Random Thought

I just started reading the Book of Mormon again, but this time I am highlighting all of the "If...then" statements that are made in the Book of Mormon. I like to have something that I am looking for each time I read the Book of Mormon because it helps me get more out of my reading.

Today was the first day of my reading and I am already surprised at the generocity of God. In an "If...Then" statement, the "If" is our responsibilit and when we do that, Heavenly Father provides the "Then". I am amazed at how little is asked of us, but in return, how generous Heavenly Father is in return. For example, in the testimony of the Three Witnesses they wrote, "If we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens." The first 6 words are our responsibility: we must be faithful in Christ. If we do that, then the next 30 words is what Heavenly Father is going to do! That is 5 times more than what we do. It gives more validity to the statement that He will pour out blessings that there will not be room enough to receive it. I love that thought. Heavenly Father is SO generous.

On a different and significantly less imporant tangent, does anyone know if Angels wear garments? I was reading the Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and was shocked to think that angels don't wear garments. I guess garments are an earthly commandment to teach us modesty, but I thought we would wear garments throughout eternity.

2 Nephi 33

I am sorry for the long delay. The past couple months have flown by and I am sorry for the tardiness of this post. Today I was reading in 2 Nephi 33 and a couple of things stuck out to me.

1) Nephi is concluding his remarks to the Nephites and he is telling us about the things he has written. He first said that the things he wrote were “written in weakness,” but he prays that they will be “made strong” unto those that read them. He further goes on to tell us, the readers, what his purpose was in writing. The purpose, according to Nephi, was to “[speak] of Jesus.” He then tells us that he hopes his writings about Christ will “persuade [men] to do good,” “persuade [men] to believe in [Christ],” and “to endure to the end, which is life eternal.” Those are the dying wishes of a man that has given himself in the service of others. Those are the dying wishes of a man who has given his will over to Heavenly Father. Those are the dying wishes of a loving father to his children. He is looking back on his life and saying, “Yeah, I am weak. I made some mistakes in my life,” but he hopes that through Christ his feeble attempts will be made strong to persuade people to come unto Christ. Although Nephi was talking about his record, I believe that we can, and should, apply this to our lives. We need to live in a way that we “speak of Christ.” In doing so we will make mistakes because of our weakness, but through Christ our actions can persuade men to do good, to believe in Christ, and to endure to the end. That is the purpose of this life. We, though our efforts, are supposed to “stand as a witness of God at all times, in all places, and in all things.” We do that through our actions. If our actions contradict our words, people will always believe our actions. Our actions are powerful. That is why Nephi uses the verb “persuade” instead of “invite.” An invitation is strictly oral, but to persuade suggests that there is some assent and change on the part of the other person. Let us be like Nephi and live, albeit in weakness, as to persuade those that we come in contact with to come unto Christ. That is what we covenant to at the waters of baptism and in the walls of the temple. Let us live up to those covenants!

2) Secondly, I am always struck by the last 4 words Nephi engraves upon the plates. He ends his teachings and his writings with “I must obey, amen.” I think that sums up the life of Nephi in such a profound way. He must obey. Throughout his life he was given tasks from God that might have seemed hard, tedious, or insignificant, but Nephi obeyed. Do we have that firm of conviction to say “I must obey” when God speaks? I definitely can’t say that I have always been that strong. I just hope to strengthen my commitment so that when I am called upon I can, like Isaiah, say “here am I, send me.”

Again, I am sorry for the delay in posting. This morning I was struck during my scripture study of those things I mentioned above and I knew that I needed to post today. Let us live as to persuade people to come unto Christ and also let us strengthen our resolve to obey so that we can become like Nephi.

To Christy:

You know the saying, "Behind every great man is a great woman"? I have been thinking about that quote today, and, if you would humor me, I would like to write a little on how I interpret that quote.

I think that quotation summarizes a couple at the pinnacle of their lives and their relationship. The amazing couples that we admire and look up to have had many years to grow together and work on becoming better. I believe, if we were able to see the amazing couples at the beginning of their life together, the quote would read a little different. I believe the quote would read, "Behind every potentially great man is an already great woman." In my relationship, that sums it up. We are all blessed with great talents, abilities, and a wonderful purpose here on this life. Each person can become great with Heavenly Father's help. That is why I believe the first half of the quote should read "behind every potentially great man." The difference, as evidence in my relationship with Christy, is that I am "potentially great" and she has already achieved the "great" status. When we first got married, Christy was already perfect. I, on the other hand, needed (and still need) a lot of work. Throughout the past couple years together, I believe that I have gotten better with Christy's help. I have taken a couple steps closer to her level and a couple steps closer to the level of "greatness" in the eyes of my Heavenly Father. Since Christy is already on the level of greatness, she now has the ability to reach down and help me up.

I believe that our relationship is a microcosm of society in general. Behind every potentially great man is a great woman. Us, as men, strive to reach the level of our wives. I have spent the past two years of my life striving to catch up to Christy. I believe that is why marriage is such an amazing thing. Heavenly Father gave us a built-in motivator in the form of our wives. He knew they could be perfect without us, but we couldn't reach that level without them. We need that help. I need that help.

In summary, I believe Neil L. Andersen put it the best when he said, "My wife, Kathy, is my light and example, a precious daughter of God, full of purity and innocence. I would be nothing without her. For much of my life, I have been trying to become what she thought I already was." (Elder Neil L. Andersen, "Come Unto Him," Ensign, May 2009)

Let us all remember the gift Heavenly Father has given us in our spouse. For all those husbands out there, look to your wife as a motivation of what you can become with their help. For all the wives, don't get frustrated with your husbands, love them, encourage them, and help them become the person you already see in them.

Christy, I love you. Thank you for your love and encouragement.

The Beginning of Miracles

I am sorry for the simplicity of my posts, but I really don't understand the New Testament (hence why I started to read the NT). In John 2, we read that Christ performs his first miracle during his ministry: turning water to wine. Following the miracle, John wrote, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galili, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (v. 11) What is the significance of turning water to wine? Why do you think Christ chose that to be his first miracle? Am I missing something?

John 1

I decided to start reading the Epistle of John in the Bible. I just finished reading the Book of Mormon, focusing on the prophesies/life/mission/teachings of Christ and so I thought it would be good to follow that up with reading about his life in the Bible. I picked John because it is one of my favorite books in the New Testament.

Today, I was impressed with the thought that Christ came down to take away the "sin" of the world. It struck me that sin was singular. Does anyone know why sin is singular?

Sorry for the brevity of this post, I am late for school.

IT IS TRUE!

Today I finished the Book of Mormon. Even though this isn't the first time I have finished the book, the spirit still bore witness to me that it is true! I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that prepared a way, thousands of years ago, for us to find out if the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true! I have taken Moroni's challenge at the end of the Book of Mormon and have read, pondered, and prayed and received a witness that it is true! The cool thing about the promise is that you can receive that witness every day, not just every 4-6 months when you finish the Book of Mormon again. I love it! If you haven't prayed about the Book of Mormon recently, I encourage you to do so.

On top of that, this time through the Book of Mormon, I wanted to underline every reference to Christ, his life, his Atonement, his mission, etc. Basically, I wanted to underline every time Christ was referred to in the Book of Mormon. I did it because one of the goals of the Book of Mormon is to convince the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. I wanted to see how the Book of Mormon convinced the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. This was such an amazing experience to read the whole Book of Mormon, focusing on the Savior. If you haven't done so, I encourage you all to do it. My testimony of our Savior has been strengthened though this experience. I have found new insights that I didn't have prior to this experience.

The Book of Mormon is true. If you haven't had that confirmation recently, read the Book of Mormon, ponder its teachings, and then pray about it. In doing so, you will receive a witness that it is true through the Holy Ghost. This book has changed my life as well. I hope it is changing yours every day when you read it.

Moroni 1-6

I love reading Moroni 1-6. It is the only day in which you can read 6 chapters and not spend an hour doing it! I actually like it for other reasons than the brevity, but the shortness is nice.

Today I was struck by Moroni 1. It is a short chapter, but I found it to be very powerful this morning. Here we have Moroni, the son of Mormon, both of whom were great worriers, but spiritually and physically. They were skilled in the art of war and were courageous on the battle field. This is evidenced by those chapters in Mormon when all but 24 Nephites are killed, Mormon and Moroni were two of the twenty-four. All that is a tangent, but it helped me realize the significance of Moroni 1. In this chapter we learn that Moroni is alone and is fleeing for his life from the Lamanites. I honestly think that would be a sentence worse than death, but that is just me. Moroni also tells us that the Lamanites are killing all of those that would not deny Christ. First, I ask myself the question, would I have the courage to not deny Christ, knowing that death would be the result? I hope I would, but there is no way one can say for sure unless put in that situation.

I have no doubt that Moroni wouldn't have denied Christ and would have been put to death as a result. This leads me to the second thing that hit me this morning. Moroni, the worrier that he is, could have sought out the lamanites and "defended" his belief in Christ, but knowing full well that death would be the result. Often times we put ourselves in situations where spiritual death is all around us, just to show Heavenly Father that we are strong and valiant in his cause. Does Heavenly Father really want us to put ourselves in those positions? Did He really want Moroni to "show" his courage and testimony by seeking out the Lamanites and "defending" his testimony? No! Some people think that the best way to show Heavenly Father your testimony is to be surrounded by sin and not to surrender to the temptations. Yes, that could be a way to show Heavenly Father your testimony, but I submit that he would much rather have you "avoid the appearance of evil" instead of seeking out sin in order to show your strength.

Yes, Moroni could have sought out the Lamanites in order to defend his testimony and show his courage, but he would have died in the end. If that happened, what would we have missed out on? We would have missed out on the whole book of Moroni! We wouldn't have the wonderful chapter on faith, hope, and charity. We wouldn't have the great chapter on baptizing infants. We would miss out on Moroni's promise! Yes, Moroni could have sought out and "honorable" death defending his testimony or he could have chosen to LIVE for Christ. By so doing, we have some of the greatest and oft-quoted scriptures in all of the Book of Mormon because Moroni showed his courage by living for Christ.

We, as members of this church, have to be willing to stand up for what we believe in, but we have to know how and when to fight our battles. There will be times in all of our lives, not by our own doing, we will be in a "spiritual" struggle with the surrounding Lamanites in which we will have to defend out testimonies of Christ, but we shouldn't seek those situations out. Instead, let us live for Christ. Let our testimonies shine in how we live our lives.

My prayer today is that we will live by the following quote:

President Ezra Taft Benson said: “Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world. Men changed for Christ will be captained by Christ. … Men captained by Christ will be consumed in Christ. … Their will is swallowed up in His will. (See John 5:30.) They do always those things that please the Lord. (See John 8:29.) Not only would they die for the Lord, but more important they want to live for Him” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1985, 5–6; or Ensign, Nov. 1985, 6).

Ether 15

How many of you have heard of the "zero-sum" game that is used in economics? If you haven't, it isn't really hard to understand. It means that the end result must equal zero. So, where one party gains one degree of something, someone else has to lose one degree of that same thing. I know, I probably confused you. I am sorry. If you have any questions, you can refer to the font of all knowledge: wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-sum)

So, this morning I read Ether 15, which is one of the bloodiest chapters in all of the Book of Mormon. Hence, the first words in the chapter heading are "Millions of the Jaredites are slain in battle." I didn't know if I would learn anything from this chapter, but I did. In verse 19, it says, "But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people..." It hit me this morning that our individual hearts are a place where the zero-sum game takes place. The two opposing parties are Satan and Heavenly Father. If one of them gains 1% of our heart, the other party has to lose 1% of their power over us. Hence, the scripture that says, "No man can serve two masters." (3 Ne. 13:24) We can't fully serve both at the same time. We only have, in essence, 100% of ourselves to give. We can't give 100% to Satan and 100% to Heavenly Father.

That is mathematically and physically impossible. Thus, in Ether 15, when Satan gains "full power over the hearts of man" that means that there is no place in their hearts for Heavenly Father. In essence, Heavenly Father has a relative power of 0% where as Satan has 100% of their hearts. The war between Heavenly Father is still fought today, but it is fought within the individual hearts of those on the Earth today. How much are we allotting to Heavenly Father? How much of our heart are we allotting to Satan? My prayer is that I will, and I hope you will as well, take a look within my heart and see how much of my 100% is allotted to Heavenly Father. Let us all be like Captain Moroni in Alma 48 where it states:

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." (v. 17)

God showed his love through a Raffle Ticket

I am going to depart from my typical recap of the chapter and tell you that miracles have not ceased and that Heavenly Father is a just and loving God. Yesterday I had a couple experiences that strengthened my testimony that He loves me, that He knows me, and that He is aware of my situation.

To give a little background to yesterday's events, I have been preparing and practicing for the 1L Moot Court competition held at the law school. This competition is for all 1Ls that are interested in trying out for the Moot Court team. I thought this was something I would be interested in doing and something that I thought I could excel at. In all of my practice sessions with fellow students, TAs, and professors, I was receiving very good feedback. Obviously, I had a lot of growing to do, but I felt confident with this style of oral argument.

On Saturday I had my competition and felt really good about it. On top of that, I received great feedback from the judges and I felt confident that I would move on to the next round...but needless to say, I did not. I was shocked. Not because I felt like I was better than everyone else, but because of the feedback I received from everyone that had judged me. I was hurt. I felt like this is something I could be good at, but then I didn't even make it to the top 50!

This leads me to yesterday's events. It was hard for me to go to school yesterday because of the hurt that I felt. I wanted to be on the team so bad, but I had that eliminated from me because I didn't make it into the top 50. It was hard for me to put on a happy face when all I felt was pain inside. This was the feeling I had yesterday morning. Then the first tender mercy happened at a mandatory lecture I had to attend at noon. At the end of the lecture, the instructor said she had a raffle and the prize was a bag full of her company's products. I didn't think twice about it, but when she passed out the raffle tickets I thought to myself, "Heavenly Father, do you really know me? Do you know my situation? I felt like I should come to BYU Law School, but I have been faced with a lot of disappointments. Is this where I need to be? If so, have my name be drawn out." I know that sounds so stupid. Stupid enough to have Christy laugh at me when I was telling her about this yesterday, but to me it wasn't stupid. It is something that I will remember forever. So, when they pulled the name out of the bucket (there were about 60-70 raffle tickets in the bucket), they read my name and I almost started to cry. I never win anything like that, but I know that Heavenly Father wanted to show me something. I know he wanted to show me that he is there and that I am doing what I should be doing right now. I couldn't care less about what I won, but I will always be grateful for the tender mercy that I received at the law school raffle.

The second tender mercy that I received was from my TA. He was one of my judges on Saturday. I e-mailed him yesterday, asking him if I could get some feedback from him because I really wanted to be better at moot court. He said he wanted to talk to me in person and so he sought me out yesterday afternoon. He said that after he finished judging on Saturday, there were 5 people he thought were "shoe ins" for the next round and he said that I was one of them. Then when he got the results back on Sunday he saw that only 2 of the 5 had made it. He was shocked. He sought me out to tell me that I should take the results of Saturday's competition as a sign of my ability to be good at moot court. He said he wanted me to e-mail all of the judges, get feedback from them, and then e-mail the president of the moot court team and ask if I could get on the team. He then said that all three of the judges would fight for me to get on the team. I don't know if I will be able to get on the team, but it was a tender mercy to have the TA seek me out and tell me that the door to moot court wasn't shut. Not only that, but it was a tender mercy to hear him say that he would fight for me to get on the team.

I am sorry this is long, but I would feel very ungrateful if I didn't tell you all that Heavenly Father is mindful of you. He knows what you are going through. He knows your trials. He knows your desires. He knows you!

How have you seen his tender mercies in your live?s

Ether 12 and 13

I am sorry to all of my avid blog readers out there for not posting yesterday. Before you work yourselves up into a frenzy, I want you to know that I did read yesterday, but I completely forgot to write a blog post. So, in my feeble attempt to repent, here is what I learned yesterday from Ether 12:

In verse 11, Moroni writes, "But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way." I don't know why this hit me while reading, but it did. How many times to we think of Christ as a "gift" from our Heavenly Father? I have to admit that I don't think about Christ in those terms as often as I should. I love Christ. I try to follow His teachings, but I don't think of His life as a gift, but in all actuality, it is the greatest gift we could ever receive. Sure, receiving a body is an amazing gift, but without the Atonement, out bodies would be useless because none of use would be able to return to Heavenly Father on our own. Same thing can be said about the gift of families, the gift of the gospel, or the gift of repentance. Without the gift of Christ, our lives would be for not. Today, let us remember that Christ is the greatest gift we could ever receive.

Today I read Ether 13, and this is what I learned:

In this chapter, Ether is commanded to preach unto Coriantumr and call him to repentance. Ether promises Coriantumr that if he repents, the Lord will "give him his kingdom and spare the people." (v. 20) As we know from reading this chapter, Coriantumr rejects the teachings of the prophet and does not repent. From my point-of-view, thousands of years after the fact, it is easy for me to judge Coriantumr and say that he was dumb for not following teachings of Ether. Honestly, Coriantumr was fighting because he wanted to retain his kingdom and Ether promised him that he could retain his kingdom if he just repented, but Coriantumr did not repent. Like I said, it is easy to judge him when he are sitting in the comfort of our own home, reading about decisions that happened thousands of years ago. On the other hand, how many times do we reject the teachings of the prophets because we feel we know how to "retain our kingdom." This is exactly what Coriantumr did. He rejected the teachings of the prophets and thought he knew a better way to achieve his ultimate goal. How wrong was he? How wrong are we every time we choose to disregard the teachings of the prophet? With General Conference approaching, my plea is that I, and I hope you will as well, will listen to the teachings of the prophets and try to implement those teachings into my life.

Ether 11

Today's thought is going to be short, but something we all need to remember. I am sure we all have testimonies of the power of the Atonement and the power of repentance, but I want you to know that there is nothing you or I could have done that would ban us from the love of God. All Heavenly Father asks of us is to repent of our sins and do them no more. I don't care what it is Heavenly Father will forgive us if we truly repent. This chapter is about the Jaredites and their bloody wars. On top of that that, the people were wicked notwithstanding the wars. Multiple times throughout the chapter we hear of prophets being sent to the people and encouraging them to repent. If they did "the Lord did have mercy on them." If the people did not repent, destruction would be quickened. These people were participating in "murders and wickedness" and still the Lord forgave them and had mercy on those that repented. Let us trust in the Lord and repent of our sins. Let us be a little better today than we were yesterday.

Ether 10

Maybe today's insight is coincidence or it could be what Elder Bednar described as a “tender mercy of the Lord.” (David A. Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Liahona, May 2005, 99–102) I am grateful for this online scripture journal because it has helped me study the scriptures better and with a better purpose. I am constantly trying to find ways the scriptures can relate to my life because I know I am going to have to write a blog post about it. It is no wonder that Elder Scott always says study with a journal close by. It is true. I have had more insights and more spiritual scripture studies as of recent because I know I am going to be writing about it.

Sorry for that little tangent, but now back to my tender mercy of the Lord today. Ether chapter 10 is a chapter I would normally skim over, but since I knew I was going to have to write about what I learned today, I decided to really pay attention and see if I could get something out of it. Thankfully, I was able to with Heavenly Father’s help. This chapter is about how the kingdom is passed from one person to the other either by succession or by bloodshed. Although this situation occurs multiple times in the Book of Mormon, what hit me today was the role the father plays in the succeeding generation. If the father did not follow the ways of the Lord, the son most likely wouldn’t either. If the father was righteous, the next generation was most likely going to be righteous.

This hit me today because of my dad’s recent health problems. Although my dad’s health problems aren’t absolutely horrible, they are bad enough to give me a cause to reflect on how grateful I am for a loving father that raised me up in righteousness. Like I said above, if a father is righteous the next generation is most likely to be righteous. Of course, this isn’t always the case, because there are righteous fathers that have arrant children and wicked fathers who have righteous children. With that said, and like Ether 10 teaches us, it is more likely to have the second generation follow the traditions of the first. I am grateful to have such a great example in my life and I don’t why I am so blessed to have been taught righteousness by word and by deed by both my mother and my father. Not only that, I know that Christy would say she feels the same way about her family.

Aren’t families great? Aren’t we blessed to have righteous parents that teach us? I am grateful to my parents.

Ether 9

In the scriptures we often read about “The Land of Promise.” What does that mean and what makes it the land of promise? Today I read chapter 9 in Ether about a land which was “choice above all other lands.” (v. 20) That is the same terminology that the Lord used with the brother of Jared when talking about the land that had been prepared for Jared. This brings me back to my original question, what makes it the land of promise? Is it the grain? Is it the resources? Is it the location?

I believe that all of those might have something to do with it, but the answer that I believe is true is that we are the ones that make it the land of promise. I don’t think it is because of our ingenuity that makes the land so great, but I think it is our righteousness that makes it so great. In Ether 9 we read that the part of the population was growing wicked and rejecting the Lord. Because of that, the Lord caused war and bloodshed to befall the land. Once the war stopped and righteousness was again found among the people, the Lord “began again to take the curse from off the land.” (v. 16) It was then, once the people were righteous, that the people started having “all manner of fruit, and of grain, and of silks, and of fine linen, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things; and also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of mad. And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms. And thus the Lord did pour out his blessings upon the land…” (v. 17-20) We learn that living in a land which is choice above all other lands is contingent upon our righteousness. If we are righteous, the Lord will make us great, He will make our lands great, and he will make our work great. If we abound in wickedness, the Lord will allow famine, bloodshed, and wicked works to be among us. Even though he allows those things to happen, we learn in Ether 9 that He does this so that we might “repent of our iniquities and cry unto the Lord.” (v. 34)

Let us take a look at our lives and see if we are abounding in good works or if there is famine, bloodshed, or wickedness surrounding us. If the later is present, in any of its varying degrees, let us repent of our iniquities and cry unto the Lord, that he might make the land upon which we stand choice above all the other lands.

The Prodigal Son

Two thoughts hit me while I was reading in Ether 8 this morning:

First, isn't it interesting that when a child wants to rebel against his/her father, he or she leaves the presence of the father and goes to dwell in a different land. In Ether 8:2 we read that "Jared rebelled against his father, and came and dwelt in the land of Heth." This story is repeated multiple times throughout the scriptures, the most popular of which is the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Although this story differs from the Prodigal Son, I am intrigued with the fact that sons go to a far off land when they want to rebel against their father. Is there a reason for that? I think there are a couple reasons why this could be. The son might know that the actions they want to pursue are not welcome within the confines of the parents home and so the child has to leave in order to pursue other endeavors. Maybe the son wants to make a statement by outwardly rebelling against their father? I honestly believe it is the fact that the son will feel guilty participating in such acts under the roof of their father and in order to not feel as guilty, the son has to travel to a different land, where such acts are accepted. Sadly, these types of actions are not confined to ancient times. It happens many of times each day. Although we might not physically move to a far off land from our parents, spiritually we might pitch our tent towards Sodom.

What is interesting, and the second thing that hit me today, is that Moroni departs from recounting what happened to tell us that "it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby you may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these [things] shall get above you." (v. 23) Futhermore, the Lord wants to "awake [us] to a sense of [our] awful situation." (v. 24) We need to awake to see the situations that are around us.

Moroni included this chapter in his recap of the Book of Ether, not merely for the spiritual lessons that are taught, but to show us what not to do. We need to stay close to the teachings of our fathers. When we have the urge to resist our fathers and travel into a far off land, we need to remember these words and resist that urge. Nothing good ever comes from rebelling against the teachings of the Lord.

Ether 7

Those who have read Ether 7 know that it isn't the most spiritually uplifting chapter in all of the Book of Mormon. This chapter recounts the dissensions among family members, vying for the kingdom. Although there are many parallels one can make concerning family dissensions, what was interesting to me was how merciful the Lord is. Amongst all of the fighting, the Lord sent prophets to teach them the true gospel. (v. 23) Even in our times of trouble, the Lord ALWAYS prepares a way for our our escape. In this case, even though fighting was all around them, those that had faith in what the prophets were teaching and repented, "the Lord did spare them." (v. 26) If we listen to the prophets, keep our covenants, and endure to the end, Heavenly Father will "spare" us. Let us spiritually prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually to hear the prophet's voice in a couple weeks at General Conference.

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear"

I realized today that the book of Ether has 4-5 chapters on the brother of Jared's preparations for the journey and only 11 verses on the actual journey. It hit me this morning that the preparation for a journey is just as, if not more, important than the actual journey itself. Not saying you can't learn anything during the journey. On the contrary, I believe you can learn a lot on your journey and I believe that is what you are supposed to do. I do believe that the way you prepare for a journey can set the course, tone, and success of your journey. Thus, it gives new meaning to D&C 38:30 "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." I think this is true. If you prepare for the journey well, involving the Lord, and relying on him, you will be successful. That is why the Jaredites were successful. They commended themselves unto the Lord when they started the journey and did praise him when they arrived safely. For our journeys in this life, we must do the same. Whether it be the journey througout the day, a trip, or the start of a major task, we must commend ourselves to the Lord, pray unto him throughout the journey, and then praise his name when we finish. Let us commend ourselves unto the Lord. If we do so, we shall not fear.

YouTube - Mormonad: Come unto Me

YouTube - Mormonad: Come unto Me

Come Unto Me

http://broadcast.lds.org/churchmusic/Seminary/CES_NT_01_ComeuntoHim.mp3

Today I read Ether chapters 4 and 5. I was really struck by Ether chapter 4 today. There were a couple reasons why that chapter hit me so hard today.

Chapter 4 hit me today because it seemed like Christ was teaching a first lesson to all who read the Book of Mormon. I believe that if Christ were to come down and teach a lesson to an investigator, he would teach this very chapter. The reason I say that is because this chapter is focused on the first four principles of the gospel: faith, repentance, baptism, and gift of the Holy Ghost. Christ is urging people to have faith in Him so that they can be sanctified in Him. The next step of sanctification is repentance, because we know that we need to be clean in order to be sanctified in Christ. We are then baptized to become children of Christ. I love this chapter. Maybe it is because I love my mission and I am amazed at how simple, yet powerful, Christ is able to teach the first principles of the gospel. Furthermore, I love that Christ's main message throughout the chapter is "come unto me." I think that is Christ's main message period. "Come unto me." The reason we want to have faith in Christ, repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost is in order to come unto Him. That is the whole purpose of life. That is why this chapter is so powerful, because He teaches us that the purpose of the gospel, the purpose of the church, the purpose of His life, and the purpose of the Book of Mormon is to show and exemplify how to Come unto Christ. If we all could follow the teachings in this chapter, we would all be able to "come unto him" and be perfected in him.

Secondly, but intertwined with the first insight into this chapter, is the fact that the veil is placed on us individually, not on the group as a whole. For the longest time, I believed the veil was placed on the whole world, but now I know that each of us has our own veil placed on us. The purpose of this life and the purpose of this chapter, is to invite each of us to "rend the veil of unbelief" that rests upon each of us individually. There are some people in the world who have completely removed the veil from their eyes and there are some who, by their actions, have thickened the veil. I also believe that at different points in each of our lives the veil gets thinner and thicker depending upon our actions. My hope is that today, I will be able, and I hope you will as well, to do things that makes the veil thinner in your life. We do that by coming unto Christ. Let us today come unto Christ and take a step towards removing the veil from our lives.

Ether 3

Today I have two smaller issues that stuck out to me while reading Ether 3.

The first was after the brother of Jared first saw the finger of the Lord, but had yet seen Christ. The Lord then asks the brother of Jared, "Sawest thou more than this"? (v. 9) In response to that question, the brother of Jared asks the Lord to show Himself unto the brother of Jared. (v. 10) The interesting part of this passage is what happens next, the Lord asks, "Believest thou the words which I shall speak"? (v. 11) This is virtually the same question that the Spirit of the Lord asked Nephi in 1 Nephi chapter 11 when Nephi is pondering the dream of his father. The Spirit asked Nephi, "Believest though that thy father saw the tree of which he has spoken"? (1 Ne. 11:4) Don't they already know the answer to that question? Obviously the answer to that question is, 'yes.' So then, why do they need to ask it? It seems to be the question asked before something miraculous happens. I don't know the answer to that question. Maybe it is because Heavenly Father wants us to ask ourselves that question before He shows us a vision. I don't know. Does anyone else know the answer to that question?

Second thing that stuck out to me was that I believe there are more people on this Earth that have seen Christ than we believe or think. When a person has faith, they are shown signs (because signs follow those that have faith). Those signs strengthen a person's faith. When that faith becomes a perfect knowledge, like the brother of Jared, we "cannot be kept from within the veil." (v. 20) There are many faithful followers of Christ that have had signs enough to make their knowledge full. The interesting thing is that Christ commands those, to whom he has shown himself to not make these things known unto the inhabitants of the world. Our journey through life and to exaltation is a personal one. Although we have guides along the way, we each need to make the journey on our own. Let us each take steps today, no matter where we are on the journey, to progress towards a perfect knowledge.

I, the Lord, am bound...

Today I read Ether chapter 2. It is easy to skim past the first half of the chapter and focus on the Brother of Jared's dilemma and how he approached Christ for help. Although I love that part of this chapter, I was struck this morning with the first half of the chapter.

If you remember correctly, in Ether 1, the Lord commands the Brother of Jared, Jared, their families, and their friends to travel "into the valley that is northward." (Ether 1: 42) After that commandment, the Lord promises the Brother of Jared two things: that the Lord will meet them there and that the lord will go before them into a land which is choice above all other lands. (Ether 1:42) When reading those promises, it is amazing to see the blessings that Christ promises if obedient.

At the start of chapter 2, the Brother of Jared and the rest of the group keep Christ's commandment and travel to the valley northward. In verse 4, we see that as soon as they fulfilled the commandment Christ had given them, "the Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared." Christ literally fulfilled his promise to the brother of Jared and "met" him in the valley northward. In our lives we are promised many things through the scriptures, the prophets, patriarchal blessings, and direct inspiration that seem impossible. We have to take the promises that we are given at face value, because that is how they are intended to be received. If Heavenly Father meant something else, He would have said something else. If I were in the brother of Jared's shoes and the Lord promised me that He would meet me somewhere, I would have faith that he would fulfill His promises, but I wouldn't have thought that in all actuality Christ would meet me there, but that is exactly what He did. He literally met the brother of Jared in the valley like he promised.

Furthermore, the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to "go forth into the wilderness." (v. 5) In other words, the Lord gave them another commandment, and He then fulfilled the next promise He made to the brother of Jared in chapter 1. It was on their travels further into the wilderness that the lord "continually" directed them. (v. 6) We can't think that just because we "met" the Lord in the valley that we are through. The Lord will then give more commandments to see if we are willing to follow. If we are willing, the Lord will "continually" direct us. It is interesting that the Lord didn't continually direct this group on their journey to the valley northward, but once they fulfilled that commandment, they were worthy of his guidance the rest of the way (granted, as long as they stay faithful). The only thing they had to rely on were the promises that the Lord gave them before they started their journey. In this life, how often are we left at the start of a journey with just the promises that everything will be okay? It happens all the time. Very rarely do we know exactly what is going to happen. I think Heavenly Father likes it that way. He wants to know if we are willing to follow Him, "not knowing before hand the things which [we] should do." (1 Ne. 4:6) As soon as we start on the journey, Heavenly Father will give us signs that we are on the right path (e.g., the Lord placing Labon in Nephi's path or "meeting" the brother of Jared in the valley). In some people's minds those might be "coincidences" but to the believer in Christ, those are signs that we are doing what is right. Our job is to start on the path, fully relying on the promises that we have been given. We will then receive the promised blessings and the needed guidance to help us fulfill all that is asked of us. It is my prayer that we, starting today, will have the faith to take the first step and rely on the Lord.

"Whither Shall We Go?"

How many times do we honestly ask the Lord, "Whither shall we go"? Furthermore, how often do we ask that, but hope Heavenly Father will tell us to go where WE want to go rather than being humble enough to go where HE wants us to go?

Christy and I experienced this last year at this time. I was preparing to go to law school. When I first started the application process, I wanted to attend an "Ivy League" law school with an elite name. I thought I worked hard enough to get in and vainly prayed to Heavenly Father to have us go where He wanted, but in my heart I was hoping He would line up His will with mine and send me to an Ivy League school. My heart was hardened and I was blinded to the promptings of the spirit as to where HE wanted me to go to school. I should have had the faith as stated in Ether 1:38, "And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth." Heavenly Father truly does know what is best for us and if we follow the promptings from Him, we will be led to a "land which is choice above all the earth."

I honestly believe that we each have our own land which is choice above all the earth and only Heavenly Father knows where that is. Although the land which is choice above all the earth is available, we still have to "be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance." (v. 38) If we are faithful and follow the promptings, Heavenly Father will go before us into the land and prepare a way for us to succeed. (see v. 42) Furthermore, not only will he prepare a way for us, but there will He meet us (v. 42) and bless us and our seed, and raise up unto Him our seed, and He will make us great. (v. 43)

So, in tying back to the application process for law school, after 6 months of praying for Heavenly Father to show us where we needed to go to law school, I was finally humble enough to receive the answer that He wanted to give me. It wasn't to an "Ivy League" school, but it was a school that, for me, was "choice above all the earth." At BYU Law School I have tried to be faithful unto Him and in so doing, I have seen how he has prepared a way for me and I have also seen him through little tender mercies on a daily basis, letting me know that I am where I need to be. It is my prayer that I will now be humble enough to become the person that He wants me to be so that he can create a "great nation" out of me. (see v. 43)

Have Miracles Ceased?

Today I read one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon: Mormon 9. I don't know why I love this chapter so much. Maybe it is because Moroni addresses his thoughts to "those who do not believe in Christ" (v. 1) and it makes me feel like I am on my mission again. Honestly, I think it is the fact that my testimony of miracles was strengthened on my mission because I saw the "tender mercies of the Lord" (1 Ne. 1:20) every day help further the work in Ukraine. Also, I am a firm believe in the notion that if we look for Heavenly Father's hand in our lives we will find it and not only that, we will continue to see it more often because we are actually trying to find it.

In reading to day, I was struck with the thought, "Have miracles ceased"? We don't hear of the Red Sea parting, the sun standing still in the sky, or mountains being moved, so the question remains, have miracles ceased? My answer to that is a resounding "No"! Although we don't hear if seas parting or mountains moving, there is something more subtle, but yet more profound that occures millions of times each day that I think is more of a miracle.

The definition of "Miracle" is : an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. (dictionary.com, "miracle")

The reason I say what happens millions of times each day is more of a miracle than seas parting and rocks moving is because the elements will always be obedient to God. Rocks will always move when God tells them to move, water will always part if God tells it to, but there is one thing in the world that will not always be obedient to Heavenly Father's command, and that is his greatest creation: his children. Us, as human beings, are the greatest creation of a loving Heavenly Father, but we are not always obedient to Heavenly Father. Even though we are not always obedient to Heavenly Father, he will not force us to be. That is why I really enjoy Elder Neal A. Maxwell's though:

"In conclusion, the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!" (Neal A. Maxwell, “‘Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father’,” Ensign, Nov 1995, 22)

When we allow our individual will to be "swollowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to him." That is a miracle in my opinion. When a human being decides to give his/her will over to Heavenly Father, that is something that is an "extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause." There is nothing to explain why we give our wills over to Heavenly Father. There is nothing to explain why we decide to keep His commandments, we just do. Millions of people each day decide to "put off the natural man" (Mosiah 3:19) and give their will over to Heavenly Father. That is the greatest miracle of all.

So, my plea today is that we will allow our will to be "swallowed up in God's will." Only then will we truly become the people that He wants us to be.

Aren't Prophets Great

I apologize in advance, but I was reading the scriptures this morning and came across these verses and I thought they were pretty timely and interesting;

28 Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts, even to the envying of them who belong to their churches.

29 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands;

30 And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.

31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.

32 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.

33 O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain? Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled.


I thought they all were pertinent to our time, especially verses 29-32. Isn't that interesting. We are getting closer to the Second Coming. Although those verses might be a little frightening, it was nice to read verse 34 and know that there is a glimmer of hope:


34 Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.




In this gospel we are often told about the terrible things that will come to pass right before the Second Coming. What we don't realize is that there must be "opposition in all things" (2 Ne. 2:11). So, when Satan steps up his efforts, so will Heavenly Father. It is interesting to hear the juxtapositions used in the scriptures regarding the Second Coming, e.g., "Great and Dreadful Day" (3 Ne. 25:5) or "Endless state of misery or happiness" (Alma 41:4).




So, although there are many terrible things that are taking place, I have to, and I hope you will, always remember that there will be "great and marvelous" thing that will transpire as well, as long as we do what is right. Although Satan is "stepping up his game," we have to remember that Christ is as well. The interesting and humbling thing is that Christ will "step up his game" though us. We need to be the ones stepping up our game in order to combat the efforts and tactics of Satan.


"[Family], shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!" (D&C 128:22)


Anyway, that thought hit me hard this morning as I was reading and I thought I would share it with everyone. Thanks for humoring me.