Faith hope and charity are like the bread, butter, and jam of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. O.k., I know it's a terrible analogy, but why are these virtues so essential?

When we truly believe these virtues, they cause us to live differently. For example, when we have faith in Jesus Christ, we want to be baptized because of his commandment. When we have hope, we live life joyfully. When we have charity, we treat others kindly. These three virtues govern how we live our lives. If they don’t, we aren’t truly living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13 we read this
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass,
or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith,
so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own,
is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect is come,
then that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,
I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now bideth faith, hope, charity, these three;
but the greatest of these is charity."

Since faith, hope and charity are the bread and butter of the Gospel, why does Paul praise charity more than faith or hope? Are they not just as important?
In the Book of Mormon, a second testimony of Jesus Christ which we believe to be divinely given scripture, says “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him (Moroni 7:41).”

According to Moroni, Charity is the ‘pure love of Christ’ and it endures forever. This makes me reflect on the mission of the Savior of the World. Jesus Christ came to earth, he lived among men; preformed many miracles; completed the Atonement; died; resurrected; and lives again. In my mind, Christ’s greatest love was to perform the Atonement. The Atonement was when Christ took upon himself the sins of the world. It caused him so much pain that he dripped blood from every pour as we read in the bible. I’ve always wondered how it worked. Somehow, some way, he experienced pain—the pain that I would have to had suffered had I not believed in his Atonement.

This act freed men from the consequences of sin. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we can repent and his pain makes up for our mistakes. Maybe this is why Charity greater than Faith and Hope. If Charity, the pure love of Christ or the Atonement had not happened, there would be nothing to have faith in. I’m grateful for my Savior—grateful He suffered for my sins that I may be saved.

Print and Power

I went to the Crandall Printing Museum this week. It is on center street here in Provo. I've heard about it over and over again while I've attended BYU. I always wanted to go, and I finally went. Take a look at the website:

http://crandallmuseum.org/

In this museum they have three printing presses. They have a working replica of the Gutenberg press, Benjamin Franklin’s press, and a press that E.B. Grandin used to print the Book of Mormon.

We first watched a demonstration of Gutenberg’s press. Beginning with a demonstration on how he made his movable type. The museum explained that Gutenberg was a metallurgist. This is how he knew what metals to mix so that he could get a good metal combination to make his movable type. They printed a page from the Vulgate bible. I am a Latin student, not a very happy one after my test today, and it was interesting to see a replica of the Vulgate Bible. I’ve also taken a calligraphy class, and I understand what amount of work it takes to produce a illuminated bible. Printers makes my life so easy.

Next we moved to the Benjamin Franklin Room where the replica of Franklin’s press was located. There was also a replica of Franklin himself, one of the curators dressed up. They discussed the power that printing had in the colonies. Franklin was able to print some 500,000 copies of Paine's "Common Sense." When he did this, there were only two million colonists living in America. That means one out of every four colonists living in America had a copy of "Common Sense." I don’t know of any kind of literature today that would represent that type of dissemination. The Museum argued that without the press the American Revolution would have never occurred, saying that the printed word unified the colonists. After learning one in four Americans had a “Common Sense” I believe them.

Lastly, we saw a replica press that printed the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith went to the E.B. Grandin Print Shop which, as I learned, was the most modern printing press avaliable in the 1820's. For Joseph Smith to have such a modern press so close is remarkable. The museum showed us the entire process of printing the Book of Mormon-- from pressing the sheets, to hanging them, to stitching the binding together. The museum noted that E.B. Grandin, the printer, printed 5,000 books in seven months. This, I guess, was extremely fast for that time period because the printers reset a new page of the Book of Mormon every two minutes. It was incredible that they printed that many books that fast.

I was thinking how lucky I am to have books. Every day I read the newspaper, the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I read things on the internet, about Roman history, about American history. I even am reading Livy. I read ALL the time. We take books and printed material for granted. But are we grateful for the chance to read?

My wife is a High School Teacher. When she began to teach, she was surprised that the reading comprehension of her students. She would say many basic words like synopsis and summary, and they did not know the meanings of these words. Howeever, when we learn to read it changes everything. We gain power because we control what we learn. We gain power because we can spread ideas, concepts, and principles. Without the ability to read and write, we wanderer through life.

Marvelous Work

“Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.” Doctrine and Covenants 4:1.

In the revelations to Joseph Smith, the Lord repeats this sentence many times. At a glance, I saw four different sections that started with this sentence. Why is it so important?

As we’ve been discussing in one of my religion classes, “the marvelous work which” was “about to come forth” was the Book of Mormon. Many people find it wrong that we, being Christians, read the Book of Mormon. They feel that since we have the Book of Mormon, we ignore the Bible, but that simply isn’t true. We read both of them. Here are some reasons why I read and cherish the Book of Mormon along with the Bible.

1. The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ.

a. Have you ever wondered if Christ really lived? Was he really the Son of God? When you read the Book of Mormon along with the Bible, you discover that Christ really lived. You learn that He is the Savior of the World. You come to understand His Atonement, and it allows you to feel it in your life today. The Book of Mormon as I have read it with the Bible has strengthened my personal testimony of Jesus Christ. It has helped me understand him and his mission. If you are struggling to understand Jesus Christ, his mission, or if we even need him, read the Book of Mormon and you will discover that he truly lives.

2. The Book of Mormon helps us determine if Joseph Smith was a prophet.

a. If God were to have a man on the earth that filled the role of a prophet like Moses, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, would it not be important to have a way to determine if he was true or not? Luckily, God has provided such a way to determine if Joseph Smith was a prophet. If we read the Book of Mormon, with “real intent” meaning with sincere desire to understand its message of Christ, and if we pray sincerely asking God if it is true, he will tell us if it is a true book. If it is a true book, Joseph Smith was a true prophet and God established His church through him. It is imperative that people read for themselves with sincerity the Book of Mormon in order to discover if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Without true intent reading the Book of Mormon is wasted energy. But if you truly want to know, if you sincerely ask God, you will get an answer. Also if Joseph Smith was a prophet, it means that we have a prophet today. It means that God speaks to men today, just as he spoke to Moses. If that isn’t important, I don’t know what is.

3. The Book of Mormon helps me see what is important.

a. Just as there are many stories in the Bible from which we can gain personal application, the Book of Mormon too contains stories that help us in our lives today. One of my favorite may be Abinadai. He was chosen by God, to preach to a wicked King. He testified of Christ and of the King’s need to repent. The king burned him at the stake for his words. I like this story because of Abinadi’s personal character. It has taught me to be faithful to God and my morals in any situation. I’m thankful for the Bible and the Book of Mormon stories.

Crandall Printing Museum

I went to the Crandall Printing Museum this week. I've heard about it over and over again while I've been here at BYU. I finally went. It was really good. Take a look at the website:

http://crandallmuseum.org/

They have three presses. They have a working model of the Gutenburg press. They even demonstrated how he made the letters. I think that was my favorite part.

They also have a replica of Benjamine Franklin's press. They discussed the power that printing had in the colonies. Franklin was able to print some 500,000 copies of Paine's "Common Sense." There were only two million colonists at that point. That means that one out of every four people could read "Common Sense." They argued that without the press the American Revolution would have never occured. It unified the colonists.

Next we saw a press that is a replica of the press that printed the Book of Mormon. The museum showed us the entire process of printing the Book of Mormon. The printer printed 5,000 books in seven months. It was extreamly fast. The museum said they reset a new page every two minutes. It was incredible that they printed that many books that fast.

We take books and printed material for granted. It is so easy to hop onto the web and learn something. But do we really learn? What power books have in our lives. I'm greatful for the Book of Mormon. It is one book that has changed my life.