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Grow Your Faith in Jesus Christ

Owing to the fact that I am LDS - meaning I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - and having a testimony, by the Holy Spirit, that this church is true, is the living Christ's true church, and that there is no way to return to our God but by the principles and ordinances administered therein, I would exhort any who come to this page to investigate these claims for yourselves. Below are links to resources I think you'll find helpful in this. The sources are all produced by either the church or its members. You may wonder whether you can get an accurate picture of things this way, but consider this: would I be able to get an accurate sense of who you are, as a person, if I enquired about you to those who hate you?  Only reading, studying, pondering, the exercise of a particle of faith, and prayer with real intent (meaning that you will act if given an answer from God) will ultimately convince you that the below is true and from God Himself.  Authority has been given by Jesus Christ, literally, by the laying on of hands and conferring the priesthood of God in our day. That is something my dad told me once when I was a little boy.  I've pondered it thru the years.  His church has His authority and it has been restored thru His prophet Joseph Smith.  

 

One of the claims of our church which many find incredible is our claim of divine authority, meaning that our church is actually run by Jesus Christ and that He has delegated His priesthood to the prophet/president of our church. The prophet, in turn, delegates and ordains others. All of us can trace a 'line of priesthood authority' directly to the Savior. I am presently ordained to the office of "Elder" in that priesthood.

 

  • Chad Brinkerhoff was ordained an Elder on October 29, 1995, by Kendell W Brinkerhoff

  • Kendell W Brinkerhoff was ordained a High Priest on October 26, 1969, by LeGrand Richards

  • LeGrand Richards was ordained an Apostle on April 10, 1952, by David Oman McKay

  • David Oman McKay was ordained an Apostle on April 9, 1906, by Joseph Fielding Smith

  • Joseph Fielding Smith was ordained an Apostle on July 1, 1866, by Brigham Young

  • Brigham Young was ordained an Apostle on February 14, 1835, under the hands of The Three Witnesses, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris

  • The Three Witnesses were called by revelation and set apart on 14 Feb 1835, by the First Presidency ( Joseph Smith Jr., Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams ) to choose and ordain the Twelve Apostles. (History of the Church, Vol 2, pp 187-188)

  • Joseph Smith Jr. was ordained an Apostle in 1829 under the hands of Peter, James, and John

  • Peter, James and John were ordained Apostles by the Savior during His earthly ministry. (John 15:16)

The Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ written by prophets called and ordained, given authority by Jesus Christ, to minister to His other sheep in the ancient America's. (St. John 10)  The fullness of His everlasting gospel is contained therein.  It is meant to be a companion to the Holy Bible which was written by His holy prophets in Jerusalem.  God knows where all of His children are and he calls prophets to teach His everlasting gospel to them.  

 

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The message is a voice of warning, a testimony in support of the Lord's servants, and a declaration that the church is true.

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"In the Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus Christ-'I the Lord'-addresses his people today personally. Through this modern-day book of revelations, he gives us a firsthand testimony of himself. The Doctrine and Covenants is our book, a record of revelations that gives us immediate, firsthand experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. We can testify as well as the ancient Nephites could testify (see Mosiah 24:13; Alma 9:20-21; 3 Ne. 10:3-7) that the Lord has spoken to our generation." (Clark V. Johnson, "You Have Heard My Voice," Ensign, Apr. 1989, 7)

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46). 

From this passage, our Pearl of Great Price derives its name.  We can liken ourselves to the merchant man, seeking goodly pearls of knowledge.  When we then find these gems in the fourth of our standard works, we rejoice to realize that their value exceeds all our mortal wealth.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal (Matt. 6:199-20).

The Pearl of Great Price is all about laying up for ourselves "treasures in heaven" that can never be taken away.  It is composed of five parts:  1) the Book of Moses, 2) the Book of Abraham, 3) the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 24, 4) Joseph Smith's personal history, and 5) the Articles of Faith.  Within these books, we find gems of knowledge that are unparalleled in the scriptural record.  To expand the metaphor, the collection is like a pearl necklace, with doctrinal pearls throughout its pages. A brief list emphasizes specific pearls of knowledge otherwise missing:

Moses

  • Moses' vision of this earth, perceiving every particle and every soul who belonged thereto (Moses 1:8-29)

  • Moses' confrontation with Satan (Moses 1:12-22)

  • God's mission statement: "this is my work and my glory..." (Moses 1:39)

  • The dual nature of creation:  first the spiritual, then the physical (Moses 3:5)

  • Lucifer's plan to destroy the agency of man (Moses 4:1-4)

  • The ministry of Enoch (Moses 6:26-7:69)

  • The baptism of Adam (Moses 6:64-66)

  • Enoch's vision of this earth wherein he witnesses God weep for the wickedness of the people (Moses 7:28-30)

Abraham

  • Abraham's desire to become a rightful heir of the priesthood amidst the idolatry of his fathers (Abr. 1:2-12)

  • The colonization of Egypt (Abr. 1:21-29)

  • Abraham's vision of the planets, stars, and Kolob (Abr. 3:1-16)

  • The reckoning of time per celestial orb and the Lord's day equaling 1000 years of our time. (Abr. 3:4-5)

  • The concept of pre-mortal intelligences (Abr. 3:22)

  • The foreordination of God's rulers (Abr. 3:22-23)

  • The purpose of the earth's creation: "we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things..." (Abr. 3:25)

  • The concept of first and second estate (Abr. 3:26)

Joseph Smith-Matthew

  • Clarification of the Lord's words on the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (JS-Matt. 1:3-20)

  • Clarification of the Lord's prophecies regarding the Second Coming (JS-Matt. 1:21-55)

  • Clear separation of the prophecies regarding these two events. (JS-Matt. 1:21)

Joseph Smith-History

  • Joseph Smith's firsthand account of the First Vision (JS-Hist. 1:5-20)

  • His account of the visitation of the angel Moroni (JS-Hist. 1:27-54)

  • His account of obtaining the plates and translating with the help of the Urim and Thummim (JS-Hist. 1:55-65)

  • The Charles Anthon story (JS-Hist. 1:62-65)

  • The visitation of John the Baptist and the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood (JS-Hist. 1:68-75)

The Articles of Faith

  • Thirteen separate pearls of truth defining the beliefs and practices of Latter-day Saints

General conferences are the semiannual worldwide gatherings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members gather to receive guidance and encouragement from Church leaders about gospel living based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Want to enhance your scripture study?  This is a great place to start.  Read this along with your scriptures to get a greater understanding of what is taught in the scriptures from our Prophets and Apostles.  This is a must have resource.

A retired CES teacher shares his love of the gospel by teaching others the gospel in the Philipines, New Jersey via skype.  

His Simple Truths

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In this new video series, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reassure those who may feel unwelcome in the Church that they are loved and needed. They also encourage members to extend the hand of fellowship to others, regardless of perceived differences.

LDS Institute of Religion courses and manuals.  

This is the BYU Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections for the Journal of Discourses. 

Joseph Smith (1805–1844) was the founding prophet and first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Joseph Smith Papers Project is an effort to gather together all extant Joseph Smith documents and to publish complete and accurate transcripts of those documents with both textual and contextual annotation. All such documents will be published electronically on this website, and a large number of the documents will also be published in print. The print and electronic publications constitute an essential resource for scholars and students of the life and work of Joseph Smith, early Mormon history, and nineteenth-century American religion. For the first time, all of Joseph Smith’s known surviving papers, which include many of the foundational documents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be easily accessible in one place.

Welcome to the LDS Scripture Citation Index. This index links from scriptures to the general conference talks, Journal of Discourses speeches, and writings in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith that cite those scriptures

We have indexed the scriptures cited by speakers in LDS General Conference between 1942 and the present, and those cited by speakers recorded in the Journal of Discourses between 1839 and 1886.  The citations in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith come from the special edition, Scriptural Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith

The Religious Studies Center is a vital research and publications arm of Religious Education. It exists to seek out, encourage, and publish faithful gospel scholarship through sponsoring symposia and seminars; awarding research grants; and producing and disseminating high quality, peer-reviewed works. These include monographs, journals, compilations, and other publications in print and electronic formats pertaining to the content and context of Latter-day Saint scripture, the doctrines and history of the Restoration, and the restored Church including its relationship to other cultures, religions, and the behavioral sciences. The RSC also seeks to further improve gospel instruction by publishing pedagogically related books and articles.

Our mission is to deepen understanding and nurture discipleship among Latter-day Saints and to promote mutual respect and goodwill among people of all faiths through the scholarly study of religious texts and traditions.

For 86 years, the Lectures were part of the LDS canon until they were removed in 1921.

Avraham Gileadi Ph.D’s groundbreaking research and analysis of the Book of Isaiah provides the ideal medium for publishing Isaiah’s message to the world.

 

The Perfect Day

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Spencer (Visions of Glory)

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