ANGER---A CONSCIOUS CHOICE

by: Norberto Betita

Early morning after the super typhoon Yolanda ended her fury, my heart was full of gratitude in prayer to God, who is the master of the elements, for His providence in protecting and safeguarding us from the very disastrous typhoon. It was earlier reported to be the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines for the year 2013 and later reported to be the strongest in the world history at 315 kilometers per hour (195 mph). By my long experiences of typhoons in in our Province of Surigao del Norte, in one look at our vicinity I already sensed that there is not so much destruction in Surigao City. The typhoon was short-lived and launched her ferocious passion only for about two and a half hours.

As a counselor in the Mission Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints assigned to oversee the Surigao District of the Church, I immediately awaken my son and my son-in-law for us to make our rounds and visits to the members who might have been affected by the super typhoon Yolanda, and those people in the meetinghouses which were used as evacuation centers.  After our visits and meetings with Branch Presidents trying to comfort them and expressing sincere gratitude for their service in shepherding the flocks, despite their own needs, I went home with my son. I was a bit downhearted.

My son told the family that I had been in altercation with a full-time Church employee. My daughter-in-law laughingly reminded, “Pa, did you take your medicines?” My wife and daughters laughed at me as if to scorn, telling me that I am kind of being hit by a typhoon stronger than Yolanda. While I was preparing our food for lunch, as it was my assignment, my children and daughter-in-law continued teasing me. My daughter-in-law jokingly told my wife and daughters, “Papa, is putting all his anger on the pork meat he is slicing.” Until we have our lunch we laughed together as I related to them the story of such an undesirable experience while doing service to God and His people.

Even in such situations the family are used to throw jokes on me because it is not in my nature and person to easily get angry, especially in family settings. I am generally the home pacifier. But they knew that I am a protector of those who might have been abused. Hence, it was no surprise to them that I would react in favour of a faithful Branch President who had been insulted and branded as mistrust by a full-time church employee, while in the height of his concerns for the welfare of the evacuees---members and non-members---who were at the church.

Like the Lord Jesus Christ who “cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves” for making the temple “a dean of thieves” (Matthew 21:12-13), mine temperance seemed to also reach its limits. Yet I have a clear consciousness that it is not proper for me an ordinary being to be angry for whatever reason. I might have justified my anger by the words found in Matthew, “That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Matthew 5:22). I have a cause and a good reason to be angry in defence of a brother. But the clause “without a cause” was already omitted in Matthew 5:24 JST and the same clause is not part in 3 Nephi 12:22, which read: “But whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment...”

The Lord is the lawgiver and He has that right to chastise those who are subject to His laws. No matter the circumstances I needed to hold on to temperance and sobriety. But I chose to be angry and so become downhearted unto repentance by the guilt of submitting to the deceiving tactics of the Devil.

The Lord made it clear, “For very, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine that such things should be done away.’  (3 Nephi 11:29-30.)

In my associations with people, I always maintain a personal atmosphere of solemnity. When I am in groups, even in the Church I seldom talk. But when I talk, I always make it sure that I follow the words of the wise King Solomon, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11.)

However, since I was in my youth, it’s been my nature to be a defender of the weak. In college, I always help the weaker students who were insulted by ostentatious scholarly learners. At work I usually establish a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere with colleagues. When my subordinates are threatened, and I know I have legal reasons to defend them, I stood against the wiles of management.  When I became a member of the Church, I get my feet strong under continued ridicule and mockery from associates, friends and relatives in defence of the image of the Kingdom of God, which truth I bear witness.  And in many such situations, I often broke in anger. I am grateful though that from such bright and sheer consciousness of getting angry, I had long since learned to muster “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little,” (2 Nephi 28:30) the principle of sobriety, solemnity, harmony, and peace, especially in our home and family. I understood better that I should love my wife and “be not bitter against” her, and I should not “provoke” my “children to anger.” (Colossians 3:19, 20.) I long since realized that I cannot “be...angry, and sin not.” (Ephesians 4:26.) But I have to admit that perfection is still a long, winding and extended highway to walk and a high mountain to climb.

UNDERSTANDING AND BECOMING GOOD SAMARITANS

by: Norberto Betita

In the account of Luke  a “certain lawyer” asked, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” After a discussion about the commandment to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself,” the lawyer made a follow-up question, “And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way:  and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37.)

Since then the word Good Samaritan, because of the deep and abiding principle which it carries relating to the loving and caring for those who are wounded and suffering strangers as taught by the Master Himself, became very popular as a meaningful identification for anyone who give of their time, talents and means for the cause of others. In the Mirriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary the Good Samaritan was adopted as a noun with equivalent meaning of “A person who helps other people and especially strangers when they have trouble.” The parable then becomes an ordinary real life story of a man---victim of robbery and three different men of different attitudes and concerns toward the injured person. Forgotten somehow was the deeper meaning of the parable.

John W. Welch in his article The Good Samaritan: Forgotten Symbols, Ensign February 2007, quoted from an early Christian writer, Origen: “The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is Paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience, the beast is the Lord’s body, the (inn), which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church....The manager of the (inn) is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior’s second coming.” (Origen, Homily 34.3, Joseph T. Lienhard, trans., Origen: Homilies on Luke, Fragments on Luke (1996), 138.) Each figurative item in the parable which illustrates in general the Plan of Salvation was best explained by John W. Welch in the same article. 

By our understanding of the allegorical meaning of the parable we can best determine which role we should place ourselves momentarily in regard to our present circumstances and positions. We may consider ourselves as Adam’s posterity who came down into the world and subjected to its hostile powers, and wounded by our continued disobedience and remain to be  in that status---one to be saved and rescued. Or we may have the role of the Levite which John W. Welch described as “A lesser class of priests,” doing “chores in the temple” who “came close to helping:” as “he came and saw. He may have wanted to help, but perhaps he viewed himself as too lowly to help,” and “also lacked the power to save the dying person.” Or we may bear the part of the innkeeper and his staff to attend to and help everybody who came into the inn (the Church) to be nurtured and rescued.  Or we can act like the Good Samaritan (the Christ) who actually performed the saving deed for the dying man, in which the Lord commanded the lawyer to “Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:37.) And for which we are commanded to “... be the means of bringing salvation unto them” (3 Nephi 18:32), and “stand in the office which” we are “appointed” and “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” (D&C 81:5.)

Whatever our present position and calling may be, we should understand that these are all part of our Heavenly Father’s plan for the eternal happiness of man.

Many years ago while I was an employee of the bank, I overheard a conversation among my banking colleagues of an initiative of their church requesting its members to donate money for a church project. After their distasteful discussion, one who was among the most affluent proudly announced that for her part, she contributed P150.00. When measured by our salary at that time, that may have been quite generous, but when considered in the light of her prominence and affluence, her contribution was far from being benevolent, especially considering that their donations are not regular. 

I was Branch President then of a lone branch of the Church in Surigao City, Philippines, and as I listen to their discussions, my thoughts led me to the exceptional generosity of many lowly members of the Church. One of them earns a living as a peddler. Each day he carried a heavy bundle of household trappings, tools and equipments and walked around the City throughout the day. He carried with him a small towel to wipe his perspiring face as he walked under the heat of the rising sun. Each Sunday he gave to me his donation envelope for his tithing and every first Sunday, he and his family fasts and prays, and gave of their fast offering equivalent to the cost of two meals. He could have saved the money to improve his nipa hut, but he chose to offer it in expression of his love to God and to those of God’s children who are more in need. Despite his limited formal education he served in the church in different capacities including that of being a Branch President in later years and magnified his callings. When he speaks, I could feel the power of God in him through the Holy Ghost. He is now in the sunset of his life, but still serving faithfully.

Then I was reminded of an old member who walked 4 kilometers to Church each Sunday to attend services. He once asked me if it was right for him to deprive his family of a complete rice meal, all because his neighbour have nothing to eat that night, and he decided to give half of their remaining rice enough only for their supper to the needy family. Both families eat rice porridge for the night. I asked him what he felt, and he responded that he felt glad to have shared his little means to a starving family. “Then what you did was right,” I told him.  He could only but read and write, but he understood better the meaning of being a Good Samaritan. He died a faithful member of the Church.

Once while we were eating our noonday meal with rice and dried fishes as the unprivileged menu, my old friend who taught me how to raise vegetable garden when I was jobless cried as he offered a prayer of thanks for the food. He told me later that while we dined together with such a lowly foodstuff, his thought goes to others who might not have food to eat that very hour. He had been a very generous man whose concern is always for those in need. He became our Stake Patriarch and eventually departed this life in righteousness.

These are only a few of the many unadorned stories of compassionate offering of one’s soul in acts of saving the wounded and the weary travelers of life’s journey on the Jericho road, in contrast to the voices of the proud and conceited voyagers who have thrown in so little out of their abundance.

Faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints throughout the world have done and are continually doing the role of the Good Samaritan as symbolized by Jesus Christ in the parable, in savings the souls of the wounded and dying, and those subjected to the hostile powers along their worldly journey. They serve in different capacities giving of their life and means for the work of salvation.

Joe J. Christensen told his own story:

My mother taught me an important lesson...For many years my father had a practice of trading for a new car every year. Then, shortly after World War II when grain prices increased, we were surprised one day when Dad drove home in a more expensive car.

One morning my mother asked, “How much more did the new car cost than the other one?

When Dad told her, my mother said, “Well, the other car has always been able to get me where I need to go. I think we ought to give the difference to someone who needs it more than we do.”

“The more hearts and minds are turned to assisting others less fortunate than we, the more we will avoid the spiritually cankering effects that result from greed, selfishness, and overindulgence.”

John W. Welch explained, “Finally, the innkeeper is promised that all his costs will be covered: “I will reward you for whatsoever you expend.” Perhaps more than any other element in the story, this promise---in effect giving the innkeeper a blank check---has troubled modern commentators who understand this story simply as real-life event. Who in his right mind would make such an open-ended commitment to a strange innkeeper? But when the story is understood allegorically, this promise makes sense, for the Samaritan (Christ) and his innkeeper already know and trust each other before this promise is given.”

Surely, the Christ will come again as He promised the innkeeper. There will be an accounting of what had been done by each of us. And we will be judged according to how we performed our roles in the work of salvation. He said, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25) “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 16:25.) This counter-intuitive expression by the Lord Himself should remind us that our earthly lives should not be at variance with the principles taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan which typifies the Plan of Salvation.

THE JOY OF LIFETIME SERVICE IN THE LDS CHURCH

   

by: Norberto Betita

I once sit beside the baptistery at the Cebu Philippines Temple while waiting for my assignment to do confirmations for the dead during one of the scheduled youth temple trip of the Surigao Philippines District. My wife Letty was at my side. I observed a very old Filipina temple worker, probably between 80 to 85 years of age. She was thin and pale with her back bent by age. She was patiently mopping the wet floor resulting from the young women’s wet baptismal dresses after being baptized for the dead and going back to the dressing room. Suddenly I noticed Letty as she went to the old Filipina temple worker asking the latter to rest a while and allow her to do the mopping. But according to Letty the elderly sister explained that it was her assigned duty, and she should fulfill it. I saw the aged Filipina as she lifted up her curbed body and exhibited her sweetest smile leaving Letty no other option but to smile back at her. The American Temple worker also smiled to Letty signalling that the old worker was right, she enjoyed her assignment. I wondered how she could be enjoying such a work with a heavy mop which I thought is intended only for the younger and able. 

During my other visits at the temple after that experience I have never since seen that elderly sister. She must have probably gone beyond the veil, or totally worn out by age. But each time I see old women and men working at the Temple, I will always remember the smile of that old, frail and bent petite Filipina sister and her expressions of joy for a lifetime of service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

For many years I had been inspired by the messages/internet mails, I received from one of the mature missionaries once assigned in our Branch. Since Sister Alice Heater was assigned in the Branch of the church which I presided as a welfare missionary together with her partner, Sister Elaine Bard sometime in 1986, she has been diligently and regularly writing to me and my family.  She had been retired from her medical related career and since then had been working on her small pasture land where she raised animals which include, cows, pigs, goats and others. She plants a garden during summer. When she was younger the work just seemed easy for her, but now it had become a little difficult because of age and affliction. And yet in all that she does, and even in severe afflictions she still finds time to serve regularly in the Temple and does her visiting teaching assignment. Her letters continued to inspire us through the years. She is now 75 and will be 76 years old by December and alone. Her faith, courage and perseverance have been a continuing inspiration to me and my family. Recently she had undergone a critical hip surgery and had difficulty using her legs. While moving towards recovery she still think of the welfare of others and does her visiting teaching even in crutches. I quote from one of her letters:

October 4, 2013 – “When the hay is out of the field I will turn the cows into it to clean up the edges and get the grass. Then I can get the cows in and pull off the yearlings so they can be taken to the slaughter house for the people I have raised them for.”

I never thought that she had been raising her animals for others and that even in her difficult condition still her concerns were focused on the welfare of others, particularly for those whom her cows were purposely raised. 

  

Last September 20, 2013 she wrote, “Lacy and I have done out VT (Visiting Teaching) faithfully for a year and we always leave a message from the general authorities. One of our sisters was on drugs and I gave her the talk 3 months back on drugs. Then we could never catch her. Found out she had gone to the 12 step program for drugs and then 3 Sundays ago she bore her testimony about her VT not giving up on her. I know that VT and HT (Home Teaching) is the vehicle of the church. Many are reactivated because someone never gave up on their stewardship. I love the gospel and the peace it brings to the obedient.”

At her present age and physical condition it is sometimes unthinkable for me and perhaps for others that she still would be willing to do visiting teaching and perform her regular assignment in the temple with the help of her Indian friend. But for the Latter-Day Saints who understood and experienced the joy of lifetime service, her acts are of no wonder and surprise. As Latter-Day Saints we love to serve because we know that service to others is a crowing principle in the Kingdom of God.  

Her missionary partner and long time friend, Sister Elaine Bard also suffered severe heart problems and was recently hospitalized as a result of an accident. Yet in all her sufferings, she thought not of herself but instead tried her best to work for the genealogy of her ancestors for them to receive the blessings of the temple. While many of their counterparts and contemporaries may have been resting in hospital care or nursing homes, these exemplary women are wisely using their remaining time in mortality in service to God and His children.

By the many missionary letters that had been forwarded to me by Sister Alice Heater, I got acquainted with a couple missionary, Randy and Esther Golding. I have read much of their inspiring experiences as missionaries, but what touched me more was their letter dated February 18, 2013. It imprinted some memories in my heart that when I decided to write this article, my memory seemed to run back to their experiences of that day.  

I quote, “I injured my back, put myself in bed, left Esther to find companions, attend our appointments, prepare food and bring me stuff to keep me occupied and unmotivated to move. Saturday night she took me to the hospital...lifted me from the truck to the wheel chair and then showed the nurse how to transfer me to the gurney in the emergency room. We arrived back home at the apartment at around 1:00 AM. I was still unable to walk or stand so Esther lifted me and scooted me to a place where I could support myself with the truck door, turned around and with my arms wrapped around her shoulders she carried me into the apartment. The trip was about 100 feet and included climbing 5 steps. (I have not yet used the bedpan as Esther prefers to carry me to the bathroom rather than deal with the pan.)”

Even in his sufferings, Randy still hooked up his pains with humor as he wrote, “The food has included doughnuts, bacon, eggs, broiled potatoes, fried eggs, fruit, ice cream, Costco frozen corn and the pies de resistance. Costco wrapped and marinated tenderloin steak. Mmmmmhhh. I feel better and am able to sit up now. (Who in their right mind would want to get well?)” Then he added a humor for Esther’s sacrifices for him, and I loved this part so much, “All is well. We are richly blessed. Esther is happy as Bugs Bunny in a fight with Daffy Duck. It especially shows when she has a minute to reflect on it. She is an amazing devoted missionary. I think things are going better with me in bed. However, she expresses a heartfelt desire to have me accompany her in which I can detect no betrayal so I am fully charged to recover and redeploy.”

What undying stories of service coupled with joy and gladness in the midst of afflictions and challenges consequential of age? These simple stories inspire service, motivate loyalty, encourage benevolence, instigate perseverance, and prompt devotion to God and His gospel. These are only a few from the chronicles of ordinary members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

At my retirement from a banking career I was asked where I might spend a vacation. I told them that should I have enough resources, I would rather serve a full-time mission in the church. Indeed, I prepared to serve, but our resources do not permit. So I took the option to serve on a live-at-home mission and filled up an on-line missionary application. Fortunately, I was called to serve as counsellor to the President of the Philippines Butuan Mission. When I was released on July 31, 2013, I talked with my wife and we both decided to proceed to serve a live-at-home mission. However, to my surprise I received an appointment for an interview by the new Mission President and a call was again offered to serve for the same office.  When the call was extended to me by President Pastor Torres, with tears in my eyes and in broken voice, I told him, “Who am I to refuse the Lord?”   In my long years of almost uninterrupted service in the Lord’s church, I have experienced immeasurable joy and indescribable gladness notwithstanding the valleys of sufferings and winds of adversities. My wife and I wanted that the remaining years of our lives in mortality will be consecrated to the Lord in service to His Kingdom on earth.  I am sure we will find an even greater and timeless happiness as we give of our time, talents and resources to God’s purposes than spending the same in fruitless vacations.  

THE BEAUTY IN HER WRINKLES

by: Norberto Betita

Beauty has its own expression. To one it may be sadly described as ugly. To some it may be beautiful. And to others it may be superlatively expressed as exquisite loveliness. Yet whatever depiction we give of one’s countenance, the old saying remains true, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

One Sunday at home after our Church services while waiting for our dinner food to cook my beloved wife told us that one sister expressed concern and told her that her face seemed to have lost a bit of glow. The sister must have observed the wrinkles lining on her face. My dear Letty seemed to be worried also about what she heard, although I sensed that her concern is more about her health rather than her wrinkles. I have my hands gently touched her face and told her in the presence of one of my daughters, “You need not have to worry about your wrinkles for to me it signifies and epitomize an even greater beauty than your youthful loveliness of long ago.” I made her understand that her wrinkles symbolizes the long years of our loving relationship; years of upholding marital covenants; millions of hours and extended nights of rearing raising and fostering five children; long years of uninterrupted and continuing service in the church and Kingdom of God; prolonged years of adversities and afflictions, depressions and despair; drawn out journey under sunshine and shadows, joys and sorrow. Such an account paints a picture of exquisite beauty and loveliness made abstract by the lines of a wrinkled face.

This early dawn of October 30, 2013, as I prayed especially for my dear Letty on her 64th birthday, tears just freely flow as thoughts of her devotion and divine affection as a wife and mother to our children once again opened a clear reflection of the wonderful memories of those 39 years we shared together. Even in the dark precincts of our living room where we sleep, I got a glimpse of the beauty in her wrinkles as I look at her soundly asleep in the stillness of dawn. I should have kissed her with an awakening word of love. But I rather kept my anxiousness until three of our cellphones rang with birthday messages from our daughter Kathleen who lives in Cebu City. Then she was awakened, and that was when I expressed my sincere love and greetings with a tender kiss and a firm hug.

In the morning of her birthday we went to church for a spiritual enhancement program of one entire district of Department of Education teachers in which I was to preside and speak. In attendance were approximately 140 teachers mostly women. I assigned Letty to give a message and I was touched as she again talked about the role of mothers and wife. Again I have my eyes filled with tears as I express gratitude for her expressions of love and announced that even on her birthday she still have time to be in service to God and fellowmen.

We are in the sunset of our lives and our physical health and vigor are no longer as sturdy and resilient as they were in years precedent. However, I felt that the bonds that unite our love for each other as husband and wife have grown ever stronger and robust as to withstand every wind of adversity along our eternal journey.

I am reminded of the thoughts I wrote about her on mother’s day. “I saw the divine attribute of motherhood in my dearest wife. In the confines of our home and family, she is the first nursery or kindergarten teacher helping each of our children to identify colors, letters, numbers, etc. She is the first school teacher, teaching our children to first read and write and do arithmetic. She is the first nurse to respond in times of sickness. In the playing fields of the home, she is the dearest playmate. In times of emotional, physical and spiritual anxieties, she is the first to provide refuge. Despite cobwebs, termites and crowded rooms, she makes our children feel comfortable at rest. She is the first to cry when consequences of failed decisions roll up amongst our children. Her loving arms are always extended to the prodigals. Not once did she buy a new dress for herself, but for her children. Her selfless love and service to our children make her role even more divine.”

On Valentine’s day of last I wrote, “As I awaken my dearest Letty on this cold and drizzling dawn by a hug and sweet kisses for the Valentine’s Day, she kissed me back and in a tone attuned to the silent breeze of daybreak expressed her love and said, “this is no different day, for everyday with you is very special to me.

“Not a hundred bouquets of red roses can equate such wonderful inspired words of fondness and affection from one whose devotion and love knows no bounds. In years of marital companionship love, trust and respect had become clasping straps that bind our hearts together as we go along the complexity of life’s obstacles and the deepest pit of trials onward to an enduring relationship.

"In reflections of the wonderful memories in which our love for each other was richly endowed, I am reminded of the literary masterpiece of the legendary Shakespeare. These I would like to quote and dedicate on this Valentine’s Day to my dearly beloved Letty and to my fair daughters who are also trying to walk the pathway their mother walked:

Sonnet 116: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove;
O no! it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wondering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
(William Shakespeare, 1564-1616)

The beauty in her wrinkles is and will be enhanced as the lines are increased by her enduring journey in mortality. Until the timeless origin of her pre-mortal beauty blooms back with brilliant glow into eternity.

THE PARABLE OF THE CORN FARMER

by: Norberto Betita

In the life stories of men we learn many relevant lessons that contribute to appropriate applications in our daily run of life’s activities. On many occasions a true story of one man, becomes a parable to others. Sad experiences help others to learn to battle and endure adversities of life, and success stories allows us to realize that even in abundance and prosperity there is still a challenge and a goliath to defeat. Such is the story of one man who worked hard to find success. He almost made it to the top, but was pulled down by variables which he failed to project.  His story becomes the parable of the corn farmer.

There was once a poor man who lives happily with his family in a dungeon like apartment. His three children sleep on the cement floor with a two (2) inches mattress serving as protective shield from the cold, while for him and his wife is only a thin native floor mat. Rodents awake them in the stillness of the night.  Yet, despite poverty and deprivation, he and his family enjoyed their life with faith and fervor.

One day a rich friend came and offered him to cultivate a corn field, with the promise to provide him with all that he needs in the crop growing process. The negotiations included a very strong and powerful motivation for a prospective abundant life for him and his family. With visions high for the welfare of his struggling family, he resigned from his low paying job and accepted the offer.

True to his promise, his rich friend provided him with the needed tools to start working on the corn field. His friend even advised him to leave their one-room dungeon like apartment and transfer to a more comfortable dwelling. Confident that he will truly make a good harvest with the help of his rich friend, he consented. As has been his inherent personal virtue, he worked very hard to develop the small corn field. Despite his inexperience, he was able to cultivate the field towards a good harvest.

The rich friend, observant of the industry of the neophyte corn farmer, offered the latter with a bigger field to cultivate. True to his commitment to his friend and motivated by his earnest desire for growth and development for his family, and to help those who suffer the same deprivations as he has—the poor and needy, he accepted the second offer. With increased enthusiasm and gusto, he worked even harder to develop the new field and planted more and more corn, with higher prospects for a better harvest. He often left home leaving his family to the protective care of his in-laws.

Impressed by his innate ability to move their partnership undertaking to progress, his good rich friend again offered him an even bigger and more fertile field.  This time, he was hesitant, for he would be much farther from home. The rich friend, however, was very insistent and offered a spacious and more comfortable house for his family to live, with some rental subsidy. The farmer finally consented and moved his family to a far distant place.  He then tilled the field and found it to be very fertile, and in so short a time through diligence and hard work, had planted more and more seeds on a very productive farm. He envisioned a very fruitful harvest and invested more in the cultivation process, applying every conceivable method, acquiring most needed tools and equipments, and hiring additional workers to assure himself and his rich friend of a bountiful harvest. Soon enough, he saw each plant yielding plentiful ears of corn bulging with bold and solid kernels, a sure sign of a more abundant harvest.

However, as the harvest season came, his rich friend became envious of the bold and solid kernels and the spirit of greed crept in his heart. With intents to do the harvest all by himself, the rich friend suspended all his support to the farmer, and charged the latter of accounts beyond his immediate ability to pay. Then in a short while, the rich man took control of the cultivated fields and stripped the farmer of all that he possessed even his dignity, honor and reputation. With hands hanged down and head bowed the corn farmer returned to where he started.

The lessons we can learn from this parable applies both to the rich and the poor. To the poor it is a reminder that,  “Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.” (Proverbs 15: 16.) It is oftentimes better to decide to leave the “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal,” (Matthew 6:19), even if we have to bow our heads in shame, and be stripped of dignity, honor and reputation. We would rather lose everything that we so diligently and faithfully worked for, if needs be in favor of “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal.” (Matthew 6:20.) Therefore, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” (Proverbs 22:1). As in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-25), Lazarus begged for “crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table,” but at his death he “was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” 

It is also a plain reminder that at times we have to put some limits to our trust, especially as regards financial matters as in the words of Micah “Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide…” (Micah 7:5). We need to be reminded by these words from the Psalmist, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (Psalm 118:8).

To the rich, this parable teaches that “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house…(Proverbs 15:27). It is a clear warning that, “the love of money” which “is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10), at times makes him like “… greedy dogs which can never have enough…” (Isaiah 56:11.) And “…with eyes full of greediness..” (D & C 68:31), he is sometimes tempted to choose even to keep the crumbs for himself. Then, “Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey…” (Psalms 17:12), he takes all from his victim even that which he does not own. Sometimes he forgets that as he covets and “erred from the faith,” he can be “pierced…through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10.) Hence in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-25), the rich man when he died, “in hell he lift up his eyes.”

The story of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus how he can inherit eternal life could be a fitting message. Jesus told him “Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. ” And the young ruler responded that “all these I have kept from my youth up.” Jesus then,  “said unto him, ...lackest thou one thing, sell all that thou hast,  and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. The young ruler was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.” The Lord’s promise and guarantee for treasures in heaven which are eternal in replacement of the young ruler’s earthly riches which are temporal did not as even find a place in the latter’s heart.  This made Jesus to say, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:18-25.) However, I believe that it is not about being rich or having an abundant life that make it hard for a man to enter the kingdom of God but it is the attitude towards riches that becomes a deterrent.

The best alternative for both the rich and the poor is found in the Lord’s admonition, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33.) The Lord promised, “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land.” (2 Nephi 1:20.) It is also important that they should be worthy to be taught by the Holy Ghost of “the peaceable things of the Kingdom” (D &C 36:2) for both the rich and the poor to be at peace with everybody in their associations. And as we develop the attributes of charity, which is the pure love of Christ, then whether we are poor or rich, bond or free, we will reap the promised joy and gladness in the kingdom of God.

If the story may be extended, the corn farmer, after such unimaginable failure may chose to “go on, living only a shadow of life” he “could have led, never rising to the potential that is” his “birthright.” And, therefore allow “worldly sorrow” to pull him “down, and extinguish” his “hope, and persuade” him “to give in to further temptation.” Yet he also has the choice to recognize his mistake and rise up with “godly sorrow” which “inspires change and hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” For, “our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf.) However, the choice remains in him for he has the moral agency to choose for himself. 

ONE SACRAMENT MEETING AT CHRISTMAS

by: Norberto Betita

Christmas lights and decorations, products promotions, and even Christmas countdown are now published daily on television for the blessed and joyful season. Businesses are redoubling their stocks and supplies, augmenting display designs in the market, and posting very attractive Christmas advertisements, and aggressive marketing campaigns to entice and capture the interest of shoppers, especially at these times when Christmas benefits are almost due for distribution. Plans for sumptuous parties and social gatherings are now being discussed in offices, schools and every other organized groups of people.

A similar nipa hut where the family lives

Observant of the premature lavish preparations for Christmas festivities, my memory remits one Christmas time event which occurred during our scheduled Sacrament Meeting on December 19, 2010. My heart bleeds at the sight of a widowed father carrying his two very young children on a hand cart which he pushed at a distance of approximately 3 kilometers away under the rain. He earns a living scavenging and rummaging recyclable scrap materials from trash containers all around the community. At times he is seen carrying on his back the dirty collections in a large empty sack of rice later to be piled for sale to scrap buyers. Together with his children they live in a nipa hut down a hill, in Sitio Cayutan, Barangay Cagniog, Surigao City, Philippines. They arrived just before the sacrament meeting started. The father and children were wet. Immediately, sympathetic hearts were touched and the children were given clothes to wear from extra clothing which mothers brought in reserve for their children during rainy season. Acts of generosity abound and Christ like charity was immediately available to lift the needy from such a forbidding sight.

I could not hold back the tears at sacrament meeting as I partook of the Lord’s Supper, and as my memory brought me to the account of the Master’s birth when He was also denied the comforts of even just an available room for His mother to give birth and for Him to lie on. But he was instead afforded an animal stable where he was finally given birth and was “wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger” (Luke 2:7). In that most humble nativity “there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,” from on high announcing the glorious tidings of great joy “saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:13-14). He was long prophesied to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but since that humble birth, He was simply known as the carpenter’s son. He walked the lonely road of Jericho, performed miracles for the lonely, the distressed, and the afflicted. On one occasion, He performed miracles to ten lepers, but only one ever returned to express gratitude to Him by whose miraculous and powerful hands relieved the men from their sufferings and afflictions.

Birth of Jesus (source: lds.org)

Now, we are once again celebrating the glorious event, even the birth of our Lord and Savior. We wonder if the tide of commercialism associated with the celebration would ever reflect the true and enduring meaning of Christmas. We don’t know if we even have the Lord, His mission and His Atoning sacrifice, come into our thoughts on this blessed season of the year. We wonder if like the ten lepers, there would even be one out of ten that would come to partake of the Sacrament on that blessed day in remembrance and expression of gratitude after He suffered in the garden of Gethsemane and died on the cross at Calvary’s hill, saving us from our sins that we might not suffer even as He suffered.

That widowed father, in his impoverished condition, seemed to have nothing to be grateful for, except perhaps for his life and his two children. Yet he came carrying his own Calvary's cross to partake at the table of the Lord to remember His atoning sacrifice and worship Him on a Sabbath immediately before the Christmas Day. In his destitution, he finds no reason to complain and default, but came many Sundays more since then and even now, to renew his covenant and partake of the blessed Sacrament.    

Greed and materialism flourish even more clearly each Christmastime. The humility and simplicity exemplified by Jesus Christ at His birth is now seen as a pathetic display of prideful sumptuous feasts and commercial covetousness. While we celebrate the birth of the one who exhorts us to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees,” (D & C 81:5), and reminded us that if we would do these “unto one of the least of these...brethren” (Matthew 25:40), we have done it unto Him, we instead spend more for our own self gratification, and gain more from the high premiums we add on the prices of goods and services in our businesses, somehow forgetting the call for generosity and benevolence which the Lord himself exemplified.

The message of Christmas was paramount for all---a precious and wondrous gift from God. It is not about His most humble birth, but all about His Atonement. The great light that was shown during that first Christmas illuminates both the way for the wealthy wise men and the humble shepherds watching their flocks by night. The wealthy wise men offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The poor shepherds offered gifts of their time and love to come to the stable where the Lord was humbly laid.

The Atonement (source: lds.org)

Since that first Christmas, the gift of love, light and life which only the Lord Jesus Christ could bestow, were both for the rich and the distressed, the strong and the weak, and the healthy and the afflicted. His invitation to partake of the infinite gift of His Atonement for the sins of the world was extended to all. To the rich young man He invited, “... sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). To the lonely and the weary He summoned, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:29). To the wounded and worn out, He sends His ever comforting assurance, “...peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment” (D & C 121:7). To both the faithful and the sinners He declared, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these thing for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent” (D & C 19: 16).

The pathetic sight of a suffering family on that afternoon of December 19, 2010, the last Sabbath prior to Christmas Day of that year, who come to worship the Lord and remember Him, was such a kind of attitude that perhaps we need to emulate not only at Christmas, but the whole year through. After partaking the holy ordinance of the Sacrament, and receiving greetings from those whose hearts he touched, the father loaded his two children on the handcart covering them with an umbrella from a generous benefactor. He carried by hand and pushed the handcart with only two semi-metal wheels in front under the pouring rain. While riding a utility tricycle ourselves, we passed by them and our hearts throb as we saw the father carrying and pushing the heavy handcart, resting every few distance, onwards to another three kilometers on the lonely road to his own Calvary’s hill. How we wished we have our own bigger utility vehicle to accommodate them, but we felt it enough to have been taught that day of a wonderful lesson on how to celebrate the blessed season. We knew that the family had been blessed with the real joy at Christmas by the source of all happiness, even God, more than the goods that the world could give.

MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH

by:  Norberto Betita

I know that by the title alone, I am on the road for critical social media assaults. But let me be lambasted by the ire of the brilliant critics from the diversity of believers in this modern world and those who are not of my faith and I will hold fast and try not to move an inch away from the demarcation line upon which my personal testimony and witness of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith stand, even at this day and time. There are so much logical proofs that are clearly understandable even by such simple man as I am.  In so far as intellectual prominence is concerned, I am no genius of scriptural records and religious history. My intelligence is far from scholarly, but I am confident in what I have to say for such witness came from the very source of all knowledge and pure intelligence, even from God through the Holy Ghost which expands my understanding and enlighten the depths and profundity of my conscience.  

As the signs of times are increasing and the work of salvation hastening on, I felt I have a duty to declare what the Lord would have me testify to help build His Church and Kingdom and to invite more of His children to come unto Christ.  I do feel the need to respond to the divine call to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places...even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life.” (Mosiah 18:9.) It would be hypocritical for me to say that my intentions would be for the promised eternal life for this work is but only one of the many things which God commanded his people to do.  But that I should do it as a solemn and profound duty of a bearer of the Holy Priesthood of God.  

Logic and reason would enlighten that it would be such foolish a thing to offer one’s life for something that is fictitious or counterfeit pronouncements. It would be such a fool for a man---a young father, who has so much potential in life as to bear persecutions even almost beyond any man to endure, and to finally lay down his life for the cause he had espoused, if such were not true. Yet the Prophet Joseph Smith continued to declare with boldness:  “...I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true, and while they were persecuting me, reviling me and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision, and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision, I knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it, at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God and come under condemnation.” (Joseph Smith---History 1:25.)

In the midst of his agonizing pain from incarceration at Liberty in a dungeon jail worthy only for ruthless criminals, he raised his petition to his Maker, “O God, where art thou and where is the pavilion which covereth thy hiding place. How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?” (D&C 121:1-3.) His feelings must have been truly beyond all patience, his faith must have gone almost to its limits, his soul might have raised a flier for surrender, but then he heard God’s penetrating answer, “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine affliction shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” (D&C 121;7-8.) In such an undesirable setting, he received many more instructions and revealed doctrines which to me personally have been a guide and an inspiration during my most trying moments.

George Albert Smith declared: “Abused and misrepresented though he was, despised by those who should have been his friends, opposed by the learned and scholarly men of the time, he succeeded in restoring the Gospel of life and salvation and establishing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

“While the powers of evil were ever active for his destruction, he was preserved by the Lord until his work was finished and all the keys and ordinances necessary for the salvation of the human family had again been delivered to men.”

Then his final moment came when he was summoned to Carthage, “to deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law,” whereupon he declared with solemnity, prophetic words of his own fate, and face to face with his death, “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me--- he was murdered in cold blood.” (D & C 135: 4.)

Many of his persecutors might have believed that the church he helped establish and restore in these last days of the fullness of times would shrivel and die with his demise. But little did they know that in time prior to his final call, he left a prophetic utterance as as part of his Wentworth letter which says, “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing;  persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall all be accomplished  and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (Teachings: Joseph Smith Chapter 38: The Wentworth Letter, lds.org.)

Indeed, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which was restored under the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith did go forth “boldly, nobly and independent” becoming “one of the fastest growing churches in the world.” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf.)

My personal testimony and solemn witness of the prophetic calling of the prophet Joseph Smith is beyond the knowledge gained from the printed pages of church history; it is pure knowledge from God through the Holy Ghost. It is the power that binds me to all other fundamental beliefs revealed through his instrumentality. These include my testimony of the Book of Mormon, my testimony of the personal reality of God the Father and Jesus Christ, my testimony of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, my testimony of the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, my testimony of the Atonement, my testimony of the Holy Ghost, and my testimony of the living Prophets and Apostles and that God speaks to man even at this time and season. To disengage my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith from these links is like excavating and hauling off the foundation leaving the entire testimony structure to crumble and collapse.

George Albert Smith declared, “I say to all men everywhere, examine the teachings of the Gospel of our Lord as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, search them prayerfully, and you shall find the panacea for the ills of this world, and it will be discovered in no other way. “ 

And while serving as President of the church, he bore his testimony saying, “Many of the benefits and blessings that have come to me have come through that man who gave his life for the gospel of Jesus Christ. There have been some who have belittled him, but I would like to say that those who have done so will be forgotten and their remains will go back to mother earth, if they have not already gone, and the odor of their infamy will never die, while the glory and honor and majesty and courage and fidelity manifested by the Prophet Joseph Smith will attach to his name forever” (Teaching of the Presidents sof the Church George Albert Smith Chapter 4).

I have studied much about the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith both from the unsympathetic and critical side and from the most earnest of his adherents, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint for 40 years. I knew by inspiration from the Holy Ghost that he indeed lived like a prophet and died like a prophet.  No matter how brilliant the critics, no matter how much effort is exerted to fiddle and defraud, no matter how many intelligent minds shall combine to outwit and thwart, the validity of these truths will never be twisted nor broken, it will remain constant forever and ever. This is my personal testimony and witness of him and the truths restored through his instrumentality. I invite all to know these truths for themselves from the same source of all knowledge and pure intelligence, even God.