Letter to the Class

image The story of Joshua is one about change. They went from God giving them everything and only asking them to follow the cloud and fire to being on their own and getting instruction more liberally.  When we grow up our parents give us freedom and instruction. They provide food and shelter; they give us instruction and entertainment. That's great! Then we grow up and we have a change in moving out. Some of us go to school, jobs, or missions. Again, we are watched over (especially missionaries) but we are asked to be more self-reliant. Then we start careers and families and yet again more freedom but again we learn to follow Jesus differently than when we were children or teens or young adults.  Our precious brothers and sisters, think of us like farmers think if plants, when we are seeds, we are not asked to produce fruit, just break the soil. When we break soil, we are asked to reach for the sky, create blossoms, and grow strong, still, we are not asked to show fruit

Image Class,  Moses repeated, clarified, and emphasized the commandments. He told Israel that they were to keep the commandments, remember the commandments and have them at the center of their lives by having them written in their hearts and minds. They were to be part of our work, our play, and where we live. The gospel should be part of us all of the time. The Lord is there for us every day of the week 24/7 and ready to open the heavens unto us. We know we don’t just want blessings on Sunday, one day a week. He wants daily spiritual instruction. He, our Father in Heaven, gave them a temple and law and instructions to make them a peculiar people; the same thing He has given us. Deuteronomy was written to emphasize the Law of God. Clarification was given to them, as the Doctrine and Covenants have been given to us, by a prophet we revere. Each time a gospel principle has been lost, our dear Father fills in the lost pieces to help us. We have prophets as our ancient ancestor

image Children,  All too often we see blessings as curses. We have to go to church. We have to go to school. We have to read the scriptures. We have to say our prayers. Do you see what we are saying? This thing asked of us is daily and constant like muscle building. Our faith asks for constant mindfulness and exercise. When the children of Israel saw all the miracles and signs, they still were not ready to come into their Zion. Bread from heaven wasn't enough and the quail came and with it serpents. When they conquered the serpents and made a symbol and example of one to show their victory over pain and death by putting it on a rod or staff to present before the children of God, it still wasn't enough for some because of its simplicity.  image Later, they would call spies (imagine that calling) to look at their new home of milk and honey. When they got back from their travels, twenty-two of the twenty-four only saw walls and giants of power and indust

image Leviticus is a hard book and is one of the three hardest books to understand (Isaiah and Revelations being the other two). It is loaded with instructions on the most vertical and symbolic building, the temple. In this post, we want to show how the temple is so important to us and what we can learn. Let's go over the symbols... Ark of the covenant (Exodus 37:1–9; 40:20–21).  This was the throne of God Jehovah to Israel's sons and daughters. There were symbols in the box. The box had Aarons's staff, a jar of manna, and the tablets of stone. Before the Mercy Seat, we are asked to plead for constant forgiveness so that we can grow. The ark and the whole temple were ready to go when God asked it of them through fire and a pillar of smoke. We should be eager to go to holy places and to go when moved by the spirit to where ever the Lord directs us to go. It had a chair on top and angel wings to cover the chair or throne so that the glory of God would not destroy