[October 2017 General Conference quotes]

I was asked to do one of the bulletin boards in the church hallway long time ago. I finally got around switching the quotes. Need to do it more often. I think it's important that those who are in the hallway for one reason or another (noisy kids...) have something uplifting to read. 

[God is merciful and He DOES have a Plan!]

I found this blog post today about what my Church teaches about being saved after this life and how that makes our faith "most liberal in mercy".

So many religions/churches teach that if you don't belong to their church, you are damned to hell or some kind of eternal suffering. Well, it's just not true.

God is our Heavenly Father (He is a literal Father to our spirits) and loves us more than we can even imagine. He would not condemn someone to eternal suffering just because they happen to be in the wrong church or even if they are atheist or even if they are the worst sinners.

If you read the above blog post, you'll learn what my Church teaches about who is saved. Pretty much everyone is saved to a wonderful place of glory.

Once you have read that blog post, read this following quote. It is from one of our manuals and explains how even the worst sinner is loved more than we can understand. The telestial kingdom is the lowest of the three God's kingdoms, yet it is glorious beyond understanding.

D&C 76:89–106. Why Will Those Who Inherit the Telestial Kingdom Receive a Glory That “Surpasses All Understanding”?

All who receive the telestial kingdom will have paid a price for this glory. The fact that after they pay this price they inherit a telestial glory is evidence of the Father’s love and mercy. Elder John A. Widtsoe wrote:

“The [Doctrine and Covenants] explains clearly that the lowest glory to which man is assigned is so glorious as to be beyond the understanding of man. It is a doctrine fundamental in Mormonism that the meanest sinner, in the final judgment, will receive a glory which is beyond human understanding, which is so great that we are unable to describe it adequately. Those who do well will receive an even more glorious place. Those who dwell in the lower may look wistfully to the higher as we do here. The hell on the other side will be felt in some such way.

“The Gospel is a gospel of tremendous love. Love is at the bottom of it. The meanest child is loved so dearly that his reward will be beyond the understanding of mortal man.”

I blogged about God's plan for us long time ago at my other blog. I explained the kingdoms of glory etc. You can read those blog posts by clicking here:

God's plan, Part I

God's plan, Part II

God's plan, Part III

So often you hear people say things like "Why did this happen?" (when something bad happens) or "Why did God let those people suffer? Why didn't he stop the bad guys?". Once you understand God's plan for us, you'll see why. People blame God for not doing anything about the bad things in life, yet they are often unwilling to learn more about God and why He is doing what He is doing (for example, why He is not stopping terrorists, etc). Once you understand The Plan and the gospel more fully, life makes so much more sense. You will understand why we have to go through trials and suffering in this life. You'll understand yourself better. Who you are. Where you came from. Why you are here on earth. Where you are going after this life. There is so much information if people are just willing to learn. Once you get The Plan, it all makes sense! I promise. :)

[What if all our prayers were answered?]

What would happen if all your prayers were answered? The whole plan of God would be annulled, that's what!

"Now, we find many people critical when a righteous person is killed, a young father or mother is taken from a family, or when violent deaths occur. Some people become bitter when oft-repeated prayers seem unanswered. Some lose faith and turn sour when solemn administrations by holy men seem to be ignored and no restoration seems to come from repeated prayer circles. But if all the sick were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended.

If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil - all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. 

There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, no Satanic controls.

Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death; and if these were not, there would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood."

Spencer W. Kimball, Improvement Era, March 1966

Once we understand God's plan for us, we will understand why there must be trials in this life and why He can't give us everything we want.