To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!
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TODAY'S THEME
Christ and the Book of Mormon Children -by Del Parson
I have decided upon an LDS Children's Hymn, I AM A CHILD of GOD as our Theme for today's Post. That hymn will be featured in a very special Mormon Message.
Please click on the following link and then scroll down to: View Mormon Messages. Select the Mormon Message entitled: "I am a Child of God". Click on the arrow on the picture of the young blond girl to experience the video.
After your having been prepared by that delightful video, I invite you to now learn from one of my posts from the past about how we can learn to capably cope with ADVERSITY which is something each of us need to learn to do!
I give Special Credit to Laura W. who made a comment on July 20, 2011 at the end of one of my older posts, 38nwhich was originally published Wed. Sept. 30, 2009. She had just found for the first time my "Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon? blog." Because of her special interest shown by her questions and comments I decided to feature that blog post, 38nin this post, 43e which you should have already experienced. ____________
DISCLAIMER This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
____________
TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following:Adversity is Often Our Lot in Life. However, Because Each of Us Is a "Child of God" He Will Help Us Overcome Our Adversities!-Post 43e.When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target ItemOr Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is my Spanish Blog. Its content is translated from the English in this blog:
To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!
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TODAY'S THEME
I often begin these posts with a picture and a scripture. This time my Today's Theme is typified by the following famous poem by Longfellow.
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The Arrow and The Song
--courtesy FreeFoto.com
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
After viewing the following video featuring Longfellow's great poem, there is another video you can also access of a different vein but featuring the same famous poem. Wait for a few seconds and it will come onto the lower left hand side of the graphic. You should then click on it if you desire to experience it also.
I prefer the first video, but the second video takes an interesting approach to the same great poem. I actually enjoy both of them.
I obtained the above from one of Mormon Soprano's blog posts. I have long enjoyed viewing her posts. This one was particularly special to me because I have long loved this poem by Longfellow. Thank you, Mormon Soprano. Here is her blog's URL in case you don't have it:
I think the following scripture can be compared to the song that Longfellow describes when he wrote: I breathed a song into the air. . . We should, perhaps change it to: I breathed a sacred scripture into the air. . . (and found it again in the hearts of many friends throughout the world through the internet.)
The Book of Mormon, 1Nephi: 10:2 For behold, it came to pass after my father had made an end of speaking the words of his dream, and also of exhorting them to all diligence, he spake unto them concerning the Jews—
3 That after they should be destroyed, even that great city Jerusalem, and many be carried away captive into Babylon, according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they should be brought back out of captivity they should possess again the land of their inheritance.
4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.
5 And he also spake concerning the prophets, how great a number had testified of these things, concerning this Messiah, of whom he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world.
6 Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer.
7 And he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord—
8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing.
9 And my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with water.
10 And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.
11 And it came to pass after my father had spoken these words he spake unto my brethren concerning the gospel which should be preached among the Jews, and also concerning the dwindling of the Jews in unbelief. And after they had slain the Messiah, who should come, and after he had been slain he should rise from the dead, and should make himself manifest, by the Holy Ghost, unto the Gentiles.
12 Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive-tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.
13 Wherefore, he said it must needs be that we should be led with one accord into the land of promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord, that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.
14 And after the house of Israel should be scattered they should be gathered together again; or, in fine, after the Gentiles had received the fulness of the Gospel, the natural branches of the olive-tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer.
After you have read that Song from the Heart of the Lord through the ancient Nephite prophet, Nephi (a Book of Mormon Scripture), you are prepared to read another recent article from the Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah - U.S.A.) which demonstrates to us how the kinds of things which were prophesied in the name of the Lord by the Prophet, Nephi, sometime between 600 and 592 B.C. are taking place right now in July, 2011 in Central America, in Guatemala, some of whose citizens' ancestors date back to the time the Prophet Mormon abridged the records of his people to form the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.(I am referring to the final verse of the scripture above, verse 14! These descendants Mormon mention go back through their Mayan ancestors to the several nations found in Central America in Mormon's time,( 400 A.D.) and then back much further to their ancestor Lehi, father of Nephi who, although born in Jerusalem, was led by the Lord to the Western Hemisphere and lived in Central America beginning in about 592 B.C. )
Please click on the following link to read the Deseret News article mentioned above: In it we are told how, with the help of other members of the LDS Church these Guatemalans, many of whom are also members of that church are solving their deforestation problem. (There is a second page to read after you have read the first. Also if you will click on the photo showing the girl carrying wood you will be able to view two other photos, including one of the modern stove which uses less wood to do its job.)
DISCLAIMER This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have a Spanish Blog. Its contents are translated from the English in this blog.
To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!
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TODAY'S THEME
Mormon Abridging The Plates, -by Tom Lovell
Book of Mormon, Mormon: 5:8 And now behold, I, Mormon, do not desire to harrow up the souls of men in casting before them such an awful scene of blood and carnage as was laid before mine eyes; but I, knowing that these things must surely be made known, and that all things which are hid must be revealed upon the house-tops—
9 And also that a knowledge of these things must come unto the remnant of these people, and also unto the Gentiles, who the Lord hath said should scatter this people, and this people should be counted as naught among them—therefore I write a small abridgment, daring not to give a full account of the things which I have seen, because of the commandment which I have received, and also that ye might not have too great sorrow because of the wickedness of this people.
10 And now behold, this I speak unto their seed, and also to the Gentiles who have care for the house of Israel, that realize and know from whence their blessings come.
11 For I know that such will sorrow for the calamity of the house of Israel; yea, they will sorrow for the destruction of this people; they will sorrow that this people had not repented that they might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus.
12 Now these things are written unto the remnant of the house of Jacob; and they are written after this manner, because it is known of God that wickedness will not bring them forth unto them; and they are to be hid up unto the Lord that they may come forth in his own due time.
Once again I have used the words of the Prophet Mormon regarding the descendants of his people and our interactions with them in our day and time on earth.
Please note according to Mormon's inspired record, that in our present day, The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, was to come forth to us, the Gentiles in the Lord's "own due time."
As Mormon told us in verse 10, his record would come to his peoples' descendants and to "those others of us who live in the Latter-days of the earth's history who care about the welfare of the people of the house of Israel, and who realize and appreciate from where our own blessings come."
Now in this blog post you will see clear evidence that what Mormon prophesied would happen in the Latter-days (our time on earth) is actually taking place right now!
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are actively and effectively assisting descendants of Mormon's people whom we often refer to as: "Lamanites" but they are a mixture of Nephites and Lamanites and are descendants of Mormon's people.
The link below, when clicked upon will give you a sequence of "pages" to click on to read what is being done in Guatemala now by members of the "LDS" Church to improve their rugged and impoverished circumstances and to allow their children to attend school regularly!
Please take the time to click on the number (1 through 7) of each of the "pages" and read them all. They are each quite short and doesn't take much time to read all seven "pages."
At the end of what you read you will be told that "next Monday (July 18, 2011) " there will be another "page" that will delve into how the LDS Church is helping them solve the problem of deforestation.
I plan to link you to that next "page" in my July 19th blog post. It appears that miracles are beginning to take place in that Guatemalan village. It will be the kind of thing the prophet Mormon who is quoted above, would expect in our day because the "Gentiles" (Us). who realize from where our blessings come (from God), are reaching out effectively to the Lamanites who have great needs.
I urge you to scroll back up to the Book of Mormon quote at the beginning of this post. In it it is predicted that the descendants of the Nephite-Lamanite inhabitants of Guatemala and elsewhere in the "promised land" will be blessed at the hands of caring Gentiles. It is exciting to me to see those promises made anciently through the Spirit of the Lord being fulfilled in our day by the Lord's Restored Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Please click just below the main photo (showing John Curtiss, an LDS Humanitarian missionary) shown on each "page" to view each of the 13 photos available of what is happening in Seamay, Guatemala. (You can also click to enlarge the photos available).
(Please don't overlook clicking on the words: Story Graphics etc. from the archive)
DISCLAIMER This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following:Lamanites of Our Day in Guatemala are being Assisted with their Vital Needs by Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. -Post 43c.When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target ItemOr Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog:
To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!
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TODAY'S THEME
I have two related themes today:
1.The importance of family to each of us.
2. The importance of the Fourth of July Celebration in the United States of America.
In my view these two themes are linked together. Our national freedom allows families to function freely and to truly be great blessings to each of us. I know that this applies also to you who live in many other nations of this world.
The professional entertainer Donny Osmond and the rest of his family have been in the spotlight in the U.S.A. for many years. I hope each of you enjoy this video in which Donny emphasizes the great support parents can be to their children and also the great support our Savior, Jesus Christ can be to each of us!
The Fourth of July Celebration of the United States of America
I will now link you to a previous blog post of mine in which I use Book of Mormon passages to show that our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ knew of the coming of the United States of America, long before it came into being. I do this because the day on which I'm putting final preparations into this post, is the Fourth of July, 2011.
Now to end this special Fourth of July (white) and Blue Blog Post, please view this video: Special Fourth of July video.
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DISCLAIMER This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
____________ TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following:Parental Love and Guidance is Crucial to Our Happiness-Post 43a.And:The Fourth of July is a U.S.A. Holliday of Importance -Post 43a.When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target ItemOr Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog: Neil Birch
I was born Feb. 13, 1932 in Sacramento, CA. I grew up in Roseville, CA. While employed by the LDS Church my family and I lived in Utah, New Mexico, Montana, California, and Missouri. I retired from LDS Family Services in 1996. I owned my own adoption service business for 8 years thereafter. Then my wife, Melva and I served in Finland 2004 - 2006 as missionaries. I also served as a young missionary in Finland from 1952 - 1955. I have nine children (5 daughters, four sons), two step-children, (step-sons) and 27 grandchildren.
From One Mormon's Point of View
So much is being said nowadays on the Internet by people not of the Mormon faith, about the Mormons and their beliefs. Why not learn about us Mormons from one of us. I'm not an official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, just one of the regular members, yet I'm one who supports Mormon beliefs because I have a testimony and have had much experience that has shown me the truth. I welcome your questions and even criticisms that you have heard, about which you would like the truth. If that is the case, you've come to the right guy.
