followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 124 followHIM Favorites with Dr. Susan Easton Black

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, everyone. Welcome to Follow Him Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I'm here with the incredible John, by the way, and the amazing Dr. Susan Easton-Black. We're here with Follow Him Favorites or Doctrine and Covenants, section 124. John, you know how this works. You get to pick one thing from our lesson this week to share. Well, thanks, Hank. This is a long section, but right towards the beginning, verse 15, the Lord says something to Hiram Smith. He says something similar to George Miller in verse 20, but I just think, wow, how would it feel to be Hiram and have the Lord say this? Verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hiram Smith, for I, the Lord, love him because

Starting point is 00:00:41 of the integrity of his heart and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord. And I just want to talk about the word integrity because it's related to the word integrated. And I heard somebody say it like this once. For those of you who can see me, I'm holding my hand up here, my left hand, saying this is what we know is right. This is where we're living, right? And integrity, one definition, is to get your actions to come up to the level of your understanding. And then what you know and what you do, we might say, are integrated. And that's integrity. We're actually not only talking the talk, but walking the walk. And the Lord sees that in Hiram. And I think what a compliment to say the integrity of his heart. Now I want to be there where Hiram is someday.

Starting point is 00:01:32 So I got to work on getting my actions up to the level of my understanding. That's why I like that verse. Yeah. I think it was Gandhi who said, happiness is when what you believe and what you live are the same. That's happiness and integrity. Yeah. My follow him favorite is in verse 60. This building is mentioned many times. Everyone knows, most people know what the Nauvoo Temple is. But if you read the name Nauvoo House in verse 60, you might not know what this is. And it's a resting place, like a hotel, the Lord says,

Starting point is 00:02:06 for the weary traveler, in verse 60, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof, right? And they're going to build the temple, but they need to build a hotel. And they get started building this hotel, but it never is completely finished. Joseph is killed and the saints move west. And you might think, well, that was a prophecy that didn't come true. There was no weary travelers that came to Nauvoo. And there were some during Joseph's life, but now there are plenty of weary travelers who go to Nauvoo. I've been one of them many times. So sometimes we might think, oh, the Lord's prophecy here, what he said wasn't fulfilled, but it absolutely is. Nauvoo is a place for many,

Starting point is 00:02:53 many travelers. I think in our full podcast, Susan told us 330,000 visitors came to the rededication, the open house of the Nauvoo Temple. That is a fulfillment of the nations of the earth coming to Nauvoo, a place for the weary traveler. All right, Susan, Dr. Susan Easton Black is here, and she's going to share with us her follow him favorite. Well, my follow him favorite is basically the opposite of John's. I like your idea of integrity, but sometimes when you get the contrast, it's pretty interesting. My favorite today is verse 84, and it's about a man

Starting point is 00:03:35 named Alma W. Babbitt. And he is told by the Lord, there of them, he said, He said, Meaning he's choosing money over the Lord. And my favorite story of him illustrating this is that on June 26, 1844, Joseph and Hiram are in Carthage jail, and visiting them is their uncle, John Smith. Joseph asks Uncle John Smith to go find this Alma W. Babbitt, who is an attorney by trade, and tell him that they would like him to defend them in a court of law,

Starting point is 00:04:22 which they think this will be a court at that point. And when Uncle John Smith comes to see Alma W. Babbitt, he says to him, do you know Joseph and Hiram are in Carthage jail? And Babbitt indicated he did. But then Uncle John Smith says, oh good. He said, I've come because they want you to defend them in a court of law, at which point Alma W. Babbitt says, I'm sorry, Uncle John, you're too late. I've already been hired by the other side. So the message to me is there are blessings, there are warnings, and you know, just, you know, watch what you're doing. Stay close to the center of the church. You know, if you've got the Achilles heel out there, if it is a

Starting point is 00:05:14 golden calf or whatever it might be, choose the Lord. Don't choose a false substitute that actually won't bring you happiness. Choose integrity that John talked about. Go visit Nauvoo. We've all been weary travelers there, but we'd go back again in a heartbeat, right? Absolutely. And feel the spirit of Joseph. I love that, Susan. I love the contrast between both of your follow him favorites.

Starting point is 00:05:43 Susan, did I get that date right? June 26th, a day before the martyrdom that happened? A day before the martyrdom. I mean, can you imagine? And you go, it was his time to rise up and be great. Right. Oh. Just didn't.

Starting point is 00:05:59 I remember Elder Holland saying once, beware the scars of any battle of which you've been fighting on the wrong side. On the wrong side. Great statement. Well, we are grateful for Dr. Susan Eason Black being with us. And we hope you'll join us on our full podcast. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. Come on over and you'll be able to learn so much from her.

Starting point is 00:06:24 But if not, please join us next week for Follow Him Favorites.

followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 124 followHIM Favorites with Dr. Susan Easton Black

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