It has been a while since slavery in America, but it is good to be reminded that once there was a time that certain men were not allowed to be priesthood holders because of racism. I wish I remembered more about history and the specifics of what happened after slavery was abolished, but it surprises me that it took about 13 years for the church to allow priesthood authority to be given to all races. I am quite sheltered when it comes to those problems because it was so long ago and only small effects are still seen in the world today that I don't comprehend the real gravity of it all, but I know that the Lord's hand is in everything.
So I realized a while back that I didn't start my reading of D&C with the intro, so this is me going back and reading it! Even if I only read the first 3 paragraphs, I would have been better off because it brought me happiness to hear the love for this book of commandments. I have read most of the historical stuff that it mentions and I'm glad that there is a explanation like with the Book of Mormon introduction. I even used some of the information to go back to certain sections and mark the main topic, but I think that the explanation of the changes is very helpful too.
In institute, we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants so we started with the history and I was glad to know why certain names were changed, and confirm that it was to "bring the material into conformity with historical documents" (last paragraph) and get the real story. The testimony of the Twelve was cool to me because of their gratefulness at having the freedom and privilege to have the Doctrine and Covenants for their use. It is amazing what the early saints went through, and I understand why they are happy to have the guidance from the Lord they did. I am also grateful to the Lord for giving modern revelation (especially on this General Conference weekend) to guide my life and strengthen my testimony.
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