Primer

Get it here.

http://primer.freecapitalist.com/

Sunday School Answers

Typically when we ask the question, why did we come to earth, we receive the same 1 or 2 answers, to gain a body and to prove ourselves worthy.  Both are accurate, but what if this was taught consistently in our homes.  And how would we approach that question differently as we teach it?

It is one of Satan's foremost ambitions to get us to waste the days of our probation here on earth. He is using the same tactics of diversion and confusion to get people to waste their lives today as those which he used so successfully in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. One "wastes" his probation the moment he becomes pre-occupied with things other than what we were placed in the second estate to obtain. We came to this life to do a number of things. Here are some of them:

1. To get a mortal body and make it subject to our intelligence, mind or spirit.

2. To get an eternal companion.

3. To produce a large posterity in whom we might have joy.

4. To learn as much as possible about temporal laws.

5. To learn how to become economically self-sufficient.

6. To learn how to live and serve one another as a family of our Heavenly Father.

7. To comply with all the ordinances and formalities related to the orderly kingdom of God.

8. To fulfill all the covenants made in connection with those ordinances.

9. To learn how to give enthusiastic obedience to the eternal principles of progress laid down by our Heavenly Father.

10. To bring our lives under the cleansing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ by repenting of our sins and having them forever blotted out.

11. To learn why God's pattern of attaining the "fulness of joy" is the ultimate and only perfect way to achieve complete self-realization.

If anyone would like the source for this info, it is Treasures from the Book of Mormon by W. Cleon Skousen.

MW

Ayn Rand

I think I figured out where Ayn Rand had it wrong.  You cannot be saved on Principle alone.  That is why the Gospel is so great!  After listening to conference talks with a new "abundant" ear, I can hear the principles taught over and over.  The Church is not just a club, it is the true principles with the saving ordinances which help us become who we were meant to become!

At some point, principled people will realize that they do not have what it takes alone to return to the God who created them and who is the Author of their Prosperity.  This, to me, seems like a logical reason for why Ayn Rand was agnostic. If she admitted that saving ordinances existed, then she would know that she didn't have them and she would thus live an unfulfilled life.  Because she tried to remove principle 1, she deceived herself into thinking she had reached true happiness.  Although I believe that she did receive a huge amount of happiness maybe even more happiness than many members of the True Church. If this is the case, which I believe it is, it proves that the Saving ordinances without the principles are not enough either.  You must follow both to receive the full measure of happiness.

MW

Giving

I really liked this quote by Rick Koerber about giving in a lecture he gave:

"The best way to help the poor and needy is to begin by giving of your substance which is not that which rusts and moth corrupts, it’s something you take with you when you leave this earth. It’s something you’ve experienced and learned, it’s something that’s much harder to give than a twenty dollar bill. It’s time and talent, it’s knowledge and training. You will feed more hungry and clothe more naked by imparting what you really have than by trying to feel good giving something that’s probably not yours to begin with."

AR

Power of ONE

Last night we had a great experience which showed me the power of ONE and followed the principle that people are assets as well as the principle that agency implies stewardship.  

Some friends in the neighborhood invited us over to their house for family night and my wife Michelle (being the good steward that she is) mentioned that we should take out the weeds in a common area that is owned by the Home Owner's Association.  We talked to our friends who had invited us if they would like to help and within about 20 minutes both of our families were making good progress.  Another family in the neighborhood was out for a walk and saw us and they asked if they could join in.  Within 30 minutes of beginning a task (that would have taken Michelle and I about 4 hours to complete) we had 10 people working together for a definite purpose and we accomplished our task in a little over an hour and had great conversation while doing so.  Michelle proved that ideas have consequences and that great ideas when put into action have the ability to inspire others along the way.   

Think of something right now that you are a steward over- What can you do right now to improve the situation?  Go and do it and get one other person to help you!!!

Ideas have consequences, How are your ideas working for you?

MW

MW