LIGHT-MINDEDNESS
In latter days, the Lord has emphasized again how, in the words of the Book of Mormon, our “outward performances” (Alma 25:15), are defiling or edifying. What we say and how we act will create an atmosphere welcoming or hostile to the Holy Ghost. In the 88th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord counseled us to avoid “light speeches” and an “excess of laughter.” He associated such expressions with defects of the heart—“lustful desires,” “pride,” and “light-mindedness”—that finally proceed to “wicked doings” (D&C 88:69, 121). I take “light speeches” to refer to irreverent and demeaning language and “light-mindedness” to what the Lord has called trifling with sacred things (seeD&C 6:12).
See also Evil Speaking
To treat lightly sacred things (D&C 84:54).
- The Saints are not to have idle thoughts, nor an excess of laughter:D&C 88:69;
- Cease from all your pride and light-mindedness:D&C 88:121
EVIL SPEAKING
Saying things that are wrong, hurtful, and wicked. Often in scripture such speaking is directed at a person with the specific intent to cause pain.- Keep thy tongue from evil :Ps. 34:13; ( 1 Pet. 3:10; )
- An ungodly man diggeth up evil: Prov. 16:27;
- Blessed are ye, when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely: Matt. 5:11; ( 3 Ne. 12:11; )
- Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts: Matt. 15:19; ( Mark 7:21; )
- Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler: Acts 23:5;
- Let all evil speaking be put away from you: Eph. 4:31;
- Speak not evil one of another:James 4:11;
- See that there is no backbiting, nor evil speaking:D&C 20:54;
D&C 63:61–64. “Let All Men Beware How They Take My Name in Their Lips”
To take the name of the Lord in vain is often thought of only as profanity. Elder James E. Talmage offered a broader definition:“1. We may take the name of God in vain by profane speech.“2. We take it in vain when we swear falsely, not being true to our oaths and promises.“3. We take it in vain in a blasphemous sense when we presume to speak in that name without authority.“4. And we take his name in vain whenever we willfully do aught that is in defiance of his commandments, since we have taken his name upon ourselves.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1931, pp. 53.)UNGODLY
Someone or something that is not in accordance with the will or commandments of God; wicked and unholy.- The way of the ungodly shall perish: Ps. 1:6;
- If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly appear?:1 Pet. 4:18;
- Deny yourselves of all ungodliness:Moro. 10:32;
- Vengeance comes speedily upon the ungodly:D&C 97:22;
- Among the ungodly, the Savior’s voice was not raised:D&C 138:20;
- Total chastity before marriage and total fidelity after are still the standard from which there can be no deviation without sin, misery, and unhappiness.4
Introduction
President Spencer W. Kimball told the following fable to illustrate how pure thoughts and righteous living affect us:“Lord George had led an evil life. He had been a drunkard, a gambler, and a cheat in business, and his face reflected the life he had led. It was a very evil face.“One day he fell in love with a simple country girl to whom he proposed marriage. Jenny Mere told him that she could never marry a man whose face was so repulsive and so evil-looking; and also that when she did marry, she wanted a man with a saint-like face, which was the mirror of true love.“Following a custom of the day, Lord George went down to Mr. Aeneas. … Aeneas made waxen masks for people, and his skill was so art-perfect that the person’s identity was completely hidden. … Aeneas went to his storeroom, selected a mask, heated it over a lamp, fixed it to Lord George’s face; and when Lord George looked in the glass, he had the face of a saint who loved dearly. So altered was his appearance that Jenny Mere was soon wooed and won.“He bought a little cottage in the country, almost hidden in an arbor of roses, with a tiny garden spot. From then on his entire life changed. He became interested in nature; he found ‘sermons in stones, books in brooks, and good in everything.’ Formerly he was blasé and life had no interest for him; now, he was engrossed in kindliness, and the world around him.“He was not content with starting life anew, but tried to make amends for the past. Through a confidential solicitor he restored his ill-gotten gains to those whom he had cheated. Each day brought new refinements to his character, more beautiful thoughts to his soul.“By accident, his former companions discovered his identity. They visited him in his garden, and urged him to return to his old evil life. When he refused, he was attacked, and the mask was torn from his face.“He hung his head. Here was the end of all; here was the end of his new-found life and his love dream. As he stood with bowed head, with the mask at his feet on the grass, his wife rushed across the garden and threw herself on her knees in front of him. When she looked up at him, what do you suppose she found? Line for line, feature for feature, the face was the same as that of the mask. Lines of beauty—regular features.”President Kimball concluded the story, saying, “There is no doubt that the life one leads, and the thoughts one thinks are registered plainly in his face” (as quoted in Conference Report, Apr. 1975, 119–20; or Ensign, May 1975, 80–81).- Our thoughts influence our actions. Pure thoughts and desires lead to righteous living. Evil thoughts cause us to lose the Spirit of the Lord and can lead us to do evil.To keep our minds clean, we should always strive to think about the things of God. We should ponder the truths of the gospel and pray constantly. As we do these things, we are promised great blessings. The Lord has promised: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. … The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion” (D&C 121:45–46).We can keep our thoughts pure by avoiding evil. When a bad thought enters our minds, we should immediately think about something inspiring such as a hymn, poem, or scripture. We can also pray for the Lord’s help to resist unclean thoughts.
Monday the Temple Missionaries went to lunch at OutBack for the last time with the Hoskins. They headed home on Wednesday. Kenny, their son-in-law flew in from Alaska Tuesday night to go home with them. It was a great help and relief for Jacque. We miss them.- Elder Lewis met this young man, Benjamin, in the lobby. He is a member of the Church and lives in our building. First time we have seen him.
This is the third week and the week the Every Day Branch comes to the temple for baptisms after their block meetings. Elders Walker and Clark and their wives come with as many of the sisters who want to come to either do a session or baptisms. They always need brothers to help so Paul has always stayed to help and then stays to help with the 4 pm veil. They don't need me and so I either go home or go over to the Kowloon Bldg. and visit the Distribution Center or Mission Office.
We were meeting our friend Alice, from China, in the Kowloon Bldg. and ran into Sister Lee and her companion. Sister Lee served in the temple with us before starting her mission in HK. We had also had several mission districts in the temple this week. They send about 10 on each session. Fun to have them.
This mother and daughter were doing baptisms and Paul got to assist.
We invited them to dinner Thursday night and then walked down the promenade and to the shuttle bus. We came by the l86l square and saw the beautiful decorations for Chinese New Year.
Alice and her friend Chris from NY State. He is here visiting her in China. They have been conversing by Skype for over a year. She retires in July and may get a fiancee visa. Alice is very faithful and we have enjoyed knowing her. She is teaching institute in her Branch.
Our apartment building have finally put out the orange trees and the Cherry Blossom tree. I was beginning to wonder if they would. It stands for prosperity and wealth. They are everywhere now.
This venue changes 4-5 times per year.
Friday we had a big day at the temple. A group of 80 English teachers who are teaching in China came for a conference. They also came to the temple. President Wong and the temple presidency had everything laid out and it went perfectly. Wonderful sessions with much reverence and love.
- Saturday morning about seven of us, Area and Temple Missionaries, walked down the promenade and waited in line to get tickets for the New Year Parade on Friday night. We were # 25 in line. The first person had gotten there at midnight. We arrived around 4:10. We had to move on to the temple so the Aardemas came and replaced us. We were able to get good tickets. We saw it last year and really enjoyed it.
Saturday was another big day at the temple. We had 110 Priesthood and their wives from China here for Priesthood training. It was also well organized and went very well. They had invited many of the daily coordinators to come in and assist since the patrons were all Mandarin speakers. It was another wonderful day.
Sister & Elder Aardema, Sister Crockett, Elder Gregory, Paul, Elder Sullivan, Elder Crockett
After leaving the temple we caught the MTR and a light rain and headed out to visit with Tim and Candy Fife. Candy had a nice dinner prepared for us. It was so good. We ended up bringing all the green onion pancakes home with us. Had a great time with Spencer (7) . He is quite the talker and likes to play. We had such a fun time with Sophia, Spencer and Daniel. Tommy was off to a class.
Tim, Spencer, Daniel, Candy and Sophia 
Elder Lewis with Bishop Fan and his clerk
The Crocketts, new Area Missionaries who will be serving in Pen 3
Ellen
Liberato Jequinto and his wife
Mama Baby and Fe skyping
Marilez Magallanes
Primary Workers: Delsa, Nida, Sue, Lisa, Mar Jean
Sue & Mar Jean 
Sunny Wen & Paul
My Visiting Teachers: Taeia Kong and Yessie Perdomo and Michelle - In Gospel Doctrine class Sunday we learned a great motto from Sister Dodson and we want to adopt it.
- Live to Learn
- Live to Love
- Live to Serve
3 comments:
We enjoy your photos and comments. Glad the Hoskins could be blessed to stay on their mission until now. Do you depart in February? We assume the Hathaways departed in Dec. We appreciate and continue to pray for 'our HK temple ' missionaries. We are attending a Chinese New Years up north with some friends this weekend. Thank you for all you do.
What is the great motto you learned from Sister Dodson?
What a great blog. I am constantly amazed at all of the wonderful things you do.
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