Wish you all a Happy Easter.

Kind regards,

Duru-darshan

My topical comments are on Facebook.  Please connect and read on there.

Thanks to the staff at the various Search Engines, especially Google, Stumbleupon, and Twitter, for traffic to my website and blog, viz www.durudarshan.co.uk/blog.

 

Welcome especially to readers from Clounage in France and Bedminster, U.S.  Lots of readers from these two places recently.  You are firmly on the hotspots of visitors to my blog, thanks.

 

People looked for Baba Ramdev clinic in Ilford.

The location is Divine Supplements,  855 High Road, Goodmayes, not far from Goodmayes train station or Tesco.

It is two minutes from the local Gurdwara.

Open more often nowadays, their phone number is 0208 590 7900.

 

Other friends looked for Mormon Chapel, Ilford.

This is the church I go to, Sundays 10 am to 12.30, with other programmes later, like baptisms.

It is right next door to Sainsbury's in Ilford, just round from Ilford Lane.

Instead of a cross, it has the Prophet Moroni on top of the spire.

Everyone is most welcome to come and visit, and join in the Sacrament and singing hymns.

 

(I am a Melchizedek priest in this church, and would be happy to meet you on your visit).

 

That's it for now.  Soon I am going to the Romford Stake for the General Conference of our church.

 

Kind regards,

Duru-darshan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this glorious autumnal Sunday morning, Brother Jeremy Boyden opened the Sacrament Meeting, with Bishop Onaolapo presiding.

 

The opening Innvocation was by Sister Munden, followed by some words from President Akkune's family.

 

First of all, their son Ike :  My brother does not like to share, but he is still my brother.  I love my family.  I love my father, because he keeps us all together.

 

Sister Akkune :  I am aware that not every household has a Priesthood Holder in the house.

God has assigned to the Priesthood Holder the duty of fellowship, for the benefit of the entire human family, to build up and uplift.

 

I am happy and lucky to have a Priesthood Holder in the house, so how should I support him?  I have to be patient and willing to support him, when he has to go to his Home Teaching meetings.  I have been fortunate to always have a Priesthood Holder in my house.  My Father instilled in me a testimony that I received at 13, and it has always been with me ever since.

 

President Akkunne (A-Ku-nay) : The family is central to God's plan of salvation for His creation.

Parents have a sacred duty to bring up children.  The Lord is not pleased when children quarrel.

 

President Hinckley had a simple 4 point plan :

1) Pray

2) Study

3) Pay tithe

4) Attend the church meetings.

 

When we pay the Tithe, there is a blessing upon our families.

Then Brother Chima (as President Akkune is also known) related the very touching story of how after

21 years of marriage he one day took out another woman on a dinner date, the lady in question being his beloved Mother.  She had been a widow for 19 years, and was so thrilled to go out for dinner with her son.  "Son" she wrote to him.  "You don't know what it has meant to me going out on this dinner date with you.  You are a wonderful son, and I love you very dearly." 

Sadly, a few days later, Chima's Mother died, but he has the glorious memory of how happy she felt with his show of respect and affection for her. 

 

The Sacrament was followed by Bible Class, in which the topic of Priesthood and fellowship continued.

 

Later this afternoon, we had the blessed Baptism of Benjamin, son of Nana and Sister Aggrey.  This was celebrated with immersion of Benjamin in the water, singing of hymns and invocations of blessings.

There was a feast, with several varieties of rice, dumplings, salads, fish, meat and a variety of drinks.

This glorious autumnal day augers well for the love and respect people have for one another.  A great day for this gathering of kindred spirits, may blessings be upon all.

 

Amen.

(written by Duru-darshan,

Melchizedek Priest, LDS Ilford)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I wrote about the Mormon church, about their production of a spiritual musical called Truth shall prevail, being staged at the Chorley, Preston temple in Lancashire.  My blog had over 1600 reads, mainly from Hongzhou in China.  Thank you, dear readers.

 

At the moment the most alarming news is from Zimbabwe, where President Mugabe has been re-elected, amidst complaints that the election has been rigged.  His comeback has been with the announcements of implementing policies of nationalisation of mining and natural resources companies.  Mr Mugabe obviously does not believe in free-market economics, nor does the devout Catholic believe in forgiveness, which he and inter-alia his nation received after he took over the white peoples' farms and handed them out to his cronies and their clans.  A nation that was once the bread basket of Africa has reduced itself to a state of constant shortages of food in the supermarkets, due to neglect of a farming sector that has lost its efficiency;  and loss of credibility overseas which have hampered imports.  Just like Zimbabwe produced the Billion Dollar notes and failed to appreciate that their currency cannot have the status of a world reserve currency, so now President Mugabe... but wait, this devout Catholic and clever student and man of the world will surely not fail to realize that nationalising assets belonging to international companies will lose international goodwill towards his nation.  And while it may be very profitable in the short term, in the long term it would be like taking a slow poison.

I pray President Mugabe's  good sense will prevail and he will not decide on such a brutal policy. I hope this man who likes to be portrayed on his country's postage stamps in the manner of a sovereign, follows policies which will leave his country a legacy where they can trade and interact with the rest of the world as a free market economy, for years to come.   Let there not be a time when the nation once again degenerates into a period of stupor and complacency, like recently when so many years were lost due to loss of goodwill abroad and lack of scientific know-how in the country. 

 

The kind gift of globalisation has been the awareness of the spirit that only with co-operation and fairness in dealings can all the nations prosper, by developing their natural resources and exchanging them with others on a fair basis.  To punish the intermediaries of such development, the international companies who operate within the boundaries and jurisdiction of every nation, would not be a welcome gesture.

 

Mr Mugabe's pronouncements have caused market jitters in the short term.  Hopefully he will heed the wise counsel of his Ministers and allow the development of his nation's enterprises continue with international know-how, expertise and capital. 

 

I have many friends from Zimbabwe at the church, and I wish them and their President well.  I hope Mr Mugabe reads my words, and heeds the advise I offer.

 

Kind regards,

Duru-darshan.

 

This marks the 200th Anniversary of the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from Lancashire, where the oldest stake is at Chorley.  The Temple there in Chorley is the venue where the British Pageant is being staged. 

 

It is a potted history of the spread of the Book of Mormon, which is another account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

The Bridge in Liverpool is the theatrical backdrop to this musical extravaganza, with nearly 200 actors, enacting various episodes from personalities connected with the spread and growth of this Church, known as the true church.  "For any man who lacks wisdom, let him ask of God"  and God thus inspired the wondrous 14 year old farmer's son called Joseph Smith junior to go to an open field in Wayne County, New York, in 1820, where he kneeled down to ask God for wisdom and was blessed with the visitation by two beams of light which bore the personages of God and His Son. 

 

Thus the period known as the Apostasy  (meaning the absence of God's Light from Earth after the death of the original twelve apostles of Christ) ended and the Light was restored to Earth, through the 14 year old who subsequently was entrusted with the Golden Plates which he translated and published and distributed, known as The Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. 

 

Subsequently Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred at Carthage Jail, and their Mother, the blessed Lucy Smith, held steadfast in the face of massive opposition and held the integrity of this inspired book, The Book of Mormon.  Is this book true, did it save a continent from the venom of intolerance and bring peace and understanding to what was then the Wild West?  I understand so.

The steadfast holding of these words of wisdom for which that enlightened family paid so great a price was not without its blessing.  Rightly so is Joseph Smith today known as our blessed Prophet, and the spreading of this Church with temples being built in more and more cities around the world testify to the growing love people have for his wisdom and Light. 

 

Do we wait for the second coming of Christ?  Or did he come in the night, restoring the Gospel of Christ and so graciously leaving this bright burning Light who some call the Church of Mormon?

 

Kind regards,

Duru-darshan

(Melchizedek Priest at the

Ilford Ward).

 

In church today at the Ilford LDS chapel, three speakers gave their ideas on the above topics, which I have briefly captured for you  (briefly because they were going so fast that I was not able to jot everything down, mainly because the ideas were so fascinating that my mind was trying to understand them).

 

The first speaker was Sister Rubby Ofodile, whose speech was so beautifully written that I think it ought to be published in the Ensign.

 

 

 

The way Ruby gave her speech had most people spellbound.

 

The second speaker was Sister Julie Tavner, on the subject of Charity. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is something about the chemistry, about the language and communication of the mind and soul, which brings people together or drives them apart.  It is this chemistry between people that I would blame for.....or, rather, a change in the chemistry between people that I would blame for separation and divorce. 

 

I am surprised that Napoleon Hill was not given the Noble Prize, but then again there is no category in the Noble Prizes into which his work fits.  Perhaps, on that point, I would suggest there should be another category created by the Trustees of the Noble Foundation.  The Increasing of Human Understanding.

 

Napoleon Hill interviewed 500 of the most successful people in America in the 1920s, and from those interviews he wrote many articles, published in his Hill's Success Magazine.  But a few people made a huge impression on him, viz Andrew Carnegie, Firestone, Henry Ford, Dr.Alexander Graham Bell, and Dr. Thomas Alva Edison.  And yes, Mr Edwin Barnes, who said it could not be done, that is to say, the writing of a blueprint for success based on the interviews with successful people.

 

Napoleon Hill turned that into a questions: Who said it could not be done? and went on to publish his Think and Grow Rich, a book that sells well throughout the world, in many languages, in number just after the sales of the Bible, Koran and Bhagavad-Gita and other religious masterpieces.

 

In his research, Napoleon Hill says that the first three years of a marriage often have petty squabbles and friction, but the love that exists between the two will carry it through.  The next fifteen years are those in which the lucky couple start to look alike in their eye movements and thinking, influencing their value judgements and expressions, meaning the happy couple have achieved understanding of one another, and a state of harmony exists between them that we attribute to the magic of chemistry.

A state of harmony, an instinctive understanding, an automatic understanding of mutual goals. It is like both have the same road-map, or at least complementing road maps.

 

Those for whom a partnership does not work, it seems are rather like a horse-drawn carriage where the horses want to pull in differing directions.  Where it is not possible to bring harmony of direction, abandonment of the journey becomes the alternative.  Such is what happens in business partnerships as well, and in politics as well.

 

A question that may help bring harmony back is : What was the road map that brought the partners together in the first place?  Can it be modified and restored?  If the answer is Yes, then hope still remains for reunion and success.

 

Kind regards,

Duru-darshan.