followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 135 followHIM Favorites with Dr. S. Michael Wilcox

Episode Date: November 21, 2021

Hank, John and Dr. S. Michael Wilcox share their favorite thought from this week's Come, Follow Me lesson.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/episodesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive ProducersDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: MarketingLisa Spice: Client Relations, Show Notes/TranscriptsJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Rough Video EditorAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsKrystal Roberts: French TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-pianoPlease rate and review the podcast.

Hello, my friends. Welcome to Follow Him Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I'm the host of a podcast called Follow Him, and I'm here with my incredible co-host, John, by the way. Hi, John. Hi, Hank. And our awesome, incredible guest this week, Dr. Michael Wilcox. Welcome, Dr. Wilcox. Thank you. Nice to be here. Yes. We have a full podcast called Follow Him, and you can hear that full podcast wherever you get your podcasts. But this, this is just a little clip for those who say, you know what, I need a Cliff Notes version this week. We choose a Follow Him favorite. So John, the lesson is on section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Tell us your Follow Him favorite. Well, thanks, Hank. This section is

only seven verses long. They're kind of long verses, but this is, John Taylor wrote this. It's announcing the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram Smith. And the first sentence in verse one, to seal the testimony of this book and the Book of Mormon, we announce the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the prophet and Hyrum Smith the patriarch. And I'm just intrigued with this idea of the seal. My sisters, when I was young and they were teenagers, they had these little candle wax things they used to melt at the end of a letter and put a few drops on and then they had their initials. So Sally or Jerry, my sisters, would put that impression, and they would seal this letter.

And I had wondered, what does it mean to seal this? And now I think this is a profound way to say I've sealed my testimony of the Book of Mormon and of this book, the Doctrine and Covenants, President Nelson, in October of 2017, General Conference, gave a wonderful talk called The Book of Mormon, What Would Your Life Be Like Without It? And I think looking at this, I'm also thinking, the prophet that brought us the Book of Mormon, that translated it through the gift and power of God,

what would your life be like without this influence of Joseph Hiram and this Book of Mormon? And it's a wonderful thing to ponder and think about as you go through this section. But here, their testimony is sealed, not with wax, but with blood. I love it. And as Dr. Wilcox taught us in our full podcast, the best way to honor Joseph and Hiram would be to read and internalize these words, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. My follow him favorite is in the end of verse three,

it talks about Joseph and Hiram and it says, in life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated. And I know many people listening have little brothers and little sisters or older brothers and older sisters who maybe feel like they just are annoying, right? And I think Joseph and Hiram and even others of their family, Alvin and the other siblings, they teach us a lot about our family relationships. And so we're always going to hurt each other's feelings and someone's going to steal the remote or not do the dishes. But we can do our best to be this type of sibling, right? A supportive sibling who doesn't divide, right?

In life, they were not divided. And we can do better in our families at not creating division. You know, when it comes to family prayer and family scripture study and getting work done, let's be, you know, a uniter instead of a divider. All right, Dr. Wilcox, tell us your follow him favorite. Well, I don't know that I have a favorite. Yeah, it's hard. But I think in verse four,

at least things that really strike me in my own life, when he's going to the martyrdom, he's going to one of the greatest trials of his life, and yet he says, I am calm as a summer's morning. We live in a world where we're not always calm as a summer's morning, and there will be sometimes a lot of opposition in our lives, a lot of difficulties that we face. So how do I remain calm as a summer's morning throughout my life? Not just as he goes to Carthage. How do I live so that I can say every day of my life, I am as calm as a summer's morning. And then he answers that, I have a conscience void of offense towards God and towards all men.

I think if we strive, if all of us can do the best we can, Joseph wasn't perfect in it, but if we strive to have a conscience empty, void means empty, empty of offense towards God and all men, we can always be as calm as a summer's morning. And when we come to die, which is what's going to happen in Carthage, then that next phrase, I shall die innocent. And then we remain in a state of innocence. We're born in the world innocent.

If we strive to live with a conscience void of offense to God and towards men, we'll be calm as a summer's morning and we'll be innocent always. And we'll still make mistakes, but there's the forgiveness, always forgiveness. That is absolutely wonderful. I love that phrase. Thank you, thank you.

If my daughter listens to Follow Him Favorites on her way to her senior year of high school, that is something that she would, she needs to, she needs to hear. Uh, so thank you to both of you. Uh, we hope that all of you listening will join us on our full podcast. It's called follow him. Uh, but if you can't, that's okay. Come back and join us next week for Follow Him Favorites.