Spring Biblical Holidays: Passover, and Shavuot (which later became Pentecost)

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Early - Mid Spring.

1st Biblical month. "Pesach," this is the first of the three pilgrimage festivals in the Old Testament. It lasts for Passover night plus 7 days. It commemorated the Israelites' exodus from Egypt after a long bondage. They were to put the lamb's blood on the door. This was one of the symbols meant to lead them to the Savior. He became the Passover Lamb! The sacrament was instituted by Christ the day before his death, at Passover.

Jews set an extra chair out for the Prophet Elijah, at their Passover Seder. Elijah did return to the Mormon Kirtland Ohio temple at the Passover season, on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1836, which was the 2nd day of Passover and the 1st day counting the 50 days until the next festival, Shavuot. Jesus/Yeshua, Moses and Elias also came to the temple on that date.

One day there will be another great Exodus, see Jeremiah 16: 14-15. Also there is Passover imagery in the Word of Wisdom,

D&C 89: 18-21.

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Shavuot - Pentecost. Mid to late Spring.

3rd Biblical month. Another pilgrimage festival, The Feast of Weeks, i.e. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Mosaic Covenant at Mount Sinai. They were originally given the Enoch Covenant, but that didn't work out, so it was changed and became the Mosaic Covenant or Law of Moses. Shavuot also has ties to the Abrahamic covenant and other ancient events. This holiday occurs 50 days after Passover. The "Counting of the Omer" lasts 50 days until Shavuot.

Jesus/Yeshua after his resurrection, spent 40 days with the disciples and then ascended into heaven. On that day, he told them to wait at Jerusalem for 10 more days. 40+ 10 = 50 days. Why? See Acts 2&3. The outpouring of the Spirit in many languages was the beginning of the post-resurrection Church. "Pentecost."

Sometime after Jesus' resurrection he went to visit the Nephites and Lamanites in the Americas.

I love religious art because if you have "eyes to see" you can learn things.

Our Young Men (which also means the Young Women too).

I have an idea which could help our church Young Men.  It's a little unusual but hear me out.

I will explain first.  Economic and social stress is weighing heavily on a lot of people.  Part of Zion is getting people more self-sufficient.  How can we be self sufficient, really, when the stores are so essential to people?  Many people struggle to have a years' supply of food, and other necessities.

What if parents saved money, if possible, only for a one-year local mission for their son?  What if the children only did local missions and lived out of the home? Usually there are plenty of people to convert within 10 miles!! 

Then later the son finishes the mission, and works for a year, saving more money.  Then hopefully land can be bought.  Ideally the father could buy 10 acres or more in a small town or suburban-rural, less expensively -- planning to divide that up amongst his children.  Then each son (and siblings can help) would build a modest 1 or 2 bedroom home with one of the outer walls constructed so it would be easy to add onto the home later on.  Some teens are opting to build a "tiny home" to get experience.  Or they could buy a fixer upper home.

A possibility would be to build a 3-bedroom, 2- bath home (exterior part), but only finish inside one bedroom and one bath at a time.  After the modest home is built, then the son can go to community college or other training (whatever fits the budget).  He has a home ready and that can be a selling point to attract a good girl to him as she will likely be impressed that he has done things to be ready to be a husband and a father.

https://tinyhouseexpedition.com/young-couple-builds-clever-cozy-20k-shipping-container-home/

Can you imagine how it would be if the guy doesn't go into a marriage carrying college debt and won't have to get a 30+ year mortgage?   The purpose of the land purchase would be so each child can have a 2-acre lot which hopefully would be sufficient to have large gardens.  To feed a large family.  The church works hard to get more converts, but sometimes it is just easier to convert and retain converts by raising a good family with more than 2 or 3 children (and those people raise children too a generation later).  If the bills are low, the wife can stay home with the children and raise them right.  I am not saying that single mothers or married working mothers automatically do a bad job at raising their kids, but in terms of time with the kids, keeping them safe (as mothers generally love or are more attentive towards their children more than teachers or childcare workers do) it is better when there are two good parents and only one of them has to work outside the home.  

There are a lot of things socially about public school (from peers or teachers) that is so unsavory.  So if a mother or group of mothers are willing to teach the children, they could home school them in a good environment.  I understand that things can be different in each family.  Some mothers wish they could be at home during the day with their children, but can't.

Anyways, it is time that we re-think how to do things.  It's obvious that many Americans are suffering and it's time to do things differently that benefit OUR families.  It's not always about the Church and people far far away.  The Church has billions and billions of dollars and often, unless you're an immigrant or certain profile which is politically popular (as the media is trying to teach you who to feel sorry for), you won't get much sympathy or help.  It's time to help us and stop so many of our precious dollars going to landlords, banks, taxmen, insurance men, and overly wealthy churches.  Time to help us and ourselves.  Time to prepare for harder times because they are upon us now or soon.

Could seeking Jewish people be interested in the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) faith?

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/israel 

Israel

313 members

Total LDS Church Membership In Israel

0.003% of Israel's population:   1-in-29447 people

Church members vs. Population

4 Congregations: 0 Wards, 4 Branches

 

Messianic Jewish (MJ) Congregations in Israel

 

Messianic Judaism, and Hebraic Roots movements have been going on for several decades. For those who don't know, simply speaking, Messianic Judaism is more Jewish in its approach to the Gospel. The Hebraic Roots movement is more evangelical Christian.

One For Israel Ministry says that there are at least 300 MJ (Messianic Jewish) congregations in Israel (representing 30,000 or more people). Their number of people (actual or estimated) represents an average of 100 people per congregation.

A simple internet search yielded lists of more than 500 Messianic congregations in the United States.

There are small numbers of former Jewish adherents in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Those numbers are not available. However, in Israel, as of 2022, there are 4 LDS Branches (small congregations), totaling a little over 300 people. Likely many of those people are Americans studying or working in Israel.

A Wikipedia article says that according to a 2013 study from the Pew Research Center, about 1.6 million adult Jews identify as Christian, mostly Protestant. There is a potential for the Mormon / LDS people to attract Jewish people to their Churches, should the Mormon people prepare themselves to invite, welcome and teach Jewish people. This needs to be done by lay members (as a personal action, not by ecclesiastical calling) because of the legal hurdles that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has with Jewish officials. Because of this, the Church does not have formal outreach to Jewish officials other than occasional invites to special events. A Jewish person, however, may join the Church. The LDS Church just can't have formal missionary programs to bring Jewish people in.

What people of a Christian-Mormon background often don't realize is that the study of Hebrew religious vocabulary, Hebraic thought, and learning the Biblical Feasts, will greatly enhance understanding of the full Gospel and Heavenly Father's plan to fulfill all his promises to His children on earth. The Jews have teachings which will complement our own.

 

Truth is bigger than any one church or institution

 

Have you ever given truth much thought, what it really is?

Isaiah 55: 7-9

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

This passage of scripture is saying a few things.  First, God wants us to change into better, and to be in close contact with Him.  He wants our thoughts and feelings, to know His thoughts and feelings.  He says, that he will have mercy, and abundantly pardon when we do so.  An abundant pardon?   Maybe that means, a lot of, ample supply, richness, plentiful, maybe even in this regard, wholeheartedly and fully.   Generous forgiveness?

We are just these puny humans in comparison, that get things wrong, are misled, are blind, and stubborn at times.  We can be capable of great things too.

Since we are children of God, our concept of truth should be larger than ourselves-- what we can perceive in our present time with our 5 senses and our heart and mind.  He tells us, His ways are much higher.

So sometimes, we pigeon-hole ourselves into one cause, one church or other place of worship, one doctrine, one anything.  There is power in being One.  A unification of energy can focus so that great gains are achieved. However, just playing one note on the piano keyboard of life, or just a few notes, can rob us of other experiences and learning that we could get by finding other worthy notes and melodies on the keyboard.

God has so much more for us to see, if we will reach out to Him.  

It took me awhile, to figure out, that no one church, or institution, can teach everything.  Each church is like a product, and they emphasize a few doctrines.   Some churches will emphasize something found in the scriptures, that another church will completely ignore--not having time/space/energy/or funds to focus on that other thing, or perhaps not believing that the other thing is even important or relevant to our times.  That, in my opinion is why there are so many branches of belief.

I learned some pretty priceless things by going outside the invisibly drawn, but nevertheless still real, box that my childhood church drew for me.  I read books from people outside my church, and I listened to talks or attended services.  I found some really valid things that have enriched my faith walk.   These were pretty much still passages or concepts from the scriptures, but just ones that had been overlooked by others.

So climb that mountain and get closer to God and see a bigger picture than you conceived of, before!