You are a child of God

         You may have wondered once or twice before in life what in the world am I doing here and what is the purpose of this life. How can I find peace in this life? Who am I, seriously? Perhaps you have wondered have wondered if there is something else out there. Maybe you are searching for something and you don't know what it is yet. You may have given up and don't believe there are answers anymore.

          I promise you that all of those questions can be answered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. We lived as his spirit children before we came to this life and he sent us here to earth to be tested. He has not abandoned us or left us here by ourselves. He does hear your prayers and answers them. I know from experience that our Heavenly Father does our prayers. He cares about you and knows what you are going through whatever it may be. He desires all of us to come back home to live with him again. He has sent prophets to earth from the beginning  of time to teach us how to be able to return to live with him. Most importantly he sent his son Jesus Christ to come and make it possible for us to come home.

             Heavenly Father has created this plan because he wants us to all be happy and to experience the same joy he has. He really is there! I promise you that if you take the slightest gamble to learn about Him and His Son Jesus Christ you will come to find out for yourself that these things are true and there is a God who loves you. He wants you to live with Him forever and your family forever. We don't try as missionaries to convince people of these things, but I know that each person on this earth can find out for themselves that these things are true.

Press Forward

          Today I wanted to blog about one of the central parts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is enduring to the end. In the Book of Mormon the Prophet Nephi put it like this.
 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen. (2 Nephi 31:19-21).

             So the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are so we can become cleansed of our sins through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to achieve Eternal life. They are Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism by Immersion for the remission of sins, and receiving the Gift of The Holy Ghost. The first two are principles and the latter two are Ordinances that must be performed by one who holds the Priesthood Authority of God that was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. Entering into the Covenant of Baptism is the strait and narrow path that Nephi describes in verse 19. After we have done this however we must continue to do the right things and try to live as Christ lived by obedience to his commandments.

              Paul puts it this way "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" So after we are baptized and receive the Gift of The Holy Ghost this doesn't mean we can throw in our retirement towel. We are only recipients of Heavenly Father's promise of Eternal life if we hold up to our end of the bargain, that is obeying his commandments and always remembering Jesus Christ our Savior who made it all possible. Christ himself said, as recorded by Matthew "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."(Matthew 10:22). We must recognize that we are saved entirely by our Savior Jesus Christ. However we only accept Jesus Christ as we show our Faith through our accepting his invitation "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15).

The Rock of Revelation

         When Jesus was on the earth he taught his Apostles that it would be through Revelation that his Church would be built upon. He explained, as Peter received Revelation that Jesus was the Son of God, that if his church was organized on this principle of receiving Revelation from God that no power the adversary could muster would be able to stop it (Matthew 16:13-18). This is how the Church of Jesus Christ was ran and it is the way that it has always been ran.
            In ancient days God through Revelation spoke to his chosen servants the prophets. In Amos 3:7 the Bible teaches,  "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the Prophets." Today just as in times of past The Church of Jesus Christ is ran through revelation. The President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Thomas S. Monson, is a living prophet who receives revelation for the Church as a whole. Other members of the Church are also entitled to Revelaton for themselves and for their family. Also members of the Church of Jesus Christ are called to callings in which they serve. There are leadership callings in the Church such as a Bishop. A Bishop presides over a congregation of members living within an area. The Bishop through much prayer, fasting and pondering is able to receive Revelation for the congregation he presides over and give members in the area he serves certain calling to assist him in the work. Each Bishop is selected through Revelation that is given to a Stake President, who presides over several congregations or what is known as a stake. This continues to Area Authorities and General Authorities up the ladder in this same process to The Quorum of the twelve apostles and the President of The Church, who is a Prophet.
               It is through Revelation that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints operates today. There is no voting on who should receive a calling and no-one that goes to school to become a minister. The church is guided by divine authority. None of the ministry in The Church of Jesus Christ is paid. It is set up in the same way that it has been set up in previous dispensations and is ran through Revelation.

The Power of God on Earth!

         In Old Testament times God gave his special Priesthood authority to prophets like Moses and Abraham. This authority is the power of God and is given to man to act in his name. This is the power through which Moses split the Red Sea. This sacred power of God is conferred, or given, to another, who is worthy to officiate in the ordinances of Salvation such as Baptism and the Sacrament. Anciently Jesus Christ gave this authority to his Apostles. Unfortunately, as in times past people rejected his Apostles and many were killed. The Priesthood authority of God was taken from the earth. This period of time where the Priesthood was not present on earth is known as the great Apostasy.

          However after centuries of being in darkness God restored the Priesthood authority to the earth through a living Prophet as he had done in times past. Truths that had been lost over time were brought back to earth through divine communication between God and his Prophets. The Priesthood was restored by the laying on of hands to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in May of 1829 by heavenly messengers. Joseph Smith History: 66-75. Peter, James, and John who had been given the Priesthood authority by Jesus Christ himself appeared and restored the Melchizedek Priesthood to the earth. It has been conferred on righteous men and still exists on earth today within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that these things are true, and so can everyone through prayerfully reading the Book of Mormon, God answer your prayers and you can know that his true Church has been restored again on earth with all of the authority as was had in the past. The video below may help explain more.

The teacher of all truth

          In the Holy Bible as Jesus Christ was preparing to leave his mortal existance he told his disciples that he would send  a messenger named the holy ghost, or the spirit (John 14:26). Later his apostles were able to give this Gift of the Holy Ghost to other's by the laying on of hands (Acts 19 :5-6). When one receives this ordinance in this manner by one who holds the priesthood authority given to him from God they will be able to recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift can act as an aid and great help throughout one's life. It can comfort you and teach you truth.
            If you have a question about something and ask God with real intent and a sincere heart, he will manifest the truth to you through the Holy Ghost. We can recieve the knowledge directly from God, which eliminates having to make your decisions based on the opinions of men. Members of the church throughout the world enjoy this Gift of the Holy Ghost and it is available to all. Everyone can feel the ifluence of the Holy Ghost and receive answers. However; when one recieves the Gift of The Holy Ghost they can have the spirit as a constant companion. The video beneath illustrates how the Holy Ghost can speak to us and help us in our everyday lives.

Liken the scriptures!

               Members of the church of Jesus Christ and those who are learning about the church hear repeatedly, that reading the scriptures is important. I heard this all throughout my life growing up and I often wondered why reading the scriptures is so important since I continually found myself either falling asleep or just day dreaming and reading words. I never got a whole lot out of my scripture study in my younger days and to be honest it didn't usually last too long before I would get bored and lose all the motivation I had twenty minutes prior. Now as a missionary, years later I am constantly reading the scriptures. I spend two hours every morning studying them and use them throughout the day as I teach others. So, you may assume that I have finally discovered something that has been able to make my scripture study beneficial to me.

               There is a scripture in the book of First Nephi in the Book of Mormon that says something along the lines of how we need to "liken" or apply the scriptures to our own lives (1 Nephi 19:23). We are to use the examples of people in the past who faced trials and questions and try to follow that example. The scriptures can give us hope. They show us that somebody has faced trials similar to ours, except generally much harder than ours, and they have been able to prevail over their problems.  They can help us develop our Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement. The scriptures can help understand who we are and what our purpose here in this life is. We can be enlightened by their words and also be taught by the holy ghost as we ponder on thosee things we read. We are taught in the scriptures how to find out if God is really there.  In the Bible Jesus teaches "  ¶^aAsk, and it shall be ^bgiven you; ^cseek, and ye shall find; ^dknock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that ^aseeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask ^abread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, ^abeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" It is so simple but also so true. God does answer prayers and will help us know what to do. The scriptures can bless your life as much as they have blessed mine as you apply them and search them daily.

A New Year......A New Beginning!

            Every year comes to an end, and it is usually filled with all sorts of different things. All of us surely do good things throughout the year for others and for ourselves. Contrary to the many things we all do good throughout the year, we also probably made a mistake or two or over a thousand in my case. We tend to get  caught up in these things and maybe worry a little bit too much about the past and the mistakes we have made. The new year comes every single year without fail and it gives us an opportunity to put those things behind us and reach for new goals and a higher quality of life. We all can make goals and resolutions on how we can improve and not let our past become our future but how we can make changes for the better.

              The great thing too, is that we don't have to wait for the New Year to change, but we can continually work to improve and keep going when we fall short throughout the year. We can leave our past behind us and begin new and better. Nothing in the past matters if you have truly repented of your sins and are living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also appropriate that New Year's falls on Sunday this year, and we can all take the Sacrament at church and renew our Baptismal Covenants. Let this Sunday coming up be a time where you can ponder the past year and set meaningful goals to improve and never look behind you. The story of Lot's wife helps us understand why we should not look back to the way we used to be.     Genesis 19:20-26.   Let us all go forward this year not clinging to our past mistakes and weaknesses but changing for the better and being better servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.