Doctrine?

I'm really confused. On Sunday, we were talking about 3 Nephi 11, where Christ comes to the Americas. He says very clearly what his doctrine is: believe in Him, repent, and be baptized, then you'll receive the Holy Ghost. This sounds like the 4th article of faith, right? Well, then later in the chapter, Christ says that anyone who adds to this doctrine or takes away from it is not of me.

So here's my confusion: as we were discussing this in Sunday School, people kept talking about other doctrines that didn't seem to be related to what Christ says is his doctrine. For example, someone brought up food storage as a doctrine that teaches us self-reliance, which is something that this person claimed Christ taught about. I don't exactly see how self-reliance relates to faith, repentance, and baptism.

Helen and I discussed it afterward and she said that perhaps Christ doesn't want us to call anything else "His doctrine" except these three things. I thought that was interesting and we explored it for a little bit, but I'm still not quite sure I know what Christ is saying there. Any suggestions?

Long absence and three degrees of glory

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. I have been so busy with school and everything that I just haven't had the time I need. Plus, I've been busy with other things, which is the reason I'm writing again.

Helen (Jill's real name) and I have had a series of arguments lately. At first, things went really great, but then right after school started, she and I were have a very deep discussion about Mormon doctrine. Helen had a brother who was gay - I say "was" because he died a year ago. When she told me this, I didn't know what to think, but since I really liked her, I tried to be as sympathetic as possible. Well, we were talking about death and stuff (my dad has cancer, so it came up) and we started talking about how great even the telestial kingdom is. Well, in the middle of this conversation, she asked this questions: "Do you believe that we can progress from one kingdom to the next?"

I was astonished that she could even think that! I mean, I have always been taught that once you get to your kingdom, that is the final desitination. After a brief pause where I collected my thoughts, I was quick to tell her that, of course you can't! But she insisted on "exploring" if it could be the case or not. Well, I don't know about her, but I for one cannot go against what the brethren have said.

We are still dating, although not as frequently. She is the most beautiful woman I've ever met, but it's sometimes hard to think of marrying someone who is so different from me (don't worry, we've already talked about this).

Oh, and good news: my friend Bridger will soon be posting on this site, too. He really likes the idea of this blog and wants to contribute. Who knows, maybe even Helen will one day be a contributor.

Knowing and "Knowing"

Well, school is almost starting and I'm really excited about it. Mostly I just like my religion classes. Though I read my scriptures almost every day, it's always better when I am taking a religion class because the teachers at BYU know so much about the scriptures. But that's not what today's entry is about.

I'm also excited that school is starting soon because my ward is finally starting to get bigger. I met this girl in church on Sunday, we'll call her Jill (not her real name). Jill is probably the cutest girl I've ever met. We sat next to each other in Sunday School and we talked about Helaman 1-5. I had so much to say and it was a really good moment for me to shine. I wasn't trying to show off, it's just that I had taken this BoM class last winter semester and I just happened to know a lot about the first part of Helaman because I wrote a paper on it. Anyway, I think she was really impressed because every time I would raise my hand and say something, she would look right at me and smile. Well, after church I caught up with her and asked out.

Last night was our first date and we went to Maestro's (a great gelateria on Center St. in Provo). It was awesome cause we just sat at a table and talked for two hours about the gospel! She is so smart when it comes to gospel things. I thought at first she was a return missionary (she's 23), but she told me that her dad was a religion teacher at BYU-Idaho.

So the point of this long story is that, during our conversation, we were talking about knowledge. I've always thought about knowledge as stuff that goes in your brain, but when Jill and I were talking last night, she brought up that scripture in Genesis that talks about Adam knowing Eve (which basically means they had intimate relations). We talked a while about what it means to "know" somebody and how that is different than "knowing" facts and things like that. I had never thought about it that way. And the best part was, we were talking about this mature topic and Jill wasn't even uncomfortable!

We have a date next week and I hope we talk about the gospel again. Jill is so different from other girls I've dated in the past, so we'll see how things work out. For now, I'm going to think about this "knowing" business and see if I can't make sense of it all. I will post on it soon.

God and the Rule of Law

At BYU, everyone is required to take this class called American Heritage. I took it last winter semester, which was Jan - Apr 2008. While I was in it, we learned about the Rule of Law and how important it was for establishing the United States. I believe that our forefathers were inspired to use the Rule of Law in building this great nation. One thing I wonder, though, is if the Rule of Law is an eternal principle.

In church the other Sunday, we were having a sacrament meeting on home teaching. Did you know that the members of the church didn't always have home teachers? I had no idea! I thought it was something that was eternal. In fact, even now I find it hard to believe that the early members of the church weren't home teaching. It makes me wonder how God will handle those people who didn't home teach. Does the Rule of Law apply to them? Will it just be looked over, like it is in the U.S. when a new law is written, or will they have to repent?

I'm sure God will allow them to repent. Maybe he's even set up a home teaching program in the spirit world like we have here and people who were around before home teaching have a chance to show how faithful they can be.

It also makes me think of how blessed we are to have the home teaching program now, as we will be better prepared for the celestial kingdom because we know about home teaching. On the other hand, what sorts of stuff don't we know about that we should be doing?

Introducing Myself

Hello blogging world! My name is David K and I am making my first step into the blogging world. A lot of my friends have started blogging and doing other stuff on the internet and I thought it was my turn. So, I should say something about myself:

I am a 22 year old student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I have been here since returning from a Mormon mission to Italy in early 2007. I am majoring in psychology here at BYU, but since coming home from Italy, I've wanted nothing more than to be a seminary teacher. But more on that later. I love BYU football and go to all their home games. I am a die-hard BYU fan and go to as many sporting events as possible. I also really love being in college. It is such an intense atmosphere and being at BYU really is an awesome opportunity because of how they mix religion with education here. I'm not married yet, but I am actively looking and hope that soon, I can move on with my life.

As I said, I hope to be a seminary teacher. I am obviously a Mormon (for those of you who didn't know) and I love the scriptures, something I learned as a missionary in Italy. I want so bad to share that love with teenagers. I had so many awesome seminary teachers that had such a great influence on me when I was in high school and I want to be just like them. So when I become a junior (next year), then I will be eligible to enroll in the seminary teaching classes and hopefully work toward being a seminary teacher. That is part of why I started this blog.

This blog is meant to be a place for discussion on important issues in Mormonism. I hope to be able to make sense of the difficult parts of Mormon doctrine as a way of preparing myself to be a better seminary teacher. So as you read this blog, I hope you will comment on some of the things I bring up and some of the questions I ask so that we can together come to a better understanding of Mormon doctrine.

Thanks for visiting my site.