Why Become a Mormon?

What is it about the Church of Jesus Christ that causes people to join it? Why would I want to meet with the two young men in dark suits that knock on my door? What is it that all of this has to offer me or my family? Why should I want to be a Mormon?

I grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I spent my Sundays in church and sunday school. I knew that I couldn't drink alchohol, coffee, or tea; I couldn't smoke, I couldn't have sexual relations before marriage, as well as other things. I didn't ever question it, it was the way I was raised, it just seemed normal to me.

Towards the end of high school and for a year after graduating, I began to drift a little bit. Meetings every Sunday weren't my favorite thing to do, so if I could find an excuse not to go, I would. I didn't see a need to follow the commandments. For me it was a time to really find out what I wanted to do with my life.

What has really changed my life is one decision. My parents wanted me to go on a mission, just like most of the other young men my age. I wasn't sure if I wanted to, or even could, spend two years teaching other people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I spent years trying to decide whether I would go or not. One time when I was with my dad, I really thought about what I was doing with my life. The answer I came up with is that I wasn't really doing anything. I wasn't moving forward, I felt like I was stuck in limbo. I decided the only way to move forward was to give a mission a shot. I got things into motion (with prodding and help from my mom) and on November 18, 2009 I started my mission.

For those who haven't been on a mission, it is a difficult thing. I had never felt so alone, so overwhelmed, and so scared about what was going to happen. I didn't want to be where I was, and the only thing that kept me from leaving and going home was that I knew going back would just put me back into limbo. I spent many hours on my knees asking for help from my Father in Heaven. As the days past I received that help. As I began to study, and then live what I was learning, my life began to change.

I have always felt like my life was good. I have a great family who never let me go without. Things weren't always perfect, but I really feel like I couldn't have had it much better. It is now November 11, 2011 almost two years since I began my mission, and I have never been happier in my life. I don't understand why, because I have never worked so hard, given so much, or been quite this tired. I don't have luxurious things, and I can't even watch sports! It hasn't been easy, but I know that if you want to be happy, have a happy family, grow into a better person, have more love, have more trust, build bonds that will never be broken, and especially become a disciple of Jesus Christ; this is the church for you! I know that because of what it has done in my own life. This is Christ's church on the earth today.

Putting It All Together

I used to love getting gifts that you had to put together.  For the 30 minutes to an hour of putting things together I could barely contain my excitement. One thing I realized is that if you don't look at the instructions, that will last even longer! One time for my birthday, I got a model truck. I thought it would be fun to figure it all out for myself. As I would struggle to figure out where things are supposed to go, and how things are supposed to look, I would have to go back to the instructions. Sometimes I would just look at one or two instructions, and disregard the rest. I could get it mostly put together doing this, but down the road I would find out something didn't work how it should (like the door that should have opened wouldn't). The only way that I could get it put together in the right way and have everything work the way it should was to read ALL the instructions.

I see people all over who do this same thing! I think everyone has an aversion to instructions. They like to pick a couple things and build the rest how they think it should be. Often people will only look at a few verses of scripture in a chapter. When they disregard the next verses, they put things together wrong. A good instance of this is in John Chapter 3 starting in verse 16:

"16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

This would seem to say that all you have to do is believe in Christ to be saved. If you read on however, it says:
"19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."

We can see from this that those who "doeth evil" bring condemnation upon themselves. When we read the whole instructions we realized that we HAVE to believe in Jesus Christ, but we also HAVE to have good deeds or works. If we want to find the truth then we have to use all the instructions. I know that this is one reason we have a prophet here today. He has seen salvation put together before, because of this he can help us do what we read in the instructions.

On God's Path, Comfort or Trial?

"I used to go to church every Sunday, pray, read my scriptures, ect... But ever since I stopped things have been going better." This is a question that has come up on my mission a few times, and I have always had a hard time answering it.  It's hard to show people that even though things are seemingly easier when you don't live the gospel, it just isn't true!

I have an example with the jobs I have had in my life. The summer after I graduated from high school I got a full time job for the first time. I spent the next three months working really hard, and wishing that I could have things a little bit easier. I went to school and the next summer I had a harder time finding a job. I spent a while looking and during that time I played a lot. I would go golfing or just do something around the house. It was really easy and relaxing, but I remember thinking, "I feel useless!" Even though my job the first summer was hard and I wasn't really fond of it, deep down things were much better than when I didn't have a job.

The peace that the gospel brings isn't the easy way we think we want, but it is the way that lasts. If we want to be happy it requires living all of God's commandments. I know that living the gospel is truly worth it, and even though it isn't always easy, you will always find greater peace and happiness from it than you will from other paths.

You Know It's True

Have you ever tried to prove something to someone, and even though they couldn't explain it, they wouldn't give up and say that you were right? I remember me and my brothers would argue all of the time about something because both of us were sure that we were right. It could be anything from trying to prove that my brother said something to how much money a certain profession made. There were even times that I would keep arguing even when I was proven wrong. I could always find some sort way to get out of being wrong.

 This week I began to wonder, how many times do we argue with God? He can answer our prayers and tell us that something is true, but sometimes we just ignore what he says and stick with our own knowledge. Sometimes we agree with him at first, but when we decide we don't like the truth anymore we hide it from ourselves. We tell ourselves exactly what we want to hear. Let me give a personal experience. One time I had bed bugs, which are the WORST! At first I didn't know that they were bed bugs. I kept getting some sort of bug bite, and I wondered if they were bed bugs (there were people who told me it probably was), but I didn't believe it. I would check a couple spots in my bed, but when I didn't see them I was sure that they weren't there. Well finally I got sick of getting bit so I decided to do a thorough investigation and guess what I found... bed bugs.

The voice of the Holy Ghost is kind of like the bed bugs (and not in the annoying way). We have to really be looking for his whispering to find it. What we really need to do is be open to the truth and look for it. Don't pretend to look for it by just looking at the surface either, but do a thorough investigation. If you really look hard enough then you will find the truth.

Like A Child

What is your favorite thing about the children in your life? Is it their innocence? Their concern and love for others? What about their trust? Maybe their ability to have joy? Children have these admirable traits as well as others. So think really hard now about your which is your favorite.

Ok, hopefully you have that firmly in your mind. Now apply this to what Christ tells us we should be like.  

"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 18:2-4).

How can we be more like what children are? How can we be more trusting in our Heavenly Father? How can we love others more? How can we have the same kind of joy?

The scriptures say "ask and ye shall receive." So ask Heavenly Father how you can have more of what you love the most about the children in your life, and then search for the answer he will give. It will bless your life.

Just Do It!

When I was a boy scout, believe it or not we spent a lot of time camping. We would go almost every month and we went to a ton of different places. When you live in Utah and you go camping every month, you end up going when it is pretty cold sometimes. Luckily we had gear to keep us warm, especially while we were sleeping. The only problem is when you have to wake up and get out. Generally we stayed up late the night before and the last thing that you want to do is get up. It is even less fun leaving your cozy sleeping bag for the below freezing temperatures.

 Usually I would lay there until I finally convinced myself that I could do it. Once I decided to get up, even though the situation wasn't any easier, I made the choice and so I got up. The first few moments of adjusting aren't easy, but after about 5 minutes the cold doesn't seem so bad. You get rid of the groggy feeling and you realize that you aren't actually that tired. After 10 or 15 minutes you are ready to get going with all the fun things planned for the day.

We all have experiences in life that this can be an example of, but I want to focus on getting up to follow Jesus Christ. Usually what happens is we teach people for a period of time, and they find out all that is in store for them by being baptized. They come to know that Christ has restored his church to the earth through Joseph Smith. Some people are able to decide it is worth it and just get up and go, while others decide not to for different reasons. Many people are extremely grateful for what they already have (their sleeping bag). They were in need and it filled that need. They don't want to take the chance of leaving something safe for something that they have come to see is better for them. They are too scared to try something new even with the much greater promised blessings. Others have gotten up and out of bed, but in a moment of unpreparedness things got a little to cold for them and they got back in their sleeping bag.

The truth is there are many people who are out of bed and from their experiences they know that it is worth getting up. We can offer advice, encouragement, or help, but we cannot pull you out of bed. Christ was the first and he asks us all to follow his example and he promises us that it is worth it. If you are in a situation where you feel too comfortable with where you are to get up and follow one of Christ's teachings, just get up and go. Don't contemplate or question, but make the decision to be a desciple of Jesus Christ and don't look back. My advice and encouragement is: It's worth it!

Good, Better, Best

I just had an experience that made this quote come to my mind.

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." 
- Tim Duncan


I heard this quote a long time ago, and I thought it was good. I never really thought about it until today, however. We all want the best, but many times we settle for something less. You may want an A in your English class, but you don't want to put in the effort, so you settle for less.

 Many times it isn't as simple as this though. I'm a huge cold cereal fan. If you walk down the cereal isle at a grocery store you can be blown away with all the choices you have. Not only do you have the different types of cereal, but you have the brand name cereal and generic cereal. My family always got the generic kind because it was cheaper. For a long time I didn't even know that the name brands tasted better. It can be the same way with other aspects of our life. If we grow up thinking we have the best, and we never give other things a chance, we will never know how much better we could have had it. Even after we have tasted something better, we may not be willing to give up what we have for one reason or another. Now that I know the brand name tastes better, I still get the off brand because I'm not willing to pay the price for the best.

 Heavenly Father wants to give us the best. He wants us to be happy and through the scriptures and his prophets we can find out how we can be. What we receive all depends on how much we are willing to give. Many people have different pieces of Christ's gospel, and aren't willing to give that up for the fullness. They aren't willing to give up something good or better for the best. It may be because they aren't willing to pay the price (be obedient to it all), they may be comfortable and complacent with what they have, ect... When true happiness is the goal, shouldn't we be willing to pay any price for it?

If you are clinging to something from the past that is keeping you from Christ's best, let go. Whether it is the inability to be obedient or the fear of change, take that step of faith. Christ's true church has been set up on the earth today by one of his prophets, Joseph Smith. It brings greater peace and joy than anything else in this world.

The Ressurection and Judgement

One of the scary things about life is death. We know that death isn't the end, because there is the spirit world. But "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor 15: 22) The spirit world isn't the end either! When Christ comes again, all will be resurrected. Our spirits and our bodies will reunite, and will never separate again! "There shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame..." (Alma 11: 44)

We will then be judged according to our thoughts, desires, and actions. We will be judged into three glories talked about in 1 Corinthians 15: 40-42, the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms. The Celestial Kingdom is where we will live with Heavenly Father again, it is described as the glory of the sun. This is where our families can be together forever! Those who accept the fullness of Christ's Gospel and are valiant will go here. Those who are good people, but don't accept the gospel go to the Terrestrial Kingdom. This is also where those who accept the gospel and aren't valiant will go. It is the glory of the moon, which isn't as great as the sun, but is still a good place to be. Those who are wicked and do not repent go to the Telestial Kingdom with the glory of the stars.

We have so much potential if we live up to the plan that Heavenly Father has for us. In my life it gives me peace, as well as millions of others. We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father who wants us back. I know that if we do what he asks of us, we will be happier than we can imagine. We will be with our families forever!

What Happens When We Die?

Eventually all of us will pass from this life. Our bodies will die and remain on earth, and our spirits will leave and go to a place call the Spirit world. There are two divisions in the spirit world. "the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise...  the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness..." (Alma 40:12-14) So those who have faith, repent, are baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end to get to Paradise. Those who were rebellious or didn't do these things will go to Spirit Prison. As I'm sure you can tell from the names, Paradise is a good place, and Spirit Prison is not so good. 

There are many people in this life who never have the opportunity to accept the gospel. Because God loves all of this children he provided a way for everyone to hear about and have the choice to accept it. For those who don't have that opportunity on earth, it is provided in the Spirit World. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;" (1 Pet 3: 18-19). After Christ's death, and before his resurrection he went to the Spirit World and sent missionaries to those who had never heard the gospel. They are then given that choice.

This is one of my favorite doctrines. Heavenly Father does love his children, and he is going to give everyone that chance to return to him.