Far Reaching Effects

When I was preparing to leave on my mission I had many people who told me that there were going to be a lot of changes in my life. Obviously I could see a couple of them such as I would have to wait a few extra years before I could start my career and I would have friends who would be moving on with their lives while I was out. Plus I heard things about gaining a better testimony of the Gospel and that I would probably gain some weight while I was out. So far each one of those things have come true. Some of them have been happy things to hear about such as the fact that I've gained a few pounds. But some of things have been sad too. It's a little sad not to be home to watch my friends grow up. But all of the things that I'm sad about have been outweighed by the positives from my mission. Because while I have been out many more positive things have happened because of my mission.

One of the things that has happened while I've been out is to see how much the Gospel can bless people in their lives. Growing up I had heard plenty of stories from my Dad telling me about his mission. He had some good experiences and I knew that his mission had changed him for the better. But on his mission he didn't ever have the chance to really share the Gospel with people. Most of the people he ever talked with weren't interested in the Gospel. So the entire time he was out he didn't get much of a chance to teach people.

I can remember coming out on my mission and thinking that I wasn't probably ever going to be able to share the Gospel with someone. I figured I would probably spend two years trying to declare what I knew and that I would just hear people say, "Not interested." Now this isn't the typical thinking of new missionaries. Most new missionaries are ready to conquer the world and aren't jaded by the cynicism that I had already. But when I got out I found that people actually were willing to listen the Gospel and that as they listened they began to change. Many of the people I worked with I could see them grow happier as they started to live the ordinances and principles of the Gospel. In many of them I saw a physical change in their countenances as they found the peace and happiness that they had been looking for.

I was pretty happy to see the changes that were happening in people's lives and was glad that I was able to be present to see these changes take place. As I saw these experiences I wanted to share them with my family back at home. Every week I was able to write my family and let them know how I was doing and about the amazing people I was meeting. My Dad loved hearing the stories especially since he was finally starting to see the fruits of his own missionary labors in his son's mission. Fruits that he probably wondered if they would ever be harvested.

But the greatest effect that my mission has had on my life is how it has helped my brother. My brother had heard all my Dad's stories and didn't think that a mission sounded as exciting as some people made it out to be. Now my brother has always wanted t go, but there has always been doubts about serving a mission just like there have always been with me. As I've served though my brother has heard my stories and the things that are happening with me. Because of that he wants to serve a mission. Unlike me he now has little concern about putting his life on two years to serve the Lord.

Now I know that there are many more blessings that will come from my mission that will affect me my friends and my family. I know that my missionary service will affect my future marriage, the kids that I will have, and will be the base of my testimony for many years to come. So I'm excited to continue serving and hope that I can continue to be a good example.

Now the reason that I share all of this isn't to brag about the things I've done, but to illustrate how our small decisions can affect the lives of others. I never knew what serving a mission would do for my life and none of us can imagine what our choices will do to affect our children and our neighbors. For it is "...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6). Our small decisions have consequences that can help bring about the purposes of the Lord or hinder them. Making good decisions will bless our lives and the lives of everyone else for the better.

Me and my younger brother as kids.

The Power of the Scriptures

Growing up one of my favorite hymns to sing in Primary was "Scripture Power". I can remember singing the song and every time the words "Scripture Power" were sung I would thrust my scripture case into the air. I loved the song as a child and I still love it as a young adult. If given the chance to sing "Scripture Power" again I would find myself still thrusting my scriptures into the air. But this song also teaches a very powerful lesson about how we can receive strength as we read our scriptures.

As I have admitted before I haven't always been the best at reading my scriptures. Often times I would read a verse or two from the Book of Mormon or from the Bible and just find myself wanting to quit. They didn't seem that exciting and they were also super long and written in a form of English I didn't understand too well.

But as I have gotten older I have come to see the importance of the scriptures more and more in my life. I have always had a deep love of history esp
ecially the history of warfare. I can remember my mom urging me to read the scriptures because they told the history of ancient people and their battles. I can remember that this intrigued me and for a time I sought out the passages where warfare took place. But the more I read into these chapters the more interested I became in learning more from the other chapters. I began reading the stories of prophets who boldly testified of the coming of Jesus Christ and taught how we could come unto Him.

As I read more about these prophets I began to see that their central message was to testify of Jesus Christ and that he was going to come to the world and redeem mankind. I learned this as I read about the prophets like Moses, Elijah, Alma, and Mosiah. Every single one of them testified of Christ and His coming. These prophets also were inspired to write these things down so we would know about Christ and all that He does for us. These writing are what make up the Bible and the Book of Mormon and they both act as witnesses of Christ.

The more I read the writings of these prophets the more I learned. From Alma, an ancient prophet in the Americas, I learned that Christ would come and suffer for the sins of man. So none of us would have to die or pay the full price for our sins. From Christ Himself I was able to learn that God loves all of His children and so He sent His Son to earth so we could live again. All of these are amazing messages that I would have no idea about if they hadn't been written down.

Since that time when I started reading from the scriptures I have learned many important lessons in my life and received peace that could only come from God. I truly have received power from the Scriptures. Power that has helped to enrich my life and make me happy and I know that this happiness can be found by anyone who takes the time just to open the scriptures.

Read from the scriptures. Learn about Christ's mortal ministry in the Bible and how He came to redeem mankind. Read the Book of Mormon and learn how Christ visited the people in the Americas and how they knew He was the Christ. Many lessons will be learned, your life will be blessed, and you will receive "Scripture Power". I can promise that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Change of Perspective

Before my mission the word repentance had always had a negative connotation. When I thought of repentance I was clueless on what it actually meant. My understanding was that as we repented we were forgiven of our sins. But it also seemed to me that I needed to turn myself in whenever I did something bad. It just didn't seem like a pleasant experience to me. Repentance seemed like such an evil word.

But repentance it turns out is not a terrible word that means we are evil. Instead it means a change of heart and forming a fresh view of God. Repentance doesn't mean that we see ourselves as terrible human beings, but that we start to see that we can do much better than we are doing. We see that we are children of a Heavenly Father and that as children of a Heavenly Father we can change. That change comes through repentance.

When I realized that repentance helped me to grow closer to my Heavenly Father that made me a lot happier. But still I was kind of lost because I didn't know how to repent. The main reason being that no one had ever explained to me how to repent other than that I should say I was sorry to God.

But to repent is more than that. To repent we have to acknowledge that we have sinned. We can't pretend that we feel bad or say that we have sinned when we believe that we were in the right. We need to know that we have done is not in line with God's will. For example the Zoramites in the Book of Mormon had forgotten to pray to God always. They had to come to the realization that prayer was a commandment. When we are able to see the wrongs of our ways then we are able to move forward sincerely in the repentance process.

Along with acknowledging we have to be sorry for what we've done. God knows if we are truly sorry and there is no way to fool Him. So we must be sorry and let Him know in humble prayer that we have sinned and that we are asking for His forgiveness. When we can do this then He will provide us with the peace and comfort that we desire.

Now the first part of repentance was the part that scared me. It seemed hard to do and it meant to me that I had been caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing. So I always thought it was better just to mask or to hide those things that I had done wrong. But it's not the right way to do things because repentance doesn't mean that we just pay restitution it also gives us a way to change and become better.

Reading the story of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah helped me to change my view on repentance. Alma and his friends, the Sons of Mosiah, had been evil men. Together they had tried to lead others away from Christ. Yet they were called to repentance and because of this were able to change their ways. They were able to become great men and true leaders.

As we repent we begin to change our old ways. If we aren't praying we being to pray. If we aren't going to church we start going to church. We fix the problem. We become better people and we start to live up to our potential. We in the end become the person our Father wants us to be.

The road of repentance can seem long and difficult, but the end result is worth it. Let us travel this road and become who we can be. Let us exercise our faith in God and have Him help us to repent of our old ways. I can promise that He will provide a way for us to do that and that He and His Son Jesus Christ will never fail us.

Record Keeping

"There shall be a record kept among you..."

Doctrine and Covenants 21:1

Since I was six years old I have always had a journal. That journal unfortunately has mostly remained empty with only a few entries that I have made throughout the years. In fact my whole year at college before my mission has one entry that I made several weeks into the school year.

Writing in my journal has always been something that I wanted to do, but I have never made a huge priority. So when I left on my mission I made a goal to write in my journal every single day that I was out. So far since June 19, 2013 I have not yet missed a day of writing.

Keeping this daily journal for the last thirteen months has been a real blessing in my life. As the Book of Mormon prophet Alma said, "[These records] have enlarged the memory..." (Alma 37:8) As I go back and look at the events that are recorded in my journal I am able to remember events with greater clarity. I have been able to see the growth in my testimony from the first day of my mission until now. I can see how the hopelessness I felt at the beginning of my mission has now turned into a strong faith in Jesus Christ. If it wasn't for a journal I wouldn't be able to see all the small steps that led to this testimony.

I am thankful for how my journal has helped bless me, but the reason I keep a journal is not just for me. I keep a record so my posterity can be blessed. I want my children to be able to see how I have been blessed in my life. I want them to see how my testimony has grown as I have also grown. I want them to read my journal and learn that there is a God and that He does love His children.

I hope that my journals can help my children out in a similar way to how the scriptures have helped me. Because if not for the written records of the prophets in the Book of Mormon and the Bible there would be much I would be lacking in my testimony. The records of the prophets have "convince [me] of the error of [my] ways, and brought [me] to the knowledge of [my] God unto the salvation of [my] soul." (Alma 37:8).

Now I know that my journal will never take the place of the scriptures. I know that if my children are to gain a testimony of God that they will need to do it from their own experiences and as they read from the scriptures. But I hope that my record will help people to avoid the mistakes that I have made and to go looking for answers themselves. I really hope that my journal can encourage others to go to the scriptures and to read from them.

Let us all keep records as the Lord has commanded us to. So we may be an influence to the generations yet to come. So they may see that God blesses men now and will continue to bless men. As we do this we will be able to see blessings in our lives and be able to strengthen our own testimony that God truly does bless us in the details of our lives.

Remember Mom!

With the approach of Mother's Day I've spent a lot of time thinking about how important my mom is to me. She is one of the greatest gifts that my Heavenly Father has given me She is a greater gift than my quick mind or my athleticism. The reason being that my mom saw the gifts that I was given and helped me to cultivate them. She saw that I was smart and helped me to realize that. She saw that I was a runner and so she took me running. She wanted me to be the best person that I could be.

But the most important thing that my mom helped me to learn was the Gospel. From an early age my mother told me about my loving Heavenly Father. She taught me that even though I was very far away from Him I could still talk to Him in prayer.

My mom also taught me that because my Heavenly Father loved me so much He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth so I could live again. My mom also taught me about how I could follow Jesus by making the right choices. She taught me that I could be great as long as I made the right choices.

My mother taught me a lot and continues to teach me. She does all of this because she loves me and she wants what is best for me. Oftentimes I take my mom for granted though and forget everything she has done for me and how she has helped shape and mold who I am. I'm sorry for forgetting her and not appreciatin

g her as much as I should, but I'll keep trying to pay her back for everything she does for me.

And even though I will never be able to pay my mother back I am luck that I do have eternity to keep trying. Because another thing that my mother taught me is that I can live with her and the rest of my family for forever. This is all possible because of the Restoration of the Gospel in these Latter-Days. The same authority that was given to Peter to bind on earth and in heaven has been restored to the earth through a modern day prophet.

I know that because my family has been sealed in the Temple by the priesthood authority that we will be able to live together for eternity. I do not doubt that my family is forever for the same reason the Stripling Warrior did not fear death because "Our mothers knew it." 

Remember everything that our mothers have done for us and all that they teach us. They are a precious gift from our Heavenly Father and show how much He love us. Remember Mom!