Christmas Book Citations Gordon B. Hinckley Part 3

Answering questions by Bill McKeever during Johnson deals with 36 commonly asked questions by your LDS friends and neighbors. It's a great resource for Christians want to share their faith with friends and loved ones should pick up your copy today at your favorite Christian bookstore viewpoint on Mormonism program that examines the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from a biblical perspective viewpoint on Mormonism sponsored by Mormonism research ministry since 1979 Mormonism research ministry has been dedicated to equipping the body of Christ with answers regarding the Christian faith in a manner that expresses gentleness and respect. And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism hoping you're having a very pleasant Friday. Welcome to this edition of viewpoint on Mormonism. I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry and with me today is Eric Johnson. My colleague at MRM we continue looking at books that were given away by the first presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as Christmas gifts. We been looking at a two-volume set that was given away for Christmas of 2004 and 2005.

It's called the discourses of Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley before we get into our topic today. Eric wanted to tell our listeners of the special that we have going if they would like to help out our radio ministry. We have a special offer might like to consider for a generous gift of any size.

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Will send you an electronic copy of bills compiled quotes in their own words within the next week. 100% of the gifts go to our radio ministry and we thank you in advance for your help. At this time Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of the LDS church on a few occasions that some things to groups of Mormon missionaries that probably made some of the missionaries Christians. Now I'm not saying that Gordon B. Hinckley was trying to be mean, but he just had a way of saying some things to these young guys that were probably embarrassing. I would think to some of them listening to Gordon B. Hinckley humming that is the prophet of their church is kind of rebuking them. You might say that you said something interesting there. Bill, you said to these young guys but certainly females have been a part of the missionary force for many many years and yet I think you're right. I think he might have been speaking to the men because, listen to what he says in volume 1, pages 535 and 536. He writes now missionaries are careless. My you are careless you are just terribly careless. Your mother said, taking care of you all your lives now and you are going out to care for yourselves and you don't know how to do it. The careful guard your health. Eat good food not rich food but good food. Observed good hygiene, good sanitation stay away from sickness. Keep your apartment tidy clean them up, make your beds. It is amazing how many beds are made when at a missionary meeting the mission president says I'm going to visit your digs tonight everybody runs home and makes the bed that hasn't been made for two months. Make the bed every day and live orderly lives.

I plead with you to do that we have altogether too much sickness in the mission field too much of it. It is terribly costly in money and in time live lives that will preserve your help is much as it is, as it is possible to do so because a sick missionary becomes a handicap. His companion can't work alone and he can't go out. The result is that everything stops. Guard your help and be very careful and cleaning your ways of doing things that I can understand Gordon B. Hinckley wanting his missionaries to take care themselves to tidy up after themselves, but at the same time when I'm listening to this admonition is that have to say to these kids. Parents that they didn't do a very good job teaching them how to take care themselves how to use good hygiene, good sanitation stay away from sickness. Keep your apartments tidy clean them up. I've been in missionary apartments before and I I guess I would say that they seem to have followed that advice because they didn't look very messy to me at least. It's interesting though that this quote and the one were to read after this, found its way in a book called discourses of Gordon B. Hinckley that Gordon B.

Hinckley was a present of the time. At the time when this book was given away. He decided that he would give these books that have quotes like this that really don't seem to have a whole lot of meaning to anybody except the people he was talking to at the time you raise a good point. Why these quotes admonishing missionaries to use good hygiene and to tidy up their apartments. Why would that seem important in a book such as this. That's given away to lower general authorities in the church as well as employees of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints because these were special gifts to those particular people. These were leather bound books that were not available to the general public. They were special additions that were given out his gifts, but yet it includes quotes like these, we can't say that Gordon B. Hinckley did not have a sense of humor and it's been said that he got a sense of humor from his wife Marjorie, that's been said many times before and he did sometimes have a very dry sense of humor and I'm not sure if he was being a little sarcastic in that first quote but listen to this. I think this made me laugh when I read it. He said on pages 536 and 537. Take care of yourselves protect yourselves against physical danger and keep your tempers again. He's talking to the missionaries. People will swear at you a little. Don't swear back. Return good for evil. Don't be like that missionary who was walking down the street and a man was sprinkling his lawn as the missionary came along.

The man turned the hose on him and said I understand you believe in baptism, the missionaries turned around and grabbed him and said yes and we also believe in the laying on of hands. Don't get involved in that kind of thing today. They will sue you if you do that and we have too many of those lawsuits in the mission field is just joking. Are there really was a couple of missionaries that did that to an individual turned the hose on it sounds like something that is made up, but I wouldn't put it past that maybe that happened work missionaries retaliated for getting sprinkled by the bad homeowner. Let's be serious, though most of the missionaries I've come across very nice kids. I mean they are really sincere and they really just want nothing more than to spread what they believe to be true, and I think that holds for us when we are talking to the missionaries. We need to show them respect and to be gentle with them and try to have the best conversation we can possibly have update another topic that he talked a lot about interestingly enough tattoos. It's almost like tattoos were a real issue with Gordon B. Hinckley, like the word Mormon is with Russell M. Nelson. He said a lot of things about tattoos in these books and they were spaced out all over the place.

You have to understand folks these quotations are coming from various talks that Gordon B. Hinckley made and they are put in chronological order in the book tells you when he said these things there spaced out like sometime several months after each of the what is he have to say about tattoos.

When he was speaking to the Gen. relief Society on September 23 the year 2000 and this is from volume 2, pages 41 and 42 of discourses of Pres. Gordon B Hinckley.

He said it is sad and regrettable that some young men and women have their bodies tattooed. What did they hope to gain by this painful process.

Is there anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy as articles of faith, 113 says in having unseemly so-called art impregnated into the skin to be carried throughout life all the way down to old age and death. They must be counsel to shun it. They must be worn to avoid it. The time will come that they will regret it, but will have no escape from the constant reminder of their foolishness, except through another costly and painful procedure. I submit that it is an uncommonly thing and yet a common thing to see young men with ears pierced for earrings, not for one pair only, but for several they have no respect for their parents do they think it clever or attractive to so adorn themselves. I submit it is not. Adornment is making ugly, that which was attractive not only our ears pierced, but other parts of the body as well.

Even the tongue. It is absurd we the first presidency of the Council of the 12 have taken the position and I quote that the church discourages tattoos.

It also discourages the piercing of the body for other than medical purposes, although it takes no position on the minimal piercing of the ears by women for one pair of earrings you notice how subjective they got towards the end.

It's okay if you pierce your body. Even though he just rebuked a bunch of people for piercing their bodies numerous times, but it says that the church leadership takes no position on the minimal piercing of the ears by women for one pair of earrings wears that in any of Mormon scripture. Where do we find that in the doctrine and covenants, the pearl of great price or even the book of Mormon. There's nothing mentioned about a number of piercings of the ear. So again, this becomes more subjective. It becomes whatever the leadership thinks at the time it becomes a personal preference. I can hear my father in these words of Gordon B.

Hinckley because I think that generation very much was against piercings in multiple ways and tattoos. I remember when it wasn't common for women to have tattoos and I remember as a little kid.

My dad talk about a woman that he knew that had these tattoos and he was.

He thought it was important for a woman to have that will today's society we don't seem to have the same kind of idea in younger people are getting tattoos and piercings. That's a hard one bill because you go to the Bible and it doesn't really have a directive one pair of earrings as you is as you were talking about earlier I think is a common knowledge. I think that people need to be understanding that what you do when you're in a drunken state and getting tattoos that will last forever. He actually is making a good point that you not, you must really understand what you're doing and be of sound mind, because that doesn't go away very easily. They can try but is very expensive to to eliminate a tattoo.

Remember as a little kid.

Usually when you saw tattoos they were military. Yet tattoos, mostly people that were in the military or prison for having those were the two areas.

But now, as you say, it's become very popular.

I've often said that if you want to make a statement, get a bumper sticker and thought a lot easier if you ever change your mind, down the road. They had some other things to say about tattoos.

This is found in discourses of Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley, volume 2, page 54 that he spoke at Gen. conference October 7, 2000.

This is a couple weeks after the previous quote he said I cannot understand why any young man or young woman, for that matter, would wish to undergo the painful process of disfiguring the skin with various multicolored representations of people, animals in various symbols with tattoos.

The process is permanent unless there is another painful and costly undertaking to remove it. Father's caution your sons against having their bodies tattooed. They may resist your talk now but the time will come when they will bank you attached.

It was graffiti on the temple of the body. Four years later, March 27, 2004, in a general, young women meeting.

He said, respect your bodies, the Lord has described them as temples. So many these days disfigure their bodies with tattoos. How shortsighted these markings last for life. Once in place, it cannot be removed except through a difficult and costly process. I cannot understand why any girl would subject herself to such a thing.

I plead with you to avoid disfigurement of this kind. If you are a new convert to the oldest church you were young lady who happened to have tattoos sitting in and listening to statement like that it would probably be kind of embarrassing. And yet, how many would know that you did that before you joined and not afterward. The bill there was one convert and she's known as the tattooed Mormon younger lady and she's written a book and has made many fans, especially with the younger Latter Day Saints. So it seems like the idea in the church is not the same as what Hinckley was talking about years ago. Thank you for listening. If you would like more information we guarding this research ministry. We encourage you to visit our website www.mrm.org you can request a free newsletter. Mormonism researched this again, as we look at another viewpoint is