Hey there, everybody. Welcome out to another
episode of Redeemed Through His Blood. I'm Scott
Durfey and I'm joined as always by David Durfey,
soon to be Elder Durfey. We have some news, Dave.
I'm not set apart, but this letter... Soon to
be. This letter I've got right here in front
of me says, Dear Elder Durfey. So... Well, Dave
got his mission call, everybody. February 21st,
2025. And you know that we're usually two to
three weeks late in releasing these because we
do have a few in queue and so on. So when you
get this, it'll probably be mid -March towards
the end of March. But Dave received his mission
call this past week, and he's got some great
news for us. Pretty sweet. Tell us about it.
So I just, you know, I want to read the letter.
And I think I've read it enough, I won't get
emotional this time. But when it came, I was
actually on my phone looking at my emails and
all of a sudden it popped up and said that your
mission call is in the portal. I can't even imagine.
What did your stomach do right then? Well, my
wife was there in the kitchen. I was sitting
in the family room. And I said, hey, Chris, our
mission call just came. She said, what? Anyway,
we went in my office. We knelt down and prayed,
cried. We got up, opened the portal. We read
the call and cried. And then after we read it,
we knelt back down and thanked our Heavenly Father.
So it was kind of a sweet. You know, I've always
felt strongly and pictured in my mind that when
we received the call, I didn't want to open it
and read it for the first time when everybody
was cheering and yelling and loud, you know,
and whatever. I wanted to have it be quiet. I
wanted it to be peaceful. I wanted it to be between
me and my sweetheart and God. And it was really
a moment we'll never forget. And then my sweet
granddaughter had just come home from a mission
two days before. Sweet Sierra. This was last
Friday, and Sierra had just come home from Philadelphia
on her mission Wednesday, and she was speaking
on Sunday. So Chris and I decided, we can't even
tell our family we've got our call because we
don't want to have it ruin Sierra's... first
weekend at home and her homecoming and her talk
and the family get together at the house. We
didn't want them talking about our call. We wanted
them talking about her. So we didn't want upstage,
you know, this event, this big welcome home,
which she deserved. She was an amazing missionary.
I was just so grateful and humbled by her talk,
which was amazing, Scott. She really gets it.
She really understands it anyway, so we It wasn't
until Sunday afternoon when things were really
winding down that I Told the rest of the family
Hey, mom, and I got our call and we're gonna
read it Monday night tomorrow night And so that
was so exciting for them and So they didn't have
to wait too long, 24 hours. They came over Monday
night. And we got everybody around and read it.
And there was cheering. And I think somebody
recorded it. I think it's on Facebook or something.
Yeah, Isaac did. OK. I didn't know if they were
going to do that. I didn't either. I haven't
even seen it. But Deb's the one that told me
that she had seen it. But Isaac did. Anyway,
it was sweet. And we're thankful that. Our family
was so excited about it, and just then we had
Banana Splits. That's an appropriate crescendo
to opening the mission call. I don't know if
they call bananas down there. That's great. So
go ahead and read it. Anyway, the only reason
I want to read it is because of the doctrine
here. If someone hasn't... And there's I'm sure
a few out there listening to the podcast and
have never really heard What the missionary letter
says and I think it's it's awesome Dear elder
Durfee, my wife also received one. Oh, really?
Okay said dear sister That was because when you
read dear elder Durfee, I'm like, what about
Chris? She receives you got her over it Okay,
does it say exactly the same thing same thing?
Okay But I think that's so sweet. I do too. We
each got our own letter and it would have been
fine if they would have said dear elder and sister
or dear sister and elder, but Anyway, dear elder
Durfee You are hereby called to serve as a missionary
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day
Saints So I guess I'm already called Haven't
been set apart But I'm called it's official.
I'm called. I'm a missionary That's awesome.
I need to start acting like it. That's the first
line of the first paragraph. You are hereby called
to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter -day Saints. Second paragraph.
You have been recommended as one worthy to represent
the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel
of Jesus Christ. A lot of doctrine in that. You
will be an official representative of the Church.
As such, you will be expected to honor the covenants
you have made with your Heavenly Father, keep
the commandments, maintain the highest standards
of conduct, and follow the righteous counsel
of your mission president. Follow the righteous
counsel of your mission president. Maybe there
are some that aren't so righteous. As you devote
your time and attention to serving the Lord,
you will be blessed with increased knowledge,
testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.
Restored gospel. It's not just gospel. It's restored
gospel. It's in that paragraph twice. But what
a promise. As you devote your time and attention
to serving the Lord, you will be blessed with
increased knowledge and testimony of Jesus Christ.
You know, we're going to go on a mission for
a lot of reasons, Scott, but I can't think of
any reason or blessing that would be greater
than that. Increased knowledge and testimony
of Jesus Christ That's the second paragraph third
paragraph Your purpose will be to help others
Come unto Christ by serving them as the Savior
would So I got to go to work and Find out Scott
how the Savior serves others helps to heal others
teaches others I I love that line. Your purpose
will be to help others come unto Christ by serving
them as the Savior would. They could have said
a lot of things there, Scott. They could have
said by teaching them, by filling the blank,
but it's by serving them. Then continuing in
that paragraph. As you serve, With all your heart,
might, mind, and strength, you will feel the
joy that comes from giving of yourself to lift
others. They too can then have the opportunity
to receive sacred ordinances and make covenants
with Heavenly Father." That's the end of paragraph
3. I think that's... What's the end result? to
help others to receive sacred ordinances and
make covenants with their Heavenly Father. Isn't
that awesome? Yeah, I love that. Re -read the
part about joy, too. Yeah, as you serve with
all your heart, mind, and strength, you will
feel the joy that comes from giving of yourself
to lift others. Anyway, so that's paragraph 3
paragraph 4 This is the big one this one everybody
waits for and we're all Nobody heard anything
in those first three paragraphs and they seldom
do This you are assigned not called assigned
so I'm called to be a missionary But I'm assigned
to a mission and assignments can change. This
is really important. I remember when I was branch
president missionary training center The Brother
made a big deal out of that. You're not called
to a mission. You're called to be a missionary.
And then you are assigned to a mission. And assignments
can change. So don't get stuck on the mission.
Focus on being a missionary, no matter where
the assignment might be. You know, some couldn't
get their visa or they, for health reasons, couldn't,
their missions had to change. That happened all
the time to missionaries in my branch at the
Missionary Training Center. And it could be devastating
to them because they felt like they had been
called to a certain mission. You're not called
to a mission. You're assigned a mission area.
That's an interesting insight that I had never
considered. That's important. Yeah, I can see
how it is important. For those few individuals
who struggle or feel guilty that they didn't...
Well, I got called to Japan, but I couldn't go
because of this and this and whatever. You're
not called to Japan. You're called to be a missionary.
And sometimes when we think that we are called
to Japan and then we're not able to go to Japan.
Exactly. How have I let Heavenly Father down?
Because there's probably people there waiting
for me to come. And if I don't come, they're
not going to get a chance. I know. I know. So
I think that's really important. You're called
to be a missionary. Thank you for that. And that's
in the very first paragraph. fourth paragraph,
does it say, you are assigned. And we still don't
know where that is, so. Drawing it out, aren't
I? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are assigned to labor
in the Australia Sydney mission. Wow. Isn't that
sweet? Yeah. Wow. I look at that, and I'm still
a little in shock. Yeah. You know we have listeners
in Sydney now. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, I'm
coming. He's coming. I'm coming. I can't wait.
So it continues this fourth paragraph. Your main
assignment is to serve as a member and leader
support missionary. MLS for short, MLS missionary,
which is awesome. We'll have so many options
and we'll just do whatever we're called to do
by our mission president. Under the direction
of the mission president, you may also be invited
to teach the gospel, strengthen new and returning
members of the church. minister to local leaders
and units and fulfill other assignments as needed.
David, we don't need, in writing, something to
tell us that you will be teaching the gospel.
You will be teaching the gospel, even if it's
just through the way you live or those that you
influence. I'd love to be teaching it. Maybe
I'll teach it. Wherever they send me, I'll start
an institute class or something. Yeah. Yeah.
Or I don't know. Anyway. Maybe you'll need some
assistance. Maybe we'll get a work in the temple.
Oh, yeah. You know, and do a ceiling session
once in a while. Or I don't know. I know there's,
I think, four districts in this mission. And
maybe they'll need a patriarch to do if they
get. The mission president, to do that, would
have to get permission from the president of
the Quorum of the Twelve. But if they got permission
from the Quorum of the Twelve, I could give patriarchal
blessings to members of the church in the districts
in the mission. So we'll see. All those things
are possibilities. You will begin your missionary
training on Monday, July 14, 2025, after being
set apart by your stake president. Please see
the missionary portal for additional information
on your training experience. It is anticipated
that you will serve for a period of 18 months.
So I think, you know, I was a little disappointed
to hear I had to wait so long. But I understand
after the packet and the portal fills up with
all this information that takes a while to get
a visa. So we have to go to work on getting the
visa. And that may take a few months. Yeah. So
you're leaving in July. That'll bring you back
home. Which will be winter there. Right. But
that'll bring you back home in December. Or January.
Or January. And you will be experiencing summer
there to come home to winter here. Right. Yeah.
Right. Last paragraph, which is so sweet. Promise.
This is this first sentence. our Heavenly Father
will reward you and your family for your service.
And the most important thing in there is your
family. I know Chris and I will be blessed, but
really I'm more concerned about this being a
blessing to our family. And I know it will be.
As we serve Heavenly Father's kids, I know He
blesses my kids. That's been a true pattern throughout
my life. Well, Dave, we've talked a lot about
your mission to Fresno, California, a lot on
here. And I don't think it's, if you've been
listening to the podcast for any length of time
at all, you know how much Dave has loved his
mission. David and I were actually talking about
some experiences from his original mission early
this morning. It's always on my mind. Before
we got started here, as did I. It'll be interesting
now. I think that that was a super special experience
for you and one that'll never be matched. And
it'll never be matched. But just think how wonderful
it is to be going with a companion that you chose.
This last paragraph continues. Great blessings
and joy. There's joy again. Great blessings and
joy await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve
the Lord. in this labor of love among His children.
We place our confidence in you and pray that
the Lord will help you become an effective missionary.
Sincerely, Russell M. Nelson, President. That's
the letter. And so, so exciting. Yeah. But yeah,
Scott, you're right. When I came home from my
mission, I've probably told this before, but
Chris, who was attending BYU and had been waiting
for me, and was one year behind me in high school,
and we fell in love my junior year, her sophomore
year, and were high school sweethearts. And when
I went on my mission and then came home, I remember
her telling me. that she felt like maybe she
should go on a mission. That she had gone to
a fireside and Steve and Covey had singled her
out and told her what a great missionary she
should be and maybe she should go on a mission
and she started getting that in her mind so that
by the time I came home she was starting to think
she was going to go on a mission. Back then you
had to be 21 to go and she was only 20. So she
wouldn't even be able to go for another year.
So you had a year to work on her. Which means
I'd have to wait a year and a half. So it'd be
two and a half years before we could get married.
And I remember saying, Chris, we should just
get married and raise up our children to go on
missions. And I promise that when you and I are
older, we'll go on a mission together. You should
go on a mission and you are a missionary and
we should go on a mission together So I I always
felt like that was a sacred. Yeah promise I had
made to her. Yeah, and I've been so Throughout
my life prayerful Desiring expressing my desire
to my Heavenly Father that I could fulfill that
promise and I'm just So grateful that that that
time has come but that he's blessed us to be
able to do this together and I I Don't know.
I may have told you this Scott, but about six
weeks ago. I Was in the temple and I was doing
a ceiling session. I Had this ordinance card
in front of me, you know each couple or child
to parents They have an ordinance card and each
couple the names of the couple in there where
they were married and the date they were married
is on an individual ordinance card. Well, I'm
performing this sealing and all of a sudden I
start to get just out of nowhere. I just start
getting really emotional. I feel the spirit of
the Lord and I start to tear up. My voice starts
to quiver. I'm looking at this ordinance card
and I see Australia. I can't remember the town,
but it was from Australia. This couple had lived
and been married in Australia. And I had this
powerful feeling come over me that these were
my people and that I had this connection with
Australia and that maybe we should serve in Australia.
That was six weeks ago when we were just about
ready to resubmit our papers after fulfilling
all the medical requirements after our challenges
health challenges and anyway, I Went home and
the first thing I said when I got home was hey
Chris I had an interesting experience and I told
her about it and I said I I think maybe we should
edit our Mission papers and maybe we should request
to go to Australia And she said, no, David, she
was really resolute about this. No, David, I
just want the Lord to call us wherever we need
to be, wherever He wants us to be, wherever He
can. Let's let the Lord call us. So the first
time we submitted our papers and then resubmitted
them, we never asked to go anywhere. Yeah, we
just wanted the Lord to call us and we made that
clear in our application that we would go anywhere
Well when we read this call in my office on Friday
That came that came flooding back to me this
experience that I had the temple about Australia
and you know So it was it was very sweet confirmation,
but I got to tell you one more thing When I was
18 19 getting ready to go on a mission 19 really
didn't go until I was You know after 19 years
old and and I remember everybody asking me Where
do you want to where do you want to serve and
my answer was always Australia? huh, and I would
say well, I really want to go to Australia, but
Because because I want to go to Australia the
Lord will probably send me to Alaska That was
my answer And you know, I learned, as you know,
that your assignment, wherever you serve, is
not so much about weather or geography or any
of that. It's about people and where you can
be most effective and maybe where the Lord has
prepared people for you, whatever the assignment
may be. Anyway, that was always my answer. I
always wanted to serve a mission in Australia.
So this is kind of a sweet thing, Scott, to be
able to see that desire fulfilled and have kind
of a witness of it before the call even came.
And I'm so glad that Chris was resolute on that.
Firm. Yeah. He was very firm about that. Right.
Right. That makes this experience even more faith
building. Really sweet. Really, really sweet.
We're excited about it. We have a lot of work
to do to get ready. Yeah, we're excited for you,
too. Because of that, we're going to wind this
podcast down. And that'll be kind of sad and
hard in a way for you and me. But anyway, we'll
maybe do three or four more. I'll go on my mission.
We'll pick it up in 18 months or whatever. There
you go So we'll probably just for logistics sake,
we'll probably be releasing our last episodes
the first or second week of April. That means
that we'll be recording through March. Now's
a great time, gang, to submit your questions.
It would definitely be appropriate for you to
send well wishing emails if you feel so inclined
to Dave here and Chris for their mission. You
can do that. He redeems us. What I'd really love
is to learn something about Sydney. Yeah, there
you go. To learn something about Sydney. You
know what I've already done since I've only had
the call for what, three or four days? Yeah,
since well before. About a week, five days now.
Anyway, what I've already done, Scott, is I've
gone through the church website, looked up everything
on Sydney, gone to YouTube and all of that. And
I've actually prepared a map of the mission.
Oh, how cool. And I've circled every and how
many chapels are in each town. Are there a lot
of chapels? Yeah, they've got quite a few. In
the Sydney Mission, I counted 53 chapels. Oh,
is that right? And in a lot of those, there are
multiple wards. Sure. So I think they have well
over 100 wards in this mission. Oh, very cool.
Like several stakes. They have 25 buildings in
Sydney, the suburbs of Sydney. And then they've
got them all the way kind of back into the hinterland
up to probably saying this wrong Dubo Dubo and
up to Narrabri and up to almost the Gold Coast.
Our mission goes up almost to the Gold Coast
up near Brisbane up to Coffs Harbor. So I've
written down where all of the chapels, meeting
houses are located. in the Sydney mission and
I guess we could be called any of those and Serving
that ward or wards or steak or what whatever.
Yeah, but Well, so if you're if you're in Australia
you're familiar with that then please help me
then send stuff that way to prepare me He redeems
us at gmail .com. That's our email address. He
redeems us at gmail .com. So go ahead and send
those questions. Get David all informed on his
new adventures. I hope he comes back with a really
cool accent so that our next iteration of the
podcast might be even more interesting. Dave,
that's change. I do think I have this one down.
Good day, mate. Say it one more time. Good day,
mate. Yeah, keep working on it Yeah, I don't
know I don't know what makes me an authority
on that accent keep working on it nonetheless
I'm not too good with languages Including the
English language. I would disagree with that.
Let's let's move into a question. I So congratulations.
First of all, congratulations Chris. We're so
happy and all of obviously nervous Yeah, for
sure. You know, Chris, bless her heart, has been
on a mission. She wants to be a perfect missionary.
So we've memorized the missionary purpose. Doctrine
and Covenant, Section 4? Well, no, it's in Preach
My Gospel. Invite others to come unto Christ
by receiving, anyway. Yeah, that was before.
I mean, that came after my mission, too. But
anyway, we're excited for you. I got a text.
This is from a listener, Dave. Good friend of
mine, but also a listener. And this man has meant
just an awful lot to me. He's been a leader to
me. It was really important to part of my coming
back to the church after I had had my membership
removed, you know, 20 years ago -ish. And this
man was really instrumental in loving me through
that process. But he sends this question. He
sends this question. He says, I'm just going
to read it. He says, I would love to share my
thoughts and questions about this, but I'm struggling
to figure out on how to communicate those thoughts
through text. And then he goes on. And I love
this. This is somebody who's really paying attention.
to their own relationship with deity. No matter
how often Christ reminds us to focus on the Father
and His plan, for some reason, we focus on Christ
and His participation instead of the Father.
I think my question is part of my attempt to
feel more of the Father's involvement in His
plan. We talked a little bit about that this
morning. Dave, do you want to just kind of share
some of your thoughts on that? Well, I think
it's awesome that this person is really sensitive
about their relationship with their Heavenly
Father. That's kind of what I hear in that question.
That they're really concerned about that, and
that they're concerned about not putting the
Son before the Father, and nobody would be more
offended by that than the Son Himself. I know
that. Jesus Christ, everything He did was to
deflect. to the Father over and over and over
again. He always said, this isn't me that's doing
this. I'm doing this because of the Father. I
do the will of the Father. I mean, people were
praying to Him and He apologized to the Father.
It's in 3 Nephi 19, right? They're praying to
Him and He apologizes to the Father. They're
praying to me, he says, because I am with them.
And he teaches over and over and over again,
don't pray to me, pray to the Father, in my name.
And it's interesting, Scott, that in Jacob chapter
4, we of course worship the Godhead, the Father,
the Son, the Holy Ghost, they are one. They are
one in mind. They're one in purpose. They're
one in unity. We worship them. Of course we worship
the Father in the name of the Son. Of course
we worship the Son. He is our spiritual Father,
the Father of our salvations, the Father of our
spiritual lives. We've taken His name upon us.
We have been born of Him, Jesus Christ. Of course
we worship Him. Of course the Holy Ghost plays
a role in our worship and that through the Holy
Ghost it makes our prayers heard and answered.
The Holy Ghost has such an important role to
connect us to the Father and to the Son. The
Holy Ghost speaks the words of the Son. I mean,
they're so connected that you can't separate
them out or think that we worship one and not
the other. They're all involved in our sacred
worship. They're all involved in that. And so
it's kind of wrong to see that you worship one
and not think about the others. However, there
is so much emphasis right now in the church about
having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ is the answer to all of our questions.
He's the solution to all our problems. This is
taught over and over and over again lately, as
it should be. And it's all true. And amen, right?
Amen, hallelujah. However, I think this good
brother who's asking the question has a real...
legitimate concern. And that is, you better not
think about the Son and put Him first before
you think about the Father and think about who's
in charge. And there is, whether we like to think
of them all as one in unity and every else, there
is hierarchy in this Godhead. There is hierarchy.
And we worship the Father in the name of the
Son through the Holy Spirit. so I mean, that's
the pattern and Jacob teaches that so I Jacob
who's such a doctrinal you know his his Doctrinal
discourse in second Nephi to chapter. I'm sorry
doctor second Nephi chapter like six through
ten He gives us such an he gives the most amazing.
I think it's the most amazing doctrinal sermon
in the entire Book of Mormon so I've always kind
of thought of Jacob the brother of Nephi is mr.
Doctrine and he understands this relationship
and the Kind of process of worship verse 5 if
you want to read it Scott. Yeah, so this is Jacob
chapter 4 verse 5 Behold they believed in Christ
and worshiped the father in his name and also
we worship the father in his name and For this
intent we keep the law of Moses Behold, they
believed in Christ. Their faith is in Christ.
Their faith is in Christ and His atonement. Their
faith is in Christ, His atonement, His redemption.
It's through Christ that we're redeemed. We get
that. Our faith is in Christ. That's the fourth
article of faith. Right? But who did they worship?
They worshiped the Father in the name. of Christ.
I think that's so critical. I mean, we don't
have to read the rest of it. I just think that's
so important. And over in verse 11, he talks
about that the reconciliation is through the
atonement of Jesus Christ, redemption, the power
of His resurrection. Why not speak of the atonement,
he says? I've always loved that. Why not speak
of the Atonement? Why not speak of Christ? Let's
get on the rooftops and bear witness and shout
the name of Jesus Christ and our relationship
with Him. But it's not the Son's plan, Scott.
The Son fulfilled the plan of the Father. Praise
the Lord. Jesus Christ. But it is the Father's
plan and the ultimate form of our worship and
our praise and our gratitude should go to the
Father in the name of the Son who fulfilled.
the plan. In verse 11 right there of Jacob 4,
it really kind of points out the hierarchy that
you were talking about earlier, right? Yeah.
Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto
Him through the atonement of Christ. Unto who?
Unto the Father. So be reconciled unto the Father.
So the ultimate reconciliation... Not Jesus.
No. That's the reconciliation comes through Jesus,
administrated through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Absolutely. But our relationship and the hierarchy
is just absolutely established there. Wherefore,
beloved brethren, be reconciled unto Him through
the atonement of Jesus Christ. Unto Him, unto
the Father. So the Father is... where our ultimate
worship goes. Yeah, we do worship the Son, and
there's worship of the Holy Ghost too, but ultimately
even that worship, David, the way I see it, even
that worship, because it's done through the Spirit
of the Holy Ghost, ultimately transcends to the
Father as well. Yeah, absolutely. Now in that
verse God in verse 11 wherefore beloved brethren
be reconciled unto him if you take that pronoun
and you take it back the next Preceding three
or four verses the real him is really the Lord
now the Lord I Just I gotta say this sometimes
people pray and they say oh Lord and Some people
get upset about that. I've had people come to
me upset about that and say they're praying to
Jesus by saying the Lord. And I always say, listen,
the Lord in the Old Testament, L, capital L,
little o, little r, little d, is Elohim. The
Lord can mean Elohim. The Lord is a title. It's
not a name. The Lord is a title. So the Lord
can be the Father, and sometimes it can be the
Son. capital in the Old Testament, capital L,
capital O, capital R, capital D is Jehovah. I
just think that's really important to understand
when the Lord's a title, they have titles. So
you're right about this, that's how I read that,
that we are reconciled to the Father, the Lord,
Elohim, through the Atonement. of Jesus Christ,
His only begotten Son. I think so many times
when it's Christmas, Scott, we don't focus enough
on the Father. I think when it's Easter, it's
so easy to sometimes leave the Father out of
the picture and of all the people who suffered.
It was the Father who had—think of the suffering.
I mean, honestly, any parent who's listening
to this podcast, Knows that this the suffering
the mental anguish is is greater watching your
child suffer Then if you were to suffer how many
children have or I'm sorry how many parents have
prayed? That the suffering of their children
be transferred to them. I Mean we don't give
the father enough attention or credit for what
he suffered for what he sacrificed. I mean, the
Savior sacrificed his life. The Father sacrificed
his son, which is the greater sacrifice. The
Father tried to teach that to Abraham when he
told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. What
do you think Abraham would have preferred to
sacrifice? Yeah, himself, no doubt. So I mean
we we all need to We all need to pay more attention
and understand to greater degree the role of
the father his plan of redemption and What he
was willing to sacrifice for his children and
for the world because he loves the world I I
just I just love that I You know, I love the
scripture in John chapter 3. In John chapter
3, God so loved the world. God, the Father. That
He gave His only begotten Son. So loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. But here's the next verse,
Scott. And the Father sent His Son into the world,
Not to condemn the world But that through his
son the world might be saved I'm off a few words
there, but that's the point the father Sent the
son into the world not to condemn the world,
but that through Him the son the world might
be saved you got that You had it. Job 3 .17.
I'll just read 16 and 17. For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life. For God sent not His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved. Through
Him. I know. That's it. Through Jesus, we go
back into the presence of the Father. But we
don't pray to Jesus. We pray to the Father. And
on that point, it's so important, I think, that
we understand the synonymous relationship between
prayer and worship. It's Amulek, I think, in
Alma chapter 33. Verse 3 or 4 there, Scott. In
Alma 33, listen to what Amulek tells the people
on the hill of Oneida about after Alma has taught
them about faith, Amulek begins to question them.
And what does he say in verse 3 or 4? Verse 3,
do you remember to have read what Zenas, the
prophet of old, has said concerning prayer or
worship? Prayer or worship synonymous. Yeah prayer
worship is synonymous. So who do we worship?
We worship the father we pray to the father.
We worship the father In the name of the son,
of course, I worship my savior and Redeemer.
Of course I do but not in the same way I Don't
pray to Jesus It's not appropriate. I Pray to
the father in the name of Jesus. Nobody would
be more hurt or offended If I prayed to Jesus,
then Jesus. He deflects everything to the Father.
So it's just, I think, really important in our
mind we remember that. Who are we praying to?
Who do we worship? In the name of the Son, through
the Son. Temple makes this very clear, right?
very clear delineates very clearly the difference
between Elohim and Jehovah. We're trying to get
back into the presence of the Father through
His Son and His Atonement. I mean that's the
whole process of the temple endowment. So I just
think it's such a great point that that our friend
listener brings up and one that we all need to
kind of think about in terms of am I guilty because
I think it would be blasphemy to ever put the
son before your relationship with the father
and You know this good brother is probably about
my same age Who's asking this and he probably
remembers the kind of condemning? Condemning
is that the right word? I think it is Anyway
the powerful the powerful talk of Bruce R McConkey
back in I think March of 1981 or 1982 it was
82 then he talks about the relationship between
the father of the son and the Holy Ghost that
we should not seek to have a special relationship
with Jesus at the cost of affecting our relationship
with the Father. And if we are going to get out
of whack and out of balance, if we're going to
worship a member of the Godhead or have a relationship
with a member of the Godhead more than any of
the other two, maybe we should err on having
a relationship with the Holy Ghost. Because the
Holy Ghost is the one that connects us to the
Father and the Son through His Spirit. Through
the Holy Ghost, we receive revelation. Through
the Holy Ghost, we become sanctified, justified.
I mean, you know, so I just think it's really
important that we understand the relationship
between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and
our relationship to them. Keep all of that in
balance and in perspective, in proper, holy perspective.
Right. Love it. Philip, Philip, I just bring
this up. Philip wanted to see the Father. Show
us the Father, which ought to say something about
what Jesus had taught about the Father and the
Son. their relationship and not being the same
physical, corporeal being, you know, flesh and
bone. Philip says, show us the Apostle Philip,
not the Seventy Philip. The Apostle says, show
us the Father. And Jesus says, Philip, Philip,
Philip, how long have I been with you? If you've
seen me, you've seen the Father. Now it's true,
if I really want to know the character. and personality
and the attributes of the Father. I can learn
that best by studying the life of the Son. So
it's obvious that we study the life of the Son.
But why? If it's just to have a relationship
with Jesus, we're out of whack. We study the
life. I mean, this was what Jesus was telling
Philip. We study the life of the Son. that we
may not only know Him and love Him, but Jesus
would even be happier if through His life we
came to know the Father and loved Him. That was
His purpose. Everything. Well, good day. Thanks
for sharing your mission. Yeah, excited about
that. I have a lot of preparation to make. I'm
grateful that we had this question asked, and
definitely something that should cause pause
and consideration for each one of us, and at
least an opportunity to take personal inventory.
and maybe even do a personal assessment on where
am I with my relationship with deity and have
I over rotated to one or the other or am I in
danger of ever doing that and what do I need
to do to maintain my focus on the Father because
of the Son through the Holy Ghost? Good question,
Scott. Yeah. Hope everybody will. really ponder
those questions. They're important questions
and the answers to these questions are the very
things that guide our lives in the ways that
we claim that we want them guided. So there we
have it. Instruments of grace. Thank you everybody.
Thanks for being with us gang Appreciate you
being with us each and every week as we draw
these to a close We're gonna be doing it with
some a little bit of sadness in our heart But
we are really grateful for for your attendance
and being with us before I close today again
Just a reminder to send us your questions that
he redeems us at gmail .com Another thing and
I should probably make mention of this at the
beginning of the podcast next time We record
this as well. We have a lot of new listeners
A lot of you are brand new to us within the last
several weeks. And we love that. We welcome you.
We hope that you've been. Fortified we hope that
you've been blessed by being here with us I'm
going to extend an invitation to those of you
who are just joining us if you will go back to
season 3 we're in currently in season 3 I think
this will be episode 66 or something like that.
So if you'll go back approximately 66 weeks to
season 3 episode 1 and participate in the coursework
that follows right along with the Divine Gift
of Forgiveness. You'll learn all about that when
you go there. David was very instrumental in
helping produce that piece of work with Elder
Anderson. So go back and do that course beginning
with week one and go all the way through it.
And for having done that, I promise you a new.
closer relationship with all of deity. Hey gang,
thanks so much for being with us today. We love
you, we hope you feel that, but more importantly
we hope you feel of the love from our Heavenly
Father through the Holy Ghost. Thanks for being
with us. We look forward to being with you again
next week and until then, be well.