On the first and last companions

He had chosen one of them, a woman
as his first and last, companion.

The first apostle of the resurrection,
A special witness was a woman.
The first to testify of the renewal.

She being the first to see, his eternal, body.
This Easter Morn.

She then to witness, to the ones,
Who prayed daily, thank God I was not born,
A woman.

One of them had begged him,
To turn water into wine,
As a sign of celebration, and renewal,
At a wedding feast.

It was not his time yet,
Not yet ready, still in preparation,
In honor and obedience,
To a woman, he turned,
then water into wine. 

This then Jesus.

Then what of one who came later,
The one who served modern Israel.

In modern Israel, among the saints,
And sinners of the Mississippi Delta.
He being the chief Sinner,
In need of renewal,
This Eastern Mourn.

His first and last companions,
Had been women too.

On arriving in Jackson, Mississippi.
The mission president had a need,
To move a car, and sister missionary,
To Monroe Louisiana.
This, then, new assignment,

Then at the end came the second, woman.
She the one who delivered him, first
To modern Israel.

He, her only child born in the summer,
In the afternoon, he was broken then too. 

On the day of his birth,
This new discovery
This then the need, for surgery,

To create a body opening,
To expel the waste material,
Of a life.

The next 21 years,
They  would  then dance,
In and out of each other’s lives,
creating memories, together,
some good, many bad.

Until in this trip, together,
He would create an opening,
In their lives, to expel,
The anger, the hurt, and the shame,
Of the sad memories,  together.

As he shared with her, 
His love of Vicksburg.

Steven Bassett

D.C. 69:1 

"Hearken unto me, saith the Lord your God, for my servant Oliver Cowdery’s sake. It is not wisdom in me that he should be entrusted with the commandments and the moneys which he shall carry unto the land of Zion, except one go with him who will be true and faithful."

On faithfully advocating for change in the temporal church

 “On every continent and across isles of the sea, the faithful are being gathered into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Differences in cultural background, language, gender, and facial features fade into insignificance as members lose themselves in service to their beloved Savior. Paul’s declaration is being fulfilled: “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” 1994–A:69, Russell M. Nelson, “Teach Us Tolerance and Love”

I am 55 years old, and I have seen very many changes in the church.  I was born into a church that discriminated against black men and women.   Men and women were denied priesthood ordinations and temple blessings based on the color of their skin. 

These practices were preached from general conference pulpits based on the false tradition, that it was taught by Joseph Smith.  Faithful men begin the study of what Joseph Smith personally taught and practiced and documented how the current teachings were false.

In 1973 Lester E. Bush wrote and published in Dialogue Magazine Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: an Historical Overview.

In the early 1960s, there is evidence that Pres. Hugh B. Brown recognized that this practice was one of the false traditions of our fathers and not a doctrine, or practice, from Heavenly Father.  He came close to having the practice removed and changed by The Quorum of the Twelve at that time. I can speculate that the general church membership was not prepared for this change. Elder Spencer W. Kimball continued to support this policy in public while seeking continuing light and truth on this matter. He may have been praying for ways to help prepare the general church membership for these changes.

Lester Bush, through his scholarly work, was assisting in preparing the general church membership for these changes.

I can remember in my youth, reading about Sonja Johnson, and her ex-communication. She publicly advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment.  This avocation was not the real concern for her stake president and local leaders. The real concern was the damage she was causing the missionary program because of her speeches, degrading the church and its leaders, before the  American Psychological Association.

Here you see two examples of ways to create change in the temporal church. One is the faithful approach, and one is the unfaithful approach.  I can be most effective in my avocation for change by faithfully supporting the current leadership and policies.

I have learned many things from personal study and prayer. Some of these may seem heterodoxical.   I am learning the ways Heavenly Mother is sharing her powers with her daughters. It may be different from the ways  Heavenly Father shares his powers with his sons.  The great mystery is why Heavenly Father requires formal ordination while Heavenly Mother does not.

I can be most effective in sharing these truths by first paying my tithing and maintaining a current Temple Recommend. In public, especially in my church assignments and ministering lessons, I am most effective by limiting my lessons to current doctrine while sharing my more personal teachings with close friends.

I wish to follow Lester Bush’s example and not Sonja Johnson’s.  I will support The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve as they are preparing the general membership for a more expanded role for women in church temporal leadership.

This essay was written for my BYU-I Doctrine and Covenants class in the spring of 2021