Light Entered In

Throughout our lives - and especially on our missions - we learn to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes that voice is a ray of sunshine that illuminates the path we are to take. Occasionally it will be persistent but most of the time it is a quiet whispering, a peaceful and gentle feeling, an impression on our mind and in our heart.

Just the other day, my companion and I were crossing a little street in Virginia. I was pondering and praying about where the Lord needed us to go for the last half hour of our evening. We had planned on visiting a couple of people but somehow that didn't feel right. The name of a woman in our ward came into my mind. I brushed it away because we had visited her home the night before and a couple of nights before that. Both times, no one had answered the door.
Her name continued to float its way into my mind. Finally I voiced my thoughts to my companion and after some discussion we decided that this was, indeed, the word of the Lord coming to me. We drove for several minutes and finally stopped in front of her home.

I prayed desperately that something would happen so that this wouldn't end up being a complete waste of our time and so that I would know if this had been an actual prompting of the Spirit.

We knocked and the door opened! The Lord had heard my prayer. He had also shown me that miracles would happen IF I was willing to act on any and all promptings that I might receive no matter how crazy or outlandish they seemed to be.

In General Conference, October 2007, Elder Richard G. Scott said, "The best way of finding truth is simply to go to the origin of all truth and ask or respond to inspiration." ("Truth: The Foundation of Correct Decisions")

Simply put: get on your knees and pray and then get onto your feet and act.

Faith is a principle of action and power. On page 641 of the Bible Dictionary, it states, "Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action..." That means that, like James said, "...faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17) If we are not acting on the belief that we have, we will begin to lose it.

I prayed for help to exercise faith. I was scared and didn't know if I was doing the right thing when we knocked on that sister's door. Yet as we act, just like the sun after a storm, light enters in and helps us to recognize that the Lord will never lead us astray. In fact, His Spirit will only direct
us in paths of truth and righteousness as we act on the faith that we already have.

My Personal Discipleship - Never Look Back

"...our personal descipleship will not be judged by friends or foes. Rather...at that day the important question for each of us will be, 'What thinks Christ of me?'" (Elder Neil L. Andersen, "What Thinks Christ of Me?" Ensign, May 2012)

CALLED TO SERVE
Over a year ago I received a large white envelope in the mail. The return address was Salt Lake City. When I opened it I read the words, "“Dear Sister Herring: You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Washington DC South Mission.”
I had never been back East. I didn't know what to expect except the heat and humidity. Yet the moment I read those words, "Washington DC South Mission," I knew that was where the Lord needed me to be. There were people whom I would have the privilege of teaching and serving and helping. There would be plenty of lessons for me to learn. There were going to be so many opportunities for me to strengthen my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to become more fully converted and help others do the same. This was going to be the time of my life!

I went to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Utah and from there to Northern Virginia. I met my companion and we drove for about an hour to get to my first area.
Within the span of the first 24 hours, I was already wondering if I was going to make it to 18 months. I was scared to talk to anyone, I didn't know what to say or what scriptures to share and I was afraid that everyone hated me. I felt ridiculous at times.
As I kept meeting people and learning more about the teachings of Jesus Christ, my confidence grew and I continued to become more and more happy as I saw others come closer to Christ as they felt the Holy Spirit.

THE FIRST GREAT ADVENTURE
Six weeks after coming to Virginia, my companion and I were in the middle of our nightly prayers. The phone began its shrill ringing that always made me want to throw it when it woke me up in the morning. I was the closest to the phone and so I flopped onto the floor next to where it was charging. "Hello, this is Sister Herring and Sister Bell!"
"Sister Herring! Are you ready to train [a new missionary]?"
My companion leaped over to where I was lying on the floor and I numbly handed it to her. I put my head in my arms and cried.
That week I went to our meeting where we get new companions and are transferred to different areas around the mission. I waited anxiously, praying that the Lord would help me because I had no idea what I was doing.
When I saw my mission president driving up with the new missionaries my panic began to increase. President walked up my trainer and I and said, "Sister Herring, how are you feeling?" I couldn't say anything. I was close to tears. I finally choked out the word "Terrified." President looked at me and said, "Sister Herring, when you walk in those doors you can't show your fear. Those new missionaries are going to look at you as an example and you can't show that you are afraid. Walk in, put on a smile. The Lord will help you."

So I did.
I've never regretted it.

Proportional Elephants

My companion and I were trying to draw an elephant on a sticky note. We had a couple of images of elephants that we were trying to use as something to go off of but it wasn't working very well. I'm no artist. We were struggling to get the proportions right so that it would actually look like a presentable little elephant.

Finally my companion threw in the towel and said, "You do it." Aaah! So I thought for a couple of minutes about elephants. I looked at the three images that we had and went back to the drawing board. There was nothing wrong with the elephant that we had but I wanted this little drawing to look more like an actual elephant instead of a caricature. Some things needed to be changed.
I took the penciled image that we already had and began drawing a new elephant on top of it. Suddenly I had an epiphany! Inspiration! The drawing came together and looked like a beautiful little elephant!

Now, I don't know how to draw elephants. What helped this little elephant to change was the fact that I was suddenly asking , "How can I make this elephant look correct?" instead of saying, "This elephant looks awful!" Instead of saying, "I know something needs to be changed," I asked, "What looks weird about the elephant and what would make it look normal and more proportional?"

Oftentimes, we recognize that something about our life needs to change. We need to be more patient, more loving, more gentle, more Christlike in general, yet we are not quite sure how to go about it. We want to make our lives more in accordance with the standards the Lord has set. Yet we are making statements. We say, "I need to be more -," rather than asking the Lord how we can fix the problems and situations that we are facing. We try all the normal things: pray for patience, ask for suggestions from family members and friends, read and study the scriptures. There are things that are often overlooked and questions that are often not asked, however, that can help us to become the person that God needs us to be.
God needs us to be specific in our prayers and our desires. If we desire and even expect direct and specific answers, we must be willing to ask specific questions.
When I told my mom over and over again that I was bored during a car ride, she didn't have many answers or solutions to give me. However, when I changed my statement to the question, "What can I do until we get there?" she was much more inclined to give me varied and specific answers. Questions lead to answers.

Our Heavenly Father is much the same way.

When we seek His guidance and direction, we need to ask Him specific questions and He will then give us specific answers and help. As we seek His help in overcoming weaknesses and fears, we can ask what He needs us to do in order to strengthen our weaknesses. We can ask Him to do things to help us. We can ask Him to help us feel peace and comfort in order to know something is true or in order to know that He loves us. When we ask Him clear and direct questions, He can then bless us with answers and guidance and personal revelation and inspiration through the Holy Spirit.
Ask Him for help. He loves each of us more than anyone else loves us and because of that, He is willing to do more than anyone else to help us.

"Frogger"

My companion plays a game called "Frogger". Whenever we walk across a bridge that spans a highway, she stops immediately at the edge of the road below (usually making me run into her because I'm not paying attention). The point of the game is to make it across the bridge without being "hit" by the cars that are speeding along below. As soon as she spies a gap in the cars she darts across the bridge, only stopping if she is about to be "run over." When the way is again clear, she's off! Points are gained only by getting all the way across the bridge without being "hit" by a car.
The first time I saw her play this game, a couple of thoughts crossed my mind. The first was, "What in the world is she doing?" As I thought about it, a scripture in Mosiah 3 came to mind. Verse 19 says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, for ever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Throughout our lives we are asked to run, figuratively speaking. Sometimes we are asked to run across a bridge. There are many things we have to avoid; we have many obstacles that stand in the way of our ultimate goal of returning to live in God's presence eternally. Our sins and mistakes and the "natural man" as the prophet Benjamin says, are some of these obstacles.
God wants us to return to His presence, however. He wants us to find peace in this life through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to have eternal joy in the next life. The Articles of Faith 1:3 says, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
An ordinance is a sacred act like baptism that outwardly shows our inner commitment to our Heavenly Father and to obeying the commandments He has given to us.
As we are obedient to the commandments and as we seek the help and guidance of our loving Heavenly Father in crossing "the bridge of life" we will be more happy and more at peace than if we were trying to do everything on our own.
In The Book of Mormon in Mosiah 2, a king named Benjamin teaches the people about keeping the commandments. He says, "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold our faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."
If we will seek to avoid the sins and temptations of the world, (the cars speeding below the bridge), and if we will hold fast to the truth and commandments that God has seen fit to give to us, if we "become...as a child," we will be brought to heaven. We will come to understand the love that our Heavenly Father has for us and we will gain greater and greater desire to know Him more fully and to understand the sacrifice of His Son. We will find more peace and happiness by obedience to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, than in any other way.

Swedish Fish and Self-Mastery

I ate some Swedish fish.
In fact, I ate a lot of them. They're just SO GOOD!
Unfortunately, that means that the entire bag that I purchased on Monday was gone on Thursday.
Self-mastery, anyone??

Self-mastery is a term I have heard a lot lately. As I began to study self-mastery and self-control, I came across synonymous terms like temperance, moderation, modesty. Then as I studied those, I came across more terms: abstain, cease, refrain, chastity, bridle, the Word of Wisdom, sanctity, virtue.
Everything simply kept coming back to the fact that, without self-mastery we cannot have the Spirit to be with us. However, as we keep our lives within the standards set by the Lord we are promised that the Spirit will be with us continually.
That is an amazing promise!
I know that I want to be eligible to receive all of the blessings that my loving Heavenly Father has in store for me.
Step 1: don't buy any more Swedish fish.

How can you have more self-mastery?

Eternal Truths, Unchanging Words

An eternal truth is something that is true at all times, no matter what. God is eternal. He is unchanging and we can trust that everything that He speaks is truth. God has spoken to His children throughout the scriptures and, because He is unchanging and eternal, He continues to speak to His children even in this day and age.
The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is convincing evidence that God continues to speak to His children today because He loves us just as He loved those in the past centuries. 2 Corinthians 13:1 says, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." The Book of Mormon is the second witness that is promised to God's children - a second witness of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of Christ's divinity as the Son of God. This book of scripture teaches Christ's doctrine and gospel as taught to the people in Jerusalem. The difference is that it is a different people: those in the Americas starting in 600 BC (the time of the prophet Jeremiah in the Bible). God loves all of His children. He is no respecter of persons and He "[remembers] one nation like unto another." (2 Nephi 29:8)
The coming forth of the Book of Mormon to us today was prophesied in both the Book of Mormon and in the Bible.
The Book of Mormon says, "And because my words shall hiss forth - many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.

...
Know ye not that there are more nations than one...and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?...
Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today and forever
(2 Nephi 29:3, 7-9)
Isaiah prophesied, "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder....And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek shall also increase their joy in the Lord...They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine." (Isaiah 29: 14, 18, 19, 24)
The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is the "marvelous work and wonder" that Isaiah prophesied about.
An older woman invited the missionaries in to visit with her. They talked with her, gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read and left. After a couple of weeks, Elder Carpenter was strongly impressed that they should go back and knock on her door again to follow-up with her. She again invited them in and, when they asked her if she had read the Book of Mormon she indicated that she had. She had finished it. Soon thereafter she was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. After her baptism the elders continued to visit her. One day they asked her to read something that she had received in the mail. This elderly woman said she would like one of the elders to read it to her. He declined and said, "This is for you. You need to read it."
"Elder, you don't understand, do you?"
Surprised, Elder Carpenter asked what he hadn't understood.
"I can't see to read. I haven't read the words of a book for over fifteen years."
He stopped her and reminded her that she had read the Book of Mormon. Her response stopped him.
"I knew it was true because I could see to read. God granted me that sight so that I could read the book but when it was finished, He took that ability away from me again. Elder, will you please read to me?"
"...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness." (Isaiah 29:18)
"We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity...[and] will also come to know by the [power of the Holy Ghost] that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah." (Introduction to the Book of Mormon)

For the World

A few days ago we got a flash flood warning through a text. It was pretty obvious that the rain was torrential but we were unsure of just how torrential it was until we got the text. We had been watching it rain for a number of hours as we studied and ate wondering if it was going to let up or if it was going to be a soggy-shoe-day. (It was a soggy-shoe-day if you were wondering.)
I was thinking about it and trying to find some way that I could relate that situation to the Gospel. I thought for quite awhile and then the idea flitted through my head: prophets.
How in the world do prophets relate to flash flood warnings?
Just like the flash flood warning that we received told us what would happen in the future and how to prepare for it, prophets are men called of God to teach us about the past, the present, and the future. They help us to see what things we need to do in order to be ready for the threats and dangers of the world both physically and spiritually.
We, as children of God are entitled to receive personal revelation. We can see the world and many of the troubles in the world. We can see ways to keep ourselves out of trouble. We can see some simple ways to stay out of the rain. God, through personal revelation, helps us to see other more effective ways to keep ourselves safe from the floods of the world.
Prophets, are entitled and authorized to receive revelation for the whole world. They can see not only the immediate "weather patterns" that each of us have in view but they can also see the future problems and dilemmas that we may face. Prophets help us to see more fully the threats and worries of our day. They teach us exactly what we need to do in order to be safe and to keep our families safe.

In Proverbs 29:18 it says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The footnote on the word 'vision' says, "Revelation; Vision." Where there is no revelation the people perish spiritually. When there is not a prophet to guide the people in the way of the Lord, the people leave the truth and seek after their own ways.
Throughout the Bible we see that when the prophet is cast out or is killed the people begin to fall even further into sin and spiritual disarray. Prophets are a protection that God has given to us. They help us to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him..." (Moroni 10:32)
Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, until He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Prophets are God's way of speaking to the world as a whole. Having a prophet on the earth in no way undermines the wonderous blessing of being able to receive words from God for ourselves and for our families and those under our stewardships or responsibility. In fact, it strengthens the revelation that we receive from God for ourselves. When the prophet teaches something we are expected to go to the Lord and ask Him if these things are 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. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:4,5)

God expects us to use the knowledge that we currently have in order to help our families. He also expects us to use the tools that He has given us, like prophets, in order to know the things that we need to do in order to return to His presence.
God has always spoken through prophets to His people for,"[He] is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (2 Nephi 29:9) The Prophet Joseph Smith said, "Seeing that the Lord has never given the world to understand by anything heretofore revealed that He had ceased forever to speak to His creatures when sought unto in a proper manner, why should it be thought a thing incredible that He should be pleased to speak again in these last days for their salvation?" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Chapter 10: Prayer and Personal Revelation)
God loves us. He wants the very best for us and by giving us prophets, God shows evidence of that love. He shows love for us individually by giving us personal revelation. He shows His love to the world by giving us prophets and granting them revelation for the world.