'The Freeze', Covid19, A Death Mask & Me

Today was/is the first day of Sabbath meetings at home due to the world's new plague Corona virus or Covid19. My husband and I were actually really excited! What a cool opportunity to worship in our home and to partake of the sacrament in our home under the directions of our local Branch and Stake presidents. We ironed shirts as always, played our usual YouTube Sunday mix , as well as suddenly realised we might need a white cloth or two! We are not table cloth people but the spirit quickly prompted me where we kept some white cloth. I was thankful. Now that it's the end of the day, I remember we even have two beautiful white tablecloths that we used when we had a Christmas tree, made by my Great Grandmothers - so we have multiple options for next week Sunday.

Our home is small, we have no couch, so we sit at the table or on the carpeted lounge floor. We chose to have sacrament at our table. Our young daughters sat quietly with a joyous but reverent excitement this morning. My husband and I agreed that having the sacrament at home is a special privilege so we all dressed as we would if we were attending Sabbath worship services and I played the piano for our hymns. during the sacrament hymn our deck door opened and in came cousin Piripi ready for sacrament with us. I felt a quiet sense of joy and had a thought as I played, that the last two years of home school and extra life dramas have all been to prepare my family for this moment. Our sons blessed and passed the sacrament utilising our daughters tea set amongst an array of mismatched little teacups and glasses. It was joyous. I love to watch General Conference in my home with my family and today I loved feeling the blessings that Father Adam and Mother Eve would have enjoyed, as well as Father Lehi and his family - building altars of stone to make sacrificial offerings to the Lord. It felt special and my little ones were the most reverent I think they've ever been in a sacrament meeting.

Sharon sent a 'Happy Sabbath' message this morning also with a link to a clip of Saints in Ghana, who in 1989 had their meeting houses closed and had to worship from their homes. It was so fascinating to learn about these Saints, I had to know more! So good old Wikipedia filled in some really inspiring details:

"The Freeze"

In the mid 1980s, Ghana was seeking political stability through their leader Jerry Rawlings. He believed Ghana was too dependent on the West. An increased fear of American CIA operatives heightened tensions and caused worries about "the Mormons", as well as other foreign organizations like the Peace Corps and the International Catholic Youth Federation.[9] Local chapters of the Presbyterian church had decreased numbers of confirmations and infant baptisms, and felt the LDS Church was to blame.[1] Unease came from the affluence of the missionaries because they drove cars, and the church bought many properties. A damaging film created by former church member, Ed Decker, began showing on Ghana's public programming. His film, The God Makers, connected the religion with paganism and the occult, and was even shown at a special event for state officials.[9] Others were upset, because they perceived the church was indoctrinating members to accept their poverty and oppression instead of finding solutions within political and economic spheres. Articles from the time show anger at the missionaries, who were thought to be colonizing the country with their religion, using it as a front for interest in Ghana's natural resources.[10] Questions about the church's teachings began causing worry, particularly the idea that blacks were cursed and inferior. Some believed the 1978 announcement that allowed black male church members to hold the priesthood was just trying to erase the resentment, instead of change church policy.[11] On June 14, 1989, the LDS Church was called to stop functioning in Ghana. Other churches, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses were also stopped. The official reason given for the freeze on church activity was that, despite warnings, the church was conducting itself in a way that undermined the state of Ghana and was not conducive to public order.[1]

Amidst the discontent, church member and prominent school teacher, Stephen Abu, was called to step down from his position teaching at a Presbyterian middle school. When the request was not complied to, those that opposed the church began praying to God to bring death to Abu and his brother, Kissi. Police officers took control of the church meetinghouse, looking for evidence that the LDS Church was against the state of Ghana. They also seized the church-owned farmland and auctioned off their chickens. Abu was brought to trial, where he was charged with continuing to worship, despite the government asking him to cease, and having links with Americans with whom he illegally sold diamonds and gold at the Accra Airport. After a search warrant at his home, nothing of interest was found and he was released on bail. Abu was ordered to come to the police station every morning, and during one visit, was asked to pay 25,000 cedis ($76) for his freedom, leaving him with 5,000 cedis ($15) to feed his family of nine.[1] Another member, Joseph Kwamena Otoo, was thrown into prison 16 times because of his associations with the church. Otoo's head was shaven, and his home searched for material that was anti-revolutionary. Soldiers warned him that members seen going into the church building would be killed. After suffering much persecution, he was pardoned by the commanding officer.[3] Other members were imprisoned after being caught worshiping in a home. Guards asked the men to preach to them, with the intent to ridicule. They taught the officers about Joseph Smith and were let out the next morning.[9]

During this time, the LDS Church functioned very differently in Ghana. Foreign missionaries had to quickly withdraw from the country, including the acting mission president. To make it through the angry crowds, the church's name was rubbed off vehicles. Kissi was called as the acting president of the Ghana Accra Mission. Members held sacrament meetings in homes on a family basis, instead of at formal meetinghouses. While there, groups would share talks, sing, and study the scriptures. Those who had an ecclesiastical calling kept the leadership position throughout the Freeze. However, instead of members congregating, the branch presidents would visit families individually. Johnson and his wife were the only missionaries at the time. The payment of tithing ceased, as it was considered a crime.[9]

Government officials started warming up to the religion after a series of interactions with LDS Church officials. LDS Church officials dispelled false rumours on doctrine and offered to donate some of the property they owned to the state.[9] On November 30, 1990, after a period of 18 months, the Freeze was lifted and the church was allowed to continue as it did before. The government became convinced the Latter-day Saints were loyal citizens when they submitted to the laws during the Freeze.[1] Interestingly, church membership grew after the Freeze, possibly because of the increased media attention

I did some more research, from The Church of Jesus Christ website where an article on pioneers in every land gave more relevance to the beauty and gift of sacrament today.

“It was like being orphaned,” said Kweku Ghartey, a member, as he recalled the situation. With no end to the freeze in sight, many members dealt with challenges such as confusion and peer pressure.

The Church authorized members to hold meetings in their homes. Sundays were spent singing hymns, reading scriptures, and partaking of the sacrament in families and small groups.

“Our homes became sanctuaries of the Spirit,” recounted William Acquah.

Our homes became sanctuaries of the spirit! Here at the bottom of the world we weren't going to General Conference anyway - (not to the Conference Centre or even the Stake Centre) but I was wondering how we were going to have the special experience promised us by the Prophet, President Nelson - if we prepared? So as previously shared, we have been preparing. Today was a gift for us to see what we can experience with an at home worship service looking forward to having a really special (really, really special) General Conference - when it looks a lot like watching TV on the lounge floor!? It doesn't sound like something special really - watching TV, but somehow through the gift of the Holy Ghost it can and will be.

This week out of curiosity we studied what Joseph Smith really looked like? There are articles here:

Potential photos of Joseph (but not really) Do Photographs of the Prophet Joseph Smith Exist?

A list of physical traits from firsthand accounts of people who knew Joseph. What did Jospeh Smith really lool like?

Death masks of Joseph and Hyrum (it sounds creepy but it's not really) Face to face with history: The death masks of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith

In the end, this one summary from Seth Adam Smith was so helpful to my little girls:

Frankly, what Joseph Smith looked like does not matter when it comes to gaining a personal testimony of the Prophet. Countless people who actually met the Prophet gave descriptions of him being a man larger than life (in appearance and indeed), while others who met him expressed their disappointment in finding “just a man” (and a young man at that)!

Prophets in the Bible faced similar challenges: Moses struggled in speech (Exodus 6:30), Samuel was but a boy when he was called to be a prophet (1 Samuel 3), Elisha was mocked for being bald (2 Kings 2:23), Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children, and John the Baptist lived in the wilderness and ate wild locusts and honey!

And Isaiah gives us this stunning sentiment about the Saviour: “he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).

Clearly, the physical appearance of prophets, apostles, and the Saviour Himself is of little importance when compared to the overwhelming need for each of us to gain our own personal, spiritual witness of their callings. Spiritual knowledge of eternal truths is far more important than temporal appearances.

My little girls laughed and laughed that Elisha was bald - like their Dad is going bald but that didn't mean Elisha didn't know Christ. Studying The Book of Jacob this week, we have no picture of Jacob but time and time again we kept coming back to the fact that it didn't matter because Jacob's whole purpose for writing anything was to let us know that he knew Christ - just like bald Elisha and Moses with his speech problem.

For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Jacob 4:4

Sharon made an interesting observation regarding the disappointment some people in early church history felt on meeting the great Seer, Joseph,

Some will say "this conference was a spiritual feast of epic proportions" and contrastingly, others will say disappointingly, "oh it was just like any other conference..."

Anyway, this is a really long side tracked way of sharing that I've made a seven day 'Countdown to General Conference' poster/advent calendar thing! In academic writing "we never use thing" according to my learner facilitator (of academic paper writing) husband but for lack of knowing specifically what this is, it's a thing; an opportunity to gather as a family each day and open a new poster, to learn that our prophets knew Christ, and they heard our Father in Heaven, and we have been invited by our current prophet to "Hear Him".

Would anyone else like the benefit of a seven day countdown?

Yes? No? Maybe?

FYI: A new poster will be "revealed" - posted from Sunday 29th March - Saturday 4th April. The theme of the seven day countdown to General Conference posters are "Hear Him".

General Conference begins Saturday 4th April and ends, Sunday 5th April but here at the bottom of the world, on the other side of the date line (as the half of the world that sees the sun and new day first) conference will begin for us on Sunday 5th and end on Monday 6th (or whenever during the week we finish watching the sessions. I'm hoping we can watch them all on Sunday and Monday, but we will definitely go with the Wairua on that matter).

Finally, the whole point of the countdown - is to help prepare my family to let our home be a sanctuary of the spirit during General conference meetings (it's always the goal for life in our home but during these meetings we need extra help!)

You will find the countdown through this link to "OUR ART" Hear Him Countdown to General Conference 2020.

Also for your perusal, we have a bicentennial celebration page 200 Years - Our Year of Jubilee that Sharon has researched and has shared some gems on.