Thomas Monson - Prophet, Seer and BS?????er

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_Sanctorian
_Emeritus
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Thomas Monson - Prophet, Seer and BS’er

Post by _Sanctorian »

My daughters first pet (a fish) died today. As I struggled to dig a two inch hole with a steal shovel and my 200 pounds of amazing man meat, I recalled a story told by President Monson during general conference. Even as a TBM I remember thinking this particular story was exaggerated if not completely fabricated. From an April 2009 talk titled “Be Of Good Cheer”, take it away Tom:

In about March 1946, less than a year after the end of the war, Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, accompanied by Frederick W. Babbel, was assigned a special postwar tour of Europe for the express purpose of meeting with the Saints, assessing their needs, and providing assistance to them. Elder Benson and Brother Babbel later recounted, from a testimony they heard, the experience of a Church member who found herself in an area no longer controlled by the government under which she had resided.

She and her husband had lived an idyllic life in East Prussia. Then had come the second great world war within their lifetimes. Her beloved young husband was killed during the final days of the frightful battles in their homeland, leaving her alone to care for their four children.

The occupying forces determined that the Germans in East Prussia must go to Western Germany to seek a new home. The woman was German, and so it was necessary for her to go. The journey was over a thousand miles (1,600 km), and she had no way to accomplish it but on foot. She was allowed to take only such bare necessities as she could load into her small wooden-wheeled wagon. Besides her children and these meager possessions, she took with her a strong faith in God and in the gospel as revealed to the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith.

She and the children began the journey in late summer. Having neither food nor money among her few possessions, she was forced to gather a daily subsistence from the fields and forests along the way. She was constantly faced with dangers from panic-stricken refugees and plundering troops.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks to months, the temperatures dropped below freezing. Each day, she stumbled over the frozen ground, her smallest child—a baby—in her arms. Her three other children struggled along behind her, with the oldest—seven years old—pulling the tiny wooden wagon containing their belongings. Ragged and torn burlap was wrapped around their feet, providing the only protection for them, since their shoes had long since disintegrated. Their thin, tattered jackets covered their thin, tattered clothing, providing their only protection against the cold.

Soon the snows came, and the days and nights became a nightmare. In the evenings she and the children would try to find some kind of shelter—a barn or a shed—and would huddle together for warmth, with a few thin blankets from the wagon on top of them.

She constantly struggled to force from her mind overwhelming fears that they would perish before reaching their destination.

And then one morning the unthinkable happened. As she awakened, she felt a chill in her heart. The tiny form of her three-year-old daughter was cold and still, and she realized that death had claimed the child. Though overwhelmed with grief, she knew that she must take the other children and travel on. First, however, she used the only implement she had—a tablespoon—to dig a grave in the frozen ground for her tiny, precious child.

Death, however, was to be her companion again and again on the journey. Her seven-year-old son died, either from starvation or from freezing or both. Again her only shovel was the tablespoon, and again she dug hour after hour to lay his mortal remains gently into the earth. Next, her five-year-old son died, and again she used her tablespoon as a shovel.

Her despair was all consuming. She had only her tiny baby daughter left, and the poor thing was failing. Finally, as she was reaching the end of her journey, the baby died in her arms. The spoon was gone now, so hour after hour she dug a grave in the frozen earth with her bare fingers. Her grief became unbearable. How could she possibly be kneeling in the snow at the graveside of her last child? She had lost her husband and all her children. She had given up her earthly goods, her home, and even her homeland.
I'm a Ziontologist. I self identify as such.
_Choyo Chagas
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Re: Thomas Monson - Prophet, Seer and BS’er

Post by _Choyo Chagas »

monson?

an old comment wrote:
Buffalo wrote:...
The dude is probably the laziest of the 15 when it comes to preparing talks. He's constantly recycling old material. This is extra blatant, though. Good catch.

From the Ensign:

---
- Ensign » 2001 » October / First Presidency Message - Hallmarks of a Happy Home
By President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
and
- Ensign » 1988 » November - Hallmarks of a Happy Home (Conference!)
President Thomas S. Monson Second Counselor in the First Presidency
The two article are word by word identical.

---
- Ensign » 2006 » August / First Presidency Message - Led by Spiritual Pioneers
President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
and
- Ensign » 1997 » May - They Showed the Way (Conference!)
President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
There are two little difference:

1. The first two paragraph
(2006) This summer we mark 159 years since the pioneers, under the inspired leadership of Brigham Young, entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake and proclaimed: “This is the right place. Drive on.”
Often we honor the great leaders and followers on this historic journey, but I wish to call attention to other “pioneers” who preceded that trek.
(1997) This year, 1997, commemorates the 150th anniversary since the pioneers, under the inspired leadership of Brigham Young, entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake and proclaimed: “This is the right place. Drive on.” Much will be said at this conference concerning that epochal event, and thanks will be given to God for His watchful care and guidance.
On this beautiful Sabbath morning I wish to make a few remarks concerning “other pioneers” who preceded that trek.

2. The title ...


The target audience don't watch / don't read.
If they read, don't understand.
If they understand, don't remember.
Choyo Chagas is Chairman of the Big Four, the ruler of the planet from "The Bull's Hour" ( Russian: Час Быка), a social science fiction novel written by Soviet author and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov in 1968.
Six months after its publication Soviet authorities banned the book and attempted to remove it from libraries and bookshops.
_Choyo Chagas
_Emeritus
Posts: 914
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 4:49 am

Re: Thomas Monson - Prophet, Seer and BS’er

Post by _Choyo Chagas »

monson?

"repetitio est mater studiorum"
(... in english: i tell it many times so can be understood even by idiots ...)

another old comment wrote:"faith and doubt cannot exist..."

Ensign July 1972 “Finishers Wanted” Elder Thomas S. Monson Of the Council of the Twelve
http://www.lds.org/ensign/1972/07/finishers-wanted

New Era July 1980 "The Lighthouse of the Lord" by Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Quorum of the Twelve
http://www.lds.org/new-era/1980/07/the- ... f-the-lord

Ensign June 1989 First Presidency Message “Finishers Wanted” By President Thomas S. Monson Second Counselor in the First Presidency
http://www.lds.org/ensign/1989/06/finishers-wanted

Ensign Nov. 2000 and Liahona Jan. 2001
"The Call to Serve" President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/11/the-call-to-serve
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2001/01/the-call-to-serve

Ensign Feb. 2001 and Liahona May 2001
First Presidency Message, The Lighthouse of the Lord: A Message to the Youth of the Church By President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2001/05/the- ... the-church
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2001/02/the-l ... the-church

Liahona July 2002 Pathways to Perfection President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2002/07/path ... perfection

Liahona May 2005 Be Thou an Example President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2005/05/be-thou-an-example

New Era Sept. 2005 By President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency
http://www.lds.org/new-era/2005/09/a-code-to-live-by

Liahona Mar. 2009 First Presidency Message Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith By President Thomas S. Monson
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/03/come ... -and-faith

Liahona Mar. 2012 Prophet Urges Young Adults to Be a Light (On November 1, 2011, at a Brigham Young University–Provo devotional, President Thomas S. Monson admonished listeners to “be a righteous example.”)
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/03/prop ... be-a-light


Eternal truths may be repeated from one eternity to another.

it is eternal truth, because "faith" and "doubt" are antonyms of each other.
Choyo Chagas is Chairman of the Big Four, the ruler of the planet from "The Bull's Hour" ( Russian: Час Быка), a social science fiction novel written by Soviet author and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov in 1968.
Six months after its publication Soviet authorities banned the book and attempted to remove it from libraries and bookshops.
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