Episode #220: Armour of God Series PT 2: The Breastplate of Righteousness W/Cory Molloy

0:12 Ori, how you doing? I'm doing good. Good, good. Is everything going well? How's how's the gym going these days man? I have actually seen some progress the last couple weeks. I am doing the holds with, you know, bench with 225 as far as just doing holds, so that it kind of conditions my my bench press to go up and I've done squats with four O 5 and doing holds with that. And that's helpful. I mean, those numbers to me are not very good numbers because I would wrap with those very comfortably and this was not comfortable. So I really was just getting like soreness and achiness and I'm just so grateful because I'm seeing something change physically where I'm just like, yeah, you know, Heavenly Father, I know he's told me that I'm going to be healed. I believe in him, but sometimes that takes a moment and it's hard to have patience as a, as a top 1% athlete. It's like, I just want it now.

1:15 I want to feel like I've had could wake up in the morning every day with energy and you know, the kind of enthusiasm like a teenager, which I've pretty much been all of my life until I got COVID. But I did go on a run, which isn't really a run because I actually have done marathons before, but it's 2 miles around this little area here and just on the little dirt fields that surround us here, the cotton field. And it really, I didn't get any soreness afterwards. So my body has just in three runs like this. The first time I was sore and could barely move for four days. And this time, no soreness. I'm like, this is awesome. I wasn't labored.

1:56 I, it wasn't like I could barely breathe just doing that. And so, yeah, that's you don't realize how wonderful you have it when you have legs and arms and you can move. And it's like so many people, they could be great runners if they wanted to. And so many people don't even have the opportunity. They couldn't. Like, I've been fighting, wanting to do this for years now. And I'm finally starting to see the progress and I'm like, oh, I'm not done till I'm getting those marathons in until I can bench 225 comfortably again. But yeah, just, I'm, I'm thrilled. And I'm, I'm seeing kind of the light at the end of the tunnel and feeling that encouragement. So yeah.

2:38 That's awesome. It's always good when you go and you can see progress, right? I know for me, the toughest times for me is when I hit that plateau, right? Yeah, yeah. You see, you make all those gains and then you kind of plateau for a minute and it's normal, right? And you just kind of plateau and you're like, oh, man, it's not moving. It's not moving. And then you'll hit it, it you'll feel like you'll just want to give up. And then you'll hit another big spike where you make it some more gains, right? And that kind of keeps you going. But but it is discipline. But well, man, I'm glad. I'm glad you're, you're making a recovery. You're starting to feel better. That's, that's absolutely fantastic. So well, man, I'll tell you what, this, this won't air till it's, it's December 13th now and this one won't air until probably early January. But man, this topic has been weighing on my mind for about the last year.

3:36 And this is going to be Part 2 in the in the Gospel, the the the armor of God series. And today we're going to go over the breastplate of righteousness and what that means. And so Corey, I'm, I'm super excited to see what you came up with, bro. Yeah, yeah. I initially when you mentioned it to me, I was like, oh, you're asking for, you know, some real deep, you know, doctrinal things. And then I just realized once I started to get into it, I started to feel the Spirit working with me. Woke up a few times in the middle of the night. I was like, Corey, you've got to share this, you've got to share this. And it just kept happening. So I feel like I've really got something special with this episode for all for everyone who wants to draw closer to our Father in heaven, you know, the things that have drawn me the closest.

4:24 And it's very much, you know, putting on the the breast plate, plate of righteousness. And you know, the DNC kind of starts out, you know, DNC 1:30, 1/6. He says it's impossible to be saved in ignorance. And Joseph Smith, he says, well, we're saved no faster than a man gains knowledge to develop in their understanding and character of God. And just over and over, you know, I, I spent a lot of time with AI and since I'm a marketing guy, I always try to put everything in my own words. I, as a marketing professional, I just, I try to reframe the ideas that I read in the most positive, present and personal way possible because it makes me a better man and it speaks to my mind a bit more urgent urgently to my mind than something that's negative past or impersonal. And so I feel it a lot more in my heart. And Nephi, he says, first, Nephi 19, liken all the scriptures to yourself for your learning and your profit. And you know, I invite all of the listeners here on this podcast to very much, you know, see how this topic can relate to your life.

5:38 Because I feel like this is the key principle in developing our character like our Father in heaven so that we can stand in the presence of our Father in heaven with confidence that our prayers are answered, that we have faith in him and trust in him kind of a thing. And and it really is. It's simpler in some ways, and yet it's something that most of us aren't catching on to. That's what I I've seen more so with with doing the deep dive because of your, you know, invitation to come on this. I feel like I've really am learning even more and I'm solidifying. It's like, yeah, you know, I I do get a couple pieces of this slice of the pie. I like I get it internally.

6:21 And I'm seeing that a lot of other people might not in in chatting with them online, especially this is this is a topic that I'm seeing a lot of holes in the understanding of my fellow brothers and sisters. So let let's really look at what it means to put on the whole armor of God so that we can withstand the slings and the the arrows of the adversary that, you know, he he throws at us in life. Absolutely. Can I, can I ask this question to you? And, and I was curious, right, because when when I first got the prompting to do this series, I looked at it and I'm like, you're, they're not going to be able to come up with enough stuff. These are fairly simple principles, right?

7:03 Was that ever a concern for you as you were preparing it? And then as you got into it, you're like, oh, there's way more here than what I thought. I initially felt like it was going to be a lot of content. And yet after I got into it, I was like, Oh my goodness, this is one of the biggest concepts of our gospel, very much a cornerstone, keystone principle. Like today, after we cover all of these scriptures, I've got 19 pages of quotes and things from the scriptures. I try to make them so that they're really quick that I can read them right off kind of almost the top of my head. I memorized a lot of them as a missionary, but with COVID, I don't have quite the recall. And unfortunately, you know, I'm just going to do my best and and try to be as as helpful as possible and and presenting this.

7:52 Yep, Let's dive in, man. Well, understanding the deeper principles that are shared in the scriptures that you just, you know, it does increase your, your confidence in your spiritual power. It, it will give you more, you know, helpful insights into how to navigate the challenges you face so that you become more like Jesus Christ because that's what we really are. We're followers, you know, Christians. Christians are followers of Jesus. We want to be like him and develop his character, his personality and act like he does and treat others like him. I thought this was interesting. Even Captain Moroni, he says, you know, scriptures can be a guide to your life. Even Captain Moroni turned to the words of Jacob when he tore his clothes to create the title of liberty for the people in his day.

8:43 And you know, if guys like Captain Moroni, it's like all of the, the prophets, they were learning from each other. They're they're studying the scriptures. The Savior went to the temple when he was 12 and, and he had such a, the spirit was working with them so much. He was able to share things with the doctors then. But as a child, of course, he would have learned little by little, just like us. He developed his character, you know, through study and through prayer and through learning from the rabbi's of, of his day. And that's what we can do today with our scriptures, you know, pulling them out and trying to pick apart what do these meanings say?

9:24 What are the what? How do I apply this kind of a thing? Oh, so I think if, if I'm picking up here what you're putting down, it's it's putting on that, that breastplate of righteousness. It's not, it's not an event. It can be a process. Yes, and the process has to do with, you know, a couple of the words that are shared in the in the Sermon on the Mount and also, you know, I'll get to this, you know, like what is the the breastplate of judgment and righteousness? In Exodus 28 and Leviticus 8, the Lord commands Aaron, the first high priest under the Levitical order to be clothed in sacred vestments. The linen, the linen garments of consecration, the ephod vest, and the breastplate of judgment fastened, you know, with the Urim and thummim on on the breastplate. So this is kind of what's going on. And in Hebrew it says the Urim.

10:25 The word Urim means light and the thummim is perfection or truth. And these were instruments of divine revelation, the way the high priest could inquire of the Lord and receive perfect answers and light and truth. And then you see Joseph Smith, centuries later, he's called to bring forth the Book of Mormon. And the Lord gave him a breastplate with the Urim and thummim and all of that was attached exactly what what Aaron wore anciently. And, and it's the exact ancient order and the exact same holy instrument. So there is more to this idea, you know, of putting on this breastplate of righteousness because this is how the Lord is directing and guiding his prophets. And it's symbolically.

11:13 There are some other things that are going on here that we'll get right into the kind of makes this topic a lot more interesting and fascinating to me if you look at. I like that. I like that connection you found between between the breastplate of righteousness and the breastplate plate of judgement. I think that's a fascinating correlation there. Yeah, yeah, we're going to do a lot more deep dive into this. There are a bunch of things that I feel like I'm having a bit more of an aha moment and I've connected a lot of dots doing this. So I feel like, you know, I've read the the Bible five times, studied some Greek and Latin. So those are the areas that I've spent the most time with, not so much Hebrew.

11:54 Joni has spent a lot of time with that. And so she's been teaching me a lot of the, the details too, which is great. And I know there's a lot of listeners here who are great scholars and are way beyond me in these areas. And it's just so fun to learn from them, especially the, the ancient Hebrew traditions that are really not explained in, you know, our LES, you know, institute manuals or, you know, when we go to school at, at the University of Utah, because I've taken all of their classes, but they, they touch on it. They don't go into the full depth of really what the law was. So, you know, Joshua Erickson really adds to that with his podcasts and a lot of his conversations. Those have been beautiful. So appreciate that.

12:37 And it puts it makes the scriptures so much more meaningful when you understand what these words mean as well. Absolutely. If you look at Melchizedek and Strong's the Hebrew is pronounced in English as Malik so on that word actually means king. And then Sadiq is to justify a righteousness. So then we get right back to the word justifying again, but the the name Melchizedek means King of righteousness. And when Aaron was clothed in these holy garments, he stood before Israel with this Urim and Thummim right over his heart. And this was a symbolically putting on this armor of righteousness and exercising the priesthood after the order of the Son of God, the same Melchizedek priesthood we have today. Well, here's the restored truth that every worthy bearer of the Melchizedek priesthood, male or female, for our sisters received the fullness of the mechazetic priesthood in the temple endowment, and we are invited to become exactly what the name declares, a king or queen of righteousness, a priest or priestess unto the Most High God. Well, and we put that same armor on every time we clothe ourselves in temple garments.

13:55 We live worthy of the Holy Ghost, our modern Urim and Thummim, and we minister with light and truth to the House of Israel. That's how you become a king or queen of righteousness by receiving and honoring the holy priesthood after the order of Melchizedek walking and holiness before the Lord, letting his light and perfection shine through you to everyone around you. And you know, just to paraphrase one O 7 and the Doctrine and covenants in the temple endowment, just you know, it's just like let everybody stand in their office and labor in their calling. Go go do the work people. Go teach your your brothers and sisters. You know, it's, it's interesting that the, the thing I picked up on there as you were talking about Aaron and the, the breastplate there where the Urim and Thummim is positioned, right? It's over his heart, right over your heart, like, and if we think about what the Urim and Thummim does it, it reveals things right.

14:54 And I think in some way the Lord is saying, I know it's hard. Right, I know your home. Right. And, and I think there's a lot there to think about in in that in that motif. And the, the symbolism is, is really fun, you know, that's, you know, kind of the ancient pattern. Well, that sums it up. We'll look at some more scriptures before we get into how to apply the principles. Yeah. Ephesians 6414 Paul says we'll stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist and with the breastplate of righteousness in place. In Isaiah 5917 he says will he put on righteousness as a breastplate and the pure in heart wear the breastplate of righteousness because the breastplate can protect your heart from the fiery darts of the adversary. The Spirit of the Lord can guide you in your education and career as well as who you marry another any other life changing, you know, choices that that you're making or you don't make. You know, sometimes you need to be told not to do something because you just feel like that pit, that emptiness, that uncomfortability with something that you've been something's been weighing on you.

16:08 And and you know, it takes all of us practice to do that. Even Joseph Smith, you know, he, he pushed things several times until he learned, you know what, this when God tells you something, listen, you know, he, he wanted to give Martin Harris, Harris the, the, the transcripts there. And he, he, he really just wanted Martin Harris to have it. And so he kept praying. Hey, Heavenly Father, please, please, please. And just like we are with our children, if they say please long enough, go ahead, find out. You know, I, I didn't even, I, I had hadn't even thought about that. But protecting your heart from the fiery darts of the adversary.

16:51 If we look at I think it's DNC 88, it talks about men's hearts will fail them. Yeah, good point. Right. In the last days, men, men's hearts were, will fail them. And I remember thinking, oh, well, that must just be because of, you know, all these calamities, right? As I'm a young Mormon and I'm figuring things out, I'm taking it very literally, right? And I'm thinking, oh, you know, it's going to be so terrifying that men are going to keel over from heart failure, right? But I don't necessarily think that's exclusively what that means, right? I think what that means is is that men's hearts failing them means that men will lose compassion and they will lose courage, Right.

17:34 And in these last days, those are two things that are in short supply that are needed. And so, yeah. Very much so online especially. Yeah. So if you have developed those compassion and courage, well, you got to figure out a way to protect it. I think that's a fascinating find that you had there, Corey. Well, you know, so how does it you you put on this this little breastplate of righteousness? You know, first I'm going to address a popular false doctrine. I hear it often at church. You know, people say, yeah, nobody's perfect. And it's kind of meant as this euphemism and, you know, to excuse underperformance or even incompetence. And it's often, you know, especially when somebody says, Oh, well, you know, Oh well, nobody's perfect kind of a thing.

18:25 But in Matthew 548, Jesus tells us very clearly, be ye therefore perfect, even as I am the Greek word for perfect, telios, it can mean complete, whole, finished or fully developed. I like the whole and finished. And then you, you go over to Matthew here, 2746. So what does the Savior say on the cross when everything's done? It is finished. Yeah, yeah. So that perfection. So that's the idea of the perfection that he's that we're not translating in our little brains, you know, from really what has gone on previously.

19:09 What is the Savior trying to tell us? You know, the, the command for perfection is to be fully developed in your character as as a Christian, you know, you're committed not to be flawless or sinless. You know, if it's the personalities of those who have been saved because you're perfect and or made whole. When you feel the love of God fill your heart when you're praying, when you come up out of the waters of baptism or when you, you know, partake of the sacrament on Sunday. And unless you're, you know, if you're sincere, if you're sincere in that, then then you would be made perfect at that point in your, in your, in your life, because you know, you're praying, You know, as I've, as I pray, I feel the, the Spirit of the Lord kind of give me that help.

19:56 Sometimes I've gone to church. My mom would always share this with me says, you know, sometimes the speakers that get up, they're, they're maybe not very in tune. They aren't really feeling it that day or they just, they just don't know what to say and they're scared. And so you don't feel like you really got much out of the meeting. But you know, my mom says, you know, if you come to church with. Your plate empty, you want Heavenly Father to fill you up and give you that spirit. You can be praying during the sacrament. You can be praying during someone's, you know, other prayers too, Praying with them that they feel the spirit and have the right words when they speak and what they do. And then when the songs are given and over and over, I felt that trickling of the spirit where I just feel that warmth and that love again.

20:48 It's like, you know, you kind of feel this hug, like something comes over you and you're like, you feel this peace that you didn't have right before. You know, sometimes when I take the sacrament or clearly when I was baptized, that was just so such a beautiful experience and and we can remember those moments and so we have some identifying features. It's like, well, you know, that's what it feels like, but that's what happens when you know you are perfect, you're made perfect. You know, this, I guess the thing that has frustrated me with this topic is, you know, we seem to devalue that idea of perfection. Nobody's perfect, and yet everyone who sits at church after the sacrament is perfect if they're doing it sincerely.

21:34 Sure, I see what you're saying, you know, and something else you said. It's something that has bugged me for a while. And I'll hear people say, Oh, well, so and so spoke. And you know what? It wasn't that great of a meeting. Or, you know, whatever the case is, that's a failing of the listener of of the, of the, the, the listener or the congregant, not the speaker. Yeah. Let me let me explain this right. And I know I've irritated, irritated a few people with this, but I do believe it's true. If you are in tune, if you go seeking revelation, if you have put yourself in that position, something will be said that will resonate with you, that will maybe 'cause you to go down a, a line of thought that will reveal the answer to what you're looking for. But that's not a function of the speaker. That's a function of you being close to the spirit. And so it, it always bugged me when I hear people say, Oh yeah, I, you know, I really didn't like that talk. Well, why not?

22:35 Well, I didn't feel the spirit. Well, that's a you problem. That's not a the speaker problem. And I think that's something that that needs to be drawn out and look as we, as we look to, to take upon us this, this breastplate of righteousness. And you're, you're talking about, I think the sacraments 1 great way that that can be done. This is a personal thing. We've got to take accountability for it, right? We can't just be like, oh, well, this will be easy, right? It it's simple because it's, but it's not easy. Oh yeah, definitely not easy. Right. And so no, I I dig what you're putting down there. Yeah, I'm going to ask a few questions here, You know, So what happens to you when you feel the love of God for the first time?

23:21 I'm going to answer that for me because it was so such a life changing thing for me. Like I just so grateful for Heavenly Father's love in my life. I just am. I wow I I felt to the the deepest level of peace, happiness, and love that filled my entire body to the core. I wanted to run around and hug everyone. I cared for everyone and everything, people, plants and animals. I wanted to make the world a better place in every way possible. I was excited, motivated, and worked hard to contribute. I realized that we would all live together forever in the next life and that many things we do in life can only be done by us.

24:08 I realize that everything we do causes ripples that will echo an eternity. I realized as creators of families and other gods, we will eventually all know each other's reasons, thoughts, and feelings for for the things we do. I wanted to be the kind of person who loves and respects others. I began to do hard things like ballet, martial arts, and gymnastics because I felt empowered for the first time in my life. I felt God and his love fill my heart. That's, that's what it did for me. And so much more, so much more that yeah, I could go on for hours. It's, it's literally that big of a list. And I, I am so thankful for the Savior and what this gospel is because it's giving me hope that I didn't have before that. And I see so many people struggling with their personal challenges, not realizing that they are divine and that their Father in heaven and their Mother in heaven loves them and that they are literally children with divine potential. And I'm going to get into this a bit more and several other things that we've started to touch on. We'll, we'll go much more into depth. But you know, what was it like for you? Is there anything more wonderful? I'm maybe you can share some of your thoughts here, Dave. And you know what?

25:33 I remember the change was for you. You know, I firmly believe that for most people, their lives are a series of inflection points that if, if done properly, kind of calibrate your, your compass, if you will point you back towards God. So I've had several of those inflection points. The big 1 is when I decided to be a Mormon period, right? And I joined the LDS church. Well, I've never shared this before on the podcast. I've shared it with some other people, but I'll I'll share it here. This was, this was about, this was probably 3 or 4 months before I met Amber.

26:26 I, I was in a dark place, I mean, a real dark place. I was abusing all sorts of substances. I mean, it was not great. And one night we had been out partying really hard, really hard. And it had gone on several days. And I, I just gotten done searching for God, right? I honestly, I was more in the camp of, of what a deist would be, right? And a deist is somebody that believes God's kind of like a clock maker, right? He just starts creation, he winds it up and then he becomes disinterested, but he lets it go. And so that's honestly what like I was like, OK, if a God exists, I think he's probably a deist, right? Is, is kind of what, what my thoughts were on that. And so when you take that approach, it's not necessarily nihilistic, but it's damn close, right? Because it's a clockmaker and he's disinterested in his creation.

27:23 Well, then what standard do I need to uphold, right? It makes no sense. And so I you know, that leads, that leads to some questionable decision making. But this one stretch, I mean, really going hard. And I remember, I don't know if it was just a combination of lack of sleep and then all the substances, or if maybe some of the substances were bad, but it was bad like I was. I was throwing up a lot and my heart was racing cold sweats, like I wasn't sure I was going to pull through.

28:05 I was getting a little worried. And I remember I went to the bathroom because I thought I just want to splash some cold water on my face. And I remember, and this is long before I knew anything about Mormonism, like I said, three or four months before I met Amber. And I remember I splashed water on my face and I just kind of, you know, wiped my face off. I looked up in the mirror. I was like, oh, David. And as soon as I said my name, it's like I could see every messed up, screwed up thing I'd ever done in addition to what it must have felt like to the person I offended. And in that moment, I remember I had this distinct idea that our names are simply containers for the deeds that we do.

28:52 That's why the Lord can call your name and you know he's talking to you because when he says your name, it's an illumination of all the things that you have done. And I remember I was startled and I just remember looking in the mirror and I said out loud the words, I need a new name, right? Because I, I felt like I had corrupted mine. And so that was the first time I remember thinking, Oh, God isn't so distant as what I thought, right? Like this was something and. You were feeling something and, and that's no question, you're starting to feel some trickle, like this isn't just me here. Right now my first thought was oh crap, he does care.

29:36 I probably made some mistakes here, right? That was my first thought. But the next morning I was filled with hope again because I'm like, OK, if he's out there and that was from him, he wants me to go find him right now. I can move forward now. I can go do some things. And so that was the first time I remember feeling a twinge of something other than at if there was a God, he was distant. Now. God, to me was like, no, I'm trying to tell you something here, youngster, and you're not picking up what I'm putting down. And he really had to grab my attention. But that was kind of the. But yeah, it was, it was hope, right? It was hope.

30:19 It was like out there. And he's sending me a message. There's got to be a way back. And that was kind of it. Still didn't think about Mormonism. I was like, yeah, I can't be it. But nonetheless, I was like, yeah, nonetheless, I felt like he was out there and I could go forward-looking for him. Yeah, but then those are the little steps forward, the little steps that put into your mind that you know what you do have A God. There's something else out there that's speaking to you and and you feel it. It's not just you. Right, 100% So I can, I can, I can. And then when I did discover Mormonism, what I look back and I'm like, what, what is this young man running from, right?

31:05 Because I remember praying about, you know, is the gospel true? And I get my answer. And and there's no vision. There's no grand miraculous thing like Joseph Smith. But it's a knowing, right? Like I remember getting up and rather than being like, oh, right, I figured it out. I remember saying, Oh, crap, right, Like no, no, I don't want to be a Mormon, but but I remember after my baptism, right that that day after the baptism, I remember I was I was not the day after the baptism, the baptism, I remember I am standing in the font and I'm listening to the words that the speaker is saying, but I'm also making a another covenant with God as I'm in there, which is I'll follow you wherever you want me to go.

31:57 Don't care. I'll go wherever it is. I just don't ever want to have to feel like I did before I found out you were real. So if you'll meet me in that, I'll do whatever you want. And that was pretty much the starting point for how I got here. But but no, after that, yeah, it's a feeling of being on fire, right? You want to tell everybody, dude, you don't have to live like that anymore. Right you. Don't got to do this. Look what I found right. And so there is that overwhelming and, and I don't think it's by happenstance that when people first pick up the gospel, their first inclination is they want to tell everybody. Yeah, yeah.

32:38 Right. Don't think that's by happenstance. I don't think that is just a happy accident, as our boy Bob Ross used to say it is. It's part of the plan, yeah. Well, I like how, you know, Alma kind of brings us back to that too, is kind of our our reminder in the scriptures. You know, you read the Book of Mormon and it just kind of wakes you up and just he asked some of the tough questions, you know, he asks his people there in Alma 514. Have you spiritually been born of God? Have you received His image in your countenance and have ye experienced a mighty change in your heart? And I would say yes, absolutely.

33:24 I ran around telling everybody about Jesus and I ran right up to my dad and gave him a hug. And I hadn't talked to him and felt positive thoughts about my dad for a long time. We didn't get along. And every single person that I had any challenge with or frustration with arguments with anything I'd ever done wrong, I wanted to make it right right then and apologize for any dumb thing I said did what can I do to make this right and just show them love and, you know, come to church, come to the gym with me, you know, come, I'm going to the ballet tonight, whatever. I just wanted to include them in life and, and just show love and kindness in every way that I could. You know, he gets to Alma, then asks, well, if you, you have that, that, that feeling or if you've had it once, you know, can you feel, can you feel that Now you know, this, these scriptures right here are when I had my missionary and my spiritual experience there at the Hilkomora pageant, I, I went back to be in the pageant 3 more times. You know, the first time I was a wicked priest. You know, the next time I was Joseph Smith. Talk about a big transformation as far as playing the the character.

34:42 And I really did feel so profoundly different as a person and so much more connected to Heavenly Father then. But it was so nice to be around so many other believers. And that was one of the questions that were asked often in the talks that we would have at the Hill Komora pageant. And they would sing a song, you know, about has the the redeeming love filled your heart. That's one of the most popular songs we would sing all the time at the Hill Komora pageant. I feel like that's those are the questions and songs that we should have in our heart often as believers. You know, he he gives the the key to how this change of heart works here with a couple questions. He says, well, have you walked keeping yourselves blameless before God?

35:33 And that's kind of one that most of us know as far as the church, you know, keep the commandments that's been drilled into us. But could you say if you were called to die at this time within yourself, have you been sufficiently humble? Maybe not. You know, those are some of the more challenging things that we each have to deal with. And, you know, do we get upset in traffic? You know, you know, how humble and teachable are we? How quick to anger are we those kinds of things, You know, have your garments been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ? Do we feel that? Do we feel that inner peace that comes like when we feel that spirit kind of distill on us when we've had sacrament and and we've had a a real meaningful prayer where we feel that connection back again kind of a thing, You know, Alma then gets to several other questions he's he asks, you know, are you stripped of pride and envy? You know, these are all the kind of questions that you kind of need to answer, you know, to develop that Christ like character.

36:45 I'm going to share a few more personal things to kind of assist the audience and knowing who I am as a person. I feel like every single one of you, just to even be here means that you have such an incredible character and goodness and that you're all sons and daughters of our Father in heaven and that your value is just so huge. It's so huge. But I'm going to share kind of what some of the reasons and the fundamentals of some of these principles of the gospel and how they've applied to me and why I have a testimony of my Heavenly Father, why I have spiritual witnesses of Him and feel His love because I feel like every single one of you can have the same. My patriarchal blessing says that I'll be recognized for my inner motivation to do good at all times, to never be deceitful or negative or proud.

37:46 You know the girls I dated, guys I hired and worked with? They've always said, you know Corey, you are real, genuine, and authentic. You're exactly who you say you are. I'm not about pretense, posturing, or deception. Joni will tell you I have no jealousy, envy, or guile. Growing up, I never bullied, teased, made fun of, or mistreated others. I celebrate the success of others and I have never stepped on others to get ahead. Literally, I can't imagine ever doing that. I've been married for seven years now with Joni. We have the best marriage I've ever seen. And you know I I'm know that it can even be improved. No question.

38:28 Our conversations on health, politics and religion are awesome. We laugh and learn from each other every day. We work, eat, walk, bike and sleep together almost every day. Do I feel empowered to handle anything when when I feel the spirit strongly? Yep. Yep. But I do at times feel anger and frustration when I'm cold, tired and hungry. And I also have been the most curious, eager personality I've ever seen. I've easily read 100 books a year throughout my life and I still feel like a little kid. Because I want to. I want it so much more that I want to know.

39:09 I genuinely enjoy learning from everyone. I don't think there's anyone I can't learn something from, and I see incredible value in everyone that's being teachable, humble, and meek. Yes, I'm excited because there's so much to do and accomplish that I haven't gotten to yet. To stay on track, I read DNC 121 and Ezra Taft Benson's talk on pride several times a year to focus on increasing meekness and charity. And then we'll all summarize meekness and charity in this next little section with a bunch of scriptures and thoughts. And why I shared my personal and more story and character with you is because of how important that is in becoming like our Father in Heaven and the scriptures tell us to be. You know, meanness and charity are are massive and until I spent a lot of this time on this topic, I haven't connected all the dots into the reasons why I've been able to get answers to prayers more than a lot of my friends who have said to me over and over, God isn't listening.

40:25 I'm frustrated. And I was like, well, heck, there are times in my life I've prayed, you know, 10 * 30 times, you know, over several days and didn't feel like I was getting answers to prayer either. Until I got to a place where I didn't have the pride, where I was humble enough, where I was teachable enough. And I'll share the scriptures to define exactly what that means so that I could get the answers. They didn't come for me. I was so, so very frustrated when my best friend killed himself as a teenager. And I just looked up at the sky. Kind of like how you, you know, we're describing, you know, kind of being a little bit, you know, Deist, you know, God, if you're there, you know, it would be so great if you were because I sure need help.

41:11 And I don't see the point of all of this life at this point anymore with all of the stuff that I'm seeing go on. And I felt a few little trickles in my little heart too, kind of like what you were describing. And then I obviously had an answer that that kind of fixed that for me. But could the your meekness as a person, could your meekness as a person provide you with the kind of powerful armor and protection that allows you the full access to God's guidance in life? You know, in Matthew 11, the Savior refers to himself as meek and lowly in heart. That's one that you know should keep very much close to us. Note that the meek consider it a privilege to serve others. Or let's let's talk about meek here a little bit. Oftentimes I think meek gets lumped in and people think it's the same as being weak.

42:11 What's the difference between being meek and being weak? Well, I've got a, I've got a Frank and Ernest cartoon that, you know, where Frank, one of the cartoon characters, he's kind of a little bum and he holds this little sign. He says the meek shall inherit the earth. And then Frank says, well, that's if that's if it's OK with everyone else. And so, yeah, it's often, it's often associated meekness is associated with being this weak, wimpy, passive doormat that everyone walks over. And yet Jesus is himself is saying I'm meek and lowly of heart, a doormat. OK, what specifically about Jesus seems like a doormat because he actually went right up to the Sadducees and Pharisees and told him you were a pit of Vipers and threw over tables in the temple and and basically went against anytime he saw injustices anytime he saw something that they weren't living the gospel.

43:16 You're not taking care of the poor and the widows and the orphans and Dang it, you were making my father's house. You know, this basically den of thieves. No, no, no, that's not a doormat. That's not someone who's weak. That's someone who stands for for right righteousness. You know, Christ, it says in Philippians, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. I'm going to get into this topic quite a bit more here because the misunderstanding on this is so deep that I feel like OK, there's there's a several scriptures and examples that are really needed to be shared on this one of all all of the topics to understand gospel wise.

44:03 The thing that will bring you closest to your Father in heaven, and I want everyone in this audience to know this is your meekness, your teachableness, your humbleness, your goodness in that way of being open to receiving Heavenly Father's blessings. Oh, he wants to give you all of his blessings. How can he if you're too smart for it? How can he if you just refuse to let that love in your heart because you're angry at someone, You're so angry that you won't allow him to, to, to fill your heart with things. And so I've got some really great definitions that the scriptures have kind of shared and some of the stories to just fill in some of these gaps.

44:47 I feel like I'm putting this together in a way that I'm, I'm just grateful. I thought it was awesome that you asked me to do this. Few months back, Justin Frankham had an idea to make learning about the fullness of the restored gospel a lot easier. It was an idea that once I had my mind wrapped around it, I felt like it could do a lot of good. Mormon Legacy Ministries is a multi denominational ministering effort to provide a safe landing place for Mormons to land until they find their forever church home, while at the same time offering folks an opportunity for worship and fellowship. Here's a little bit of what Mormon Legacy Ministries is offering. Every second and 4th Saturday of the month at 3:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, a sacrament meeting is conducted by Joshua Erickson. Every Thursday at 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time is the Gospel Fundamentals class hosted by Eleor Walker and Braxton Bogart.

45:39 Quarterly men's meetings are also held. The next one of those will be Saturday, February 14th at 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time. There's a women's organization, and to learn more about that, go to mormonlegacy.org and click on that link. Finally, for a limited time, starting February 2nd at 6:00 PM and every Monday after that at 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, a discussion group will be held on the book The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen. So whether you're an independent Mormon fundamentalist, or maybe you're a Mormon fundamentalist already in a group, but you want more opportunities to learn and serve, or perhaps you're an LDS person wanting to learn more about what your theological cousins believe, or maybe even you're not a Mormon at all and you're just curious about the faith, Mormon Legacy Ministries is the place for you where you can go to learn all those things from the comfort of your own home over Zoom.

46:32 To get there, all you need to do is go to mormonlegacy.org and then click any or all of those classes that are being offered there. Again, that's Mormon legacyministries.org. Go there today and sign up on meekness in particular. Yes, yes, yeah. You know I don't you made a statement and I don't necessarily disagree with it, right? That being meek can bring us that much closer to our Heavenly Father I That's it's a bold statement, but I don't think it's an untrue statement. So let me ask you this in your in your estimation, can you still be confident and meek at the same time? Oh yeah, absolutely.

47:14 Yeah. The meekness is absolutely what will bring the confidence and and there are actually some scriptures that do connect these dots, so I want to share those connecting. Scriptures. Let's dive into that. That bring this whole story together in a way that I'm not seeing shared. You know, I looking at all of the conference talks that I could being kind of a graduate, if you will, of the LDS institute classes that are out there. This. I feel like I'm learning more to add to that whole conversation here with this today. Right. The word for humble in Hebrew is Annie, which is poor, afflicted, and shepal, which is low and brought low. So almost always used to describe someone who's been humbled by the circumstances or by the Lord or someone that chooses to stay low before God.

48:12 And that also does once they've had challenges in their life, they still continue that. And Christ, he says, you know, in Philippians that he was humbled and became obedient unto death in Philippians 28. So he had that, that element of humility as well where he was going to stay low. And yeah, we may get to some other scriptures where I go into that a bit deeper Now. I was born in a military base, spent two in the Civil Air Patrol, three ROTC training for war with the Army Ranger team for for also at Nellis Air Base. Yet I personally have been accused of being a pacifist because I'm anti war. But I I can't tolerate injustice, tyranny, abuse, threats, theft and violence in a corrupt society. I can't.

49:08 Not because I'm quick to anger, but because I think a follower of Jesus had the duty to protect others and stop those who take life, liberty and property. You know, by fraud and force. You know, if you look at some of our heroes in the Scriptures, Exodus 2, Moses sees an Egyptian. This Egyptian is oppressively beating a Hebrew slave. And well, he looks around and he didn't see anyone. So he slew the Egyptian and hit him in the sand, suggesting he knew the ACT was a crime. Still did it. Still would not allow this abuse in front of him to happen.

49:53 When the Pharaoh heard about it, Moses fled to Midian. First thing Moses does is he goes to a well in Midian and sees another injustice. Shepherds are driving away the flocks from the seven daughters of rule. Moses gets right up off of the the well come to the rescue and waters their flock. We'll we'll get to Moses again here in a moment, but note that the opposite of meekness is pride. Ezrath Benson, he says that most of us think of pride as self centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or hiding us well.

50:34 All those are elements of the sin, but the the heart or core is still missing. The central feature of pride is enmity, enmity towards God and our fellow man. That means this enmity is a hatred toward, hostility for, or being in a state of opposition. This pride is a damning sin in the true sense of that word. It limits or stops progression. In Alma 12, he says the proud are not easily taught. First, Nephi says they won't change their minds to accept truths because to do so implies they've been wrong. Our degree of pride determines how we treat our God and our brothers and sisters. Christ wants to lift us to where He is. Do we desire to do the same for others? 3rd Nephi 612 says pride separates and divides us by the ranks according to our riches and our chances for learning. The unity of Zion is impossible for a proud people unless we become one minded.

51:38 We're not the Lords and this is shared in Messiah 1821, DNC 3827, DNC one O 5, two through 4 and Moses 718. All those principles about how important if we're ever going to have Zion, it's going to be because, you know, we're not proud of the people. Well, just think about what pride has cost you and what's it what's it costing you? Now? I know that probably any of my mistakes relationship wise have been, you know, attached to pride in some way. Just have and, and also anytime that I haven't learned as quickly, it's because I haven't been as as humble and teachable as I needed to be.

52:29 I needed to be more open. I needed to show up at church. Kind of like what you said, you know, pointing at the other guy. Well, that wasn't that great of a talk, you know, But you still would feel the Spirit of the Lord if you went there with your plate absolutely available. You are coming there. Fill my plate for me, Heavenly Father. Yeah. Those are the things that get in the way from us from having so many of the things that that that heavenly Father wants to give us all of those gifts and they're lengthy and DNC 5843. Think of the repentance, the lives changed, the marriages preserve, the home strengthened.

53:14 If pride didn't keep us from confessing our sins and forsaking them, the proud. They don't want God or anyone else directing their life. Yet Messiah 319 and Alma 1328 will they invite you to yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, put off the prideful natural man and become a St. through the atonement of Christ the Lord become like a child, submissive, meek, and humble. In the words of CS Lewis, pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. It's the comparison that makes you proud, the pleasure of being above the rest.

53:56 Once that element of competition is gone, pride is gone. And that's in From Mere Christianity. You know, pride is one of those things. This is I've looked at, it's so detrimental to relationships. If you're going to be in a relationship, especially a romantic one with with your wife or your husband, you, you have to be vulnerable, right? Yeah. Pride doesn't make allowances for that, right? And vulnerability, especially for the fellows. That's a scary place to be. Yes, it really is much more.

54:40 You're basically, yeah, it's you're basically exposing yourself to being hurt, right there is that thing. And so that kind of pride, not only is it detrimental in the in the eternities, it's, it's detrimental here to the relationships that we we try to foster, that we want to last for the eternities. And it becomes a pretty big detriment. And you can't hear the spirit at that point, like it's, it's so pervasive that it would be next to impossible. And putting on that breastplate of righteousness with a prideful heart. Totally, Yeah, You won't have the protection, you won't, you won't, you won't have that conduit, the conduits not there.

55:20 And you know, there were some other scriptures that I thought really share and and make even stronger connections on this couple of the the conversations here because it intertwines a lot with charity too. So you have that meekness and charity. That's kind of the next topic here. Let's look at the charity word in Greek. It's called agape. It's a gift from God. It's something that you don't get on your own. We don't. We're not born with that level. We have family love and friend love, brotherly love and some of the other types of love, but not the gift from God love. And yet it's, it's a prerequisite for standing with confidence in front of God, with confidence, mind you, how many of us feel confident right now?

56:12 And if God were to come and visit us, you know, right now, you know, you know, Joey and I, we've had some really lengthy conversations all week because it's just been on our mind so much. It's like you could get bogged down with, I've got the bills to pay, it's Christmas. We have all of these things that are just spinning. We're trying to get a new company going and it is just it takes our time from our connection to our Father in heaven. And we have to remind ourselves, Oh, we get our scriptures in, in the evenings and, and in the mornings for Joni and sometimes throughout the day for me.

56:53 But that's sometimes not, it's not enough to just have those few moments. It's not like I'm feeling like my cup is brimming and flowing over, you know, like I've arrived, I'm feeling the spirit, you know, and that kind of a moment we're like, no, it's like I'm so busy riding advertising and marketing. I sometimes feel that distance and I just. Hi. Hi. How did I get so distant in a day where I'm not feeling that love of God in my heart all the time? You know, for the first few weeks of having my spiritual conversion, I had it every day for weeks. And now it's like it. I have to earn it. I have to work harder to have it. I feel.

57:36 And how interesting, you know, But then, but then what I didn't notice for a good while was that once you start going up the hill and you're starting to develop character more like your Father in heaven, you, you, you, you improve who you are. And you don't always see that you're actually improving and you're making that those little incline steps. And so you don't, you don't actually fall down to what the person you were before, you really are going up, but you sometimes don't see it and you feel more distant because it's not the pinnacle that you you were used to exactly. You're not seeing it or feeling it to that degree.

58:16 You know, there's there's you talked about how would we feel if we were in the presence of the Savior right now? Yeah. And I remember there was a gentleman that I knew years ago, deeply devout to his religion, and we were talking about something similar. And he asked me a very similar question. Like, how would you feel if the savior appeared right now? And I'm like, well, scared, right? Like. Yeah, yeah. Because he's gone, right? Like he's going to, he's going to see, see everything. And he said it's because he can see everything that I really do want to meet him.

59:06 And at first I thought he was making kind of a prideful thing, right? I'm like, oh, so you think you're that good? He's like, no, I just realized I need the doctor that badly. Yeah, such a good perspective. And I was like, whoo. And there was another guy that I heard once and I've used this before. I love. That as you were talking about, you know, starting up that hill, the closer we get to the Savior and I can, I can, this is true. The the closer I feel to the savior, the more his light illuminates my flaws, right?

59:47 And so I think it's important to have those perspectives as as we, we, we start looking towards that, right? And we start looking towards the Savior. It's a very clever ploy that the adversary used in the Garden of Eden on Adam, right? Adam, what does he tell Adam? Oh, you, you messed up, man. God's coming. You better hide. Better hide, right? God gets there. Adam's God gets there. And he's calling for Adam now. Look, this is a heavenly God.

1:00:28 This is somebody who knows what's going to happen. And so he, I can't imagine he's truly surprised, right? But nonetheless, even in Adam's transgression, Adam's God is still seeking him out. And we have to remember that clever ploy by the adversary because it's 1 he still employs today, right? Oh, you, you messed, you messed up. You're too far gone. Just give this up. Just be comfortable in your sin. That's just who you are. And is it really a sin? I mean, come on, right? It's it's, it's a very clever ploy in hiding that he he employs and getting us to hide from God. And I've said this, we should want an encounter with the divine.

1:01:23 It's the promise of Mormonism. And and if, if we're not, we shouldn't be seeking signs. But if we're not looking to deepen that relationship in such personal way, I think we aren't. We aren't doing Mormonism quite right, just in my opinion. Totally nails it and totally nailed it there and and very much where this entire conversation is going. Like I just said, charity is the prerequisite for standing, you know, with confidence before God. The scripture that you know in Romans 555 profound.

1:02:03 This is about how because only a heart that has been emptied of pride has room for the pure love of Christ to be poured into it. That's really like to me, one of the most profound concepts. If we have that pride in the way we can't make room for the gold, the silver, the jewels in life, the the greatest blessings that God has to give us. We can't have scriptural scriptural proof of this chain. DNC 4-5 and six Faith, hope, charity, and love with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work. That's a major missionary scripture. You know your eye single to the glory of God. But how important charity is to this. DNC 12497.

1:02:57 The Lord calls his servants meek and lowly before he fills them with charity. It's before Moses 733 Enoch's people were of 1 heart and mind only after they became the most humble of all men. Wow. First Corinthians 13/8 Paul says charity never fails. Charity outlasts every other gift or virtue. Persisting into the eternities. It's love that forgets itself. Right. 4:00 and 5:00 It's willing to suffer and do hard things. It's kindness. It does not envy. It is not prideful and selfish.

1:03:40 It rejoices in and is excited by truth. It bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. You know, mind you that you know, I'm a marketing guy. I'm going to share the scriptures in the most easy to understand way that I possibly can. And I always did that, even as a missionary. I would try to sum it up in my words, not trying to devalue the scriptures in any way because they're super poetic. But most of the time, you know, in, in Virginia, if I was speaking to a preacher, I would speak to him straight from the King James Version Bible. But if I was speaking to a family that may not have familiarity with the Bible, I would absolutely paraphrase and paraphrase and try to make it as simple as I could for them to realize that they have a God that loves them and give them the stories from the the Book of Mormon as simple as I could possibly make it for them so that they would have as much understanding as they could.

1:04:39 And yeah, and so I'm hopefully that's not something that bothers anybody. But first, Peter 48 charity covers a multitude of sins. Don't we forgive our children, parents and friends for dumb mistakes they make with charitable intentions? I mean, I do. Yeah, yeah. You know, that again, plays such an important role. We need forgiveness all the time, or at least I do. And it would be a pretty ineffective plan if forgiveness wasn't part of it.

1:05:20 The genius of the plan that that God has set up for his children is, is a remarkable one. You're going to get to go down. You're going to get to make a bunch of mistakes. But it's OK. I know how to get you back. And it's through those mistakes that you're going to learn. You're going to learn between good and evil. You're going to learn all sorts of lessons that are going to be pertinent for you and the eternities. But forgiveness has to be there and it's got to be there for our personal relationships as well. Forgiveness can be, can be tough. And, and I think it's important here to talk about what forgiveness looks like.

1:06:00 There's, there's, there's a school of thought out there that that says, oh, no, somebody offends you. Well, just forgive them and bring them back to your table. And sometimes that can be, can absolutely work. But forgiveness doesn't always mean, doesn't always mean that everything's going to be OK in that relationship. Sometimes forgiveness is just learning to let it go, right? Just being like, yeah, you know, there there's a type of forgiveness where you just say, I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I'm just going to release this and let the Lord deal with this. Because if you hold on to it, you ultimately damn yourself. Totally, totally.

1:06:41 Those are the things, you know, big the biggest lessons ever. There was a a guy that actually was picking a fight with me, barely sizable, but I was in good shape, so I was not worried. But this guy was borderline. He was going to try and rob me and I really felt like letting him have it. And I just stepped back for a moment and I just collected myself. I asked someone, someone else, you know, what on earth is this guy trying to pick a fight with me for? Why? And they proceeded to tell me that this guy had basically had the most terrible life I've ever heard. The things that happened to him as a child. He was molested, beaten, basically the worst horror stories I've pretty much heard about another human being being treated in life who he just was stuck in his childhood trauma and was trying to pick a fight with the guy. I have no idea how and why all those things happened, but I was literally in tears after hearing what this man had experienced growing up.

1:08:09 I could not look at him the same. As vile and mean spirited as he was to have tried to pick a fight with me the way he did, he really was mean. Like you would understand, you know? Anybody would understand if I'd have punched him like that would have made plenty of sense. But the thing that struck me the most is how I literally was in tears after hearing what had happened to him because it was so bad. Once I understood that, it changed my heart completely toward him even though I feel like he was not a a good person. Like you say, there's some people you just need to stay away from, but I had the ultimate of compassion.

1:08:53 I don't think I could have had any more compassion and charity for the guy after hearing that. I literally was just completely changed. And when I I thought about that, that's been a life lesson for me. And I'm sharing that with everyone here because we don't know what the other person has gone through. Until I heard that from the the guy who knew specifics from an actual neighbor who knew his story, I could have I would have never understood why this guy was coming at me the way he was or how he would treat other people angrily, angrily. How would you not feel angry towards society that had beaten and abused you from the age of 2 or than an infant the way he was? It's like, wow, I those are the things we need to keep in mind about our brothers and sisters around us. That they have gone through some things and some of them have been so horrifying that you can't possibly judge them rightly without having the spirit of the Lord in your life to just really set you straight on that. You know, let me ask you this question. Suppose you'd reared back and clocked him. Do you think you would have changed? You think you could have been effective at changing his heart through that?

1:10:12 No way. No way. I I could have gone to jail over it and he could have gone to jail. It could have been something I could have hurt him. I would have felt bad if I'd have hurt, injured him, you know, like sent him to the hospital or I'd been sent to the hospital. Those things can happen in fights and. The decision and and that decision wouldn't have made made an impact on his life. I don't think it would have changed his life whatsoever and it could have changed mine really badly. You know, Gandhi had an interesting, had something interesting to say about the New Testament. Yeah, two things that he said. One of them was is he's like, if if you got a few Christians would just live what's in the New Testament, there wouldn't be another Hindu in all of India, right?

1:10:59 Yeah. The other thing he said is you Christians don't understand what you have in in the New Testament. You have a book of revolution. And I was like, I read that and I was like, cool. It's like, what do you mean by that? So I read a little further and he said Jesus was the most effective revolutionary because he was nonviolent. And he said, and he made he, he, he, he was unapologetic for it. He's like for me and the crew that rolls with me, we, we use the, the New Testament, right? That's, that's what we base it on. If if we look at Martin Luther King Junior, there's a great account from his life where he's standing up on stage and somebody gets up on stage and just clocks him right in the face.

1:11:52 And he he backs up and his security starts to rush him and he just puts his hand up like stop, right? He tells the security to back down. The man hits him, hits him like 3 more times. And finally King gets up from the last one and says, are we ready to talk now? Like, what is bothering you? Right. Turned the guy right there in that moment. But that was King's ploy, right? King made his followers sign a contract before they would they would March with him where it says where he was.

1:12:34 Like, you need to study the New Testament, especially the the Beatitudes daily. And you need to sign this pledge of nonviolence because it's only works if we're nonviolent. He had enough trust in the American people that if they saw the plight that they were in, they would turn the tide. And he was right. And so to your point on this, right, And it does kind of tie in with forgiveness. Sometimes the, the, the slight that was suffered by an individual because of the actions are another you, you don't necessarily need to forget, right? There's nowhere in the Bible where at least I can remember that says forgive and forget, definitely says forgive, but not forget. And sometimes somebody who's going to do a horrible thing, the wise move is to stay away from that person. But you can still extend forgiveness without even talking to right.

1:13:33 But it also allows you to have the best opportunity to make a positive impact in changing, helping to change that person. Yeah, I don't know that in the circumstance I described that I could have changed his heart because of all the damage and hurt that he's experienced in his life. But you know, and I do know that the majority of people around would have been absolutely like, yeah, he had a common, if you'd have hit him, you know, we, we understand and we would have hit him for sure. I would say by landslide majority with what he had said and the circumstances that he came up to me and how he how he approached me and got right on my face the way he did. But did that make the world a better place? Absolutely not.

1:14:17 And I'm so glad that I listened to the impression that I got just to step back. Heavenly Father does guide us. And and that was one where I felt like Heavenly Father just gave me just a little bit of a nudge and I stepped back and it was like, Hey, you know what, do your thing. And I don't have any anything but sadness for him and compassion just completes compassion for him. No anger or anything like that doesn't mean a thing to me. If anybody felt like I was being a wuss or something like that at that moment. No, no, that's, that's not how I see him and those kind of circumstances at all.

1:14:59 You know, John 1513 is kind of like the the popular, you know, seminarian Institute scripture where he says, you know, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus himself defines this charity as the charity of the willingness to give everything, even life himself for others, life itself for others, especially defending what's right, true and good. DNC 12145 Joseph in Liberty Liberty Jail says there's only one way the priesthood power can be managed. The divine key to managing the priesthood power of God is this. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men.

1:15:41 Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. This charity is not an emotion, the act of giving or A5O1C3. It's the actual substance of the glorified exalted heart. That's the attributes of God, that's who He is to the core, and that's how He loves us as His children. Every single person who's listening to this, I'm hopeful that you start to recognize your value because it's infinite. You are a child, literally of God who can develop this kind of character. I'm going to get to some of these wonderful thoughts here in a moment on this that really go deeper on onto it, but my question is why?

1:16:29 Why did the Lord show himself to Moses? Why was Moses chosen to lead the children of Israel? Why did he have those kinds of experiences that set him apart instead of the next guy? The Bible tells us in Numbers 12 three that Moses was teachable, humble, gentle and meek above all the men on earth. Moses was a man without guile, meaning he was honest and sincere. He was a man without deceitful thinking and behavior. So that sincerity is is the key. 93 DNC 9311 of my favorite Scriptures. And I think that very much the cornerstone that you had just mentioned of, of the fundamental restoration principle, that every soul who forsakes his sins and comes to me, calls my name, obeys my voice and keeps my commandments, will see my face and know that I am.

1:17:32 What a beautiful scripture, every soul, you, me, everyone listening to this Matthew 5/8 and the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes into it a bit more. Says blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Says it again, the Savior, emphasizing that a clean conscience and sincere inner free life and inner life free from deceit and division is what truly matters, not our outward actions or appearances. Purity is what allows a person to have a direct relationship with God, even the ultimate reward of seeing Him.

1:18:16 Jesus is more concerned with your spiritual center, your thoughts, your desires and will represented by your heart. The pure and heart are sincere and truthful in their allegiance to God. Their heart is not divided where they care more about their appearance, position, or possessions. They're not about pretending to be holy. They're genuinely seeking a relationship with God. Well, how do you achieve this purity? Well, it's really not something you achieve on your own, through your will, or following the laws and rules alone. It involves being cleansed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, God's pruning and refining fire. This purity only comes as a gift from sincere desire and prayer.

1:18:58 It comes by asking God in faith to be guided by his Holy Spirit and filled with charity to better serve your brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus. The pure and heart are perfect like Job because they seek the Lord's will. Jesus's brother James 5, 10 through 11 mentions this patience of Job, and in Job One one Job is introduced as a man who was perfect and upright, who feared God and his chewed evil. The word perfect in this context is the Greek Telios again, which means the blameless, sincere and complete or whole in integrity. Not sinless in the modern sense, but complete in his devotion and adherence to God's standards. Being God fearing in Hebrew Phobos means deep reverence, awe and respect for God, leading to a life of obedience to divine laws, moral righteousness, and submission to His will. Rather than being terrified of punishment. To eschew in Greek aklino means to turn away, to put away, shun and avoid.

1:20:12 Those are. Just important ideas to kind of keep in mind as as we kind of navigate the Scriptures, you know, for ourselves and see, you know, how do we liken this to ourself? You know, Job 1925. He, he says, you know, well, I know my Redeemer lives and that he will soon stand on the earth. Well, even though worms will destroy my body and the flesh, I shall see God. He has confidence in that, and there's a reason he has that confidence, because he feels that complete humility and trust. He's not making himself out to be better. He's sincere and he knows that Heavenly Father rewards the sincere seeker of truth.

1:21:03 You know, when you think about what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, Messiah makes the big list. And I think a lot of times we, we, we kind of miss the, the list. You know, what is it we're committing to to be a Christian? What does it entail? Alma makes this list of the promises and covenant. He says, well, ye, your desire is to come into the fold of God and be called his people. You're willing to bear one another's burdens that they may be light. You're willing to mourn with those that mourn. You're willing to comfort those that stand in need of comfort. You're willing to stand as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, in all places that you may be in, even until death. You're willing to serve Him and keep His commandments, that He may pour out His Spirit more abundantly upon you. Ye are willing to observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, to give thanks to God every day.

1:22:01 Ye are willing to gather together often to teach one another and worship the Lord God. Ye are willing to impart of your substance temporally and spiritually for every needy naked soul to meet their needs and wants. That's what love is, and that's what serving others is all about too. And you know, yeah, 9 specific things that he says for us to do when we choose to be Christian. And if we're not doing all nine of them, are we really all in it all in on this? You know, a few other principles I'll get to here.

1:22:42 In Numbers 1129, Joshua, the son of none, tells Moses to stop the two elders, Eldad and me, Dad, who began to prophecy in the camp and not at the Tabernacle with the other 68 elders chosen by Moses. And Moses rebukes Joshua. He says would would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them, expressing his desire for God's spirit and prophetic gift to be available to all of his people, not just an appointed group at a specific location. Well, is Moses saying that you can too, you too can become a prophet? Is that what he's saying here in these scriptures, that you too can be worthy to serve others with God's power and priesthood?

1:23:26 Yes. Yeah, I would say that that's exactly what Moses is saying. If you interpret the meaning from the text, what it actually says exegetically and literally versus, you know, maybe interpreting some other meaning into it rather than assigning media meeting meaning to it from teachings that are popular in Christianity or some other ideas that you may have heard or some bias that you have. Yet as believers in the Restoration of Christ's original church in the latter days, we typically interpret the meaning of the text just from what it says. We're not trying to read in some other story an assignment and make it fit in to make like the the creeds of Christianity so that we aren't looked at as pagans and as one of them.

1:24:20 We have to differentiate ourselves by coming up with some different ideas about who God is. Some today think the miracles of the past no longer happened to believers in our modern times, that the Bible is all of God's word. Even though there are many principles, concepts, and ordinances that have not been fully explained in in the Bible. We know there are many prophetic books that were left out of the Bible. We also know that many Bible verses and passages were not translated correctly. Some had sections that were removed or were added later by various religious scholars and translators. And Mormon speaks to those in our day, those who deny revelations, prophecies, gifts, healings, or speaking with and interpreting tongues.

1:25:02 He that denies the miracles of God and the gifts of God has not read the scriptures or he doesn't understand them because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Before He visits you personally, let's look at those things that God cares most about. CS Lewis, He gave a sermon, it's called The Weight of Glory. And it was given when England was at war with Germany, June 8th, 1941. Many were angry at the Germans. They were unsure of what to do in this world that seemed to be falling apart all around him even as Christians. And he starts out his talk and he says, you know, if you ask 20 good men today what the highest virtue is, 19 of those men, they they would tell you it's unselfishness. Yet nearly all the great Christians of old, they would say it's love.

1:26:03 The other insight Lewis shares is the value that we are to place on each other, says we we truly have never met a mortal person because we all shall live together. Looking at those around us with this land is likely to have a big impact on how we treat we act and treat others. I I yeah. One of my favorite quotes is this next paragraph. He says it's a serious thing to live in a Society of possible gods and goddesses to remember that the dullest, the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to today may one day be a creature which if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.

1:26:48 The fact is, the most dirty, disgusting and vile person you've ever met in life could develop themselves, their character and their countenance into the most spectacular person you've ever known given the opportunity of 100 or 200 years to change and improve who who they are and improve themselves. You know, I feel like I'm on that list too. I, I wonder if it's going to take me 100 years or 200 years to, to become the person that I really want to become. I really mean that. I mean, I don't feel like I have developed the traits, all the traits that I need, even though, you know, I'm not mean spirited towards others. Yeah, that meekness. Awesome.

1:27:28 There are other things I needed to work on. You know, Joseph Smith said that it would be many years after we passed through the on the other side of the veil before we would be ready to be as God is. And Brigham elaborates further during the Utah, early Utah period where he talks about other ordinances being necessary on the other side of the veil. And so I don't think that we should necessarily just assume that we'll have it completely, 100% figured out here. I think there's things that we have to do here. It's a proving ground for a reason. But we need to remember it's, it's a marathon, not a Sprint. Yeah. Yeah, one of the greatest conversations that someone from the Hill Kimura pageant said to me, she says, hey, Corey, it's it really is that that sentence that you're just, you're you're saying there that there's no finish line yet. You you're in the race here and and you don't have to be, you don't have to be anything.

1:28:33 You don't have to be married yet. You don't have to have the corporate job that you want yet. You, you don't have to have the fitness level that that you want yet. You don't have to have all those things. That's a profound idea, Dave. Literally, it really is it. We're not really going to be finished yet, and that's OK. If we're on that path, we're going to get to where we want to go. Right. Few years back I started to get the feeling that we, as fundamentalists and Orthodox Mormons, we need our own stuff. Up to now, we've been able to buy and purchase all of our scriptures, books, art, and music from other restoration organizations, and that's been good. But there's no guarantee it's going to remain that way. Also, it can be a bit tricky as you scour the Internet trying to find all the books from your favorite fundamentalists or orthodox Mormon authors.

1:29:26 As I thought about this, I feel like I was really given a solution now through the hard work of others, because let's face it, I'm the guy least qualified in all the world to build a website. I'm happy to present to you 1830 mercantile.org. Right now on the website you can see that we have all the books that have ever been written by 4 authors, including names like Drew, Briny and Ogdenkraut. Also very soon there will be a link to buy art and music all produced by Mormons with a deep love for the restored gospel. There's also places for you to get free resources where you can find podcasts, videos, classes, and other presentations. Also coming very soon there will be a place for events where you can list the events from your organization so that you can get the most out of that attendance. Now this can be as big as you want it to be. It's all up to you guys out there if you want to buy and post things on here.

1:30:20 Now, if you're someone who produces something that you feel like others can benefit from, 1830 Mercantile is a place where you can make all of those products available for purchase. All you need to do is drop me an e-mail at mormonrenegade@gmail.com and put 1830 in in the title of that e-mail with a short message and either myself or someone else from the 1830 Mercantile team will reach out to you so we can get your product up there on the site. Now to make sure that all the products that we offer are affordable and to ensure that the vast majority of the profits go to the producer, the website percentage is only three to 4% of the total cost. And that's just so I can pay the pros that have created this website and keep the lights on the website itself. Finally, by making some of your purchases at 1830 mercantile.org, you'll be supporting folks whose principles and morals are close, if not the same as yours. At the same time not giving your money away to people who stand against everything you stand for. So no matter if you're looking to make a purchase or you're a seller that wants to get your products listed, head on over to 1830 mercantile.org today.

1:31:32 Drop me an e-mail and we'll make sure that we get back out to you. Now back to the show. I I honestly think that a lot of times this life is to figure out what it is we want. What is it you truly desire? I think there's something about the flesh and the spirit being together that allows that intent to come screaming through in ways that I'm not sure anything else any other way could do. And so if if this life is to draw out our intent to figure out where it is we want to go, I can't help but wonder if that means on the other side, we've made the choice and now we continue on that path. Yeah, well, I definitely feel like health, religion and politics pretty much my three favorite subjects. And of course, I do marketing, so I do read a lot of books on those topics.

1:32:35 There's so many connecting dots in history that I don't have the answer to that. It's, it's wonderful though, in some ways, because almost every day I'm learning something new that does connect some of those dots for me. So it gives me a lot kind of to look forward to. And yet at the same time, I wish I had more answers. I really, really, really do like, I'm eager for more. Like I, I, it'll be so cool to have a lot of those puzzle pieces put together for me mentally, which is one of the reasons why Drew Briny's books, I want to read all of them. I want to read all of Ogden Kraut's books because I feel like that will probably add to putting some of the puzzle pieces together. And I tried to read conference talks and, you know, scriptures of different types just to learn from every source I can. You know, I expect all of us to have many opportunities to grow, improve, and develop.

1:33:28 Yet God will force no man to heaven while Jesus invites all of us to come to him to join Him. Ultimately, we will continue to live socially where we feel most comfortable. Yep. Moroni and his final sermon to the dying civilization there, you know where he's having to see his civilization, you know, snuffed out Meron I7844 through 48. He emphasized that charity charity's the one quality that almost guarantees celestial glory. If a man lacks charity, he is nothing.

1:34:10 Charity is the pure love of God and it endures forever. Wherefore, my beloved brother, and pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that you may be filled with this love which He hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of His Son Jesus Christ, that you may become the sons of God, That when He shall prepare, that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, God Himself. God Himself has a pure heart, and He wants us to develop this character trait as we deal with His other children. How you know we treat His other children, you know, it says you know how you treat me is how you know how you treat others is how you treat me and you try to make that really clear to his disciples multiple times the savior did DNC 18. I think this is wonderful.

1:35:05 I've read this multiple times on my mission because it's it's extra challenging going out as a missionary. A lot of times you get a lot of doors slammed in your face. You have people that mock you and and then it's hard to take that rejection. At some point. You, you really do have to remind yourself, you know, you are serving your Father in heaven and these messages are so important to share. You know, that's why I feel, you know, such a kinship with you, Dave is, is I know that your heart is in the in the the kind of place to to serve other people. And there's so much time and energy that this kind of a podcast takes to do work wise that you have to be so committed. And it takes a lot of effort and time to do this DNC.

1:35:49 It just reminds us here in 18 that your worth, your worth and the worth of every other soul is great in the sight of God, no matter what you've done or how unimportant you may feel for the Lord, suffer pain and death that all men and women, including you might repent and come unto him. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things, for all that they might not suffer if they would repent. The next chapter or the next DNC 819 continues to explain His depth of love for us. If you do not repent, you must suffer, even as I have, which suffering caused myself, even God, to the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every poor, and to suffer both body and spirit. And would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink. Looking up other Looking up these other definitions for shrink was a bit heartbreaking for me. Flinch, recoil, cringe, cower, wince, retreat, shutter, withdraw, refuse, slink, draw back, pull back, back away. Jump back, jerk back, shrink away, hesitate, contract, diminish, limit.

1:37:17 Put the brakes on, withdraw, flea, retreat, recoil, escape, bolt, skedaddle, leave, depart, run, take off. Cower, cringe, wince. I caused my brother Jesus to feel all of that because of my wrongs, my actions, and my choices, not His. And that is hard. And it helps remind me of the kind of depth of love and charity that my Father and that Jesus have for me to have created this plan for my growth so that I could develop those character traits myself, that I could get started on that anyway, you know, at least make some progress towards that.

1:38:10 And clearly an unfinished product. I don't want anyone here to think that I'm not, you know, that I've arrived because that's not the case. There are many things that I am challenged with, and I pray for help from God every day so that I have it. I physically, spiritually, mentally and otherwise, I need Jesus as much as any of you in this that are listening to this podcast and everyone on this earth. We all need Jesus every bit as much. Some of us may be better at different things in our life, yet that Atonement is so necessary for our personal growth, wherever it is that we want to get to, to whatever level that we want to get to. I got to the section here that I have my addition. So let's let's chat a little bit and I have, I can go into some of the gifts of the Spirit a bit more and a couple of the pretty profound stories if you would like to get to that. Yeah.

1:39:12 But before we move there and just real quick, I got a heartbreak at 3:30. I got other things going on, but we're doing good for right now. I back to what you were saying there about needing the Atonement and the Savior. I think that's really a lot of the battle, right? It's getting to a point to where you realize, yeah, my stuff, my stuff stinks, right? As human beings, we all come with baggage, right? And we, we pick up that baggage sometimes just by our very personalities.

1:39:58 Sometimes it's what others inflict upon us, our, our, our upbringing, our how people have treated us. That's all baggage that has to be dealt with. And recognizing that baggage both in yourself first and foremost, and realizing that you need the atonement, you need Christ. And then being able to extend that same grace to other people that may not always be the most lovable is, is the trick I think in in really starting on that path towards towards getting that righteous heart, putting on that righteous armor is, is that understanding of just how much we all need the Savior and his atonement.

1:40:47 I'm just glad he has invited me. I'm glad he's invited me to the party because, you know, I can't imagine what my life would be like without it. I, I wouldn't have the hope, the interest in excellence, the love for my fellow man. I wouldn't be as a good husband. I wouldn't be a a good friend to the same degree. There's no way. I, I have clearly improved who I am because I've studied the scriptures, because I've strived, because I strive to be like Jesus, because I've put it into practice. I don't feel like I'm anywhere near as good as I, I could be or that that I will develop into. But I'm, I'm working towards that. And it's genuinely like, yeah, I'm going to do this. Like I want to do it.

1:41:33 I don't, I don't have someone else. No one has to whip me from behind, you know, to say, hey, Corey, you know, get your stuff in gear here. It's something from my soul. I want to be, I want to develop God like characteristics. I want to be that because there's a peace, there's a happiness. And what I felt at the Hill Kimura pageant for those weeks that I was there to, to, to really truly feel what other people were thinking in their hearts and to see the, the heaviness and the loads that most people were dealing with. You know, 17 when I had that experience, I could, could really know their thoughts 100%. Like it wasn't, it was very complete download to me what other people were experiencing.

1:42:20 And so I, I would just listen to them and just try to love and support them in any way possible. But I, I think the thing that was the most stunning to me was that a lot of the people I would chat with were in their 40s and 50s and 60s and I was 17 and I realized that every single person we're dealing with all the same things that I was dealing with to some different degree. And, and that was so stunning to me is like I because I never really imagined to myself that people who were older had those same challenges. And they do. And, and wow, in my little young mind as a teenager, I couldn't conceive of a lot of things. And to see, you know, Mary Jane Mulcony run up to their their dad who was playing Abenadi and give him a great big hug and kiss.

1:43:11 And I love you, dad. That was so stunning that that was the relationship that I just was stunned that that was even possible. Those are the things that the gospel brings to the table. They they, they didn't have, they wouldn't have had that if it wasn't for the gospel. And I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't have gone to the Hill Kimura pageant to that degree. And it's inspired me ever since to have that in my life, to have those kind of relationships. You know another thing that I should get to Here is a story here in Helaman 4 or 10, four through 10, a special gift was given to Helaman son, Helaman son Nephi.

1:44:03 The Lord tells him, I will bless thee forever, and I will make thee mighty in Word and in deed, in faith and in works. Yeah, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word. For thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will. Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of my angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with famine, and with pestilence and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people. Very, you know temple language. Nephi was given the ceiling power, the authority to bind or loose on earth and in heaven, akin to the keys given to Peter in Matthew 1619 and Joseph Smith in DNC 13246.

1:44:55 In LDS theology. This sealing power includes the power to seal families eternally in temples. Why? Why? Because Nephi declared the Word of God with unwaringness. Webster's Dictionary says unwearing. Unwearied is an ongoing state of untiring energy and perseverance. It means that Nephi was enthusiastic, committed and tenacious at sharing his testimony and teaching others about Jesus. I am. And I know David's and the thousands of you listening here today are also excited to share the love you feel with God, the the love you feel in your heart.

1:45:36 And I pray that each of you will feel his hand in your life more and more until you have every gift. There are a lot of them. There's 2 pages of of them that we could go through if you feel like. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I, I think we could, we could do that. I do want to speak to that here a little bit about about what she'd said there concerning those gifts. We sometimes I think we suffer from not being able to relate to our heroes, right? We look at, we look at Nephi and we think, oh man, I could never get to that stage right.

1:46:25 And we're so quick to remember all the great things Nephi did. But then we forget the Psalm of Nephi and 2nd Nephi. Oh wrecked man, that I am right. We do this thing where we turn our heroes or those who have done great things into marble statues and we don't show their humanity or allow ourselves to see their humanity. And its outcome is that we don't participate at that point. And I think it is super important that we realize all those people we read about in scripture, they were people, they were men, they were women, they had flaws. They were they they have their own baggage to deal with. Doesn't let you off the hook.

1:47:16 And sometimes I think when we look at a guy like Peter who denies the Savior, but yet is the guy who will become the authority on Christ and Christianity during his time, we should take comfort in that. And we should also take take heart in that that OK, so I got some issues. I got some problems. Not perfect. God still can use me. Again, another clever ploy by the adversary to keep us on the sidelines and not getting in the game. Yeah, I think if we start to have faith in ourselves, I think that's one of the first steps.

1:47:59 And, and, and I have to say, at 17, I didn't have a lot of faith in myself until, until I felt Heavenly Father's love for me. And that changed everything, to know that he loves me that much. For one, it was scary. Two, very overwhelming, and it very much shook me to the core of my soul. And no, I'm not the same guy. I recognized that. I recognized that the One who created this earth is in my court. He is going to help me with everything. Everything.

1:48:48 Oh, I have not done everything just right since. No, not at all. Fallen dozens and dozens and times, if hundreds of times since. And yet I have a confidence that He loves me. And because I know He loves me and I felt that love fill my heart, I know how much He loves everyone else. Which gives me so much more enthusiasm. I want to see other people doing better too. And so when I do business with others, do I want to see them successful? Do I want to see them happy and doing well in their life? Yes, Because I see them as brothers and sisters and because I know that God loves them every bit as much and that I need to be loving and kind towards them in that same way. And that ultimately all of us will be together. We might.

1:49:46 Joseph talks about the same sociality existing in the next life. You know, for all of us, that this will just go on in the eternity. It's just like CS Lewis says, you know, we haven't really met a mortal person. You know, we are literally going to be living with each other. So if you've injured someone, you make it right, go apologize. If if you need to make it right with financially, go make it right financially. Give them whatever it takes to get them back on their feet again. If you ripped them off or, or whatever it is, which which that's what just people do. You could never not do that. And and then genuinely and with confidence, ask the Heavenly Father and Jesus to forgive your sins. If you're not that guy that's willing to to make all right that you possibly can while you're here and like you're not feeling the gospel in your heart. Where's that love?

1:50:43 You would never want to injure another person that way, right? You know, So what I just what does it mean to have all these gifts of God, you know? OK, so now we've talked about how meekness is that building block that gets you there and then the charity is this enduring gift that allows you to stand in the presence of God. Well, there are, you know, like I said, these two pages of of gifts. Let me just get right into it here. Galatians 5. Yeah, Galatians 522 says the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness and temperance.

1:51:29 Kind of a bit of a mouthful. That's one I I memorized as a missionary. Moroni lists the gifts of God in his parting thoughts. The Word of Wisdom to teach wisdom from God. A word of knowledge to teach knowledge from God. Faith Exceedingly great faith to believe and act. Healing To heal the sick through faith. Working of miracles To perform mighty miracles. To prophecy concerning all things. Beholding of angels and ministering spirits. To see and interact with heavenly beings. To speak in diverse languages by the Spirit. To understand and interpret languages, to receive divine guidance and truth, to see the future or hidden things, to translate ancient records or languages. Kind of overlaps a little bit with that one charity, the pure love of Christ, which is the greatest gift to love as Christ loves, but it's not always listed as a gift. It's more of a fruit of the gift teaching to instruct with power, just being a very clear teacher.

1:52:50 Exhortation and encouragement to motivate and comfort others. Giving and generosity to contribute liberally. Leadership to guide with diligence, to show compassion cheerfully. The gift of mercy. There's some other gifts here. 2-3 more that have to do with the gifts of prophets here and Revelator that are detailed in DNC One O 7 and Messiah 8. The prophet is one who speaks for God, foretells and testifies of Christ. A seer is one who sees hidden things past, present or future, often using instruments like the Urim and Thummim.

1:53:32 A seer is also a revelator and a prophet and can translate all records that are of ancient date. So that's more the specificity of what a seer is. You know, I want to talk about that prophet one for just a second because this is a it's come up. The first time is when you brought up, you know, Moses and Joshua there where, yeah, Moses would like, oh, if everybody could be a prophet. Part of the role of a prophet is pointing people back to Christ. Yes. So often I think we get hung up on that phrase, thinking that just must mean that that that we're telling future events.

1:54:15 Certainly that is a part of being a prophet in prophecy. But another part is is pointing back towards the Savior, crying repentance, those things. If we could all do those things, how much better we would be as as a people. Well, think, you know, about being a home teacher and, you know, ministering brother, that's very much, you know, someone who points people to Heavenly Father and shares his testimony just like a missionary. And, and I feel like the, the LDS church culture kind of puts the prophet up a bit more on a pedestal that, you know, they're kind of set apart to just be the only one.

1:54:59 And yet the gospel of Jesus Christ, we're supposed to all have these gifts and to magnify whatever gifts that we have that are given to each of us personally. And some people have all the gifts of the gospel. Some people have more dreams and visions. I've met folks in in the ward here who have dreams and visions regularly. And many others in the fundamentalist community that I've talked to that have had some wonderful dreams and visions. In fact, you know, one of the things that has impressed me, you know, when, when you think about, you know, how does the Holy Ghost even work in your life? Well, how, how would it work? You know, once you have the humility and the charity and the love and all that, and, and then you, you can, you're kind of an empty vessel.

1:55:47 You are ready to have heavenly Father bless you. How do you, how do you do it? Justin Franken, who's been on the the podcast multiple times, talked about how when he was in South Korea, he would, he would pray to know which door to knock on And they would go, they would go from one apartment building and walk into the apartment complex and they would pray about which building to go to. And then once they got to that building, they would pray to know which floor to go to. And then they would go to that floor. And then they would pray which direction on the floor to, to which direction right or left to go.

1:56:28 And then they would keep praying until they got an answer on who, who to talk to. And, and in this mission in South Korea, where very few people were having baptisms, they were able to have baptisms, literally miraculous, miraculous, wonderful stories. And I attended the Nelson Naylor fundamentalist group there, you know, in Bluffdale, Riverton area and in Utah. And someone got up to share a story about how a father lost his, his son. And they were camping up in the Uintas and did not know where he disappeared to. And the father got the impression, hey, let's go, let's go search for my son.

1:57:09 He's not back yet. Something must have happened. The son just knelt down and prayed where he was for his dad to come find him. And anyway, the story is, is that he started leaving the camp in the direction of where his son was. And then then he got to a fork in, in the, the path. And so then he knelt down right there in that that fork in the path and asked Heavenly Father, you know, which direction should I take to find my son? And he ended up being led. And he did that several more times until he found his son. And then his son said to him, I prayed that you would find me. And you know, it's like those are the, the gifts of the spirit that are so wonderful.

1:57:54 We're not taking advantage of so many of those wonderful blessings that all of us can have in our life like that. That to me is using the gospel and and the gift of of prophecy and revelation like this. So could you call him a prophet? Yes, he was feeling the Spirit guide him right then to find his son. And wonderful bless, you know. I I want to, I want to say two things on this. First off, when Christ asks his disciples, who do men say that I am? They say, well, some say thou art Elias, some say you're John the Baptist returned.

1:58:37 And then the Savior asked again, no, who do you say I am? And Peter says you're the Christ, you're the Son of God. And the Savior says, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to you, but your Father, which is in heaven. If you have a testimony of Jesus and the restored gospel, you received that through the Spirit, which is a form of prophecy. Totally. And, and it's important to remember that sometimes I think we look to park the waters of the Red Sea and we fail to miss the gift that's right under our nose. Now to to go along with what you're saying there about hearing the spirit.

1:59:30 And I think this is one of the reasons that I felt so compelled to do this series this this year, 2026 is as I thought about it, I think. And, and you're hitting on a big part of that, right? Being able to be in a spot to where you can receive revelation quickly, right in the moment. Yeah. I don't know why I think this, I don't know why I'm feeling this, but I feel like in the next coming years, quickly, I think it's going to be vital that you have that kind of relationship with God and with the Holy Ghost. So if the Holy Ghost says don't go that direction, no matter how counterintuitive it seems, you can stop and go. Yeah, I'm not going that way.

2:00:24 I'm going to go this way because I do think we're coming to a point now at where in society to be able to simply navigate the various stories that we will read about, hear about and see. We'll take revelation to be able to parse out what's right and what's wrong. And I don't think that it's by happenstance that the Lord, through Paul, decided to use the analogy of a soldier putting on his armor to go out to war because I think we're, you know, I think that spiritual war we're seeing is intensifying. And being able to listen to the Spirit is going to be a big part of that.

2:01:06 Absolutely. I can't imagine navigating all the challenges, you know, in life, especially some of the things that that are foretold future wise that are supposed to be coming towards us with the anger that is going on in the world and the commotion that that is going on now without. How would you protect your children? How would you protect, you know, your your family, your community and those around you and stay protected yourself? You know, if you don't have some impression of Hey, I, you shouldn't drive down that street right now because it is coming to those kind of times where there are people who are listening to the dark side and don't have your best interests at hearts. They don't have charity. They, they want to take from you.

2:01:46 They want to hurt you. I've experienced plenty of that. I don't think any of us get through life without, you know, being lied to, you know, betrayed and, you know, taken advantage of. Those are the challenges that all of us face at some point. And if we haven't ever had it, awesome. You have been black. Look, some of this may not even be about avoiding danger, right? Maybe, maybe may not taking the 1 route, but taking the other. You're going to encounter someone that you can minister to uniquely that'll make an impact. And so I think we're coming in the time where we got to have our head on a swivel and be able to listen to spirit quickly and follow that prompting because I think it's it's only going to get more vital from this point forward. Yeah, I totally, totally agree.

2:02:40 You know the revelator, it says Ephesians 35 and DNC one O 792. To be a revelator is to be a seer, a revelator, a translator and a prophet. So it's kind of like they all kind of build on each other. Hadn't quite put that one all together that, you know, it's like a prophet, seer, unrevelator. So the Revelator kind of stacks up the Sears talent of being able to translate and also the prophet's ability to foretell and kind of adds to that a bit more, which sounds awesome and certainly something that all of us striving for that is unique and awesome and wonderful. 11 thought that came to me while I was putting this together too.

2:03:26 I've kind of had a thing for great books and literature, and there was one one guy who stood out in my philosophy class called Immanuel Kant. He lived from 1724 to 18 O four, and he explored the idea that right and wrong could be categorically determined by whether an action could be made into a universal principle. For example, lying's wrong because if everyone lies, trust will collapse, making communication, business transactions, and keeping promises impossible. On the other hand, if everyone's honest and tells the truth, communication and business transactions go well. If this principle is applied universal universally, it builds trust and improves relationships between businesses and families. And I, I think, OK, so this guy's not, you know, particularly a religious leader of any kind. And yet somehow he starts delving into universal principles and ideas that fit right along with our scriptures, that we are eternal beings and that there are universal principles that are so absolutely important for all of us.

2:04:37 Right. I've got a little section here from the book that Joni's been putting together. And while kind of in summing up the ideas of how these gifts are going to work in your life, this is a little section that kind of clarifies some things of what what can you do in your life right now? Little steps to developing your character. You get what you tolerate. I've spent a lot of time on the streets with other troubled youth and even in juvenile detention.

2:05:21 You know what I learned? If you left your mess for your cellmate to clean up after you, they punch you in the nose. Yet, how often do you allow your children to leave messes for others to clean up after them? Also, how often are you leaving a mess for someone else to clean up? Do you always throw your trash in a garbage can when traveling? Do you always put your shopping cart back in the supermarket rack? Do you always wipe off counters and clean the toilet, toilet seat, and bathrooms when you splash or make a mess? When you're invited to dinner, do you ever wash your plate, your your, your utensils, the counter or any other dishes that you got food from?

2:06:02 You may not have thought about these things before, but they are the very things that show a high level of respect to others. This principle is important because we get exactly what we tolerate in life. It's also true that we get exactly what we expect and demand for our our children and for ourselves. So when it comes to these principles, yeah, we just have a whole laundry list of them. How are we, how often are we taking advantage of all those wonderful gifts because they're there for us? Those are just some of the thoughts that that have come. You know, we've got Nephi and what separated him. We've looked at how the Savior defines himself as meek and lowly how Moses was was even willing to be the big protector of Hebrew on the women that were getting their sheep and flocks, you know, taken and that was still being very meek.

2:07:03 I'm so all of these kind of principles are all coming together. There's just one more section of scriptures that I I have here in life. All of us are tempted in different ways, and there's three temptations that that Jesus and all men seem to face. They're mentioned in Matthew 4, two through 11, pleasure, pride, and property. And putting this together, I went through AI several times and looked at 5 or 6 different versions of this because I feel like it was kind of missing some of the meat here, that it was not being as strong and helping us to understand those principles.

2:07:52 So I feel like I've, I've kind of summed these up just a little better than what I've seen online. So the first temptation is turning the stones, turn these stones into bread. After 40 days of fasting, the devil tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread to end his hunger, appealing to his physical appetites and his desire for bodily pleasure and satisfaction. Hedonism. Jesus responds that humans live on every word from God, not just on bread. You know, I think that's amazing that, you know, his focus is like as a rabbi, he was going to share the law and his understanding of the law and how he did everything. And if he was going to be approached or hit, hit with something, he was going to return fire with what he his intellectual understanding of the scriptures and principles of right and wrong. Right.

2:08:47 That that to me is kind of profound. It's like, oh, I've never really thought of it quite that way, You know, are we looking at the Scriptures as kind of that guide in the way that Jesus did as his rabbi? You know, everybody who's fasting for 40 days, you're going to want to eat. I, I've fasted 16 days straight. I was pretty hungry. Right. And there could be a point when you're just scrambled physically, you just, I don't know how do you do it 40 days and not be tempted and continue your focus. The Spirit would have to have been very strong with him. And then the other temptation, you know, jump from the temple.

2:09:29 Hey, the devil urges them, Jesus jump from the highest point of the temple saying God's angels, they'll protect you and it will be a miraculous sign proving his divinity in a spectacular way for the crowds below, appealing to his pride, his desire for personal glory, admiration, vanity and ego. Well, Jesus refuses, stating he will not put his God to the test. Then the next one is worship me. Finally, the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. He offers them to Jesus if you'll just bow down and worship him well, appealing to his desire to possess property and his desire for wealth, power and status, materialism of the world. Jesus refuses, saying that he will only worship and serve God. So that pleasure, pride and property seems to fit almost everything.

2:10:23 And of course, there's some lengthier versions of what sins are. And Spencer W Kimball goes into that with, you know, quite, quite the book that makes you really look at sin pretty intensely, almost seems to be a stretch because I know our Heavenly Father is so kind and so generous with his forgiveness. And I feel like we all need to be that with ourselves. I don't. I think that most of us are probably much more unkind to ourselves when it comes to forgiveness and not recognizing that, you know, the things we do today that should not get in the way of our relationship with our Father in heaven. He wants that relationship now.

2:11:08 Are you saying that these are the temptations that keep us from putting on that, that breastplate of righteousness that, you know, the, the, the temptation of, of property and the temptation of, of maybe overeating and the temptation of, of just maybe not caring as much as we should, figuring God will take care of it? What what? What's your thoughts there with that? Well, those are the, the things what, well, it's basically he's, he's appealing to the, the body, the emotion and the ego. All those 3 appeals. And those are things that absolutely get in the way of us getting direction from our Father in heaven. If we have those things in the way our plate is already full, our play already has something in the way where that divine revelation and guidance is not going to get there. Just as I was reading in those several of those scriptures, you're you can't have pride gets in the way of you having that charity.

2:12:13 Pride gets in the way of you having that conversation with God. Joseph Smith guarantee lack of pride. He went and when he prayed, total lack of pride. He wanted to know more than anything and felt like this is what the scripture says. I'm going to go figure it out. I haven't really prayed like this vocally. Little awkward. I'm going to go in the Grove and where I chopped trees and speak to God. Hopefully he'll make some sense of this. I agree with what you're putting out there that that these are the things that that the adversary is going to try to do to get you to not put on the armor, right? These temptations, as the spiritual battle intensifies and it's going to intensify, the adversary isn't going to use our most basis desires to tempt us most of the time. He is going to use our worthy desires. Oh yeah.

2:13:20 To try to bring them around. So these temptations that Christ has, I'm going to make a bold statement, but I'm willing to stand on it. I don't think that's the full account. I don't think we'll ever know in this life what that really was. But I would dare to bet that He played on the Savior's emotion, on the Savior's righteous desires to get things done. And as we go forward, we are going to have to have so much discernment. And I think that's why this breastplate of righteousness is so important, because it's going to cover our hearts, because we're going to have to protect our hearts.

2:14:04 And we're going to have to have so much discernment that we don't get swept up in the emotion of things that we can take a step back and say, divorce ourselves of, of the anger or the hurt or the pain and say, what is it God wants me to do in this moment? Because we will be tested to take that and tempted to take that armor off. And it's going to become extremely important that we don't. Yeah, Amen, brother. All right. And when I was putting this together about the savior, I felt like the the story was like as like there's just much more to it that it just really does.

2:14:49 I didn't feel like it gets to the full essence of how strong that message would have been for him. To me, how we view the Savior, those temptations wouldn't seem put in a very powerful way, like OK, next, next. But being brilliant and having the spirit of the Lord and having the position that he has as our elder brother, it would have to be incredible amount of temptation that he would throw at him, really done in a way that would be very challenging to him probably personally. Even with the spirit, even with the spirit, what's the point of it if it wasn't he, right?

2:15:44 The the thing that stunned me so much, you know, my experience, kind of similar to yours. There were some things that were said, you know, by him that by Satan that really stunned me very much to the core. Like I, I, I, I could not imagine another person, another human being saying this that out of the question. The intelligence was much higher than a normal person and his ability to articulate things second to none patriarchal blessing about the closest thing to that conversation and just, you know, spiritual visitations, those kind of things. That's that's the only things that would be similar as far as his abilities.

2:16:39 And I thought that interesting that no longer in the temple is the the priesthood power being mentioned by, you know, it's not, there's no reference to that. And yet he clearly has power. Absolutely. And to what depth it it's it's a massive amount of power, whatever that level is enough that it shutters my soul to even give it much attention. It's just, it's literally beyond description. Like I have worked for some things and I I can't really even articulate the level of brilliance and evil that I felt around him like that. What happened at Hill Kimura? Incredible.

2:17:19 Straight, incredible. Yep. So yeah, gone through a bunch of the little scriptures and thoughts. Glad that I was able to get through most of this. Kind of wanted to wrap up a bit with something that I shared as a missionary in Virginia during the holidays with the families that I would knock on doors with. And no, it's not Christmas time, you know when this is going to be coming out, but this is definitely the season where I think of my Savior more. And I'm so glad to see the nativity and parts are turned to giving to other people more. So I do love to see that.

2:18:08 That is a wonderful, wonderful time of year. Well, when I knock on doors, most everybody in Virginia, just to give a little back story there, it's so Christian. You have, they're going to some church, most everyone. And so we would knock on the doors and I'd say, hey, we're ministers from the local church over here. And I would try to speak in their language as much as possible so that, you know, they had some familiarity and, you know, we, our church is right over here. Name the street and the, the place so that they could recognize it. And we're going around sharing kind of a Christmas message about Jesus. Would that be OK if we share that with you?

2:18:49 Do you have your children? So I would throw that in there so that now they're thinking about, you know, this is just a short little message. And this is one that I, it's always touched my heart, you know, during that time, I, I did this one a lot. So it's, it's Messiah chapter 3. And it's, it's where he, he comes and comes out to the people, you know, King Messiah. And he tells all the people. He says, the things which I'll tell you today are made known unto me by an Angel of God. He woke me up and stood before me. He said, The Lord hath heard thy prayers. And he sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice, and that that people may also be filled with joy. For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power the Lord Omnipotent, who reigneth, who was and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a Tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the Lamb to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men. And lo, he shall suffer temptations and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death.

2:20:18 For behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and abominations of his people. And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the creator of all things from the beginning. And his mother shall be called Mary. And then I'll just kind of share my thoughts, you know, about Jesus is being this wonderful gift. And I'm glad to feel to learn from his example and kind of, you know, wish them well, kind of introduce ourselves a little bit more, learn a little bit more about their family and, and say we can come back and teach you again another, another time. But as I, you know, I've thought of this message so often as members of the LDS church or fundamentalist, most people I don't see living up to their full potential with all these gifts, dreams and visions and healings. And our Heavenly Father wants us all to have that right now, today.

2:21:23 And if we to ask him for his assistance, we turn to him and we are really sincere because that is the key, that humility that that meekness, he will come. He will come see you. He will come visit you. He will heal your your heart, your soul of the the pains that you've had. He will fill you up. He will make the burdens you feel. It will feel lighter. You'll feel happiness. You'll feel joy where you had despair and no hope before. You'll recognize that there is a purpose to this life.

2:22:06 You'll recognize that the challenges that you're facing are all they're built for your blessing and your good and your character development so that you can have the the ultimate happiness in the next life moving forward forever, not just for the challenges that you have in face today, that you can be happy here as much as possible on this earth. But there is so much more in store for us that, you know, the scriptures say that if we had any idea, we would all be fighting and scrambling to have that. And, and even us as believers in the restoration, we know that this is what the scriptures say. And sometimes we're not just all fighting and scrambling, you know, can I get there?

2:22:51 How do I get there? What do I do, you know, but the answer is, you know, pray for every corner. What building do I go to? What is this that I go to here? Who do I talk to? The the prayers will come. We'll get the answers on how to find our little lost child. We'll get the the answers on where to get the job. Our bodies will heal with with that faith that we have and that love that we feel from our Father in heaven. I, I see so many in this group. I've heard so many that have these wonderful gifts and just showing up to church. I've heard testimony after testimony of these wonderful gifts of our Father in heaven bestowed on us.

2:23:35 And I don't have all of those gifts, but I've had multiples of them enough to know of God's love deeply and, you know, feeling it from the bottom of my heart. And you know, as a as someone who kind of I believe, I believe in Jesus Christ promises, you know, Messiah 18 when he says, you know, mourn for those that mourn, comfort those that stand needed in need of comfort. You know, I'm willing to I'm game. You know, those people who are listening to this that really just aren't sure if the restoration is the truth or not. Hey, I'll fast and pray with you. Call send me a note that's important. I'm here to assist however I can in helping my brothers and sisters have their own spiritual experiences, whatever that is for them.

2:24:29 But I know that our Heavenly Father wants to show himself to all of us. I've only seen just a little bit of that in my life, which is significant. More than most would ever even dream happened, has happened to me already. And I know that Heavenly Father has even greater gifts in store for us and all of us. And I just, you know, have prayed that, you know, some of my words and some of my ways of putting some of these scriptures together will be of value And touch your hearts, touch the hearts of everyone here and giving them more hope and a greater trust and faith in their heavenly Father.

2:25:09 And my hope is that everyone of you develops more meekness, more charity. Serve other people as any way you can because he'll fill, he'll fill you up and guide you much more by every little thing you do. Nephi got the ceiling power because of his great desire to teach and his willingness to do that. And if you go out and teach and you give and you serve others and bring them to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he's going to fill your cup and he's going to give you the sealing power as well and visit you and comfort you when you have these challenges in your life. And that's just, you know, my knowledge and my prayer for all of you.

2:25:53 I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen. Thanks, Corey. That was a lot of good stuff. As as I sit here and I look at at this right, that breastplate of righteousness, it is so incumbent upon each of us that we spend the time necessary. And Corey's given us some great insights on how to put that on and what that breastplate is and and how it functions. But guarding the heart is going to be increasingly important in the coming days, months and years. I really believe that if our hearts fail us and we become angry and our love towards our fellow man waxes cold, we can't be the instrument we need. The other way our heart can fail us is if we lose our courage, if we don't stand where we ought to stand and do the things we got to do.

2:26:52 Look, I hate to break it to you. If you're listening to this podcast, it is not an accident. No one, no one gets to the fundamentalist podcast, dude, without without asking a few questions first. So no matter where you are, right, if you're in the LDS church, if you're a fundamentalist, if you're in a different, if you're an uncorrelated Mormon, whatever it is, you need to stop and you need to ask the questions, why? What is my calling? How do I execute my calling? And then how do you work with the Lord to accomplish that? Because you're here for a reason at this time, at this place, wherever that is, and you have a work to do. I'm not going to have Corey's experiences. Corey isn't going to have mine and we're not going to have yours.

2:27:48 Your experiences are unique to you because you needed them because of the work that you have to do. So I beg you, get on your knees, find out what your calling is, and then learn to strap on that armor because the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is not a spectator sport. You don't get to just hang out on the sidelines and watch it. Everyone's got a chance to play, so get right with God, do whatever it is you got to do to clean out the junk in your life. Just clean it out, let it go, and then get ready to go to work 'cause I think the times are here. Corey, that was awesome. I appreciate your time.

2:28:31 We'll have to jump on again. Sounds good, just love you all and I wish everyone the best and I pray that you know that Spirit of the Lord and that guidance will just open all kinds of things up for you. And grateful to serve. Good stuff. Thanks again. All right, we'll talk to you next time. Bye everybody.