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.

Give of Yourself

               In the Book of Moromon during King Benjamin's address to his people he says ,And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17) . Christmas season is a time of giving and being grateful for the greatest gift that any of us could ever receive. That is Heavenly Father sending his only begotten son Jesus Christ into the world to perform the Atonement. We could never give such a perfect gift to anyone in our lives yet there is still much that we can do. We need to give of ourselves by surrendering our will to Gods. We need to help those struggling around us in whatever way we can, whether it be spiritual, physical, emotional, or in any other way. When we realize that everyone is our family and we are all children of God it makes this so much easier. We really do have so much to offer to others, and if we are looking to make ourselves happy, I can promise that real happiness comes through giving selflessly.

Magnify Your Calling!

               All those who are members of the church have most likely received a calling in the church to help in some way. If they have not, then they still have a responsibility to live a good life because of the Covenants they made at Baptism, to take Christ's name upon themselves. Some of these callings and duties can seem overwhelming at times and maybe we just don't quite meet the potential that we could really reach to. President Gordon B. Hinckely said in a conference talk in 1989, "Every missionary has the responsibility to magnify his calling in teaching the plan of God. Every teacher has the responsibility to magnify his calling in teaching the word of God. Every officer has the responsibility to magnify his calling in teaching the order of God."

Said the Lord in this dispensation to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, “Magnify thine office.” (D&C 24:3.)

Further, “Attend to thy calling and thou shalt have wherewith to magnify thine office.” (D&C 24:9.).

                  Magnifying our calling means going that extra mile when we think we have done enough. It means honoring our Covenants and standing firm in our faith in Jesus Christ. We make sure that our duties are number one on our list of priorities, and see to it that we help others as we go along. This is magnifying our callings. Tom Cruise in the video beneath explains how he does it. :) Let us all go forward and magnify our callings!

Giving Thanks!

          Each of us have things in our life that we should be thankful for. I can easily list many things right off the top of my head. I have so many things to be grateful for that I could probably easily fill up this whole page. All of these things have been given to me from my Heavenly Father. My shoes, sweaters, successes, failures, family, friends, and my life. These things are all great and amazing gifts and I am glad I could come here to earth to enjoy them. I don't think it is a coincidence that after TThanksgiving is Christmas, a separate holiday celebrating what we should be most grateful for, the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming into this world to save us all. Take some time this Thanksgiving and Christmas season to thank God for all of the blessings that he has given you in this life.

Brief explanation of The Book of Mormon

          The first link below is to Joseph Smith's history which clearly explains how the Book of Mormon came about. The second link on the page is the Introduction to The Book of Mormon which includes the testimony of the three and eight witnesses of the Golden plates. The super sweet awesome video link below helps clarify whatever you may have missed from the readings. You can be a pro on how the Book of Mormon came about and what it is! You will then be perfectly ready to read it! Yay!

Joseph Smith - History

Introduction

Super Sweet Awesome Video!!!                                                                     

True happiness comes from Obedience

              Alot of people think that if you obey the rules it will not be any fun. They think if you obey the rules your life will be boring and you will have a sad sad life. Afterall you wouldn't get to have any fun they might say. There was once a story told by David O. McKay about a horse named Dandy that didn't like the rules and regulations and thought it would be better to be free.  

“Under the saddle he was as willing, responsive, and cooperative as a horse could be. …

“But Dandy resented restraint. He was ill-contented when tied and would nibble at the tie-rope until he was free. He would not run away, he just wanted to be free. Thinking other horses felt the same, he would proceed to untie their ropes. …

“… His curiosity and desire to explore the neighborhood led him and me into trouble. Once on the highway he was hit by an automobile. …

“Recovering from that, and still impelled with a feeling of wanderlust, he inspected the fence throughout the entire boundary. He even found the gates wired. …

“One day, however, somebody left the gate unwired. Detecting this, Dandy unlatched it and took another horse … with him, and together they … went to an old house used for storage. Dandy’s curiosity prompted him to push open the door. … There was a sack of grain. What a find! Yes, and what a tragedy. The grain was bait for rodents! In a few minutes Dandy and the other horse were in spasmodic pain, and shortly afterwards both were dead.”

“Under the saddle he was as willing, responsive, and cooperative as a horse could be. …

“But Dandy resented restraint. He was ill-contented when tied and would nibble at the tie-rope until he was free. He would not run away, he just wanted to be free. Thinking other horses felt the same, he would proceed to untie their ropes. …

“… His curiosity and desire to explore the neighborhood led him and me into trouble. Once on the highway he was hit by an automobile. …

“Recovering from that, and still impelled with a feeling of wanderlust, he inspected the fence throughout the entire boundary. He even found the gates wired. …

“One day, however, somebody left the gate unwired. Detecting this, Dandy unlatched it and took another horse … with him, and together they … went to an old house used for storage. Dandy’s curiosity prompted him to push open the door. … There was a sack of grain. What a find! Yes, and what a tragedy. The grain was bait for rodents! In a few minutes Dandy and the other horse were in spasmodic pain, and shortly afterwards both were dead.”   

         

                The moral of the story is that Heavenly Father has established guidlines and commandments for us to safely return to live with him again and only through obedience and the grace of Jesus Christ can we do so. Let us each strive to be more Obedient so that we can experience true happiness as we return to live in the prescense of our Heavenly Father. Not just partial Obedience but exact Obedience. Watch the video below to see what I mean!!

Family Proclamation!

        The Gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to strengthen people and their family relationships. It can help fractured relationships become strong and unbreakable. Familes relationships can last past death. This knowledge is one of the reasons that helps members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints around the world have such strong family relationships. In 1995 the leaders of the Church this Proclamation about families! Read it! It's great!    The Family: A Proclamation to The World.