How Do We Gain “A Perfect Brightness of Hope”?

 My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Ether 12-15 in a lesson titled “By Faith All Things Are Fulfilled.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Ether’s prophecies to the Jaredites were “great and marvelous” (Ether 12:5). He “told them of all things, from the beginning of man” (Ether 13:2). He foresaw “the days of Christ” and the latter-day New Jerusalem (Ether 13:4). And he spoke of “hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God” (Ether 12:4). But the Jaredites rejected his words, for the same reason people often reject the prophecies of God’s servants today – “because they [see] them not” (Ether 12:5). It takes faith to believe in promises or warnings about things we can’t see, just as it took faith for Ether to prophesy of “great and marvelous things” to an unbelieving people. It took faith for Moroni to trust that the Lord could take his “weakness in writing” and turn it into strength (see Ether 12:23-27). It’s this kind of faith that makes us “sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God” (Ether 12:4). And it’s this kind of faith by which “all things are fulfilled” (Ether 12:3).

There are at least four important principles in this scripture block. Three of those principles come from Ether 12, one of the most powerful chapters on faith in Jesus Christ in the scriptures. The three principles that I will not be discussing are (1) Faith in Jesus Christ can lead to miracles (Ether 12), (2) Jesus Christ can turn my weakness into strength (Ether 12:23-29), and (3) Rejecting the Lord’s prophets puts me in spiritual danger (Ether 13:13-22; 14-15). I will be discussing the fourth principle, even “Jesus Christ gives us ‘a more excellent hope’” (Ether 12:1-9, 28, 32).

Moroni, who wrote Ether 12, provided profound insights about faith in Ether 12, but he also wrote about “hope for a better world” (Ether 12:2-5). Ether had several reasons for having such hope: (1) he had the Spirit of the Lord with him (verse 2), (2) he knew that all things are fulfilled through faith in Jesus Christ (verse 3), (3) he believed in God (verse 4), and (4) he knew that hope is an anchor that makes the souls of men sure and steadfast, helps them to do good works, and will lead them to glorify God (verse 4).

Moroni also tells us that for which we should hope. In Ether 12:4, he tells us that we should hope “for a better world” at the “right hand of God. In Moroni 7:41, he tells us that we should have hope “to be raised unto life eternal” that will happen “through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection.”

Moroni also mentions “a more excellent hope” in Ether 12:32. Hope comes from faith in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ taught that His Father has many mansions. However, we must have faith, hope, and charity to receive “an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared” (Ether 12:32).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about “A Perfect Brightness of Hope” in the April 2020 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He closed his remarks with the following words: 

I give thanks, my brothers and sisters, for all we have been given in this last and greatest of all dispensations, the dispensation of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The gifts and blessings that flow from that gospel mean everything to me – everything to me – everything – so in an effort to thank my Father in Heaven for them, I have “promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” May we press forward with love in our hearts, walking in the “brightness of hope” that lights the path of holy anticipation we have been on now for 200 years. I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence. I bear witness to all of these truths and so much more in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

Can Gender Dysphoria Be Cured?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when each person is medically healthy. One of the medical health problems that is being forced on individuals and families is the idea that people can be born in the wrong body. It is a mental health problem known as gender dysphoria.

Many young men and young women are being urged to have body changing surgeries and/or take hormones in an attempt to change from a male to a female or from a female to a male. It is possible to change the looks of a person, but it is impossible to change their DNA.

In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” modern-day prophets and apostles published information that all people need to know about gender issues: “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.” Females were female and males were male in the premortal world, and females will be female and males will be male in the postmortal world. Gender remains the same from the premortal world to this world to the eternal world. 

Yet, people in this world seek to indoctrinate young men and young women who are experiencing mental trauma known as gender dysphoria and who believe that they are in the wrong body. Some of those same people sought to stop one young man from telling his story, according to Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell at The Daily Signal. 

Threats and bullying from peers and censorship from his college couldn’t stop detransitioner Simon B. Amaya Price from sounding the alarm on so-called gender transitions for children.

Amaya Price, 20, was tasked with creating an event about social change for a class at Berklee College of Music, a private music college in Boston. He decided to host a presentation Oct. 20 titled “Born in the Right Body: Desister and Detransitioner Awareness” to share his own struggles with gender dysphoria in high school and how he overcame them.

After Amaya Price received almost 1,000 negative comments on social media, including messages threatening his physical safety and recommending he drop out of school and commit suicide, the administration of the liberal arts college forced him to cancel the presentation, Boston-native Amaya Price told The Daily Signal.

But on Sunday, Amaya Price made a comeback. After Berklee failed to follow up on his requests to reschedule the event, he found his own platform….

The MIT Open Discourse Society allowed Amaya Price to host his lecture on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An organization called Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender provided refreshments and logistical support. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, also raised awareness of Amaya Price’s situation.

The event logged about 40 in-person attendees and 60 virtual listeners. Many in the audience were parents whose children suffer from gender dysphoria, looking for answers of how to save their children from the transgender cult, Amaya Price said….

“I feel like I’ve given a lot of these parents hope, because I’m here today, I’ve been through this, I came out the other side, and I’m OK,” he said. “That’s what a lot of these parents need. They need hope. And right now how it is in Massachusetts, especially, there aren’t a lot of places to look.”

Amaya Price’s presentation highlighted the hate he says he has received on social media since announcing his event and his journey from identifying as trans to accepting his biological sex. He ended with the reminder: “No child is born in the wrong body.”

Amaya Price, who has been diagnosed with autism, said he experienced social ostracism and a mental health crisis in ninth grade, leading him to decide his problem was that he actually was a girl.

He told his therapist, who affirmed his gender dysphoria and referred him to Boston Children’s Hospital for hormones and surgeries. His pediatrician told Amaya Price’s father he could choose between having a “dead son or a living daughter,” and that the then-14-year-old would kil himself if denied hormones and surgery.

Amaya Price’s father immediately shut down the possibility of a medical “transition,” which his son now says is “the best thing he could have done.”

Amaya Price calls himself a “desister,” someone who identified as transgender but decided to live in accord with his biological gender instead of undergoing medical interventions.

The truth must come out: No one is born in the wrong body. God, through his prophets and apostles, has proclaimed that we brought our gender with us from the premortal world, and we will take it with us into the postmortal world. The best thing that parents can do for their children is to refuse the hormonal treatment and the surgeries and give their children time and therapy to treat their gender dysphoria. By doing so, parents can strengthen their family, community, state, and nation.

What Signals Were Sent With the Election of Donald Trump?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the signals sent by Americans in the last presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential victory sent some definite signals about the desires of American citizens. One signal was about the economy: the people believed that Trump could do a better job with the economy than could Kamala Harris. A second signal was about border security: again, American voters thought that Trump could do a better job of securing the border than could the Border Czar for the past three years. A third signal was about energy: the American people want affordable energy instead of the narratives pedaled by environmentalists. Jason Isaac of The Daily Signal wrote about the third signal. 

For decades, radical environmental groups like Greenpeace have bene employing apocalyptic rhetoric while offering so-called solutions that would make energy more expensive and make life worse for working-class Americans. This election was a rejection of that rhetoric and an embrace of common sense.

These environmental extremists tell us that Americans reject fossil fuels. But in the month before the election, polling found that 4 out of 5 swing-state voters believed that domestic oil and gas production could help lower energy costs for American consumers. Rising costs were a big concern for voters, and the cost of energy impacts everything from grocery bills to transportation.

Voters faced a clear choice between Trump, who enthusiastically embraced the “Drill, baby, drill” mantra, and Vice President Kamala Harris….

If Democrats learn anything from their electoral defeat, it should be that activist groups like Greenpeace actually speak for a small group of elites – not for the American people.

Unfortunately, Democrats have spent years being beholden to extremist environmentalists….  

These environmental activists claim to be speaking on behalf of the world, yet simultaneously ignore the global impacts of their actions. If they were paying attention, they would recognize that killing fossil fuel projects like refineries and pipelines in the United States does not stop them from being built. It merely ensures that they’ll be built in other countries with significantly weaker environmental policies than the United States.

One entity that does understand this dynamic is China, which has benefited greatly from the loud resistance efforts of Greenpeace and others. Without sufficient pipeline capacity in North America, Canadian oil that should be refined in the United States is often shipped to China instead. Crude oil processing hit record highs in China in 2023, and the country is expected to continue building out its refining capacity.

This Chinese refinery boom has led to China being a net exporter of diesel, jet fuel, and home heating oil for the first time in the nation’s history. Because China lacks meaningful pollution controls, this increase is dangerous for the global environment. It’s also dangerous for the American economy, as this economic activity is benefiting the Chinese government rather than American companies and workers.

Meanwhile, the United States has become a global leader in environmental stewardship. Over the past five decades, we have reduced pollution by nearly 80%, achieving safe and clean air that’s only imaginable in other places round the world, while also being No. 1 in access to clean and safe drinking water. And we’ve done this while growing our energy production and our population, proving that we have responsible energy production that doesn’t compromise on environmental quality.

America is the most responsible energy producer on the planet, and the world needs more energy to eradicate poverty, not less. Access to affordable American energy could serve those in need far better than any alternative.

In spite of this, Greenpeace is doubling down on its own failures….

How Will You Spend Thanksgiving Day?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a day where millions of Americans express gratitude to God for their blessings. Here are some thoughts about gratitude and thanksgiving.

“And if ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:39).

“Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing. The central feature of pride is enmity – enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means ‘hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.’ It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us” (Ezra Taft Benson). 

This site has a family home evening lesson about Thanksgiving Day. It includes a video telling the history of Thanksgiving appropriate for older children, teens, and adults as well as a cute video of children telling the story of Thanksgiving. 

If you want to make Thanksgiving more than a day to feast until you enter a food coma, try this site for twenty-five traditions to increase reflection and expression of gratitude. There are active Thanksgiving, arts and crafts Thanksgiving traditions, food and cooking Thanksgiving traditions, nature and outdoor Thanksgiving traditions, reflection and gratitude Thanksgiving traditions, and service Thanksgiving traditions. 

What Is the Best Way to End Federal Overspending?

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to help “end federal overspending” by cutting unauthorized expenditures or in unauthorized ways. Soon after Trump’s announcement, a coalition of Republican lawmakers began making plans. According to Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell at The Daily Signal, the coalition acted the day after the appointments of Musk and Ramaswamy. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith, Rep. Robert Aderholt, and Rep. Claudia Tenney led a bicameral letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office requesting a report on federal funding for abortion providers between fiscal year 2022 and 2024….

Smith said he hopes the requested report will help Musk and Ramaswamy defund Planned Parenthood….

The coalition of 112 Congress members requests reports on the federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates, International Planned Parenthood Federation, MSI Reproductive Choices, federally qualified health centers, and four domestic abortion providers, according to the letter shared with The Daily Signal.

“It is our hope that this report will provide greater insight as Congress considers funding levels and provides increased transparency and openness for our constituencies and the general public,” says the letter signed by 81 House members and 31 senators.

The Government Accountability Office has responded to several congressional requests with prepared reports on federal funding for abortion organizations. The most recent report revealed that the abortion industry had received almost $2 billion in federal taxpayer dollars between fiscal years 2019-2021.

The letter asks for the report to detail Planned Parenthood’s federal obligations, disbursements, and the expenditures of federal funds by each of the organizations; reported obligations, disbursements, and expenditures by program from federal agencies other than the Department of Health and Human Services; the funding sources for federal agencies and programs associated with these federal funds; how these funds were made available; and reported obligations, disbursements, and expenditures for the top 15 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services programs.

This week, an announcement was made that the national debt passed $36 trillion. One way to decrease the spending of the government is to reign in the authorized spending. Musk and Ramaswamy should have prime pickings as they look for ways that the government wastes money.

Who Will Be Working with Trump in the New Administration?

My VIPs for this week are the nominees for the coming Trump administration. Numerous Democrats and Republicans-in-name-only (RINO) complain about the people that Trump has chosen to help him make the necessary changes in America. Let me be clear: even the worst of the Trump nominees is better than the best of Biden cabinet members.

The biggest complaints seem to revolve around loyalty to Trump. During his last administration, Trump relied on the influence of people who knew and understood Washington, D.C. Then he spent his four years in office trying to do the job while so many of them were stabbing him in the back figuratively. This time, he is picking people that share his vision for America. Here is a list of those chosen by Trump for his Cabinet and administration as shared by Gitanjali Poonia at The Deseret News. 

Housing and Urban Development [HUD] secretary: Former NFL player and Texas state lawmaker Scott Turner… chair of the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute… served as director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.

Treasury secretary: Scott Bessent is the founder and CEO of Key Square Capital Management, a hedge fund … also worked as chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management….

Labor secretary: Trump chose former Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his choice to run the Department of Labor. She was backed by Teamsters Union President Sean O’Brien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention….

Attorney general: … Trump picked Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and a defense lawyer during Trump’s first impeachment trial, to be attorney general. She has had a 20-year-long career as a prosecutor. Bondi also served on the federal Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during Trump’s first term.

Secretary of State: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida will be responsible for carrying out Trump’s foreign policy through the top post at the State Department….

Defense secretary: Pete Hegseth, author, Fox News personality and former Army National Guard officer, is making the rounds among Republican senators ahead of his confirmation vote…. He has said he supports getting rid of “woke” programs that promote equity and inclusion in the military, and is against women in combat.

Interior secretary: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Stanford University graduate in business administration, will manage public lands….

Secretary of Health and Human Services: President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, to oversee the public health infrastructure, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [I have heard RFK Jr. say that he is not anti-vax but wants people to have a choice.] He is expected to build on the Make America Healthy Again platform and attempt to eliminate harmful chemicals from food, water and air….

Transportation secretary: Sean Duffy left Fox News, where he co-hosted “The Bottom Line,” when he was tapped for the Cabinet position… served Wisconsin as an elected representative from 2011 to 2019 and is the father of nine….

Secretary of Education: Linda McMahon and Trump have known each other for decades…. McMahon unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate twice in 2008 and 2012 and has served on the board of trustees at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut…

Commerce secretary: Howard Lutnick is a co-chair of the Trump-Vance presidential transition team, and the head of Cantor Fitzgerald, a brokerage and investment bank. He is also a “cryptocurrency enthusiast” ….

Homeland Security secretary: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will likely carry out the incoming Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. Axios noted that she is experienced working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on immigration. She has also overseen her state’s response to floods, tornados and wildfires.

Veterans Affairs secretary: Doug Collins, another former congressman, will be in charge of the department that oversees active-duty servicemen, veterans and their families. The former Georgia representative is a veteran who served in Iraq as a U.S. Navy chaplain.

Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic representative, veteran and presidential candidate who left the party in 2022, does not have experience working with intelligence agencies. She has a history of criticizing President Joe Biden’s decision to help Ukraine amid its war with Russia.

CIA director: Former Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas has served on judiciary and intelligence committees, and is a staunch supporter of the president-elect…. [He was the Director of National Intelligence at the end of the previous Trump term.]

United Nations ambassador: Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the current House GOP conference chair, will represent the U.S. at the United Nations….

NATO ambassador: Matthew Whitaker, an Iowa native, previously served as the acting attorney general during Trump’s first term….

Energy secretary: Chris Wright, the chief executive of Liberty Energy, a fracking services company, has pushed back on green energy initiatives….

EPA administrator: Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., promised to make the U.S. energy independent, “revitalize the auto industry,” and cement the country’s place as a leader in artificial intelligence….

FCC chairman: Brendan Carr was one of the five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission after Trump appointed him in 2017. The FCC doesn’t hold tech giants like Google and Meta accountable for the information posted on their platforms, nor do these companies practice transparency about algorithm changes. But Carr wants to change that, and bring more transparency to the internet, while tackling censorship.

Border czar: Tom Homan will be the “point person” on issues related to the southern border and will have informal powers, unlike other Cabinet positions…. He spent 34 years enforcing immigration rules as a police officer and a special agent for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, border patrol officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and an acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement…. [He is my favorite appointee.]

Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead DOGE, created to drastically cut the size and scope of the federal government….

 

How Do Lawful Gun Owners Help Public Safety?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights guarantee to the freedom to keep and bear arms. Groups pushing gun control are lamenting mourning the results of the 2024 presidential election because they recognize that their greatest supporter – President Joe Biden – is losing his bully pulpit. Law-abiding gun owners will no longer be one of the main targets of the federal government.

Amy Swearer shared her thoughts about the reverse fortunes of gun owners in her article posted at The Daily Signal. 

But ordinary lawful owners of firearms never have been the driving force behind violent crime.

Not only that, but they regularly rely on their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms to protect themselves and their loved ones from violent criminals when the government can’t or won’t be there to ensure their safety.

Almost every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually, according to the most recent report on the subject by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that roughly 1.6 million comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses occur in the United States every year.

For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed – or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place….

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use during crimes that we found in October. You may explore more by using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database.

·         Oct. 1, Seattle: A woman came out the front door of her residence and pointed a shotgun at two process servers, police said. One of them, drawing his own gun, shot and killed the woman.

·         Oct. 7, Hubert, North Carolina: Police said a woman fatally shot her ex-boyfriend after he showed up at her home in violation of a protection order and climbed through a window. Local officials said the man had a lengthy history of domestic violence and was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor after having violated protection orders at least twice before. He allegedly called the woman 26 times and sent her dozens of text messages in the hours before the deadly encounter.

·         Oct. 10, Sioux Fall, South Dakota: Several people wielding baseball bats confronted a group of motorcyclists at a gas station, mistakenly believing that they had jumped a friend earlier that night. After ducking to avoid a blow from a bat, one motorcyclist drew a gun and fatally shot two of the assailants. He also shot and wounded a woman who pointed a gun at him. Police confirmed that the motorcyclists weren’t involved in the original assault, calling it a case of mistaken identity.

·         Oct. 11, Cut Bank, Montana: Two juveniles broke into a car and stole a handgun before a resident confronted them, police said. One juvenile shot the resident in the leg with the handgun before another resident arrived  and, armed with his own firearm, held the shooter at gunpoint until police arrived. Both juveniles were taken into custody; the wounded resident was expected to recover.

·         Oct. 12, Poplar Bluff, Missouri: A woman shot and wounded a man as he illegally entered her home through her bedroom window early in the morning, police said. The suspect – who police said was caught on camera in 2022 trying to enter other homes – faced unspecified charges.

·         Oct. 16, Columbus, Ohio: When a newsstand employee caught a man trying to steal an item from a cooler, police said, the would-be thief drew a handgun and pointed it at him. The employee called for his nearby brother, who drew his own gun and shot and wounded the thief. He was charged with felony aggravated robbery.

·         Oct. 20, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania: After being kicked out of his girlfriend’s house during a dispute earlier in the day, a man returned, pinned her to the floor, and held a knife to her throat in front of her children. One of the children, a teenager, grabbed a firearm and fatally shot the man, police said.

·         Oct. 25, Chicago: When a bystander tried to intervene in a quarrel between a man and a woman on a public sidewalk, the man pointed a gun at him. The bystander – a concealed carry permit holder – drew his own gun and fatally shot his assailant. The incident occurred a day after two other Chicago gun owners successfully defended themselves against violent criminals.

·         Oct. 29, Stratford, Connecticut: Police said an armed resident confronted two would-be car thieves who he discovered breaking into his car, exchanging gunfire with them until they fled. The resident wasn’t hurt.

·         Oct. 31, New Iberia, Louisiana: A man broke into two residences and stabbed two victims – one in each home – before an armed resident in the second home shot and wounded him, police said. All three were taken to a hospital for treatment; the suspect was charged with attempted first-degree murder.

All of these lawful gun owners highlight just how important the right to keep and bear arms is to ordinary Americans.

Swearer explained that Second Amendment protections do not threaten public safety, as claimed by gun control activists. Good people bearing arms “will only threaten the safety of violent criminals” as “lawful gun owners want to defend themselves.”

What Are the Patterns Shown by the Jaredites, Chess, and Mulan?

 My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Ether 6-11 in a lesson titled “That Evil May Be Done Away.” The lesson was introduced by this information: 

Hundreds of years after the Jaredites were destroyed, the Nephites discovered the ruins of their ancient civilization. Among these ruins was a mysterious record – plates of “pure gold” that were “filled with engravings,” and the Nephites “were desirous beyond measure” to read it (Mosiah 8:9; 28:12). Today you have an abridgment of this record, and it’s called the book of Ether. When the Nephites read it, “they were filled with sorrow” to learn of the tragic fall of the Jaredites. “Nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice” (Mosiah 28:18). You, too, may find sorrowful moments in this book. But you can also rejoice in this gift of knowledge. As Moroni wrote, “it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you … that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men” (Ether 8:23, 26).

Some of the principles taught in this scripture block are (1) The Lord will guide me through my mortal journey (Ether 6:1-12), (2) Walk humbly before the Lord (Ether 6:5-18, 30; 9:28-35; 10:1-2), and (3) The Lord does not work in darkness (Ether 8:7-26). I feel prompted to discuss a fourth principle: I can become a Christlike leader (Ether 7-11).

Ether 7-11 cover at least 28 generations. There is little detail in the chapters, but the information shows a pattern about the consequences of righteous and wicked leadership. Before Jared and his brother died, their people asked them to appoint one of their sons to be their king. None of the sons of the brother of Jared and three of Jared’s sons rejected the opportunity to become king. The fourth son of Jared – Orihah – accepted the appointment, and he was a righteous king. He was followed by numerous unrighteous kings. 

These chapters in Ether tell the stories of various kings and their wars. In most cases, the victorious kings took the losing kings into captivity. Sometimes, the kings and their posterity lived in captivity for several generations. The victors seemed to prefer putting the loser into captivity rather than killing them although they did destroy the enemy armies.

The above-described practice has always confused me, but I gained much information today after reading an article in Meridian Magazine by Daris Howard. This article is titled “Are There Any Other Cultures That Match the Jaredites?” In his article, Howard compared the practices of the Jaredite kings to the game of chess and the Disney movie Mulan. I am not a chess player, but I have watched numerous members of my family play chess. Howard explained, “In chess, everything is done to protect the king, and when the king is killed or captured, the game (war) is over.” This is about the only thing that I understand about the game, but I instantly made the connection that he was making: Chess follows the pattern shown in the book of Ether. Howard then explained that this pattern is the way that wars are fought in Asia. 

Howard then compared the practice of the kings in Ether to the Disney movie Mulan. I have watched the movie – numerous years ago – and do not remember much about it. However, Howard explained the following.

In the 1996 Disney® movie Mulan, many things are similar to the book of Ether. One of the most important is a statement made near the beginning of the movie that most people miss…. But right now, let’s consider the legend that Mulan comes from.

According to ancient Chinese legend, Hua Mulan was a warrior woman…. It is hard to read too much about China without coming across the legend of Mulan. The Chinese feel she was a real person and a great hero to her country….

There are a few things that are key in all the different versions of the stories I have read. First, Mulan entered the army in place of her aging father, whom she loved, knowing he could not endure the viciousness of war. Second, she always seems to have hidden the fact that she was a woman until later in the story, and when it did come out, that inspired her people. Third, there is usually a love interest in the form of a military command. And fourth, she doesn’t seek for riches from her fame and power, but only to do good for her people and her family.

Howard shared four concepts found in the story of Mulan: (1) Protect the king at all costs (as shown in the second scene of the movie), (2) It doesn’t take a whole army to win – all you have to do is capture or kill the king, (3) Control of the emperor is control of China, and (4) Bow in captivity or die. Howard then summarized the Mulan movie, showing that the culture matches practice of the Jaredites.

Though there is much of Hollywood in the movie Mulan, in many respects it holds true to the traditional story of Mulan found in books. In that movie, we can see the very essence of the culture of the Jaredites. First, everything is done to protect the king. His is the only life that seems to be of much value. Second, it does not take an entire army to win – a commando squad can win if they can kill or capture the king. Third, control of the king is control of the nation, whether he is dead or alive. And fourth, it is preferable to capture the king and keep him in captivity instead of killing him.

Howard’s article contains much more information, but what I have shared shows how the game of chess – which originated in China or India – and the Disney movie Mulan – about a girl in China – shares the same pattern as followed by the kings and armies discussed in the book of Ether.

As to the principle chosen for this essay – I can become a Christlike leader, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke on the topic in the Priesthood Session of the April 2017 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a talk titled “The Greatest Among You.” He concluded his talk with the following information. 

Let us follow the example of our Savior, who was meek and lowly, who sought not the praise of men but to do the will of His Father.

Let us serve others humbly – with energy, gratitude, and honor. Even though our acts of service may seem lowly, modest, or of little value, those who reach out in kindness and compassion to others will one day know the value of their service by the eternal and blessed grace of Almighty God.

My dear brethren, dear friends, may we meditate upon, understand, and live this paramount lesson of Church leadership and priesthood governance: “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”

 

Can the Trump Administration Rescue the Missing Children?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when all children are protected. According to a retired Border Patrol agent, the government of the United States has the distinction of being the largest child sex trafficking organization in modern world history. In an article published at The Daily Signal, Virginia Allen reported on the testimony of J.J. Carrell, who served in the Border Patrol for 24 years before he retired. At the time of retirement, he was a deputy patrol agent in charge of the San Diego Sector. Since retirement, he authored a book on the border crisis and produced two documentaries on the topic. According to Allen, Carrell testified of the following: 

“I state with complete certainty that [President Joe] Biden, [Vice President Kamala] Harris, and [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas intentionally, strategically and purposely weaponized illegal immigration and use it as a tool to fundamentally transform America,” Carrell said during the joint hearing by the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement and Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, both subcommittees of the House Homeland Security Committee.

“Inside this invasion, the unspoken evil of child trafficking and more specifically, child sex trafficking has flourished,” he said.

To support the testimony of Carrell given above, Allen summarized the latest information about the missing children.

In August, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that it does not know the location or status of more than 300,000 migrant children. Between fiscal year 2019 and 2023, 32,000 illegal alien minors did not appear for their immigration court hearing, and an additional 291,000 were never given an immigration court date.

According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 81% of unaccompanied alien children are between the ages of 13 and 18. The average age of a trafficking victim in the U.S. is between 12 and 15, according to Anti-Trafficking International.

Under current U.S. law, after being apprehended by Border Patrol or Customs and Border Protection, unaccompanied migrant children are released into the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which in turn releases the child to a sponsor in the U.S.

For a decade, HHS has demonstrated a “record of losing children to sponsors who abuse, exploit, traffic, and harm children in unthinkable ways,” Tara Rodas told members of Congress during her testimony at Tuesday’s hearing, which was titled “Trafficked, Exploited, and Missing: Migrant Children Victims of the Biden-Harris Administration.

Rodas was a government employee when she was assigned in 2021 to help HHS with the burgeoning numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children arriving at the southern border. It did not take long for Rodas to realize that the department’s program was allowing sponsors to exploit children. Even though the department runs the names of sponsors through the National Crime Information Center before they are allowed to take a child, there are not enough controls on the sponsors. They can be relatives or not related at all. This opens the door for human traffickers to prey on innocent minors. According to Rodas, the practice happens regularly.

 “Migrant children are working overnight shifts in slaughterhouses and factories, and some may die today because they don’t have the knowledge or skills to do the job that [they are] supposed to be doing, but their doing it because they need to repay debts to their smugglers and traffickers,” she said.

Rodas said that U.S. officials are allowing “MS-13, 18^th Street Gang, Russian Balkans crime syndicates, and other unsavory characters” to take the children. She defended HHS by pointing out that the department is “not an investigative or law enforcement agency” and “does not have the knowledge, skills, ability, or the tradecraft to protect children from traffickers.” She compared the operations of child traffickers to the “tactics and operations of terrorist organization.”

Rodas suggested some solutions to end the exploitation of migrant children. Her suggestions include DNA testing of sponsors who pose as a relative to a child and prison time for sponsors who do not produce the child put into their care.

“Let’s mobilize the full power of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to dismantle these criminal networks,” Rodas said, recommending that child trafficking activity should be elevated on the National Intelligence Priorities Framework and be designated a terrorist activity.

“We cannot be a nation that looks the other way,” Rodas said. “We have a moral imperative to care for children that the government takes into custody, and the time to act is now.”

Babies, children, and youth are precious in the sight of God, and He will not hold our nation guiltless for endangering and misusing the migrant children and youth who come into our nation. The more we do to rescue these misused individuals, the more we will protect our own children and youth. The nominated Border Czar Tom Holman has declared that he will find the missing children, and we should pray that he can and will. We must protect all minors within the borders of our nation if we want to have strong families, communities, states, and nations.

Why Does Casey Refuse to Concede the Senate Election?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns election integrity. Sen. Bob Casey, the Democratic incumbent in Pennsylvania, refused to concede the election. Instead, he wanted a recount despite the fact that numerous news outlets had called the election for Republican challenger Dave McCormick. However, the official margin is within the 0.5 percent cutoff for a recount.

Casey has a long shot for winning the election, and many people have called on him to concede the election. Nevertheless, election officials in several Pennsylvania counties decided to use illegal means – counting undated or misdated ballots -- to help Casey win. However, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stepped into the situation and came down hard on Casey and his attorney, Marc Elias, for trying to undermine the will of the voters to steal a Senate seat.

According to Blaze News, the court used law to for its decision: “The Election Code commands absentee and mail-in electors to date the declaration that appears upon ballot return envelopes, and failure to comply with that command renders a ballot invalid as a matter of Pennsylvania law.” 

The Blaze News article gave comments from the Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley as well as comments from the National Committee of Senate Republicans.

“Following our latest RNC lawsuit, today the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled yet again that undated ballots CANNOT BE COUNTED. No more excuses. Election officials in Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and other countries have absolutely no choice but to reject illegal ballots,” wrote Whatley on X.

“We will hold them to it. Protect The Vote!” he concluded.

The National Committee of Senate Republicans was far more acerbic in its fiery response.

“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rightfully struck down the flagrantly lawless campaign by Bob Casey and his scumbag lawyer, Marc Elias, to undermine the will of the voters and steal a Senate seat weeks after the election was called,” the organization wrote on social media.

“[Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro, [Sen.] John Fetterman, and national Democrats must call on Casey to concede and stop undermining faith in our elections.”

What Did the Founders Think of Democracy and Electoral College?

Numerous Democrats -- including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz – claimed that Donald Trump would destroy democracy if he were elected. Republicans, on the other hand, claimed that Trump needed to be elected to save democracy from the Democrats.

Mark Levin, sometimes known as “The Great One,” is an expert on the U.S. Constitution, and he says that we need to remind Americans that we do not have a democracy in the United States. He said, “[Our Founding Father] didn’t support democracy; they supported republicanism. The wise men who wrote the Constitution created a democratic republic, not a democracy. 

The staff at Blaze Media transcribed some of the information from a video where Levin discussed the work of the Founding Fathers. I encourage you to watch the video, but at least check out these comments by Levin as reported by Blaze:

“Democracy means factions can take over or a majority can be tyrannical,” he says, adding that our Founders saw this in other countries and “didn’t want anything to do with it.”

“They wanted republicanism; they wanted checks in power,” he explains.

That’s why they enshrined certain principles in our Constitution.

That way, “you can’t have people vote away your rights,” says Levin. If “90% of them don’t think you should have the right to bear arms, that’s too damn bad.”

The fact that our forefathers foresaw the inevitable issues with a true democracy and created our brilliant system proves that “they were geniuses.”

Their installation of the Electoral College was equally brilliant.

Even though we see people like Tim Walz advocating for the demolition of it, Levin knows the truth: It’s for our nation’s protection.

“You choose a president not through a direct election” but rather via an “Electoral College. Why?” asks Levin. “One person is the head of an entire branch; we can’t just leave it up to a popular vote” because then “the cities will choose the president.”

“In order to have a union and in order to make sure every aspect of the society was represented, they came up with this brilliant Electoral College,” he explains.

Because of this brilliant system of balance, “California doesn’t get to drown out Montana, Wyoming, [or] Idaho.”

“If you had a national popular vote, that’s what [California] would do,” says Levin.

A system in which “the president [is] chosen by the people through the Electoral College but not chosen by the legislature” was “unheard of” at the time. So was the idea of “staggered terms” and a “bicameral congress.”

“So the accumulation of power, the centralization of government is limited,” Levin explains.

For more wisdom straight from the mouth of Levin, check out this video. Two reminders we all need after the election: We are NOT a democracy, and the Electoral College is good | Blaze Media