My father, Glenn L. Pearson, died on March 29, 1999 after a massive heart
attack. Before he died, we emailed daily and spoke several times weekly. During one visit, he told
me of an experience he had while on a speaking assignment with Elder Harold B.
Lee of the Council of the Twelve Apostles.
Elder Lee, who later became President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and my father, then a Professor of Religion at Brigham Young University, were assigned
to speak at a stake conference in Logan, UT. After the Saturday evening adult
session, they were left alone, looking at each other. Usually, a member of the
stake presidency or other previously arranged member hosts the visiting
authority and his companion.
Elder Lee recommended they just get a motel room and retire, which they did.
As my father came from the bathroom, Elder Lee was reading from the Book of
Mormon. Some readers may not be aware than Dad taught Book of Mormon classes at Brigham Young University and other institutions of the LDS Church, including UCLA and Utah State University, for over 31 years. So, he made a comment and Elder Lee rehearsed to him the story of his
ordination as an Apostle and being committed to read in the scriptures daily
for at least 30 minutes. As Dad told me this experience, I thought to myself,
"If it's good enough for an Apostle, it is certainly good enough for me.
As a result of that thought, I committed to read nightly from the Book of Mormon. I've missed
only 4 nights' reading since that day.
Please don't take that as a boast. Those were my thoughts, personal and immature as they might at first seem. However, they changed my life in meaningful and significant ways.
So, what does this have to do with an email group for LDS Conservatives?
A very great deal. Let me explain, albeit briefly.
As I read in and through the Book of Mormon more and more, I have become
much more familiar with the experiences and beliefs of men such as Nephi,
Captain Moroni, Alma, Helaman, Ammon and those called the people of Ammon.
It began to sink deep into my heart that the very basis of
religious conversion is God-given liberty and absolute freedom to practice
the deep-rooted and God-endowed rights and privileges that allow men to
freely choose who, what and how they worship.
Before hearing my father's story, and committing to reading consistently from the Book of Mormon, I was leaning towards the liberal belief that giving up a few freedoms would be okay, if it
meant the gospel could be preached easier to countries with totalitarian governments, such as those then behind the
iron and bamboo curtains. I was wrong. Pacifism brings destruction and bondage.
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" --Benjamin Franklin
If you wish to join this email group, click below, but please read our
email group policies at our Email Groups Web Page.
Subscribe To LDS Conservatives
If clicking this link doesn't seem to work, please subscribe by sending email to majordomo@ourldsfamily.com. Simply put subscribe ldsconservatives in the body of the email. |
|
