Church History – Temple Study

ThyMindOMan.com – Exploring the Mind’s Relationship to God

April 12, 2017 by Bryce Haymond 2 Comments

“Thy Mind, O Man,” photograph of original manuscript. The Joseph Smith Papers.

Friends, many of you have been wondering where I’ve been over the last few years, and what I’ve been up to. I’ve been involved with a variety of projects, and I’ve also been studying. Over the past five years or so I have studied many different subjects, and I’ve studied them deeply. I feel I have learned much, and grown in many ways, and I would like to begin to share what I’ve learned, with you. Although what I have to share has everything to do with the temple, it approaches the subject matter differently. John Welch notes that after Joseph Smith Jr. had been incarcerated in the hellhole of Liberty Jail for almost five months, “the Prophet burst beyond the walls of his surroundings with these expansive words”: ((Welch, John W. (2011) “”Thy Mind, O Man, Must Stretch”,” BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 50 : Iss. 3 , Article 4. Available at: http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol50/iss3/4 or at https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/john-w-welch_thy-mind-o-man-must-stretch/. Welch gave this address as the recipient of the 2010-2011 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award on May 17, 2011, at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.))

The things of God are of deep import, and time and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O Man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the lowest considerations of the darkest abyss, and expand upon the broad considerations of eternal expanse; he must commune with God. ((“Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 March 1839,” p. 12, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed April 6, 2017, http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-the-church-and-edward-partridge-20-march-1839/12. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation standardized. A photograph of the original manuscript can be seen at the top of this post.))

So I thought that I would start a new website at ThyMindOMan.com to better capture this new approach to the subject—exploring the mind’s relationship to God. I will explore how we might be able to use our mind and consciousness to explore those heights and depths that Joseph referred to, and to commune with and ultimately become one with God, something Joseph said we must do. And I want to share my thoughts with you.

Thank you for your dear friendship and conversations that we’ve had on TempleStudy.com. It’s been a truly remarkable decade.

Gratitude Precedes Zion

November 23, 2014 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

Orderville Utah, circa 1890 (click to enlarge)

Note: My wife and I were asked to give talks today in our ward’s sacrament meeting on the topic of thanksgiving and gratitude. The following is the text of my talk.

One of the greatest blessings promised in the scriptures, and one which has always captivated me in its power and truth, is found in the last book of the Old Testament. In Malachi chapter 3 the Lord says through his prophet:

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings…

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:8, 10)

The commandment to live the law of tithing is perhaps unique in that it comes with an explicit test of its truth – “prove me now,” says our Heavenly Father. Do this and see. Prove me, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour out blessings so great that you won’t even have room enough to receive them into your life. What greater blessings could there be? My wife and I have been witnesses to these blessings in our lives.

I have always thought this promise was special in the extent and abundance of blessings promised by faithful obedience to a single law. But I recently came across another similar promise in the scriptures, based upon obedience to another single commandment. On March 1, 1832, while the Prophet Joseph was in Kirtland Ohio, this revelation was given: [Read more…]

Working Toward Zion

July 19, 2013 by Bryce Haymond 10 Comments

Cover of Working Toward Zion, by James W. Lucas and Warner P. Woodworth.

We’re not there yet.

As much as we on the Wasatch Front believe that Zion is here at last, and even though we have one of the lowest poverty rates in the country, still one in ten people who live in our community is living in poverty. Where Zion is a people who are of one heart and mind, and there is “no poor among them,” even we have a way to go yet (Moses 7:18).

But can we have Zion? Can we get there in our world today? There are some who think that we can’t, at least not without force and coercion. Just yesterday I heard,

If your point is, “wow what a shame it is that some people earn millions and others struggle to get by,” yes I would agree with you, and I look forward to the day in the Millennium when this doesn’t happen anymore. Your point appears to be that we need to change things now in our Fallen world, and if you believe this you need to think about how it would come about. It cannot come about without force, so you indeed want to compel other people to act the way you think they should. This is not good… Should people, especially latter-day Saints, consecrate themselves and help others? Definitely. But unfortunately it will not happen before the Millennium.

If we have this mindset, that we won’t make it to Zion until Zion comes to us (in the Millennium), then we have missed the boat. The only way that we will have Zion is if we build it. Zion will not magically appear one day when we least expect it. There must be a people who begin to live by its laws and statutes, who become of one heart and mind, who eliminate poverty and inequality in their surroundings, and who are then ready to welcome Zion into their midst because they have built it. They will find Zion when they find themselves in it. That is how Enoch and his people did it, and it is how we will do it today. [Read more…]

Honesty Precedes Zion

April 25, 2013 by Bryce Haymond 2 Comments

Brigham Young – June 1, 1871 – 70th birthday

I received this scripture and quote in my inbox today.

And let every man deal honestly, and be alike among this people, and receive alike, that ye may be one, even as I have commanded you. (D&C 51:9)

Brigham Young taught that honesty preceded Zion, and that when this was achieved by the Saints, there would be “no poor among [us]” (Moses 7:18).

“We need to learn, practice, study, know and understand how angels live with each other. When this community comes to the point to be perfectly honest and upright, you will never find a poor person; none will lack, all with have sufficient. Every man, woman, and child will have all they need just as soon as they all become honest. When the majority of the community are dishonest, it maketh the honest portion poor, for the dishonest serve and enrich themselves at their expense.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 232)

This reminds me of D&C 105:5, “And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.”

The Lord asks us to be honest in our dealings with our fellowmen, that we might build up Zion.

Creed Haymond Story of the Word of Wisdom, in His Own Words

April 13, 2013 by Bryce Haymond 7 Comments

Cover of The Creed Haymond Story: How He Learned That the Word of Wisdom Is True, by Jay Todd

Since I was young I’ve often held as my claim to fame that I am distantly related to Creed Haymond (1893-1983, first cousin three times removed), the early 20th century track athlete, whose story about the Word of Wisdom has been told several times over the pulpit in General Conference. ((The General Conference talks that were given were:

The Creed Haymond story has also been told other times within the Church and elsewhere:

)) I thought that was pretty neat, and there was a short children’s book published, The Creed Haymond Story: How He Learned That the Word of Wisdom Is True, by Jay Todd, which I often read as a child.

Over the years, I’ve learned a little more about Creed Haymond. Apparently he was accepted to compete with the U.S. team at the 1920 Summer Olympics, but he was injured before the competition. ((Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed_Haymond)) He eventually became a dentist, and served in many capacities within the Church, including as mission president in the Northern States Mission, general board member of the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association, and a patriarch (while President James E. Faust served as president of the Cottonwood Stake). His wife, Elna Parkinson Haymond, served as a member of the Relief Society General Board. ((Obituary – Creed Haymond’s obituary)) [Read more…]