Brother Dunford

When Christ was abondoned by His Father and infinitely alone, He saw each of us. WE got Him through His pain, now HE gets us through ours. We are eternally connected to him.

In this episode, we continuing our discussion on the Savior's judgment and then discuss final judgment and the Savior's deal.

Why was a suffering Savior necessary for our Salvation? What did Christ really do to save us?

The Gospel is the "deal" that the Savior offers us in order to have His suffering pay our debt to justice. Enduring to the end is a vital aspect of that deal.

The Book of Mormon has a dilemma and we are part of the solution.

Heavenly Father has granted this life on earth as a probationary state. We are not expected to be perfect. Why do we expect ourselves to be?

In order to provide the probationary state we spoke of in the previous class, the Savior paid an infinite debt to justice to free us from our debt.

Not only did the Savior suffer our sins, but He also experienced every pain and affliction that each of us suffer.

The Book of Mormon was written for us today. One of the great challenges forseen by the Savior is our tendancy for Noah Blindness.

We are the only dispensation that will not end in apostacy. We must conquer Satan and will the war begun in heaven. The Book of Mormon helps us understand how Satan opperates.

After Captain Moroni's preparations, the Nephites were prepared for the Lamanites and had all power over them. The war should have ended after one battle. However, the Nephites opened the front door and let them in by making two mistakes. Many, today, make the same mistakes and let the enemy in.

In our modern-day war with Satan, if we do what the strippling warriors did, our preservation will be as miraculous as was theirs.

The days before the first coming of Christ in America are a pattern of the days before the second coming. The Book of Helaman reaveals a great deal about our day.

The prophesies of war in our day describe a much different picture that the wars of conquest of the past. Today, we face wars of the heart. Those who turn to the sword, with -- at best -- abtain half their goal. The solution is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Both the Jaredits and Nephites were destroyed by secret combinations. Both Mormon and Moroni speak of secret combinations in our day. Modern revelation speaks of a very specific secret combination that has shown to have a devastating impact on those of us living in the latter-days.

If the book of Helaman is a pattern of our day, it is a warning of the dangers of pride in our day.

As we continue to look at the book of Helaman as a pattern of our day, we examine better ways to navagate the pride cycle.

We conclude our look at the book of Helaman as a pattern of our day.

Jesus warned us not to make more of less of the gospel. Being able to identify truth is vital and part of our temple covenant.

Before we jump into the temple law of chastity, we lay the ground work by looking at two significant symbols.

How is the temple version of the law of chastity different than the covenant we make in the chapel?

In order to fully accept and live the law of consecration, we must believe to fundamental truths: What God asks us to give up pales in comparison to what He offers us when I do. And our real "self" is not the telestial or terrestrial versions. Our real self is found in Christ.

To illustrate why we should study the names and titles of Christ, we look at the title: Nail in the Sure Place.

Sometimes we forget why Jesus is called our Savior.

While Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits, Jesus is the father of our salvation. We have a parental relationship with Him.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We either live His way and live in His place, or we live our way and go to "our own place."

The Prince of Peace will wipe away all tears from our eyes.

Becuase He loves us and wants to spare us from eternal suffering, Jesus will not look the other way when we sin.

Jesus, the Hope of Israel, invites us to have hope and believe in good things to come. (Poor audio).

Jesus is the great I AM. He is greater than all things.

It is critical that we understand the unique combination that made Jesus the Son of God.

Looking again at why we need saving, we look at how He redeems, justifies, and sanctifies so that He can be our Advocate.

The Savior intends to carry us into the Father's presence, if we do not stop Him. He will finish the job.

We look at the gift of resurrection.

Both light and life come at us as a series of ups and downs. We need to understand the Savior's role in the ups, and espesially the downs.

In this episode we look at Jesus as a leader. What He asks is so much less than what He offers.

Any attempt to sincerely do all that Christ asks of us will make it powerfully obvious that we cannot do so without His divine help.

Giving ourselves to Christ is the only way we can be our true selves.

The law of undulation; the law of ups and downs. God takes advantages of the downs to further His purposes in each of our lives. He withholds His hand so that we can walk on our own. If we misunderstand His purposed, we can turn against Him in the dark.

The Savior reveals, in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares His major concern for those who live in the latter-days. We have been given the solution

If today is your "fair" day and someone else's "mercy" day, rejoice! Your mercy day is coming.

Jesus knows the name of the beggar; all get the glory they choose; and testimony does not come from miraculous experiences.

Jesus does more than simply declare "who" is our neighbor. Jesus taught "how" to love our neighbor at the celestial level.

Replace your sins and bad thoughts, don't just remove them. Take care of yourself with the same zeal as those without faith is God's help.

We get to decide how merciful the Lord is to us, but whether or not we forgive others.

Jesus teachs truths to two very different groups: the Pharisees and the Publicans. We can relate to both groups.

Jesus teachs how to combat the challenges of living in the latter-days. Part 1 of 3.

Jesus continues His teachings about how to combat the challenges of living in the latter-days. Part 2 of 3.

If we want to survive and thrive in the latter-days; if we want to help build the city of Zion, we must focus on taking care of each other. Part 3 of 3.

The Book of Mormon's version of the parable of the sower teaches us the three phases of growing a testimony.

Perhaps one of the best measuring tools with which we can measure our discipleship is how much we love our Savior and how grateful we are for his redemption.

We must fully understand the destination to which the Savior intends to lead us. If not, we are likely to walk away with the tower unfinished.

The second coming of Christ is often compared to a wedding feast. We are, collectively, the bride, and individually, an invited guest.

What is love? It is often considered an emotion. We even symbolize it with a heart. But if love is an emotion, then it comes and goes like all emotions. In this episode, we look at love as a choice; a committment.

Compassion is best learned from Christ. It is a gift from Him. It is also vital that we find the balance between work and rest.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other. The Lord emphasizes this with the symbols.

Our journey through mortality includes traveling through the telestial and terrestrial worlds. To enter the celestial world, we must let go of all things telestial and terrestrial. In the temple, we find help to leave the terrestrial world and enter the celestial.

Chapel ordinances help us let go of Telestial things and enter the Terrestrial world.

A few temple connections will help us better understand the covenants of the temple, in general, and the initiatory ordanances sepecifically.

The first thing we do to a new-born baby is cover him or her with clothing and then give him or her a name.

The symbolism of Cherubim and the flaming sword present an important background to our temple covenants. After his plan was foiled, Satan has now turned his attention to each of us.

We first covenanted to keep the law of obedience in the waters of baptism. The temple law of obedience is higher and holier.

If chapel sacrifice is about laying the animal inside us on the altar, temple sacrifice is about letting go of something much deeper. (Poor audio).

As we continue our discussion about laying down our pride, we now look at the false idea that many have that tearing yourself down is an act of humilty. It is NOT.

The temple provides some great helps to overcoming our pride.

The Gospel comes to us through the hands of mortals, who mix clay with the gold that God gives us. Do not walk away from the "things of God" because of the "misakes of men."

The Law of the Gospel includes a responsibilty to know what is true and to not make truth "more or less" than what it is. The video of Elder Uchtdorf can be found here.

Not only is the temple version of the law of chastity a repeat of the chapel version but it is also a high and holier covenant. Watch President Holland's "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments" here.

The law of consecration prepares us for godhood. Heavenly Father is willing to give us all that He is and all that He has. We must be willing to do the same.

In this episode, we conclude the law of consecration and look back at what we have studied. Those of you who have not watched the companion course on temple symbos can find it here.

Pitfall #1 is the tendancy to jump right to relationship dating. It is often awkward and uncomfortable. There is a better way: Friendship Dating.

Pitfall #2 is when you do not understand nor take full advantage of relationship dating. We are looking for a match; which is the absence of deal-breakers.

Pitfall #3 is when we let our hearts jump to marriage before we know if we are a match.

Inappropriate dating is when your actions do not match that is appropriate for the level. Inappropriate dating often results in missed opportunities or uncomfortable encounters.

Love is not an emotion. Love is a choice. Falling in love or being in love is an emotion. Many do not understand the difference and it may cost them dearly.

Many are looking for someone just like them. Perhaps the best match is someone who is strong where you are weak.

Putting a Preference on the Deal-breaker list means we narrow our pool and exclude some who might be a match. Putting a Deal-breaker on the preference list means a likely painful breakup later.

Expecting a future spouse to be free of mistakes, even big ones, might cause us to miss out on some wonderful, repentant people. Like God does to each of us, we should grant a probationary state

In balance to not granting repentance, we must also recognize when change is not occuring and deal-breakers are likely to remain deal-breakers.

Being that soul that would rather fail than live with the fact that you did not even try will not only help in finding an eternal companion, but will help in succeeding in the latter-days.

Now we turn our attention to divine helps in our persuit of an eternal companion. Knowing that our exaltation is Heavenly Father's highest priority, we should expect His help in finding an eternal companion.

No one finds an eternal companion like they found investigators in the mission field. The rules of revelation are different.

The Lord has give two requirement to make a marriage last eternally. Perhaps we have emphasized the wrong one and need to adjust our thinking.

In The Family; A Proclamation to the World, 15 prophets, seers, and revelators have proclaimed nine central principles that make marriage and family successful. Here we begin with Repentance.

Forgiveness and respect are two more on the list of principles that make marriage and family success.

We each belong to 3 families: The Family of God the Father; the Family of Christ; and our earthly families. To make the third one eternal, we must fully embrace the first two.

One of the very best ways to improve our family realtionships here on earth is to improve our raltionship with Heavenly Father.

We have the perfect example to follow when it comes to parenting: our Heavenly Parents.

Turning to the family of the covenant and the list of 9 principles upon which successful families and marriages are build, in this episodes we look and how faith affects family.

Prayer and repentance are essential components of successful families.

Being willing to "loose" others from the debts you precieve they owe you is not only essential to successful families, but will free you of the debt you own to God.

Respect allows us to truly see each family member. Love means choosing them over and over again.

Compassion for others and balancing work and rest are vital elements of successfull families.

Husbands and wives have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other. The Lord has revealed how to do so using sacred symbols.

The best way to please Heavenly Father is to love a child.

In the Church of Jesus Christ, we do not believe that "equal" mean "same." Men and women, fathers and mothers, are not the same, yet they are equal. Here we look at the role of mother and the role of father. Watch the clip from Survivor here.

To fully understand the side-by-side nature of husband and wife, we must examine the difference between priesthood in the church and priesthood in the home. We start with priesthood in the church.

Because priesthood in the church is hierarchical, we often assume that priesthood in the home is as well. It is not. The priesthood we practice in the home is like the priesthood we practice in the temple.

Perhaps the ideal eternal companion is not what some have been looking for. In this episode, we re-examine what and equal partner might be.

The Lord has give 2 requirements to make a marriage last forever. Perhaps we have emphasized the wrong one and we need to adjust our thinking.