BYU Education Week -- Friday Part 1

DO ANIMALS GO TO HEAVEN? (BRETT H. LATIMER): Many religions argue about whether or not animals go to heaven.  Some say it's just wishful thinking that your dogs will go to heaven.  What do the scriptures say?  God created the earth and saw that it was good.  We should not muzzle the ox in the corn field.  The Sabbath applied to man and animals.  We should pray over our flocks.  Got does not forget even a sparrow.  If one falls, He notices it.  Each and every one of us is precious.  We are not forbidden to eat meat, but wo unto he who wastes flesh and has no need.  The fullness of the earth is yours, and the beasts of the field. John the Revelator saw various beasts. John saw actual beasts in heaven, showing John that they actually exist there.  John saw beasts and fowls and fishes in heaven giving glory to God.  God who made the beasts could understand every language spoken by them.  They were seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God. The whole animal creation will be perfected and perpetuated in the Hereafter.  When Daniel saw the vision of four beasts, they represented the kingdoms of the world.  Joseph Smith said there is a grand difference in the distinction between the visions and figure spoken of by the ancient prophets and those spoken of in the revelations of John.  John was seeing the future.  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.  The calk and young lion and the fatling together and the little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed. Old things shall pass away and all things shall become new.  And not one hair shall be lost and the graves shall be opened, even all.  Animals do have spirits and through the reception made by our Savior they will come forth in the resurrection to enjoy the blessing of immortal life.  They will be assigned to each kingdom.  In the eternities all living creatures shall be given knowledge and enjoy happiness.  They will not be the dumb creatures that we suppose them to be in this life.  Perhaps the Good Shepherd is literally a shepherd.  Will animals be with their owners or stewards in the hereafter?  There is no revealed word on this subject.  Family pets may be restored to their owners in the resurrection.  Joseph Smith hoped to be reunited with his horse in the next life.  Heber C. Kimball said we should not abuse animals.  We need to think about how we treat animals.  Joseph Smith told those in Zion's Camp to leave the rattle snakes alone and not hurt them.  They carried the snakes on sticks across the river.  There are numerous examples in church history of animals being given priesthood blessings.  Animals are here for our use, but we will be held accountable for how we use them.  Lorenzo Snow said when he as hunting as a young man, he reflected on amusing himself by causing pain and harm to an innocent creature and realized that they has as much right to life as he did.  He put his gun away and stopped hunting.  What is your intent?  Joseph F. Smith said it was an abomination to destroy innocent birds for no good reason. Animals or birds should not be killed unless they are needed for food.  It is wrong.  Some souls seem to be athirst for the shedding of animal blood, just for the fun of it.  Take no way the life you cannot give, for all things have an equal right to live.  President Kimball said don't shoot the little birds, and extended that to all animal life.  You'll be held accountable for what you kill.  What is your intent?  For food or amusement?  It's quite a different matter to kill an animal for food.  The Church leaders have not released any statements concerning whether members should hunt or fish.  It's left to the discretion of the individuals.  What is your motivation?  What do you do with it once you've shot it?  All wild animals that run or creep on the earth; these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.  "These" may refer only to wild animals, not farm animals.  Are creatures being treated as humanely as possible?  Animals are coeternal, on a coordinated course, they have intelligence and potential. 

COPING WITH ANXIETY: HOW CHANGING OUR THINKING HELPS REVERSE IT (KEVIN HINCKLEY): Are you anxious about financial markets and US debt?  Terrorist threats or warnings?  Natural disasters?  Shifting political policies?  Job or retirement security? Raising a family?  Peer pressure?  Normalization of same sex culture?  Pornography?  Lady Gaga?  How's your anxiety doing?  Wait, there more.... Your debt, your weight, your calling, your car held together with duct tape, your sins, your husband's sins, your son's sins, your high blood pressure?  What about: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  And you think, yes but I'm the scout master, who has time to rest?  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  What's the problem here?  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  His yoke has nothing to do with oxen, but has everything to do with bondage.  In most cases it's a heavy yoke of bondage, but with Him, it will be light.  When we labor and are heavy laden with our pain, our fears, our solutions to those fears, He wants us to follow Him.  He is meek and lowly of heart.  He invites us to come unto Him and do what He does.  He need to be focused on His plan for us rather than our plan for us.  If we truly believe that He loves and cares for us, then we know that if we follow His plan we'll be happier than if we follow our plan.  But we're afraid that if we follow His plan instead of our plan, He'll want us to do things that we don't want to do. While we're wondering whether to go right or left, His plan might be to part the Red Sea. It's hard to feel the Spirit when you're engulfed in a panic attack.  It's hard to feel love when you're depressed.  A woman thought, "The more anxiety and stress I feel, the less faith I appear to have in the Atonement of Christ.  Doesn't fear drive out faith? So if I have anxiety, I am sinning."  This is the dreaded combo deluxe:  The original fear + fear of sin.  He told the parable of the smelly box.  A little girl was being hit by snowballs from mean kids.  She grabbed a smelly box out of a nearby garbage can and used it to block snowballs.  It worked!  The box smelled so bad it made her gag, but she carried it with her to school to keep from being hit by snowballs.  She continued carrying it with her day after day.  She wasn't hit by any more snowballs, but the smelly box drove her friends away.  Sometimes we carry with us smelly boxes that served us well at some time but we no longer need.  But we have gotten so used to carrying it around with us, that we can't let it go, even though it no longer serves any purpose for us and causes negative consequences.  Panic attacks can feel like heart attacks. You feel heart palpitations, tightness in chest, afraid of fainting. He knew a BYU professor who loved to attend basketball games but had panic attacks about being caught in crowds so he always left the games 3 minutes before they were over.  Some people are agoraphobic.  They have avoided everything that scared them until they no longer go anywhere.  One lady had a panic attack in the meat section at Smith's.  First she avoided the meat section, then she avoided Smith's, then she avoided all grocery stores.  It just progressively got worse until she couldn't go anywhere.  One woman panicked every time she tried to go to church.  Panic and anxiety expander? It's the awfulizer, which takes little things and make them into awful things.  Obsessive compulsive disorder is ritualistic routines that must be done to reduce anxiety.  He knows one woman who takes an hour to get to bed.  She has to show a certain way, floss with hot floss that's been heated with hot water.  Some are obsessed with checking things like have they locked the door?  One woman makes her husband check three times to make sure the door is locked, and then she goes and checks the door herself--again three times.  Another woman counts the syllables of what everyone says to her and feels obsessed with answering them with the same number of syllables.  Sleep disorders is often combined with some kind of depression.  Treatment involves three parts:  Spiritual component.  Ultimately these things will be healed by the Atonement.  But physically, these things need to be taken care of.  We need sleep.  We need to eat right.  We may need medication.  We also may need cognitive therapy.  These problems begin with our thoughts.  Our beliefs and irrational thoughts can drive these problems.  We feel broken.  We feel worthless.  That causes us to isolate, which makes us feel more depressed.  The Atonement heals what we can't so we can feel more joy.  Hug the monster.  If something is causing you anxiety, go right at it so it can't control you anymore.  Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach.  Take a deep breath and see if both hands move or if just your hand on your stomach moves.  If you can keep the hand on your chest still, you're breathing the right way and are relaxed.  Practice this laying on the floor with books on your chest and stomach and see if you can keep the book on your chest still while you breath.  Teach your body to relax.  Replace your fearful thoughts with the right thoughts and gain a sense of control. 

LDS WOMEN ON THE NATIONAL SCENE (SUSAN EASTON BLACK):  Latter-day Saint Women make a Difference.  Prior to W.W.I most of the church members were in the Intermountain West.  The typical woman at that time was married to a farmer and lived in communities with people they had crossed the plains with.  They were isolated.  They were in family units and lived near their brothers and cousins. Everyone was related to everyone.  But then LDS women began moving out of these kind of sequestered communities. This began in W.W.I. Men who returned after W.W.I often didn't want to return home.  They took their families and moved to Southern California.  Suddenly they were living among strangers instead of family members.  The first stake formed outside the Intermountain West was the Los Angeles Stake.  The bishop of the Hollywood ward would were tuxedos to church.  They were warned that they could be in the world, but just don't be of the world.  People began to spread all out and become from transient.  Women began to head for the workforce.  There were good and bad in these changes.  Many would return to Salt Lake to attend general conference and to marry in the temple, but some fell away from the church.  Those who remembered their covenants and remembered who they were, remained faithful.  Sometimes the parents in the families who spread out remained faithful, but their children did not.  Ivy Baker Priest became the United States Treasurer under Eisenhower.  She was born in 1905.  Her ancestors were pioneers.  She grew up in a mining town.  Her dad was a miner but he was often unemployed because he kept getting injured in the mines.  Her mother ran a boarding house for miners.  Her mother wanted wooden sidewalks put in so the miners wouldn't bring so much mud in the house.  One man ran for mayor who said he'd put in wooden sidewalks so Ivy's mother encouraged her Ivy, age 10, to help elect this mayor.  She succeeded and very very good.  Later she married, moved back east, her marriage fell apart, and she went back home with her parents.  Her father was injured in another accident and even though Ivy worked to try to support the family, they ended up on church welfare.  She struggled.  In 1932 she became president of the Young Republican Club and married a man 32 years her senior.  She has four children but through all of this, she continues her political ambitions.  She isn't elected.  After her second child died, she became despondent.  She roared back into politics, running for congress, but lost.  In 1952 she worked to elect Eisenhower.  When he won the office, he invited Ivy to be treasurer.  She served two terms, at the same time Ezra Taft Benson is in the cabinet of Eisenhower.  So Ivy was in the same meetings as Ezra Taft Benson, but by this time she is no longer active in the church.  Her name was printed on all the money, but she said she'd rather have her hand on the money than her name.  She died outside the faith in the 1970's.  Minerva Teichert was born in 1888.  She never lost her sense of direction of who she was.  Her glory in her spare time was painting.  She used the talent she had.  She grew up in Idaho and didn't have former schooling.  There was always something wonderful to see.  She enjoyed art.  She moved to San Francisco to attend an art school.  She wanted more art training and went to the Art Institute of Chicago.  Then she went to an art school in New York City.  She washes dishes to support herself, and also did Indian dances on the street.  Her art instructor recognized her huge talent.  Someone asked her if anyone had ever painted the Mormon story, and she answered not to her satisfaction.  She then felt this was her commission.  She came home and married a rancher who took her to Wyoming.  Every day she painted.  They were in poverty so sometimes she would paint on paper bags or rocks.  In W.W.I her husband was drafted and she goes off to fight.  She misses him and becomes very ill.  She has a huge longing.  She realizes she has a premiere education in art but is not doing anything with it.  At this time she promised the Lord that if her husband returns, she will literally paint the gospel.  The impact was incredible. She paints 42 different paintings, the story of the Book of Mormon, pioneers, Bible stories.  She's a mural painter so she'd divide the canvas and fold it over so it would fit in her small house.  She had red in every painting. That was a trademark of hers.  She said she wanted a touch of red in her heaven. She gave many of her paintings to BYU as tuition for her children and other relatives, so BYU has many of her paintings.  She said one lifetime to paint is not enough.  Rose Marie Reid was born in Cardston in 1906.  Her family moved to Oregon.  She won a beauty contest and used the money to support her brother on a mission.  She married an art teacher but that was unsuccessful.  Then she moved to Vancouver and took up swimming.  She married her swimming instructor.  Swimming suits back then were made of wool.  Her husband felt like he was being dragged down by his swimming trunks and asked her to make him a swimming trunk out of anything but wool.  She did.  Pretty soon everybody wanted one of her suits.  The result was that they were selling out and she founded a company in which she had to hire others.  In 1958 she made a profit of $14 million.  They make 10,000 bathing suits a day.  She spoke all over the church.  Pretty soon all the movie stars were wearing her suits.  She is a huge success.  In 1960 the bikini was introduced but she refused to make it.  Suddenly the old Rose Marie bathing suits were out of style and nobody is buying them. She goes out of business in 1962 and her husband leaves her.  Then she moves to Provo.  Now she's contacted by David O. McKay who asked her to redesign the temple clothing and temple garments. She dies a faithful member of the church.  Jessie Evans Smith has an amazing singing voice.  She was invited to join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at age 15 and is in it for 50 years.  She was asked to be in the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.  She read her patriarchal blessing that said her musical talent is to be used for the church.  So she turns down the offer to sing in the opera.  The wife of Joseph Fielding Smith became very sick and was on her deathbed and asks that Jessie Evans sing at her funeral.  So she does.  Joseph writes her a thank you note.  She writes back and asks if there is anything she can do to help him.  They began writing and meeting and she ends up marrying him.  He later became the prophet of the church.  They had a wonderful life together.  Belle S. Spafford was general president of the Relief Society for many years.  She lost her father when she was a child, but her mother always said dad was watching over them.  She grew up and attended the U. of U.  She married and had two children when the bishop calls her to be a counselor in the ward Relief Society. She told the bishop she thought it was a mistake because she was too young. She thought Relief Society was for old women.  But he insisted on it.  She kept asking to be released, but he refused, saying there was a reason for her to be in the Relief Society because of future responsibilities.  Even after she was in a car accident, he refused to release her.  Then she received a stake calling, but he still refused to release her from her ward calling.  He felt she should be well trained.  Years later when she spent 30 years as general Relief Society President, she thanked that bishop.  She put forward "Charity never faileth."  She encouraged visiting teaching.  She was big on reaching out to the one.  Belle literally traveled around the nation speaking to LDS women.  She had women she wanted to see.  What can we learn from these women?  Nauvoo women walked a little in the background.  They didn't head out as leaders.  Then we get women who had crossed the plains who endured what their husbands endured and they are speaking up and organizing themselves to better help the people in their neighborhoods.  It's a jolt for women.  Then they move from their support systems and some struggled.  Some left the church, others remained faithful.  We now live in a different time, a strong International church.  Women are throwing off their aprons and heading back to work.  Where do we stand on motherhood and being a wife?  Do we share the raising of children or is the mother still the nurturer?  Lines are not as clear as they once were and we have many questions.  Are we grounded?  There is a message in the past and a message for the future.  Women absolutely need to know who they are and what they stand for and where they're going.  Women don't have the same support system as women in the past.  Will we be faithful and serve the Lord?  Belle Spafford said, "The Church offers us opportunities that often make us go beyond ourselves." Years from now people will still talk about these women and their accomplishments.  How can we stand out in our generation, whether we're a man or a woman?  How do you stand out on a family group sheet?  First, you need to be a good daughter.  If you hate your parents, you don't really rise up.  Also, be a faithful wife, mom, grandmother.  The roles given to women matter.  The women who will be remembered for good keep their covenants.  Our responsibilities are huge.  For her, she grew up with all brothers, married a man, and gave birth to all sons.  She works teaching religion with all men.  The only time she ever gets together with women is on Sunday in Relief Society.  She's grateful for Relief Society, which gives her a chance to interact with women.  She's grateful to be a member of the church.  She knows Joseph Smith was a great prophet and Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today.  She knows if she does service, her life can be happy. 

THE PARABLE OF THE TWO DEBTORS (C. ROBERT LINE):  Understanding Christ's ability to cleanse and change.  There are people in this room who need to hear what we're going to talk about, but even if that isn't the case, there are people in your life who need this message and you need to find ways to share it.  Luke 7:36-50.  Verses 36-39--the context.  Parables often teach the doctrines of the Atonement.  If you want to understand a parable, understand the context first.  Verses 40-42 is the parable.  Verses 43-50 is the lesson that we learn from this parable.  The Savior teaches an important lesson.  What might be perplexing about this teaching?  A sinful woman anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair.  People questioned why Jesus would let such a sinful woman touch him.  He told a parable. A creditor had two debtors who could not pay and he forgave them both. The one he forgave most would love him most.  He talked about how the sinful woman loved him much because she had been forgiven much.  The perplexing thing about this is the implication that that sinners who are forgiven are loved more than those who don't sin in the first place.  This parable has a heavy emphasis on forgiveness of sin.  There are two crucial doctrines that will help us understand forgiveness and why Jesus went around quickly forgiving people.  D&C 20:31-32.  Justification is just and true.  Sanctification through the grace of Christ is just and true. Through the Atonement of Christ, He can justify and sanctify.  These are things that only He can do.  Justification is what God declares about the believer, not what He does to change the believer.  Suppose a thief came to trial and the person he'd stolen from decided to drop the charges.  So the judge declared "Not guilty."  However, that doesn't mean he didn't steal, nor that he won't steal again.  However, legally, he has been declared not guilty and is free to go.  Justification vs. sanctification.  Justification is an event that can and should happen many times in your life.  Every Sunday you have the opportunity to participate in a justification event when you take the sacrament. It's a moment when you can feel justified.  Guiltless and blameless refer to justification.  It's to be declared as innocent of the sin.  It doesn't mean you didn't commit the sin, nor that you won't commit it again.  But it means to be forgiven of sin.  When Jesus forgave the woman taken in adultery, it doesn't mean she didn't do it or won't do it again, but that Christ forgave her.  We repent, God forgives.  Repentance is a part of justification but not necessarily sanctification.  Justification is getting on the path of the gospel.  Satan wants to get us off the path and quit feeling the Spirit.  Once off the path he tells you you're off the path, a bad person, and far away from God.  He tells you you're never going to get back on the path and you might as well quit.  But Heavenly Father, when we get off the path, tells us to take a step and get back on the path.  We can get on the path quickly.  It doesn't take a long, long, long time to get back on the path.  Repent doesn't mean a big long process.  It means turning from sin.  You can quickly turn from evil.  Read the Miracle of Forgiveness, but start with chapter 8.  It's a miracle that you can be forgiven.  Prior to 1969 you never have any apostles or prophets that define repentance as a process of steps.  It's okay if he defined it that way.  A man from Texas and a man from England could get into a big argument about football, but they simply have different definitions of football.  The man from England means soccer.  The steps to fully come unto God are sanctification.  That is a process not an event.  It should take your entire life.  Instead of saying guiltless and blameless, you are spotless and pure.  You're not just declared innocent, but are becoming holy.  It is becoming free from sinfulness.  It's not just getting on the path, it's moving on the path.  It's when you become perfect, like Christ.  We need to talk about both of these.  He has absolute faith that he can repent and get back on the path.  When people transgress, they can speedily repent and find favor in the sight of the Lord.  D&C 109:21.  When President Kimball is talking about repentance being a long process of steps, he's talking about sanctification, not justification.  If you commit a sin, repent immediately and call upon God to give you the light of His spirit.  We can repent quickly!  Alma 34:31.  Come forth and harden not your heart.  If ye will repent, immediately will the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you?  Elder Holland said you can change anything you want to change very fast.  Another Satanic sucker punch is that it takes eons to repent.  It takes as long to repent as it takes to say you'll change and mean it.  Of course change, growth, renewal and repentance can come for you as instantaneously as it did for Alma.  Elder Scott admonishes people to repent and come back.  The journey is not as difficult as it seems.  Find enduring joy.  This isn't talking about the journey to the Celestial Kingdom, it's talking about the journey back on the path.  If someone doesn't think they can come back, help them realize that they can come back to the path quickly. And then they can follow that path and work on sanctification.  True doctrine understood changes people!  They don't have to wallow in sin anymore!  They can repent quickly.  We can grow firmer and firmer, stronger and stronger.  This is a process and refers to sanctification.  If you're making a candle, you don't put a wick in the wax one time and pull out a perfect candle.  It takes time and repeatedly putting the wick in the wax.  Sanctification takes time and repeated repenting, taking the sacrament, and having faith that the Lord will forgive us.  Elder Bednar said, "The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives.  It also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better.  Repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness and spiritually necessary, and we must always do so.  But remission of sin is not the only or even the ultimate purpose of the gospel.  To have our hearts changed by the Holy Spirit is the covenant responsibility we have accepted.  Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin. All of our worthy desires and good works cannot produce clean hands and a pure heart.  It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides the cleansing and redeeming power that helps us overcome sin.  C.S. Lewis knew that if he had a toothache he could go to his mother and she'd give him aspirin that would help him sleep for the night.  But the next morning she'd take him to the dentist who would give him the full treatment.  Christ wants to finish His work in our lives and in the lives of those we love.  Believe it!  Testify this to people who need this in their lives.