Eternal Marriage

                  One Restored truth we learn from The Restoration of The Gospel is that marriage between man and a woman is ordained of God and it lasts past this life and goes on into the eternities. This union between man and woman for eternity is made possible throuh the preisthood power which can bind us. Jeus Christ gave his apostles this power (Matthew 18:18). However after centuries this true doctrine of Eternal marriage was lost. The Bible is full of the true Doctrine of Eternal Marriage and Eternal Families  (Mark 10:9,             1 Corinthians 11:11, Genesis 2:24). It has been clarified even more through the Restoration of the Gospel. Families can be together forever. The power to bind on earth has been restored again. All of these blessings are to be had within the walls of the Holy Temple. It's not till death do you part! Watch the clip below of these happy eternal couples.

Weight Lifting!

               When we want to increase our physical strength we lift weights so we can become ripped! I try to do this every morning from 6:30 to 7:00 and you can see how it has benefited me by the picture to the right. It takes a lot of work, but eventually we can reach the desired result we have been longing for. We become stronger and not to mention better looking. It's really quite simple, lift weights and get strong. Then we can lift and bear very heavy weights.
              So is there some way that we can become strengthened in our resolve to resist the temptations of the adversary? How can we prepare to be stronger spiritually when a heavy temptation is placed upon our backs? Our Heavenly Father has given us something we can do that is like spiritual weight lifting. This is called fasting! Now you might say "how can starving yourself increase my desire to not do bad things." You might even think when you are hungry it gets you in a bad mood and more vulnerable to temptation.
           But when we fast what we are doing is abstaining from our natural desire to eat and drink. We are avoiding doing something that we really want to do. We are giving our will to our Heavenly Father and making a sacrifice. Most of the sins that we commit from day to day are natural desires that can be difficult for us to obey. Unlike food, we have been told to try and avoid these things all of the time. Things like alcohol, pornography, and pride. To our natural and  fallen state and also in the world today, these things may seem acceptable and even desirable. They can at times be difficult to resist. But we must put our trust in God and try to resist them. Our ability to resist temptation can be strengthened as we fast. We show that we have complete control over our choices and have our free will. Our Heavenly Father can bless us us with added with spiritual strength. We demonstrate complete control over our natural desires and our carnal nature. This is like weight lifting for when those other strong temptations come, that can help us maintain our free will and not fall captive to the traps of the Devil. So if you don't feel like you have control over yourself, fast! Your body can have bad desires and be your enemy at times so show it who's boss!

Repentance, we all must do it!

               So we always hear that nobody is perfect. That is because each of us people living on earth in our fallen state are going to make mistakes. We sin and that sin separates us from our Heavenly Father ( Romans 3:23). However because Jesus Christ suffered for our sins there is a way possible for us to be cleansed from them. This way is often referred to as The Gospel of Jesus Christ. One essential element for this is repentance( Doctrine and Covenants 19:15-19).
                  How do we repent? Well the first step to repentance is to recognize that what we are doing is a violation of our Heavenly Father's commandments. We must realize we are sinning. We must feel sincere sorrow for our sins and want to change. This realization will lead us to stop breaking the commandment or law of our Heavenly Father and strive to never break it again. We have to confess our sins to our Heavenly Father and ask for his mercy and forgiveness. Also if our sin harmed another person we should ask him or her for forgiveness. We have to try and correct the harm that our sin or transgression may have caused. Then we have to continually strive to keep the commandments. As we keep them throughout our lives we will see they are not restrictions to our freedom, but actually increase our freedom and help us to change our hearts and make us better people. Last we have to continually remember in our lives continually Jesus Christ who makes this all possible. Then when we are Baptized we are able to take full of advantage of repentance and be Baptized for the remission of sins and then receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. If we are already baptized we take the Sacrament each week to renew our Baptismal Covenants and try to get better each week. This is a life long process that purifies us from our sin and prepares us to enter back into the presence of our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. A young man Enos from The Book of Mormon understood these things. Read his story and see how it can bless your life.
(The Book of Enos)