Asking god

So recently I had the oppertunity to sit down with a less active member of the local congregation where i'm serving in. The local branch if you will. Well as we were talking about to the prophet Joseph smith, this member told us that she didn't know that the prophet Joseph Smith was a prophet. Ok, so the first thing i'm tempted to do is to use my great command of the bible and all the scripture to prove her wrong! Me and another missionary were on splits that night, so I was with a different Elder and his partner was with my teaching partner. Then we were also doing missionary night, a night when the members go off with the missionaries to help teach the gospel to our investigators and less active members! Well, this other elder and I kind of started by explaining the need for prophets and why it was important that we need prophets! She still wasn't sure of the need, she said "I don't think there's a need for prophets as its the last days". We kind of told her that since it is the last days, there's a need now more then ever for them! Then after explaining to her the need, and using the scriptures a little bit to help us out, we then testified of the need for prophets. Which was very important, but I think the most important thing said all night was "You need to pray about it for yourself". In the grand and eternal scheme of things does it really matter what the missionaries oppinions are, or what the other persons oppinions are? No, the great being whos oppinion really matters is Gods. Heavenly Father is the one who will direct you to his truth. As it says in James 1:5 "5 If any of you lack bwisdom, let him ask of God, that cgiveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him". God wants us to ask him in all things, to get his answer, he loves talking with us, and just wants us to ask him, the all knowing being what is truth. Not to mention, the words liberally mean that he'll give to you freely, holding nothing back, and Upbraideth means to scold or find fault with! I mean, if he's going to give you freely, and not scold you, then you might so venture. To quote the prophet Joseph, just before his miraculous experience in the grove! What i've spent half my mission learning, is that, it doesn't matter what my oppionion is, its gods oppinion that matters! When you have doubts in what the missionaries say ask god! Do you want to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Gods true church restored on the earth again? Ask god! He's the most important person in all this. Too often I think is Gods oppinion ignored in matters of such importance. This is eternal Life in the balance, ask God, come to him with your questions. When you do ask god remember what it says in the book of Galatians 5:20-22 " 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, btemperance: against such there is no law." When recieving revelation, you will more then not encounter these feelings, it is gods answer that it is true! As he will only sheds fourth his spirit upon the righteous, and the true! He will do it for you! He's done it for me, I bear my witness that as I have prayed to know this church is true, as it is essential for my work as a missionary and so therefore I have prayed and recieved my answer.

Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration

Some people may ask themselves when first learning from the missionaries, or maybe from just what they've heared on the streets; "Just who is this Joseph Smith, and what does he have to do with any of this" well In the book of Amos 3:7 it states simply "Sure the lord god will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servant's the prophets" Joseph Smith a boy of no consequence upon the world, took the direction of James 1:5 which states "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" This simple direction given by James is most important to all humble seekers of the truth. Then in verse 6 James offers how one must pray to recieve an answer it says "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed". One must have true faith to ask when asking God the Eternal Father, which is precicely what Joseph smith did. In an excerp from Joseph Smiths Journal it says. In short, Joseph Smith, was called and directed as the Prophet who would restore all things of Christs church to the way they were when christ was on the earth. He was to recieve holy scriptrue, a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. "The stick of Ephraim" as noted in the book of Ezekiel 37:15-17 The two scriptures, have grown together to confound false doctirnes, a companion to the bible, the Book of Mormon puts in plainness the doctirines of Christ as found in the Bible, and helps us view our God with renewed vigor and love! As its translator and God's choosen servant, we love Joseph Smith, but we thank our God every day for the atoneing sacrafice of Jesus Christ, that enables us to return to our Father in heavens presence. Joseph Smith, was just the choosen instrument in which Gods word could be restablished in more simplicity upon the earth, a second witness, or in other words; "A second Nations witness" for Christ, and his doctirines. Helping all people believe in the bible, and its words, and tell them what they must do to be happy in this life, and gain eternal life in the world to come!

Creativity

As we all know every human being in the world has the desire to create something; its just in our nature to do! In a talk given by Dieter F. Uchdorf second councilor in the first presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints he speaks of Man kind' need to create. He tells of the very love that God has for us in creating us, and how we were fashioned by an endlessly powerful, and creative God! Recently i've been learning much the same lesson from my own life. I've been writting a book series with a rather good friend and brother of mine for the last couple of Years! Just as President Uchdorf says in his talk, "We all have desires to create something that wasn't there before". I have pondered this notion for quite a while, as I sat writting the books with my dear friend. I thought about the meassure of the success of a writter and how they spin their art. Tied up in the plot twists, the character changes, the enviorment, indeed the very world; there is an amazing thing tied up in every word written by an author. That is their very creative nature, their very soul is locked in every word! As I was writting my own book, I realized just what I had put into my book, and just what had been placed in every other book. The creative process take the form of 4 steps. 1:With in the confines of the author's mind, a story, or a dream forms in the writters mind, thoughts, idea, characters are formed. 2:The author or beggins to organize, and shape his thoughts so that they are in a more believable form. 3:They begin to place their thoughts down on a piece of paper, crafting the enviorment, and the characters very carefully, so as to give the reader the illusion that they could at any point set the book down, get up, and actually meet these characters in real life. When they're done reading, they will feel as if they have said goodbye to a long time friend, that is most dear to them. 4:Then finally, he edits the story, taking care of any plot holes, grammar problems, or spelling errors. In short, the writter, as in my case, makes a world that has never been seen, characters that never have been in exsistence. Just as I, and many authors before me have done, all have a desire to create something. Its in our nature, it is because we were created by a glorious being, who loves each and everyone of us. I invite everyone everywhere to go and create something today, and to thank that God who gave you life, for that life; because he's out there, and he loves you.

The Book of Mormon (A book with a promise)

"The book of mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the bible, it is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the americas and contains, as does the bible the fulness of the everlasting gospel. (The introduction page to the book of mormon.) The book of Mormon is a passage of holy scripture, much like the Bible, it was written by prophets from many different points of the history of ancient americas. It was written by the spirit of revelation, and prophecy. The same spirit which wrote the Bible. "Concerning the book the prophet Joseph smith said: 'I told the bretheren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on the earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, then by any other book'." All who read this amazing book will come to find out for themselves it is true. But praying to know that the book, and the work it has started is true. This little book from its very last pages to the last are an invitation to come unto christ. In the introduction page already quoted, its says "we invite all men everwhere 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 it the book is true. Those who persue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost Ghost. Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power 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 Jeus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second comming of the messiah". The book invites people to come unto christ, by finding out if its true. Missonaries everywhere are doing the same. I may not be good at writting blogs, or doing much of anything in the communication department; but I know with all my heart that this book is true. Because I've asked God the Eternal Father in the Name of Christ if its true. I did as paul directs in galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." I listened to my feelings, and when I recieved such feelings to my heart, I knew the book was true! I still know it to this day. Pray to God "Dear heavenly Father" is how I start mine out", as it is him that i'm adressing, and I know he loves me, and I love him. He's my father in heaven. "I usually speak the feelings of my heart" and then Close "In the name of Jesus christ, amen" because we do all things through christ, the "Author and finisher" of our faith.

Let your light so shine

So a few days ago I learned the value of not hidding your talents under a bushel. It was interesting to me, because I was in the midst of writting a song on the piano, when the door opened to the room I was in. I thought it was my teaching partner, when it turned out to be the bishop of our ward. He asked me if I was hidding my talents under a bushel. I told him no, that I've just never had a chance to play this music for anyone. He then asked me, how I learned to play that song. I told him that its not a song that currently exists in the world. That i'd been writting it. He told me that it sounded pretty good, and his wife agreed. I thought it was funny that they should find out my talents like that. But then as I put some real thought into it, I realized. Just as Dieter F. Uchdorf said "We are all children of a glorious being, children of the most high god". It is my testimony, that we as children of God true have gifts and talents that we should all share, as we have been given these things by a heavenly father who loves us, cares about us, and knows us each individually, by name. We deserve to be succesfull, happy, and talented, everyone does. Its the greatest feeling to know that we have such a being who looks out for us. As it says in Moses 1:39 "For behold this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass, the immortality and eternal life of man". God glories when we are happy, and when we are doing what we should. Having talents is just part of living happy, and healthy. As christ said in *(matthew 5:16 & 3 nephi 12:16) "16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We should all let our "Light so shine" as it is part of the wonderful gifts that our heavenly father has given us.

The Book of mormon & How it relates to the bible.

Often times, on my mission, I find people asking me questions about the Book of Mormon. According to the introduction page of the Book of Mormon, "The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel". Its job, along with the bible is to testify of christ. Not to replace the bible, but to add the witness of another nation to christ. Just recently I had a chance to sit down with one of our investigators. On this particular day, we had been having some trouble teaching the doctirines. So we felt a different approach was in order. We were teaching her about the Plan of Salvation, but we thought rather then using the Book of Mormon only, we thought we would use the Bible as our main source of imformation, and then use the Book of Mormon to back it up. As we taught her the doctirines of the Plan of salvation, we showed her how the bible says everything we share as missionaries. Then showed her how the Book of Mormon supported everything we were teaching her from the bible, infact it clarified several of the points that didn't seem to be too clear. It was great watching the Light bulb come on, and seeing her eyes light up as she started grasping the concepts we were teaching her. We then were able to actually transition the lesson back to a previous lesson she had already been taught, but hadn't fully understood. The restoration of Christ' true church. It made a whole lot of sense to her. After we left the meeting, she said "I learned more from this meeting then from anyother meeting". It really made me feel good to know that we had made a difference in her life. The book of mormon, is a passage of holy scripture, it does not say anything more or less then what the bible says, it only restates what the bible says in a different way. Clarifying and exhorting people with all diligence to come unto christ. Its clarifying power comes from the Holy Ghost, who testifies of, witnessess to, and teaches of its truth and divinity. The spirit eminates from every page, because it is america's witness for christ. It is another nations witness of Christ, the bible is the the witness of the ancient inhabitants of palistine. The testimony of these two nations will bring you closer to christ then ever before. Teaching you his true doctirines. It is the love of god that inspired it, not desiring his kids to walk along in darkness, but to walk along in the light, God gave a second witness to his words. A clarifying witness, which gives you convincing evidence of the words found in the bible. I testify with all my heart that the book of Mormon can change your life today, that it can teach you more simply and clearly the doctirines set forth by the bible. That as a second witness of christ, it is the witness that everyone in the christian world needs. As it validates the bibles statement that "By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" as it is a second nations witness of christ. It also gives valdility to the vision shown to Ezekiel when he says in 37:15-17 "15 ¶The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one astick, and bwrite upon it, For cJudah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and dwrite upon it, For eJoseph, the fstick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become aone in thine hand". Its the stick of Ephraim, as the people refrenced in the Book of Mormon, are expressly from the tribes of Manasah and eprhaim, of the 10 tribes of israel. As a decendant of these people, I give you my unique witness that the book of Mormon is true, and that it can change your life as it has mine.

The hill cummorah pageant.

So I recently got to see the Hill cummorah pageant! Oh my gosh it is so amazing. It lays out rather clearly the doctirnes that are set fourth by the book of Mormon, which happen to be laid out also by the bible. What I found interesting is how many anti's where there protesting pageant. As I was pondering this, this very morning, my thoughts went to acts 5:35-39 where a doctor named Gamileil of the pharasies said this about John and Peter when they were erained before the council of the high priest. "Ye men of israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before thesze days rose up theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joned themselves: who was slain; and all as many as obeyed him, were scatered, and brought to nought. After this man rose up judas of galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men; it will come to nought: but if it be of god, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against god." The wicked need no opposition, because they will eventuall disperse on their own. But as Jesus Christ said, "The world fights against true religion" Those who fight against the righteous fight against god! That testifies to me that this church is true, for it has so much opposition, yet it falters not. As it is the true church of god. For all those who have never been to the Hill cummorah Pageant. I highly recommend it. Its a wonderful out door production, and the spirit will testify to your hearts of the truth and divinity of the book of mormon, and what Pageant stands for.