Resurrection

Resurrection

Resurrection vs Reincarnation

What would you want to be reincarnated as?

What do you want to be resurrected as?  John 5:28-29

[Life / Just / 1st                                                                     ]        

1 Corinthinians 15:20  firstfruits (footnote firstling)

Collosians 1:18  firstborn

Matthew 27:52 (tells it out of order) tells of Christ being

   first to rise from the grave

John 20:16-17 Hold me not (don't detain me)

D&C 88:95 - When Christ comes, those worthy shall be

   caught up to meet Him

1st Trump - Morning - contiues into Millenium - the Celestial

   will be resurrected.  They are first fruits.

 

[ Damnation/ Unjust / 2nd                      ]

2nd Trump - Evening

Terrestrial

Happens part way into the Millenium

3rd Trump - Second resurrection

Telestial

Happens at the end of the Millenium

4th Trump

Sons of Perdition

Training From President Sperry

Scriptural Ponderings - Scriptures

President Sperry asked, What were three things that happened during the administration of Spencer W. Kimball that changed the church?

·         The Priesthood was given to all worthy males.

·         The LDS edition of the scriptures was published.

·         The quorums of the Seventy were organized.

Which of those three things was most important?

President Boyd K. Packer said:  The coming forth of the LDS edition of the scriptures will be the crowning achievement in the administration of President Kimball.

He went on to train about the Bible Dictionary and all the answers that can be found there, and encouraged us to use it.

Declare Glad Tidings

 D&C 19:29 And thou shalt ^adeclare glad tidings, yea, ^bpublish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see.

 30 And thou shalt do it with all humility, ^atrusting in me, ^breviling not against revilers.

 31 And of ^atenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and ^bfaith on the Savior, and ^cremission of sins by ^dbaptism, and by ^efire, yea, even the ^fHoly Ghost.

This is the mandate for a missionary, to declare glad tidings.  Some zealots have got it wrong and thought their job was to frighten people with death and fire and destruction and brimstone. 

The scripture does say to declare repentance, but I think that when we teach faith in the Savior first, as the 4th Article of Faith orders them, that the other things fall into place.  If we truly have faith in Him and understand true principles, we automatically want to be clean before Him.  If we love Him, we want to have Him in our lives, but we are embarrassed and grieved to have Him see our sins, so we work to repent of them.

So I would say that we need to declare the glad tidings of Christ - His love for us, His sacrifice for us, the glad tidings of His Atonement.  And the scripture says to do it with humility, trusting in Him.  Proud missionaries do more damage than good, because pride is an enmity towards God and our fellowmen.  We must love those we teach, have humility, and trust Him and the Spirit to do the actual teaching.

Alicia Arce told us a story in Relief Society about teaching her little granddaughter about Jesus.  The child isn't getting any religious teaching in their home, so Alicia decided it was up to her to share her love for the Savior with the child.  She must have done a good job, because when Oscar came home, Alicia told the girl, "Tell Grandpa about Jesus."  And the little girl said, "Me and Grandma are crazy about that Guy!"

If we are crazy about that Guy, we'll want to share His glad tidings and bless those around us to know Him and love Him too.  That's what missionaries do.

Wherefore You Know That They Are True

 D&C 18:2 Behold, I have ^amanifested unto you, by my Spirit in many instances, that the ^bthings which you have [learned] are ^ctrue; wherefore you know that they are true.

 I've changed the scripture given to Oliver Cowdery a little.  It actually says "written", but that doesn't apply to me.  But the things that I've learned and the things that I've experienced and felt are deeply imbedded in my heart and I know they are true.

It such a blessing to me to have this testimony!  I was blessed to have a believing heart and a desire to follow and a love for the Lord.  Some of this probably is part of my personality, but some of it was taught by my faithful and devout parents.  How can I ever thank them?  Their example of sacrifice and service fills me with gratitude and love.  Oh, they weren't perfect, but they worked so hard to live the Gospel and stayed faithful and devoted to the end.

Of course, they were taught also by the example of their parents, who were taught and trained by their parents.  At this time of year (tomorrow is Pioneer Day) I'm thinking about those great-grandparents who made the trek across the plains and mountains, who left the European countries and sailed in cramped and miserable conditions across the ocean to go to Zion.  They went because the fire of the Gospel burned bright in their hearts and they were obedient.

And because of them I am here and I have that same fire burning in my heart.  

The Lord has also blessed me with many faith-building experiences.  He blessed me with Gospel teachers and examples, with the opportunity to attend college and institute classes, to be a teacher myself so that I could bear testimony to the truth.

So I feel so strongly that the Lord's words to Oliver are also meant for me.  Because He has manifested to me by His Spirit in many instances that the things which I have learned and experienced are true, wherefore I do know that they are true.

Go Get the Lost and Bring Them Back

"At the core of our leadership, as a central part of our ministry, should be the burning, driving, unrelenting resolve to go get the lost and bring them back."  Elder Tad R. Callister

We studied this talk last night in FHE and this sentence really jumped out at me.  Probably that's because it's so opposite of what I do and what my motivations are.  I do want to bring back "the lost", but it's not a burning, driving, unrelenting resolve.  Unfortunately, if the room were filled with women of the ward, I wouldn't go to those who are wandering, but to my friends with whom I am most comfortable.

I need to really pray to be filled with this desire and resolve, to be filled with charity as Moroni describes it.  I need to move outside my comfort zone and reach out to those who are lost.  Perhaps the mission will help teach me this.

Doing Much Good

D&C 11:8  Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.

 9 ^aSay nothing but ^brepentance unto this generation. Keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my ^cwork, ^daccording to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.

These are the words of the Lord to Hyrum Smith when he desired to know what role he should play in the developing latter-day Gospel.  But as Acell and I contemplate another mission, the words seem to have the potential to apply to us as well.

There is a reason why Acell had this prompting to go on a mission, and I've had a strong witness that this is what we should do.  I don't know what the Lord has planned for us, but He does.  

It's not as if we were doing anything wrong, or even being lazy in our lives.  We both have responsible callings in the ward, and I'm serving a church service mission.  But apparently there's more that we can contribute, and we want to respond to the Spirit and be of service where we can. 

All Things Made Known

Alma 9:20  . . . having had all things ^bmade known unto [us], according to [our] desires, and [our] faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come . . .

What a promise!  Alma is talking about the Nephites, but here is a verse we can liken unto ourselves with joy.

He's telling us that if we have righteous desires and have faith, we can pray (I'm assuming obedience fits in there somewhere), and we can have all things made known to us, things past, present, and future.  This is the spirit of revelation, and is a gift from the Holy Ghost to us.

Sometimes we don't see all things in their entirety, not because of disobedience, but because this life is meant to be a test and we're asked to move forward in faith without knowing the beginning from the end.  But we can know with perfect confidence that we are in the Lord's hands and He loves us and wants what is best for us.

 

Can Ye Feel So Now?

One of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon is Alma 5.  I especially love verse 14, where he says, And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?  Have ye received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

His description of what it means to be converted, to be spiritually born of God and receive His image in our countenances and undergo a mighty change of heart really resonates with me.
And then in verse 26 he says, And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

First of all, I love the imagery of singing the song of redeeming love.  But the question, "Can ye feel so now?" always brings me up short. 

I think we all have spiritual ups and downs.  At times if our lives we have great spiritual experiences and feel an outpouring of the Spirit.  But other times we feel stuck in a spiritual mire and can imagine our prayers bouncing off the ceiling, never quite making it to the Lord's ears.

In Sri Lanka we met a man who had been a Catholic priest.  He told us of how he was converted to the church, of miraculous happenings and of his conversion to the Gospel.  Of course he was kicked out of the Catholic church and stripped of his priestly robes.  He had to find another way to support himself and underwent a complete life change.  And yet at the time we met him, he never came to church.  He had let other cares of life get in the way and had become completely inactive.  He had found the pearl of great price, had grasped it and loved it, but then had let it go.

I don't want that ever to happen to me.  It's one of my greatest fears.

If you were to ask a roomful of church members how to keep hold of the pearl, you'd get a variety of answers, and they would all be worthwhile.  But I've been thinking about one particular safeguard that might help me hold onto the pearl.  Remembering.  Alma spoke of it in this very chapter, of remembering the captivity of our fathers.  In my life, my ancestors weren't in captivity, but they did have to sacrifice greatly for the Gospel, and it's important to remember those sacrifices.

But it's also important to remember the spiritual experiences and blessings that have come to me personally.  President Eyring gave a talk in October of 2007 called O Remember, Remember.  It is the one where he talked about recording our special experiences in order to bless our posterity.  In it he says:

Tonight and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions:  Did God send a message that was just for me?  Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children?  I will do that.  And then I will find a way to preserve the memory for the day that I and those that I love will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him.  I testify that He loves and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized.  I know that is true, and it brings me joy to remember Him.

As we record our lives and especially our spiritual experiences, we can bless our lives and the lives of our children so that if we were asked, "Can ye feel so now?", we could respond with a resounding, "Yes!"

You Should Not Have Feared Man More Than God

 D&C 3:7 For, behold, you should not have ^afeared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and ^bdespise his words—

 8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and ^asupported you against all the fiery ^bdarts of the ^cadversary; and he would have been with you in every time of ^dtrouble.

This scripture hits home with me.  I'm a white personality, meaning I'm concerned with pleasing people and having people like me.  Even strangers who I will never see again should think that I'm a good and smart person.  I envy those who don't care what anyone else thinks.

But that should not be my primary concern.  First I should think about what the Lord thinks.  I so empathize with the prophet Joseph in this trial because I could see myself doing the same thing.  Martin Harris was pressuring Joseph to let him show the 116 pages of manuscript to his wife and a few other people.  We all know the story of how they were lost or stolen.

This was a time of great suffering for Joseph, but also great growth.  We now know that the Lord had already prepared a greater record to replace that which was withdrawn.  So it seems to me that the purpose of this trial was to teach Joseph this very lesson.  If he would fear God first before man, the Lord would support him and protect him against the adversary.  He would be with him in every time of trouble.

I'm sure there were many times when that lesson was tested in the years before Joseph's death, but he never again slipped up, never faltered.  He always trusted the Lord first and stood strong against the influence of men.  It was a hard and painful lesson for him, but such an important one!

I'm so grateful for his example and his life.   I pray that I may always be as strong.

The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers

D&C 2:2  And ^ahe shall plant in the hearts of the children the ^bpromises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

One of the things I pray about pretty regularly is my gratitude for parents and grandparents and great-grandparents who sacrificed so that I could be handed the Gospel on a silver platter.  To be raised in the Gospel is a great blessing.  To grow up with the teachings and have a testimony, to have righteous parents who set an example is such a wonderful thing.  And thinking about my ancestors who recognized the truth of the Gospel and accepted it, leaving behind everything to cross oceans and the plains in difficult conditions just fills me with gratitude and joy.

But my earlier ancestors didn't have the benefit of the Gospel, and as I studied this verse in the D&C, I realized that my heart has been turned to only some of my fathers.  I'm interested in learning more about researching and doing family history, but haven't really got into it.  Is the time right that now I should devote more of my time to researching my ancestors?  I don't know.  Maybe.  Carma is going to be teaching a Sunday School class in family history.  Maybe that will get us both started.

 

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

It's not exactly scripture, but that was the theme of my devotional thought that I gave yesterday at the OFSP Center.  Our turn to give the thought comes around about once a month, and I decided rather than choose a subject and hymn to go along with it, to choose the hymn first and then the thought.  So I chose Each Life That Touches Ours for Good.  Here is approximately what I said.

We are all blessed to rub shoulders with other people, and some of those really lift and strengthen us.  Elder Thuesen last Thursday was telling me about his association with Elder Bednar years ago.  Elder Thuesen was privileged to be a counselor when Elder Bednar was a bishop.  He told me what a learning experience it was and said, "Some people are just better than the rest of us.  If you want to do better, if you want to be better, associate with better people."

I've thought about that a lot.  I don't know any general authorities.  But I do know some people who are better than I am.  And it's such a privilege to rub shoulders with those people and learn from them.  We've been meeting with Arringtons weekly for at least 30 years, discussing the Gospel in depth.  I feel like I've been tutored in my ideas and opinions through those years.

We have the blessing of rubbing shoulders with great people as we serve missions and serve in the temple.  Those people touch our lives for good.  We need to learn from them and savor those relationships.

I used the example of Scorchi and Tom's get-together with the family Tom brought into the Gospel 44 years ago.  There are now 62 people who are members of the church in that family, and several generations have served missions and done family history research, so many, many more lives have been touched.

My concluding thought was that WE need to be those great people that others want to rub shoulders with, so that we can inspire and influence and lift those around us.  I want us all to be giddy at being in the Celestial Kingdom together, as I quoted from Alicia Arce in yesterday's Mahubble blog.

For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise Thy goodness, Lord, above.

And He That Will Hear My Voice Shall Be My Sheep;

Mosiah 26:21 And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep . . .

Here lies the secret.  Here lies the answer.  We want to be His people, His sheep.  We want to feel that He loves us.  And the Lord here tells Alma how to tell who those people are.  They are those who hear His voice.

Sometimes in our world there are many voices.  The voices in our 21st Century world seem to be more and louder than at any other time.  They come into our homes and tell us what to buy and how to live and who to laugh at.  Somehow amid all that cacophony we need to learn to sort out the Lord's voice from the other voices.  We need to tune in to His voice and tune out the others.  Then we need to follow Him, to obey Him, to love Him and serve Him.

If we can learn to do this, the Lord promises that we will be His sheep.  The Lord will watch over us and lead us and protect us and gather us.  We will be His.

They Are My People

Alma has been asked to judge the people who are rebelling against the church, and he is very concerned and has inquired of the Lord.  The Lord's response begins by telling Alma that God is pleased with him and that he loves him for accepting the testimony of Abinadi.  He also loves the people who accepted the gospel because of Alma's testimony.  

Mosiah 26:18  Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my ^aname; for in my ^bname shall they be called; and they are mine.

The Lord uses similar language in D&C 50:40-42 as He talks about the early Saints. 

 40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot ^abear all things now; ye must ^bgrow in ^cgrace and in the knowledge of the truth.

 41 ^aFear not, little ^bchildren, for you are mine, and I have ^covercome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath ^dgiven me;

 42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be ^alost.

The Lord loves all of His children with a love beyond our ability to imagine, but He loves His obedient and faithful children with a special love and and blesses them and holds them in the hollow of His hand.

If we would be loved and treasured as the people of Alma, it's up to us.  We also must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.  We must be obedient and faithful and diligent and fear not, but trust in the Lord.  We can be His.

They Did Submit Cheerfully

 Mosiah 24:15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

I've had some pretty hard burdens at times, and I suspect that the Lord strengthened me to bear those burdens.  But I don't remember staying cheerful.  I know I pushed forward and got through it, but how cheerful was I?

I like this quote: 

Elaine Cannon

"Life is like that. When we can't change a circumstance, we can either grit our teeth and hang on with clenched jaws, or we can submit cheerfully until change occurs. And with God's help we can learn some important lessons. We can feel peace." (Adversity, p. 61)

I'm not quite sure how to do this.  I'm afraid I'm more of a "grit our teeth and hang on with clenched jaws" kind of person.  I know I'm not going to give up, but I'm not very joyous about it.  I think it's tied to gratitude.  When things are tough, we need to look for the blessings, to watch for the beautiful sunsets, for joyous music, for babies' faces, for the strength of friends, for love of family.  If we can see those things despite our pain, we can rejoice in our blessings that are always present whatever the trials.  Yes, it may be a Pollyanna kind of attitude, but that's better than being gloomy and making everyone around you feel the same.

Nevertheless the Lord Seeth Fit to Chasten His People

Mosiah 23:21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to ^achasten his people; yea, he trieth their ^bpatience and their faith.

We don't usually think of being chastened and tried as blessings, but if they're coming from the Lord, they must be.  Of course, the real problem is that we have such a narrow definition of "blessings".  We assume that if it makes us happy, it's a blessing.  If our life is fun and pleasurable, we're being blessed.  

Neal A. Maxwell said:  "Faith ... includes faith in God's developmental purposes, for 'the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.' (Mosiah 23:21.) Still, some of us have trouble when God's tutoring is applied to us! We plead for exemption more than we do for sanctification." (Ensign, May 1991, p. 90.)

And a quote from President Howard W. Hunter:

"Mormon surely knew that no pain we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God." (Ensign, Nov. 1987, p. 60 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 316)

The Lord has many different ways of blessing us.  He gives us things to make us happy, he gives us commandments to teach us how to follow Him, and He gives us suffering and trials to help us to learn how to be more like Him.

It's very hard to be grateful when things aren't being fun, when our hearts are aching, and when things aren't going as we hoped they would.  Especially when we know we're being obedient and faithful.  This story about Alma and his people is one of the best examples of how the Lord gives us adversity and then helps us through it.  Sometimes He lets us suffer a bit for our own growth, sometimes He leaves the trial on our shoulders, but lightens the load.  And sometimes He removes the test from us.  He heals the sick, He takes away the problem.  But not always.

Sometimes the disease isn't cured, but remains part of our world for the rest of our lives.  Sometimes our darling child isn't healed with a priesthood blessing, and she dies.  At times like these, we are comforted by the faith that the Lord knows what is best for everyone; that He can see the end from the beginning; that He loves us and will ALWAYS bless us in whatever way is best for us.

They Became the Children of God

Isn't that a great phrase of Mormon's?  He's describing how the people of Alma were taught by the priests he had ordained.  It's found in Mosiah 18, verses 18-30.

We need to remember that these people lived in the world of King Benjamin, a world of revelry and immorality and drunkenness.  We don't know exactly how long it had been since King Zeniff had died, but it was about 10 years before Abinadi appeared the first time, and then he hid for a couple of years before he came back to testify before his death.  So these people were probably pretty immersed in this wicked culture.  They may not have been partaking in it, but just lying low.  We do know that when Alma started preaching secretly, they responded and joined him eagerly.

Now they were carefully gathering to be taught.  They had clapped their hands for joy when he explained the baptismal covenants to them and they had been baptized.  ". . .and were filled with the grace of God".

Now Alma ordained priests to teach them and guide them.  I think his instructions to the new priests are notable:

• They should teach and preach unto them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
• They should only teach the things he had taught, and also the teachings of the prophets.
• They should teach only repentance and faith on the Lord.
• There should be no contention among them.  They should have unity of belief in one faith and one baptism, "having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."

 It's at this point that Mormon tells us that they became the children of God.  Then he tells more of Alma's instructions:

• They should observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
• Every day they should give thanks to their Lord.
• The priests should support themselves by their own labors.
• They should try to meet together one day a week to worship and teach.
• The people should share their substance with one another and see to the temporal and spiritual needs of one another, of their free will.

If we could all do those things as wards and branches and neighbors, I think we would feel that we are becoming the children of God.  Really, as I rub shoulders with those wonderful people at church meetings, I feel that I'm privileged to associate with children of God already.

Abinadi Preaches of Christ

I've undervalued Abinadi in the past.  I think I got so wrapped up in the wicked priests and King Noah and the horror of the burning, I didn't appreciate the beauty and the clarity of Abinadi's teachings on Christ.

He quotes some of our favorite scriptures from Isaiah from chapter 53, many of the ones we sing during the Messiah.  Then he says this in Mosiah 15:7-9

Yea, even so he shall be led, ^acrucified, and slain, the ^bflesh becoming subject even unto death, the ^cwill of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

 8 And thus God breaketh the ^abands of death, having gained the ^bvictory over death; giving the Son power to make ^cintercession for the children of men—

 9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon ^ahimself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and ^bsatisfied the demands of justice.

The concept of our Savior offering Himself as a sacrifice for us is so powerful!  He didn't just ALLOW the crucifixion to happen, he MADE it happen.  And He walked into that garden, and voluntarily TOOK upon Himself our sins and sufferings and sorrows.  Why?  Because of his bowels of mercy.  Because He was filled with compassion towards all of us.  He knew we couldn't return to His presence on our own merit.  Even the best of us, the most perfect, would be consigned to Hell forever, our bodies crumbling in the grave.  And those of us who are so far less than perfect that we cringe at the mention of the word - well, we might as well give up before we begin.

But He loves us!  Not as some entertaining plaything like many churches teach, but so much that He would endure unimaginable agony!  He broke the bands of death and satisfied the demands of justice.

Who wouldn't want to worship such a Being?  Who wouldn't want to fall at His feet?  I stand all amazed.  Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me.

Consecration Enhances Individuality

Abinadi is preaching to the wicked priests of King Noah, attempting to teach them that our will can submit to the will of the Father without losing ourselves.  It's a hard concept to learn.

In Mosiah 15:7, he says, "the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father."
Here are some quotes on the subject:


Neal A. Maxwell

"It was all made possible by the Savior's splendid submissiveness. He did voluntarily what He was not forced to do; it was something no other child of God could do! 'There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin' (Hymns no. 194). 'Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father' (Mosiah 15:7). The imagery and theology of this verse tell us that Jesus was totally, perfectly, and fully consecrated.

"Being 'swallowed up' means being totally enveloped-without question, protest, reservation, or resentment. It is 'all the way,' not halfway. Choosing such spiritual submission is the highest act of deliberate, individual will: 'And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt' (Mark 14:36; emphasis added).

"Though Jesus' will was thus 'swallowed up,' we certainly don't notice any diminution of Jesus' individuality after the Atonement, do we? In fact, not only was He resplendent, but after the Resurrection, amid some of His sheep, He declared that His joy was now 'full' (3 Nephi 17:20). Consecration enhances individuality. Furthermore, when we are 'swallowed up' in His will we will also know what it is like to be 'swallowed up in the joy of Christ' (Alma 31:38)." (That Ye May Believe, pp. 2-3)

Henry B. Eyring

"In considering consecration, it is well to remember . . . that nothing is held back-whether turf, attitude, or hobbies. One's will is to be swallowed up in the will of God - just as occurred with Jesus...the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father...Most forms of holding back are rooted in pride or are prompted by the mistaken notion that somehow we are diminished by submission to God. Actually, the greater the submission, the greater the expansion!" (Henry B. Eyring, On Becoming a Disciple Scholar, pp. 61-2)

In our lives, some people are very reluctant to submit their will to the will of the Father.  They really fear that they will lose something of themselves.  These two great men have just taught that the opposite is true.  When we fight to maintain our individuality we show pride and stubbornness.  We need to give our will to the Father, as Maxwell taught so many times.