Happiness

      This morning while I was reading in the Book of Mormon In Alma 50 I came across a few verses that really stuck out to me about happiness and doing what the Lord has asked. In verse 20 it talks about how the Lord is going to bless those people when they are doing what they are supposed to and how He is not going to bless us when we don't keep the commandments. Then I really like what verse 23 said : "But behold there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni, yea, even at this time, in the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges." So we see that when we do what we are supposed to the Lord is going to bless us with all the happiness we can imagine! Lets all strive to be a little better and make those changes in our lives to come closer to Christ!

Dont Tempt The Lord

   This morning I was reading in Alma in the Book of Mormon. They where explaining there money system and what everything was worth. usually I just skim through it to get by it but I actually read thru it this time and I actually understood the next verses really well when Zeezrom tries to tempt Amulek. He was offering him a lot of money if he would deny God. But Amulek showed his faith and didn't even hesitate. It covers it in Verses 21-23 of chapter 11 in Alma.
           "And this Zeezrom began to question Amulek, saying: Will ye answer me a few questions which I shall ask you? Now Zeezrom was a man who was expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good; therefore, he said unto Amulek: Will ye answer the questions which I shall put unto you?
           And  Amulek said unto him: Yea, if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. And Zeezrom said unto him: Behold, here are six onties of silver, and all these will I give thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a Supreme Being.
          Now Amulek said: O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations"
        Amulek was very wise in how he frazed his response he said that you don't understand that the righteous people wont give in to Satan's temptations. So if we are truly doing what we should be Satan will have no power over us. We will be able to live happy lives and see the joy that comes from doing what it right.

Patience and Faith

This morning while I was reading in the Book of Mormon I had a couple verses stick out to me. They are in Mosiah 23 : 21-22 it says:
       "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day."

      This really answers a lot of questions for a lot of people it seems like at least once a month or more we will usually get someone that will ask us as missionary's "why does God allow so much suffering" why would God punish people like this".  These are fair questions and this verse does a great job at answering those questions. We see that the Lord with put us through trials to test our patience and our faith so that He can know the level of our commitment to Him and our commitment to keeping the commandments. Then he gives is a promise that whosoever putteth their trust in him they will be lifted up at the last day! I know that Christ loves us and wants us to return and be with him. So lets do our part and do our best as we go through trials and not doubt God and his love for us.

All That Is Required of Us

I was reading in the Book of Mormon this morning and it was mainly in chapter 2 of Mosiah : 21-24. Here it is talking about what God requires of us. In the first verse he says if ye would serve him with all your souls it would not be profitable service. God loves us and knows we are all human and that we do have lives of our own. He wants us to enjoy life and do things that would be pleasing to him. If we go to the next verse 22 we see that all He requires is for us to keep his commandments. Its a big task but so much of it is easy. We just need to think about everything that Christ has done for us and we can realize that doing the few simple things that He has asked us to is only fair and on top of that He is going to bless us. So I think we should at least do our part in showing our love and respect to our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ by keeping the commandments that they have asked us to.

God Still Loves Us

       This video really puts in perspective for people how God still loves us and cares for us. That's why he has continued to bring forth additional scripture. To help us to better our life's and to live as he would have us live. The Book of Mormon is a second witness of Christ. It is Gods dealings with his people here in America. As is the Bible the dealings with God in Jerusalem. I know that God does love us and that's why he has brought forth the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon

In district meeting today we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon. As we were talking about it we realized that so many people dont know what it is. They might have heard of it our might have heard something about it but they dont really know what it is and what its about. So I thought I would talk a little bit about the Book of Mormon and what it really is. First off if you read the title it says The Book of Mormon Another Testiment of Jesus Christ. What comes to mind when you hear another testiment? For me I think of a second witness. I compare it to a board on the wall representing the gospel and we have the Bible which acts as one of the nails to hold it in the wall and then you add the Book of Mormon and it adds the second nail so that it will not fall off the wall the gospel cant fall anymore. Its an amazing thing the Book of Mormon is the record of the people here in america and their dealings with god. The Bible is the record of the jews and their dealings with god. Then the last thing that I wanted to mention was the challenge that comes with the Book of Mormon. It comes out of Moroni 10: 3-5 where it challenges everyone that wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true or not that you can read and then ask god if the Book of Mormon is true or not and Through the Holy Ghost he will manifest the truthfullness of its message. I know that if you want to know you can and all you have to do is read and pray. I have taken Moroni's challenge to read and pray and I have recieved my answer to know that it is of God and that Christ has once again restored his Church to the earth.

Christ like love

This morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon and im reading in Mormon right now. I was really impressed with the Love and the Charity that Mormon and his son Moroni had. They were the last of the Nephites and they were writing in the Book of Mormon and telling everybody that reads the book that they need to increase there love and have charity and it always gets me how he could have so much faith in what he was doing when he was one of the last people of his kind. It showed me that when we exercise our faith in the lord he is going to bless us and help us do those things that we need to do and nothing can stand in our way when we do those things we have been commanded to do. I think we all need to remember the things that we all have been blessed with and not take advantage of those things but use them to help others and continue to bring others to christ.

The Atonement

Recently I have been talking a lot about building faith and doing all the small and simple things to build and strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father. So I thought for today I would talk about something a little different and focus more on Christ and his Atonement. When i think about the Atonement the first thing that comes to mind is when Christ is Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. I cant even imagine how hard that task would have been for him to take on. It was so intense that he even bled from every poor and an angel needed to come and minister unto him. We can only imagine what the angel said to comfort him and help him through the hard task he was going to be embarking on. When i think about that I start to realize all the pain that I have caused the savior and wish that I had not made so many mistakes and it gives me the extra strength I need to not make those same mistakes and to try to be like Christ and live the best life I can.  I know that we can be forgiven of our sins through Christ and his Atonement and that we need to repent while in this life because as it says in Alma 34: 32-33

"32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."

So we need to use the time we have in this life and repent of our sins and come unto Christ.