Letter #11 4/30-5/7/2012

Hi Dallin,

 

How was your week? How was Nauvoo?  Where did you stay?  I can't wait to go there soon! Tell us all the details :)

 

I'm so glad you are busy doing the right things for the right reasons!  There are so many people who want to know truth and don't know how to go about finding it.  There are also those around us who have it sitting right in their laps and don't appreciate it.  I know Heavenly Father is faithful to us.  We are the ones who need to remember our covenants and be faithful to him at all times, in all things and in all places.  Is it hard?  Yes, sometimes it is. But like Daniel and his three friends, they said it best.  They had faith to pray and serve the Lord and that the Lord would preserve them despite the fiery furnace or den of lions.  However, the most important lesson is that their faith was not predicated upon "being preserved."  They said, "...but if not, I will still serve the Lord and NOT bow down to the world." 

 

I hope you always remain faithful despite challenges that the Lord won't remove.  You have the strength of heart and conviction.  You are a great man.

 

We are still negotiating the Utah move.  We have many things to consider.  If we move this year, it will be in September-dad will be home.  I'd hate to move in the winter.  I am apprehensive about the stress of moving and all that it intales; but we'll do what is best and keep you posted.

 

Did you find out about switching mother's day call for father's day call?

 

I have included a cool excerpt from a book that Grampa Tall gave me.  It is regarding Moroni and how he dedicated several sites for latter-day temples. 

 

We love and miss you.  We are so glad you are serving in the DeMoines mission.  I know that's where you should be.  Stay happy, positive and motivated.

 

Love, Mom

 

Moroni in Manti, Utah

Some members of the Church are aware that at the dedication of the site for the temple in Manti, Utah, the following incident took place:

At a conference held in Ephraim, Sanpete County, June 25th, 1875, nearly all the speakers expressed their feelings to have a temple built in Sanpete County, and gave their views as to what point and where to build it, and to show the union that existed, Elder Daniel H. Wells said “Manti,” George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Lorenzo Young, and A.M. Musse said “Manti stone quarry.” I have given the names in the order in which they spoke. At 4 p.m. that day President Brigham Young said: “The Temple should be build on Manti stone quarry.” Early on the morning of April 25, 1877, President Brigham Young asked Brother Warren S. Snow to go with him to the Temple hill. Brother Snow says: “We two were alone: President Young took me to the spot where the Temple was to stand; we went to the southeast corner, and President Young said: “Here is the spot where the prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground.” (Whitney 436)

That Moroni dedicated the Manti Temple site is one of the few statements the Brethren have made connecting a Book of Mormon figure with a specific current place and action. This aids us in documenting one of Moroni’s travels and priesthood assignments. Another reference happened when William McBride, patriarch from the Richfield Utah Stake, spoke at a prayer meeting in St. George in January 1881. After recalling many experiences from the Nauvoo period and quoting the Prophet Joseph Smith on many issues, Patriarch McBride referred to

the Route the old Nephites took travelling to Cumorah from the south and south west; of having to bury their tr[e]asures as they journeyed and finally burying the Records and precious things in the Hill Cumorah; of Moroni dedicating the Temple site of what we now call St. George, Nauvoo, Jackson Co., Kirtland, and others we know not of as yet. (Walker 2:525–26)

Two Interesting Maps

Several years ago, I came across two copies of a map in the Archives Division of the Historical Department of the Church relative to Moroni’s North American journeys (see Figures 1 and 2). On the back of the map in Figure 1 is written the following:

A chart, and description of Moroni’s travels through this country. Got it from Br. Robert Dickson. He got it from Patriarch Wm. McBride at Richfield in the Sevier and also from Andrew M. Hamilton of same place. And they got it from Joseph Smith the Prophet.

Hey!

This week I have learned alot! I am learning so much about teaching PEOPLE not lessons. I am being softened by the Lord. I lay awake at night pondering about our investigators, and how fragile a persons spirituality can be. I think about how Rachel feels about her cousin causing her to be evicted, which forced her into a shelter with her son; the most mind blowing part being that her eternal life, to the naked eye, is in the hands of two dumb 19 year olds. I think about Agusta, the Indian lady, and how complex her view of the Gospel is, when really it is so simple. I think about Patricia and her faithfulness, and how it prepared her to receive the Restored Gospel. I always am pondering the constant struggle in missionary work of helping people understand that there is something larger than their plate of daily problems with a side of maybe getting a raise. Human perception is so narrow, but with the Holy Ghost, the mysteries of God are truly unfolded. I think it is Mosiah 4 that says "Believe in God, believe that there is a God, and that he created all things. Believe that man cannot comprehend all things which God can comprehend". It is something along those lines, but I have received a lot of revelation reading Mosiah 4. I would have to thank Halie for pointing that chapter out to me. 

So about Nauvoo and such! We went with Brother Mulherin, who is a retired chopper pilot. He flew in Vietnam and all kinds of stuff. He is hilarious. Anyway, so it is about a two hour drive to Nauvoo from Coralville. When we got there it was a torrential downpour, but the temple looked awe inspiring nonetheless. It is definitely a diamond in the rough, considering the rest of Nauvoo. Everything is build directly on the footprint of the original, even the baptismal font. The baptismal font was my favorite part of the whole temple. It is...well you just have to see it. All the glass in the temple is made like they would have in the old days. Its all bubbly and wavy. We got an executive tour from Brother Mulherin, since he works in the temple on thursdays. We went all the way up to the top of the bell tower and looked out over the Mississippi River, and the area where the saints camped with sickness in the swamps. By then the sun had come out and the spirit was powerful. You could feel the struggle and the faith of the saints in the temple. 

After the session we had some lunch, on the way to Carthage. It was the most humid air I have ever felt! As soon as you leave the car or building, all the water in the just gravitates to you. Carthage was so awesome! We watched a little movie at the visitors center outside the jail, and then went on a tour. It was surreal to be in that jail. The sister missionary told about how the jail owner actually lived there with his family, and was really nice to the prophet and his     friends. We stood in the room upstairs where they were initially kept for one night. There are no windows, so it is very dark, and very hot. She said the day the Prophet and his friends were in there it was 105 and humid, which is about like 120 degress. They moved them to the jailer's bedroom because the jailer thought they would be more safe. Joseph prophesied some months earlier that Willard Richardson would never be struck by a ball, but that he would see friends fall to his left and his right. He also prophesied while in the jail that Dan Jones would serve a hugely successful mission in Wales. Both Prophecies have been fulfilled. Willard Richardson watched Hiram Smith be shot in the face, the Prophet shot as he jumped out the window, and saved John Taylor's life. The clock in the room still reads 5:17. The bullet holes in the door are still there and everything. They have turned the floorboards over so that the blood on them cannot be seen or walked on. It was a powerful experience being there.

Love you guys!

Elder Tall