Why the iPhone 4S was a good idea

Everyone seemed to be surprised that last year Apple came out with the 4S instead of iPhone 5. In hindsight, Apple’s releasing of the 4S was a pretty smart move and here’s why:

Any new iPhone, unless you want to pay the whole price, comes with a two-year contract, meaning anyone who bought an iPhone 4 would only be a year into their contract. The iPhone 4S comes out and attracts new customers to the base while presenting more incentive for iPhone 3GS users to upgrade.

Now, two years later, iPhone 5 comes out about the time iPhone 4 users are starting to end their contracts.

Now there is more incentive than ever for 3GS to upgrade and Apple fans on 4 are ready to purchase an iPhone 5.

So next year, no matter what the name is, I would expect only a
moderately improved phone experience, much like what we saw with 4 or 4S. Enough to get anyone on a 4 or less to bite, and so on.

Home: Heaven on Earth

While home can be a heaven on earth, it can also be a refiner’s fire. Our finest and weakest moments often involve family and how we treat them. A member of our stake presidency remarked that for his family, Family Home Evening was the only boxing match that began with a prayer. Joking aside, however, to fail to understand how important the family is to God’s plan is a critical mistake. David O. McKay taught us that no success can compensate for failure in the home. Harold B. Lee affirmed this teaching, saying that the most important work we will do will be with in the walls of our own home.

A Pattern for All Things

As the Lord set about to restore His gospel and church upon the earth, He told the Prophet Joseph,

“And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—” (D&C 52:14)

When the Lord says he will give us ‘a pattern in all things,’ I believe that’s dualistic. Meaning, while He has given us a universal pattern and example in the life and mortal ministry of the Savior Jesus Christ, I also believe He also gave us multiple patterns and shadows throughout the scriptures, church history and in our worship  that give us a pattern for every thing. Each one of these smaller patterns serves to help us understand and apply the Savior’s life and grace in our own lives.

So, then, given our theme of creating a heaven on earth in our homes. What patterns from the Savior and from the gospel plan might help us establish celestiality under our ceiling? This won’t be an exhaustive exercise, but it certainly warrants becoming one. I will focus on a few ideas as a point of origin.

The Sermon on the Mount

When I consider what passage of scripture might serve as a starting point for understanding the life and example of the Savior, there are few passages that compare to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. Consider some of the principles taught therein and how ready they stand for application to our family life:

  • Mourn with those who mourn
  • Be a peacemaker
  • Hunger and thirst after righteousness
  • Love your enemies
  • Avoid divorce, forgive
  • Virtue in thought, word, deed
  • Avoid anger, forgive, seek reconciliation

I admit that I readily consider these principles in relation with my fellow man, you know, ‘being a light unto the world.’But the older I get, the more I realize how my family truly means the world to me. Oh then, ois there a better place to start than in the walls of my own home? If I responsibility as salt to savor and preserve, shouldn’t my family take top priority as the most natural and most valuable place to start. If my home spoils, what have I?

The Lord’s House

With a list of practical principles provided by the Sermon on the Mount, is there a definitive example of  the ideal home-setting? I believe there is in the House of the Lord. Now, if you are like me, you might look around your home and see all the toys strewn about, or the plates in the sink and wonder how much of the temple can really be applied on an everyday basis, but don’t let discourage you. Consider how the House of the Lord is place where we can fill the spirit, learn, grow, become an eternal family and generally become spiritually prepared so that when we live that house, we will be  protected from Satan’s power and temptations. Are our homes much different in purpose? There’s a great deal we can learn from the temple in establishing our homes.

Bringing the Two Together

Let’s consider these patterns together. For example, we could make a chart where we identify in one column the teachings of the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount, and in a second column identify patterns from the temple that exemplify that principle. Then, in a third column we might identify possible applications in our own home. An example:

 Teaching: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

From the Temple: 

  • If we need to talk, we are invited to whisper to preserve the reverence of the House of the Lord
  • The Lord’s House is a house of order and there’s always someone there to help and guide you (minimizes confusion which disrupts peace)
  • Temple activities focus on gospel doctrine and making covenants
  • Temples closed on Mondays
  • No one is forced to do anything in the temple, it is done by our own free will and choice
  • If we have unkind feelings toward anyone participating, we are invited to withdraw
  • We make covenants with God to obey, sacrifice and give our full effort to establishing the kingdom of God.

Possible Applications at Home

  • Establish the expectation (and example) that if we need to discuss something, we do so without raising our voices
  • As a parent, I can provide order by treating my children with integrity.
  • I can have regular personal interviews with my children (be there for my children, to answer questions and minimize confusion)
  • We don’t allow anything to compete with Family Home Evening on Monday night.
  • We respect the agency of our family members, by teaching doctrine, helping children understand consequences and give them the opportunity to act
  • We help our children from an early age understand and prepare to keep Gospel Covenants

Home can be a heaven on earth and I know that our Father in Heaven has all the power in the universe to help us succede as a family. That’s why we have the Plan of Salvation and the restored gospel understanding of it. Most of all, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can find the grace, peace and inspiration we need to make our journey back home.

Ethics of Ease

Jeffrey R. Holland, while president of Brigham Young University, shared this observation.

“There is another, more subtle tactic used by the primeval turncoat which is not so violent, not so vengeful, and at first glance not so vicious. But, ah, there’s the rub. Because Christ and his disciples—Satan’s most important and necessary targets—would never seem to be attracted by flagrant, raging wrongdoing, this second approach becomes all the more sinister. It comes in the siren’s song of convenience. It is, in the parlance of your day, “laid back.” It says to every would-be Messiah—”Enjoy!” Its anthem might well be from Diana Ross—”Ease on Down the Road.” Surely fluttering somewhere over the highway to hell is the local chamber of horrors banner reading, “Welcome to the ethics of ease.”

“The Inconvenient Messiah”
BYU Devotional

Stay On the Lord’s Side of the Line

George A. Smith shared this often with his family. His grandson, George Albert Smith and President of the Church repeated it often,

“There is a line of demarcation well defined between the Lord’s territory and the devil’s territory. If you will stay on the Lord’s side of the line you will be under his influence and will have no desire to do wrong; but if you cross to the devil’s side of that line one inch you are in the tempter’s power and if he is successful, you will not be able to think or even reason properly because you will have lost the Spirit of the Lord.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, Chapter 18: Stay on the Lord’s Side of the Line

Safety in Following Prophet

Harold B. Lee taught,

“The only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, “As he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me… as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.” (D&C 21:4-5) There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.”

The Improvement Era, Dec. 1970, p. 126

Decreasing Reverence

Boyd K. Packer taught,

“For the past several years we have watched patterns of reverence and irreverence in the Church. While many are to be highly commended, we are drifting. We have reason to be deeply concerned. The world grows increasingly noisy. Clothing and grooming and conduct are looser and sloppier and more disheveled. Raucous music, with obscene lyrics blasted through amplifiers…these things are gaining wide acceptance and influence over our youth…This trend to more noise, more excitement, more contention, less restraint, less dignity, less formality is not coincidental nor innocent nor harmless. The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer. Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit.”

Conference Report, Oct. 1991, pp. 26-30

Two Kinds of Hypocrisy

N. Eldon Tanner shared the following,

”
Harry Emerson Fosdick observed that there are two kinds of hypocrisy: when we try to appear better than we are, and when we let ourselves appear worse than we are. We have been speaking of the kind of hypocrisy where people pretend to be more or better than they are. Too often, however, we see members of the Church who in their hearts know and believe, but through fear of public opinion fail to stand up and be counted. This kind of hypocrisy is as serious as the other; it makes it difficult for others to respect us, and often adversely affects or influences the lives of other members of the Church who expect us to stand by our commitments to the Church and not hesitate to manifest our faith…We must not fear, wherever we are, to live up to our convictions and to the standards of the Church. People, though they may criticize and ridicule, expect us to and respect us if we do. Living high standards cannot offend conscientious, fair-minded people.

Conference Report, Oct. 1970, pp. 52-53

Restitution: Infants Raised By Mothers After Resurrection

On the subject of infant deaths, Joseph F. Smith shared the following,

“Joseph Smith taught the doctrine that the infant child that was laid away in death would come up in the resurrection as a child; and, pointing to the mother of a lifeless child, he said to her: “You will have the joy, the pleasure, and satisfaction of nurturing this child, after its resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of its spirit.” There is restitution, there is growth, there is development, after the resurrection from death. I love this truth. It speaks volumes of happiness, of joy and gratitude to my soul. Thank the Lord he has revealed these principles to us.”

(Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, pp. 455-56)

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

In speaking on the Sabbath Day, James E. Faust shared an excerpt from the First Presidency Message announcing the consolidation of church meetings into the block schedule we have today. He said,

“I am concerned that many in our generation are missing great blessings by not honoring the Lord’s day. 

On February 1, 1980, when the First Presidency announced the consolidated Sunday meeting schedule, the following counsel was given: “A greater responsibility will be placed upon the individual members and families for properly observing the Sabbath day. More time will be available for personal study of the scriptures and family-centered gospel study. 

Other appropriate Sabbath activities, such as strengthening family ties, visiting the sick and the home-bound, giving service to others, writing personal and family histories, genealogical work, and missionary work, should be carefully planned and carried out. It is expected that this new schedule of meetings and activities will result in greater spiritual growth for members of the Church. It is hoped that priesthood leaders and members of the Church will honor the spirit of more family togetherness on Sunday. “

James E. Faust, Conference Report, Oct. 1991, p. 45

Eternal Marriage and Our Calling and Election Made Sure

On the subject of eternal marriage and our calling and election made sure, Bruce R. McConkie wrote,

“Making one’s calling and election sure comes after and grows out of celestial marriage. Eternal life does not and cannot exist for a man or a woman alone, because in its very nature it consists of the continuation of the family unit in eternity. Thus the revelation on marriage speaks both of celestial marriage (in which the conditional promises of eternal life are given) and of making one’s calling and election sure (in which the unconditional promise of eternal life are given) in one and the same sentence.”

 Doctrinal New Testament Commentary 3:343

Role of Sacrifice in Salvation

Joseph Smith taught,

“Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, must assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life.”

Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith 6:7

Whatever Jesus Lays His Hands Upon Lives

Speaking on the Raising of Jarius’ daughter from the dead, President Howard W. Hunter said,

These are not only the words of faith of a father torn with grief but are also a reminder to us that whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands on a family, it lives.

Conference Report, Oct. 1979, p. 93

The Most Important Commandment

When asked, ‘what is the most important commandment?,’ Harold B. Lee responded,

“The most important of all the commandments of God is that one that you’re having the most difficulty keeping today. If it’s one of dishonesty, if it’s one of unchastity, if it’s one of falsifying, not telling the truth, today is the day for you to work on that until you’ve been able to conquer that weakness. Then you start on the next one that’s most difficult for you to keep.” 


Church News, May 5, 1973, p. 3

The Holy Ghost and the Sign of the Dove

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught,

“The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world; a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.”

The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 276

Tender Mercy Moment

On a tough, busy day, there’s nothing like a moment where you are reminded that someone is not just aware of who you are and hopes for your success, but that Someone is perfectly aware of you.

It’s a simple thing, but I was hustling, a little later than I hoped, from one building to another using the underground parking area and when I came to the elevators in the Joseph
Smith Memorial Building, I was still a number of paces from call button for the elevators when one set of doors spontaneously opened. No ding, no one else around–it was as if it was waiting for me and popped open to take me to my floor.

It really was very simple, but it helped me dispel some of the stress. To me it was a small, personal affirmation that God does care about our lives, and that He cares and understands our needs and wants.