I remember a family party that I went to a few years ago. I was probably 15 years old. My entire family was there. The swimming pool was beautifully cool and the deck was covered with people eating and laughing. I was off in the corner eating and reading a book as per the usual.
After a little while my dad came over and asked why I wasn't swimming, since I'm generally the first one in the pool. I told him that I was reading and maybe I would get in later. He laughed and proceeded to grab my arm and pull me towards the edge of the pool. I, of course, tossed my book and whatever else I was holding, made sure nothing was in my pockets, and tried to get away.
(For those of you who don't know my father, you need to understand that my dad is 6'7" and 350 pounds.)
My escape attempt was unsuccessful and I began to squirm, trying to find some way to make him let go of my arm. Again, I was unsuccessful.
All this while I was being dragged to the edge of the water.
Finally, after what seemed like a year of hollering at my dad, he held me over the edge of the water and...just held me there! I was still squirming and fighting with all my strength but to no avail. I couldn't get out of his grip without falling into the water and I couldn't get to shore because my dad's arms were too long and my toes were barely gripping the edge as it was.
I gave up. I let go of him and into the water I went.
I was mad. He had let me fall! He had, in effect, pushed me off the cliff! He had dropped me into thin air!
This morning I was reading a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland entitled, "The Inconvenient Messiah." The talk was very powerful and one line in particular caught my attention: "...if your prayers don't always seem answered, take heart. One greater than you...cried, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani...My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" If sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived."
There are times in our lives when we pray and we plead and we pray some more that our trials may be taken from us. Even Christ, while performing the Atonement, asked, "If thou be willing, remove this cup from me..." But, in this supreme expression of love and submission He added, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42)
We were placed here on the earth in order to gain bodies and to learn and grow through the trials and tribulations that we would suffer. There are times when we will feel like we are hanging over the cliff. There will be times when we feel that we are not able to pull ourselves to safety.
In these times, remember the promise that "the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9)
In that moment, hanging over the edge of the swimming pool, I let go of my father's arm. I gave up on him and on myself. He never shook me off of his arm. I chose to let go.
No matter how far over the edge we may be or we may feel, God will never let go of us for, "the mountains shall depart and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee..." (3 Nephi 22:10) His arm is continually stretched out to us. All we have to do is accept His help. We must take His hand and trust that, though He may not deliver us from all of our trials immediately, we will be blessed that we will not fall.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Where is my Heart?
I will be the last one to tell you that a mission is easy.
I will be the first to tell you that it is worth it.
You see so many miracles, testifying that God is in the details of your life and in the lives of those you serve.
You see the Gospel change hearts and minds, especially your own.
You hear wonderful words of counsel, both from the Holy Spirit and from your inspired leaders who have been called of God.
You have the chance to help others "taste as [you] have tasted, and...see eye to eye as [you] have seen." (Alma 36:26)
Most importantly, you are being an instrument in the Lord's hand to further His work here upon the earth.
Just last weekend I had the opportunity to hear words of counsel from my mission president. He said something that really struck me. He quoted Elder David A. Bednar who said that 'heart' in the scriptures is, "The sum total of our desires, affections, intention, motives and attitudes. Thus, our hearts determine who we are and what we will become."
The heart is so important. It is the center of physical well-being. Without our heart, we would not be able to live. Besides being for our physical well-being, our heart is what the Lord sees. For, the Lord sees "not as man seeth...for the Lord looketh on the heart."* He sees our desires, our affections, our intentions, our motives and our attitudes.
There is a list of questions that ask, in a nutshell, 'where is my heart?' in any given situation.
What are my desires?
Where are my affections?
What are my intentions?
What are my motives?
What is my attitude?
As I asked these questions, I realized just how deep of a self-evaluation these questions were. They made me think about everything I did, how I did it, and why I did it.
And that is the point of this life: to find out where our hearts are and to put our hearts in the right place so that we will be prepared to return to the presence of God. (Alma 34:32)
Our hearts need to be in line with the Lord's will for us. We can seek to understand His will as we pray. In the Bible Dictionary it tells us that, "Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God..." Through sincere prayer we can come to know for ourselves the things that God will require of each of us personally and individually.
*1 Samuel 16:7
I will be the first to tell you that it is worth it.
You see so many miracles, testifying that God is in the details of your life and in the lives of those you serve.
You see the Gospel change hearts and minds, especially your own.
You hear wonderful words of counsel, both from the Holy Spirit and from your inspired leaders who have been called of God.
You have the chance to help others "taste as [you] have tasted, and...see eye to eye as [you] have seen." (Alma 36:26)
Most importantly, you are being an instrument in the Lord's hand to further His work here upon the earth.
Just last weekend I had the opportunity to hear words of counsel from my mission president. He said something that really struck me. He quoted Elder David A. Bednar who said that 'heart' in the scriptures is, "The sum total of our desires, affections, intention, motives and attitudes. Thus, our hearts determine who we are and what we will become."
The heart is so important. It is the center of physical well-being. Without our heart, we would not be able to live. Besides being for our physical well-being, our heart is what the Lord sees. For, the Lord sees "not as man seeth...for the Lord looketh on the heart."* He sees our desires, our affections, our intentions, our motives and our attitudes.
There is a list of questions that ask, in a nutshell, 'where is my heart?' in any given situation.
What are my desires?
Where are my affections?
What are my intentions?
What are my motives?
What is my attitude?
As I asked these questions, I realized just how deep of a self-evaluation these questions were. They made me think about everything I did, how I did it, and why I did it.
And that is the point of this life: to find out where our hearts are and to put our hearts in the right place so that we will be prepared to return to the presence of God. (Alma 34:32)
Our hearts need to be in line with the Lord's will for us. We can seek to understand His will as we pray. In the Bible Dictionary it tells us that, "Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God..." Through sincere prayer we can come to know for ourselves the things that God will require of each of us personally and individually.
*1 Samuel 16:7
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Updates, Improvements, and Bug Fixes
I am, in general, pretty technologically...incompetent. When I got a laptop I was constantly asking my dad or my roommates or even my younger siblings to help me figure things out.
Now, on my mission, we have lots of technology. We have iPads! We have to update our iPads periodically so that they can get new gadgets and so that they will be more self-sufficient and not rely as much on other people having to come in and fix them. As I was updating my iPad, it said, "Preparing update...This update contains improvements and bug fixes. Learn more."
This struck me!
In a couple of weeks The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is having General Conference where the prophet and the apostles will speak to us. What a wonderful blessing and opportunity that is! We get to hear those whom the Lord has called and chosen to lead and guide us. They speak to us on a multiplicity of topics, including marriage and family, education, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the importance of spiritual and physical self-reliance, being prepared, loving and serving our fellow man and many others.
Someone once said, "Live your life in six-month increments." General Conference is every six months! We are to focus on the things that the prophet and the leaders of the Church tell us for six months. Then when we have General Conference again, we are to add to our knowledge those new things that they teach us and apply them into our daily lives.
General Conferece is the update!This week we are preparing for it! Prepare to receive revelation! "Preparing update!"
Conference teaches us improvements and how to bring our lives more fully into alignment with God and His will for each of us. Our leaders are guided by the Holy Spirit to tell us how we can fix the spiritual problems and 'gremlins' in our lives and be more happy and more focused on God and others. "This update contains improvements and bug fixes!"
SO, watch General Conference! Look it up! "Learn more!"
Now, on my mission, we have lots of technology. We have iPads! We have to update our iPads periodically so that they can get new gadgets and so that they will be more self-sufficient and not rely as much on other people having to come in and fix them. As I was updating my iPad, it said, "Preparing update...This update contains improvements and bug fixes. Learn more."
This struck me!
In a couple of weeks The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is having General Conference where the prophet and the apostles will speak to us. What a wonderful blessing and opportunity that is! We get to hear those whom the Lord has called and chosen to lead and guide us. They speak to us on a multiplicity of topics, including marriage and family, education, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the importance of spiritual and physical self-reliance, being prepared, loving and serving our fellow man and many others.
Someone once said, "Live your life in six-month increments." General Conference is every six months! We are to focus on the things that the prophet and the leaders of the Church tell us for six months. Then when we have General Conference again, we are to add to our knowledge those new things that they teach us and apply them into our daily lives.
General Conferece is the update!This week we are preparing for it! Prepare to receive revelation! "Preparing update!"
Conference teaches us improvements and how to bring our lives more fully into alignment with God and His will for each of us. Our leaders are guided by the Holy Spirit to tell us how we can fix the spiritual problems and 'gremlins' in our lives and be more happy and more focused on God and others. "This update contains improvements and bug fixes!"
SO, watch General Conference! Look it up! "Learn more!"
Friday, March 21, 2014
Spiritual Towers
Towers. They're pretty spectacular. The imagination and the work and the architectural ingenuity that went into building the first tower had to be pretty amazing. Towers can stand for hundreds of years! Yet on the outside, all we see is blocks on top of blocks on top of more blocks.
One of my companions and I were playing Janga. We put the tower on top of a stool so its foundation wouldn't be the soft and squishy carpet and we began to build it higher and higher. It was a little better of a foundation but not by much. Unfortunately, in Janga, building a higher tower involves taking away from the already structurally unsound base.
Oh, man, we got that tower high. Every time we so much as blew on the tower it began to waver. But it still stood.
Our lives are much the same. We begin with a little tower. It's not too impressive but we know that we can make it bigger and higher and more grand. We learn and grow. We have experiences that shape us and change us. Sometimes we feel like we have a chunk taken out of us. We weather the storms of life patiently yet sometimes we feel like one more gust of wind will blow us over.
Suddenly, my tower collapsed around my hands. Blocks went all over the room and we had to go searching for them. I was simply making my tower higher! What was this?
I had seen that the foundation of my tower was incomplete, to say the least. But I still hoped that it would last just a little bit longer.
The Lord taught, "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my
sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock." (Luke 6:48,49)
If our spiritual foundations are "digged deep" and laid on rock (Jesus Christ), no matter the winds and storms that beat us and no matter how continually we feel that the floods are at our doorstep, we cannot be shaken. If, however, our foundations are built on sediment and tend to be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine," (Ephesians 4:14) we will fall and "great [will be] the fall." (3 Nephi 14:27)
If we are hearing and doing the words that Christ teaches, we are building our foundation on Christ and "when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)
God loves us and has given us the way whereby we can be saved and "not fall." That way is Jesus Christ. He is "the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6) As we learn of Him and seek to emulate His perfect example, we will be building a "sure foundation" and we cannot fall.
One of my companions and I were playing Janga. We put the tower on top of a stool so its foundation wouldn't be the soft and squishy carpet and we began to build it higher and higher. It was a little better of a foundation but not by much. Unfortunately, in Janga, building a higher tower involves taking away from the already structurally unsound base.
Oh, man, we got that tower high. Every time we so much as blew on the tower it began to waver. But it still stood.
Our lives are much the same. We begin with a little tower. It's not too impressive but we know that we can make it bigger and higher and more grand. We learn and grow. We have experiences that shape us and change us. Sometimes we feel like we have a chunk taken out of us. We weather the storms of life patiently yet sometimes we feel like one more gust of wind will blow us over.
Suddenly, my tower collapsed around my hands. Blocks went all over the room and we had to go searching for them. I was simply making my tower higher! What was this?
I had seen that the foundation of my tower was incomplete, to say the least. But I still hoped that it would last just a little bit longer.
The Lord taught, "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my
sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock." (Luke 6:48,49)
If our spiritual foundations are "digged deep" and laid on rock (Jesus Christ), no matter the winds and storms that beat us and no matter how continually we feel that the floods are at our doorstep, we cannot be shaken. If, however, our foundations are built on sediment and tend to be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine," (Ephesians 4:14) we will fall and "great [will be] the fall." (3 Nephi 14:27)
If we are hearing and doing the words that Christ teaches, we are building our foundation on Christ and "when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)
God loves us and has given us the way whereby we can be saved and "not fall." That way is Jesus Christ. He is "the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6) As we learn of Him and seek to emulate His perfect example, we will be building a "sure foundation" and we cannot fall.
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