I have been pondering the significance of living prophets as I get ready to listen to general conference this weekend. It is a wonderful opportunity to hear from our leaders, either in person or through technological means. In preparation for conference, the Church has come out with an infographic that explains the meeting and its significance. It goes through how people watch or listen live, what is taught and what happens afterward.

I was particularly interested in what happens after the conference. It is amazing to me how much technology has increased the ability to spread knowledge, including spiritual knowledge. The video and audio of the conference are available in 70 languages and on mobile applications including iTunes, Roku and Comcast. In fact, there were over 50,000 tweets about the October 2012 general conference , making it one of the top ten trends in the United States.

General conference is an exciting time to be spiritually educated from our leaders. We are so blessed to be able to hear from them directly in such an intimate setting. Make sure to tune in to lds.org!

http://www.understandingmormonism.org

I recall driving through areas in Nebraska and Wyoming where the only adjustments I made in the car were not in the steering wheel, but in my seat to lay back. The flat and open road soon began to bore me, and I began to complain about my situation.

“Why couldn’t my parents just have flown me out to Utah?” In my bitterness and complaining, I remember that I stared out of the window only to see the open plains that lie ahead of me.

In that moment, I could not help but to think about the Pioneers and their trek westward.
Having left everything behind, they journeyed through plains and mountains, the hot sun, and the freezing snow. I can only imagine making such a trek with the thought that some of my family members might not make it.

So why were the Saints subjecting themselves to such awful circumstances? I learned in that moment that the Saints were not only traversing across the country to flee persecution, they were doing it because a prophet of the Lord had been inspired to tell them to do so. No matter how intense the pain of their frozen feet, or the blisters on their hands from pulling the carts became, the Saints pressed forward.

I’ll never forget that car ride and just how grateful I felt to be able to make my own passage out west in the manner in which I was traveling.  It was because of the sacrifice of so many that I was able to have it so easy. It was because of these faithful early members of the church, that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been able to fulfill the prophecy that it would one day cover the whole of the earth.

Let us all strive to remember the sacrifices that have been given so that we too may be able to be grateful for those few and precious eternal things that are of most importance.

– Ben Simmons, Education in Zion Gallery Educator, Psychology Major

My mother always taught me to respect the scriptures: never throw them, put them on the floor, or ignore them – so many people have sacrificed so much for us to have them.

Growing up I’d heard stories about such sacrifices. John Wycliffe being declared a heretic for translating the New Testament. William Tyndale being burnt at the stake for publishing the Old and New Testaments. Caroline and Mary Elizabeth Rollins rescuing the Book of Commandments manuscript from mobs. And Joseph and Hyrum Smith dying for their testimonies of the Book of Mormon.

But there are also some that are less known: George Q. Cannon and Jonathan Napela consecrated over two years to translating the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian. Thomas Howard struggled for 3 years in pioneer Utah to produce paper for the printing of the Book of Mormon out of rags. George S. Reynolds worked on the first concordance of the scriptures for eighteen years: he even worked on it while he was incarcerated for his beliefs.

Sacrificing for the scriptures isn’t reserved for people born before 1830 though. Today there dozens of people who sacrifice everyday so that we can have the scriptures wherever we go: Gospel Library App workers.  Much of the work done to make Gospel Library Apps is done by volunteers. They have developed four free downloads: Mormon Channel, Gospel Library, LDS Tools and Scripture Mastery. These apps have literally touched the lives of thousands: they have been downloaded over 800,000 times since they were first released in 2009.

So as I finish reading the scriptures I carefully mark my place, glance at my alarm clock and start to calculate:  4 hours till wake up. My nose peaks over the edge of the bed as I carefully put my scriptures back down on the top of my pile of books. I couldn’t skip reading, not even for a night and I’m grateful.  After all, like my mother always told me, so many people sacrificed so much so I could have them.

—Anna Silver, Theater Education Major and Education in Zion Gallery Educator

It’s quite easy – even expected – for us to question the need for something when we don’t fully understand the reason why it was created in the first place.  In a small, unobtrusive space in Education in Zion, the history of Family Home Evening is told.

First Presidency, 1915

In the dawn of the 20th century, Joseph F. Smith and other leaders saw a problem.  Children and teenagers had so many auxiliary church programs dedicated to their spiritual education and welfare that they were receiving more instruction there than they were in their own homes.

Additionally, many parents saw teaching in the home as supplementary to the instruction their families received at Church, instead of the other way around.  Sadly, this apathetic mindset is still common today as many LDS parents send their kids off to Young Men/Young Women or Sunday School, considering that to be sufficient for their family’s spiritual instruction.

President Frank Taylor, Granite Stake

In an effort to free up more time for parents to spend with their children, President Smith put together a committee charged with reducing the overlap of the Church’s teaching organizations.  In 1907 this committee recommended that certain programs be merged (out of which came the Primary program as it functions today) and that all auxiliary organizations of the Church place more emphasis on teaching in the home.

In 1909 a stake president named Frank Taylor (son of President John Taylor) set aside Monday evenings for Home Evening in an effort to follow the Church’s emphasis on strengthening the family.

By the spring of 1915, “Family Home Evening” as it came to be known, had become so successful in that stake that President Smith and the First Presidency officially adopted it church-wide, proclaiming the following:

“If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result.  Love at home and obedience to parents will increase.  Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

John S. Boyer Family

So what is the big deal?

For nearly 100 years now, families and prophets have testified again and again of the protection and blessings experienced from participating in Family Home Evening.  It represents one of the biggest “deals” of our faith, the deal we made to God to take care of His children as our own – or perhaps in the case of us young adults on campus, the deal we made to bear one another’s burdens and comfort those in need of comfort.

What better opportunity to keep our covenants in extending a loving hand of social and spiritual enlightenment than to attend and participate in Family Home Evening?

- Adam Watson, Communications Major and Education in Zion Gallery Educator

As the newly-formed Latter-day Saints strove to learn more about themselves as new members of the church, they sought to learn more about their God. As a young prophet still learning, Joseph Smith decided it would be beneficial to invite other brethren to join him in learning about the Gospel so they could lift and teach one another.

It is interesting to note that while these brethren began to meet, it was their goal to learn how to become more like the Lord while striving to perfect themselves in faith and knowledge. Little did they know, this school that had become part of their lives would soon change them in very meaningful ways.

After meeting in the morning for quite a while, the Prophet Joseph realized that more brethren would be able to attend if they held the school at night. However, he noticed a subtle but perceptive change in the spirit that attended the meeting at night in contrast to the morning. It would take a woman’s guidance for him to realize that the brethren were not living up to the highest physical standards.

When his wife, Emma Smith, came to visit the school, it was filled with smoke and tobacco spit stains, and the brethren smelled more like the animals they had been working with all day, than the animals themselves did. She promptly pronounced to Joseph that this could not be the best environment in which to learn about the Lord. Thus, after much prayer and thought, the Word of Wisdom was revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith to the brethren and the Church.

Let it also be noted that not only was the Word of Wisdom brought about, but also another law of physical cleanliness. Here at BYU, all students and staff are obligated to abide by the Honor Code. This Code instills within us the importance of being clean on the inside, as well as on the outside. As Joseph Smith realized this, he made it a point to make sure that all the brethren attending the school were clean before they came in, as to not offend the Holy Spirit. This seemingly small change did wonders, and the Prophet Joseph commented that the Spirit of the Lord was reestablished among them, and their learning increased.

- Ben Simmons, Psychology Major and Education in Zion Student Gallery Educator