Yeah... What He Said!!!

I've always loved the Doctrine and Covenants. It's my favorite of the Standard Works. Don't get me wrong. I love the Book of Mormon, I love the Pearl of Great Price, I love the Old Testament, and I really love the New Testament. But, I'm crazy over the Doctrine and Covenants. Redge kind of teases me about this, and doesn't really get it. I've told him that the Book of Mormon is more a "Boy Book" with all the wars and fighting. I think a lot of young men can relate to the stories of Alma the Younger and others who felt it necessary to rebel against their dads. I, like some of my girlfriends, think more along the lines of, "How did Nephi kill Laban, and then wear Laban's clothes? There's a miracle right there because normally there would be a lot of blood! You know how head wounds bleed!"

At any rate, once when Redge was asking about my love of the Doctrine and Covenants I answered that perhaps it stems from the year in seminary we studied it. It was my senior in high school, and I have to say it was at that point that I realized how much I love and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a fabulous teacher, you know, Brother Hansen. He really helped me to figure out how to study, how to find answers, and how to question so I could better understand my own beliefs. As much as I do see Brother Hansen's hand in my testimony of the gospel and my love of the Doctrine and Covenants~ there is something else that I just couldn't express. I try explaining to Redge how the Doctrine and Covenants is revelation to the saints in this dispensation, and it applies so easily to our lives. I understand that we are to liken all scriptures to our lives, but the Doctrine and Covenants just seems easier to apply.

Well, I now have the words I've been trying to express for almost 20 years!!! Yesterday Redge, Marney, and I were Christmas shopping, and we stopped by the Church Distribution Center. I needed to pick up all the materials for next year's curriculum. I am extra excited for next year's Gospel Doctrine Class because we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History! So, I bought both institute manuals, the seminary manual, and the Gospel Doctrine manual. Too anxious to wait until January, I started reading the institute manual. This is where I found what I've been trying to say!

President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "In my judgment there is no book on earth yet come to man as important as the book known as the Doctrine and Covenants, ... This Doctrine and Covenants contains the word of God to those who dwell here now. It is our book. It belongs to the Latter-day Saints. More precious than gold, the Prophet says we should treasure it more than the riches of the whole earth. I wonder if we do? If we value it, understand it, and know what it contains, we will value it more than wealth; it is worth more to us than the riches of the earth."