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Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:03 am
by IHAQ
How Rasband told it during Conference...
Miracles are wrought by divine power by Him who is “mighty to save.”14 Miracles are extensions of God’s eternal plan; miracles are a lifeline from heaven to earth.

Last fall Sister Rasband and I were on our way to Goshen, Utah, for a worldwide Face to Face event being broadcast to over 600,000 people in 16 different languages.15 The program was to focus on the events of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with questions submitted by young adults from around the world. Sister Rasband and I had personally reviewed the questions; they gave us the opportunity to testify of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, the power of revelation in our lives, the ongoing Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the truths and commandments that we treasure. Many listening today were part of that miraculous event.

Initially the broadcast was to originate in the Sacred Grove in upstate New York, where, as Joseph Smith testified: “I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”16 That, brothers and sisters, was a miracle.

The worldwide pandemic forced us to relocate the broadcast to Goshen, Utah, where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has re-created, for filming, a section of old Jerusalem. Sister Rasband and I were within a few miles of Goshen that Sunday evening when we saw thick smoke coming from the direction of our destination. Wildfires were blazing in the area, and we worried the broadcast might be at risk. Sure enough, at 20 minutes to 6:00, our broadcast time, the power in the entire complex went out. No power! No broadcast. There was one generator that some thought we might be able to power up, but there was no assurance it could sustain the sophisticated equipment at hand.

All of us on the program, including narrators, musicians, and technicians—even 20 young adults from our own extended family—were fully invested in what was to take place. I stepped away from their tears and confusion and pleaded with the Lord for a miracle. “Heavenly Father,” I prayed, “I have rarely asked for a miracle, but I am asking for one now. This meeting must happen for all our young adults around the world. We need the power to go on if it be Thy will.”

Seven minutes after 6:00, as quickly as the power had gone out, it came back on. Everything started working, from the music and microphones to the videos and all the transmission equipment. We were off and running. We had experienced a miracle.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... d?lang=eng

How it really unfolded...
Originally planned to originate from the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York, the event changed venues due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and was broadcast from Goshen, Utah, on a film-production set replicating ancient Jerusalem. A nearby wildfire and resulting power outage delayed the start of the event, which was then broadcast using a generator.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-a ... ion-192597

Power outages at outdoor filming locations are fairly common occurrences, which is why filming companies have generators as back up. It’s why there was a backup generator on hand in Goshen.

If having a working backup generator is now being considered a miracle (“Miracles are extensions of God’s eternal plan; miracles are a lifeline from heaven to earth.”) by Church leaders, one wonders just how much evidence for God exists in their roles as seemingly special witnesses.

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:31 pm
by Res Ipsa
If “miracle” is the default explanation for things you don’t understand, then life is filled with miracles. But the cost of giving up curiosity and settling for ignorance. Imagine having so little curiosity that you would just assume miracle rather than ask somebody a question or two.

There’s a collection of Richard Feynman’s writings and speeches titled “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.” That phrase summarizes what I enjoy most about life. Trading that away for miracles doesn’t appeal to me.

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:36 pm
by Fence Sitter
It's also interesting that in Mormon lore what has been described as a "miracle" ranges from seeing God to finding car keys.
If everything is a miracle, nothing is.

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:12 pm
by Equality
Also, if it required divine intervention to make the generator capable of powering the broadcast equipment, why couldn't God have made it so the show would start on time? Was He on a coffee Post-um break?

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:30 pm
by Fence Sitter
What this type of story shows is people anxious to brag that God cares enough about them to intervene in the mundane aspects of their lives. The rest of the world has to fix their own generators or find their own car keys.

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:16 pm
by dastardly stem
Isn't there something wrong when people see God caring so much about kids hearing a lame message from elder Rasband that he makes electricity work, but, you know, the tragedies that He could easily spare people from happen without consideration. I mean to say how unhealthy is it for people to see things that way? Maybe rasband is causing harm on these members by having God interfering for something that matters very little?

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:31 pm
by Fence Sitter
Mormon Elohim is good with generators but not so much with world wide pandemics.

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:52 pm
by Morley
Fence Sitter wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:31 pm
Mormon Elohim is good with generators but not so much with world wide pandemics.
It's obviously true that He's a better mechanic that he is physician. Most mornings, when I pray my car will start, it does. My back, on the other hand, always seems to hurt.

.

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:39 pm
by malkie
Morley wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:52 pm
Fence Sitter wrote:
Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:31 pm
Mormon Elohim is good with generators but not so much with world wide pandemics.
It's obviously true that He's a better mechanic that he is physician. Most mornings, when I pray my car will start, it does. My back, on the other hand, always seems to hurt.

.
In a CES Devotional for Young Adults, 3 March 2013, Elder Bednar addressed your concern:
David A. Bednar wrote:something something faith not to be healed something something

Re: Rasband - generators working is a miracle

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 7:11 am
by IHAQ
I find this talk troubling in a wider context. Rasband is a full time Apostle, a special witness of Jesus Christ. He, and his 14 colleagues, are supposedly in closer contact with the voice and arm of Jesus Christ than any other human being on the planet on a daily basis. Twice a year he gets to share a special witness of Jesus Christ with the global Church audience.

And the most special witness of Jesus Christ that he has experienced over the last 6 months (bearing in mind we are in the middle of a global pandemic) is that of a generator working. That's the best evidence for the existence of God that he, a special witness, has personally encountered since October.