MMM Sermons: Receive the Holy Ghost

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by Saint Mark (bio)

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints call them "talks," but most (non)Christians call them sermons. This is a series of sermons that many Latter-day Saints love and believe. I hope these sermons promote and perfect your faith as they do mine. Watch or read it here.

You think you understand one of the first principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ and then Elder David A. Bednar comes along and flips the script on you. Who would have thought that there could be so much in those four little words, "Receive the Holy Ghost."

In October 2010 General Conference, Elder Bednar shared a telling teaching that Joseph Smith taught while visiting Washington D.C. to meet with the then-President of the United States Martin Van Buren.

In December of 1839, while in Washington, D.C., to seek redress for the wrongs done to the Missouri Saints, Joseph Smith and Elias Higbee wrote to Hyrum Smith: “In our interview with the President [of the United States], he interrogated us wherein we differed in our religion from the other religions of the day. Brother Joseph said we differed in mode of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We considered that all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 97).

This sermon by Elder Bednar expanded my view of the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the import of immersing myself in the things of the Spirit as often as possible. At first, I preferred things of the world a little more and became easily bored with hymns, Primary songs, church videos and such. But I finally realized that Heaven or the Celestial Kingdom is not "of the world"; it is of the Spirit. And it dawned on me that Heaven wasn't going to change its "tastes" for me so if I wanted to go to Heaven I needed to be the one who changed his tastes.

The account of Brigham Young returning from beyond the grave to educate a prophet and us sealed the decision in my heart to truly "receive the Holy Ghost" every day. My marriage, my family, and my life has been happier and more peaceful ever since.

The BeFrugal Browser Add-On

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by Pete Codella (bio)

Although this post is secular in nature, it is very much geared to provident living. For full disclosure, the tool this article is focused on was developed by a client of mine, but it's so cool that I had to share. And I'm not even a very frequent online shopper.

If you do any shopping online, you seriously should check-out this browser add-on that automatically identifies any coupons or discount codes, then lets you select the one you want from a drop-down when you checkout. The tool is available now and works in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

It's called the BeFrugal Add-On. The tool crowdsources coupons, so if someone uses a code on a site that isn't already in the system, once it's accepted by the merchant, the code is added to the online database for that site, benefiting all Add-On users.

If you ever do any shopping online and find yourself going from site to site looking for coupons and discount codes, the BeFrugal Add-On is bound to save you tons of time and money. It automates the whole online discount shopping process, which, I suppose, is why it's called Couponomatic™.

I think the add-on is the digital version of what some families do around the kitchen table each week, clipping coupons and filing them for later in-store use. That was then, the BeFrugal Add-on is now — a discount shopping tool for the digital age.

Also, BeFrugal has a cash back program that works at more than 3,000 sites covering 80% of the top 500 online retailers. So in addition to discount and coupon codes, shoppers can receive cash back through BeFrugal, requesting a PayPal deposit or check in the mail once their account reaches $25.

As I said, I'm not a big online shopper, but I'm really impressed with this tool. I think it will be a game changer for Internet shopping. I'm going to use it this holiday season. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Do You Believe in Santa Claus?

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by Scott Heffernan (bio)

My wife was recently looking for some minimalist Santa Claus art to add to our Christmas decorations. She was disappointed in what she found (or didn't find) and asked me to design something for her. I really dove into the project over Thanksgiving and am extremely happy with the result (more importantly—she is happy.)

My favorite is the version that reads, "BELIEVE," shown at the top of this post. But it kind of got me thinking. I have mixed feelings toward the whole Santa thing that I need to work through. I've met parents who are anti-Santa Claus. "It's the first big lie we tell our children," I remember one mother telling me. (And I'll never forget when I asked her seven-year-old daughter what Santa had brought her, only to be met with a long blank stare.) I've heard others who take a more nuanced approach. They lightly participate in a Santa Claus Christmas, stressing that Old St. Nick is a myth, but a very powerful myth that teaches valuable lessons about love and selflessness. I think that the biggest part of me wants to create that magic in my children's lives. I do love getting swept up in the spirit of the season. But are there legitimate negative consequences? Will our kids lose trust in us? Are we teaching them it's okay to lie? Will they eventually view God as the next big fairy tale that is to be outgrown? Or is that a positive thing to help them learn to think critically for themselves and not live on borrowed light. I'm a bit lost. It seems like any way you approach it could potentially backfire. Harmful, harmless, or beneficial? Dear readers, now is your chance to convince me.

Below are the four versions I made that are available in our Etsy shop. Ho, ho, ho!

Guest Post: Not Your Average Fast and Testimony Meeting

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This guest post is from an anonymous reader in Sacramento, California.

Photograph by Roberto Trm.

As a separated dad in the process of navigating divorce, my life is full of all the things that have become urgent - providing for my children under (now) two separate roofs, filling out reams of paperwork, getting my children to church and activities (as the role of the only parent who participates in church now), and ensuring that I don't collapse from it all.

Sitting in Fast and Testimony meeting two months ago, all of my current (and more to the point, my children’s current) situation came to bear in one moment.

We had a string of women get up and bear their testimony, or more appropriately, their I-just-know-i-mony. We all know these stories, and in general, we love their sentiments - about how happy they are to have their husbands, how spiritual they are, how they honor their priesthood and how they know how they will be living together forever, sealed to each other and their children. Along with their words came all the normal weeping at the podium, and while it was mostly tearing up on the part of the bearer, there are sometimes a few people in the audience who feel things and start crying as well.

While generally not a testimony-crier, I don't want to take that away from anyone who was or ever has become emotionally overcome and cried. At around speaker I-just-know-i-mony number five, I looked over at my 11-year-old son and saw that he was on the verge of bawling. I quickly put my arm around him, leaned over, and asked him if he wanted to go outside. He nodded yes and we quickly left the chapel.

First in a side hallway of the church and then outside, I held him while he cried and asked me, essentially, how things would work out with me, his mom, and his sister. There were tears and sadness, a lot of holding him close, and an overall questioning of how, what, and why.

Giveaway 21: Winner & Movie Review

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by LJ (bio)

The winner of the The Odd Life of Timothy Green DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack is Kristi O'Dair Clews (link to comment). Please email us your address by this Friday to claim your DVD. If you didn't win, buy this wonderful movie for your family starting December 4th.

First and foremost, The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a squeaky-clean movie with a good message about putting family first. It's almost totally free of fart jokes, double-entendres, or even kids being super rude to their parents. This was a breath of fresh air because I feel like some kid movies are incredibly and intentionally crass. (Anyone closely connected with the late Jim Henson or Pixar Studios, you are of course excused from this sweeping generalization.)

My husband and I had seen the trailer for this film earlier in the year and frankly, I didn't know what to expect. It looked like a couple without children who somehow mysteriously grow a son in their garden overnight. (I found this to be a fun little detail, considering how many of us Mormon kids probably went through some of our childhoods believing that sex was for degenerates and that we were picked from the garden ourselves.)

From a technical standpoint, I thought it was a really pretty movie with a gorgeous setting and great costuming. The look and the score contribute to a homey, small-town feel that made me oddly nostalgic. CJ Adams as Timothy Green, gave the best performance of the film as a slim little dreamer, a trusting and gentle soul who goes around making people's lives better.

This being said, this is a movie that would be difficult for the 8-and-under crowd mostly because the pace is a little slow and the ending is a little sad. Parents, be ye warned that it also verges into corny territory in a couple of spots. However, The Odd Life of Timothy Green is worth the watch because it encourages you to do your best by your family and put your pride aside. Most importantly, it gives you license to believe in little miracles when they do come along.

The Worth of a Soul is $752.3 Million

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by Ben Johnson (bio)

In the book Starship Troopers an interesting conversation takes place between a soldier and a professor at the military academy. They debate a hypothetical situation where, after a protracted and vicious war between two countries, prisoners are being kept by one side. The question posed to the soldier is "are a thousand unreleased prisoners sufficient reason to start or resume a war?" Without hesitating he answers in the affirmative. The professor then says "Very well, is one prisoner, unreleased by the enemy, enough reason to start or resume a war?" This time the soldier isn't so quick with his response. After much thought the soldier comes to the conclusion that the worth of just one man is sufficient reason.

What if the conversation was about souls instead of men and we were talking money and not war? What do you suppose one soul would be worth? Let's think about this in terms of something we can relate to. How much money do you think the church spends each year on missionary work? I’m talking about keeping the lights on at the MTCs, printing copies of the Book of Mormon, running the I’m A Mormon campaign, pass along cards, other radio and TV advertising, etc. Add that all up and you are looking at a check with a lot of zeros on it.

Someone cleverer than I could suss out a fairly accurate dollar amount and then divide into that the number of convert baptisms each year. That would give you how much we spend for each baptism. Do you think there is some sort of 'return on investment' that the church has to have in order to continue to spend the money on missionary work that they do? Would the church spend that amount of money if they knew they would only baptize 10,000 people? 500? One?

Giveaway 22: Zarahemla Books 2

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Christopher Bigelow, owner and operator of Zarahemla Books, is back with another timely holiday giveaway. In operation since 2006, Zarahemla Books publishes Mormon-oriented fiction, humor, and memoir, with an emphasis on adventurous Mormon stories that are unorthodox but not apostate. Theric Jepson, of A Motley Vision blog, calls Zarahemla "the most valuable brand in Mormon letters today" and "the Pixar of Mormon literature."

As you already know, Christopher is generously giving away one copy of each of Zarahemla's 18 titles to Modern Mormon Men readers. For this, the second of four giveaways, Zarahemla is giving away the following provocative, unconventional, yet ultimately faith-affirming books.

Giveaway guidelines are for the following five titles (click for previews): The Death of a Disco Dancer, Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood, Rift, The Tree House and Hunting Gideon.

Can't wait? Buy Zarahemla's books now. All books are 50% OFF through the END OF NOVEMBER using coupon code HALF-OFF when checking out.

Giveaway Guidelines:
You have THREE chances to enter. Each entry requires a separate comment.
1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Like MMM on Facebook or share this post on Facebook. Leave a comment letting us know you did.
3. Follow MMM on Twitter or share this post on Twitter. Leave a comment letting us know you did.

• 5 days to enter (closes Friday, November 30th at midnight).
• Winner announced Monday, December 3rd.
• Winner must respond via email with their address by Friday, December 7th to claim the books.