Our 2nd to last Zone Conference

On Friday, February 10th we attended  Zone conference held in Porto for the Porto and Porto north zones. 

This is sister Hannah Hextell, from Houston, Texas. She reruns home on February 23rd and will be attending BYU.

After zone conference the five senior couples went to dinner.

Sunday, February 12th Kim attended the Young Women class in Vila Real.

Later Sunday night Ricardo & Eveline Cardoso together with their children Kelvia & Sara + Eveline’s parents Antonio & Valentina came for dinner & games.

Kelvia standing by her painting she made for Kim.

Valentines Day in Porto!

On Wednesday, February 15th we had District meeting/bbq in a park! The temperature was in the upper 50s.

On Thursday, February 16th after Seminary class we stopped by to see the new apartment of Antonio & Valentina. 

SCRIPTURE POWER  

How to avoid being deceived.

 

On March 7, 1831 Joseph Smith received the revelation known as Doctrine and Covenants section 45.  This is a long revelation containing 75 verses. Verse 60-61 states: “And now, behold, I say unto you, it shall not be given unto you to know any further concerning this chapter [Matthew 24], until the New Testament be translated, and in it all these things shall be made known. Wherefore I give unto you that ye may now translate it, that ye may be prepared for the things to come.” (D & C 45:60-61). 

 

The next day March 8, 1831 Joseph Smith stopped revising the Old Testament and started on the New Testament. At some point soon after he revised Matthew 24 as contained in the Pearl of Great Price-“Joseph Smith-Matthew”. 

 

This chapter mentions “deceive” five (5) times. (JS-M 1:5,6,9,22,37)

 

"For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant." (J.S. Matt. 1:22)  

 

Elect according to the covenant of baptism would mean members of the Church. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “But there is one kind of latter-day destruction that has always sounded to me more personal than public, more individual than collective—a warning, perhaps more applicable inside the Church than outside it. The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth. (Matthew 24:24; Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:22) If we think of this as a form of spiritual destruction, it may cast light on another latter-day prophecy. Think of the heart as the figurative center of our faith, the poetic location of our loyalties and our values; then consider Jesus’s declaration that in the last days “men’s hearts [shall fail] them.” (Luke 21:26) (“Safety for the Soul”, October 2009 General Conference).

 

The solution is found in JS-M verse 37. "And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived,..." 

 

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Treasuring up his word is far more than merely reading it. To treasure it one must not only read and study, but seek in humility and obedience to do the commandments given, and gain the inspiration which the Holy Spirit will impart." (“The Resurrection,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1942, 780; see also Doctrines of Salvation, ed. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (1954–56), 1:305; Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Joseph Fielding Smith, chapter 10)

 

Similarly “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.” (D & C 45:57)

 

 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: “Not read, not study, not search, but treasure up the Lord's word. Possess it, own it, make it yours by both believing it and living it. For instance: the voice of the Lord says that if men have faith, repent, and are baptized, they shall receive the Holy Ghost. It is not sufficient merely to know what the scripture says. One must treasure it up, meaning take it into his possession so affirmatively that it becomes a part of his very being; as a consequence, in the illustration given, one actually receives the companionship of the Spirit. Obviously such persons will not be deceived where the signs of the times and the Second Coming of the Messiah are concerned." (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary,Vol. 1, p. 662)

“for the thing, [the Book of Mormon] which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.” (2 Ne. 3:15)

 

“As the Liahona guided the Nephites, so the word of Christ leads men to eternal life” (Alma 37 chapter heading)

 

“The word of God leads men to salvation” (Helaman chapter 3 heading)

 

“The scriptures guide man to salvation.” (2 Timothy chapter 3 heading)