Mr. Nobody

Dear Readers,

This post is an interesting one. There is a 2009 movie called Mr. Nobody that, for a lack of a better term, is hard to keep up with. It is interesting how many ideas and concepts this movie goes through.

Angel of Oblivion sealing the children's mouths

Mr. Nobody talks about a pre-mortal life, when he was in heaven before being born. Though it is symbolism for the veil (ironically the veil being a symbol as well), it is describes as angels of oblivion touching the children's lips before they are born to keep them from remembering and talking about the pre-earth life. This is illustrated by the philtrum or medial cleft (the divot of the upper lip below the nose).

For me, this is the central key to the film. Because Nemo remembers his lessons in heaven, he is able to see the workings of God in his life, which is referred to as the butterfly effect. For those not familiar with this term, it is the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings can lead to a series of events that can drastically change history. In Mr. Nobody, this was illustrated by a butterfly flying away in Japan. It follow a breeze that picks up a leaf high into the sky. The leaf is carried into the atmosphere until it comes down in the US and Nemo's father slips on it, which causes Nemo's mother to come over to help him, and the couple meets.

Not only does the lack of the touch from the angels help Nemo see this butterfly effect, but also the future events. While on my mission, I talked to a member who seemed to be wise in the ways of ideas. In the church, we often say that God knows exactly what we are going to do because He knows us so well, like a parent can know when their child might be up to no good, stealing from the cookie jar etc. However, this never fully satisfied my mind on the subject. Thus, when that philosophical member talked to me about a kind of trial and error in our premortal lives, without consequences, I became rather intrigued.

He described this scenario: you are walking down a path in the forest, and suddenly get the feeling or prompting to go back. Unknown to you, there is a bear around the corner of the trail. Now, during your time as a spirit, as practice, you walked down the trail and saw that there was a bear. Yet, here in mortality, you don't have the memory of that, but the Holy Ghost can bring a feeling of remembrance and warn you, though you don't know what about.

Though this idea intrigued me, growth and full comprehension can only occur through mortality. Which is a big part of why we are here and why we shouted for joy at the opportunity to come down and receive a body (Job 38:7). Thus, for me, it was less of actually experiencing lesson in the spirit, but more of God explaining our lives to us. I feel as though He sat down with each and every one of us and talked to us about our mortal lives. He would calmly and lovingly tell us about different choices we will need to make. Of course, being there with God, we would say that we would make the right choice, but I imagine Him saying softly to us, but what would happen if you made this choice. I do not think that we would have our entire lives told to us at one time, so God might talk to others of His children for a while, and eventually come back to us and tell us what the repercussions of other people's choice might have on us. Therefore, during these early lessons we would make promises with each other, to help each other, as well as which choices we should make for ourselves.

Peter Bishop and September the Observer from Fringe

Like the wise man told me, when we feel that prompting, it is a reminder, either a reminder that we might be in danger, or a reminder that we have an obligation or opportunity to improve ourselves and/or help someone around us. Though I do not think that we experienced it quite like he explained, this does seem clearer to me now as to what our lessons were like. Yet, it should be mentioned that with my understanding of God's nature and how time works here in the physical plane (see my blog post about Gravity, Science, and the Spirit world) that time is set. We experience it fluidly because we are moving through time, moment by moment, but like an Observer from Fringe, God is able to see it as a solid whole. This is evident with the realization that in any given scenario, and opportunity to choose, we are limited by the knowledge we have, and thus must live with the choices we made. Even if we lived the same moment a hundred times, we would always make the same choice because we would always have the same knowledge, and same personality and desires.

Between knowing us as intimately as a family unit (knowing our personality and desires), and seeing exactly how we would live our lives before we even live them, I believe that God was perfectly able to know the end from the beginning (Abraham 2:8) and give us those first lessons to help us live the most honorable life we could. There may be some who ask, "If this is so, then why do we receive promptings from God that we will ignore? God knew that we would ignore it, then why send it?" My simple answer for this is that we must be accountable. In our ignorance of mortality, before this life, we probably pleaded with God to warn us of problems and to remind us to keep our promises to our brothers and sisters. Thus, being a perfect, honorable God, He always upholds His end of the bargain, even though He knows that we might not. This allows us to stand accountable for the choices that we made, for they were given to us, and many times, we probably even learn from those experiences. I know that in my own life I have had promptings that I wish I had heeded and that inspires me to heed the next ones more diligently.

Yet, many of you who have not seen the the movie Mr. Nobody might be wondering what this has to do with anything? Though we have these pretexts of pre-earth lessons and the butterfly effect, the majority of the movie consists of scattered scenes from several different timelines. Aside of setting each timeline on its own as its own movie, I found a video that helps depict the different timelines.

Sadly, this video is not complete to my standards, for it leaves out the timeline when Nemo rides his bike out in a rage and crashes, putting him into a coma. It also, for my own entertainment, had the space station destruction replaced with "Game Over". Thus leaving the "happy ending" as the timeline when Nemo was able to be with Anna and grow old to become Mr. Nobody, aka Mr. Craft (C.R.A.F.T. Can't Remember A [Freaking] Thing). 

Though I won't go over each and every timeline, I would like to point out some key insights from Mr. Craft. While telling the story of his life he would ramble on from one timeline to another, thus the cinematography of the movie jumping from scene to scene in great confusion. When the journalist asked him which timeline is real, he says that they are all real, and each one is worth living. Though most of us would like to find the woman or man of our dreams and grow old with them, sometimes our decisions lead us down other paths. The paths may include broken homes, unfulfilled lives, and premature death. However, these outcomes do not mean that these lives were not worth living. They are the reasons why we came down to receive our bodies. I believe that God explained the hardships, and the joys, all of the pros and cons, and yet we still chose these lives. 

Luckily, for everyone reading this post right now, you are still in a position to make choices that change your life for the better, or for the worse. I hope you gain confidence and strength in knowing that whatever choices you make, your life is one worth living. I hope you find the strength to accept the choices that you have made, and continue in life changing it as you see fit.

Jean, Elise, and Anna from Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody has a line when he talks about his child self, with the dilemma of choosing his father or his mother and thereby choosing which girl he will eventually marry. He remarks about how hard of a decision that is to make, especially for a child. Yet, knowing all of the possible outcomes, he makes the choice by sending the leaf up into the sky that will eventually bring Anna to him again. This brings him joy as in his final moments Anna's name is on his tongue. 

The Oracle from The Matrix

Because of the veil, we do not know every outcome of our choices due in part by the concept given to us by The Oracle from The Matrix movies, "No one can see past a choice that they don't understand." However, by aligning ourselves to God and His will, we can begin to see why we make our choices, because we love others, because we love God, and therefore we can see a brighter future ahead. 

Love,

Jacobugoth

Agency

Dear Readers,

I had a lesson in institute (a religion class) about "agency" and one of the articles we had to read for homework made me think.

Elder Robert D. Hales said in his October 2010 General Conference that sometimes we forget that most non LDS people only associate the word "agency" with a group, company, or firm. Which is very strange with how we use the word as our free will, or ability to choose and make decisions for ourselves. (Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life).

An "agency" is "an organization, company, or bureau that provides some service for another:" (Dictionary.com).

This makes an interesting bridge. First of all, we have our personal agency, our freedom to choose for ourselves. To provide services for ourselves and others. The only reason we have this agency is because we chose God's plan in our premortal lives.

In this state of life, we were spirit children of our Father in Heaven, who has a body. In order to become more like Him, we had to experience life, not only gaining a physical body, but learning how to use it. Yet, the ultimate test is that of faith. With God's plan, we were to fall and then learn the difference between good and evil, with the final result to determine for ourselves if we would choose God, choose righteousness and goodness, or choose the evils and enticing sins of this world.

However, Lucifer, a son of the morning, had another plan. He wanted to come down in Jehovah's place, becoming our savior and mediator. Despite what could have been a noble gesture, his plan came with some amendments, including making us all be good. We would not have choices, we could not fully think and act for ourselves.

I realize this could be a hard concept to grasp, but it could be as harsh as full mind control, like what Apocalypse tried to do with Professor Xavier's powers in X-men Apocalypse.

Or, more realistically and how I would imagine, it would be more like lesser animals. We would be bound by instincts. Obeying the laws of God only because chemicals in our bodies compel us to.

In either case, that was a turning point in Lucifer's plan, though he is recounted by Isaiah (14:12-14) mourning for him for the most crucial part, that the light bringer Lucifer himself would receive God's glory and replace Him as our god.

Even though there may be times in our lives that we wish someone else was in control, that we did not have to think and act for ourselves, then deal with the consequences, I believe it was that last drastic clause of Lucifer's plan that cinch our choices in choosing Jehovah over him. Yet, that idea of everyone being saved, and not having the burden of living life and not having to make hard choices, like between good and evil, drew away one-third of our Father's children away, choosing relatively for the last time to follow a being literally into the depths of hell in exchange for not having agency of their own. (Revelations 12:4)

Again, in my opinion, their wills became part of Satan's will, and thus all they seek as angels of the devil, demons in the darkness, is the misery of the rest of us (Moroni 7:17). We, of the human race, who have received physical bodies, are of the two-thirds that chose God, chose Jehovah who came down as Jesus Christ and paid for our sins. Because of Him and God's plan we have our freedom to choose, our agency.

Lastly, I would like to note how our agency plays in the grand scheme of things. We have our own agency, which means we are an agency. We can work services for ourselves and be agents for our own purposes, or we can be agents of evil, using our agency to ruin the lives of others, and our own in the process. Yet, by this same token, we can use our agency, the agency that God and Christ have given us to choose to do good, acting as agents and representatives of the Father. Thus we see why it was spoken that charity, the pure love of Christ towards another creature, is true religion (James 1:27, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8) (religion being how we are tied back to God April 2014 General Conference "Let Your Faith Show" Elder Russel M. Nelson), because that is passing the test. That is using our agency to choose God. That is being Christlike and serving the Father, for inasmuch as we do it unto one of the least of our brothers and sisters, we do it unto God (Matthew 25:40).

These thoughts I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ. amen

Love,
Jacobugoth

Reincarnation

Dear Readers,

I felt impressed that I needed to write a post about my beliefs and understand of reincarnation. From what i understand, reincarnation is the spirit of an individual being born into a different body after the body dies, and the nature of the new body, whether human, animal, or other, is the result of that individual's choices in this life. Thwn, with a new kife and a new body, the cycle starts again.

I remember, on my mission, that I was teaching and wonderful woman and her husband about the Plan of Salvation. The Plan of Salvation, also called the Plan of Happiness, is God's plan for us to return to Him. Various steps, points, or principles of this plan include: pre-mortal life, the creation of the world, Adam and Eve and their fall from grace, our earth life, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, death, the spirit world: including paradise and prison, resurrection judgement and immortality, and finally the three degrees of glory: Celestial, terrestrial, and telestial.

I do not recall at which point the sister made her comment, but she roughly said, "What is your church's standing on reincarnation?" This question took me by surprise, I had only been on my mission for about 12 months, and never before had anyone asked about reincarnation. So, my companion and I took a quick breather, and the Spirit instructed me to ask her a question, "Are you asking because this is a belief you have?" She confirmed that it was. Then I asked, "Do you believe in reincarnation because of experiences you have had?"

She then proceeded to tell me about how she had always had a love of mountains, and has memories of being on mountains she has never been to before. She also has memories of a woman dressed in red, in the West, like a bordello harlot.

I had no idea what to say. I have not had any experiences myself like that. The only similarity is that I always loved monsters and creatures. From as far as my parents and I can remember, even to the present day, I still love monsters. This did not help me answer her initial question, but it allowed the Holy Ghost to work through me and testify to all of us in the room of a truth. In our pre-mortal life, not all of us having been born at the same time, come to the earth to be born at different times. After the creation of the world, what do our spirits do while waiting to be born in the flesh? Do they just sit there and do nothing, or do they accumulate intelligence? Not just learning from God, but what about likes and dislikes?

This is what the Spirit testified to us, that our very spirits have personalities, that her spirit likely either helped with the creation of mountains, or at least visited them in her pre-mortal life. This is where she gained her love for them and their beauty, and God saw fit to allow some of those pre-mortal memories to seep through the veil.

As for the harlot in red, she could have been an ancestor in the flesh, which this sister's spirit visited, either for support or just to learn what trials she might face in mortality. Another possibility, is that the harlot's spirit was a dear friend of her's in the pre-mortal life, and that she was looking out for her friend.

These answers satisfied her inquiry and helped her understand that though reincarnation is false doctrine, it does not mean that the reasons the doctrine was created are not true.

This answer helped me in a later situation. It was roughly 6 months later. My companion and I were teaching a less active member and his non member, investigating housemate. Again, we were teaching the Plan of Salvation, and the member mentioned how the cycle then repeats for reincarnation. First, we tried to emphasize that the kingdoms, or degrees of glory, are a final place estate after the resurrection. Then, again perceiving that there was a reason behind his belief, I asked him if he has had experiences that have lead him to believe in reincarnation. He said yes, then I said that from what I have come to understand, memories of past events that have never happened to us in this life, are memories we got to keep from our pre-mortal lives, as we went for learning and growing. I was surprised at how quickly he agreed with me, because he said, I understand now, I felt the Spirit tell me that what you said is true. All the while, the investigator had been actually on the missionaries' side, not having a belief in reincarnation.

My main point is, that the doctrine or belief of reincarnation was derived and developed because of these memories that religious leaders could not understand or explain in any other way. Since the truth has been restored through Joseph Smith and modern revelation, we can see clearly now, and have acceptance, and even appreciation for these memories, or personality traits.

Having said that, I would like to address the growing disillusionment, or clarity behind the doctrine of reincarnation.

I enjoy many shows, including Avatar: the Last Airbender. In this cartoon, Aang, the Avatar, is a "reincarnation" of Avatars from the past. He, being able to communicate through the spirit world, is able to talk to his past selves. Something I found intriguing was that they were each individuals. They had their own personality, their own morals and values, and most importantly, their own lives lived. This leads me to believe that part of this doctrine it is not spirits that are reincarnated into bodies, from one life to a next, but rather, some power choosing or following a life. In the case of this show, it is like the Avatar power is born again, or more accurately, given, to an individual in each generation, after the current Avatar passes on. Then this power acts like a tie or bond between the different spirits who had used that power while in mortality, keeping them close.

I have speculated/compared the very bending powers in the Avatar show, to the priesthood. Having some authority that allows one to command the very elements to obey. Then there is the mantle of the priesthood, with the keys to the administrations thereof, which are passed down from Prophet of God to Prophet of God. This reminds me of what it means to be the Avatar. Are not the Prophets of old tied to those who have lead us in these latter days? Did they not hold the same power? Is not that a bond that connects them through space and time? Evidence of this would be the example of shortly after Joseph Smith's death, the members of the church did not know who the next Prophet should be, so they had members of the 12 Apostles speak. When President Brigham Young stood up and spoke, he spoke with Joseph Smith's voice and appearance. How could this be, unless the Prophet Joseph Smith's spirit had been with Brigham Young?

The idea of a power or influence bonding with someone else what recently re-emphasized to me while watching Naruto Shippuden. There were two brothers who fought and caused a great war. Their ideas and traits were "reincarnated" at least twice. One brother having his power come from friends, the other from inherit power within himself. Their powers, preserved in what the show calls chakra, which is essentially spirit energy and energy from the body being molded together, latches on to individuals who possess those same traits. Somewhat influencing the individual to nurture and focus on those traits.

This pointed out to me that it is not the same spirit, just in a new body, but residual effects or powers from the past being used again.

Lastly, in the X-files tv series, Maulder runs into a lady with multiple personality disorder, who "turns out" to just retain memories and personalities of past incarnations. Maulder has one as well who had been very close to one of hers. Then the show taught that these spirits group together with other spirits they are familiar or close with.

This reminded me of some episodes of Charmed that were very similar. However, with the knowledge of reincarnation being false, how would this kind of behavior be explained. For me, it was the key in the X-files philosophy, that the spirits group around those they are familiar with. What if those "past selves" are just spirits who have attached themselves, like the chakra from Naruto, to an individual. Thus, reliving vicariously through that individual, those things that were meaningful or profound to them. Two spirits in love choose two passionate lovers to be reciprocals of their love. Two brothers fighting choose two brothers, or close friends, and re-experience their hate.

After writing that, I cannot help but make the comparison to Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural. They are two brothers who do not get along a lot of the time. One follows their father blindly, and the other rebels. This was used as an explanation/example of Michael the Archangel and Lucifer the Son of the Morning. Their Father was God, and Lucifer rebelled. They, in this show, as spirit/graceful beings wanted to possess Sam and Dean's bodies to reenact their fight on earth and perform the battle of Armageddon. Thus again, beings or powers choosing people of like character or circumstance to be vessels for them.

To reiterate for the last time, there are three possibilities as to why reincarnation is a false doctrine. First, and having been testified of on two occasions by the Holy Ghost, is that some of us have memories from our pre-mortal life. Second, mostly my own reasoning using the truth I know and the depictions presented me, that reincarnation is power of the past, almost like priesthood power, Third, again my own speculation, that spirits of the past haunt, posses, or just tag along with us during mortality.

The only time that "reincarnation" would be truth, as defined as a spirit receiving a new body after death that may be different from the old and comes as a result of one's choices in this life, would be with the resurrection. For there are bodies celestial, terrestrial, and telestial, all differing in glory because of the judgment (Doctrine and Covenants 76). Then, and only then, does it meet the criteria, but it does not cycle through again.

As for me, and what I truly believe, and not just speculate or theorize, is that in most cases, these experiences are memories of the pre-mortal life. Unless I have a reason to gain further light and knowledge beyond this, I rest.

I hope that you have enjoyed this post, and feel free to comment any ideas or understanding you have on this subject. For or against what I have talked about. Even if you believe in reincarnation and just want to bear your testimony of it, feel free to do so.

Love,
Jacobugoth

Facebook Request 4: My Testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Dear Readers,

This is the last of my Facebook requests that I have so far received. I had originally asked for requests in the hopes that I could find more narrow subjects to bear my testimony on... instead, a lovely girl by the name of Shy asked me to just bear my testimony. So this post is dedicated to her.

I was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Being thus raised, I was surrounded by the Mormon influence, but what I found, especially around the age of 17, is that all I had gained was a testimony that God is my Father, and that Jesus Christ is His son and my Savior. I mostly chalk this up to the gift of the Spirit, (Moroni 10:11) "and to another, exceedingly great faith...". Though, it is also from having so many of my prayers answered. Indeed, I have such great faith that my prayers can be answered, and that Jesus Christ and God the Father are real, that I would refer to it more as knowledge than faith.

Growing up, I have always been a very strange, weird child. Generally a freak. So, at the age of 17, I decided to pray one night, with all of my heart, as the most desperate desire of my soul, to know why I am the way that I am. I was answered through my dream. It contained two parts, though I will only mention the relevant meaning of the second part, because I hold both very dear and close to my heart. My answer was: there are people in this world, that only I can help, because I am the way that I am.

I had not considered even serving a mission. My family was very understanding about it. They would like me to serve a mission, but they did not expect or require it of me. I am very thankful to them for that, because I know that the pressures in the church can send young men onto a course, that may be a righteous course, but trodden begrudgingly, and is soon departed from.

So, with the age to serve a mission being 19, and I was close to being 18, I actually considered going, probably for the first time in my life. I just figured, that if there are people out there that only I can help, then serving a mission would be a good way to try and find them. But, I wanted to make sure that what I would be called to preach on my mission was true.

I knew that there is a God in Heaven, that Jesus Christ was His Son, and I knew that they answered prayers. This got me on the path of studying out my beliefs. I rationally figured that serving a mission would be a good way of find those I am meant to help, but, since I did not know if the doctrine was true, I was completely willing to leave the church and find God's true church, wherever that may be. I believe I was 18 by this point, and again, knowing how understanding my parents are, knew that they would not look down on me should I walk a different path.

Without the distractions of peer pressure or doubt, I planned ahead. I had found, at a nearby park, a location that I felt really close to. Like my own little wooded area. My own sacred grove. I chose a Monday morning to walk out to this location, and kneel down to ask my Father in Heaven if the Book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was indeed His Prophet, a true Prophet. Part of why I felt so inclined to choose a location, in nature, and to pray there, is because in my studying of the church, I found that I related to Joseph Smith.

I too felt that the powers of darkness had combined against me, almost in my infancy. My mother had a stroke when she was pregnant with me. I grew up a freak, feeling like I had no friends, like I was alone. For years, tried to keep my suffering in silence as I battled depression. I felt like God must have an amazing plan for me, and important plan. Indeed, part of me, expected to receive an undeniable witness of God's will, possibly through the visitation of a heavenly messenger.

Note: this is not the place, but same park

When I reached my destination, I took off my glasses, and kneeling down, my face in my hands, bent low, I prayed to my Father in Heaven. I told Him the desires of my heart, that I know He is real, I know Jesus Christ is real, I know I am willing to follow Him, I desire to know which church is true, if the Book of Mormon is true, if Joseph Smith was a true Prophet. I poured out this desire, like the tears from my face. Then, after closing in Christ's name, I waited. I waited some more. When my tears finally dried, I straitened my back and looked up at the sun, shinning through the trees. I felt no different. No burning in my bosom, as the scriptures say. I did not feel more loved, I did not feel like I received an answer at all.

Replacing my glasses, I stood up and just began to walk, wandering around the park. I don't think that I saw anyone else there. I walked, and walked, for several hours, just looking at the beauty around me, and trying to figure out why my prayer was not answered.

Finally it dawned on me... almost like a voice in my head that was not quite mine. From that very morning I felt peaceful. Even on my walk to my own personal sacred grove, did I not hear the birds chirping so wonderfully. Were not all of my senses heightened, and just filled with peace. Indeed, this entire morning, wandering out here, has this feeling departed from me? No. I know that God answers prayers, and if there was ever a point in my life for Him to lead me onto the right path, this would be it. So, maybe this peace is the answer to my prayer, an answer that He chose to give before I even asked the question.

This is when I learned, for myself, a true, deeper meaning of faith. If God wanted me on another path, He could have told me, so this must be the right path, at least for now. So yes, this could be considered convincing myself, but I "CHOSE" to accept the peace as my answer. I learned that faith is not something you acquire, nor is it something that is given to your, or that you spontaneously have. Faith is a choice. A choice to do good, to follow God. Faith is choosing the better part. That day, I chose.

With this testimony, I went forth and served a mission for the LDS church, preaching Mormonism, or more properly called, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On that two year journey, I learned so much. I learned that, because God could do such a better job than snot nosed twenty-year-olds, that the mission is less for actual missionary work, and is more for the missionary. I learned more about myself than all the years before hand. I learned more about my body, and it's limitations and strengths. I learned more about the doctrine, feeding and building upon my testimony.

I also had the opportunity to learn more about other religions, and I found out that this is the most true church on the earth, indeed, if ANY other church currently upon the earth was true, my very soul would not be satisfied. I like how the mother of my favorite mission companion put it... though I don't remember her exact words. She roughly said, that the majority of religions, especially all of the variations of Christianity, teach the same thing. Do unto others and you want them to do to you. Be nice, serve God. Love one another. So if so much is the same, then it is the differences that should matter. Indeed, all of that love and doing good is what happens in this life. It is what happened before this life, and what happens after this life, that makes the most difference.

I learned from a Jehovah's Witness that they believe that all our "spirits" are actually just part of God's Spirit, thus it is a portion of His spirit that enters us for the breath of life. For me, this does destroy some sense of individuality... "'I' think, therefore 'I' am". So that does not sit right with me. Then, they believe in an afterlife quite Biblically based. That when Christ comes again, He will govern this world, and that those who followed Him and His example, will be resurrected and live in paradise. The 144,000 chosen are to be resurrected, like Christ, as "spiritual" beings, or "celestial" beings, while the rest of the multitude of Christ's followers will be physical or of a "terrestrial" nature. For the rest of eternity, they will live in this paradise, with Christ as the King, and the 144,000 as other leaders, all under Jehovah. This kind of heaven sounds nice, I mean it is paradise, but it does not satisfy my soul. I know that eventually, science will all be mastered, and then life will just continue. No progress, no growth. Stagnant, for all eternity.

The same problem comes with other religions, either you are reincarnated over and over again, reach nirvana meaning nothingness or being part of everything, or you wind up in a heaven, where you are at peace, and restful, but without any progression. This could never satisfy my soul. I know what it is like to be blissful, but without some purpose, some cause, some growth, there is no satisfaction.

If you are reading this and you are not a Mormon, I hope that you understand that I mean no offence, especially if I did not represent or understand your religion very well. I ask for you to please comment your beliefs and maybe your testimony of why you believe your faith. I am merely trying to state my understanding of why the LDS church is the only religion that is true upon the earth. Indeed, this is the only religion that has answered every question I have had.

For, not only do we believe in a pre-existence as individuals with God, as His spirit children, we believe that after this life we can progress and become just like Him. For, what is the point of children, if they do not grow up and become like their parents.

I leave these things with you, that I know for myself that God lives, that Jesus is His Son and that He is the Christ, the same that lived a perfect life, suffered for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and gave His life on the cross all for our sake. I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God, that God bestowed upon him power and authority to translate the Book of Mormon which is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the American Continent, for God loves His children everywhere, and to restore the fullness of Christ's Gospel back to the earth. I know that the priesthood, or the authority to act in God's name is upon the earth, and that the mantle of Prophet-hood, as I call it, has been passed down to our current Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I know that God loves His children today, as in days past, and that He does speak to us today. He is not dead nor doth He sleep. I know that because of Christ, all will be resurrected from the dead, and then judged according to their works and desires of their hearts. I know that this mortal shell shall be outgrown and receive immortality, and I often pray for that day to come speedily. I leave these things with you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Holy Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Rock of Heaven, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, Amen.

Love,
Jacobugoth

Creation

Dear Readers,

I felt like sharing and bearing my testimony and knowledge of the creation of this world. Though I am not sure where to begin.

We know from Moses 3:5 that everything was made spiritually before it was physically created. Now, as far as I know, and have testimony of, God is the creator of spirits (Teachings:Joseph F. Smith 37), thus He created man as spirit first (Doctrine and Covenants 93:29), so also did He create the earth. It was indeed His plan after all, and it would also make sense that he would have something visual for us to see when He shared His plan with us to be sustained (not voting upon, but signifying our allegiance to).

As we know, Christ was the first to volunteer to be the Savior in God's plan , and that Satan volunteered second to be the Savior with his own plan (Isaiah 14:12-15). God, of course, chose Christ, and Satan with his 1/3 of all of the spiritual children of God, were cast out of heaven. (Revelations 12:4, Joseph Smith Translation Revelations 12:4)

Then in Abraham 3:22-24, Abraham was shown in a vision from God through the Urim and Thummim, that we were all intelligences which were organized, and that there was one, like unto God, who is Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, and said "we will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;"

Now this "we" could be Jehovah and Michael, which is at least confirmed by the teachings of the temple, but I believe that we, ourselves, even all of the children of God who kept their first estate (sustained Christ and God's plan instead of Satan and his {Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual Lesson 2}) worked and helped organize and build this world, all under the direction of God through Jehovah.

 As plainly described in Abraham 4:1, the earth was organized from actual materials, i.e. physical matter. Joseph Smith also added "The word create came from the [Hebrew] word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and buil a ship. Hense, we infer that God had materials to organize the world our of chaos--chaotic matter" Some believe this was a nebula, in which gravity was introduced, which is indeed congruent with the teachings of the temple.

But mixed with the teachings in the institute manual about dinosaurs, we find that whatever original planet which hosted the dinosaurs was likely created from a nebula, but then pieces or even the entire thing recycled was then turned into that fundamental, void (Genesis 1:2) earth. Possibly, and this is my opinion based upon the truths that I know, that the initial gravity that condensed the nebula was likely this planet, that is why there is so many layers of dirt and stone upon the fossils of the dinosaurs. Thus there are the fossilized remnant of dinosaurs that date back millions of years which are also buried in the earth, and yet this was all done before the first day of God's 7 day creation. Also, should this be the case, it would also explain why the dinosaurs grew to such large heights. A smaller planet, indeed part of our own, would have a lighter gravity, thus the animals could physically grow larger. Kind of the same phenomenon as portrayed in James Cameron's Avatar.

Now we have the basic planet structure by this nebula birth and recycling, with the heavier, solid matter below, liquid in the middle, and the gasses on top. For there was darkness on this planet structure and the Spirit of God (Holy Ghost) went forth upon the face of the deep. (Genesis 1:2). I remember praying once to learn from God what that spirit was, whether it was all of us spiritual children of God, or the Holy Ghost. I bear witness that it was indeed the Spirit of God and that He was and is there watching over the tabernacle we call earth. He helped to build it, and though He will not receive a body until the end (The Restoration of Major Doctrines through Joseph Smith: The Godhead, Mankind, and the Creation) He is always there, helping us when we need help, and will also be there to welcome us when we depart from this life.

Now the first day, according to the reckoning of God, which is the same, if not close to the reckoning of time on the sphere called Kolob, is one thousand years as we know it now, on earth. (Abraham 3:4, 9, 2 Peter 3:8)This is also verified by God's own word, in Genesis 2:17 God says to Adam, "...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Then in in Genesis 5:5 it says "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died." Thus within that one day to the Father, Adam did indeed die. God does not sleep so there is no night. Anyway, this day begins with God saying "let there be light" and there was light, and the light was "good" (Genesis 1:3-4). Then God divided the light from the darkness. I have wondered about this. I have come to the conclusion that the light is from "God's face" or His glory and that He drew near to watch as His children continued to work, thus departing the darkness which was upon the face of the earth. Thus the light is good, and the first day was completed.

This first day also makes sense from any scientist's objective perspective. If you are about to run an experiment, first you want light to see what you are doing.

Day two, a firmament between the waters and the waters. (Genesis 1:6) Basically now that there was light, water began to evaporate from the heat of the light and rose into the atmosphere making clouds.

Day three. The waters below the firmament are gathered together and dry land is brought up or forth.(Genesis 1:9) This would be the birth of pangea, the first solid landmass. For it was in the days of Peleg that the land divided (Genesis 10:25) into the continents as we know them today. Then grass and plants spring forth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:11) Again from the practical perspective, you need plants to make oxygen for the eventual other forms of life, indeed for the eventual children of God and the purpose of the creation of the earth. The plants use this "light" from God to fuel this process of photosynthesis. Essentially, the earth was being terraformed. I would like to point out that the earth, though perfect with the vegetation, was not celestial, for it was a paradise like the earth will return to during the Millennium (Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual Section 38). Indeed it was a terrestrial planet.

Day four. God knows that He will have to leave, because of "the fall", so that we can be truly tested. Thus this "light" would be taken away, and that we need other forms of light. So God either created the stars, or allowed their light to reach us, and created the sun and moon for us. (Genesis 1:16) Now, I should mention that I know not whether the sun and moon were actually created or organized at this time, or if they were brought into their current orbits.

Day 5. God causes fish, then fowl, then whales. (Genesis 1:20-21)I like how the creatures of the ocean and waters are created first, as a testimony to me that just because they were created first, thus having older bones and remains, does not mean that one begot the next or evolution, but rather God is a God of order and has stages and levels of creation which we usually call a species.(dictionary.com species Biology. The major subdivision of a genus of subgenus, regarded as the basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not able to breed with members of another species. [Breed meaning sexual intercourse that produces viable offspring that are not sterile]) 

Quick rant: I am annoyed by the scientific community because they do not adhere to their own definition. Probably for more publicity about discovering a new species, or to make them force the puzzle pieces together about evolution. Either way, it is bad science and bad classification. The coyote, wolf, and domestic dog are all prime examples to me of this phenomena. Different "breeds" of dog are still the same species, yet wolves, their ancient ancestors, are considered a different species. Yet they can indeed breed with domestic dogs, thus getting "part wolf". Yet those part wolf offspring can then continue to reproduce. Given, for some reason, it is rare for a wolf and a dog to breed, but so it is with coyotes. Now a wolf and a coyote are also considered different species under the strange, made up rule about them not normally breeding in the wild. But when they breed, they create what scientists call a hybrid. Yet again these hybrids can continue to breed and create viable offspring. For example, the Texas Chupacabra. This is indeed a real creature. It is the result of one of these coyote-wolf "hybrids" breeding with a "pure blood" coyote. Thus in all actuality, they are all the same species, dogs, wolves, and coyotes, and they should be objectively call breeds, or at least subspecies. 

The same thing happens with other species, for example rattle-snakes. The Timbur Rattle-snake and the Diamondback Rattle-snake are separated by distance and land, but they can still breed, but don't in the wild. Yet, these same scientists, in some cases like this, wisely call them subspecies. Pretty much, genetic variations of the same species, like breeds for cats and dogs, or races for humans. So, I hope that you can see, why it frustrates me so, when they claim there are so many species, or even new species, when they are not adhering to their own criteria. 

Again going with the flaws with evolution, and going back to the examples of canines. Even with will of the controlled breeding to get a Chiwawa and a Mastiff, though they are massively different in size, they could still breed and produce viable offspring. Given a female chiwawa bearing such an offspring would either need a C-section or die during birth, but a female Mastiff could easily bring forth a litter created from such a union. So, with all of man's efforts over the generations, we still have not truly observed the creation  of a new species, unless you count A-sexual organisms, but they are a whole different discussion. Lastly, I would like to point out that I am not fighting Darwin's notion of natural selection, I am just arguing that no matter how much natural selection or man's selection, a new species is not created. 

End of rant. 

So, God commanded that these fish, birds, and whales multiply. That was the end of the 5th day. (Genesis 1:22)

Day six. God created more and higher species, like cattle and things that creep upon the earth. God called them "good". (Genesis 1:24) There was not maliciousness, not fighting or contention. Literally, they were all herbivores, just like they will be during the millennium, "the lion shall eat straw like the ox."(Isaiah 11:6-8). Quickly, I would like to point out that felines are one of the few purely carnivorous animal families on earth. Even dogs and wolves will eat grass to help settle stomachs. 

Anyway, commanded them to multiply, and create more of their own kind. Again, the definition of a species. After God created these perfect animals, God created mankind. First with Adam, from the very dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7) with a celestial, perfect body (Journal if Discourses volume 1 pg 50), and then Eve, as part of Adam, taken from his rib (Genesis 2:21) in similitude of their being side by side, true, unified partners, of one flesh. I also find it fitting that Eve, or woman, was taken out of man, and then women have X chromosomes while men have an X and a Y. So quite symbolically, the X was reproduced and taken out of the XY man. Then God commanded His creations to multiply and replenish the earth. I also like the word "replenish" because it implies that the earth was once fully inhabited, thus again giving more credence to the dinosaur planet concept. 

Sadly though, I have learned that the rib being taken from Adam was purely symbolic. "The story of the rib, of course, is figurative." (The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood, President Spencer W. Kimbal also The Eternal Family Teacher's Manual Lesson 7) Yet in this discovery I found this by Elder Russel M Nelson "From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed. Interesting to me is the fact that animals fashioned by our creator, such as dogs and cats, have thirteen pairs of ribs, but the human being has one less with only twelve." (Lessons from Eve)  

Thus ended the sixth day. The seventh day God "rested". (Genesis 2:2) I put rested in quotations because it is a basic misconception. As the Sabbath or 7th day is made for man to "rest", so it was for God. But what has God commanded us to do on the Sabbath, attend church, serve in our callings, study His word, ponder upon the things of God. All of these things are not resting, or as most people think of as sleeping or napping. On the contrary, most of these things take quite a bit of "work" and effort. So what is the true meaning of this "rest"? It is taking time out for the spiritual things, resting from matters of the flesh, or the temporary things, and focusing on those things that are most important, more crucial. Indeed, during this thousand of earth years in which God "rested", He focused on teaching Adam and Eve. Teaching them His gospel, teaching them truth, and imparting to them of knowledge. That is why it is so very fitting that this time period climaxed with Adam and Eve gaining the greatest, most progressive knowledge possible, by partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 3:4) Quite a mouth full in more than one way. 

I feel that I should expound a little about about the nature of life in the Garden of Eden. During the course of writing this post, specifically Sunday July 26, 2015, I came across something that I did not know, and had not testimony of. Indeed it was perplexing to me, and I had little scriptural information to clarify it to me. So I prayed to know the truth. I had trouble receiving the answer, but finally through the means of writing things out, on paper, I received what I believe to be an answer. I know that the fall of Adam and Eve was necessary for them to procreate and to replenish the earth. And I know that in the celestial kingdom, after this life, celestial beings can too reproduce, so that the physical fall was not what was necessary for them to procreate, but rather a mental and spiritual fall. What I did not know was if the fall was necessary for animals to reproduce as well, or if they were already fulfilling God's first commandment while in the Garden of Eden. 

My answer, through prayer, was that they were indeed able to reproduce. The fall, and the curse upon the earth as a result, was for man's sake, not for the animals. The animals were, and will be redeemed. They, though celestialized, were able to reproduce more celestial beings. Their bodies have a nature for this, that was not caused by the fall. While for humans, we may claim it is our nature, but that nature is only a result of the fall. Flesh begets flesh, and spirit begets spirit. 

Another aspect I would like to touch on is that as a result of the fall, animal's brains are more limited. While in the garden animals could indeed speak. Satan does not, and will never have a body of his own, so he literally possessed a snake's body to speak to Eve. (Genesis 3:4, Moses 4:6-7 )

 It is known that demons and evil spirits can possess animal bodies, like when Jesus cast Legion into the herd of swine. (Mark 5:9-13). Also, why didn't Eve wonder why the snake was taking to her? We know from Numbers 22:27-31 that the Lord made the ass to speak, or rather weakened the veil so that the ass could speak for itself. Which means that at least the spirit of the ass is smart enough to be able to speak, even though its body, because of the fall, is not normally able to. 

I do believe that I have covered all that I have desire to cover in this post. I hope that you enjoyed this, and if you have any questions, comments, or references for or against what I have posted here, please leave them in the comments. Thank you. 

Love,

Jacobugoth