A pure heart and clean hands

I was cleaning the carpet today when inspiration hit.

Armed with a brand-new can of Spot Shot, I aimed to rid my bedroom carpet of baby spit stains, dirt, and other random junk that has accumulated over the last 2 1/2 months. The soiled carpet has been bothering me for several weeks now, and I hoped it wasn't too late to remove the stains. To my great relief, the cleaning process worked like a charm. My only regret was not attending to the mess sooner.

As I scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees, the words of Alma came to my mind. They were fresh, since we read from Alma 5 this morning as a family. To put the passage in context, Alma had just embarked on his mission to the Nephites, hoping that the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ would help them change their ways. Beginning in verse 26, he said:

26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a ^achange of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the ^bsong of redeeming love, I would ask, ^ccan ye feel so now?

27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves ^ablameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently ^bhumble? That your garments have been ^ccleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to ^dredeem his people from their sins?

28 Behold, are ye stripped of ^apride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life.

29 Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of ^aenvy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare ^bquickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless.

30 And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a ^amock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?

31 Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the ^atime is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!

32 Yea, even wo unto all ye ^aworkers of iniquity; repent, repent, for the Lord God hath spoken it!

33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto ^aall men, for the ^barms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

My mind turned to Ryan's farewell address, when he challenged all of us to repent daily. I felt a renewed sense of urgency to do better with daily repentance. Like my carpet, I can still be washed clean if I neglect my spirit for a while, but the process is longer and more challenging. How much better it would be if we tackled our dirty spots daily with the healing balm of the Savior's sacrifice and feel welcome in His arms.

Love,

Heidi

Safe Place Traditions

I really love Sister Cheryl Lant's talk about righteous traditions from the last conference. I was particularly impressed with her comments on how righteous traditions can help us build "safe places" for our families.

I would invite all of us to take a moment to reflect on the traditions in our lives and how they might be affecting our families. Our traditions of Sabbath day observance, family prayer, family scripture study, service and activity in the Church, as well as patterns of respect and loyalty in the home, will have a great effect on our children and on their future. If our parenting is based on the teachings of the scriptures and of the latter-day prophets, we cannot go wrong. If every time there is a challenge our hearts turn first and always to our Father in Heaven for direction, we will be in a safe place.

If our children know where we stand and we always stand on the Lord’s side, we know we are where we need to be. Now, the important thing is that we consistently work to do these things. We will not be perfect at it, and our families will not always respond positively, but we will be building a strong foundation of righteous traditions that our children can depend on.

Cheryl C. Lant, Primary General President, Righteous Traditions, April 2008 General Conference, Saturday Morning Session

Love,

Dad/Mark

Zion Family: Building Blocks of Faith and Testimony

In our Ward Conference today, Bishop Cameron McKay was extraordinarily emotional as he spoke. His wife has been battling cancer for over a year and is currently enduring yet another round of painful treatments. He had not planned to attend the meeting and had provided Brother Jones with the text of the message he wished the ward to hear. But Bishop McKay did come and gave a powerful talk about seeking to be perfect in Christ through the power of the atonement.

I was reminded of Elder Rasband's talk in the last General Conference, testifying that our life experiences can provide building blocks of faith:

"Our personal journey through life provides us with many special experiences that become building blocks of faith and testimony. These experiences come to us in vastly different ways and at unpredictable times. They can be powerful spiritual events or small enlightening moments. Some experiences will come as serious challenges and heavy trials that test our ability to cope with them. No matter what the experience may be, each gives us a chance for personal growth, greater wisdom, and, in many cases, service to others with more empathy and love. As the Lord stated to the Prophet Joseph Smith in a reassuring way during one of his most significant trials at Liberty Jail, 'All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good' (D&C 122:7).

"As experiences accumulate in our lives, they add strength and support to each other. Just as the building blocks of our homes support the rest of the structure, so too do our personal life experiences become building blocks for our testimonies and add to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

Ronald A. Rasband, Special Experiences, April 2008 General Conference, Saturday Morning Session.

I don't wish for more trials to come upon any of us in our family or our friends, but they certainly will come. I hope and pray that each of us can take advantage of each trial or test or life experience to progressively build our testimonies and commitment to Christ. I am confident the Master Builder will magnify our small desires and efforts through the power of the Holy Ghost to make our building blocks eternal.

Love,

Dad/Mark

Keys of the Priesthood Bless our Families

Last night, when I spoke with Claudia from my hotel room in Overland Park, Kansas, she recounted how David had given Devlin a priesthood blessing prior to attending his first day of kindergarten, exercising his authority as a father and priesthood holder to serve his family. What a thrill it was to hear of a worthy son extending not only a family tradition, but taking the initiative to draw down the power of heaven on behalf of his family.

I also felt the sweet assurance of the spirit yesterday morning as Eric joined me to give Holly a blessing to start her first day back to school.

This morning, during my "walk with the giants," I listened again to President Eyring's talk from the last general conference. Three brief sentences the uttered in testifying of the reality of priesthood keys impressed me:

"Revelation and inspiration have come to him [President Monson] in my presence, which
confirms to me that God is honoring those keys. I am an eyewitness.
They are keys of a priesthood which is, in the Lord's words, "without
beginning or end."⁵


President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, The True and Living Church, Saturday Morning Session, April 2008 General Conference.

As he spoke those words, the Spirit whispered to me that a similar miracle had occured in Dent-Dixon homes yesterday. Keys and authority of the priesthood were exercised in faith. Revelation was received and spoken. God honored those keys. We are grateful witnesses.

Love,

Dad/Mark

Exaltation is a Family Matter

While in Washington, DC, this past week, I stayed at a riverfront hotel east of the city in a newly developed area called National Harbor. Early each morning I took a solitary walk along the shoreline while listening to conference talks on my iPod.

One morning, I was particularly impressed with this comment by Elder Nelson:

"In God’s eternal plan, salvation is an individual matter; exaltation is a family matter.

"As children of the covenant, we have met in this morning’s solemn assembly. Attention has been focused upon the sacred titles of prophets and apostles. But the final responsibility to prepare for salvation and exaltation rests upon each person, accountable for individual agency, acting in one’s own family, bearing another sacred title of mother, father, daughter, son, grandmother, or grandfather."

Russell M. Nelson, Salvation and Exaltation, April 2008 General Conference, Saturday morning session.

We are all in this together. While each of us certainly has responsibility to gain individual testimony and individually learn how to claim the promised blessings of the atonement, all of us in the Dent-Dixon family have the sacred responsibility to assist and lift and bless the lives of each other. It is extremely heartening to me to see this happening, day in and day out, within our family. Somehow, I think that is the sealing power in action, operational within our family, helping us all in our collective effort to return home to God.

Love,

Dad/Mark

Profile of a Prophet

Hello Family:

As we drove along the miles during our recent family road trip, we listened to Hugh B. Brown's classic talk, Profile of a Prophet. In his distinctive, powerful voice, President Brown summarized the discussion he had, prior to the outbreak of World War II, with a prominent English statesman, presented in the form of a legal brief, outlining the logical reasons he believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.

I had listened to this talk many times while serving as a missionary in England over 30 years ago. I was impressed then, and perhaps even more so now, by President Brown's closing statement:

"I have brought to you very briefly some of the reasons why I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. But undergirding and overarching all that, I say to you from the very center of my heart that by the revelations of the Holy Ghost I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Although these evidences and many others that could be cited may have the effect of giving one an intellectual conviction, only by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit can one come to know the things of God. By those whisperings I say I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I thank God for that knowledge ..."

Today in sacrament meeting, Ryan gave the same witness, that through personal revelation from the Holy Ghost, he knew that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. Ryan will carry that powerful witness with him to Croatia, where honest seekers of truth will respond like the English judge:

"He said, 'Mr. Brown, I wonder if your people appreciate the import of your message. Do you?' He said, 'If what you have told me is true, it is the greatest message that has come to this earth since the angels announced the birth of Christ.'

"This was a judge speaking—a great statesman, an intelligent man. He threw out the challenge: 'Do you appreciate the import of what you say?' He added, 'I wish it were true. I hope it may be true. God knows it ought to be true. I would to God,' he said, and he wept as he said it, 'that some man could appear on earth and authoritatively say, 'Thus saith the Lord.''"

Let me add my witness to those expressed by Ryan and President Brown. I know, through a witness born to my spirit by the Holy Ghost, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the living God. He saw what he said he saw. He could indeed proclaim, "Thus saith the Lord."

He was an instrument in the hand of the Lord to restore the true and living Church to the earth in our time. And, we, the Dent-Dixon Zion Family, are the beneficiaries of his great service.

Love,

Dad/Mark

Peace in Zion

Dear Family:

This quotation from Joseph Smith seems particularly relevant in our world today: 

"We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object. . . The time is soon coming, when no man will have any peace but in Zion and her stakes."

(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 160-61)

And to think he said that over 160 years ago!

Love,

Dad/Mark