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The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 & 2 • Part 1 • Bro. Thom Reed • December 8-14 • Come Follow Me
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- [00:00]
A
Coming up in this episode on Follow.
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B
Hip, I remember Revelation hit me in a hobby lobby. I was standing in line trying to get some stuff for youth gifts to give out at graduation. And this one book is standing up there. I'd never read it before. God said, this brother needs that book. And so I bought it and I gave it to him.
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A
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Follow Him. My name is Hank Smith, Myth. I'm your host. I'm here with my co host, John by the way, who is honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and does good to all men. Indeed, we may say he follows the admonition of Paul. John, as I'm reading the 13th article of faith, this could be John by the Way's bio.
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C
Thanks, Hank. My dad used to say, honest, true, and chased by an elephant.
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I've never actually been chased by an elephant. You roared at a lion once. That's one of my favorite Hank stories.
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A
One day I'll have to tell that story on the show, but I've never.
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C
Been chased by an elephant.
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A
Hey, John. We are privileged to have with us brother Tom Reed. Tom, welcome to Follow Him.
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B
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. It's gonna be fun. I'm excited.
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A
Yeah. Just in our talk before we hit record, John, we can tell this is gonna be a good day.
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B
We're going to have a lot of.
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A
Fun, John, today, interesting section, interesting content here, the Articles of Faith and some official declarations. So as you were thinking about recording today, what came to mind? What were you thinking about?
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C
One of the first things I was thinking about was Elder Holland's talk about a boy who came to him and said, I'm not sure if I know the church is true, but I believe it is. And part of Elder Holland's response, he said, our collective articles of faith begin, we believe. Never be embarrassed about believing. The other thing I thought about was article of Faith 9, because these official declarations are evidence of article of faith 9 that God will yet reveal many great and important things. It's a continuous restoration. That's great.
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A
I love that. Just call them official declarations. But I also like adding those great and important declarations as well. Tom, as you've been prepping for today, what are we looking forward to? Give us a preview.
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B
What's really come to me is what I'm terming revolutionary revelations. It's this whole block, the Articles of faith. Official Declaration 1, Official Declaration 2 are these moments when God stepped in to change the story, to change the church, and to prepare us for the Savior in ways that would never leave things the same. We're going to hit these first, the Articles of faith. Joseph didn't just give these to the saints, he gave them. He gave this world a declaration of what the restored Church stands for. That, to me, was revolutionary and it still anchors us today. And then you got official declaration one. President Wilford Woodruff. He shows us what happens when a prophet courageously follows revelation. He changed course. Joseph had a revelation, Wilfred had a different revelation, or needed to do something different at that time. And it protected the temple, it protected God's work, and set the church on a new course, even in the middle of a really messy past. And then the third official declaration 2. This revelation not only changed the church, but also changed my Life personally. In 1978, Spencer W. Kimball prays the heavens open and the revelation transforms continents, families and individuals. There's three things I love when I present to always help people walk away with something they know, they feel, and they do. You're going to know after we have this conversation that God still speaks and revelation is real. But revelation for the world comes to his servants, the prophets. And you're going to know that. You're going to feel the gratitude and confidence that that same God who opened the heavens for Joseph Smith, for Wilford Woodruff, for Spencer W. Kimball, is still opening the heavens for you and, and me and for those we love. That's what you'll feel. What I want you to do with this knowledge is trust in God's living prophets and seek revelation for yourself. There is a God in heaven. He has a prophet on the earth. Right now, I want you to go and trust him. You read these three sections, you can't help but trust God and know that he's in charge. Trust his prophets. That's what I hope listeners get from it today. At the end, we'll take a quiz and we'll see. Everybody will have to say, now, now I know, now I feel now I do that kind of stuff, Right?
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A
We talk often about who we're going to bring on. And as Tom started to give us his summary, you could feel it.
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C
Yeah, this is going to be a good day.
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A
This is the right man. Now, some of our listeners might not know who Brother Tom Reed is. So, John, what do we know about him?
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C
You know, I just have some little outline points, but I'd really love for Tom to fill us in a little bit more. I think he has a fascinating background because Tom and his parents are African American. When I read his Facebook Post, he was like, but it's kind of Japanese, African American. Because I grew up in Japan.
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B
Wow.
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C
And his dad and mom. Yeah. In the Air Force. I have this picture of his dad in his Air Force uniform. Really cool.
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A
Tom, just so you know. A picture of the Air Force. You are now endeared in John, by the Way's mind.
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C
Tom attended some different evangelical church and Baptist church, but joined the church in 1991. Well, this is what's really cool, because I think the Lord just. He just loves to do things like this. Called Tom back to Japan in the Nagoya, Japan mission when he was 21 years old. You went to Illinois State University. Bachelor's in International business, an MBA from Brigham Young University. You actually taught marketing at LDS Business College, which is now Ensign College. And right now, if I got this right, you're a program manager at Familysearch for North American African Heritage. And I just love family history. I think it's fascinating. Our souls expand when we suddenly have names and faces of people that we're connected to. Tom, one of my favorite things was you spell your name T, H, O, M. You don't pronounce the H and I'm John and you don't pronounce the H. So you're Tahom and I'm Jahaan. So yeah.
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B
Yes. Let's fist bump too. Right there.
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D
Your name is just Ankh.
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B
We're just gonna call you Ank from now on.
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C
The silent H of Ank, Tom and John with their silent H's. That's great, Tom. Tell us more. Were you in the United States? Were you still in Japan when you started investigating in the church? How did that happen?
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B
So Japan at birth was just a short little while. So my dad was stationed there. My sister actually was born in Germany while he was stationed in Germany. My parents both African American from the Midwest. My dad born in Chicago. My mother was born in Arkansas, but they met in Gary, Indiana, and that's where they grew up. Dad was in the Air Force, retired. Actually, before he retired, he got stationed in California. So when I was three years old, we moved to California. We lived on a place called Treasure Island Naval Station. So I should be rich. There was no money there. I was kind of mad.
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C
No Treasure.
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B
I was digging up on the beaches trying to find coins, and there was nothing at Treasure island, so I was kind of mad. But then he retired and we moved to Dun Dun Dun Dun. Normal, Illinois. That is the name of the town. It is in central Illinois. It's about two and a half hours south Chicago, two hours north of St. Louis, right smack in the heart of Illinois. The most fertile soil in the world is in McLean county, which normal is in, right next to Bloomington State Farm headquarters, Illinois State University. So the. The city gets its name because it was a teacher's college that was founded there. Illinois State Normal University. They took off Normal eventually and became Illinois State University, which I graduated from. What I like to tell people is I'm the only black Latter Day Saint that joined the only Normal Ward in the entire church. I was a member of the Normal Ward. So the other brother, who's from my town, Jonathan, was born, was baptized in the Bloomington Ward. And so Bloomington, Normal or sister cities. But I'm the only one from the. Maybe not. There'll be some friends from Normal that'll be like, no, Tom. The. But as you can tell, I've taken that Normal thing and been like, my life has not been normal at all.
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Here I am, joined the church at 18 years old, going to the University of Illinois. That's a miraculous story in and of itself. How it started with some young men in my little neighborhood, but then eventually transitioned to a young man who was attending the University of Illinois with me. I'll tell you more about that probably later. Decided that I wanted to go on a mission. That was kind of weird. And my dad wasn't really cool with that at all. In fact, he really had some issues with the church right at the beginning because of things like priesthood restriction. The prior priesthood restriction, which he had become aware of. He thought of mission was a waste of time until I opened my call. And when I opened my call, I said, dad, I'm going back home. And he said, right on, Stretch. That's his nickname for me. His name is Tom. Also. That's why I put the H in mine, so that we just be different. Because I'm different that way. I'm not normal.
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C
The H is for height, because I read somewhere that you're really tall. How tall are you?
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B
Yes, six foot four. In the Genesis Group presidency, where I currently serve my calling under the Utah areas in the Genesis Group presidency, I'm actually the middle guy. There's actually Will Kennedy, who's 6 8. So I've loved it since he joined the presidency as second counselor because I'm the middle guy. But yes, H can stand for height. Met my wife there in Normal. Got married in Chicago Temple, which was great. We've got children. Three of our children were born in Normal. Two others in other locations. We've got five of them.
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C
What a great story.
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B
My career took a different path as well. I went to Illinois State for my undergrad the day I graduated from undergrad, which again is not normal. My second child was born that morning at 4am and I walked at 4pm that was a crazy day. My wife was in the hospital and back then they didn't have video, so she got to hear on my sister's cell phone when they called my name as I walked across the stage to graduate from Illinois State. She still had baby in her arms in the hospital in Urbana, Illinois. Chose to get into marketing, came to byu, did my MBA and then got to go to Procter and Gamble and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where had a great experience for three years and then chose to kind of follow a guy who was a bit of a mentor to me, Ken Snyder, if you're listening, you know how much you mean to me, brother. He helped me prepare for my mission and then he was president of a company back in Bloomington Normal that I went to go work for. Unfortunately, that's when the economy downturned. I was back and forth between various jobs. Ended up in Utah in 2010. Still was struggling with some jobs and stuff until I came to work for the church in the family history department and FamilySearch in 2013. So I've been there 12 years in FamilySearch and it has been a wonderful blessing to be a part of what my patriarchal blessing identifies as will be my career and the thing that I'll be contributing most in the Gathering of Israel is family history. The Lord had something in store for me. That's why I'm here. We live in South Jordan, Utah and we live in a normal house. So it's not anything like crazy.
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C
There's at the Normal House that you brought from Normal, Illinois, there's a lot.
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B
More to my story. I did serve as a ward temple and family history leader for three weeks after I got released as Bishop because then Elder Hutch Follet called me from The Utah, our area 70 to be called to serve as second counselor in the Genesis Group at that time. And then since then the first counselor needed to be released and so I got called to be first counselor as well. So I currently serve as first counselor in the Genesis Group presidency with which is a group that supports Black Latter Day Saints in the Utah area with.
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A
President Ron L. Hugh, who I have known since the 1900s. That is a good man.
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B
The 1900s. You make it sound like that was so long ago. It was.
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C
It was.
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A
It was 25 years ago such a good man. I'm guessing he's listening this time around, so. Rono, we love you.
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B
He better be president. You need to listen. Yeah. Cause he helped me prepare a little bit too, so.
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A
Oh, good, good.
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C
Hey, Tom, why don't you tell us more about the Genesis branch. I've got to speak out there once or twice.
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B
Yeah. And it'll be a great connection back to when we talked about Official Declaration 2 as well. But the Genesis Group was formed in 1971 under the direction of the First Presidency. Three Junior Apostles were given the assignment to meet with three black men in Salt Lake City, Utah, who who were noticing the struggle that black Latter Day Saints were having in the 1960s and the 1970s. In 1971, on October 19, elders Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson and Boyd K. Packer established the Genesis Group. At the time, they called a man Ruffin Bridgeforth to serve as president, Darius Gray to serve as first counselor, and Eugene Orr to serve as second counselor. That organization has been in existence since 1971, seven years before the revelation on the priesthood. And if you can ever have the chance to listen to the recording of that day to hear President Hinckley turn the meeting over to a man who does not have the priesthood to present for sustaining vote other members. That day they sustained a Relief Society primary presidency, Young men, young women presidency. In that meeting, Ruffin Bridgeforth was the one who sustained all of them after President Hinckley sustained he and the presidency. Just an amazing thing. So it's existed in various forms since 71. And then obviously the revelation came in 78. And really it's there to help strengthen black Latter Day Saints in their walk with the Savior. Now we exist as a multi stake activities group and we are called the Genesis Group. We are an official unit of the church, but we are multi stake within the Utah area. We're really here to help build and strengthen individuals. Build and strengthen the Genesis Group and help strengthen stakes and leaders of the church as they reach out and try and minister to black Latter Day Saints. I got introduced to it through Darius Gray, which you'll hear a lot more about his name. This is probably the third time I already dropped his name. So. Darius, you better be listening to Ronell. Darius. I'm calling everybody Ken Snyder. Everybody needs to be listening to this. Darius. When I met him in Illinois in 2001 and then came to BYU in 2002, that's when I became active in the Genesis Group and started to come and bring my family. My wife is white. So our children are biracial and it has been a challenge for them living in Utah, being the anomaly and not having others in the ward that look like them and they come to Genesis. My girls come to Genesis now because they see girls that look just like them, that still got same struggles that they do, but the same joy and understand the same things culturally that their family does that other families maybe don't do. Coming from African American background, we're in Utah. And so if you are listening to this and you are in Utah, we want you to let your stake president and bishops know about this. It is for black Latter Day Saints families and friends. If you come to Genesis group devotional, John and Hank, we ain't kicking you out. Y' all brothers are welcome. All are welcome here. All are alike unto God as it says in second Nephi 26. Right? We really exist to strengthen black Latter Day Saints who have had challenges because of the past, prior to 1978 and things like that. That's who we truly serve. So if you know someone who could be blessed by fellowship with other black Latter Day Saints, please, please connect them with us. They can go to ldsgenesisgroup.org is the website ldsgenesisgroup.org to learn more. Find us on Facebook and Instagram as well to know what activities we got going on and to hear some of our messages and see some of the speeches that are some of the talks that are given at our devotionals and things like that. Thanks, John. I wasn't even planning for that. Thank you for giving me that commercial.
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C
I got to go and speak there once and I just had a blast.
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B
We going to bring you back. We're going to bring Ank Smith back as well. I'm going to forget the age when I put that on.
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A
I will be there in a heartbeat, especially if I can see President Hugh again. Let's get started. I'm going to read from the Come Follow Me manual. The lesson is entitled We Believe it Starts this way. Since Joseph Smith's first vision, God has continued to guide his church by revelation. In some cases, that revelation has included changes to the policies and practices of the church. Official Declarations 1 and 2 announced this kind of revelation. One led to the end of plural marriage and and the other made the blessings of the priesthood available to people of all races. Changes like these are part of what it means to have a true and living church with a true and living prophet led by a true and living God. But eternal truth doesn't change, though our understanding of it does. And sometimes Revelation casts additional light on truth. The Articles of Faith serve this clarifying purpose. The Church is solidly founded on eternal truth, yet can grow and change according as the Lord will, suiting his mercies according to the conditions of men. That's Doctrine Covenants. 46. In other words, we believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal. And we believe he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. We have a great guest. We have a great introduction. So, Tom, where do we go from here?
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B
One of the first things that popped up in the come follow me lesson was actually taking you to teachings of the presence of the Church of Joseph Smith. Right? And it was chapter 38. That kind of gives you the context. It really sets that solid context for what we're about to dive into. And I love the fact that Joseph Smith was writing A Man who was in Chicago, my home state. I do call my. Sorry, John, I know Japan. You talked about Japan. But my home state's Illinois. He was talking to my man in Chicago, close to my home. I have to stop and say, I love Joseph Smith. I can't wait to meet him. He is and was and will always be a prophet of God. In the simple statement he published in the Times and seasons, it was March 1, 1842, you get a sense of him truly understanding his duty to God and to the saints. When he wrote this, he wrote, quote, at the request of Mr. John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the Chicago Democrat, I have written the following sketch of the rise, progress, persecution and faith of Latter Day Saints, of which I have the honor under God of being the founder. Mr. Wentworth says that he wishes to furnish Mr. George Barstow, a friend of his who is writing the history of New Hampshire, with this document. As Mr. Barstow has taken the proper steps to obtain correct information, all that I shall ask at his hand is that he published the account entire, ungarnished and without misrepresentation. The crowning piece of the content are these 13 declarations of church doctrine at the end of those that today we call the Articles of Faith. Let me digress for just a second. I'm walking in big shoes because y' all had Elder Ahmed Corbett doing this lesson like three, four years ago, right? And now I'm trying to follow up. I love Elder Corbett. We've had a great relationship. He actually sealed me as a child to my deceased parents recently.
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C
No kidding.
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B
Which was great. My dad passed away in December and he, as a general authority 70, was able to seal us. I remember When I heard this lesson, when you guys did it, when it aired right after he did it. And I'm like now thinking, man, I can't add nothing to what that brother had to say. Right now he serves in the Caribbean area presidency and has done so much since the mission in Dominican. He loved me and been a mentor to me. I think I have some different things now because I was praying. How can I be different? One of the things that just stuck out to me this time, and I have it highlighted in my scriptures, is, is the word all. How many times it appears here. To me, it's how inclusive and comprehensive the 13 statements of doctrine are. He wasn't just speaking to early saints. Joseph was really talking and declaring this truth to the whole world. And even though that the church was small, Joseph did have a vision of its future. But at the time the church was small, he received really, what was this inclusive doctrine from the Lord. Let's take a look at these verses. Verse 3. We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved. Verse 9. We believe all that God has revealed and all that he does now reveal. Verse 11. We claim the privilege of worshiping almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, or what they may. And then my favorite, Mr. John, by the ways, Scripture here, we believe in being honest, but it says we believe all things, we hope all things. We have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things. This comprehensive, it's this inclusive. It's this visionary revelation that Joseph laid out for us in a way, like I said earlier, that just anchors our faith. Now, if those who are listening and watching have not clicked on the link to listen. Because sometimes I'm gonna be honest, when I study confau me, I don't click on all the links of all the resources that are in the lesson every week. This one y' all gonna miss something big. If you miss Elder L. Tom Perry's talk, the doctrines and principles contained in the Articles of faith from the October 2013 general conference, it meant something to me when I first heard it. I remembered it as I was studying this week. I was like, oh, yeah, I remember that. He shared this funny story of this kid having to stand in front of sacrament meeting and recite the article of faith because he had graduated from there. That's what we used to do in the church. John and Hank, did y' all have to do that back in the day to graduate from primary had to stand up and recite an article of faith.
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C
Yeah, they'd say, choose your favorite one. And most of us chose the shortest one because we could memorize it, right?
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B
Absolutely Nobody. Nobody was quoting 13. Nobody was quoting 11. Nobody could say 10 because you can't say paradisiacal.
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C
Nobody could say it.
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B
So all the kids were like, okay, I can do number two, maybe, or number four, the principles and ordinances. But nobody was doing those other ones. Elder Perry says it's great that the memorizing is there, but that's not good enough. Like, the real power comes from understanding the principles and doctrines behind each article. And the articles of faith form this concise, comprehensive way to equip us how to teach and explain and defend our beliefs in a simple and clear way. As I was preparing to go on my mission and not having my mission call, I remember trying to memorize these scriptures of 1993, 94, something like that. Young in the church, there wasn't much that I could really sunk in deep. At 18, I was still learning so much. But I was like, I can memorize these because these are 13 things. I got able to say. Paradisiacal glory and stuff like that. And then I got called to Japan. Now all that memory just went out the window. I hate the fact that I can't memorize them. As I prepare for this, I wanted to memorize them now, and I was. Let me figure out a way that I can memorize. I'm not going to actually recite them to you all because I'm not here to impress. I'm here to just bless those who would listen to us. Right today. One of the little games mnemonic devices that I used to do was with Alma 3737. You ask my family. Everybody knows it. Because during COVID I created a song that helped us understand. To counsel with the Lord and all thy doings. And he shall direct thee for good. Yea, when thou lies down at night. I have a hard time saying it because I'm so used to singing it. I'm not going to sing it for y' all today. I'm sorry. I just. I'm a choir singer in the back. I'm one of the baritones. You'll never see me up front as doing the solo, at least from a singing standpoint. But I decided to put pen to paper. I came up with a little flow. I like to rap. I like rap music. I've always wanted to be a secret rapper. My DJ name is DJ Brother T.
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People know. Know me, right? Know I'm DJ Brother T. I put some lyrics together. I found a beat. The beat is actually a beat called Chicago. John Wentworth, Chicago Democrat.
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C
Okay, there you go.
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B
And it goes through and gives the context of the Articles of Faith and then goes through each of the 13 articles of faith and talks about why we believe.
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Brother Tiana, Mike Jambrosha Studios. Y' all ready for this?
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D
Yo, it started with the letter in shot town scene to John Wentworth. Joseph Smith came clean he left he laid down history of the visions he saw first vision fire Restoring God's law From Palmyra's light to Zion's rise He testified straight with prophetic eyes A prophet's pen with purpose oh so clear Gave us the creed we still hold dear we believe, we believe this is our creed Faith, repentance, Baptism all seeds 13 articles form a covenant chart Guiding the saints with the power of heart we believe, we believe this is our creed Faith, repentance, Baptism Moss seeds 13 articles form a covenant chart Guiding the saints with the power of heart 1. God eternal his sons are king 2. Adams fall, redemption we sing 3. Through Christ whose salvation's host Full faith repent Baptize the Holy Ghost 5. Authority but prophets were led 6. Apostles and pastors the ancient thread 7 gifts of the Spirit are alive today 8. The the Bible and Book of Mormon are true, we say nine more to come revelations unfold 10. Zion will rise prophecies will be told 11 worship power where we choose 12 obey the law disease of his due 13 pure virtue is seeking the light Walking with God Till faith turns to sight these lines define us they show his grace built on Christ these are the articles of faith we believe, we believe this is our creed Faith, repentance, baptism our seeds 13 articles form a covenant chart Guiding the saints with the power of heart we believe, we believe this is our creed Faith, repentance, baptism our seeds 13 articles from a covenant chart Guiding the saints with the power of heart. These are the articles of faith. Truths revealed from heaven. The foundation of who we are. These 13 things teach what we believe, why we we believe and who we follow. Jesus Christ, the living Son of God.
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A
Fantastic. Fantastic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm certain I'm not wrong. We've done this for five years, and that is a first for following.
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C
That is a first. This is a unique episode. This is. We could say this is not normal. From Normal, Illinois.
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B
This is not normal.
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A
Not a normal episode, you know, to.
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B
Have this black Latter Day Saint from daybreak Utah spitting rhymes on Follow him is probably something I'm assuming you might not have had anyone else do before. Even though I know there's some various artists out there in the Latter Day Saint community that are black that do stuff like this, but never in this way.
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A
Not unfollow him.
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C
I think we're pretty safe to say that. Yeah.
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A
Oh, I love it.
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B
I'm still working to have it memorized. Right. It's just funny when you're older how much you can't memorize memorized like you used to when you were younger. Right. This song is going to help me remember these important statements. For me, the biggest thing I take away is how these articles of faith illustrate that Joseph qualified for and was living in Revelation. You guys have talked about it, I'm sure in the past about this whole idea. Like Elder Bednar teaches about living in Revelation, the whole doctrine and Covenants and everything that we've been studying all this year is all about Joseph living in Revelation. Then you have obviously some other prophets towards the end that are living in Revelation as well, and I love that. I just wanted to talk a little bit about and get your thoughts on what it means to live in Revelation and how that prepares you when big things come, how you can easily recognize that it comes from God and have the courage to deliver God's message to his people.
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C
President Oaks has commented on the fact that he said, I've met adult members of the church who don't feel they have a testimony because they never felt a burning in the bosom. Well, that's one way it can come. There's so many other ways that it can come. Sometimes it's just, what is the phrase Joseph Smith used? A pure intelligence flowing into your mind. For me, sometimes I have actually thought, I've heard nothing. I'm going to take my best shot on this decision. And then I look back and I think, wow, I was being guided back then and I didn't even know it. Maybe that's living in Revelation. You don't even know it, but you're doing your best. You're going to getting the sacraments. So you can always have his spirit to be with you. Sometimes not even aware that you're being guided. Then you look back and you say, I was being guided. I didn't really know it, but I was being guided.
- [30:06]
B
I had this not so normal experience as a bishop. I remember a brother came to me when a problem that he had been dealing with for a while. He expressed his frustration with the previous bishops. He had talked to about this because it kept coming up in his life and great, man, it was awesome. I looked at him and I almost cried every time I heard him teach. The spirit oozed from him in so many ways, but he was still burdened and struggled. Here I am. Okay, what can I do as bishop to help him? I remember this whole practice of living in Revelation. I remember Revelation hit me in a hobby lobby. I'm standing in line at a hobby lobby trying to get some stuff for youth gifts to give out at graduation and find a nice little book. And this one book is standing up there and it's orange. I'd never read it before. God said, this brother needs that book. And so I bought it and I gave it to him. And I said, I ain't never read this book before. So it could be filled with all kind of anti LDS rhetoric and all kind of stuff. I don't know. I mean, it was supposed to be a self help book and all this kind of stuff. But I had not cracked it open and I handed it to him and he's like, bishop, if you hand it to me, I will read it. And I'm like, come back to me in two weeks and tell me what you learned so I'll actually know what's in the book that I gave you. And he came back in two weeks and told me, bishop, this is so helpful because it really focuses me on my relationship with my Savior more than anything else had ever done before. And I was like, that came from me. Like, what? Yeah, those impressions come. They may be subtle. Edward Bednar says, we got to be humble or they can be subtle. We've got to be avoiding sin in order to have these revelations that come and be living in that revelation. The Articles of Faith are written in 1842 as part of that Wentworth letter. But they weren't the result of a committee or debates or reasoning. It flowed naturally because of Joseph's revelatory experiences up till then. And each article reflects things that Joseph learned line upon line from the first vision through his angelic visitations, priesthood restoration, the revelations contained in the Doctrine and Covenants. All examples Article of faith one was the revelation that he received with his firsthand vision of the Father and the Son. The fourth article of Faith reflects what's in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20 on the First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel. Article of Faith 9. We've talked about it all. We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal. And we believe that he will yet reveal. Therefore Making revelation itself a divining characteristic of our faith. That's how Joseph was living in Revelation. It was dynamic. It was part of his unending faith, really a faith in a living church. It wasn't like those fixed creeds that had existed in other denominations. They didn't really disclose canon. Instead, they testify that revelation is ongoing and expected. Joseph was modeling confidence that God would continue to reveal truth to guide the saints. He was living in revelation, anticipating God's future direction as he was trusting what had already come. Now this revelation was starting to shape doctrine and practice in real time. So by the time Joseph penned the Articles of faith, the saints had already seen entire systems of belief and practice emerge through revelation. Baptism for the Dead, Doctrine and Covenants 124, Word of Wisdom, Doctrine and Covenants 89. You've got the organization of the priesthood quorums, Section 107, and the gathering of Israel. They summarize these revealed truths in a simple and powerful way. To me, it shows how Joseph lived in revelation by distilling divine instruction into guiding principles for the whole church. If Joseph can be living in revelation and have such powerful doctrine distilled upon him, can we do the same? The answer is, Hank, of course we can. Yes, we can. Can we do it? Yes, we can.
- [34:10]
What is that? I can't remember what cartoon it is.
- [34:11]
C
Bob the Builder.
- [34:13]
B
Bob the Builder. That's it. Bob the Builder. My kids used to watch Bob the Builder. Yes, we can.
- [34:17]
A
I'm really blown away here at a couple of things. One, when someone walks us through something we've read many times and shows us something new, it's both inspiring and frustrating. The word all. There's eight alls in the Articles of Faith. All of a sudden, I'm seeing them in a new light. When I first read the Articles of Faith, both of you, I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, this is what we believe. The older I get, the more I realize. If someone asked me without having ever read the Articles of Faith, if someone said, hey, can you write everything your church believes, your doctrine, and do it in less than 700 words?
- [34:53]
C
Yeah, that'd be tough.
- [34:55]
B
Chatgpt now would help you, but chat could help me, but I could not do that on my own. And it would require additional intelligence as.
- [35:05]
A
You started saying, oh, Joseph lived this. He really did. John, maybe you've shown me this before, but if you look at articles of faith one through four, that seems like Joseph Smith, 1820 through 1829. Five is 1829 with authority. Six, 1830. The church is organized seven and eight. There's his Book of Mormon Bible Project. Nine sits on its own meaning. We believe in the past, the present, the future. 10, 11, and 12. That seems like the Missouri period. They established Zion. They want to worship God the way they want to, and they want other people they can worship the way they want. We are subject to the law. Then 13 stands on its own. So, Tom, he really walked. He experienced this.
- [35:53]
B
Every one of these, all these things that he experienced in previous sections, like you said, these various periods come out in the culmination of the Articles of Faith, and it shows that he was living in Revelation the whole time.
- [36:08]
A
That's great. One thing. I'll mention one other thing, as you said, Tom, what's it like to live in Revelation? And what have we been studying this year, John? Dr. Dirkmot, in our voices of the Restoration, we did 12 of those this year. If a listener hasn't heard those, they can come find them on our YouTube channel or wherever you get the podcast. One thing he's shown us is look at the unanswered questions Joseph had about lot of things. Primarily about Alvin. So in 1823, Alvin dies and Joseph doesn't know what's happened to him. And then section 76 comes nine years later, he still doesn't know what's happened to Alvin. You have to be baptized to go to the celestial kingdom. Alvin wasn't baptized. He's obviously not going. It's not until 1836 he sees a vision of the celestial kingdom and there's Alvin. So it's been 13 years.
- [36:58]
C
And he marveled.
- [37:00]
A
I thought Alvin wasn't going to. And then it wasn't until 1842 that the Lord says, oh, yeah, there's baptisms for the dead. So there's 19 years of line upon line of an unanswered question. So many of us want answers now. Give me the answer now or I don't know if I can stay in. And here's Joseph, who has, I think, a very important question about heaven and his own family. And it's 19 years, but he was humble enough. Yeah, he just stayed.
- [37:29]
B
That's part of the living in Revelation is being humble enough to wait for the answer to come.
- [37:33]
A
There you go.
- [37:34]
B
And when it comes, wait.
- [37:37]
A
Thanks, Tom. This has been spectacular.
- [37:40]
B
We talked about, know, do and feel earlier. If Joseph is an example of living in Revelation and it's manifest and evident in the Articles of Faith, then what? For me, it's simple things that Elder Bednar taught about keeping covenants, faithfully repenting As I go, being consistent in the small things, being open to subtle influence. I want you and John to think about how this was manifest in the life of Joseph. Like act in faith, patience, trusting in God's timing. You just said that. Avoid clutter and distractions, that dull spiritual sensitivity. Joseph was chastised a couple of times because he wasn't on point. And then reflect and look back on the experiences to see how God has already been guiding you. And I think this is a look back as he sends this letter, supposed to be going to George Barstow and through John Wentworth. This is a look back and it's the culmination of all these things that came from living in Revelation. Just so powerful. This is all new to me, by the way. This isn't something. I used your last name. Sorry, John, I should copyright it.
- [38:42]
A
But this is all new to me, by the way.
- [38:46]
B
This is all new to me. This is a thing I'm taught for years. Like I said, I wanted to prepare well more in advance. This is the things that the Lord distilled upon me in the last few days. And again, it's just a testament to me that God speaks to his children because he loves us. He will give us the revelation that we need for our purposes when we need it, might not be when we want it, but he'll be there right on time because he's an on time God. A gospel song says, by the way, I'm not going to sing that one. Sorry.
- [39:18]
C
Tom. You articulated that a way I've never heard before. Instead of a creed that says, let me summarize all these old documents, which is great. This had a future in mind, especially article of faith 9 all the alls. This is articulating a future growing thing. I got to chew on that one. Thank you for that one, Tom. That was beautiful. Hank, do you remember when we had Richard Bennett on, He wrote an article in the Ensign magazine years ago. I think it was called Carefully Schooled in First Principles. The way it opened me up was, whoa, Joseph Smith didn't just think, let's see, what are the first principles and ordinances? This, this, this, this. He was schooled to have the faith and expectation to take James 1:5 and literally go and ask second to have the 116 pages lost or stolen. Repentance, the depths of repentance.
- [40:20]
And then to be translating and hey, we haven't been baptized. What do we do? And to have the John the Baptist appear. This is what Richard Bennett's article was about, was he didn't Just come up with these. He was living in Revelation. He experienced the first principles and ordinances of the gospel before he ever put it down, which I thought was a great article that Richard Bennett wrote. I think I was at Education Week one time. This is when Stephen Covey's seven habits were really taking off. He was giving a gospel class. He said, have you ever noticed that the articles of faith kind of came in reverse order of the way things were taken away? Just like you said, Tom, the first thing that Satan would want to mess up is our understanding of the nature of God. In the first vision.
- [41:12]
B
Boom.
- [41:12]
C
Article of faith one God, the Eternal Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost. What else happened over time? The idea of original sin, the idea of Adam's transgression, and two men would be punished for their own sins, not for Adam's transgression. He went through this thing. And I went, oh, I've never seen that before. There was a sequence. And you just kind of said that too. Hank. Look at the Palmyra period, the Kirtland period, and how you could kind of match those with how those unfold. You've got my mind racing. This is good stuff already.
- [41:45]
B
It is. I like the fifth article of Faith about. We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administering the ordinances thereof. I like it because it's going to set us up for these next two, these Official Declaration 1 and Official Declaration 2. God had called these men by prophecy, by the laying on of hands by those who were in authority, then members of the church had to sustain as was designated by when it was read in General Conference, the Official Declaration 1 or Official Declaration 2. Then we sustained by virtue of their calling. Love how that ties these two together.
- [42:23]
A
All right, in a blink of an eye, we are back. Those who are viewing can see it. Those who are listening. What are we doing next?
- [42:31]
B
Yeah, I took off my shirt and tie and put on my uniform. I work for Family Church, the family history department of the church, and have been for 12 years. And as we're talking about plural marriage and what happened to save temples, I wanted to put on this shirt for a reason, because there's a connection to family history with temple work and what this declaration really did. That's why. And I'm not normal. So how many of your guests, like, do clothing wardrobe changes in the middle of a podcast? Right.
- [43:00]
A
Another first. Another first that followed him.
- [43:06]
B
This is an interesting one, and I'll just be candid with Everybody. Official declaration was 1. I came to the party late 34 years in the church, I never really felt a personal need to study polygamy. Recently, as I've kind of had to sit with Official Declaration 1 and read it and read it and reread it and read other things about it, I heard something that felt more familiar. I heard God preserving people so covenants could keep going. For me, official declaration 1 isn't about stopping something hard. It's about saving something holy. In this case, it was temples and ordinances. It came line upon line. There's a period of progress that came with this. It came line upon line. And some people look at it as a big retreat from what the established principle was. But more again, I look at it from the sense of it was a revelation to protect the covenants that carry the restoration. That's what we do is unite families for eternity. If Wilford wouldn't have reversed course at this time, what would have happened there? That legal pressure was real. It was escalating. Like the Supreme Court upheld that anti polygamy statutes. And with the Reynolds case, 1879, Congress disincorporated the church. They took over assets and disenfranchised many of the Saints. Back then you have the Edmunds tucker act, like 1887 then. Now you've got Utah statehood at stake. These weren't hypothetical threats that were happening to the Saints. They were enforceable realities that were going to shape the moment of Official Declaration 1. Now what it says. President Woodruff publicly denied authorization of new plural marriages. He advised the Saints to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land. Remember Joseph said what in the articles.
- [44:56]
C
Of faith, we believe in being subject.
- [45:00]
B
Right now he's following this core doctrine that Joseph taught in General Conference. October 6, 1890. Lorenzo Snow motions recognizing Woodruff's keys. And then the canonized text then preserves the follow up addresses where he also explains like the vision behind the movie. That's one cool thing about this Official Declaration one is that you got a heading and then you got the to whom it may concern, the manifesto, which I do want to talk about a manifesto because this is the first time I actually really studied what a manifesto is and why this revelation was called a manifesto. I want to make sure we hit on that a little bit later. Do you have the manifesto? Then you have the reading that happens at General Conference. Then you have all this background on it. I mean, it's really fascinating. The church has been with the church history department Publishing more on the church and polygamy and plural marriage. You can go in the gospel library and read all those and you get pointed to those from the. Come follow me as well. It's great to have all this context and understanding it now. One of the things I realized is that as you read the context, you understand everything that was going on. You're going to see that it's not an event but a process. There were plural marriages continued in limited circumstances after 1890. It was mostly outside the US which prompted then Joseph F. Smith's 1904 statement threatening excommunication for new plural marriages, which is referred to as the second manifesto. That enforcement line finally shut everything down institutionally. It wasn't just this one. You can think of Official Declaration 1 as when it stopped, it actually crept a little bit later than that. Again, I want to go back to President Woodruff's recorded rationale was really about preserving the temples and keeping prophets and families free to lead in worship. Because that was all at stake. He said, the Lord will never permit me to lead you astray and testified. That's kind of the inner logic Behind Official Declaration 1. Your thoughts? I want to hear from you guys. What did you get from it? Reading it this time or in your years and years of studying this?
- [47:10]
C
I love the way you put it. Instead of looking at. Stop seeing something. It was protecting something sacred. It was protecting the temples that we had. And that's what Wilford Woodruff saw would happen.
- [47:22]
B
He saw our day. He saw 382 temples in 2025. That's what he saw at stake.
- [47:30]
C
I can't keep up with that number. Is it 382 now? Yeah. What time is it?
- [47:35]
B
Yeah. I was like, that's the last I checked. But it could have changed. That's what he saw. He saw what was at stake. There's a lot of those who are not sympathetic to our faith. Let's just call them that. Critics who talk about why this was done. I really think it was done out of love. I believe it was done out of preparing us for the second coming of the Savior. And what needed to be done now it was established to achieve God's purposes. The same. Come, follow me. Takes us right to section 132. Let's jump into the scriptures here. I want to go to section 132. I want to focus and hone in on those last verses. It's here where we get the laws governing plural marriage. This is the revelation given to prophet Joseph. This is the line upon Line that he receives. Now, now touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto. Wherefore, if a man be called of God as was Aaron, by mine own voice and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys and the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Here's the new word. The articles of faith's word was all. This section's word is justify, glorify, and destroy. He sets it up here, saying, hey, I'm letting you know if you got the priesthood, if you're endowed and you're doing things in accordance with my name, you don't commit sin. He said, let no one therefore set my servant Joseph, for I will justify him, for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgression, saith the Lord your God. Whether or not this feels good to you, what's happening here, this is what the Lord is revealing. The prophet Joseph, and this is why it happened. People ask why it happened all the time. And. And there's speculation and conjecture and all kinds of theories, and we hear people badmouthing Joseph, but it's a revelation from God. It's God himself speaking to Joseph, saying, this is how you're supposed to do it. So Joe's trying to do it. And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him and they are given unto him. Therefore is he justified. Keep the commandments of God and you're justified. If you do it for his purposes, to achieve what he has set out for you to achieve, you will be glorified. If not, you will be destroyed. And this whole thing came from an Old Testament practice. As I read this. What's coming up for you, Hank? What's going on for you, John?
- [50:07]
A
I'm fascinated. We went kind of backwards here, right? We went to Official Declaration 1, and then let's go backwards to when this practice started. Latter Day Saints are still the same today. We resist change. We resist foreign things. We resist commandments that make us uncomfortable. Because here the Lord is saying, yes, I want this to happen. Everyone's dragging their feet, which is understandable. And then Official Declaration 1, the Lord's saying, I want this to happen, and everybody's dragging their feet. But it's the opposite direction. It's just the Lord working with people in fear, saying, have faith, move forward. Yep, I was impressed from the statement that President Woodruff made, it said, excerpts, this is by official declaration. 1 Excerpts from three addresses by President Woodruff. He says, let me ask you a question. And he asked this really long question about, what if we lost everything? What if we lose the temples? What if we lose our leadership? What if we lose all of our personal property? Is that worth keeping this practice? Then he said, I've been shown what will happen if we don't stop this practice. He talks about what he's seen after both of those things. He says, I want to tell you this. I would let all the temples go. I would go to prison myself. I would let every Latter Day Saint man go there had heaven not commanded me to do this thing. He's being practical. He's saying, look, this is what would happen if we don't stop. But really, this is about what the Lord has said. It's the same thing in 132. The Lord is saying, I know you're struggling. This is what I have said according to my commandment. It must be frustrating to the Lord that we resist all of that. He deals with it right, John?
- [52:08]
B
He's got to go teach us one way. We resist. He's got to go teach us to do something else. Right?
- [52:15]
A
As Latter Day Saints or as a teacher, myself, I find myself to be more apologizing for the doctrine sometimes. I know you really struggle with this. I know, I know. And the Lord doesn't seem to have that attitude. He's saying, look, I commanded this. I commanded this.
- [52:29]
B
We're going to move forward.
- [52:30]
A
Why are we struggling so much? He's gentle as he explains, but he doesn't give excuse. I excuse not myself. He says in section one.
- [52:39]
C
Thank you, Hank. I think of Father Adam. Why are you offering sacrifices? I know not save. The Lord commanded me. We talk about that in our family all the time. Because sometimes we want a reason for everything and we want it right now. Sometimes the Lord doesn't explain things. I don't think he ever explained to Job exactly why I did what he did. He said, hey, were you there when I created everything? That's inspiring. Thank you, Wilford Woodruff, for that example, too.
- [53:12]
B
Courage, courage, courage. I put on my shirt and I'm putting on my familysearch hat.
- [53:19]
For a reason.
- [53:20]
C
Full uniform.
- [53:22]
B
Full uniform now. Right? This whole declaration teaches us that the faithfulness sometimes means ending a once commanded practice to keep the Covenant center intact. If we can stay rooted in ordinances while letting the Lord retire things that no longer serve his purposes, then we're much better off in this case, the Lord's honoring the people, especially the women and children. Ending plural marriage required this courage and produced some real losses and logistics for families. Think about it. Who could not be in this when the Church put the essay out about it? Like they talked about how complicated and painful and intensely personal these decisions were. Like you said, people were struggling. We know looking forward means telling those stories with tenderness and refusing to weaponize the past. We can't use that as ammunition about how the practice was wrong just because it ended. To me, it is finally. This third thing I got from it was shows this pattern for modern discipleship. When legal, cultural and global realities press upon the church, we can expect these revelations that will safeguard temples, prophets that will safeguard families when the things are threatened. God is going to protect these things. It is not about retreating. It is about girding up our loins and having a strategy that is going to help us for salvation. To me, Woodruff's witness about preserving ordinances is a template about how heaven prioritizes things. It prioritizes celestial law over terrestrial law.
- [54:58]
A
Covenants matter more than policy and practice.
- [55:01]
B
Absolutely. I was really interested in understanding how this manifesto protects and enables temple and family history work today. What's the connection between these two? This was the question that was going on in my head. So I got three things that come from this manifesto. We know that the manifesto is about preserving the authority of church leadership. When President Woodruff and those who sustain it acted, they kept these temple ordinances under the direction of properly authorized priesthood. That meant later prophets, apostles would still have control over temple work, sealing ordinances and baptisms for the dead. If they didn't do that, that whole authority of the church leadership would have been gone. This means when temple work accelerates, when ceiling work expands, when ordinances for the dead are done in more places and under consistent unified authority and regulation. Because of that protection, there is consistency, integrity and trust in how family names are treated. Because he did this. This is how it's impacting us today. There's integrity, there's trust, there's consistency. Otherwise, without temples and without church leaders having that authority to administer the ordinances thereof, what would be happening today? Things would be running amok. What's your thoughts on that?
- [56:18]
C
I really like the focus on the families, the covenants that they've made protecting those families and the covenants. I love the focus on the temple and what we already have is more important than a practice of the past. Is covenants and ordinances and their efficacy going Forward.
- [56:39]
B
Exactly.
- [56:41]
A
I thought of the explanatory introduction to the Doctrine Covenants. I know that's something that comes to mind often for most people.
- [56:48]
B
We're going way back, then you gotta take us way back.
- [56:51]
A
Yeah. It says, this is the second page. These revelations were received in answer to prayer in times of need and came out of real life situations involving real people. The prophet, in this case, Wilford Woodruff and his associates sought for divine guidance, and these revelations certify that they received it. These are real people in real situations. I liked what you said there, Tom. Sometimes we weaponize the past and we make these people basically objects that we can use to assert what we want on other people or the church. These are real people who are suffering in real ways on both sides of.
- [57:32]
B
This and just trying to do the will of God, struggling with what that will is, because all these forces are raging against them. They're trying to stand up for. And at the end of the day, the Lord reveals and speaks to his prophet and says, okay, let's go a different direction. Now. This is what we're going to do, because this is going to prepare the world for the Savior's return. Now I think about the standard of truth. Recite the standard of truth for me.
- [57:58]
A
I'll tell you this, Tom. If our executive producer, Shannon Sorensen were here, or any of her children, or Steve, her husband, they have this memorized through and through. I mean, they could do it backwards and forwards.
- [58:10]
C
I love what you've told us. This is this article to the Chicago Democrat. And here's Joseph Smith saying, okay, I'll do this, but you have to include every word. Don't edit it for your purposes. Include every word towards the end here. And usually we don't hear this part, but he says, our missionaries are going forth to different nations and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, the East Indies, and other places. Here's where we usually start. 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 be accomplished. And the great Jehovah shall say, the work is done. Then what comes next? Number one, we believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. Number two, I love the way that flows. You want to know about us? Okay. Here it comes.
- [59:22]
A
Tom, I just love this. In the 1840s, these are real people who are struggling, like you said, to do the will of God. And in the 1890s, even though it's a completely opposite direction, these are real people who are struggling to do the will of God.
- [59:38]
B
And we are what we are real people in our day who are struggling to do the word of God.
- [59:45]
C
Right. I can't remember who said this. It was one of my favorite phrases that I've learned from follow him. And that is rather than thinking about these real people, rather than being offended for them, let's be inspired by them.
- [60:01]
A
That is Dr. McLean Hewitt.
- [60:03]
C
So good.
- [60:04]
A
Four years ago on section 51 57. We'll link it in our show notes. John, I had that exact same thought.
- [60:11]
C
Think these are real people rather than being offended for them and saying that's not fair 200 years later or whatever. Sometimes they're not even saying that we want to say it for them. So thank you, McLane.
- [60:24]
B
Earlier, I talked about how much I loved the prophet Joseph Smith. I love President Woodruff, the courage that it took for him to do this as a prophet of God. I can't wait to meet him. This is a testimony to me. And the church acknowledged that by saying, hey, we're going to accept this manifesto because of the rights by his authority, he's said it. And this is what the will of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. We need to accept this. And I am raising my hand to the square saying, I sustain you, President Woodruff. I can't imagine how difficult it was I wasn't there. I don't know, but I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to course correct in this significant a way. But I'm glad you did because Tom reed works for FamilySearch today and I'm helping members in the United States southeast area submit names for temple ordinances at a higher rate than they've ever been able to do before.
- [61:20]
C
Oh, so good.
- [61:22]
B
Without that revelation, we would not have temples and temple work today. We'd not have Elder Corbett being able to to seal me to my parents on April 11, 2025. All these things would be done away with. Thank you, President Woodruff, for valuing the covenants and the ordinances.
- [61:42]
C
Tom, I saw when I was looking up your bio, I saw the photograph you have of your parent gravestones there and thought, look at this, we're still connected. This is my family. And now you've sealed in April, now.
- [61:56]
D
You gonna make me cry talking about.
- [62:00]
C
And dad I just saw that and I thought, see, my. My mom and dad, they're. They're gone, too. But, boy, we're connected. That's what these temples do. We're still working together just to throw.
- [62:12]
A
In a Bible connection. There's a commandment the Lord gives in Matthew, chapter 10, when he's speaking to his apostles. And it's the first commandment, at least listed in the chapter, is you are not to teach Gentiles. You absolutely do not go into any village of the Samaritans. That's a pretty direct commandment. I don't want you teaching people based on their ethnicity. You're not going to teach Gentiles. You're not even going to go into villages of the Samaritans. It's an easy one to remember because it's then Acts, chapter 10. That was Matthew, chapter 10. But in Acts, chapter 10, Peter the Saviors died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. And the Lord says to Peter, it is now time to teach Gentiles and Samaritans. There's a completely 180 on our old policy. We see how many people pushed back against what you call a course change. We're going to change courses. Now, I know it's the exact opposite of what he said earlier, but he's saying it.
- [63:22]
C
He is saying it.
- [63:23]
B
He, capital H, he, capital H, he.
- [63:29]
C
So we're good.
- [63:30]
A
We're gonna do it. Real people trying to do the will of God.
- [63:34]
B
Coming up in part two, Heber's words captured the magnitude. The world will never be the same. The future will be changed. This was not only a revelation that stretched forward into the future, but backward into history.