{"id":932,"date":"2015-03-19T13:20:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T13:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jvhall.org\/?p=932"},"modified":"2023-02-20T23:40:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T23:40:23","slug":"the-parable-of-poisons-march-16-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/?p=932","title":{"rendered":"The Parable of Poisons — March 16, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10882228_383717158463150_2685487682685307516_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How can I pray? I don\u2019t have a loud voice.<\/i><\/p>\n

What could we say to this man?<\/p>\n

A few days ago we talked to our son. He was 14,000 miles away. Do you believe that?<\/i><\/p>\n

We might imagine the man nodding.<\/p>\n

This little plastic thing made a noise, so we pushed a button here and said, Hello, and he started talking to us. We heard every word he said even though he was 14,000 miles away. How can that happen?<\/i><\/p>\n

Through cell towers, satellites?<\/i><\/p>\n

Cell phone towers and satellites were made by men, mortal men here on the earth. If mortal men can make something like cell phone towers and satellites, do you think that our Heavenly Father, who is immortal and the greatest of all, could have a way to talk to His children while they are away from home here on this earth?<\/i><\/p>\n

Another nod.<\/p>\n

I testify to you that not only does He have a way, he does talk to His children here on the earth. Instead of cell towers and satellites, He talks spirit to spirit, His spirit to your spirit, through something called the Holy Ghost. We call that revelation.<\/i><\/p>\n

The man might look down and speak so softly that it is almost a whisper.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think He talks to me.<\/i><\/p>\n

Brother, are there times that your cell phone does not work?<\/i><\/p>\n

A nod.<\/p>\n

If you do not believe that a cell phone will do anything, then it is just a piece of plastic. You probably won\u2019t pick it up or push the buttons, right?<\/i><\/p>\n

A nod.<\/i><\/p>\n

You have to believe, or have faith, and you have to do something. To have spiritual communication, you have to have faith and do something, too. You have to pray. It is best if you find a quiet place where you can be alone, kneel down, and use your voice. Do you think we had to talk really, really loud for our son to hear us, even from 14,000 miles away?<\/i><\/p>\n

He might move his head slightly from side to side.<\/p>\n

Neither do you need to talk really loud for the Lord to hear you. Your cell phone won\u2019t work if you don\u2019t charge the battery, will it?<\/i><\/p>\n

Another move from side to side.<\/p>\n

We keep our \u201cspiritual battery\u201d charged by pray, reading the scriptures, and going to church. Now, Brother, if we open this cell phone up and pour \u201ctuba\u201d or coconut wine, inside, will the phone still work?<\/i><\/p>\n

Hopefully, a little smile will break through.<\/p>\n

Cigarettes, chew, alcoholic drinks in all their varieties, coffee, tea\u2014they all put poison in your body. The poison makes your body \u201cunclean.\u201d God cannot dwell in unclean places. The Holy Ghost, who is a member of the Godhead, is a God. The Holy Ghost cannot come into an unclean body, and so cannot communicate with your spirit.<\/i><\/p>\n

Maybe he will look down.<\/p>\n

The commandments that we have been given are blessings. Selfishness, anger, depression, addiction\u2014they make our body \u201cunclean\u201d too. The commandments help us to love and serve others, to feel joy, and to develop self-control. Then we can know the wonder of communicating \u201cspirit to spirit.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

After a pause, the man might lift his head.<\/p>\n

Brother, there is a wonderful way that your body can be perfectly clean. When you stop putting poisons and negative emotions into your body, then through the miracle of repentance, the power of the Atonement can clean everything away. You will know who you really are: a son of God. And through the power of the Holy Ghost, you will be able to talk to your Father.<\/i><\/p>\n

He will hear you. And you will be able to hear Him.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How can I pray? I don\u2019t have a loud voice. What could we say to this man? A few days ago we talked to our son. He was 14,000 miles away. Do you believe that? We might imagine the man nodding. This little plastic thing made a noise, so we pushed a button here and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1204,"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/932\/revisions\/1204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jvhall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}