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[00:00:00] Okay, before we get started, you guys, I have some really exciting news. The Sunday on Monday Stunning Journal is back! It's back, you guys, and it's free. This is so fun. You can get the entire Sunday on Monday study journal for free. Here's what you do. Go to ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday and find where we put all of our scripts and transcripts and all that fun stuff.
And you will see a link for a journal and you can just download it and print it off at your home. I did mine and I printed it off. You want to go for the double sided option when you print and it is. Awesome. So we're really excited. It's free for you. So thank you for listening. And we just wanted to give back three years had passed since Joseph Smith had his miraculous vision in the sacred grove where he saw God, the father and his son, Jesus Christ.
Now, three whole years in that three years time, he had not received any additional revelations. And so he kind of began to wonder maybe what the Lord was displeased with him. He admits that he had made mistakes and he felt condemned by them. Yet God still had a work for him to do. And in this week's come follow me study of Joseph Smith history, chapters one verses 27 through 56, as well as doctrine and covenant section two, we get to study.
What that work was and two of the first things that Joseph was commanded to do. Welcome to the Sunday on Monday study group, a desert bookshelf plus original brought to you by LDS living where we take the come follow me lesson for the week and we really dig into the scriptures together. I'm your host, Tammy. Uzelac Hall. Now, if you're new to our study group, please follow the link in our description and it's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your come follow me study. Just like my friend, Valerie Gray. Hi, Valerie. I'm So glad I got to meet you now. Another awesome thing about our study group, and it's my favorite thing, is each week we're joined by two of my friends.
So it's always a little bit different. And today we have two new guests. I'm so excited to introduce you to them. It is Dossan Bell and Jaxon Bell. Hi guys. How we doing? How are you? Okay. How do you two know each other? We are brothers, actually. Um, Jaxon's my older brother. We're two years apart, and we are just the best of buds.
Grew up in Ogden, Utah, um, with great parents and a great family, and yeah, we're, yeah, we're super tight, and so we're excited to be here today. Yeah. Oh, this is so fun. Jaxon, tell us where you live now. So I'm currently living in Ogden and then Dossan's living in California right now. So yes, we've kind of been separate the past few years of our lives because I don't know it's been crazy If I told you the whole story we'd be here for a really long time, but long story made short We've lived in so many different states at different times and we haven't seen each other for over like a week straight like Consistently for almost three to four years and so the times that we do get to spend together.
It's really awesome and really cool. Just with all that's going on in our lives. It's so busy. Oh, my gosh. This is a sweet reunion. Well, this is a fun story. So I'll tell you how I know these two several months ago last year, actually. Thank goodness for Instagram. I don't know how it happened, but my algorithm, for whatever reason, it picked up Dossan's Instagram account, and he does these really cool dances, and I was struck by it because my girls are all about learning dances, right?
And it was one where you and your friend were doing this dance at a gas station. And I saw, I showed it to my girls. I'm like, you guys, this guy's crazy. Look at these dance moves. Like he's such a good dancer. And I started, I was watching him dance and I thought there is something different about him though.
Like he, I don't know. There was just this weird light. I shouldn't say weird. It was genuine. Like there's a light about Dossan. And in my mind I'm like, I think he's a member of the church. So I start doing my investigative research and I'm scrolling through everything and I'm just watching videos and I get to a video where he's in a gym.
Yeah. That looks like a gym I've known my whole life and on the wall are sure enough, a cubby for church hymn books, green hymn books. And I'm like, those are hymnals. He is a member of the church. So I was just kind of thinking he'd be so cool to have on the podcast. And then we get to this episode. And I thought, and I, you know, I, everyone knows I pray who should be the guests and it was so clear it's supposed to be Dossan, but I don't know him.
Dossan, we've never met. Oh, we have not. So I just sent a message to Dossan on Instagram and I'm like, Hey, and I gave him my information. Are you a member of the church? Would you like to be on the podcast? Dossan, what did you think when you saw that? Well, at first, cause I, um, not, not in a, like a conceited way, but, um, because I'm in a band, there's a lot of DMs that I get.
So I was just kind of going through and I saw that DM. And so usually I'm a little like skeptical just cause there's a lot of [00:05:00] like scams out there and stuff. But when I saw it and then I just saw like the ask if I was LDS and then saw that it was an LDS podcast. I immediately was like super excited because like.
I think this is what it's all about. Um, being able to have a platform and be able to share with the people that follow you, you know? So I was like, I was super excited when I saw the message cause I was like, Oh, this'll be good. This'll be super fun and good to like, get on. I was freaking out when he said yes.
That was so cool. Like, Oh my gosh, this is gonna be great. So Dossan and I talked and I just said, I'm going to leave it up to you. I get to have one other friend, you can choose whoever you want, a friend, a sibling, whatever. And he said, let me get back to you in a week. And a week later he said, I want my brother.
Why'd you choose your brother? I chose Jaxon because, um, he's someone in my life that I've always looked up to. Um, it's always been him and my dad. And just as of the last couple of years, he's set major example in my life with him being on his mission. I saw it. I saw Jaxon change who he was and his, like, heart's desires, and I could see it.
And Jaxon's just, he's a great human being, and he's got, he's got a lot of, um, goodness in him. And I can tell how strong his testimony has grown since his mission. I just see how much impact he has on people. Like we literally were just at IHOP yesterday, but the way he talked to the waitress, just with so much love and care, and I could see how he was such a good missionary.
That's why I love this guy. He's always been a role model my whole life. Thanks man. I love that. Okay. Well, I think we're in for a real treat. Everyone listening, this is going to be a fun episode and, and you'll find out why as we go further along, because these two men have stories and they're going to share their stories with us.
And I just think, again, God is so good and he's so in charge and there's no doubt in my mind that these two are supposed to be on this episode. So if you want to know more about my guests. You can find pictures of them and read their bios and find out about the band that Dossan's in, which is so fun.
We'll talk more about that. And you're going to find all of that in our show notes, which are found at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. So grab your scriptures and we're so happy you're studying with us. And let's dig into Doctrine and Covenants Section 2, as well as Joseph Smith History 1, verses 27 through 65.
Okay, you guys, right out of the gate, I ask every one of my guests this question. Tell me, what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you read these scriptures? I can start, if that's okay. Yeah, hit it. So, When I read these verses, there was a similar theme that, I don't know if most people saw, but because I kind of saw myself in it, it stuck out to me.
In verse 28, it shares just how Joseph Smith wasn't perfect. And it uses a few different words to describe, um, just who he was in his youth. And he goes on to say that he was guilty of levity and sometimes associated with jovial company, not consistent with the character, which ought to be maintained by one who is called of God, as I had been.
And it just is funny to me, because the prophet was imperfect. And all throughout this entire section, you'll read how he was so imperfect. Like, the Lord knew that Joseph might have the thought to use the plates for money. He, like, if you go through the prophet Joseph Smith's life, like, you'll find out everything except that, yeah, it wasn't, you'll find that it wasn't perfect.
It's everything but perfect. It was very imperfect, and so What really stuck out to me is that the fact that Heavenly Father is able to take people so weak and so imperfect and make something so beautiful and perfect through them. And so it reminded me of the imperfect harvest and how what we see isn't always exactly perfect.
Lord was intending. And so we have to kind of put in the work to get those spiritual things that the Lord's wanting us to find. And so I just, I just thought it was cool. Long story made short that the Lord could use someone's own perfect to do something so great. Tell me what you meant by the word. I love when you said an imperfect harvest.
Well, personally to me, the imperfect harvest is my life. Um, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. I've failed countless times. But, every time I try my best, I feel the Lord say, You know what? I know that that's your best and I love you for it. And that's all I ask for. And so, reading through Joseph's life, I can see that it wasn't the perfect harvest.
It was imperfect. But the Lord took what Joseph brought and worked with it and said, You're the [00:10:00] prophet that I called, and I'm not going to go back on that, and so, in my life personally, I haven't always believed in God, or Jesus Christ, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, or the prophet Joseph Smith, but the Lord's been very patient with me, and He's helped me as I've grown and as I've learned.
He's, he's helped me become a closer version of who I want to become in the end. And so Imperfect Harvest is my life. I'm so imperfect, but the Lord makes all the things that I can't do. He makes them right. So. Wow, Jaxon. Thank you. That was awesome. All right, Dossan. I think for me while reading it, also, I was thinking of, uh, the imperfectness of Joseph and him explaining some of his, um, downfalls when it came to him going through those younger years and having all these interactions with Inge Moroni and everything, and I just thought, wow.
A man like, like Joseph Smith, even though he had such a major, major role, he was just like us, you know, he was imperfect and, and he even told us himself, you know, he humbled himself to be like, look. I make a lot of mistakes, but it's, it's not about the mistakes you're making. It's about where you're trying to go and what you're trying to be and you're trying to do in your life.
And I loved that, but also another thing that really stuck out to me and that the spirit led me to was the fact. that Moroni was so consistent with giving Joseph a message. And I feel like sometimes in our lives, those are the things we really, really need to heed to and listen to, are the consistent messages from the prophets and from God, because those are the things that really matter the most.
And so as I saw the consistency from Moroni to tell Joseph the same thing, three times in one night, and then come again in the day and tell him again, it was like, wow. You know, Heavenly Father is consistent with His messages, and He wants us to hear them. So always be sure to listen for when it's consistent.
Dossan, I didn't prepare you for this, so if you don't know it, it's fine, but I'm just going to throw this out there. Has there been a consistent message for you in your life that you've received from the Lord? I think the consistent message in my life that I'm always, um, getting is just to, to stay true to who I am.
As a person, no matter my, my circumstances in life. Because, being in a band, and being in the music industry, it can get a little scary, it can get a little hairy, and lots of weeds. But, that message of staying true to who I am, and true to who Heavenly Father wants me to be, has always been the message that I really choose to hear, and to heed to, because You know, that's why where I'm on earth is to, is to be a light and an example and to share Heavenly Father's doctrine and gospel and to let others know that they can have the happiness that I have.
And so I always make sure to always, always let people know that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. And so it's pretty cool because sometimes I'll have fans who will make edits of me and in the caption, they just, they talk about how I'm helping them find Jesus in their life. And. Wow. It's, it's really cool because You don't realize how much impact you have on, like, a fan who just likes you for your music.
But at the same time, because of the testimony I have, they're able to see that and they try to look for Jesus Christ in their life. And it's so cool. So cool to see. Yeah, sorry. I went off on a little tangent, but no, I loved that tangent. It is so cool. And here's what else is so amazing is. We're only the first segment in and we're already feeling the spirit so strong.
You too. Thank you for coming so prepared to share what you shared and, and for touching my heart with your answers. Awesome. It was so good. So here's what I'm going to do. Then in the next segment, we're going to dive into this imperfect harvest. that you talked to us about Jaxon and again, the consistent messages you guys summed up perfectly this entire episode.
So let's do that. We're going to go into the imperfect harvest of Joseph Smith. We'll do that next.
Segment 2
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Let's go to Joseph Smith history and we are going to look at verses 28 and 29 and Jaxon so perfectly set this up for us. We want to read these verses so that we can get an idea of who Joseph is. I love that phrase, imperfect harvest. I think it's [00:15:00] so cool, Jaxon. And in fact, for reference, that phrase comes from the April, 2023 conference talk by elder Vern P.
Stanfill, who he told this really cool story about being a young farm boy and he saw this wasted grain on the ground after the harvest and he felt like it was a mistake and even mentioned it to his dad. Like there's, there's a grain on the ground and he brought it up to his dad. Like. You know, it's kind of like, why did this happen and shouldn't we fix it until the next day, geese and other animals came and ate it all up.
And then to him, it wasn't a waste. It turned into a perfect harvest. And I love this quote in his talk. He says at the end. We must remember that whatever our best but imperfect offering is, the Savior can make it perfect. No matter how insignificant our efforts may seem, we must never underestimate the Savior's power.
And so that's where this phrase comes from, and I love that you guys have been bringing this up. Now, we know that Joseph Smith is around 18 years old at this time. So, that's, for me, huge, because he's not a big, full grown adult. He's still trying to figure stuff out. And so, in these verses, Jaxon, can you please read verse 28 for us?
And then Dossan, will you please read verse 29? Yes, I can start us here. During the space of time, which intervened between the time I had the vision and the year 1823, having been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day. And being very tender, being a very tender years and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly.
And if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavored in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed me, I was left to all kinds of temptations and mingling with all kinds of society. I frequently fell into many foolish errors and displayed the weakness of my youth. And the foibles of human nature, which I am sorry to say, led me to diverse temptations.
Offensive in the sight of God in making this confession, no one needs to post me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, et cetera. Not consistent with the character which ought to be maintained by one who is called of God as I had been.
But this will not seem very strange to anyone who recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery temperament. In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my weakness. And imperfections went on the evening of the above mentioned 21st of September after I had retired to my bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and foley's and also for a manifestation to me that I might know of my state and standing before him where I had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation as I previously had one.
Thank you. Okay. I want to know when you guys read those verses, what made Joseph Smith so relatable to you? Want to go first off this time? Yeah. I think what I really related to was when he said, but I was guilty of levity, which I went and looked at the definition of levity, which is. Like being too silly, you know, and I relate so much, you know, because sometimes when it's like, it should be serious, I'm a little too silly, too silly.
But I just was like, wow, Joseph Smith, he's a silly guy, you know, but it was cool to see that, you know, he says that anybody who knew him when he was younger, it wasn't like it was a crazy big deal, you know, it was a pretty normal thing. Which I think we need to understand and realize is Joseph was a normal teenage boy who was just trying to fit in with everyone else.
And so he's a little goofy, but humble enough to admit that there was times where he was a little bit too, too silly and too casual with the things he said. So that's really cool. Yeah. And Jaxon, you did a great job in the first segment, because this was the verse of scripture that the Holy Ghost taught you.
And you said that you, you had made mistakes, you had done some things. I want to know from you, why do you think we think because we've made mistakes, the Lord can't use us? Personally for me, there's a lot of expectation that. I feel comes off just being a member of a church that follows Jesus Christ. And when you fall, it feels like you can't get back up because you've, you've been stained.
It's like you're a big white bed sheet and then you spilled grape juice on yourself. It's like, why would anyone want to use me? Like I'm, I'm imperfect. I'm flawed. But I think that's what makes this so beautiful is that God can, God is so perfect and so [00:20:00] powerful. He can make someone so imperfect and someone so unpowerful, a prophet.
Who can speak truth and translate a book and follow the spirit and do those things while still being imperfect. It shows that God's not just leaving us down here helpless. But as the scriptures say, He will come to us. He literally came to a boy who was imperfect. And stood before his face and told him what he needed to do.
And told him who he needed to follow. And then continued to lead that boy to bless the lives of Millions, millions of people, this entire world, because it changes the world, so I, I personally just relate to it a ton because on the mission, the mission experience, the Lord changed me, and he changed me so that I could change other people and help other people truly find Jesus Christ, and if I didn't have that jovial youth like Joseph did, and if I still didn't have my jovial times where I fall short and make mistakes, I wouldn't be able to connect and relate.
to people in a way that would actually come close to home for him. And that's what really makes Joseph Smith relatable for me and makes it personal for me is that he had some of the similar experiences that I did. And so, yeah, that's what I say about that. Go for it. I'm going to ask you about that experience because in verse 29, he says that he went to the Lord so that he might know his state and his standing before God.
Like he wanted to understand his standing before him. Jaxon, how did you figure that out? How did you figure out what your standing was before God? What's your story there? Um, how personal can I get here? As personal as you want, as comfortable as you are. Yeah. So, um, sorry, this is a really good question and I don't, I don't want to share something I shouldn't, but I do want to share everything that's in my heart.
Share it. I, growing up, I didn't really keep the commandments. I, there was a point in my life, I think the first temple recommend I got, I got worthily. And then after that, every other one, I just said my way through, I spoke my way through. I just, I fell into habits and things that held me down and it was the saddest, most heartbreaking time of my life as I was never honest.
I couldn't be honest. I felt so broken and I never thought you could change. I didn't think it was possible. I thought, I thought I failed and so I'm just going to keep failing and tell people that I'm fine. And then there came a point where the expectation of serving a mission I kind of was brought up because I turned 18 and I was graduating and I didn't want to serve a mission.
Honestly, I, I never wanted to, I was scared. I didn't know if I believed it and so, and I wasn't worthy to do so either. Um, I had a lot of things holding me back and holding me down and I finally decided to go and I started reading my scriptures and reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. And yeah.
As I read, I was filled with the Spirit, and I had never read truly before from the Book of Mormon completely. And so I started reading in preparation for the mission, because if I'm going to teach something for two years, I might as well get to know it and believe it. And so I started to read, and I started to pray, and I got to the MTC.
I got my call to Georgia. I still hadn't changed, but I know I wanted to try it, because everyone said that their mission blessed them and changed them. So, although I, I didn't start with the best start, but the start changed my life, so I think I, I wouldn't change it for the world. So I went to the NTC, I still didn't really want to be there actually, I was, I wanted to go home, I had a girlfriend, who's now my wife, but I didn't want to serve, I just, I was there for the expectation.
And then, one day I was in the NTC, we were reading in personal study, and I remember we were finishing the Book of Mormon, and Moroni was telling Telling us like to turn our lives to Christ and confess that he is and the word confess just burned a hole in my heart For all these things I'd done and I'd never shared and I never changed and I never thought I could change And so I just thought about that for a long time and so much like sadness and pain was in my heart But so much like desire to like just let it go.
And if you get sent home, it's fine. Like just change Now's the time you can change to do it. And so, we went inside and we're watching the MTC videos they show you and they showed you, they showed me the video of the Savior being nailed to the [00:25:00] cross.
And I saw that and I thought, how, how can I sit here
and
suffer and not change when He already suffered and died for me? Like, how selfish of me to, to not give this up when He gave up everything for me. And so I went and I, after that class, they were all, everyone was sharing their, um, their little stories of like what they learned and we were all circled up and they're like, I'm so excited to serve a mission.
Like I'm so motivated. For the first time in my life, I wanted to serve, but I knew if I said what I'd done, I wouldn't be able to serve. And so I was heartbroken, I sat in that circle and everyone was so happy to be there and I was happy too. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stay. And so, um, I pulled aside the branch president and talked to him.
And for the first time in my life, I really shared everything. I truly felt the weight and burden of sin leave me as I kind of put it all on the table and said, you know what, all that matters is that I'm right with God. And so, long story made short, The next couple of days were pretty, pretty challenging.
There was a lot going through my mind. Um, and the decision was very close to being a yes or no. If I was going to be able to stay and serve a mission or not. And I remember this as clear as MTC president quite a bit. President Porter, he's a great guy. Um, he's awesome. I remember meeting with him countless times, calling my stake president, calling my parents, and having to tell my mom that I was probably going to have to come home.
All these different things, and the day had came, and I got to meet with President Porter, and he, it was like the final decision on if I was going to be able to stay, or if I had to go home. And part of me knew if I went home, I probably wouldn't come back just because I wasn't converted enough and I just was scared being out here.
So I wanted to stay because I wanted to do this and so I, I went to his office and he talked to me. And he, he said, Elder Bell, I see your heart. The Lord sees your heart. He knows your heart. He knows your desire. I want you to stay, but I don't get to choose. I don't get a pick if you stay. Then he looked at me and he said, Belder Bell.
The Lord wants you to stay and serve a mission. And I got up and I hugged him and I was so grateful. And from that day forward, I,
I promised I promised God that I would give my life to him. Because that was the most mercy I've ever felt in my life. And so, at that point, the first time in my life,
I really felt how God saw me. And I knew that I wasn't perfect, but I was honest with him. And I was trying my best. And so, as you can see, that was really deep and really personal, but that truly is where all that comes from for me. Jaxon, thank you. Thank you for being a beautiful and powerful witness of how God can take someone weak and imperfect as Joseph Smith called himself.
And Dossan, I'm curious, what was it like watching your older brother who was weak and imperfect change? Wow. You got me tearing up, Jax. Um, sorry, we get really emotional, you know, it's just, it's just how it goes over here with the Bell family. But I just remember. I'm calling him each week and seeing how truly devoted he was to the Savior and the desire that he had to be on his mission and to change people's lives and I remember saying that and I mean at the time when he was on his mission there were some things that I was struggling with personally, and because of him, there was a point where I decided to get things figured out with my bishop, and, well not because, I just remember him telling me, like, it's a good thing, it's not scary to go and talk to your bishop, and to figure [00:30:00] out things, you know, because it's a good thing, you know, you're coming clean, you're becoming new, but I just, It was amazing to see Jaxon 360 changed who he was and what his desire was in his life.
Yeah, he blessed so many lives and he blessed my life as well. So I'm thankful for his desire. Yeah, me too. That was really powerful. So thank you. You know, Elder John C. Pingree in his 2017 General Conference talk, he said this, some of us question whether Heavenly Father can use us to make important contributions, but remember.
He has always used ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. And I just think how amazing that God could use someone who wasn't perfect and was seeking forgiveness. That was what he wanted. Just forgiveness from his sins. And now he is going to be a prophet. And you know, Jaxon, I love how you said the Lord's like, you're the prophet I called.
So we're going to make it work even though he was totally imperfect. I like how you said that you're the prophet I called. It's going to work. And so in the next segment, We're going to discover what Joseph was asked to do, and we're going to see if God really can use us too. And we're going to hear Dossan's story.
We'll do that next.
Segment 3
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Well, for anyone listening, if you are worried about your standing with God, we're going to read what our prophet has to say about all of us. President Russell M. Nelson said this, Jaxon, can you read this quote for us? Yeah, I'd love to. The Lord has more in mind for you than you have in mind for yourself.
You have been reserved and preserved for this time and place. The Lord needs you to change the world. As you accept and follow his will for you, you will find yourself accomplishing the impossible. Awesome. So I felt like Moroni's words to Joseph were pretty similar. Go back to Joseph Smith history and bracket off verses 30 through 33.
So Joseph has this experience where in the middle of the night. Moroni appears to him and Moroni is going to appear three different times and each time he's going to say the exact same thing to Joseph. Now, verses 30 through 32 describe what Moroni looked like and how white he was when he appeared and white meaning bright.
He just was so bright and he was wearing a white robe. It says in verse 32, his countenance truly was like lightning. I can't even imagine. I mean, this must've been so crazy. And then Joseph hears this from him. And I like how Joseph says this, the very end of verse 32, he says, When I first looked upon him, I was afraid, but the fear soon left me.
And then we have verse 33, and it says, He called me by name and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni. That God had a work for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.
Now, I would not like that said about me. I think I'd start crying, be like, people aren't going to like me. That's so heavy. And so right here, but I, I love the part where it says that God had a work for me to do. And I, I wanted, this is why Dossan struck me and why the spirit's like, this is Dossan's story is because I want you to tell us your story, Dossan.
What does God have a work for you to do? Give us your story. All right. So, um, my whole life I've been pretty faithful in the gospel, had a pretty good solid testimony. But I didn't have my solid testimony until about eighth grade. Our dad and mom were called to serve. My dad was called to serve as mission president in St.
Louis, Missouri. What? That's where I'm from. Really? Are you serious? Where did you live in St. Louis? Creve Coeur. Totally know where that is. We were in the same stake. Oh my gosh. Forget about it. That's so cool. I love Missouri. Okay, carry on. No way. That's crazy. That is so fun. Yes. Anyways, so, he was called to serve as the mission president, um, St.
Louis, Missouri, and I remember, um, there was one night we came home from dance practice and he rallied the troops and we all sat down and he He explained to us that he'd been called to serve a mission as a mission president in St. Louis, Missouri, and that the result of that would mean moving for three years and living in Missouri.
I remember we all were pretty heartbroken, because it's kind of the worst to leave all your friends behind. Especially when you're just fresh and new into junior high and high school, like me and Jaxon were. Um, and so, I remember he [00:35:00] asked, he said, Elder Bednar has asked all of you guys to pray about it.
I remember being really upset and mad and I didn't want to pray about it, because I had so much pride in my heart. But, I, I just went in my room and I just cried for hours and, and then I decided to, to pray about it. And I said a prayer. After I finished my prayer, um, I looked over to my nightstand and I, and I saw my Book of Mormon.
And, And I grabbed my Book of Mormon and I opened it up and I just had a prompting to just point and I pointed down an ether and I read a specific line that said, and he went and did as the Lord commanded. And I just immediately knew that it was what my family needed to do and it's where I needed to be as hard as it was to leave all my friends and leave everything behind.
From that moment, I was like, wow, like my testimony was just the greatest it had ever been because I had that personal witness and I felt the Holy, the Holy Ghost really tell me that this is what my family needed to do. So I moved to Missouri, kept dancing and whatnot, and it was hard. It was hard, but I love Missouri now.
I have so many great friends out in Missouri. Um. And I had a great time dancing and, and the actual, actually the reason I got into dancing is because, um, when I was born, I was born with a bad, um, heart. I have a bad aortic valve. It was born, I was born with it closed. And so as a result of that, I have a bicuspid aortic valve.
Um, and yeah, when I was born, I wasn't breathing. So I was, The doctors were able to save me, which was an absolute blessing, you know, or I wouldn't be here today, so shout out to those doctors. But anyways, growing up, I played sports until I was about eight, and then I remember going to the doctors one day, and they told me that I was no longer able to play sports because of my heart.
And I remember being an 8, an 8 year old and just thinking like, man, this is the worst thing ever. I, I can't even play sports like my friends. Um, but I remember my mom asking me if I would like to dance like my sisters. And I said, sure, I'll give it a try and I started dancing and I fell in love with it and that's how dancing came to be for me.
Um, and so I danced ever since and so that's my senior year and I finished off a great year dancing with my team and we had such a great year. And my heart was never really an issue. I've never really gotten in the way of anything and I think because of dance I kind of I trained my heart to be healthy, which was a blessing, but I was, so my senior year finished and I was, uh, I was ready to serve a mission.
I got called to Sacramento, California, and I was ready to leave in October of 2023. My mom said, you know what, let's go get your heart checkup and let's just get it done, get it out of the way. So when you get out on the field, you know, you don't have to worry about that for a couple months. And I said, sure, let's do it.
I got my echocardiogram, and we were waiting in the waiting room, and my doctor came in and she told me, um, you need to get heart surgery immediately, or you could die. I just remember hearing that and being like, whoa, that's a big change of plans, you know? That's going to change a lot of things. And so. I went forward in faith and I got heart surgery and recovered quickly, but because of the heart surgery, it restricted me from going out into Sacramento for six months.
And a week before my heart surgery, I was asked by one of my band mates, Jagger, if I would like to join a boy band called the Full Circle Boys. And at first I was a little hesitant and I was like, Oh, I don't know. But after my heart surgery. I had a prompting and a feeling that, you know, maybe this is what I needed to do.
I felt in my heart that I, I showed Heavenly Father that I had a pure desire to serve Him and be an instrument in His hands. And so when this opportunity came, I felt like, you know, maybe this is what, what I can do to be a light and an example to others. And so I prayed about it. And I prayed about it with my mom and [00:40:00] my dad and my dad was really, really big on getting me out on my mission, but he prayed about it as well, and it just felt right, and so I ended up joining this boy band, which is crazy, and now I'm in it for the long run.
And the long story short, we've been going for about a year, and already it's been such a wonderful experience. I'm just a true, solid believer that everything in our life happens for a reason and God has a plan for each and every one of us. And though at times we don't know what that plan is, as long as we, as long as we have one desire to be our best selves and to be close to Christ and to be an instrument in His hands, I know He puts us in the right places.
And so, for me, that was one of the things that helped me choose what I needed to do. So yeah, here I am today in a boy band and I love it. It's great. I have so much fun. I love the guys I'm in my band with. We have a lot of fun. So yeah, crazy story, but you know, you never know where heavenly father is going to lead you to.
Let me just say what I really liked about your story because, you know, you prayed for confirmation about your parents work to do and you got an answer about going on the mission with them and then fast forward and now your parents are praying about your specific work to do and they got an answer.
Like I don't know. That's just so cool. It's full circle. God is so good. And, and they're different. That's the other thing. Both of your works to do were different and confirmed by the Lord. And then we go back to how you started when you said the consistent message that you're receiving and I wrote it down to stay true to who I am and who heavenly father wants me to be.
And now knowing you're in that industry. Wow, that is one of the greatest missions. I mean, that's the mission of all of our lives, but you're in a situation where it's going to be hard to do that. Have you found situations where the Lord has been able to use you? Yes, absolutely. I just always try, like I was saying earlier, I always try to be myself and to, to make sure people know.
What I am and what I stand for, um, I always, I go on like lives and I just, I share my testimony sometimes and a lot of the fans ask me for advice and I'm just like, you just gotta, you gotta look for the good and you gotta remember that you have a heavenly father that loves you so much, you know, and sometimes it feels a little weird because you never know if who you're talking to is religious, but I know by the power of the spirit, you know, that they can feel the love that I have for my heavenly father and it can, um, It can go straight to them.
So I always make sure to just try my best to be a light and an example. Oh, Dossan, that's so cool, especially the part where you said you're not sure if they're religious. It reminds me one of my favorite lines in the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo, probably the book, but I didn't read it. But the movie is when he's with the old man in the cell and the old man saying to the count to believe in God and know that Heavenly Father loves him.
And the count yells back, I don't believe in a God. And the old man says to the count, yes, I know, but he believes in you. Wow. And I love that line because I think so many times we really do get frustrated. Is there a God? And Dossan, your message is you might not believe in a God, but he believes in you.
And so that is such a great example. And I look back at this story where he has a work, Joseph says that he had a work for me to do. And we have just heard two beautiful stories of the work that the Lord had for each one of you to do. And it looks differently, but nonetheless, it is a work that he had for you specifically to do.
So in the next segment, we're going to find out what the first work was that the Lord wanted Joseph Smith to do. We'll do that next.
Segment 4
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Let's go to Joseph Smith History 1 verse 34.
Here is the first thing that Moroni introduced Joseph to, the work that he was supposed to do. And Jaxon, can you read verse 34, please? Yes, he said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from which they sprang.
He also said that the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to Awesome. He introduces him to a book and I like, I highlighted the name book. I highlighted the word book in verse 34 and then I drew a line down in that same verse where it says the fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it.
This introduction to the book of Mormon. Now I have a really cool quote and Dossan, I'm going to ask you to read it because [00:45:00] perfect as this. It's a quote from Elder Bednar about the Book of Mormon. That's our guide. Yeah. There's your guy. Yes. So will you read this quote for us about the Book of Mormon?
And then I'm going to ask you to a question. Yes. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and the great tool of conversion in the latter days. Our purpose in sharing the gospel is to invite all to come unto Christ, receive the blessings of the restored gospel, and endure to the end through faith in the Savior.
Helping individuals to experience the mighty change of heart and bind themselves to the Lord through sacred covenants and ordinances are the fundamental objectives of preaching the gospel. Moroni's introduction of the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith Initiated the work of salvation and exaltation for individuals on this side of the veil in the dispensation of the fullness of times.
Thank you. Right there at the Book of Mormon, it's going to introduce and initiate the work of salvation and exaltation. That is huge. Of course, it would be the first thing that Joseph Smith would be introduced to. Here's the work that I have for you to do, Joseph. I need you to bring forth the Book of Mormon.
And so my question to you two then. talking about the Book of Mormon is how are you bringing forth the Book of Mormon in the world today? What does that look like for 220 somethings? Um, I can go first. Uh, first and foremost, I just want to say, if you haven't read the Book of Mormon, I would invite every single person here to do so.
I didn't read the Book of Mormon ever until Um, and then since then I've read it around 10 or 11 times, and I absolutely love the Book of Mormon because it's brought me closer to Jesus Christ. And so I invite those who haven't to start reading it because the impact that it has in drawing you closer to the Savior is exponential in your life.
But how am I bringing forth the Book of Mormon today in the world that I live in? Um, I'll get a little personal as well here. So my wife is a new convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. She was baptized by my father while I was serving for two years in the mission field. She didn't grow up believing in God or anything.
She didn't really have any religious beliefs. Her parents weren't religious. So she grew up just thinking that we got reincarnated and that's what she believed. She's just amazing. Such a pure soul. And so she didn't She didn't know anything about Jesus Christ, really, and she didn't know about God. And, as time went on, and I served the mission, and she saw that it meant so much to me, she started to meet with the missionaries and read the Book of Mormon, and found out that this is what she wanted in her life, and was baptized.
But the way that I feel like I'm helping the Book of Mormon get out there is I I claim that the Book of Mormon blesses lives, and my life's a new convert. And she's still learning the gospel, and it's hard when you're new to something to want to read a book that's really difficult to read. And I love her so much, and so I will, I will tell her, like, her name's Brynley, I'm like, Bryn, like, we gotta read the Book of Mormon together, like, you gotta be reading the Book of Mormon, like, it's just amazing.
And it's hard for her because she's never, like, read scriptures before, and it's new to her. But, I promised her that as she does it, she'll be blessed, and it's strengthened our marriage, it's strengthened our relationship, and it's overall just a really cool thing to be able to help my spouse, who's newly converted into the gospel, come closer to Christ through the Book of Mormon.
Because it's really difficult to, it's really difficult to come to a God when someone just points to Him. But when you're led to him, you want to stay with him. And so the Book of Mormon leads people to Christ in their own way and gives them their own conversion to Christ. Powerful witness. Jaxon, thank you.
Dude, do you see why I love this guy? Come on. What about you, Dossan? Oh, man. What's it like for you on the road with the Book of Mormon? Yeah, I think every day I try to prioritize, um, always picking up my Book of Mormon every day and reading just at least a chapter. Um, I noticed the days that I read and the days I don't read, they're different.
Reading the Book of Mormon, it sets up my day with a sense of light and a sense of surety of who I am and what I'm here to do. So, I actually have a really cool friend that I met through social media, but he He lives in California as well, and I got to hang out with him, and I went camping with him one night in San Diego, and, um, I just remember him asking me about the gospel, and about the Book of Mormon, and he's super curious, and I just remember, Uh, I said, well, do you want to read it with me?
And I actually, he was like, oh, one in the [00:50:00] morning, but I pulled up gospel library and we read Moroni last chapter together. And you know, it was really cool just letting him listen and read that with me and just seeing the way he felt about it. And you know, he's, uh, he's been asking me if he can go to church with me.
So I need to, I need to get to church with him cause I've been so busy that I feel bad that I've been, uh, Doing all these shows and on the road, but once I get to go to church with him, it's going to be awesome. And I can tell he has a desire to, to find, um, truth in his life and he's got a really good heart.
But yeah, I think that's one way I bring the Book of Mormon forth is just always letting people know that it's, it's the truth, you know, I can tell you that I believe it's the truth all day, but it's up to the person who's reading it to figure that out. You know, everybody has to gain that testimony. It's just like, I feel like, especially in Utah, there's a culture where it's just, um, everybody kind of grows up in this atmosphere.
And sometimes we forget that it's our duty to figure out what we believe. And I, I just want to invite everyone that if you, if you don't know, get on your knees and pray. Ask with the most sincere heart of your life if that book is true, and I promise, I promise Heavenly Father will give you an answer. I will witness of what Dossan just said.
It is true that you can get on your knees and ask and pray and ask God if the book Mormon is true and if he loves you and if you are his child, all of those things he will absolutely answer. It's, you know, it's really interesting the timing of this episode because here we are. It's in a new year. We're four weeks into this new year.
And People are thinking about goals and goal setting, and I usually don't like to do, like, you know, a New Year's resolution or anything like that. But we are talking about the Book of Mormon, and if someone was thinking about maybe reading the Book of Mormon this year, give me, right now, each of you, what's one piece of advice you would give someone on how to start reading the Book of Mormon?
I'd say, you need a plan. Something that was in Preach My Gospel and was very, very prominent in our mission was, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You will never read the Book of Mormon if you never have a planned time to read the Book of Mormon. If you're just going to read it throughout the day at some point, you won't read it.
You may read it a couple times, but you won't read it every day. If you want consistency of spiritual blessings in your life, then go to God consistently for those spiritual blessings through prayer and scripture study. I like to think, how can, how can I beg God for help when He promises to help me as I just put Him first and reach out to Him.
And so, if you set aside time for the Lord, if He really is the most important thing in your life, whether it be five minutes earlier than you wake up, whether it be right before you go to work, or whatever it is, if you make time for the Lord, He will make time for you. And I don't, I don't care what anyone says, no matter how busy you are.
I'm, I'm doing full time work and full time school right now. I testify that it's possible. And there is time every single day, whether you're super busy or not busy at all. There's always time for the Lord. And if there's not, then priorities are not straight because there is time for you. And make that time and the Lord will make time for you.
Wow. Dang. Great advice. Have a plan. Good one. All right. What's your advice, Dossan? I mean, one thing that I'm thinking is just Small and simple steps, you know, like whether it be like three or four chapters or three verses, you know, it's, it's about the effort and it's about the daily feasts, you know, and as long as you make that effort to have at least those couple of verses or whatever, whatever time you can make for it.
It'll bless you. So just small and simple, you know, it can be small and simple, small and simple things out of, and they make great things. So just remember that. Love it. Great advice. Both of you. Very good. Okay. So he's introduced to the Book of Mormon. Moroni is telling him about it. He's explaining what he's going to find when he goes to this mountain and where the plates are deposited.
Moroni tells him all of this, and then he introduces Joseph to a second gospel truth. And I, I don't think it's coincidence. I think it's by divine design that Moroni taught it second, and we're going to find out what that subject is in the next segment.
Segment 5
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So listen, you two, I have just a random question. Have you [00:55:00] ever planted a garden? It's your family gardeners. We have a garden. We've weeded the garden. We've weeded the garden. You did? Tell me about that garden. What did you plant? What, what was it like getting the garden ready? Oh, we had raspberries, we had a, yeah, raspberry bush, cucumbers, carrots, big apple tree.
We got, like, a lot. Wow. What do you remember about working in the garden? Oh, it's not always fun. The sticker, the sticker bushes always get in my feet. It hurts so bad. The goat head in your foot. The goat heads. Yeah. Oh, there. I don't know anyone listening. If Utah has a lot of goat heads, I don't know if we have them everywhere in the world, but they look like little goat heads and they are fierce.
Yes. Can you step on those? They are fierce. The worst. What about pulling weeds? Did your parents make you do that? Oh yeah. Saturday mornings. Saturday mornings. Especially in the sandbox. No good. Dang. Okay. So I want us to be thinking about this idea. About having a garden and preparing a garden. We're going to turn to Joseph Smith History 1.
We're going to look at verses 37 39. Bracket those off. Okay, so bracket off 37 through 39 and to the outside, we're going to give you a cross reference and you want to write Doctrine and Covenants two. So he Moroni tells him and repeat some verses of scripture from the third chapter of Malachi. This is also Doctrine and Covenants section two.
Now turn to Doctrine and Covenants section two because look at this. This is pretty amazing in the title section heading of Doctrine and Covenants section two. It says An extract from Joseph Smith history, relating the words of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, the prophet, while in the house of the prophet's father at Manchester on the evening of September 21st, 1823.
Moroni was the last of a long line of historians who had made the record that is now before the world as the Book of Mormon. Doctrine and Covenants section two is the very first revelation. We have in the Doctrine and Covenants, and we'll learn later, section one came many, many years later when they decided to create the Doctrine and Covenants.
And they all got together and said, well, we need to have a section that introduces it. So if you look at the date, it's going to come much, much later. So section two is technically the very first revelation received. So let's read this revelation. Here we go. And it's just three verses and it's really short.
So Jaxon, can you read these verses for us? Yes. Behold, I will reveal unto you, the priest said, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
If it were not so, the whole earth should be utterly wasted at his coming. Okay, grab a highlighter. We're going to highlight a few words in these verses that have to do with gardening. That's why I asked you about your gardening experience. So, first of all, in verse 2, what's the very first word that has to do with gardening in verse 2?
Plant. Plant. Very good. Highlight plant. And then at the end of verse 2, highlight the word turn. And then highlight in verse three, the word earth and then the word wasted. Okay. Now I want you to think about this for a minute. You can read these same verses in Joseph Smith history one repeated exactly as what we just read right here.
So we're going to talk a little bit about this. So my husband loves to garden and I thought this was really fascinating because when I was reading these words, I immediately turned to the garden and his garden is huge. He plants 32 tomato plants, 18 cucumber plants like it's nuts. Yeah, and we do all the things we make salsa.
We make pasta sauce, but It's the getting ready to plant that is the most arduous process, I think, because it takes so much effort, and he goes out there, he puts all these nutrients in the dirt, and then he turns the soil, and I was talking to him about this preparation process, because he buys stuff in the fall and winter that he puts in the garden, and then in the spring he'll add more, and every year in the spring, Gardeners go and turn their soil and this is known as plowing or tilling.
Did you guys, did your dad have a tiller or something that would plow the dirt? No, but we used to actually work in a field and so there's a really big machine that would till all the plants that would come by. So do you know why they tilled? I think it just refreshes the dirt and allows the plant to grow faster and in a better environment.
That's exactly what it does. It actually rejuvenates the soil. In fact, if you don't turn the soil until it, if you don't add nutrients, you're not going to have a good crop that next year. It is very important in order for your plants to grow. The idea of turning things makes it better. Now, I want you to take all of this, go into back into this first again, because it says, and he shall plant it.
In the hearts of the children, the promises made [01:00:00] to the fathers and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. Think of this idea in a garden. When you turn things, it makes it better. It rejuvenates the soil. And then I love it when we highlight the word earth and wasted, because if you don't turn the soil, The garden would be utterly wasted, and it wouldn't produce anything.
Now, connect this to the work we do for our dead, when we are turning and making things better. I think, personally, being able to do work for those that are deceased is such a beautiful thing, because it's, someone cannot do this, and they need your help. It's kind of a, a very humble thing to do. They are performing an ordinance for someone.
Um, I had a chance to, as a missionary, someone that I helped be baptized and receive the gospel, we went to the temple and did baptisms with them for their deceased ancestors, um, grandmas. And, um, it was really cool to see just the connection that was there in that room that day when, when they were baptized for their grandmother.
Afterwards, they were just so ecstatic and saying that, like, I know that she was there and I know that she accepted this. And so, there's a piece that comes with it. I think it's just a great example of being able to share this as turning the dirt and turning the soil. If we leave our dead in the past, then they are dead and they're in the past.
But if we involve them in the work of salvation and we take time to hear their stories, to take their names to the temple, to perform their ordinances, Then we are all living as with Christ. So I just think that's really cool. Well and when you, when you turn your hearts to your dead ancestors or when you turn the soil, who does it rejuvenate?
You or your ancestors? Everyone. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Dossan, have you been rejuvenated by doing work for the dead? Yes, actually, pretty recently, I went to the Redlands Temple out in California. I met an amazing couple in my ward. Um, I go to a family ward, not a singles ward. I just fell in love with this family ward, it's the closest one to my house.
And this older couple The Holdens. They're like, they're like my parents out in California. Cause, it's, I'm away from family, so. I go over to their house every Sunday with, um, my buddy Oliver after church. And we just spend time with them and eat like a, uh, early lunch, dinner, you know. And we have an amazing time, but.
I was able to go to the temple. Me and my bandmate Oliver and Brother Holden. He's been waiting to, um, to baptize his grandfather. I got to baptize someone in the font for his grandfather, and he got to sit and be a witness above. And the spirit that I felt while baptizing for his grandfather was really strong, and I just, I knew how much it meant to him.
Um, because I, I can only imagine the connection I have with my grandfather and how special it must have felt that he was doing this work for someone he loves so dearly. You know how special that feels and just thinking of his grandfather in heaven just receiving this blessing and being like, Having so much gratitude, I'm sure, for his first grandson who loves him so dearly.
So it was really special. And the temple is a great place, and I need to get there more often. So, that's my invite to everyone else. Get to the temple more often, because it makes you feel good. And it brings blessings and it blesses lots of lives. So, Oh, that's a great, I love that. Get to the temple, get rejuvenated, set a goal to rejuvenate yourself as often as possible.
Cause I, I like how you answered both sides of the veil are rejuvenated when we turn our hearts and turn that soil. So thank you both of you for sharing those experiences. And it's interesting again, going back to this, the visits of Moroni because he'll visit Joseph four times, three visits in the night.
Then he wakes up in the morning and he's told to go visit his father. And while he goes to visit his father, he has another revelation. The exact same thing is said to him verbatim. But what struck me is that in one of the tellings, in one of the meetings with Moroni and Joseph Smith, he varies just slightly.
There's one little thing different. And in the next segment, we're going to find out what that is.
Segment 6
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So my youngest daughter, she finally passed her driver's permit test. Took her two tries. It was so exciting. And the thing that she kept missing were what the signs meant. So we had to go home and study all the different signs and I just, the [01:05:00] road signs and the shapes of them. Oh my gosh. It was just chaos.
But she passed. We were very, very happy. And I just wanted to know, because I was thinking about her when I read this word, this one thing that differs when Moroni came one of the times. And I want to know if either of you saw one of these two signs, what do they mean to you?
Have caution. Perfect. Slow down. Yeah. Very good. Caution or slow down. Okay. I want us to picture that because we're going to draw that in our scriptures. Let's go to Joseph Smith History 1, verse 46, because in verse 46 is where he varies a little bit. So we're going to start at the very beginning of verse 46.
And Jaxon, can you read this verse for us? And when you read the word caution, stop right there. By this time so deep were the impressions made on my mind that sleep had fled from my eyes. And I lay overwhelmed in astonishment at what I had both seen and heard. But what was my surprise when again I beheld the same messenger at my bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over again to me the same thing as before, and added a caution to me.
Okay, draw the picture in your scriptures of a caution sign right there. Here's Moroni saying, alright, I got a caution for you now. I've said a lot of things to you, but this is going to be important. So I'm going to keep reading, and as I do, in your scriptures, you guys, I just want you to mark. What the words of caution were for Joseph and for quite possibly all of us.
Here we go. He added caution to me, telling me that Satan would try to tempt me in consequence of the indigent circumstances of my father's family to get the plates for the purpose of getting rich. This he forbade me saying that I must have no other object in view in getting the plates, but to glorify God and must not be influenced by any other motive than that of building his kingdom.
Otherwise, I could not get them. Okay. What's the caution for him and even for us today? Riches. The temptations of Satan. Yeah. Riches. Yeah. Riches and temptations. So I want to know going to this right here where it says he should have no other motive than that of building the kingdom. Let's underline that.
No other motive than that of building his kingdom. And I asked you guys this question ahead of time to have you think about, because I want to know, how can we do this? I think, I think personally, if you, if you want to know how or what you need to change, read Alma 5. Alma chapter 5 has so many different questions in there that ask you.
What you're doing, what are you doing, what's going on in your life, are you doing this? And I find it so powerful that if you read a verse with, if you read a chapter like that with such a sincere heart, you'll know exactly what you need to change. As a missionary, when you think you're in the rhythm and you think you're doing the best and you think that you're like, you're keeping all the rules and you're doing everything you can.
I'd advise you to read Alma 5 and see what you can change, because there's always room to improve. And so, I think a great way to ensure that your motive is clear with His, and that your heart is pure in your intentions, is to read that chapter and ask yourself those questions sincerely. Have I been, like, am I prepared to die at this moment if I stand before God, like, has my heart been changed?
Can I still say that I'm feeling that and seeing that song of redeeming love? And so Alma 5 is a great chapter. I'd recommend reading that to everyone out there. That's a great cross reference. I'm putting that next to that verse. Alma 5, the how to on building his kingdom. Thank you, Jaxon. What about you, Dossan?
How are you going to build his kingdom when you're out? With your boy band in California, that is, that must be crazy. Yeah, I mean, that's something that I think about quite often because obviously the music industry, I mean, it's pretty notorious for kind of some shady business, you know, like sometimes there's some things that go on.
Um, but I think for me, what I'm always thinking about and trying to remember is that if I am continually feasting upon. God's word I can be protected. It's just like it's setting good habits because if we don't have those good habits to support us Then the the chance of us falling is a lot greater So I always make sure that I set myself up with a strong base, you know Don't build your house upon the sand build it upon a rock grab the Book of Mormon read Read the word, learn from it, and I know that, like, if we get that strong base and that strong support, you know, that when the times come when I'm in a situation where things, I'm like, whoa, that I can be strong enough to be like, you know what, I know who I am, and I know what my purpose is.
And I can leave and I can get out of this situation. And, you know, I just, yeah, I think it's all about that base and the [01:10:00] support and the constant idea of getting good habits. And, yeah, reading your scriptures every day, it's the simple things, you know. So that's one thing that I'm always thinking about it really is in and I love that I remember teaching seminary one year and I had a student raise his hand and he says we always give the seminary answers Read your scriptures say your prayers go to church and he was like, they're so boring Isn't there anything else we could do and I laughed at that because I thought He's got a good point, um, because I was single at the time and I thought, I am reading my scriptures and saying my prayers and going to church and things aren't turning out the way I thought they would.
Maybe there's something I'm missing or I need to add. And um, I prayed about it and studied about it and guess what? There's not, there's nothing more or less than this as Jesus Christ said. I love that he says that when he comes to give the Nephites the sacrament, he teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He goes, there's nothing more or less than this. Just do the basics. Read your scripture. Say your prayers. He's got a church. Dossan, what were you gonna say? Oh, my dad just walked in and I was like, quiet, I'm on a, I'm doing a podcast. Come on, dad. That is so fun. Does dad want to come in and say hi? Oh yeah, let's get him in here.
Let's get him in here. He's a great guy. I love that guy. I really look up to him. He's one of the most influential people in my life, cause whenever I've had problems or struggles, he's turned me to Christ. Wow, this is so fun. He looks like us too, so. Well, hi, Papa Bell. Father Bell. Hello. Hello. This is spontaneous.
It totally is. I love that you walked into the bedroom. Okay, so I just have to, I'm going to ask you a question then, because my boys told me you're a former seminary teacher, as am I. I was in the East area in Salt Lake for many years. And, um, they have been with me. We've been talking about Joseph Smith in the Book of Mormon, and we just are finishing right now.
This is the last question I've asked them, which by the way, kudos, your boys are phenomenal. They have, the spirit has been so strong. I'm really looking forward to people hearing what they had to say. We are talking about when Moroni came to visit Joseph Smith, and one of the things he issued was a caution and that he told Joseph that the most important thing he needed to remember was that his only motive was that of building his kingdom.
And I just want to know. Um, as a father, um, and a husband and a disciple of Christ, how have you made it your motive to build his kingdom? Wow. What a great, what a great question. The first thing I was thinking about was recently we just taught in the, in the Book of Mormon when Moroni says that the plates would be of no worth, but the record would be of great worth.
And we looked into that, um, passage of Scripture with the youth and talked about why and what that really meant and essentially we came back to something the prophet says, which is to let God prevail. And that's something that I have grown into throughout my life. And having served a few, uh, missions, serving in priesthood callings, um, Continuously, uh, I have learned that God can make a whole, a whole lot more of me than I can of myself.
And so if I let go and follow His will and do His work, then, um, I become so much more and I'm able to impact and help others to become so much more. To hear you say, uh, that the Spirit's been present here with me. Um, with my boys and to, to, to see them grow up and discover those same things is such a powerful thing.
And I think our examples help others to do the same. And there is no greater work, as our prophet has said. This is the greatest work, and being, having the opportunity to, to be, opportunity and responsibility to do this work. Is remarkable. And it truly brings joy. Joy comes from serving Jesus, others, and then looking at yourself.
And taking care of your needs. You know, your boys have shared a little bit of your family history and serving missions and leaving, you know, their loved ones to serve a mission in St. Louis, which I think is so fun. I'm from St. Louis, so I love that. But here's my question when it comes to building his kingdom and making that your only motive.
It's not easy, is it? Absolutely not. I mean, it takes, uh, sacrifice. My boys know that I never really got to sit with them, um, in church, really. Uh, the only one I got to [01:15:00] sit with was my oldest daughter, because I was always sitting in a different position looking out on a congregation and trying to also serve them.
Uh, I struggled at first. Trying to find a balance of serving in the kingdom and blessing, um, the congregations as well as my family. But I learned and got better and made sure that what we teach, family first, is critical and important and we don't just say it but we live it. So there's all sorts of dynamics and challenges and sacrifice per se.
But, but there is no real sacrifice because we, we look back and we see what he's doing. How he's building us, how he's building our families, how he's building his kingdom. And how he uses us, just like Joseph Smith, um, the weak things, with all of our imperfections. And that's the beauty and miracle of, of the kingdom, is we're all imperfect, and, and we struggle.
And there's times when When we don't have it right, and we're not putting him or the work first, and, and, and we struggle. But then looking back, we see what, what he's doing, and what he's, he's making, and how he's, he's making each one of us what we need to be, as well. And so, it, there are challenges, and there are challenges from the world, and, and outside pressures and, and challenges as well, but it's, it's all worth it.
Uh, for sure. It is worth it. Wow. Thank you. Thank you for answering that. That was awesome. Thank you. Wow. One very cool. Yeah. Your boys are, are top notch. This has been really cool. So I'm just going to ask him one more question and then we're done. All right. so much. Thank you. Okay. So here's my last question for you guys now, what I want to know then after lists for, so we've just been talking now for the last hour and a half and you guys have shared awesome things and we have felt the spirit so strong today.
And here's what I want to know. What is something true that you learned as we discuss these chapters? I think something true that I learned is that no matter how imperfect we are, we still have a work. And a mission on earth, no matter how far down we think we are, how much we've fallen. You know, it's, we have a work to do and it's never too late to get back up and to use the atonement.
Um, and I think that's what's so beautiful about the church and about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is they're forgiving. And without forgiveness, Life would not be what it is, you know, and we need it daily, daily, you know, so I think, you know, one thing that I've come to know that's true is where I'm perfect and that's okay, but it's what you do and it's who you're trying to be and the things that you do in your life.
So yeah, that's one thing that's, yeah, that's why it's an eternal, that is an eternal truth. Boston. Thank you. What about you, Jaxon? What's your truth? Um, I'd say similar, similar things is that the Lord can use imperfect people. And if you don't think that's true, well, find me another perfect person on this planet and show me that because I believe all of us are imperfect.
Joseph Smith, I mean, Peter, if you think about the story of Peter, Peter was his chief apostle, but Peter denied him three times. And you think of how humbling it was to walk with the Savior and say that you'll, like, Lord, I would not betray thee. And then to get asked three times, aren't you the one that knows Jesus?
Like, aren't you his disciple? And, no, I don't know the man. And just the regret and remorse that Peter felt being imperfect. And just also the power of the Spirit in teaching us. Going back to Peter, after this experience, I'm sure he just felt all sorts of sadness and just, like, Inadequacy because he had failed the Lord and then the Lord comes back when all the disciples return to fishing because they thought they thought well we failed and let's go back and do what we used to do, let's fish.
And so they're fishing on this boat and Peter sees Jesus Christ walking afar off and he dives off the boat and he runs to him. And they talk with the Savior and he helped him catch a lot of fish again as well but they're, they're sitting there and they're, they're speaking to each other. And the words of the Savior in this chapter have taught me so much, just through questions.
The Lord looks at Simon Peter, who just betrayed him a few [01:20:00] days earlier, and he looks at him and he says, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? And he says, Lord, I love thee. And then he looks at him again and he says, Simon, son of Jonas. Lovest thou me more than these, do you love me? And he says, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
And then he asks him again, Lovest thou me? And he says, Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you. And after he knew that Peter loved him, he didn't say, Why did you do that? Or, What were you thinking? He simply said, Feed my sheep, feed my lambs. And I think that's the message of Joseph Smith's life, Jesus Christ's life, is that, well, Jesus had to be perfect, because he had to die for our sins, and he was the way, he was the only way.
But God doesn't require us to be perfect. He requires our heart, and if your heart is there, and if you're willing, the Lord will do wonders with you. You can move mountains with the faith in Christ that you have. But that's what I'd say. And that is an eternal truth. Wow. Thank you. Thank you so much, Jaxon and Dossan.
This was a great, great discussion. Wow. You came so well prepared. You guys are great. And that's it. We're done. Awesome. That was awesome. So good. So good. Well, I want to know what truth did you learn in this episode? Go and join our Facebook and Instagram accounts and share what it is that you've learned.
And then at the end of the week on a Saturday, we're going to post a question asking that and we'd love for you to share what truth did you learn? I can't wait to read what everybody learned. Comment on the post that relates to this lesson and share your thoughts. You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at ldsliving.
com slash Sunday on Monday. And it's not a bad idea to go there anyway, because it's where we're going to have links to all of the references as well as a transcript of this whole discussion. So go check it out. The Sunday on Monday study group is a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original brought to you by LDS Living.
It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall, and today our fabulous study group participants were Dossan Bell and Jaxon Bell. And you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving. com slash Sunday on Monday. Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger and our executive producer is Erin Hallstrom.
Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week. And please remember. Oh, please remember that God loves you and all of your imperfections and you are his favorite.