Be Mormon. Be Happy.

There has been a lot of talk about the Mormons lately...What's the big deal? 

Well, here's a little news update! 

Today, there are over 75,000 missionaries all over the world sharing the same message. There are 141 current Latter-Day Saint Temples and more are being built and dedicated all over the World. In December 2009 there were 28,424 church buildings all over the world....I'm pretty positive that the number has grown since then. If anybody knows the accurate number feel free to comment! 

The church is growing faster than ever, and each year Mormonism receives more and more attention from the media.

Why?

GREAT question.

Maybe to make things more specific is, what makes Mormons different? 
mormon.org is the Church's official site, and explains perfectly what we believe. That site is just too good, there is more than enough resources to learn all about the church of Jesus Christ. 

 So, my parents are converts, so the blessings of the Gospel have been a part of my life since I was born! But that doesn't mean I knew for myself that the Mormon Church was true right away. Here's my experience:

All the years of growing up I was taught the Gospel. Countless times my parents and teachers taught me the story about the Prophet Joseph Smith and how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ restored their church. (not so familiar with the story? click here )
I remember singing "Families can be together Forever" through God's special plan for His children. (what is His Plan exactly? learn more here)
 I grew up reading the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, which gives us a unique testimony of the Savior and perfectly supports the Bible. 

It came to the point when I was in high school where I needed to know if the faith of my parents was true. I thought about the beliefs that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had; I'll honestly admit that I thought some of them seemed a little unusual.

After being in a Seminary class one day, I finally determined to pray and ask God if the Mormon Church was true. I remember I was sitting on my bed, reading the Book of Mormon. I knew what I was going to do, and I was scared. It was the first time I had sincerely prayed with a deep desire to my Heavenly Father, to communicate with Him and ask Him what He thought. I got down on my knees next to my bed, and received the courage to pray and ask if what I had been taught was true.

Without a doubt, I received my Heavenly answer. I remember feeling the Spirit so strongly, it felt like someone was giving me a warm hug. Instantly when I felt that I started to cry. I knew it was all true. I knew that God heard my prayer, and He loved me enough to give me a personal answer.  

Brothers and Sisters, I know that this is the truth! You can have the happiness that comes from the fullness of the Gospel. I have a testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Commandments are given to us so that we can live joyously. When I pondered about my life and the safety and peace that it had, I knew it was all because I chose to be obedient and follow the teachings of the Prophets. Also, I recognized when I chose to not live the Gospel Standards, the peace and safety I felt would leave me. 
Heavenly Father was very literal when He said that His Gospel is a gospel of happiness!

"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 out 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." -Mosiah 2:41

Here is the Good News.

When our Savior came to the Earth, He taught us HIS way. He established His perfect church as well, and taught His Apostles how to maintain it after He would leave them. So we know that after Christ had left, the people persecuted and rejected the Apostles. With their deaths, the Authority that Christ gave them was lost. 

So, our message is that our loving Father in Heaven has once again called another Prophet today, and has given him the Holy Priesthood to run His church. The FULLNESS of the Gospel is now here. 

What does that really mean? Jesus Christ really restored His Church? Could it really be possible? 

YES!
Because you are a child of God, this message specifically applies to you and your family. Your Heavenly Father wants you to be happy, and has given you everything that you need to be successful here in mortality. Living the true Gospel of Jesus Christ will permit you and your family to have Exaltation, or Eternal happiness, in God's Kingdom. 

I know that God is the same as He was from the beginning. He is a God of Miracles. It doesn't surprise me at all that He would reach out to us in love by calling a Prophet to teach us His perfect plan, and make it possible to return back. 

This is REAL life! I hope that you will show God your faith, by contacting the missionaries, going to Christ's original church, and reading the Book of Mormon. Please don't forget to pray! :)

I KNOW that understanding the message to you personally will bless you more than you can imagine. I challenge you to see the peace and happiness that will come into your life by living the Restored Gospel. It is a Gospel of HAPPINESS. You will find more peace, joy, and clarity by coming to know the Savior, by being a part of His church today.



"Regardless of what you do or don’t have in this life, your deepest, most lasting happiness will come from knowing God’s plan and following it."

 

“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven”

I love this definition of forgiveness from www.lds.org: "To forgive is a divine attribute. It is to pardon or excuse someone from blame for an offense or misdeed. The scriptures refer to forgiveness in two ways. The Lord commands us to repent of our sins and seek His forgiveness. He also commands us to forgive those who offend or hurt us."

We are here on the Earth to prepare to return back to Our God. He sent us here, so that we could experience mortal life and gain wisdom through trials. He made it possible for us to return by sending us His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins and shortcomings and to die for us so that we may live. 

Our Heavenly Father wants us to look to The Savior to know how to live correctly in life! When He came to the Earth He 
gave the perfect example, a sinless life, and was strictly 
obedient to the Will of The Father. As children of God we
 should look to Christ and live our lives likewise. Jesus Christ taught us by EXAMPLE and as a result we have the Christlike Attributes to look up to. Neat. It's not so hard to learn how we need to be, thanks to our Perfect Master for showing us the Way. One of those Christlike Attributes was His ability to be perfectly forgiving. 

"For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved. John 3:17"

I love that attribute of the Savior. He is so merciful! Not only does He offer forgiveness for sin, but forgives when betrayed and rejected. I love this scripture in The Book of Mormon that explains just the tiniest fraction of His suffering caused by His people: 

  "He is ^adespised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 Surely he has ^aborne our ^bgriefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 But he was ^awounded for our ^btransgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are ^chealed." -Mosiah 14:3-5

Although He was beaten and nailed to a cross, while he suffered there He prayed to the Father, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

How incredible is that. How can we be so quick to blame when the One who descended beneath it ALL forgave so easily?

 I have come to know that one who holds on to the burden caused by sin or by anger from someone else's wrongdoing, stops their progression spiritually and could potentially destroy their life. Just like how we yearn to be forgiven of our sins and weaknesses so that we can reach peace and happiness in this life and Eternal Life in the next, so must we forgive others. Just how we want to be judged righteously, so must we judge our fellowmen righteously. Just how like the Savior gives Mercy to us all, we must as well show mercy to others. 

A little example that I learned in high-school: A monkey and a peanut. I was sitting in a class called Seminary, where we studied the scriptures and learned the principles of the Gospel. My teacher gave this analogy, and explained how people in Africa trapped monkeys. The Monkeys would hide in the trees and made it near impossible to catch them, so the "hunters" came up with this successful strategy. They would get a box with a peanut inside, and cut a hole just big enough for the monkey to fit his or her hand inside. (If you didn't know, monkeys are very persistent.)
 So, the hunters would leave the box on the ground next to the trees, and leave! While they were gone, a monkey would come by and stick his or her hand in the hole and grab the peanut. But, to their great dismay, once they had their hand in a fist they couldn't pull their hand back out of the box...without letting go of the peanut first.
If the monkey's persistence and pride chose to hold onto that peanut, the hunters would come back and capture the monkey, thus ending it's life. All for one tiny peanut.

Was it really worth it?

So, the moral of the story. When we are stuck in the box of resentment, the only way to free ourselves from the heavy burden on our hands and, even potential death, is to LET IT GO. 

When it comes to forgiving others, how can we start to relax our fists and let the peanut go?

All it takes to start to forgive is to TRUST in the Lord and exercise faith in Him. With God, ALL things are possible.We are all here on missions as children of God, and the Savior is here to be our guide. 

Sometimes we may think things like, "Why did this happen? It's not fair! Why does this have to be so hard? Why isn't it getting better? 


One of my most favorite talks from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came to my mind.


"You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought
 about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am 
convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? …

“… When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions” 

When you are dealing with a load of heartache and sorrow, please, REMEMBER HIM. He understands us. He suffered it all so that we don't have to do it alone. Have faith that He will help us to overcome our trials, just like how HE overcame the World. I know this is possible. I have a testimony of forgiveness, and that through our faith we can be forgiven, as well as forgive others. 

After all, "I, the Lord, will ^aforgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to ^bforgive all men." Doctrine and Covenants 64:10

The First Principle of the Gospel: Faith

"Obedience is the first law of heaven. It is an act of faith. You may sometimes be required to do things you do not completely understand. As you obey, you increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom." -Preach My Gospel

Throughout my life, I have progressively learned  WHY we need to be obedient. Obedience brings blessings. Even from when we were little kids, we were taught to obey our parents. We went to school where obedience was enforced, and obedience of doing your homework brought you desired results in test scores. When we work, we must be obedient to the rules and customs of the business owner. As citizens, we obey the laws of the land.

So, my last blog entry talks more about this obedience, and how we are blessed and prospered when we are obedient. A while ago on facebook I posted this quote:

“Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God. … We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see” 

I have learned this priceless lesson in my life, and it has been enhanced through my full-time missionary service. I can SEE the Eternal perspective when I choose to be obedient to God's will. I have seen others that I love experience a mighty change of heart, because they tasted of the goodness and joy that comes from obeying the commandments of God. No matter how difficult they may seem. 

What makes us choose to be obedient?

I have come to learn that there is a POWER that is the foundation of righteous action. It is the key to obedience, and the first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before we do anything, we must have FAITH. Whenever you work towards a worthy goal, you exercise faith. We have faith that the sun will rise, or faith that if we turn on a switch it will give light to a room.

mormon.org says:

"To have faith is to “hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (see Book of Mormon, Alma 32:21 and Hebrews 11:1). Each day you act upon things you hope for, even before you see the end result. This is similar to faith.

Faith in God is more than a theoretical belief in Him. To have faith in God is to trust Him, to have confidence in Him, and to be willing to act on your belief in Him. It is a principle of action and power.

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma compared faith to a seed. If you plant a seed and nourish it, if it is a good seed it will grow and eventually bear fruit (Alma 32:28-43). It is the same with faith. If you are obedient to God’s commandments, study His word, and have a desire to believe in Christ, faith will grow inside of you."

I love that. Our faith in Jesus Christ leads to action. Sometimes we are required to take a step in the dark before we can see the light. This is the only way we can know spiritual truth, by acting. Not only is faith a power, faith is also a choice. 

One of my many favorite talks is called "Faith- the Choice is Yours" by Richard C. Edgley. He brilliantly stated, 

"Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today’s world, I wish to suggest a single choice—a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."

I know that our faith will increase as we chose to do righteous actions. Prayer, scripture study, and church attendance are great sources to spiritually feed the power of our faith in the Savior. Then the light will come on, and we will See. 

Another quote that I love by Edgley:

"When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast a devil out as they had just witnessed the Savior do, Jesus answered, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove” (Matthew 17:20). I have never witnessed the removal of an actual mountain. But because of faith I have seen a mountain of doubt and despair removed and replaced with hope and optimism. Because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of sin replaced with repentance and forgiveness. And because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude. Yes, I have seen mountains removed."

 I testify that FAITH and OBEDIENCE are the keys to Eternal Salvation. I know I am happier than ever when I am honest with myself and the Lord, and try my best every day to keep my covenants and the commandments. It brings peace to my heart to know that the Lord is pleased with me and I am at peace with Him. I am so grateful for my strong faith in the Savior, and that it has never wavered. I know that He can do miracles in our own lives through our faith. I have learned that it is a BLESSING to be OBEDIENT. And it takes a leap of faith! I promise you, it is worth it. 

"And Christ hath said: ^aIf ye will have ^bfaith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is ^cexpedient in me." -Moroni 7:33

"But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with^apatience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree ^bspringing up unto everlasting life." Alma 32:41