Here is a link to the talk I gave today in the Conference held in Provo: God’s Covenant People

We are made in the image of God which includes everything from cell division to emotions. To deal with all issues associated with being human, God has given us a lot of resources to take care of our needs. We try to have healthy habits, we have modern medicine, and other miraculous resources to support us. Less used, but no less important, God has given us access to: music, art, nature, creativity, breath, prayer, mindfulness, meditation, silence, nutrition, awareness, the nervous system, stories, poetry, myths, fables, metaphor, symbolism, ritual, books, skills, feelings, cognitions, Christ, the Spirit, resources for learning (podcasts, apps, social media, etc.). These things exist for our benefit. Utilizing these, we can be more present, less stressed, reduce fear, increase resilience, be more grateful, tolerate more and avoid less.
“Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there.’” Eckhart Tolle
I hear that a lot of you in this moment do not want to be involved in this dispute. You do not want to be “here.” You want to be “there.” I have heard from some of you directly, and some peripherally.
I get emails, text messages, personal proposals, ChatGPT analysis, and chastisements from you about this conference. These communications include quotes from Denver, scripture passages, glossary terms along with explanations and personal analysis about how we “shouldn’t be here” and “it’s wrong.” Many of you have spent a great deal of time in these efforts. I understand that you believe these things deeply. You are kind, gentle, and write and speak with as much of the Spirit as you can muster. All this effort appears to be directed towards the discomfort and fear about the unavoidable experiences of disputing, contention, or conflict.
I have heard you claim “faith over fear.” I get that. However, I still see more fear than faith – probably unconscious.
“I hate this.”
“Please stop.”
“Can’t we all get along.”
“Why are we here?”
“Avoid disputes.”
“Contention is bad.”
“We/they are doing it wrong.”
Scriptures are informative and inspirational. I see how deeply invested some of you are in trying to fit this situation into your personal understanding of revelations, scripture, glossary terms and what you think Denver said or meant. Ironically, that is in part why we are here – personal interpretation of scripture.
It is entirely naive and overly simplistic to just NOT WANT CONFLICTS OR DISPUTES. Perhaps the scriptures, Denver’s blog posts, glossary terms and whatever else is being used to analyze this are applicable to a group of people who are a more advanced, charitable, or civilized group of people.
That is not us . . . YET.
To the extent that we think we are “a Zion People/Covenant People/Remnant Group” already, we give ourselves an out and avoid, at all costs, working through our disputes, conflict, and contention (which do exist). We may be dismissing, as evil, insignificant, the lesser law, unimportant, and ungodly, the very opportunities God has, is and will continue to provide to civilize us.
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I will learn.” Benjamin Franklin.
This is called experiential learning. This is a powerful way to learn. God values experiential learning as much as he values any other type of learning. One is not better. Experiential learning honors agency. Many of you are actively and passionately asking Denver and I to take away people’s agency, fix this, intervene, make it go away. That is Satan’s plan.
How do we expect to become qualified or capable to be part of God’s City of Peace? Can we ask ourselves these questions? What qualifies me? How did I obtain those qualities? Was it challenging? Was it easy? How do I know I am qualified? What was my curriculum? Is it something I can share? Can I teach others? Is there a space where we are supposed to learn together? What is that space?
I believe that this Women’s Conference is one of those spaces. There will be others.
Remember: “Stress is caused by being ‘here’ and wanting to be ‘there.’”
Many of you want to be somewhere else, a place that does not exist yet because we haven’t built it. We haven’t built it in ourselves, in our families, in our fellowships and certainly not as a large body. I think it’s because we aren’t willing to get our hands dirty to make the materials needed for building. Emotional regulation, active listening, reflection, communicating, validation, compassion, forgiveness, accountability, awareness, presence, faith, learning and practicing new skills, spirituality, scriptures, prayer, and increased abilities are some of the materials we need to have in order to build this thing. I have spent the last 4 years working to teach these building blocks.
I am not experiencing this situation the same way many of you are. I do not feel a lot of motivation to fix anything or stepping in and taking away people’s agency.
You are weary of the conflict. I am weary of the effort being expended in avoiding the conflict.
I haven’t heard or read much from any women explaining to each other how you are using mindfulness to stay present and engaged. I haven’t heard many of you speaking appreciatively of what things you are learning from this (radical acceptance). I know some of you are using skills, but not many unless avoid, avoid, avoid is a skill. I haven’t heard anyone admit openly what you are afraid of, or acknowledge the truth or reality of fear being at the center of all of this (distress tolerance, mindfulness, self-awareness).
I hear a lot of cognitive distortions, thinking errors, future-tripping, catastrophizing, personalizing, emotional reasoning, and on and on. Do you see them? Do you know you have them and they are impacting the very way you are interacting with this situation? What’s the worst thing that could happen? Can you tolerate the worst-case scenario? Why or why not? Are you using your distress tolerance skills?
The Zion and peace we are hoping for is not a top-down endeavor. It will not happen by wishing people would just get along. It will not happen by straining our assumptions through scripture. It might happen if we engage in individual interactions with skill, compassion, empathy, love, competence and reason. Have your interactions concerning this conference shown the peace you are asking Denver and I to enforce? Have the emails you have sent to one another, the conference organizers, the women of the council? Your large group emails? The texts you have between yourselves? Your comments and chats during Zoom calls? Have you “measured your words”, “considered the hearts of others” “regarded one another with charity” in all your interactions? (T&C 157:53). Have your interpersonal effectiveness skills been helpful with this?
Whose work is this? Is it collaborative? Is it individual? Us vs. them? God vs. us? God with us? I know what I believe and I know what type of work I am willing to do to prove my devotion to God and Their desires.
I will end with my sincere prayer that God blesses you with the thing you need most, right now in this moment.

I had this issue brought to my attention: In Preserving The Restoration, at p. 513 (and subsequently in the Glossary under “Sustain”), there is this language: “For a youth to be ordained, at least seven women must vote to sustain him to be a priest, which would, of necessity, include the mother because she would be most acquainted with his daily walk.”

When I was discussing this I had in mind that a newly ordained youth would want to be able to minister both in his family and in his fellowship. But if the youth is only ministering in his family, no sustaining vote is necessary for ordination.

On another matter, I’ve been getting asked by women, and confronted by husbands, to do something to clarify, intervene, add to, or remove from the currently underway disputes among the women. There are lively campaigns, Zoom meetings, email chains, and entire websites in which opposing views about Women’s Councils are underway. I have declined to intervene.

Women are given responsibility to deal with these issues and I do not believe it should be something I should weigh in on, and certainly not before the women have the opportunity to sort this out themselves. I’ve had to interrupt many times to let people know I am staying out of this matter until the women have had a fulsome opportunity to address the matter first.

There is a second women’s website related to the Saturday Women’s Conference for the upcoming April Conference. That website is linked here: 14 Unanimous

I’ve gotten a number of calls, emails, texts and face-to-face questions about how problem-solving ought to take place. My understanding is that we are not supposed to dispute in anger, make unkind accusations, or walk away from differences. We are supposed to respectfully discuss differences, without anger, and to reason together. At least that is how I understand the direction we received in the Lord’s Answer, T&C 157.

Yesterday I put up a post about the upcoming Women’s Conference as requested by the organizers. To clarify, that Conference is a Women’s conference for women, and registration for that Conference is limited to women. Men who are signing up for that meeting need to understand that it is for women, to whom specific responsibilities have been given. The women are to grapple with the questions involving matters entrusted exclusively to them.

The upcoming 2025 Spring “Reasoning Together” Women’s Conference begins with three zoom meetings held at 7:00 p.m. on March 23rd, March 30th, and April 6th.

All 3 zoom calls and the associated documentation are part of the conference. The information provided will be helpful to inform participants before the vote held at the April 12th meeting. You do not need to be planning to attend the April 12th voting session in order to participate in and view the zoom meetings, but you WILL need to register to gain access to the zoom calls, announcements, and additional materials.

You can register by emailing [email protected]. Please let organizers know in your RSVP email if you are planning to attend the April 12th session. Again, you do not need to be planning to attend the April 12th meeting in order to register but organizers need to ensure they will have enough seating for everyone at their venue.

There will be an important conference on April 12 and 13. They will be held at two different locations. The April 12th conference will be held at the Provo Marriott, 101 W 100 N, Provo, UT from 4:30 to 6:30. During those two hours voting will take place on a number of proposed items set out on the following website: April 12, 2025 Conference Everyone is invited to attend and vote. Details about that evening’s event are set out in linked website. There have been some rumors that the Saturday vote is only for women, and that is not correct. The vote involves all those who wish to cast a vote on the proposals.

The April 13th conference will be held at the Utah Valley Convention Center, 220 West Center St, Provo UT beginning at 9:00 am (doors open at 8:30 am). There will be speakers, the Sacrament, and a vote will be taken on several proposed items. Details about that day’s events are set out on the following website: Spring 2025 Conference Everyone is invited to attend and vote.

There are proposals to be voted on that address the question of adding some new sections to the scriptures. The vote will allow the Second Edition of the Restoration Edition of the Scriptures to be finalized. It is anticipated that a second leather-bound set of scriptures which will include both the Book of Mormon and Covenant of Christ will be printed following the vote taken on the two days of this conference. Voting either for or against any particular proposal is left to the best judgment of each individual who chooses to vote. Some people may vote for one or more proposals, and then also vote against others. Each proposal stands on its own merit.

I’ve been invited to speak on the Sunday agenda and plan to do so.

I previously put up a notice about the April 13 Conference where a vote will be taken about whether to approve several additions to the Teachings and Commandments. Everything announced earlier about that Conference remains unchanged. However, an earlier, second session will be held on April 12. Both will be held in the Salt Lake area.

The first session will be a part of an ongoing series of women’s conferences. Stephanie Snuffer will facilitate this portion of the conference. This conference is separate from the conference being held the next day on April 13. Both conferences will hold votes for material to be included in the scriptures. Please attend and vote at both. For full details, please visit https://www.april12conference.com/

The vote will be in person and will require a simple majority vote to decide the matter. Fellowships may hold votes the week prior on Sunday, April 6th, record the votes, and send representatives with the votes to be counted at the conferences.

Here is the website for the April 12 Session: April 12 Conference

Here is the website for the April 13 Session: April 13 Conference

Both websites include proposed additions to the Teachings and Commandments. Each proposal will be voted on separately and may result in some or all being added or excluded from the Second Edition of the scriptures. These votes will settle matters and allow the Second Edition to proceed to print, and any approved additions will be added to the print-on-demand copies as well as to the scriptures.info website.

There have been several requests for a large print edition of Covenant of Christ. Here is a link to the site where it can be purchased by anyone interested: Covenant of Christ/Large Print

In addition, a color version is now also available. The LDS chapters and verses are in red ink to allow for navigating and locating specific verses in the LDS scriptures. Here is a link to that version for anyone who is interested in purchasing a copy: Covenant of Christ/color

Christ explained to His critics that the reason they could not “hear Him” was because they disobeyed God and therefore lacked the ability to understand what Christ taught. They did not have God as their Father, but instead, by disobedience, had the accuser as their father.

Christ’s message was given to Him by His Father. He tried to make that understandable to the people: “I have many things to teach that will be used to judge you; and the one who sent me is the Source of all truth. I am teaching what he has sent me to teach and he provided my message. They did not understand that he was speaking the words of Father Ahman. Then Jesus added, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am Son Ahman, and that I have done nothing on my own; but as my Father has taught me, I repeat his words. He sent me and accompanies me here; the Father has never abandoned my side. I always do the things that please him.” T&C 171: TSJ 6:16.

It is the message, not the messenger, that saves or condemns. Christ understood that He may not be appealing to some who met Him. That was understandable. But what He taught should have been respected. He put it this way: “I do not judge those who hear my words, but do not believe, because I did not enter the world to now judge it, but to be its savior. But when you reject my message, beware, because the message I was sent by the Father to deliver will separate you in the last day. He will divide you based on your submission to, or rejection of, his message. He has sent me to guide you, and he guides into endless lives, worlds without end. My message, therefore, is the Father’s.” T&C 171: TSJ 9:7.

Christ has sent His message, and we must hear and obey it if we want to respect His Father who sent both Him and the message: “And even so, I have sent mine everlasting covenant unto the world, to be a light to the world and to be a standard for my people, and for the gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me.” T&C 31:3.

The latest message (or put differently, His message last of all) is found in our new volume of scripture, Covenant of Christ.

There are two new versions of Covenant of Christ now available. The text of the volumes is identical with the version approved in the last conference by the vote of the people. The versions are described below:

A First Nation’s version is now available with a new forward and new cover art. The lengthy introduction that was part of the version published before the conference vote has been removed, and a brief introduction applicable to Native Peoples added. The cover art follows Native American motifs. It is linked here: First Nations Covenant of Christ.

A second version is now available that also removes the introductory materials to allow the text to appeal to other readers from different faiths. It is for readers who are interested in having only the easier to read modern English text. It is linked here: Discovery Reader Covenant of Christ. If you would like to provide the text to someone of another faith tradition, this is perhaps the version best to use.

These versions are only available from the Lulu bookstore and are searchable and discoverable at Lulu.com when using Covenant of Christ as the search term. These books will not be available on Amazon. They are priced without markup to make them as reasonable as they can be.

Last evening I gave a talk about the Allegory of the Olive Tree. That talk is linked here for anyone interested in listening to the recording: Allegory Talk

After the conclusion there were a number of questions discussed, and the whole runs approximately 2 hours.

There will be a general conference in the Spring on April 13, 2025. As part of that conference there will be a vote taken about adding several sections to the Teachings and Commandments. That vote will allow materials to be included or excluded, thereby allowing the second edition of the scriptures to be completed for publication.

A link to the conference website where the new sections can be reviewed and/or downloaded as a pdf is linked here: Spring 2025 Conference.

The new sections have been numbered for voting as Sections 178, 179, 180, 181, 182 and 183. Those are for convenience in voting. Each section will be voted on separately and any that are excluded will then be omitted from the second edition and the remaining (if there are any) will receive sequential numbering in the final version of the T&C.

These proposed additions should be reviewed and carefully considered before you decide how to vote. They are being published months in advance of the conference to allow all those interested to consider them beforehand.

I’ve been asked to put this announcement on my website about the upcoming conference for women:

On the heels of our most recent general conference at Zion’s Ponderosa and accepting the Covenant of Christ, we hope to have the women join together to fulfill the Lord’s revelation received June 20th, 2024.

We pray to have that spirit continue as we deliberate and learn together.

Location: SLCC Conference Center at Miller Campus in Sandy Utah.

Date: November 23rd from 8AM- 4PM with an hour-long lunch break from 12-1PM. A light breakfast will be served.

If you have a specific question you want discussed at the meeting, please email it to [email protected] or at the Eventbrite link when you register to attend. Please submit those as soon as possible, as we plan to print them on the 19th of November.

Please register to attend and be updated on conference proceedings by visiting https://www.womenofpeace.info