all have experienced sleeping outside. As I was lying in the courtyard looking up at the stars, I knew this was the time to manifest charity and mourn with those who mourn, give food to those who need food.

“We have a certain joy, and the joy is knowing these things are temporary. The trials we are given on earth are for us, and the Lord knows everything we are going through and they are to augment our faith and bring us to God.”

The other day I received the following question via the LDSFriends contact form:

“On my way to church today I heard the song ‘Because I have been given much’ on the BYU-I radio station and there was an additional verse with something about because I have been called I too must serve, or something along those lines, really pertaining to going on a mission. Does anyone know the words to that verse? I would love to have them.”

I hadn’t heard that there was a new verse, but apparently there is (though, I am not sure if it is apocryphal or Church sanctioned). Here it is:

“Because I have been blessed Dear Lord, I too must serve.
I’ll leave the comfort of my home to teach Thy word.
I’ll find Thy sheep who’ve gone astray, and those who’ve never known the way,
I’ll make Thy work, my work today.
I shall give love to those in need
I’ll show that love by words and deed.
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.”

Becoming the Missionary the Lord Wants You to be
by Paul Wilson

I had an interesting experience happen to me while serving my mission in Riverside, California. I was tracking in my third area, in a city named Corona, and it was Halloween. My companion and I came to a door where we could smell the sweat aroma of baking fudge. After knocking, a girl, no older than six or seven, answered the door. She pointed to me, squinted one eye, and read slowly the largest print on my missionary badge, “JESUS CHRIST.” She paused and then very matter of factly stated, “Well it’s about time, we have been waiting for you.” An older woman in an apron, most likely her grandmother, came up from behind the girl and said, “Oh no, sweetie, he’s not Jesus Christ!”

Unfortunately, we were not invited in to teach this family, but this little girl made quite an impact on me that day. She taught me that when we share the gospel we come as a messenger, and in a very literal sense, we speak as the Savior himself. There is nothing that God desires more from us than to save all his children.

For the last several weeks I have been pondering about missionary work, more specifically, my personal style of how I share missionary work. I am not like my beautiful wife, Lindsey, who can openly and eagerly share the gospel with every living thing. I admire this trait, but try as I might, I am not engineered this way.

I am an extremely social person, but I also am hesitant at times to share something so sacred to me with someone who does not desire to hear it. I cannot turn around on a bus and ask someone if they have heard about the Book of Mormon. It was much easier as missionary to do something like this, because, well, I was a missionary.

When I was asked to give this talk the Bishop specifically wanted me to talk about how openly sharing the gospel is not a gift given to only a special few. How the Lord commands all of us to share the gospel and that we all can share it in our own unique way.

As I studied for my talk I came to see a pattern, which if followed can help us share the gospel in a way that complements our unique nature and also follows God’s will. There is a story out of the Wilford Woodruff manual that pulls to light the pattern. In the manual it says:

“Shortly after Wilford Woodruff was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church, he ‘had a great desire to preach the Gospel.’ He recalled: ‘One Sunday evening I retired into the woods alone, and called upon the Lord in earnest prayer, to open my way to go and preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. The Spirit of the Lord bore witness that my prayer was heard, and should be answered. I arose from my knees happy, and walked some forty rods, and met Elias Higbee, a High Priest, with whom I had stayed a number of months. As I approached him, he said, ‘Brother Wilford, the Spirit of the Lord tells me that you should be ordained, and go on a mission.’ I replied, ‘I am ready.’”

In this story I found four principles that prepares our hearts and minds to share the gospel in the manner the Lord needs us to share it. These principles are, “Desire, Prayer, Readiness, and Faith.”

For those of you who speak Spanish you may recognize the word ojalá. When you translate this word to English you really lose its deeper meaning. The English translation of ojalá is hopefully, but in actuality it is a deep desire of hope, often associated with God. My own personal translation of ojalá is hope and desire bound together by a love of God.

Wilford Woodruff’s story states that he had a great desire to preach the Gospel. This desire or ojalá is the first step to sharing the Gospel. No matter if you are outgoing or shy if you do not desire to share the gospel the opportunity will rarely be open to you. The real question is, “How do we create this ojalá if it is not there?”

Alma answered this question in his analogy of the seed found in Alma 32. In verses 27 and 28 of this chapter we specifically see the importance of merely beginning to believe in ojalá. To further illustrate my point I’ve made these two verses more missionary focused by injecting “missionary work” in place of “the word.” Alma shares with us,

“But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Now, we will compare [missionary work] unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that [missionary work] is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.”

Alma teaches us that to have ojalá in missionary work that we need to begin by having a desire to believe. Let this desire to believe come from knowing that missionary work is the same work the Lord does. We learn this when God tells Moses, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39)

The second principle to becoming the missionary you want to be is Prayer. In John 17:3 it states, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” It is interesting to note that in this scripture the Greek text uses the word Epignosis to describe how we must know God.

In Greek there are two types of knowledge. The Greek word Gnosis means to know about someone or something; whereas, the Greek word Epignosis depicts knowledge based on experience or close association. To have an Epignosis relation with God is to have an intimate awareness of God’s character and will. It is impossible to have Gnosis relation with the Savior and be able to receive salvation.

Often, I have felt that my prayers, particularly concerning missionary work, have been Gnosis in nature. I pray knowing that I should pray, but often I won’t pray with an Epignosis longing to truly know the will of the Lord. Maybe it is because I know already that the Lord wants me share the gospel and I am not doing as much as I can.

One way I have worked on overcoming the Gnosis prayer is to pray differently. I have devised for myself a sacred way to pray. Basically, I will take time to write down all the things I want to discuss with the Lord. I then write the questions I have for Him. Finally, I will write out the answers I believe I will receive to my prayers. After all of this, I will begin to pray with my notes before me. I will pray about all the things I have written down. When I receive guidance to one of my questions I will stop and write down the answer given to me.

I can truthfully state that every time I chose to pray in this manner I have been given different answers than what I originally wrote down. For me, it has become a beautiful and sacred way to pray. Due to the detailed nature of this prayer it does take much time, and I can honestly say that I do not pray like this every day. However, if you do struggle with a Gnosis type of prayer I challenge you to try this method of praying. It has sincerely helped me gain a deeper Epignosis relation with my Savior.

The reason I share the importance of the Epignosis prayer, is that missionary work becomes much easier knowing the will of the Lord. Often times, we prejudge people, believing that they are not the type of individuals who are open to hearing the gospel. By spending the time and energy coming to have a deep prayerful relationship with God the layers of judgment are removed and we are able to see people in the same way God does.

Once we have created a deep desire and offered sincere prayer for missionary work the next step is to be actively engaged in our desires, or to be Ready. Wilford Woodruff stated “I am ready” when told to serve a mission. It is the “Woodruff Readiness” that the Lord truly desires from us. This type of readiness I believe is putting action to your desire and being ready to serve in any compacity that Lord expects from you. It’s this readiness which shows the Lord we truly want to bring souls to Christ.

However, there are so many ways to be active in missionary work. One of the best and easiest ways is to offer as referrals all the non-members you know to the missionaries. Let the missionaries approach these people and let your friends decide whether they want to hear the message or not.

Oftentimes, we want to prepare our friends before jumping right into sharing the gospel. Being a friend is important but sometimes it is easier to let the missionaries approach those who we know and allowing them to open up opportunities of sharing the gospel. There is a great talk by Clayton M. Christensen and his wife titled the “Seven Lessons on Sharing the Gospel,” which reveals how they almost missed sharing the gospel with several people. They had initially excluded a few people in sharing the gospel because they hadn’t really become friends with these people first.

Elder and Sister Christensen’s talk also shares another way to be active in missionary work. The action they mention is to use Church lingo in our every day conversations. This has been something I’ve done most of my life and it really helps open doors in sharing the gospel. For me, having moved from Utah allowed me to do exactly what the Christensen’s talk about. I share with people that I am from Utah, and almost every time I will receive a question wondering if I am Mormon.

Lindsey and I had a great experience doing this when we went to a dinner for my graduate program. We were seated at a table with my program director and his wife. When we shared that we had just moved from Utah both the director and his wife started peppering us with questions about the church. We spent a wonderful evening sharing our values, and in no way was either my director or his wife offended by us being so open about our religious beliefs.

The final principle in helping you share the gospel is Faith. For me, this is a tough principle. Not because I don’t have faith in God, but rather, I don’t have faith in myself that I deserve God’s blessings. It reminds me of a quote from my favorite philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, when he states, “It is hard to believe because it is hard to obey.” We are all flawed with sin and Satan will use this fact against us. Do not believe in this pernicious lie. If we truly desire, pray, and act, God will keep his promise and guide us to those who want to hear the gospel.

I witnessed this first hand when I was a teenager. I met my best friend, Logan, at the age of 11. Logan and I were as opposite as two boys can be. He was a talented athlete and I was, well…not. We had vastly different interests from each other but for some reason we became good friends. We would participate in each other’s interests and have fun doing it (though, I never did become any good at sports).

It wasn’t long before Logan was coming with me to Stake dances. We had a lot of fun, but more importantly he came in contact with the Church. When he was 16 he asked his parents if he could be baptized, but they did not consent. The church was foreign to them and they were not yet ready to allow their only son to join. I was devastated; I so badly wanted Logan to feel the joy and peace of having the blessing of baptism and the constant companion of the Holy Ghost.

It took another two long years before Logan was baptized. He was baptized one week after his 18th birthday and one year later he was called to serve a mission in Switzerland, French speaking. However, the story does not end here. Upon serving an honorable mission Logan and I moved to Utah and became roommates for college. It was here that Logan met my cousin Lauren. Lauren had left the church, but through Logan’s friendship and diligence she returned and they were married in the Saint George Temple.

They now have two beautiful children and are both stalwart in the church. I think of how sharing the gospel not only touched Logan’s life, but all the people he taught on his mission, my dear cousin Lauren’s life, and in turn touched my own life. The ripple effect of sharing the gospel is an eternal ripple. Logan’s eternal ripple began with the faith of his 11 year old friend. It was this faith that carried both Logan and I through seven years of waiting before he could be baptized.

Brethren and Sisters, sharing the gospel is not easy, but I testify that it is worth it. I promise you that if you have desire, if you pray, are ready, and have faith that you will see, as the little girl from the beginning of my talk did, that we are saviors to those who accept the Lord’s gospel message.

This I say in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I read some of the comments on NBC’s site and a few people felt it was attacking our beliefs. I think often we Mormons are overly sensative when anybody gives us attention—good, bad, or funny. Believe me, if I felt the video was bashing I wouldn’t post it. We, as a people, need to understand we truly are peculiar, and that if we don’t laugh at our uniqueness somebody else will. Anyway, I hope you found this as enjoyable as I did.

If you are having trouble viewing the video go here.

Have A Great 2010!
Update: See Lyrics below

Click here to view the embedded video.

UPDATE 01/07/2008

I received numerous request for the lyrics of Ian Axel’s song. So, a quick google search garnered the below lyrics. Hope it satisfies everyone’s curiosity! ~Paul W.

Ian Axel – This is The New Year

Another year you made a promise
another chance to turn it all around
and do not save this for tomorow
embrace the past and you can live for now
and I will give the world to you

Speak louder that the words before you
and give them meaning no one else has found
The role we play is so important
we are the voices of the undergroud
and I would give the world to you

Say everything you’ve always wanted,
be not afraid of who you really are,
cause in the end we have each other,
and thats at least one thing worth living for,
and I would give the world to you

A million suns that shine upon me
A million eyes you are the brightest blue
Lets tear the walls down that divide us
and build a statue strong enough for two,

I pass it back to you
and I will beat for you,
cause I would give the world
and I would give the world
and I would give the world to you

This is the new year
A new begining
You made a promise
You are the brightest
We are the voices
This is the new year
We are the voices
This is the new year

I often think about how our society has become similar to ancient Rome and the entertainment of the Christian martyrs in the colosseum. Our gory entertain isn’t as real as the Roman lions, but it has the same effect—a desensitized soul and a moral destitute society.

Seedy television shows, Internet sites, music lyrics, and many other forms of media are constantly working to engage us and sever us from the spirit. Yet, it has become so easy to justify media that does so well in entertaining us.

I remember as a teenager pleading with my parents to let me see a rated-R movie. It had all the great aspects of becoming an epic movie, but my parents didn’t care since it also had an R rating. I remember stating to my mom that the Church leaders had never come out and outright said that we couldn’t watch R movies. Avoiding bad movie ratings were only guidelines and not a commandment.

Needless to say, this line of reasoning didn’t work, but my mom also couldn’t refute my argument (this was at the dawn of the Internet and we didn’t have it in our home). So, for my own future teenagers I compiled the below quotes showing the brethern indeed counseling (and commanding) us to avoid not only rated R movies but anything that offends the spirit.

———-

The bolded red text highlights the direct counsel to not watch rated R movies.

Robert L. Simpson, Ensign, 1973
How about taking a few minutes, for example, to voice objection to the local supermarket manager about easy availability and prominent display of unacceptable material on his periodical display rack.

How about taking just five minutes each week to review the TV log and then establishing a few rules that all the family agrees to concerning viewing time and on which channel.

Why not make some effort to find out something about the next movie that will engage your family’s undivided attention for two and a half or three hours and will probably cost you far more than you contributed to the poor and the needy that month. It goes without saying that all X- and R-rated movies are automatically eliminated.

Marvin J Ashton, Ensign, November 1977
We have a tendency to rate or grade others, and they do the same to us. If our perspective is proper, we use these ratings or gradings to motivate us to reach high levels of achievement and self-discipline. The whole concept of ratings enables us to set high goals and provides the challenge to us to achieve them.

In spite of this inborn desire to achieve, there remains an area where the attainment of high or good ratings seems to be ignored. I speak of the growing numbers of movies, books, magazines, theatrical productions, and television programs where efforts to glorify immorality or violence have become predominant. “Rated R” or “Rated X” has replaced the idealism of being “Rated A.”

I know that free expression is a vital part of the eternal principle of free agency and must be preserved and protected. I also know how certain forces use the freedom of speech to degrade or debase, and this constitutes perversion and enslavement. Because I recognize that there will always be opposition in all things, I suspect that we will not soon see the day when obscenity in its various forms will be entirely eliminated. But I have faith that it can be fully eliminated in the lives of quality individuals. I firmly believe that most thinking people can be inspired to strive for the A rating by choosing wholesome, worthwhile literature, art, and habits.

As each of us uses our free agency to choose the material that enters our lives, we ought to recognize that the battle between “Rated A” and “Rated X” is part of the war that began in heaven and is still being fought today. The enemy seeks any strategic or tactical foothold he can gain, and any bridgehead he attains becomes the launching point for the next encounter. The number of victories we allow him can seriously affect the final outcome of the struggle.

How does the adversary wage this battle? What are his tactics? Those who are fighting pornography and obscenity have helped us recognize some of his battle plans. They tell us that a person who becomes involved in obscenity soon acquires distorted views of personal conduct. He becomes unable to relate to others in a normal, healthy way. Like most other habits, an addictive effect begins to take hold of him. A diet of violence or pornography dulls the senses, and future exposures need to be rougher and more extreme. Soon the person is desensitized and is unable to react in a sensitive, caring, responsible manner, especially to those in his own home and family. Good people can become infested with this material and it can have terrifying, destructive consequences.

Mark E. Peterson, Ensign, Febuary 1972
And speaking of maintaining discriminating values, were you not shocked recently by the announcement of the changes in the movie ratings, wherein X and R movies are now to be released as though they were GP [General audiences, parental guidance suggested]? When Life magazine commented on this trend, it quoted one of the movie producers as saying, “The game these days is to bring in a movie that gets away with as much as possible and at the same time inveigles a GP rating which insures you more or less widespread distribution.”

The public is being deceived by the ratings, many people not knowing even what the letters GP stand for. It is certainly no wonder that the movies are failing as a means of public entertainment and that they now have only 4 percent of the entertainment dollar in the United States.

Sisters of the Relief Society, you must learn increasingly to be discriminating about conditions in the world. Of necessity we live in the world and hence must face its issues. The Relief Society helps you mothers to develop this discriminating sense of values so that you can intelligently choose the right from the wrong. The study courses provided in the weekly meetings of Relief Society will do this for you, and thus help you to fight these evils and save your families and your homes.

The time has come when righteousness must be made a fighting force in the world; not a passive thing as it so often is, but a power that will combat evil on its own ground.

Vice has increased so rapidly in the past few years that if it is not stopped, it will engulf us. The silent majority of good-living people—and they still are in the majority, I am thankful to say—can no longer recline as a sleeping giant in a circle of self-content. This silent majority of righteousness must now assert itself with power. First and foremost, each one of us must put our own homes in order. Each one of us must drive from our own homes every invitation to sin, every vestige of pornography, every evil TV or radio program, and every unclean book or magazine.

Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1986
Consider carefully the words of the prophet Alma to his errant son, Corianton, “Forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes.” (Alma 39:9.)

“The lusts of your eyes.” In our day, what does that expression mean?

Movies, television programs, and video recordings that are both suggestive and lewd.

Magazines and books that are obscene and pornographic.

We counsel you, young men, not to pollute your minds with such degrading matter, for the mind through which this filth passes is never the same afterwards. Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic. Don’t listen to music that is degrading.

Remember Elder Boyd K. Packer’s statement: “Music, once … innocent, now is often used for wicked purposes. … “In our day music itself has been corrupted. Music can, by its tempo, by its beat, by its intensity [and I would add by its lyrics], dull the spiritual sensitivity of men. …

“Young people,” Elder Packer goes on to say, “you cannot afford to fill your mind with the unworthy hard music of our day.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1973, pp. 21, 25; or Ensign, Jan. 1974, pp. 25, 28.)

Instead, we encourage you to listen to uplifting music, both popular and classical, that builds the spirit. Learn some favorite hymns from our new hymnbook that build faith and spirituality. Attend dances where the music and the lighting and the dance movements are conducive to the Spirit. Watch those shows and entertainment that lift the spirit and promote clean thoughts and actions. Read books and magazines that do the same.

H. Burke Peterson, Liahona, November 1993
In magazines and books, on CDs and tapes, on our television and theater screens is portrayed more and more often a lifestyle that might even rival the excesses of those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. The screens, music, and printed materials are filled with a profusion of sex, nudity, and vulgarity.

In Moroni 10:30 we read:
“And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing” (emphasis added).

One of the great tragedies is that too many Latter-day Saints are watching and listening to this type of so-called entertainment. Some do it only casually at first. They think they are spiritually strong and will be immune to its influence. This trash is nothing more nor less than pornography dressed in one of its many imitation robes of splendor—one of the master counterfeiter’s best products. Satan has slyly and slowly lowered the social norms of morality to a tragic and destructive level.

Part of the tragedy I speak of is that many do not recognize they are trapped or soon will be. They see this as a form of entertainment that serves as a relief from the troubles of the day. In reality, it is only relieving them of their spirituality and their capacity to draw on the powers of heaven in times of need.

We must come to understand fully the consequences of having an appetite for such entertainment. Such an appetite can lead to an eternal penalty. No person can look at, read about, or listen to such explicit vulgarity, even in its mildest form, without bringing sorrow to a loving God and injury to one’s own spirit. We cannot look at or listen to these unholy depictions in our own living room or wherever they are shown without suffering the consequences—and those consequences are very real.

We must remember that our rewards for righteous living are only partially enjoyed in this mortal life. Likewise, our miseries for breaking the commandments of God will not all be realized fully as we live here on the earth. Eternity is a long, long time.

I plead with you to leave it alone. Stay away from any movie, video, publication, or music—regardless of its rating—where illicit behavior and expressions are part of the action. Have the courage to turn it off in your living room. Throw the tapes and the publications in the garbage can, for that is where we keep garbage.

The Doctrine and Covenants gives a warning and a promise. The promise says, “If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things” (D&C 88:67).

In an application of this scripture today, it is my understanding that anytime we look at or listen to this kind of material—even in its mildest form—the light inside of us grows dimmer because the darkness inside increases. The effect of this is that we cannot think as clearly about life’s challenges—be they business, church, school, family, or personal. We have cluttered the channel to the source of all light with various unclean images. Our entitlement to personal revelation on any subject is severely restricted. We don’t do as well in school or at work. We are left more on our own, and as a result we make more mistakes and we are not as happy. Remember, our mind is a wonderful instrument. It will record and keep whatever we put into it, both trash and beauty. When we see or hear anything filthy or vulgar, whatever the source, our mind records it. As it makes the filthy record, beauty and clean thoughts are pushed into the background. Hope and faith in Christ begin to fade, and more and more, turmoil and discontent become our companions.

Brothers, sisters, and parents are not as happy together as they used to be. We find less peace and contentedness in our hearts and homes. We do things that later we wish we had not done. Contention raises its vicious head, and when contention is present, the Spirit of Christ departs from us.

Again I say, leave it alone. Turn it off, walk away from it, burn it, erase it, destroy it. I know it is hard counsel we give when we say R-rated movies, and many with PG-13 ratings, are produced by satanic influences. Our standards should not be dictated by the rating system. I repeat, because of what they really represent, these types of movies, music, tapes, and other products serve the purposes of the author of all darkness.

H. Burke Peterson, Ensign, November 1974
You know it isn’t hard to recognize a real warrior for the priesthood. You meet him at every turn. He is the one who says no when others say yes to movies on Sunday, to R- or X-rated shows at any time (he knows he must not fall to this temptation). He’s the one who says no to immoral books or magazines or pictures or stories at any time. He says no to fishing or swimming or boating on Sunday. He’s the one who says no when others say, “Just try it,” to a beer or a cigarette—even if it’s just one. This courageous warrior is also the one who says yes when others say no to priesthood meeting Sunday morning, to sacrament meeting, to tithe paying, to prayers each day, to seminary or institute classes. This stalwart young man is one who says yes when others say no to a mission.

Joseph B. Wirthlin, New Era, May 1988
These little rationalizations prompted by Satan will become great detriments to our spiritual growth. Pornography in all its forms—found at the movie theater, on television, and in printed form—constitutes a spiritual poison that is addictive and destructive. Every ounce of pornography and immoral entertainment will cause you to lose a pound of spirituality. And it will only take a few ounces of immorality to cause you to lose all of your spiritual strength, for the Lord’s Spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple.

Our prophet, President Ezra Taft Benson, gave us excellent counsel when he said:
“We counsel you … not to pollute your minds with such degrading matter, for the mind through which this filth passes is never the same afterwards. Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic. … Watch those shows and entertainment that lift the spirit and promote clean thoughts and actions. Read books and magazines that do the same” (“To the Youth of the Noble Birthright,” Ensign, May 1986, p. 45).

Hartman Rector Jr., Ensign, January 1973
Potiphar’s wife became particularly insistent, even to taking hold of his coat and attempting to draw him to her. But Joseph did the very best thing he could do under the circumstances. The scripture records, “… he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.” (Gen. 39:12.) Or, in today’s language—he ran.

Maybe that doesn’t sound like a very sophisticated thing to do, but sometimes running is the only thing to do. This was such a time. I am sure that Joseph did not know he was going to be alone with her, or he would not have gone into the house. I have great faith in Joseph.

It is more important that we beware of compromising situations than anything else we can do. We must avoid them. If we don’t, we will run the great risk of being overcome.

In my experience, I have found that it is very, very dangerous to fly just high enough to miss the treetops. I spent twenty-six years flying the navy’s airplanes. It was very exciting to see how close I could fly to the trees. This is called “flat hatting” in the navy, and it is extremely dangerous. When you are flying just high enough to miss the trees and your engine coughs once, you are in the trees. Now let’s pretend that the navy had a commandment—“Thou shalt not fly thy airplane in the trees.” As a matter of fact, they did have such a commandment. In order to really be free of the commandment, it becomes necessary for me to add a commandment of my own to the navy’s commandment, such as, “Thou shalt not fly thy airplane closer than 5,000 feet to the trees.” When you do this, you make the navy’s commandment of not flying in the trees easy to live, and the safety factor is tremendously increased.

Admittedly, the latter commandment is your own addition, and care should be exercised that you do not get it mixed up with the law and expound it as the law. Rather, it is your own commandment, invented by you for your own self-preservation; and, if you are going to preach it, it should be expounded as such. We should studiously avoid placing ourselves in positions where we could be overcome by temptation. Paul’s admonition that we avoid even the appearance of evil certainly represents an addition to the Lord’s commandment, which is, to “forsake all evil” and “entangle not yourselves in sin.” (See D&C 98:11; D&C 88:86.) But if we follow Paul’s admonition, we will find the Lord’s commandment much easier to live.

It is so important that young people who are unmarried erect barriers against temptation to help them avoid the compromising situations. May I suggest a few barriers.

1. Never go into a house alone with one of the opposite sex.
2. Never, never enter a bedroom alone with one of the opposite sex.
3. Do not neck or pet. Now, admittedly there is no place in the scriptures where the Lord has said, “Thou shalt not neck or pet.” I know that, but he has said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery, or fornication, or anything like unto it.”
4. Never park on a lonely road with just the two of you alone.
5. Do not read pornographic literature.
6. Do not attend R- or X-rated movies, and avoid drive-ins

David B. Haight, Ensign, November 1986

Bruce C. Hafen, New Era, Febuary 2002
It’s now simply a fact that most of those who write and most of those who produce today’s movies, TV programs, and popular music, as well as those who set the editorial policies of many magazines, believe that sex outside of marriage is really quite harmless. On this particular subject of sexual morality, I honestly believe our society is within the grip of the evil one.

Can you see why the Brethren tell us to stay away from X- and R-rated movies? Can you see why they plead with us to avoid drugs, alcohol, vulgar music, and the other products of the carnal environment that now surrounds us almost as water surrounds the fish of the sea? These aren’t trivial things. If the H-bomb symbolizes our age, we are playing now not just with fire, but with nuclear power. The prince of darkness has dragged out the heavy artillery.

Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, November 1996

Satan has made great inroads into the lives of some Latter-day Saints through the evil in the media. I am confident that the great majority of you have not been guilty of serious sexual sin, but many are placing themselves in a path that could lead to it. A bishop reported that he had observed that the spiritual level of the young priesthood bearers in his ward was declining. Through his personal interviews with them, he discovered that many of them were watching R-rated movies. When he asked them where they went to see such trash, they said, “We don’t go anywhere. We watch them at home. We have cable television, and when our parents are gone we watch anything we want to.”

Fathers, you may want to reconsider having unrestricted cable or unsupervised television sets in your home and particularly in your children’s bedrooms.

It is very unreasonable to suppose that exposure to profanity, nudity, sex, and violence has no negative effects on us. We can’t roll around in the mud without getting dirty.

It is a concern that some of our young Latter-day Saints, as well as their parents, regularly watch R-rated and other inappropriate movies and videos. One more reason why the “devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice” (3 Ne. 9:2).

Just a few months ago the Lord’s prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, shared with the youth, and with all of us, this clear and unmistakable counsel:

“Be clean. I cannot emphasize that enough. Be clean. It is so very, very important, and you at your age are in such temptation all the time. It is thrown at you on television. It is thrown at you in books and magazines and videos. You do not have to rent them. Don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Don’t look at them. If somebody proposes that you sit around all night watching some of that sleazy stuff, you say, ‘It’s not for me.’ Stay away from it” (Denver, Colorado, youth meeting, 14 Apr. 1996).

The Lord and his living prophets are counting on you to avoid the trash that surrounds you in the media. When anyone chooses to ignore or defiantly go against the counsel of the living prophet, he is on very shaky ground.

Richard G. Scott, Liahona, March 2001
I know that you will find the same response as you consistently choose to obey your principles. You are establishing a reputation. When you make it clear that you will not vary from your standards, you will be led to individuals like yourself and the criticism from others will become less intense. Often those who publicly deride you for your high standards privately do not want you to violate them. They need your good example. Whether it be turning your back on an off-color joke, refusing to see an R-rated movie or videocassette, or walking out of a party that is moving in the wrong direction, make your standards clear to others by quietly making the right choices when the temptation is first presented. A decisive, correct choice made once and consistently kept thereafter will avoid much heartache. You then can use your energy in keeping your resolve rather than repeatedly wrestling with the same challenge. Also, you will greatly reduce the possibility that you will be overcome by temptation.

Joe J. Christensen, New Era, January 1998,

In addition to making a resolution that we will read only the best in print, it would be very beneficial if now we resolved not to watch even one R-rated or NC-17 movie, or television shows with questionable content. That may sound extreme, but I assure you that much of our future happiness and success depends on it. We cannot justify mentally shifting into neutral and failing to exert our efforts to progress intellectually. Whether or not you are in school, the challenge is the same. We should continue learning throughout our lives.

Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, Dec 1994
It also would be very beneficial if we resolve not to watch even one movie, video, or television show of R-rated quality or worse—from now on. I assure you that much of our future happiness and success depends on that choice.

David A. Bednar, Ensign, May 2006
The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing. If that which is intended to entertain, for example, alienates us from the Holy Spirit, then certainly that type of entertainment is not for us.