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!

A Beautiful Easter Message

As I was going through recent posts by other people this video caught my eye and I thought I would give it a chance and see if it does a good job at explaining the easter story and I thought it did a very good job and was a very emotional video I really hope you all will take 5 minutes to watch this video and remember to follow Christ our Savior who died and now lives!

Two Brothers

      I watched this video yesterday at a meeting we had and it is really a great video that talks about two brothers and their relationship. It made me really think about whats really important and are we really doing the things we need to do, to show our thanks to the ones we love and are close to. I hope you will take the time to watch this short movie and feel the spirit it will bring into your life as you ponder the ones that mean the most to you.

Helping Others

            This past weekend was Conference and there was a lot of great stuff to learn and take in. But one of the biggest things that stuck out to me would have to be on the saturday morning session of the conference. It was a talk given by Elder Henry B Eyring. If you would like to Listen to the whole talk you can by going to http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/04?lang=eng&vid=880291596001&cid=12 . There was a phrase he used that I liked. He said "The lord has made it possible for anyone who wants to help to do it." There are so many of us who are capable of helping others but either don't take the time to do it or are just to busy sometimes. Other times we just feel like we don't really need to help others. I was also reminded of the covenants or promises that we make with our Father in heaven when we get baptised. We are our brothers keeper, we do need to be looking out for all those that are in need of help. So my thought is that we should all try to take a few minutes out of our busy lives to help someone else that might be in need. Then the Lord is going to bless others through us and He will also bless us for putting forth effort in helping his other children.

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.

Giving Thanks

The other day I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants in section 50 and there was a couple of verses that stood out to me. It was verses 34 and 35 they say:

"34 He that receiveth of God, let him account it of God; and let him rejoice that he is accounted of God worthy to receive.
35 And by giving heed and doing these things which ye have received, and which ye shall hereafter receive—and the kingdom is given you of the Father, and power to overcome all things which are not ordained of him"

As I was reading this I thought about all the times that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have communicated with me through the Spirit and all the times I have just said to myself thanks that's what I needed or just taken a prompting for granite. But how many of us actually take the time to thank our Heavenly Father for giving us those promptings? How many of us rejoice because God has accounted us worthy to receive that enlightenment? I know for me I have not always been the best at thanking God for everything He has done for me in answering my prayers. I think if we all will take the time to thank God for all the things He does for us on a daily basis He is going to continue to enlighten us even more!

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.

Hope Ya Know

         I was watching this video a few weeks ago and I thought it would be a great thing to share with people right now. Considering all the hard things we are facing in the world right now. We all have those hard times as explained in the video and its an amazing thing that the Atonement is in place for all of us when we do go through those hard times. I would encourage everyone to take a few minutes out of your busy day to help someone who might be in need. Then they will be able to feel of Christ love for them through you. Like wise you will be able to feel good knowing that you helped on of our Fathers children.

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.

Your Never Alone

When I first saw this picture I was reminded of the Atonement and everything that Christ has done for us. Then as I studied the picture a few other things came to mind. The one that has really stuck with me is the foot prints in the sand poem:

           "One night I had a dream--
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.""

                                                                             -Mary Stevenson

The next thing that stuck out to me is the love that Christ shows to all of us. Even those of us that had turned our back on him. In the picture the one man is holding a hammer I would assume he like most of us have sinned and is going through a rough time and needs Christ in his life to carry him through those rough times. I know that if we will just take a few minutes of every day to say a quick prayer and ask for the help we need that Christ will be there to help us make it through our trials.

Repentance

Well I thought it would be a good thing to cover repentance based on the past things I have posted because, all the other posts topics lead up to repentance.  So repentance is to have a change of heart and a willingness to move forward and not look back on what you have done.  With that being said the first step to repentance is to recognize and admit that what you have done is wrong.  With out that first step taking place none of the other steps will work or fall into place so doing that first step is so crutial. Second you have to be sorry that you have done something wrong most of the time we will feel guilt or other feelings but we will know that we were wrong in doing that thing. Third you need to confess your sins to your Father in Heaven and to those people you might have affected by what you did wrong.  Fourth you will want to correct or compensate the best you can. If it means paying for a candy bar you stole or if it means telling someone the truth when you lied to them there are so many ways to correct the situations we put our selfs into we just need to do our part and find the way to correct what we have done wrong.  Fifth and final step is the hardest one of all, Never do it again.  Its simple yes but hard at the same time. we need to turn away from what we have done wrong and stop doing those things and never do them again! Then we can all feel of the joy that comes from being worthy to have the spirit with us.

Agency

One thing that has been on my mind that kind of goes along with the Atonement is our free agency. Our Agency is what determines how we live our lives. There are always consequences to the choices that we make whether they are good or bad. Those choices along with the consequences whether good or bad are what determine the outcome of our lives. If we truly want to be free we need to live at a higher standard so that we can continue to grow and come closer to Christ. When we make those wrong choices we are only pushing ourselves away from Christ and Heavenly Father. If you will turn to 2 Nephi : 27 it says: "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." So like it says we need to exercise our free agency either unto liberty and eternal life or choose captivity. I know that if we truly do want to be free that we must make those right choices and our Heavenly Father will reward us for making the right choices.

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.

Christ in our Lifes

Since we are not to far into the new year yet its a great time to recognize Christ in or lives. There are so many ways that we can look for Christ in our lives but a few specific examples come to my mind.  First we can ask our selves do we feel like we have the spirit with us to lead us and guide us daily? Second are we worthy of having Christ in our lives, would he feel comfortable with the things we are doing? So after we ask our selves these questions we can see where we are at and decide what we need to do better in order to come closer to Christ and to feel of his loving spirit in our own lives. There are always things we can improve on to invite Christ into our lives. we have to make the effort to invite him into our lives.  Just as Christ said in Matthew 7:12–13
"12 Say unto them, Ask of God; ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
13 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened."

All we have to do is ask and we shall revieve and knock and it shall be opened unto us. Christ makes it so simple for us to have him in our lives its us that push him away at times. I know that as we do these simple things and make those changes in our lives we can come closer to Christ and feel the love that he has for us.

The new year

As this new year started there were a few things that came to my mind that could help anyone to strengthen their faith in christ. The first few that come to my mind are the simple things that we can easily over look everyday. For example saying our prayers morning and night that is so essential to help us and to help us stengthen our relashinship with our father in heaven. Another that comes to mind is studying the scriptures its so simple to sit down for 10-15 min a day and just read the scriptures and feel of the spirit that comes into your life when you study the scriptures. Lastly just doing those things that we have been commanded to do.  In Matthew 22:37-39 Christ is telling us what the best thing we can do to and is also telling us that it is the greatest commandment he says:

"36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

So if we can do these simple things that we have been asked to do our faith will strenghten and we will continue to feel gods love and spirit in our lives.

A New Year

Its a new year almost and i cant think of a better time to start a journal and come closer to Jesus Christ. we should always be striving to come closer to Christ but at the beginning of a new year we can refocus our efforts and strive to be more diligent in doing all those things the lord has asked of us.  When i think of starting the new year its almost like having a change of heart and we are going to make a bunch of new goals and try to do everything we can to obtain them. but with out the lords help we wont be able to obtain them all. thats why i turn to the lord at the beginning of this new year and ask him what things i could improve on with his help. then set goals that would be good for us as individuals. Alma 19:33
And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed that they had no more desire to do evil