Letter to the Class

Image   Children, Welcome to the new year. We are studying the New Testament. We hope you will take to heart the admonition of the Apostle Paul when he wrote... "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Corinthians 2:11-12) Brothers and sisters, what this is telling us is that you will come to hear and see things through the scriptures and living prophets the things that the natural ears and eyes cannot comprehend. Last year was full of prophets with metaphors and symbols. This year Jesus and his apostles will bring what was said to a clear picture of his time and unfold more important things for ours. Studying the scriptures should be a life journey that is unique to each of us. Jesus' life is a teaching

image Our dear friends, We are so sad to see the year-end. We hope you have enjoyed the blog and the messages of hope and love the ancient prophets have given us and a promise of the blessed Messiah and Savior who is always part of our lives. The title we know is deceptive you might think of ole Ebenezer Scrooge and the spirits of Christmas past present and future but this message is to help us remember the Savior. The three spirits we are talking of are the three degrees of the spirit of Christmas, Santa, the baby, and the risen Lord. For some this season the notion of Jesus is too much. Even Saint Nicholas is too much but a man in a red suit is ok. The spirit of giving and of hope and peace to all mankind is enough, and that's great. We sing songs of gifts and Santa and being good. Songs like, Jingle Bells and Here Comes Santa Claus. Wonderful music. We watch Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. For others, the Christ Child is enough. Approaching a ba

Image Children, Malachi's emphasis was on making our outside actions reflect our inside. The Lord asks for sacrifice. He wants our spirits to gain something from the things we do with our temporal things. For ambient Israel, it was the sacrifice of animals. During the prophets' time, the people had become careless. The offering was without feeling. They had become numb, going through thr motions and their offering showed it.  We are encouraged to fast and pray, to attend the church and temple. The whole point is to turn to God; turn our hearts to our Father in Heaven. He told us that there would be a time when Elijah was going to exercise his keys and reunite us with our parents, grandparents, and all of our forefathers in a way that would again bless the world as it did in ancient times.    The point of these rituals and sacrifices renew and refresh our relationship with God. If the meaning was lost then, it could be lost now. We urge you to make an effort to give

Image The prophets these few years have asked us to renew, replace, replenish, and repent. It was our heart's desire during the pandemic and for even a while it showed when the sanctions and mandates were lifted. We had that same spirit of renewal on September eleventh (now known as Patriot Day).   The patriots and saints are awakened when trial and tragedy came. When the Israelites finally got a chance to rebuild the temple of Solomon, at the start, the people were excited and prepared but when things cooled, so did they.  President Nielsen has asked us to now be active in church and temple. Our trials have lessened but persistence should not. We should seek to help others more, read our scriptures more, attend our meetings more and be grateful the trials have lessened. Like an athlete, we are in our trial free time as a people, as they are between competitions. We need to prepare for the next challenge. Haggai and Zachariah wanted it and they warned us to fill our ves