Brother Dunford

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.

The Savior has declared that those who appointed to be the greatest are also the least and servant of all.

Leadership means love. But love is different than the emotion of love.

Christlike leadership means loving enough to correct and doing so appropriately.

Too many leaders hover over their team or do each task themselves. Heavenly Father allows us to assist in His work, even with our imperfections. We should do the same with those we lead.

Christlike leaders should follow the example of Heavenly Father and number, know and visit their sheep.

Christ is the greatest example of Come Follow Me leadership as opposed to those who say, "Go and do."

The temple is the House of His Presence and brings increased divine attention.

One of the doctrines taught in both scripture and in the temple is that this life was intended from the very beginning to be a probtionary state.

While it is essential to MAKE the right covenants, the true power comes from KEEPING that covenant.

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.

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.

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.

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. The symbol of the square exemplifies our need for Christ and temple covenants.

Isaiah describes Christ as a nail in a sure place. Understanding that symbolism will help us keep sacred covenants with Him.

We are connected to God through a spiritual navel. How much flows through that navel is up to us.

The symbol of the compass is an entriguing one. They are used to draw circles. Understanding that symbolism helps clarify our covenants.

When Adam and Eve transgressed, they wanted to hide from God. They made aprons of fig leaves to cover themselve. We do the same. We must learn to REMOVE our fig leaves and REPLACE them with coats of skins.

The water that is often found in front of the temple is a symbol, given to Ezekiel, of the healing power of the temple.

We need this mortal life, but it comes at a tremendous cost. The Atonement of Christ is what it cost the Father to grant us this mortal life and probaionary state.

After taking a look at why WE need this fallen, mortal world, we now look at what it cost Him to provide it. The Savior's atonement "answered the ends of the law."

The Savior suffered the totality of the human experience. Every infinite pain, affliction, sickness. Every one of them, to an infinite level. KHe knows how to succor us, how to save us, and how to judge us.

The Savior is willing to apply this infinite payment to justice in our behalf, but we must qualify. His gospel contains the conditions of His justification.

One of the conditions of justification is that we endure to the end. Jesus come to Earth to show us how to do that.

We can claim great blessings, including justification of sin, it we exercize faith. But how do we do so?

One of the most misunderstood principles of the gospel is repentance. We often mistake the lower level of "church" repentance for the higher level of daily repentance.

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.

Ezra Taft Benson declared that the foundations of the restoration were laid in the order of their importance. Our testimonies of the Restoration should match that order of priority.

After the First Vision, came the Book of Mormon. What role does it play in the Restoration?

Far too often, we all, male and female, live below our priviledges when it come to priesthood authority and power.

Priesthood in the Church and priesthood in the home function very differently. We often mix them up, which can cause great harm.

Too many misunderstand the gold and the clay principle and end up rejecting the things of God because of the mistakes of men.

To understand the role of the Church in these latter-days, we look at the early saints' attempt to build the New Jerusalem.

Lehi saw four distinct groups of people in his dream of the tree of life. They reveal some vital lessons about getting to and staying at the tree.

There are 8 words used to describe the tree of life and its fruit. Each one is given with a superlative. As is: "most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted." Why so much emphasis? And what does Lehi's dream reveal is the protection that comes when we truly believe that the greatest joy in our life comes from the love of God.

We turn now to Nephi's version of the tree of life. Instead of seeing the symbolic version, Nephi is told 3 stories and asked to find each element in that story. The first is the story of the New Testament. New Testament blindness is when we reject Christ because He is not the Messiah we wanted Him to be.

Story #2 is the story of the Book of Mormon. First let's look for the tree; the manifestation of God's love to the Nephites and Lamanites.

The Lamanties were fooled by an imitation happiness that also fools many today: the always saw their pain as being someone else's fault. The mist that blinded their eyes was their hatred for and anger towards the Nephites.

Like the Lamanties, the Nephties were also fooled by an imitation happiness that once again fools many today: the addictive belief that I am better than you. This is a major message of the Book of Mormon. Do not foolishly turn away from God because He blesses you.

We need not be fooled by the imitation happiness of pride. The Book of Mormon provides some wonderful antedotes.

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.

Just as a man does not appreciate food until he is hungry, we do not appreciate the salvation of Christ until we know why we need Christ. No one understands why we need Christ until he or she understands our need for this fallen world.

In order to make this fallen world a probationary state, Jesus Christ paid an infinite payment to justice. He can then apply His payment in our behalf.

The Savior has declared the conditions for which He applies His atoning blood in our behalf.

We endure to the end as we follow the process that the Savior taught us called "grace for grace."

Faith is one qualification for justification.

Repentance, often misunderstood in the church, is the act of restoring a broken relationship with Christ. Repentance opens the door to justification.

One of the prophesied signs of the latter-days in the belief "that miracles are done away." (Moroni 8:26). But "it is by faith that miracles are wrought." (Moroni 7:37). The miracles of Jesus stand as a testimony that He will do miracles in our lives if we allow Him to. This class is a deep dive into some of those miracles and how they "are wrought."

Like the feeding of the 5,000, we often seek miracles of increase. Whether we seek to multiply OUR ability to do His work, or to increase what we receive from Him, the ask is often the same: "What have ye?"

When we seek a miracle of rescue or deliverance, we need to take a step into the river and trust the miracle will come as I move forward. But I should also remember that He often asks us to row as long as we have strength. But recue us He will.

What is today is not the day of deliverance? What does the Savior offer when the burden is not going to be taken away any time soon: miralces of strength or endurance.

When we think of miracles, we often think of temporal miracles such as healings. We ought not forget the greatest miracle of all: our redemption.

One of the greatest miracles that happens on a daily basis is the miracle of being divinely driected. We can recieve revelation from on high.

Continuing our discussion of the miracle of divine guidance, we look at some of the rules of revelation.