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.

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.

Where Did I Come From?

This is one of the most important questions that you can ask yourself. If you know where you came from, then you can understand why you are where you are, and then determine where you are going. Many have asked this question, and missed the mark. But thanks to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a modern day prophet, we have the answer!

In Jeremiah 1: 5 the Lord tells Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."  From this we learn that before we ever came to earth, we lived with our Heavenly Father. We were his literal spirit children. But we weren't like Heavenly Father, who has a body of flesh and bone. We, just like any child, wanted to become like our Father. So because He loves us, He provided a plan for us to gain a body, and then return to live with him called the Plan of Salvation.

Heavenly Father gave us our agency, or our ability to choose. It is one of God's greatest gifts to us, and it determines what will happen to us hereafter. We have the choice to follow Christ, or to follow Satan. He knew that we would make mistakes on earth and so he provided us a way to be made clean again. Jesus Christ's Atonement is the centerpiece of the plan, and through him it is all made possible.

Every one of us is important in God's eyes, and we all have great potential! I know that this is true, and I am very greatful for the peace of comfort this knowledge brings.

Prayer CPR!

I'm not sure how long ago it was, but I heard a statement that really stuck with me. When talking about how he can tell if a person is doing well spiritually he asks, "How are your prayers?" This can be interpreted in many different ways, but these are the ways that I thought of. Are you praying frequently, or at all? Are you sincere in your prayers, or do you just say them to check it off the list? Are you building a relationship with a Heavenly Father that loves you and wants have a relationship with you?

The first question was an easy one for me. I'm a missionary and if I don't say TONS of prayers a day, then it probably wasn't a good day. So I am definitely saying my prayers. But that second question I wasn't doing so well with, maybe in part because I was saying so many prayers. And the third question helped me to realized that I didn't really feel anything, even when I was sincere in my thanks and desires. Since that time I have really worked on doing "CPR" for my personal prayers.

Consistency
Peculiarity
Revelation

Consistency- The first part to helping your prayers out is to pray! Just like we would like to hear from the people we love often, our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us all the time.

Peculiarity- Some of the most sincere prayers I have heard have been from people who prayed out loud for the first time. They say things that you wouldn't normally hear in a prayer, but they are 100% sincere. In high school I would come home and my mom would ask me about my day. We would talk about it, and even though I did mostly the same thing every day, we always had new things to talk about. We would laugh about some things, and seriously discuss others. In our prayers, we should look for the things that are different from our "normal routine," and then be specific about the things we say.

Revelation- Our prayers aren't complete if we aren't receiving answers back. Going back to my conversations with my mom, I didn't just list all the things that happened to me that day. I would bring something up and we would discuss it. We can do the exact same thing with Heavenly Father. When we bring something up we are sincere about, ponder on it, and receive our answer from Heavenly Father, it strengthens that relationship. We can more fully feel the love he has for us.

These are some easy ways for me to remember what my prayers should be like. I would encourage you to adapt and change them so that they work for you. There is nothing better than kneeling down at night and sincerely asking questions and getting answers. I know Heavenly Father does answer our prayers

All Christ Does For Us

I have always known that Christ suffered for our sins and died for us. The great struggle he went through is something that we all look to with a great deal of gratitude. Something that I seem to look past however, is that he is still doing so much for us!

In 2 Nephi 26: 24-25 it says, "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth..."

Jesus Christ works every day to help each and every one of us. We are so lucky to have a brother who loves us so much. I know he lives!

Walking on Water

Most of us have heard the story told in Mattew 14: 25-31. It begins with the Apostles in a boat on a stormy sea, "And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

This story shows us how we need to trust in the Lord. We are all in the boat of our beliefs sailing on the stormy waters of the world. The world we sail on can be scary at times, and we feel that we are safest in our "boat". At some point in our journey through life, Christ will come to us. We may not recognize him at first, just as the Apostles didn't. In order for us to know for sure that it is him, he will ask us to take a step of faith and come to him. We have to allow him to change our ideas.

As long as we trust in the Lord, and press forward, we will be kept safe. If we take our eyes off Christ and stop trusting him, if we look at what the world says should happen (sink in the water), we will begin to sink.

Sometimes in our journey to follow Christ, we don't see why following a commandment will help us. We think that we need something else. If we trust in the Lord with everything. If we put him and his commandments first, we will be fine. We will walk on the water and be happy and safe! I know this is true from my own experiences. I can see it every day of my life.

Pray With Purpose

Missionaries say a lot of prayers. It is a great thing that helps bring us closer to God and the Holy Ghost. As we all know however, when you do something many times, it starts to become routine and less meaningful. Elder Huntsman and I were talking about this the other day. Whenever someone prays, who doesn't say a lot of prayers on their own, it is so sincere. You can feel the connection with our Father in Heaven, and you can feel his love.

We asked the question, "How do you keep your prayers from losing their meaning?" There could be many different answers for different people, but I have found one that really works for me. If we go to the Lord with something that is important to us, our prayers become more sincere. We can report on our progress each time we pray, and the connection becomes much stronger. It isn't always easy to do this, but I know that it has helped me.

Coasting Through Life

One of the hardest things for me on my mission is to see great people who don't care. They will give you the shirt off their backs, but they don't want to find out the truth. Maybe they never got answers so they stopped asking, or maybe they got the wrong answers. I don't know if I will ever know exactly why people don't even want to listen. Occasionally I wonder, "Am I ever like this? Am I ever afraid to ask the questions that will lead me to the truth?"

It is pretty easy to see that when you coast in a car, you start to slow down and eventually you will come to a stop. Spiritually we are the same. Often we feel like we are strong spiritually, and we decide we can ease off a little bit. We begin to coast through life, and sooner than we would like to think, we are spiritually stopped. The solution to this problem is simple, we have to accelerate to get moving again. But how do we accelerate spiritually?

We all know the feeling that we aren't getting better. We may even be reading our scriptures, going to church, and praying, but we still are not "accelerating." I want to focus on a scripture, Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." In this scripture we find the key to move forward.

We all have questions about life. Things like, why do I feel like ... when I do ...? Why is ... so hard? What should I do in ... situation? But I think a lot of the time we put them off or forget about them. To make our study, prayer, and church attendance better, we should take these questions to the Lord and then look for the answer. I know he does answer, and we can gain that boost of faith that comes from the experience. This will allow us to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only."

Who Am I?

A couple of days ago, I read a story about a lady who spent about half of her life looking for an answer that nobody could give her. Betty had always wondered "Where did I come from?" She knew that she had lived before this life, but anytime she asked someone about it they told her she shouldn't be thinking about such things and she might want to see a psychiatrist. Her requirement for anyone to teach her about religion was that first they had to answer that question.

I feel like this question can be determined when we look at who we are right now. In Romans 8:16-17 it says,
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

 

We lived with our Heavenly Father before we came to earth. We were his spirit children there, and we are still his children here. The last part of this scripture tells us a little about where we can be, because we were, and are, children of god. It says that we are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." An heir by definition is:

a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another.

If we are a joint heir with Christ to the estate of God, we have great purpose in life! We can become like our Heavenly Father and brother Jesus Christ through His atonement! We can and will recieve all the blessings of our Father's "estate" if we do as he has asked. I know this to be true!

Giving Thanks

When we go through life at a million miles an hour, it is easy to forget all the blessings that we have. This past general conference, I heard a great talk given by our prophet called "The Divine Gift of Gratitude." This talk may be my favorite that I have ever heard, and it has had an impact in my life. Every time I read it, I am reminded how many things I have to be grateful for. He tells this story that I really like: 


I share with you an account of one family which was able to find blessings in the midst of serious challenges. This is an account I read many years ago and have kept because of the message it conveys. It was written by Gordon Green and appeared in an American magazine over 50 years ago.

Gordon tells how he grew up on a farm in Canada, where he and his siblings had to hurry home from school while the other children played ball and went swimming. Their father, however, had the capacity to help them understand that their work amounted to something. This was especially true after harvesttime when the family celebrated Thanksgiving, for on that day their father gave them a great gift. He took an inventory of everything they had.

On Thanksgiving morning he would take them to the cellar with its barrels of apples, bins of beets, carrots packed in sand, and mountains of sacked potatoes as well as peas, corn, string beans, jellies, strawberries, and other preserves which filled their shelves. He had the children count everything carefully. Then they went out to the barn and figured how many tons of hay there were and how many bushels of grain in the granary. They counted the cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and geese. Their father said he wanted to see how they stood, but they knew he really wanted them to realize on that feast day how richly God had blessed them and had smiled upon all their hours of work. Finally, when they sat down to the feast their mother had prepared, the blessings were something they felt.

Gordon indicated, however, that the Thanksgiving he remembered most thankfully was the year they seemed to have nothing for which to be grateful.

The year started off well: they had leftover hay, lots of seed, four litters of pigs, and their father had a little money set aside so that someday he could afford to buy a hay loader—a wonderful machine most farmers just dreamed of owning. It was also the year that electricity came to their town—although not to them because they couldn’t afford it.

One night when Gordon’s mother was doing her big wash, his father stepped in and took his turn over the washboard and asked his wife to rest and do her knitting. He said, “You spend more time doing the wash than sleeping. Do you think we should break down and get electricity?” Although elated at the prospect, she shed a tear or two as she thought of the hay loader that wouldn’t be bought.

So the electrical line went up their lane that year. Although it was nothing fancy, they acquired a washing machine that worked all day by itself and brilliant lightbulbs that dangled from each ceiling. There were no more lamps to fill with oil, no more wicks to cut, no more sooty chimneys to wash. The lamps went quietly off to the attic.

The coming of electricity to their farm was almost the last good thing that happened to them that year. Just as their crops were starting to come through the ground, the rains started. When the water finally receded, there wasn’t a plant left anywhere. They planted again, but more rains beat the crops into the earth. Their potatoes rotted in the mud. They sold a couple of cows and all the pigs and other livestock they had intended to keep, getting very low prices for them because everybody else had to do the same thing. All they harvested that year was a patch of turnips which had somehow weathered the storms.

Then it was Thanksgiving again. Their mother said, “Maybe we’d better forget it this year. We haven’t even got a goose left.”

On Thanksgiving morning, however, Gordon’s father showed up with a jackrabbit and asked his wife to cook it. Grudgingly she started the job, indicating it would take a long time to cook that tough old thing. When it was finally on the table with some of the turnips that had survived, the children refused to eat. Gordon’s mother cried, and then his father did a strange thing. He went up to the attic, got an oil lamp, took it back to the table, and lighted it. He told the children to turn out the electric lights. When there was only the lamp again, they could hardly believe that it had been that dark before. They wondered how they had ever seen anything without the bright lights made possible by electricity.

The food was blessed, and everyone ate. When dinner was over, they all sat quietly. Wrote Gordon:

“In the humble dimness of the old lamp we were beginning to see clearly again. …

“It [was] a lovely meal. The jack rabbit tasted like turkey and the turnips were the mildest we could recall. …

“… [Our] home … , for all its want, was so rich [to] us.”

My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven

Our quality of life isn't determined by what we have, it is determined by what we think about what we have. The Lord has given us so much! We live in a great place, at a great time, and with the blessings of the Restored Gospel available in our lives. President Monson had one more quote that I really liked, "If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues." We can all be more grateful to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I can promise that implementing the principle of gratitude in your life will be a blessing.

The Book of Mormon

There are many who claim to be a prophet. Christ even told us in the Bible that false prophets would come. He said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt 7: 15). With this warning, how are we to know what to believe? Christ gives us the answer later on in this chapter, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

One of the fruits that we have from Joseph Smith, so we can know that he was a true prophet, is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of the dealings of God with the people in the America's. It is a history that begins in Jerusalem about 600 B.C. A prophet named Lehi is commanded by God to leave Jerusalem and he would be led to a promised land. They leave, cross the ocean, and eventually come to the land promised to them. Time passes, people listen to and learn of God. Many also reject the teachings of Christ. Prophets were called of God to teach the people and guide them to salvation. These prophets all testified that the Son of God would come and suffer the sins of all mankind. They also promised these people that Christ would show himself to him and visit them.

While Christ was on the earth he told the people in Jerusalem, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."  (John 10: 16) After his resurrection Christ came to these people in America, he taught them his gospel, he established his church among them. They had peace and prosperity for hundreds of years.

Eventually the people began to reject Christ's teachings again. They became wicked and killed Christ's followers. One last prophet named Moroni had the records of these people, written on gold plates. He buried these plates with the promise from God that they would be revealed to the world in the future.

Joseph Smith was shown by an angel where these plates were buried. He was able to translate them by the gift and power of God. It became evidence that God had called Joseph to be a prophet, to restore Christ's church on the earth today, and to lead all of God's children!

There is a promise in the Book of Mormon. Moroni tells us, "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Moroni 10:4).

I can promise you the same, if you want to know if Joseph Smith is a true prophet, pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. You will receive the answer that it is. I know it is true. Our loving God has reached out to us once again. He leads us with a prophet that he has chosen. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is his church on the earth today!

Letting the Lord Teach Us

This is a topic that has been on my mind for quite a while. I think humility plays a large part in being "teachable."  The more I learn about pride and humility, the more I realize how easily pride can creep into our lives, and how quickly humility vanishes. In Helaman 3: 36 it says, "And it came to pass that the fifty and second year ended in peace also, save it were the exceedingly great pride which had gotten into the hearts of the people; and it was because of their exceedingly great riches and their prosperity in the land; and it did grow upon them from day to day.This story is shown many times in the Book of Mormon. People are righteous and they prosper, but they take the glory upon themselves and say in their hearts, "look what I have done!"

I wondered why this is. As I examine my own life, I often find myself resisting change for the better. It was a mystery why I did this because I want to become better and grow closer to the Lord. When I searched deeper I realized that I don't want to be wrong, and  changing would somehow (in my mind) show that I was wrong. It would seem to render everything that I had done previously of no worth.

This isn't how it works though. When we are able to trust in the Lord and do what he wants, we build upon what we already have. It doesn't make what we already know or do useless, it just adds to it and makes it better. I try to examine my life every day to see all the things that I did right, but then I look to see the ways the Lord has shown me I can improve. Let us all realize more the things that we have done well, and the things the Lord has already done for us. Then look forward to the things we might not know, the things we aren't sure about, and take a step of faith to let the Lord teach us.

The Restoration

I mentioned in my last post that the Lord promised us that even though there would be an apostasy, he promises a restoration in the "Dispensation of the Fullness of Times."(Ephesians 1:10) In the year 1820 this happened.

At the age of 14 a young boy named Joseph Smith lived at a time of "unusual excitement on the subject of religion" (Joseph Smith History). There were many faiths who contended with one another over converts. During this time of confusion, Joseph Smith wondered which of all the churches was right. He wondered which was the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," that Paul talks about in Eph 4: 5.

Because of the difference in opinion, Joseph couldn't decide which church to join. He says, "the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (JSH). In his search for the truth he came across the scripture in James 1: 5 that says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." This scripture "seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of [his] heart.[He] reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, [He] did; for how to act [He] did not know..."

Joseph determined that he must ask God which church is true. So one spring morning, he went to a grove of trees and knelt down and prayed. In an answer to his prayer he received a vision from God and Jesus Christ! He says, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

His prayer was answered an he was told that while each church had truth in them, none of them had the whole truth. After centuries of being lost, the Lord's gospel would once again be revealed to his children. He was also told how he would be the Lord's servant in this work, he had been called by God to be a prophet. He was given the authority to restore Christ's church to the earth today.

This event has a great importance for the world! Christ's church is back! We have a prophet on the earth speaking the Lord's will to us today! I know this is true and you can as well!

Purpose of Scripture: New Testament

Why is the New Testament important to us? What does it tell us, and why does it matter what people wrote about 2000 years ago?

The New Testament is one of the greatest messages we have from our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. It gives us hope, knowledge, and direction.  It builds the faith of anyone who will read it that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

The four Gospels tell us of the life and teachings of Christ. These are very important so we can grow closer to Christ through knowing what he was like, and following his example. After the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; we have many books that were written by some of the closest followers of Christ, his Apostles. They detail some of their journeys, their teachings, and the testimonies they have the Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

One of the greatest things that we learn from the New Testament is about Christ's Church. Not buildings, but the people of His church. Probably the most important thing that we learn, is how his church works. In John Christ says to his Apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you..." (John 15: 16). We learn from this that the Lord chooses who the leaders of his church are, and he gives them the authority to act in his name and lead his church.

We also learn of the organization of his church. The officers in Christ's church are told to us in Ephesians:
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

   For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

   Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" (Ephesians 4:11-14)

The reason Christ needed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is so his church would have a "unity of the faith." Or in other words, so that everyone was teaching the same things. So Christ's doctrine wasn't replaced by man's ideas. So that every member of his church know's what they need to do to gain salvation.

Who is better qualified to set up an organization of a church than the person who churches are designed to follow, Jesus Christ himself? Without this perfect organization, people become lost. Without authority from Christ, it isn't his church.

I'm so grateful for the teachings of Christ. For the whole Bible, and especially the New Testament. The things that we learn in it are a blessing. I know this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Prophets: Our Guide to Christ

What are prophets? What are they supposed to do? Why does the world need them?

The Lord has always called prophets. "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began" (Luke 1:70). Throughout the Old Testament we read of the lives of many prophets. They are Gods messengers to his children here on earth. Prophets are leaders of the people who desire to follow god. They reveal to us the will of God. We recieve commandments from them, encouragement, and guidance. They perform miracles, see visions, and make prophecies about the future. But the main purposes of a prophet are to build the Lord's Church on the earth and to testify of Christ. To tell the world of his coming, that through him is the only way that man may be saved. Without prophets, we never would have known about Christ, and we would not know the things that we need to to in order to return to live with him and our Heavenly Father.

What makes a prophet? Do men just decide one day that they are going to be one? Christ told his apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15: 16). God chooses who his prophets are and calls and ordains them. He gives them authority, or the power to act in his name (the priesthood). This is important because if a prophet is not "called of God," he is not a true prophet. Moses was called to be a prophet when he saw God in the burning bush. He became the leader of the Children of Isreal, and he directed them in the ways the Lord wanted them to go. Whenever the Lord calls a prophet to build His church on the earth it is called a Dispensation.

The reason the God calls prophets is that he loves us, his children. He wants us to know of him, and to learn what we need to do so we can return to live with him. Whenever prophets have been called, we see that people begin to listen to them. They are humble and are willing to be directed by the Lord. When people listen to the Lord, he blesses them, "And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you;" (Mosiah 2: 24). When this happens people tend to get prideful, and instead of saying, "Look what the Lord has done for me..." they say, "Look what I have done." There is no better exampe of this than when Moses comes down from the mountain with the commandments from God, and the Children of Isreal were worshipping a golden calf! We see this with every prophet. The people the prophet serves become wicked, and they reject his teachings.

If you were to give a baby a stack of 100 dollar bills what would the baby do with it? Probably slobber on it, eat it, and tear it up. The reason for this is even though we know that money is worth a lot, especially that much money, the baby doesn't. Our response to this dilemma would probably be to take the money away and let the child play with something more appropriate. The Lord does the same thing when people don't treat His prophet, and His gospel how he knows it should be treated, he takes them away. When this happens, His church is no longer on the earth and there comes a condition of Apostasy.

We see this happen many times throught the Old testament. The Lord calls a prophet and a new dispensation begins. The people listen for a period of time, but inevitably they become prideful and rebel. The Lord takes away the Authority to have his church on the earth, or the Priesthood, and Apostasy prevails. But because the Lord does love us, he always calls another prophet when the people are humble and ready once again to listen to him.

I am so grateful for the love the Lord has for us, the love so great the he calls prophets to lead and guide us. I know that he does call prophets, and they do have His Priesthood power. I know this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

For more information about prophets, visit http://mormon.org/

Christ and Families

Families are central to God's plan for us. We are his children and so we are all brothers and sisters. When we love the Lord, we begin to love our families more and more, our heavenly family as well as our families on earth. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments (1 John 5: 1-2).

So how is it that when we "love him that begat," we "[love] him also that is begotten"? What is it about keeping our Lords commandments that brings us closer as sons and daughters of God? How can we make our marriages and families stronger? When we follow Jesus Christ's teachings it means that we acquire traits such as; honesty, unselfishness, loyalty, or "charity, which is the greatest of all" (Moroni 7: 46). When we gain these attributes we help those around us just as Christ did. We learn to love others as Christ did, and when everyone loves like that, we all grow together in unity! How great is the Love of Christ, which I strive for. The occasions that I have felt that love have been the happiest of my life. I know that if we can all learn to love as Christ did, our families will be strengthened as well as our love for our fellow man.

You can learn more about this at http://mormon.org/family/

Video of how the Gospel has blessed Daisy's family

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

And all ^athings, whatsoever ye shall ^bask in ^cprayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matt. 21: 22). Throughout the scriptures we see many references saying similar things. If we ask the Lord for something, he will answer us unless we "ask amiss" (James 4: 3). One thing that is important in all of these scriptures is it tells us that we must ask first, then we will receive. It has been my experience that if I am not willing to ask the Lord for help, or ask for knowledge to be given to me, I won't receive it. So why is it that we must ask? If the Lord loves us, as he says he does, wont he give us whatever we need? Occasionally he will, or he will try at least. On many occasions Christ taught the people his gospel. Yet people did not listen. Why is that? Why didn't people want to hear the words of the Savior of the world? They didn't care, because they didn't know how important it was! They didn't know, that without the Gospel of him whom they rejected, they would not be heirs of salvation. How many times do we do that? We don't ask the Lord for help, or knowledge, because it isn't important to us. We, simply put, do not care what the Lord has to offer us. The reason we must ask, is so that we are ready to receive. We show the Lord that we care enough to listen, and then to act on what he gives us. Let us care enough about what the Lord wants for us to ask for it. Let us strive to listen to his teachings and follow them. Let us desire to better ourselves and ask for the Lord's help. If we truly do this, he will answer, he will help, and we will grow in faith, knowledge and happiness. I know the Lord is there and that he does answer our prayers.

God, Our Heavenly Father, Loves Us

 

 

As a missionary, I walk around and meet a lot of people. Their beliefs vary, but one in particular has stuck out to me lately. Some people I have talked to don't believe in God, and others don't believe that he even cares about us. I'm here to testify that we do have a Heavenly Father, and he loves us more than any one of us can even comprehend.

 

In the Bible, Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7 verses 9-11 it says this:
  9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask ^abread, will he give him a stone?

 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

 11 If ye then, ^abeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Our Heavenly Father wants to give us things that will make us happy, I know this because he answers my prayers. I have received countless answers to my prayers and continue to receive them. Often it is in times of trial that I notice his help the most. When I am alone, he is there to comfort me. When I am uncertain, he is there to guide me. But more importantly, when I am happy, he rejoices with me! Pray always to our Heavenly Father and look for his answer, it will come. I promise you this, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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