Neil and Buzz

On Sunday, July 20, 1969, two men from Earth rested upon the surface of another world.

One, a technically minded, strait-laced man of science. The other, a philosophical dreamer, a man of faith. Both of them sent into the deep blackness to probe the unknown.

Impressive to me are the words of these brave men. Their testimonies comprise opposing complimentary witnesses to divine truth.

Almost immediately upon landing, Buzz Aldrin radioed back to earth, “I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the last few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.”

He later recalled, “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages that contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’”

“I ate the tiny [piece of bread] and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

“And of course, it’s interesting to note that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the earth and the moon – and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the ‘Love that moves the sun and other stars.’”

Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin

Buzz's companion during this emmisarial exploit, Neil Armstrong, had his own insight which he described during a later interview. When asked regarding the single most lasting impression from the mission, he replied, “Standing there in the Sea of Tranquility, looking back at the earth. It was suspended there on the horizon, completely motionless, and didn’t change its position the whole time. It showed me how much our sense of time depends on our position in the Universe… The earth was static and the sun’s position relative to the earth only changed very gradually. Everything seemed to take place very, very slowly.”

What Neil experienced firsthand had been revealed to prophets long before. It is clearly set forth in the revelations that the reckoning of time varies according to the world on which one stands, as also the fact that the reckoning of time on the moon is more slow than the earth’s time scale. (Doctrine & Covenants 88: 41-47, Doc. & Cov. 121: 31-32, Abraham 3: 1-11, Doc. & Cov. 130: 4-5)

Neil A. Armstrong

What a beautiful blessing for each of these men to have such experiences of their own! This story is only one example of truth being manifest to different people in different ways. Whether given through critical inquiry and physical experimentation, or by the yearnings and burnings of the soul in a spiritual wrestle before the Lord, truth is truth. “Science” and “religion” are in no competition.

“Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.”

Doc. & Cov. 93: 24