If I perish, I perish

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If I perish, I perish

• www.kevinhinckley.com

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From the Bryant S. Hinckley Humor Collection

• Little girls composition on Geese
• "Geese is a heavy-set bird with a head on one
  side and a tail on the other. His feet is set so
  far back on his running gear that they nearly
  miss his body. Some geese is ganders and has a
  curl in his tail. Ganders don't lay or set, they
  just eat and go swimming. If I had to be a geese
  I would rather be a gander. Geese does not give
  milk, but give eggs, but for me give me liberty
  or give me death."
• A GRAMMAR school boy handed in the following
  composition on cats
• "Cats that's mean for little boys to maul and
  tease is called Maultese cats. Some cats is
  reckernized by how quiet their purrs is and these
  is named Purrsian cats. The cats what has very
  bad tempers is called Angorie cats, and cats with
  deep feelin's is called Feline catsbut I prefer
  dogs."
• A girl in the Primary wrote the following
  composition on monkeys
• "A monkey is an animal that wears a red cap and
  has a long tail. Monkeys have four feet cows
  also have four feet, one on each corner. The
  other day me and my sister were going through a
  pasture and one of the cows ran after us and
  helped us over the fencethat was the other cow's
  husband."
• A teacher received the following note from the
  mother of one of her pupils
• "Dear Madam Please ixcus my Tommy to-day. He
  wont come to skule because he is acting as
  time-keeper for his father and it is your fault.
  U gave him a ixample if a field is 6 miles around
  how long will it take a man walking 31/2 miles an
  hour to walk 21/4 times around it? Tommy aint a
  man, so we had to send his father. They went
  early this morning and father will walk around
  the field and Tommy will time him, but pleas
  don't give my boy such ixamples agin, because my
  husband must go to work every day to support his
  family."

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How Pat Downes Spends his Saturday Mornings
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Questions
Korihor Every man fares in this life according
to the management of the creature therefore
every man prospers according to his genius,
andevery man conquers according to his
strength. (Alma 3017)

• What if I depend on God, but He doesnt answer me
  when I need His immediate help?
• With all the serious problems in the universe,
  why would He have time or interest in my personal
  crisis?
• Then again, if I organize my life carefully and
  think smart, I could resist temptation and not
  have to lean upon the Lord for help at all.
• If I do that, I will not be one of those who
  contributed to His suffering in Gethsemane.
• If I just use my skills and brain, I can actually
  help the Lord rather than drawing on His strength
• After all, so many people around here are in
  worse circumstances than I. (Camille Fronk, 30
  April 2004 Womens Conference)

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Good Example- Daniel

• Royal Linage of David
• Taken captive, to Babylon, in 606 BC
• Has remarkable to ability to interpret dreams.
• Appointed Governor of Babylon
• Appointed Chief Wiseman
• Stirred up jealousy among Babylonian wiseman

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The Plot

• Then the presidents and princes sought to find
  occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom
  but they could find none occasion nor fault
  forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there
  any error or fault found in him.
• Then said these men, We shall not find any
  occasion against this Daniel, except we find it
  against him concerning the law of his God.
• Then these presidents and princes assembled
  together to the king, and said thus unto him,
  King Darius, live for ever.
• All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors,
  and the princes, the counsellors, and the
  captains, have consulted together to establish a
  royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that
  whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man
  for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall
  be cast into the den of lions.
• Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the
  decree.
• Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed,
  he went into his house and his windows being
  open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled
  upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and
  gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
• Then these men assembled, and found Daniel
  praying and making supplication before his God.
• Then answered they and said before the king, That
  Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity
  of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king
• Then the king, when he heard these words, was
  sore displeased with himself, and set his heart
  on Daniel to deliver him and he laboured till
  the going down of the sun to deliver him.
• Then these men assembled unto the king, and said
  unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the
  Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute
  which the king establisheth may be changed.
• Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel,
  and cast him into the den of lions

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Question

• Daniel was a righteous man- why didnt the Lord
  spare him from going into the Lions den?
• Why didnt the Lord spare Joseph Smith from going
  into Liberty Jail?
• and if you endure it well

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Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego

• Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came
  near, and accused the Jews.
• They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar
• There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over
  the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
  Meshach, and Abed-nego these men, O king, have
  not regarded thee they serve not thy gods, nor
  worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
• Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury
  commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and
  Abed-nego
• and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach,
  Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods,
  nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
  
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered
• If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to
  deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he
  will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
• But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that
  we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the
  golden image which thou hast set up.
• Then these men were bound and were cast into
  the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
• Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and
  rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his
  counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into
  the midst of the fire? They answered and said
  unto the king, True, O king.
• He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose,
  walking in the midst of the fire, and they have
  no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the
  Son of God.

Elder Maxwell Note the words "but if not." These
are words of unconditional commitment. The
possibility of "if" was with these three until
the very moment of their rescue, but they had
determined their course regardless. Sometimes we
must "take the heat," even if we are not certain
the thermostat of trial will soon be turned down.
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President Kimball

• I stepped into the Hotel Utah Coffee Shop in
  Salt Lake City to buy some hard rolls, and as
  I placed my order with the waitress, a
  middle-aged woman I knew was sitting at the
  counter with a cup of coffee at her plate. I
  am sure she saw me, though she tried not to
  show it. I could see her physical discomfort
  as she turned her face from me at a right angle,
  and there it remained until I had made my
  purchase and had gone to the cash register.
• She had her free agency-she could drink
  coffee if she wanted to, but what a wallop
  her character had taken because she was
  unwilling to face a friend! How she shriveled! At
  the waters of baptism, in sacrament meetings,
  and in the temple, she had promised that she
  would have a broken heart and contrite
  spirit, repent of all her sins, take upon herself
  the name of Jesus Christ, and serve him unto
  the end, manifesting it by her works.
• Probably she was certain that I had not seen or
  recognized her, but the ten stories of the
  building above her were not enough to keep the
  angels in heaven from photographing her movements
  and recording her thoughts of deception. It was a
  petty thing, but for her it was withering-a weak,
  mean, cheap, little tricky thing that sent her
  honor skidding down the incline toward bankruptcy
  of self-esteem.
• Did that woman think she was hiding from God? How
  wrong she was! No one can conceal thoughts or
  acts from God, for the photographic cameras are
  running night and day. So sensitive are they that
  they record not only sights and sounds but also
  thought and inclinations. Remember, we are not
  talking about a cup of coffee we are talking
  about the principle of integrity. (Miracle of
  Forgiveness)

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Question

• During times of tribulation, why would a Latter
  Day Saint be tempted to compromise their
  integrity?