Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

Come Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants Podcast #32: “Establish … a House of God,” D&C 88

August 11-17I used to look forward to the tail end of our Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts in Missouri because my Dad, a brilliant and world-renowned geologist and geological engineer, and Darrell Ownby, part of our family and a world-class ceramic engineer, and Nord Gale, a celebrated, favorite professor and brilliant microbiologist and Harold Romero, also a brilliant physicist, would stay at the table and discuss deep gospel questions. Many times, the conversations would go way over my head, as they talked about creation, celestial worlds, spirit elements, atomic elements and the qualities of light—but I tried to follow along as best I could. Hey, I was only 12 years old! But this was the beginning of my yearning, thirst and hunger for knowledge. I could not get enough of it. These discussions around the table were amazing. And then I was introduced to Section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I was blown away. This deep water is the subject of our podcast.

Come Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants Podcast #31: “Stand Ye in Holy Places,” D&C 85-87

August 4-10How distressingly human it is that some people want to build Zion and want an inheritance in Zion, but don’t want to keep the very laws that create Zion. That’s like saying, I want to live in the Lord’s kingdom, but I want to do it my way. That’s what was happening to some people who went to build Zion in Missouri, and that is the context behind one of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants that we will look at in this episode.

Come Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants Podcast #30: “The Power of Godliness,” D&C 84

July 28-August 3Once in Nauvoo on a Sunday morning we attended Church with all the missionaries serving there. It was a beautiful sight to see! They were full of joy, enthusiasm, radiance, happiness and just plain excitement for being there. We talked to a number of the senior couples for a few minutes. “Oh, this is our seventh mission,” one sister said. “We love this work so much.” Another said, “Our only regret is we only get to serve here for two years. We so wish it could be longer!” Could these missionaries in Nauvoo be a testimony to the fulfillment of promises given by the Lord in Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants? We’ll talk about that in this episode.

Come Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants Podcast #29: "Where Much Is Given Much Is Required,” D&C 81-83

July 21-27“Peter may have given the best description of the Savior’s mortal ministry in five words when he referred to Jesus, “who went about doing good.” (M. Russell Ballard). You want to know what to do with your life? There it is, simply put. If we are to be like him, we go about doing good. In Doctrine and Covenants Section 81, we are given the same charge with more detail: “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hand down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (Doctrine and Covenants 81:5). That is a very vivid picture.

Come Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants Podcast #28: “I Will Lead You Along,” D&C 77-80

July 14-20In the last two podcasts we have talked about the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and the tremendous blessings that came to the Prophet Joseph and to Sidney Rigdon as they carefully studied, pondered and meticulously prayed over the Bible. One of the great blessings that came was The Vision of the Three Degrees of Glory. In this week’s lesson we get a micro-specific peek into the process of coming to understand a very difficult passage of scripture. The Prophet is asking the Lord very specific questions about Chapters 4 and 7 through 11 in the book of Revelation. And it’s not so much what was revealed to Joseph that was important to us as it was the pattern for studying the scriptures and receiving personal revelation.