Friday, October 17, 2014

Do We Really Want to Know?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and everyone can have the opportunity to learn and grow and change because of the sacrifice that Christ made for us.
That is reality that I have come to know and understand for myself. Everyone can come to know these things for themselves! All they have to do is read, pray, and ponder. Something that can take 5 minutes every day.

Now, let's crunch some numbers here:
In one week, all we would need (at the bare minimum) is 35 minutes.
In one month, a little bit more than that: 140-175 minutes or 2.3-2.9 hours.
In one year - 52 weeks: 1820 minutes or 30.3 hours.
Out of 8736 hours, over 4368 of which are waking hours, we can't give 1/288th of our time to find out if God is real? If The Book of Mormon is true? If God really does speak to men today?

Now, if God is there then this is the most important thing that we could ever find out. No other endeavor is more essential for our well-being than that of coming to personally know our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

"[I am] inviting you to hear the restored truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ so you can study, ponder, pray, and come to know for yourself if the things we are sharing with you are true.
Some of you may respond, “But I already believe in Jesus and follow His teachings,” or “I am not sure if God really exists.” [My] invitations to you are not an attempt to diminish your religious tradition or life experience. Bring all that you know is true, good, and praiseworthy—and test [the] message. Just as Jesus beckoned two of His disciples to “come and see” (John 1:39), so [I] urge you to come and see if the restored gospel of Jesus Christ enlarges and enriches that which you already believe to be true...
"Absolute truth exists in a world that increasingly disdains and dismisses absolutes. In a future day, “every knee [shall] bow” and “every tongue [shall] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11). Jesus the Christ absolutely is the Only Begotten Son of the Eternal Father. As members of His Church, we witness He lives and His Church has been restored in its fulness in these latter days." ("Come and See," Elder David A. Bednar, October 2014 General Conference)

I know that Christ lives. He will come again and I am determined to be one who can look on Him and say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith..." (2 Timothy 4:7) Then He will look on me and say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:23)
Those things which we will have been called to be faithful over may be small and simple but if we are faithful, the blessings and rewards will be beyond mortal comprehension.
Let us come and see! Let us work so that we may know for ourselves the peace that is to be gained by a consistent study and pondering of the scriptures.
Do we really want to know?

Thursday, October 2, 2014

To Hear the Words of God

Once again we were asked to update our iPads. (They keep asking me to do things that I have to ask for help on. I guess that's how we grow.) As I was updating my iPad, it said, "Preparing update...This release contains improvements and bug fixes. Learn more."
This struck me! I am so excited!

The October General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is coming up on the 4th and 5th - Saturday and Sunday!
General Conference  - the time of year when the modern-day prophet and the apostles speak to us and teach us the things that God needs us to know and then apply into our lives.
General Conference! That glorious time of the year when we get a spiritual FEAST for two whole days!

What a wonderful blessing and opportunity this 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." Well, luckily, 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. The more we apply, the more knowledge and understanding and capacity to learn and grow the Lord will give to us.

Someone in my ward recently said, "Only in the Church is 10 hours of meetings considered a break."
That is so true, my friends.
"10 hours of meetings? You all must be crazy!" is probably what many people think when they hear of General Conference.
It's true that it's 10 hours. However, I know from personal experience that those 10 hours of meetings are the spiritual renewal I need to continue on for the next 6 months. The Lord truly is speaking to us through the words of the living prophet who is president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and also through the Apostles, General Authorities, and General Auxiliaries that speak to us.

General Conference is the update! We need to prepare to receive it. Come with questions and concerns. Pray and ponder and fast so that you can receive the answers that the Lord has prepared to give to you. Prepare to receive revelation! "Preparing update!"
This General Conference will teach us how to improve and 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 release contains improvements and bug fixes!"
SO, watch General Conference! Look it up! "Learn more!"
Follow this link for the opportunity of a lifetime: to hear the words of a living prophet of God; to hear the words of God.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/?lang=eng