...A shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you..." (Alma 5:37)

Over the past several weeks I have spent a lot of time watching our children play water polo. It is an intense, fast-paced, and aggressive sport and a ton of fun to watch, especially if the teams are good at what they are doing. One weekend we were in Cedar City, Utah, watching 2 of our children  play with the High School team in the Summer Games tournament. It has 2 games going on at the same time, which means there are two sets of whistles, two sets of refs, 4 teams cheering, and tons of people, all inside. It is very loud.

Some of my responsibility during this weekend was to keep track of 6 teenage boys, one of which included my 14 year old son. At one point in time I needed to get the boys attention across the inside of the pool area. It is impossible to yell and try to have them hear me because there is so much noise. I needed to get them fed before their next games and I didn't want to walk all the way around the pools. So, I did what I do to get my children's attention. I whistled. I can whistle, without my fingers in my mouth, nice and deafening if you are too close. Remember, it is really loud and noisy in this place. The odds of them hearing me are pretty slim. I whistled once...and was hopeful that my son would hear our family sound that I use when I want to get our kids attention anywhere. He didn't notice. I tried again a second time. He immediately looked up in my direction and looked around for me. I moved around and waved for him to come to me. He waved back and I could see him tell the other boys they needed to come to me. It was awesome to watch this take place-the fact that my son had heard this "call" through the "wilderness" above all the noise was amazing. It was a bonus that I didn't have to walk all the way around the pool to get them.

As I have pondered this experience I have come to the conclusion that the Lord has a "whistle" or a "call" for us as well and we have to learn to discern it through all the noise that is around us. My children didn't just know this, I told them what to listen for over the years. We can be anywhere now and I can whistle and they will come to me. The Lord is the same way. He is calling us all of the time, He has said, "Come unto me" (see Matt. 11:28 , Alma 5:34.) How can we know what to listen for? How do we know it is His voice? He has said,

"Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—

in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—

my voice, because my voice is Spirit; 

my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; 

and if it be in you it shall abound." 

D&C 88:66

Practice listening. Everyone can learn to discern the voice of the Lord. Everyone can learn to discern truth. Just as my children have learned to hear my whistle through the noise of two water polo games, two sets of whistles, 4 refs, and 4 teams cheering, and follow me to where I can feed them, we too must learn to listen to the Voice of Truth, the voice of the Lord, which is the Spirit and He will feed us. (See John 21:16, D&C 112:14) We just have to practice listening. Sometimes it is harder to hear and pick out that "call", but it is there. "Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ..." (Alma 5:38) 


If there is one thing I have learned this polo season, it is to listen. There is a ton of noise out there. But there is really only one true Referee who can see all and knows all and in Whom I can totally trust. It is the best feeling ever to know that I don't have to rely on the other refs, who are so inconsistent, who make calls that are in favor for one team or against another. Every call from this Referee is fair, honest and truthful. I have to listen for His voice, the voice of Jesus Christ, because His "voice is truth" (D&C 88:66.) "Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning." (D&C 93:24-25) Now that is powerful. That is honest and an incredible definition of truth, and of what to listen for in the "wilderness". I am working on listening. It isn't easy, but it sure is worth it. It makes life much easier when there is so much noise going on in this crazy life of mine. And I promise you, He is calling to you, too. God loves you and is calling to you, always. And as you listen, you will hear, amidst all the whistles, other calls, and  distractions, and nonsense, because when you are ready to hear, it is a voice that is "of one crying in the wilderness" and can't be missed. This I testify. 

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Over the years I have had many people talk to me about the "Word of Wisdom" (D&C 89) and there is always this debate about how come we don't drink coffee and tea. . I have heard it from members of my own faith as well as from people who aren't of my faith about why we don't drink coffee and tea, and it has frequently been said that it has to do with caffine or the way coffee is processed, that it contains tar and all sorts of "bad stuff" that you would never consume. Well, some of those things are true, but that isn't why we don't drink coffee and tea. It actually has nothing to do with caffine.

Let me tell you of an experience I had that helped me have an undertanding about why we don't drink coffee and tea. One Sunday, my family (meaning my family I grew up with) was sitting around talking about movies we had recently seen.  My sister mentioned a movie that was rated R she had seen and talked about how good it was and said the reason it received that rating was because it had the "F" word in it, a bunch of times, repeated over and over. But the message the movie had was incredible. I went home and thought about some of the rated R movied I had seen years ago that were really good and had great messages and haven't seen for a long time, such as "Shawshank Redemption", or "Schindler's List". My favorite movie, which has no good meaning, but I still love, but haven't watched in a long time, is "Die Hard". Yes, I admit it is...my favorite Christmas movie.  But I have chosen to not watch rated R movies...why?

As I continued to ponder this issue of "good movies" or even ratings at all, the thought came to me, we have a prophet and the Lord has spoken to our prophet. The prophet has told us to "not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable" (For the Strength of Youth). Perhaps the issue isn't about a rating at all. And the issue isn't about what is in the drink at all. The issue is more about whether or not I believe we actually have a prophet who talks with God and receives revelation that is for our good and for our benefit. And if I believe this, then am I going to follow what the prophet teaches and says is right?

What is so beautiful about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that is gives us the choice, the opportunity to choose for ourselves whether or not we even believe our prophet talks with God, or receives revelation for the Church, or the world for that matter. We can have the Spirit confirm truth to us and we get to choose for ourselves (see Moses 3:17) whether or not we want to follow the truth. It is an incredible plan to be able to choose for ourselves whether we want to follow Christ and His prophets. We do have a prophet today. Christ loves us enough to guide us just as He led the Hebrew children out of Egypt "on dry ground" by a prophet (Exodus 14). And He loves us enough to let us choose whether or not we will continue to follow Him through being obedient once we know the truth. He says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). It really is that simple. The Word of Wisdom thing is about obedience and showing our love for God. We don't need to complicate it with all the gobblydigook of caffine or processing or whatever. Just simply state, the facts. We have a prophet who talks with the God. And I choose to follow our prophet. And because I have chosen to live my life this way, I have found great peace. This I testify.

P. S. You can learn more about the organization of our church here: Organizational Structure of the Church (You will need to scroll down to that heading)