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.

A Little Drawing Lesson

"He looks like a roly-poly!"

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, per se, and said, "You do it." Ah! 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 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! The drawing came together and looked like a beautiful little elephant!
I realized that once there was an image or a vision of the elephant I wanted drawn in my head, my hands could put it on paper. I simply had to have the correct vision.

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." If we don't have at least an idea of what we want to accomplish, we aren't going to get very far. Let's say that a king decides that his kingdom needs going to go to war against another nation. He needs a vision or a cause in order to rally the people together to fight. Then he needs a plan: what is he going to do to accomplish the vision of winning this war? He is then accountable to the people in the kingdom, the people he is counseling with, and God for what he does, how hard and effectively he works, and what is accomplished. Elder M. Russell Ballard said, "I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential." Vision is important!

With my little elephant, I knew what I wanted done. I had a vision: there was going to be a cute little elephant on this little piece of paper. What did I need to do in order to accomplish the vision? I needed to practice. (There were a number of little pieces of paper on the table and in the garbage by the time I was finished.) I was accountable to my companion (who also wanted this elephant drawn)as to whether or not I finished the drawing of the elephant.
It may seem very silly and small but if I hadn't cared and if I hadn't had the desire to see this little elephant drawn, I would never have accomplished it. I was a little shocked when I finished! It actually looked like an elephant and I was able to show myself that I can draw hard things! Without a vision, "the people perish." However, Elder Ballard continued and said, "When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life." With a vision, "...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." (Alma 37:6)

It's As Simple As That!

I was talking to another missionary a few days ago and they asked me if I felt that I was using my talents to share the Gospel and to invite others to come unto Christ. I thought for a moment and then answered, 'no.' I haven't felt that the talents that I know God has blessed me with have been utilized to their full potential as I am serving a mission.
Missionaries and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the week before Easter, were asked to share posts on Facebook using #BecauseofHim.
I decided that I was going to use my talents and have fun with the things that I posted. So, a friend and I decided to sing a song and post it with the theme of #BecauseofHim. The first song that I posted is called "My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee." We had fun putting it together and recording it! It was simple, it was easy and it was a way to share our testimonies of Christ and His sacrifice for each of us.
Throughout the rest of the week I would find hymns and songs from the Children's Songbook and record them to post on Facebook, all the while using #BecauseofHim and writing a brief testimony of what the words of the song meant to me.
As I posted each song, I felt a greater desire to continue to share the Gospel using the talents the Lord has given me. Missionary work is as simple as that!
When we share the Gospel, God gives us a greater portion of His Spirit to be with us and our desire to invite others to come unto Christ is strengthened, we are personally uplifted and we can be sure that the hearts and lives of those around us will be touched.