I had to work a 24 hour shift yesterday, so I didn't go to church after I got home this morning. I guess this is in place of church. I gave a talk last week (after we had been in the ward a total of 7 days) and I shared a quote from Elder McConkie where he talked about how different people have a talent of believing and following truth. He talks about an instinct that we have coming into this life that we can choose to follow or not. I shared the stories of Neils Christensen and how his wife divorced him and he came to the US and crossed the plains with his children. Our great great grandmother was his 3rd wife and she was disowned by her parents when she joined the church at age 18. I talked about the difference between people who accept the gospel the first time they hear it and those who will never believe it no matter how many times they hear it.
I started reading Lectures on Faith and, today I read the 2nd chapter. It talks about how mankind first became acquainted with God. Of course Adam learned directly from God in the garden and continued to do so after he was driven out. All of Adam's family learned from him about God. It then goes into the story of Cain and Abel. Abel was righteous and Cain was not. But both of them knew God. The scriptures talk about Cain having talked to God after he slew Abel. The interesting part of all this is that both sides knew about God and his nature. Cain was the origin of wickedness on the earth and he still knew very well of the nature of God, having talked with him, even after his transgression. He had full knowledge of God at the time.
That's interesting to me that from the very beginning both the righteous and the unrighteous knew of God. I think that's how it is still, no matter how much people want to deny the existence of God. Can I get an amen!
Anyway, we're doing well here. Work's going well. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and hope we can have lots of people here. I hope everyone had a nice sabbath.
Colin
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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3 comments:
Good post Colin. I had never thought about Cain knowing God directly. I guess in order for his act to qualify as sin, he had to know it was wrong, and in order for him to become a Son of Perdition, he had to have a perfect knowlege of God and of the Gospel, and then link with Lucifer in open rebellion. According to McConkie, Cain was "an associate of Lucifer in the pre-existence, and... a liar from the beginning." Then he slew Abel at Lucifer's command. How would you like to be Cain -- the one who introduced sin to the world, the first Son of Perdition? He's been and will be in misery for a long, long time. But, I guess his consolation is that since he has a body, he will at least ultimately rule over Satan.
Did I ever tell you about John Hofman's theory that Cain is Sasquatch? He bases it on a story related by President Kimball in The Miracle of Forgiveness. Check it out - page 127. He quotes a guy who was riding his mule along a road and met a tall, dark, hairy man who announced himself as being a very miserable creatuer, a wanderer in the earth, who had sought death, but could not die, and that his mission was to destroy the souls of men. I guess that might explain why we have only sparse sightings of Sasquatch, but nobody can capture or kill him, because there's only one of him, and he's Cain. Anyway, that's the kind of stuff that keeps the blog interesting, right?
Dad
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Cain was a man, not a beast. But...does make for interesting blog reading.
Colin I really liked what you wrote, and I agree completely. Some will, some will eventually, and some never will. That's the beauty...or the curse...of free agency.
Why are you already talking about Thanksgiving. I'm going to see you in about 4 days! Can't wait!
colin,
wow, very insightful. thanks for sharing that with us. i would like to add a little addendum to christina christensen. she was disowned by her family, and left for the salt lake valley. she herded cattle to pay her way along the trail, as grandpa told us. there is however, a wonderful ending to her story. i have never heard of this before or since, but sometimes because of our faithfulness, we are later rewarded in wonderful ways. by the time her last son was called on a mission (to denmark) he was a widow, so, she went to denmark with him. she spent the whole time there, as i am told, and reconnected with family members she had left behind all those years ago. she really was a remarkable woman. i think we all share part of her faithful blood.
anyway, i don't know if i have thought of it in such a clear way, about how we all have equal access to the Lord, and to those spiritual promptings. anyway, thanks for sharing this colin. i love you. xoxo mom
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