Restoration of the Priesthood

Posted on May 19, 2014 by spawnmaster

I am very grateful to be here tonight with the members of the Marysville Stake. We are gathered to commemorate the 185th anniversary (May 15, 1829) of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood and shortly thereafter the Melchizedek Priesthood.

In order to better understand the restoration of the priesthood, I felt that it is important to go over a few dates. I will strive not to make this too dry, but it helped me understand how the Lord works in our lives.

We know that Joseph Smith experienced the first vision in the spring of 1820. From then until September 1823, the prophet experienced severe persecution and in his own words fell into “foolish errors and the weakness of youth.” – JSH 1:28

On the night of September 21, 1823, the prophet Joseph determined to pray and, in the words of JSH 1:29, “I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as I previously had one.” This prayer led to the visitation from Moroni and being led to the Gold Plates.

It is fascinating to note that Moroni told Joseph about the Priesthood through quoting the prophet Malachi, “Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” – JSH 1:38 and Malachi 4:5

This event led to Joseph going to the Hill Cumorah, where he was taught for 4 years (1823-1827) before finally receiving the plates in September 1827.

What this tells us is that at the very earliest, translation could have started as soon as the end of September, however through Joseph Smith History and other sources we know that the prophet was still attempting to provide for his family, keep the plates away from those that might seek to steal them, and moving between Manchester and Harmony, PA.

What we do know is that between September 1827 and June 1829, the prophet Joseph translates the Book of Mormon and gets it ready for publication. It is towards the very end of this process, in May, that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery encountered a passage on baptism that causes them to go into the woods to pray about baptism and the remission of sins. – JSH 1:68

In Doctrine and Covenants 13 we read the ordination given by John the Baptist which says…“Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.”

John the Baptist then directs Joseph and Oliver to baptize each other can give each other the Aaronic priesthood. We also know that a short period afterward, but probably in late May/early June 1829 that they proceed to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John.

This timing has always fascinated me and shows me how the Lord works. From the time, Joseph had the first vision in 1820 until 1829 the Lord didn’t see the need to give him the priesthood, even for the translation of the Book of Mormon, but right before the translation would be completed and the work beginning to restore the church (April 1830) the Lord knew Joseph would need the priesthood in order to proceed with his mission.

This pattern continued with the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in April 1836 when the Lord restored the keys of the Priesthood needed in order to perform the sacred work in the temple. Through the restoration of the priesthood and priesthood keys, our Heavenly Father has made it possible for us to teach the principles and perform the ordinances needed for eternal life.

Elder Neil L. Andersen has said, “We sometimes overly associate the power of the priesthood with men in the Church. The priesthood is the power and authority of God given for the salvation and blessing of all—men, women, and children… A man may open the drapes so the warm sunlight comes into the room, but the man does not own the sun or the light or the warmth it brings. The blessings of the priesthood are infinitely greater than the one who is asked to administer the gift.” – Neil L. Andersen, October 2013 General Conference

As we enjoy our time together here tonight and tomorrow I would hope we would take a minute and thank our Heavenly Father that we live on the Earth at a time when the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods have been restored with all Priesthood keys. We can show our gratitude for this great blessing by looking for opportunities to magnify our Priesthood, no matter if we are Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood holders

To the Aaronic Priesthood holders in the audience I would also ask you to not only magnify the priesthood office you are currently in, but also prepare yourself to advance in the priesthood. This is especially important with the tremendous opportunity you are being given to serve missions as 18 year olds instead of waiting until you are 19.

The Lord tells us in D&C 84:33-34, “For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.”

I have a testimony that the Priesthood has been restored to the Earth. The Priesthood gives us the privilege of acting in the name of our Lord and Savior to help restore his gospel and move his work forward. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to hold the Priesthood and trust that has been put on each of us as current or future priesthood holders. I know God lives and restored his gospel to the Earth. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Current Elite NFL Quarterbacks

Posted on January 22, 2014 by spawnmaster

I have been thinking a lot about the word “elite” this week, especially as it relates to athletes. If you watch or listen to sports like I do you will hear multiple times per game that a player is elite. This seems to be true even more often if you are a quarterback of an NFL team.

There are 32 teams in the NFL. Since some teams change quarterbacks during the course of a season, there are likely 40 quarterbacks who start multiple games during the year. I think if you create any kind of a bell curve, there are no more than 4 quarterbacks (10%) that can possibly be elite. However, by rough estimate it seems like there are anywhere from 10-12 quarterbacks I hear referred to as elite.

That got me thinking, what does it mean to be elite as a player, or more specifically, a quarterback in the NFL? By my way of thinking, an elite quarterback is one most people would look at and say is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, even if their career was suddenly cut short. This could be because they have won multiple championships, or have outstanding statistics. By this definition, I think there are only really 3 elite level quarterbacks, with one that is very close, playing in the NFL right now. In no real order they are:

ELITE

  • Peyton Manning: 3 Super Bowl appearances (1-1 with 1 still to be played) and 1st or 2nd in a large number of passing categories.
  • Tom Brady: 5 Super Bowl appearances (3-2) with great statistics and a tremendous won/loss record (148-43-0 77.4% winning percentage).
  • Drew Brees: 1 Super Bowl appearance (1-0) with great statistics (5th all-time in passing yards and 2nd among active players).

If you are still with me, you are probably asking, “Where’s Aaron Rodgers?” That is an interesting question because Rodgers is often referred to as elite, but I actually think he falls into the next level since he isn’t quite a guaranteed Hall of Famer, but is very close. My next group of quarterbacks are the great ones. They are players who have either won at least one championship, or have statistics that are great, but still have room to put them among the very best. With the exception of Aaron Rodgers, the list is not in a specific order:

GREAT

  • Aaron Rodgers: 1 Super Bowl appearance (1-0) and the overall leader in career passer rating. I think what holds me back from feeling he is elite is his low passing yard totals, 69th all-time and 11th among active players behind Matt Schaub and Tony Romo. He also has less wins, due to a shorter career then the quarterbacks I rated as elite.
  • Ben Roethlisberger: 3 Super Bowl appearances (2-1), 6th in active player passing yards, and 24th all-time. As I looked at Roethlisberger’s statistics I realized I may have really undervalued him as a fan. The Pittsburgh Steelers have never been a pass first team, but Roethlisberger as 3 4,000+ yards passing seasons and a 67% winning percentage.
  • Eli Manning: 2 Super Bowl appearances (2-0), 4th in active player passing yards and 19th all-time, right behind Jim Kelly. Manning’s biggest selling point is his 2 Super Bowl wins, but he has a fairly low winning percentage (56%) and 3 20+ interception seasons.

There are other quarterbacks that could be in the discussion for being great: Tony Romo, Matt Ryan, and Philip Rivers come to mind, but none have made it to a single Super Bowl, all have fairly pedestrian winning percentages, and only 2 of the 3 are among the top-10 active leaders in passing: Rivers (8), Romo (9).

Some of you may notice I never referred to passing touchdowns or rushing touchdowns by the players. This was because the ranking among the players for passing yards and passing touchdowns is fairly similar, and there really aren’t quarterbacks in the elite or great categories where their touchdown production really stands out.

I also meant no disrespect to your favorite quarterbacks such as Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub, Jay Cutler, Mike Vick, or anyone else. When I looked at their stats though they still have some work to do to catch the names I put on the list.

Hopefully you found this interesting.

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Hello world!

Posted on January 26, 2011 by spawnmaster

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

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Congratulations President Elect Obama

Posted on November 5, 2008 by spawnmaster

I can’t claim that the election went as I wanted last night, but I do recognize that is part of living in a Representative Democracy. No matter how I voted though it was a historic moment for our country yesterday. I want to take a second and congratulate Barack Obama and Joe Biden on winning the presidency/vice presidency. President Elect Obama ran a tremendous hard-fought campaign and it does make me proud that we were able to put aside some of the differences and biases that exist in our country to elect the first African-American President. I hope that this election will lead to true healing in our country and help us to move past the injustices of the past.  I have nothing but best wishes for our new President and I hope that he will lead us into a promising future built upon the principles that make this country great. Becca and I used this election last night as a teaching opportunity for our children. We said that when you vote you make your choice for the person you believe will best represent you, but when the election is decided you support the decision of the public, and stand behind the person that gets elected.

I also want to congratulate John McCain. While Senator McCain didn’t win, he did run a tremendous campaign himself and gave an outstanding concession speech last night. Senator McCain is still a hero in my book, and I thank him sincerely for his service to our country.

As we move forward it will be interesting to see how this election changes or impacts future elections. My friend Harry has an interesting take on how the next several years will go. I don’t agree with him as you might imagine, but I do think that he makes interesting points, and his prediction on this election was must closer than mine was. I also want to take a moment to congratulate him and my other friends who voted for the Democrats in this election. Yesterday was a tremendous victory for your party, and I wish you well as you move forward in leading the country. Hopefully you will learn the lessons the Republicans failed to grasp and realize that the country is not nearly as Red or Blue as people might have you believe.

Posted in News and politics | 15 Comments

I Hope You Will All Vote Today

Posted on November 4, 2008 by spawnmaster
Today is Election Day in the United States. I hope that no matter if you are a Democrat, Republican, Third Party, or Independent that you will take some time today to make you voice be heard. We are fortunate to be citizens in this great country and this is our chance to help elect people at the city, county, state, and country level to help solve te many issues this country faces. I view this day as a chance to excercise our responsibilities as citizens. Please go out and make you voice gets heard.
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I Cast My Vote Today

Posted on October 24, 2008 by spawnmaster

I suspect that anyone who reads my blog regularly will not be surprised that I voted for John McCain for President. This is a decision I came to several weeks ago, but I have been following the campaign to see if something would happen causing me to change my opinion. I have tremendous respect for Barack Obama, but don’t agree with him on many issues and didn’t think he was the right leader for this country at this time. I have decided to explain the reasons I chose Senator McCain in this important election. I’m sure that there are many people that will disagree with these reasons, and I hope they study out the issues themselves and come to their own determination. I have many friends who look at the same issues I do and make a different determination as to the correct solution. I respect that as diversity is one of the things that makes this country great and nobody or no party has the right solution to every issue. 

Economy

I believe that with the major issues with the economy right now it is important to have a candidate that has more experience and will be more friendly towards small business and the free market. I know that the Republicans are getting hammered on the economy right now and the bailout, but I believe that Orson Scott Card, a Democrat, makes a strong case that the Democrats have a large part of the blame themselves. 

Military

I support the Iraq War in the sense that I believe we need to finish what we started, even though we made a mistake going there in the first place. I also think that I would rather have someone who served in the military leading this country because he truly understands the sacrifices that the members of our armed services make in defending this country.

Experience

With the many issues facing our country I think it is critical to have someone who has significant experience in making tough decisions and crisis management. I also want a president who knows how the Federal Government works and more significantly doesn’t work, and will know how to navigate the rough waters of bureaucracy.

Working Across The Aisle

Senator McCain has shown that he isn’t afraid to cross up his own party and work with Democrats to solve problems. It is apparent to me that the parties are going to have to work together to solve problems and I believe Senator McCain can do that more effectively.

Taxes

The government needs to try and take as little of my money as possible. The fact is the government is not entitled to my money. I worked for it, they did not. There is a need for government programs, but there is also a responsibility to be accountable for the money these programs need to spend. The government cannot and should not attempt to solve everyone’s problems. I understand that the government needs money to operate, I just expect them to take as little as they can. In this I expect that Senator McCain will try and limit the amount of taxes I pay.

Conclusion

I accept the fact that Senator Obama will likely win this election. While I won’t vote for him if he does win I will support him and pray for him during his term(s). Personally I think being the President is a thankless job, and I think the president takes a tremendous beating for things that are often out of his/her control. As always I also hope that the winner of this election really needs to work with both parties in order to help this country move forward. We have tremendous opportunities and talents in this country if we can stop fighting long enough to work together.

Posted in Politics | 6 Comments

Thoughts on the Candidates

Posted on September 26, 2008 by spawnmaster

A few months ago I wrote about my thoughts on the Presidential candidates while Hillary Clinton was still in the race. Now that we have Barack Obama and John McCain as the nominees though I thought I would update my post a bit. As a reminder I consider myself both fiscally and socially conservative so I freely admit to leaning toward McCain however I do my best to try and look at the individual strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.

John McCain

Strengths

  • Ability to work across the aisle – Unlike some of my conservative friends I believe this is an important characteristic to have as the President. We need the ability to put aside partisan differences in order to solve some of the major issues our country faces.
  • Military service – Not everyone will agree with me here, but I feel that it is beneficial for the President to have served in the military so that he/she really understands the cost of putting our troops in harms way.
  • Not beholden to the party – McCain has been a maverick his entire career. In my opinion the President needs to put the party platform aside as needed and lead the country based on his own ideals. This is one area where I respected Bill Clinton as the President. He knew when the Republicans had a good idea, and he supported it. I believe McCain would do the same things with Democrat proposals.

Weaknesses

  • Health – I suspect some people reading this will relate it purely to McCain’s age. Actually the part that concerns me more has to do with the treatment that McCain received while a POW. He has given a lot of service to his country, but that service took an awful toll on his body. I am concerned how the pressure of 4 or 8 years as the President will wear on him.
  • Temper – It is pretty widely acknowledged that McCain has a pretty hot temper. While this is characteristic that many people share, it is one, that in my mind is dangerous for the President of the United States to have. Even when action is taken against our country such as 9/11 it is important that the President can remain cool in the crisis and help lead us out of it. I am not sure McCain can do that.

Barack Obama

Strengths

  • Great communicator – Obama has the ability to connect with people. Since we face a time of crisis in our country this is an important ability to have. Ronald Reagan, and John F. Kennedy had the same charisma and communication ability. I think this is important as the President has to talk to the American people regularly about important topics.
  • Message – Some will see this the same as being a great communicator, but in my mind the message Obama is delivering is as important as the way he delivers it. Like many people I am tired of the way Washington D.C. runs and would like to see a fresh point of view brought in. This is where Obama’s message of change appeals to me.

Weaknesses

  • Lack of leadership experience – I’m not trying to claim Obama would be a bad President. The fact is that his experience is limited though, and it bugs me how this has been treated by the media. The fact is that this could be good or bad depending on what you think of the direction of our country and Washington D.C. specifically. For me I want a President who has a number of years of experience working with all three branches of government since this is an important function of the President.
  • Courage of convictions – As I’ve followed the campaign it seems that Obama has changed his messages a few times. When one is seeking the presidency, over many months, there are going to be occasional times when the message requires fine tuning, changing, whatever, but it seems like Obama has to clarify his messages on a regular basis. It really makes me wonder exactly what it is he believes in.
  • Judgement – I really question how the choice of Joe Biden benefits Obama. If Mr. Obama was not trying to run the message of change Biden would of been a fine choice, but when you are trying to change how Washington D.C. works it seems like a poor pick in my opinion. I would of liked Obama to pick a Senator or Governor who had experience, but was more willing to question the establishment. I would of liked to see someone like Joe Lieberman get chosen. That would of shown a more consistent message of change.

Conclusion

I tried not to list a strength of one candidate as a weakness of the other. This was intentional as it is not a scale where the inexperience of Obama is balanced out by McCain’s term in the Senate. I tried to look at each candidate individually and think about what I thought the plusses and minuses are.  I also did not try and give each candidate a certain number of strengths and weaknesses in order to support McCain. I thought about each candidate and tried to quickly list the areas I thought helped and hurt them.

Posted in News and politics | 8 Comments

2008-2009 Seattle Seahawks Record Prediction

Posted on September 4, 2008 by spawnmaster

I guess that since the NFL season began tonight I should get my annual prediction about the Seahawks record published so I can look back and see how wrong I was at the end of the year.

If I am right the Hawks will go 11-5 and win the NFC West once again. At home they will go 7-1 with their only home loss coming to the New England Patriots. On the road they will go 4-4 losing to the Giants, Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Cardinals. Hopefully if I am wrong it is in the losses column, and not with the predicted wins. Truthfully I expect that 11-5 or 10-6 is about how good they are this year.

Posted in Sports | 13 Comments

What Does It Mean To Be A Fan?

Posted on September 4, 2008 by spawnmaster

I was listening to KJR-AM Sports Radio the other day. There was a discussion about what it means to be a true fan. Basically the question was if you are a true fan if you stop going to games when the team is bad. Being a Seattle sports fan  have seen my fair share of bad teams recently: Seattle Mariners, Washington Huskies, former Seattle Supersonics. There were a number of people making the case that you need to go to games no matter how bad the team is, or they might move, as the Sonics did.

I consider myself a true fan. I really do and I enjoy going to games, but I can’t bring myself to spend money to attend games when the team sucks, especially if it has been a few (or more) years since they were good. When the Mariners were good back in 2001 I attended 9 games during the season, not a lot but I had a very young family. This year when the Mariners are truly awful I have gone to 1 game. To some people I guess this makes me a bandwagon fan.

Arguing that I’m a bandwagon fan though is ridiculous for a few reasons. Here are my thoughts on why you shouldn’t go to games when the team is bad:

  1. If you keep spending your money to attend games when your team sucks then what incentive does the owner have to improve the team? None! He or she will only care that you are continuing to pay without the team making a commitment to winning.
  2. In what other endeavor do people pay over and over for a substandard product? If a band makes a lousy CD it is likely that their tour will generate a lot less revenue. Movie stars who appear in bad movies find themselves insignificant or unemployed pretty quickly.
  3. Sports are not charities. I don’t go to a game because I feel bad for the players. They are making millions of dollars or at least getting a free education to console themselves with when they are on a substandard team.

Even though I don’t attend games when the team is bad I do continue to support them. I want to see them do well, and I hope that the players find a way to turn things around. I continue wearing the team apparel since that is a sunk cost anyway. The team does have to start winning before I will go back to the games though. Ultimately I feel like my money goes towards being entertained so I need to be getting my moneys worth. If that makes me a bandwagon fan then I guess that’s what I am. In any case I really want to see the Huskies and Mariners improve and start winning again. As for the OKC Thunder (formerly the Sonics) I hope they continue to suck for all time. At least I’m not bitter…:-)

Posted in Sports | 8 Comments

High Adventure at Mount St. Helens

Posted on August 20, 2008 by spawnmaster

I went with my Venture Crew up to Mount St. Helens the week of August 5-9. We had a great time, and were able to experience the beauty of the mountain, plus explore some fascinating places.

For many people the above picture is one of the most familiar pictures of the mountain. In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and spewed ash over many of the western United States. Even up until early this year Mount Saint Helens was still having minor eruptions and building the lava dome inside of the crater. Here is a picture we took while on our trip this year.

On Monday we left Granite Falls about 9:00 a.m. and drove down to Cougar, Washington where our campsite was. We got down there in the afternoon and set-up camp. The young men went swimming after we got the camp set-up and we mapped out what we would be doing the rest of the week.

Tuesday morning we got up and went hiking through the Ape Cave on the south end of the mountain. The Ape cave is a huge (2 mile) lava tube formed during and eruption in the past. Part of the cave is a pleasant walk through the lower end of the cave, but you have to go round trip as there is no exit at that end of the cave. The upper portion of the cave is a much more difficult hike. You end up climbing over several rock falls, and squeezing through some tight spots in the cave for 1 1/2 miles until you get to the far end of the cave where you can climb out to exit. Here is a picture from inside the cave.

Wednesday was the day of the hike to the summit of the mountain via the southern slope. The young men and leaders going to the summit got up and left just after 5:00 a.m. for the trip to the trail head. The hike itself takes 12 hours so it is a good idea to go early. Due to a storm that came in the youth were only able to be on the summit for a few minutes, but they all said it was well worth it.

On Thursday and Friday we explored the area around the mountain and went down to the Columbia River Gorge. We also tried to take it pretty easy since the youth were pretty worn out from the climb to the summit. We did explore the Trail of Two Forests though which has a cool lava tunnel to crawl through. I added a picture of  it and also of the waterfall on the Lewis River we hiked over to.

Me in the lava tube.

The waterfall on the Lewis River.

Saturday morning we packed up the camp and went to the visitor center and observatory on the North side of the mountain. We learned a lot of cool things about Mount St. Helens and the impact of the eruption. All in all it was a great trip, and I’m glad to have had the chance to go with my Venture Crew.

Posted in Scouting | 5 Comments