You Served Where?

Lakeview, Grants Pass, Junction City, Winston, and Newport. Those are all of the towns that I have served in as a missionary here in Oregon. It's funny for me to see the reactions on people's faces when I tell them the areas that I have served in. The comments that I hear a lot are, "Where is that?", "I've never heard of that town", "Wow you served there?" or "Well at least you're in a better place now."

There have been times on my mission where I have agreed with the negative comments that have been made about my areas. Every time that I would get transferred to a new area in Oregon I would hear stories about how terrible the place was. When I went to Lakeview all I heard about the area was how small it was and that it was two hours away from the nearest Walmart. I remember that I was terrified of this small town and scared that I was going to go crazy talking to the same people over and over again. It turns out that in the four and a half months I spent in Lakeview that I always found new people to talk to everyday. I also found the friendliest people on earth and made lots of good friends.

Lakeview

When I left Lakeview to go to Grants Pass, I was nervous and depressed. I had heard stories about how crime rates were high in the town. I heard that I was likely to meet a lot of people, who could use some change in their lives, but wouldn't be willing to make those changes at all. It seemed like I was going to be in for a lot of challenges. I honestly don't think that I have ever been happier in my life than the during the time I spent in Grants Pass. It seemed that everyone I talked to was willing to learn about the Gospel, learning to try something out, and willing to change for the better. I saw lots of people grow closer to the Savior and I felt so good about myself and the work that I was doing for Jesus. 

Grants Pass

After a wonderful seven and a half months in Grants Pass I moved onto Junction City. I found out once again that I was going to another small town in Oregon. Several people told me that there wasn't going to be a single person to talk to and that I would want out of town by the end of six weeks. But once again things turned out to be a lot better than I expected them to be. Even though I could walk from one side of the town to the other in twenty minutes I was able to go out into the countryside and enjoy the beauty of nature, plus on top of that I had an awesome companion and found lots of people to teach. Lots of people who got baptized too. It was a fun couple of transfers.

A Baptism in Junction City.

At the time I transferred from Junction City I learned I was going to yet another small town that was a distance from the closest city. The town I was going to was Winston. When I asked the people in Junction City what they knew about Winston all they could tell me was that it was near Roseburg and that there was an animal safari. The missionaries I talked to said that there wasn't that much potential for the area and that I would want out after six weeks. But with past experience I decided that I would try to make the best of Winston and Winston turned into my favorite area of my whole mission. I met one of my best friends in the whole world in Winston. Enjoyed talking to friendly polite people. And even saw a baptism.

The farmland of Winston

When I left Winston I was sad to go I loved the area and the people so much and I was afraid of my next area. I was headed off to the dreadful coast for a probable couple of months. I didn't want to go to the coast. I wasn't excited for cold winter storms with howling rains. I didn't want to meet lots of tourists, who didn't live anywhere near Newport. And on top of all of that I felt like the ocean was going to be a wall that would stop me from going to the edges of the earth. But once again the area has turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be. I love seeing the coast everyday, listening to the wind come in off the coast, and I get to meet people from all over the United States. I wouldn't have been able to experience any of these things in any of my other areas.

Newport Coast

Despite all of the negative things that I have heard about my areas I have loved every single one of them. Some of them have been more successful than others, but there was always something to enjoy, something to love. Whatever it was that I loved it showed me that the area wasn't bad like people had told me. The same thing is true about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lots of people can say all kinds of  mean and hurtful things about the Church and about the Gospel. But they are emphasizing the negatives instead of the positive. There are so many positives about the Gospel and all it takes to find out about those positives is to go and to find out about them for ourselves. Because people will say all kinds of things, but until we find out for ourselves we will never know if they're telling the truth. So check out the Church and the Gospel and find out for yourself if it's good or bad.

Links to learn more about the Church and the Gospel

Find a local LDS Chapel

Basic Mormon beliefs

Visit with Mormon Missionaries

Order a free Book of Mormon

Traditions

My Dad always likes to say that traditions can be bad. He often points to slavery as an example of a bad tradition. Because of this my whole family has kind of adopted the view that traditions aren't really all that great of a thing. So there are very few things that my family does ritually. The things that my family does are usually more spontaneous than anything and don't tend to continue to be done for very long periods of time.Somehow despite everything my family does to push back against traditions we still have one that we do every year without fail.

It is Christmas Eve day and the whole McConkie family has gathered together to my parents house for a celebration. From about ten o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night the kitchen at the house will be full of activity. My Mom, my Dad, and my sisters busily work on making nutballs, toffee, fudge, and Norwegian cookies. When a batch of these sweets is finished they are placed on plates and wrapped in plastic. My brother and I then hurry out into the streets with the plates of sweets and deliver them to our neighbors.

Once all of the candy is finished and delivered my parents start work on the real reason everyone has come to the house. Lasagna noodles start to be boiled, sausage is cooked, and the french bread is buttered. All of this is in preparation for the Christmas Eve dinner that night. As the lasagna cooks the rarely used dining room table is set with my Dad's Finnish glass dishes. These dishes come out only once a year and are immediately put away after being washed. Everyone in my house can tell that we are going to have a good dinner tonight.

When the lasagna is finished it is placed on the table with many of the other foods that have been bought and purchased for this special night. My brother and I eat tons of lasagna and down lots of Cherry Seven Up. My Dad shares stories while we eat and these stories have us laughing and crying as we hear them. It is pretty easy to see why my family has waited all day long for this dinner. As we finish the meal my brother and I help clean the table and take the dishes to be washed in the kitchen sink.This is the only time of the year that my brother and I don't care too much about performing this chore.

Once the dishes have been cleaned and my Dad has carefully placed them back in the buffet it is time to go and brave the world. My Mom puts on her large winter coat and the rest of us put on our winter jackets and prepare to head out into the cold December night. We walk down the street from our house towards the courthouse. The whole way we toss snowballs at each other and slide on the ice. At the courthouse we look at the lights and make obnoxious comments about the silly Christmas displays that have been setup. This is just the first part of our trip this night. Once we have had enough entertainment at the courthouse we make the walk to the Tabernacle for our last stop of the evening.

At the Tabernacle my family finds the same old Nativity scene that sits on the lawn of the Tabernacle every year. My brother and I fight to see who can push the button in front of the Nativity. Once I finally am able to push the button a Narration echoes from the loudspeakers and begins to tell the story of the birth of Christ. Lights flash first on Mary, Joseph, and the Babe, then onto the shepherds, and finally upon the Wisemen. As we watch the scene it is hard to forget the true meaning for Christmas and why my family has gathered together this night. Once we have listened to the narration several times my family leaves and heads back to the house to go to bed.

It has always been funny to me that my family has kept this tradition because no other traditions have ever really lasted. But every year on Christmas Eve without fail we find time to get together as a family, to share a meal, and to then go see the Christmas lights. This is a tradition that I don't mind because it helps to bring my family together and to help us reflect on why we have Christmas. We have it for our families and to help remind us of our Savior, Who makes it possible for us to have families. I will always be thankful for Christ and His birth because without it I wouldn't have my family.

Grateful for the Blessings of the Gospel

The month of November signals the return of many things. Pumpkin flavored beverages and cookies are seen commonly in this month. Along with the return of very early Christmas music and decorations. Even though all of these things are good reasons to remember November I don't want to spend too much time on any of those things. Instead I want to talk about Thanksgiving Day. Especially the attitude that holiday should foster in all of us. The attitude of gratitude.

Being grateful is something that all of us must do if we wish to truly be happy in this life and receive all of the blessings of the Gospel. During my teenage years I had a bishop who exemplified someone who was grateful and was happy with his life. My bishop was always thankful for everything he had. Yet he didn't have tons of things, he didn't live in a big house and he often made the comment that he had just enough to meet his needs. Yet it seemed like he had everything in the world because he was grateful for the things he had. My bishop was always willing to share what he had with others whether it be his time or the temporal things he had. He did all of this willingly because he knew the things he did have and he knew that they were from God.

That bishop I had in my teenage years is a man that I really look up to and I will always remember him fondly. The gratefulness that he shared with me and others was infectious. Along with that gratitude came a happiness that he shared with many people. Grateful people can truly help brighten the people around them. But the opposite effect can happen when people are ungrateful for the things that they have. I have met many people who seem to have everything nice cars, a wonderful place to live, lots of money and many other worldly possessions. Yet most of them are not satisfied with what they want. They always want what is new and what is better. This ungratefulness brings complaining and a general dissatisfaction with life. This attitude is sadly very easy to spread.

Even if we do not have all the worldly possessions that we want or that we think we need we can still be grateful for what we have. And even if that list is short there are even greater blessings that each one of us receives that we should be grateful to have. We can be thankful for our testimonies, eternal families, and most importantly God's Son Jesus Christ. When we remember these blessings that are always available to us then we can find happiness and see that we have more in those blessings than anything else this world has to offer. We have the love of a Heavenly Father who is willing to give us eternal happiness.

In this month we have a lot to be thankful for. We must let the spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude be something that we carry through this month and the rest of our lives. We must avoid focusing on the things of the world and remember the things of God. In this month also lies Black Friday a day that encourages us to go deeper into debt, to seek after things that are not important, and to be ungrateful. This day is the counterbalance to being thankful.Let us try to focus on what we have and the blessings that our Heavenly Father has promised us instead of those silly unimportant things. Because as we are thankful our love for our Savior will grow and so will our happiness. For in the end we can all be thankful for a loving God.

Online Missionary Work

Even though I have only been a missionary for a little over a year and several months I have seen a lot change in missionary work in that short span. During the first few months of my mission my companion and I would come in every night and spend thirty minutes pouring through the contact information of people willing to meet with the missionaries. When we had filled our day with actives we would then take up to another thirty minutes writing down the contact information of the people we had met with that day. Keeping this information up to date was always important in case new missionaries came in and needed to know who to visit. I can remember having to get really good at writing really small to be able fit in the needed information.

At the beginning of my mission I can remember spending a lot of time talking to people on the street and going from door-to-door looking for people to share the Gospel with. A lot of times it seemed as if our results didn't end in much and it could be very frustrating. I had been told right before I entered the mission field that soon missionaries were going to be able to use Facebook and iPads. I really wanted to use an iPad and a couple of times shared with my first companion that I couldn't wait until it would be announced that missionaries would get these devices. My companion was amused by my wish and told me not to worry too much about getting iPads and that we probably we're going to be using one.

For awhile my companion was right. For six months we went along using our old paper records and our old methods of spreading the Gospel. But at six months into my mission it was announced that we were going to be allowed to use Facebook for proselyting purposes. Then after Facebook was announced the missionaries were all given iPads. The iPads helped to take a lot of stress out of the stressful life a missionary. I can remember how much easier it was to keep records updated on the iPads as we could update it anywhere. We were able to make our bags lighter as we carried our scriptures around on the iPads and could now share videos with people. Most importantly the iPads allowed missionaries to be able to access Facebook so we could share the Gospel to an even wider crowd than before.

At the beginning of my mission we were pretty limited with who we could share the Gospel with. We were left talking to people on the street and on their front porches. Like I've said before it was very frustrating trying to share the Gospel that way. With Facebook we could now share our testimonies of the Gospel with people thousands of miles away. This has helped with missionary work considerably as people who might not answer their doors can now have the Spirit testify to them of the truth of the Gospel in their own homes as they scroll through their newsfeed. It's amazing to see the effect that iPads and Facebook have had on missionary work and it's amazing to think about how many more tools are out there to share the Gospel.

The best part about all of these tools that are coming forth to help spread the Gospel is that they aren't just tools to be used by full-time missionaries. Every person who has access to the internet now has the ability to share the Gospel with their friends around the world. Sharing the Gospel can be as easy as sharing a Mormon Message, a simple testimony of a restored truth, or a scripture. On top of that members can like and share others' statuses, or share their own testimony through blogs. The possibilities for sharing the Gospel are endless with a little bit of creativity and a free Facebook account.

Now people may wonder what good does it really do to share their testimony online or to invite others to learn more about the Gospel? The thing is sharing our testimonies online does more than any of us can imagine. The simple truths of the Gospel are more important to the world that "like my statuses for a truth" or random comments from our days. The simple truths of the Gospel are eternal and when read by those online give those people a chance to feel the Spirit in their own lives. Out of the 300 or more friends that most of us have on Facebook at least one of those people will feel something different from posts made about the Gospel and will want to learn more.

Sharing the Gospel is so much easier than it used to be. The Lord Himself said:

Behold I will hasten my work in its time.

D&C 88:73

Truly that time is now as the Gospel begins to sweep across the world into places that it has never been to before. The work will continue to hasten and to pick up speed and the Lord is giving us a chance to take part and to share the Gospel. Blessings will follow in our lives and we will experience great joy from laboring in the Lord's vineyard.

Remember the Good

I can remember well my first few days in Junction City, Oregon. My companion and I were both new to the area and knew nothing about Junction City. So on or second day the two of us went to find the our local church building. We had been given some basic instructions on how to get to the church and we followed them the best that we could. As we turned onto the road that we had been told to take we found that it dead ended at an elementary school. Frustrated by this building that sat directly in our path my companion tried to see how we could now get to the church that lay somewhere ahead of us.

As our car moved along the street I turned to my left to see a large brick building that I thought could be an LDS meetinghouse. I exclaimed to my companion that we needed to go see if that was the church. Having already passed the street where the building lay my companion tried to flip a U-turn. While doing so our car hit a curb and our front right tire burst. We now had a flat to fix. But the two of us knew how to change a tires, so all would be back to normal quickly. We pulled out all of our equipment only to find that our jack was all out of shape and could not be used to lift the car.

We were in trouble at that point. Looking through the contacts on our phone my companion and I realized that we didn't know anyone that we could call. We also had no idea where any members from the ward lived. The only option that we had was to knock on doors and see if anyone had a jack that we could borrow. I think it was a surprise to most of the people talked to to have two Mormon missionaries knocking on the door to ask for a jack. I also think it was a little bit of a relief for a lot of these people that we weren't there to talk religion.

After knocking on several doors a man lent us a jack that fit under our car. Sadly the jack hadn't been used in years and was pretty badly rusted. it took thirty minutes of hard cranking before the car was lifted off the ground and we could finally get the bolts off of the tire. In the end it had took two hours to change the tire. At that point my companion and I were finally able to go find the church, but it took a lot more time out of our day than we had planned on.

This was just my second day in Junction City and the next eighteen weeks were filled with weird car breakdowns, a battle with heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and much more. Yet during all that time there were some very bright spots. I met plenty of amazing people who have touched my life. Many of those people have become dear friends to me. So when I look back on at my times in Junction City it's not the difficulties I think about, but the small triumphs, like the baptism of a good friend or the time that I spent with my companion. Those are the things I think of because they are the times that helped me the most.

I know from personal experience that in life there are many negative moments. Times where we question our faith and our resolve to move forward. These times suck, but they're a part of life. Luckily these times end and won't always be a part of our lives. And when we look back on the times we have passed through we will be able to see more good than bad. Always remember that Christ passed through all of our trials and much more. Yet when He had finished the work he was called to do He still loved and He still cared. If He can find the good then surely we can too.

BElieve

THEre is

GOOD

A Pioneer Woman

I have a lot of pioneer heritage in my family. Many of my ancestors came across the plains and helped to settle the state of Utah. They made great efforts in helping to pave the way for future generations to receive the Gospel. Today though I would like to talk about a modern-day pioneer my Grandma McConkie.

My Grandma was born eighty years ago in Turku, Finland. Her father was killed in the Winter War when she was very young. So my Grandma grew up with only a mother. Times were sometimes tough for my Grandma's family. There were many times when my Grandma had to go out in the forest and search for mushrooms just so her family could eat.

Yet despite living through a World War, the loss of a father, and economic hardships my Grandma always remained positive no matter what her circumstances. She was quick to share silly stories, to crack a joke, or to use her throat as a bagpipe. She was always so happy. Most of that attitude came from her love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As a fun loving teenager my Grandma met two young Mormon missionaries. After hearing the message of the Restored Gospel my Grandma wanted to be baptized.When my Grandma turned of age she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was the only person in her family who was a member at that time. She was blazing a path that no one in her family had ever been on and at that point she was doing it alone.

Luckily for my Grandma she soon had company on her journey. Not too long after joining the church my Grandma met my Grandpa who was serving as a missionary in Finland and when my Grandpa returned to Utah at the completion of his mission my Grandma followed. It wasn't too much longer that my grandparents were married. Since then they have had three children, nine grandchildren, and three great grandchildren all of whom have been raised with the Gospel.

My Grandma and Grandpa

My Grandma was truly a pioneer. Her example, her courage, and her choice to do what she knew was right has helped to change many lives and has helped her posterity to receive the Gospel. At this time there are at least twenty people who have the Gospel in their lives because of my Grandma's choice. That choice will continue to affect people for many years down the road and help to change the face of the earth.

I am very thankful for my Grandma and the choices she made in her life. Because if it wasn't for her  I wouldn't be out on a mission. Because if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have the fullness of the Gospel in my life. Because if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have even been born. Her small choice made sixty years ago in Finland has affected me in so many ways and I will always be grateful for her. I will always love my Grandma.

I am so thankful for all the pioneers that have affected me in my life. For their choice to live the Gospel even when it was hard, even when it meant losing family members, and even when it meant moving thousands of miles. If it wasn't for them no one would have the Gospel. Remember our pioneer heritage and if you don't have one try to start your one. Our choice to follow the Gospel will bless many lives.

My Grandma

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.

Rules

When it has come to rules I have always been one who has followed the rules, but there have been many times that I have done so grudgingly.In school there were many rules to follow and I often found myself thinking, "Why can't I do that?" or "That's a dumb rule." Despite these thoughts though I still followed the rules because that was what I had been taught to do by my parents.

When I came on my mission I found out that there were a lot of rules for missionaries. Simple things like when to get up, when to go to bed, and what to wear were all things that were decided for me. Plus on top of those things there was a rule book that is 82 pages long and does nothing but tell us what to do as missionaries. I remember looking at this rule book and thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" Plus on top of that there were also tons of other rules that were given to us missionaries by our mission president. I personally thought that having this many rules was just insane.

There have been many days where I have rolled out of bed when the alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m. and I am just not happy. I will often grumble during these times and wish that I wasn't on a mission. Because if I weren't on a mission I could sleep as long as I wanted to.

The longer I've been out though the more my attitude towards the rules has started to change. I realized at one point that I'm was going to have to live by these rules for two years of my life which at the age of twenty is a really long time. I was to going to have to learn to appreciate the rules or else I was in for a very long two years.

So I started looking at the rules and instead of thinking "What are these stopping me from doing? I began to ask "How are these helping me?" As I did this I began to see that the rules weren't there to make my life miserable they were there to help keep me safe. Sure the rules could seem a little extreme at times, but  they always had my safety and my happiness at heart. Once I started looking at the rules in this way it became easier to live them.

God also gives us rules to follow. These rules are called commandments. These commandments include reading our scriptures, praying, loving our neighbor, and loving God. Sometimes these commandments can seem restrictive and hard to follow. Studying the scriptures can be a time consuming process, loving our neighbor can be hard especially when we don't like them. But these commandments are not give to restrict us, but to make us happier.

God loves us and He knows what is best for us. So He provides us with commandments that keep us away from harm and that strengthen us and bring us joy. As Christ said:

If ye love me, keep my commandments

John 14:15

Let us show our love to God by being obedient to His commandments.

Service

The first area I served in on my mission was the tiny town of Lakeview, Oregon. When I arrived in Eugene and was told that I was going to Lakeview the first question I asked was if there was a lake near the town. The answer I found out was no.

The drive to Lakeview from Eugene was a two day affair. My companion and I spent the first night of my mission in Klamath Falls and then went on to Lakeview the next day. My first thoughts when I showed up in Lakeview was that it was super small and that it was super far away from everything.

My companion took no time to stop when we arrived and took me straight to a house where we started to build a playground. For the next few weeks the two of us would go back to this house and work on the playground. We toiled in the hot Sun and drank tons of water. Yet I didn't feel bad about working and I didn't feel bad about being in Lakeview either. It felt so good to work with my hands and to help someone out.

I spent about four moths in Lakeview and the entire time I was there I always tried to help out where I could. I stacked a lot of wood, cut a lot of grass, helped put on siding, and pruned a lot of trees.

Even if someone wasn't interested in hearing the message of the Restoration my companion and I tried to do what we could to help people out. I remember once being asked why were we so willing to help out without any thought of payment. When I was asked this a scripture from the Book of Mormon came to my mind.

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of you fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Mosiah 2:17

This scripture spoke a lot of truth to me. The reason I felt good about serving people was because that was what I needed to be doing to those around me. I needed to serve God by serving others.

And as my mission has gone I have found that the best way to serve people is to share the Restored Gospel with them. To let them know that God does love us and does care about our daily lives. Oftentimes He does that through other people. So I will do my best to serve those around me and share the Gospel with them.

So if there is anyone out there who wants to learn more about the Restored Gospel please message me on Facebook or visit mormon.org. I promise that you will never regret learning more.

The Book of Mormon

The first time I read the Book of Mormon was when I was a sophomore in high school. I had opened the book so many times and had just never gotten past the first couple of chapters in the book. I mean I had heard how important the book was from other people and that it was great, but I just never had the motivation to push through the book and find out why it was so great.

I don't really know what caused me to pickup the book my sophomore year and delve into it. My seminary teacher that year had challenged me to read the entire book, but it hadn't been the first time in my life that a seminary teacher had asked me to read the scriptures. The year before I had been challenged to read the New Testament, but hadn't found the time to do that. But for some reason I decided to do what my teacher asked and read.

So everyday that year I read from the Book of Mormon. And as I read I started to see why the Book of Mormon was so important. The Book of Mormon told the story of a family that was led by God from Jerusalem to the American continent around the year 600 BC. Here this family taught of Christ and prophesied that He would come and redeem mankind.

The highlight of the Book of Mormon comes when Christ Himself comes and visits the ancient inhabitants of the Americas after His Resurrection. As I read about Christ's visit to the Americas I knew that it had to be true. I just felt it as I read.

By the end of the year I had finished the Book of Mormon and was pretty proud of myself. I learned at the end of the Book of Mormon that the people on the American continent who had written the book had destroyed themselves. But fortunately for me and everyone else God preserved their records so that I could learn of His Son and how He had helped those in the past. I came to love the Book of Mormon during that year and it became very important to me.

But there was a blessing that came from reading the Book of Mormon that I didn't recognize for several years afterwards. My sophomore year was a really good year for me. I got good grades in all of my classes, I had an amazing cross-country season, and I just felt happy about everything in my life. My Junior and Senior years of high school weren't that great. I had miserable seasons running, my grades slipped, and I just didn't feel happy or even feel as if God was watching over me.

I could see a difference between my high school years, but I couldn't figure out what had made the difference in them. It wasn't until I left on my mission that I finally realized what had made the change. It was that I had read from the scriptures my sophomore year. My junior and senior years I hadn't taken the time to read from the scriptures and as a result things hadn't gone so smoothly.

Luckily I now know the blessings that come from reading the scriptures and I invite everyone to read from the Book of Mormon and to take the challenge from the ancient Book of Mormon prophet Moroni who says:

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

-Moroni 10:4

And when you do find these things are true keep reading from the Book of Mormon and treasure up the words found there. Never lose them like I did. I promise that you will see a change in your life.

My Dad

One of the most influential people in my life has been my Dad. He held me when I was a baby, taught me how to ride a bike, how to drive, and how to shop for apartments. He has always been there for me and to me he is the source of all truth and knowledge. Whenever I have a question or a concern I ask him to help me solve it.

When I was at home my Dad had never been too far away. If I needed to fix something on my bike or if I just needed life advice my Dad was only a shout or a phone call away. Out here in Oregon though he's several states away and I'm not allowed to call him.

Often times I miss my Dad. Because now when something goes wrong with my thirty year-old yellow bike I can't just call him up and ask him for help on how to fix it. Also when I feel down I can't just call him up and ask for advice.

The only way that I can communicate with my Dad now is via letter and email. It's a pretty slow process to receive an answer. But every letter that he sends me become an instant treasure. I store them away so that whenever I feel down I can read his advice to me. My Dad's advice to me always comes just when I need it. As I read my Dad's letters I can feel the love and concern that he has for me and how he really does care. The letters that he's sent me has helped me to appreciate my relationship with my father more.

Through the letters that my Dad has sent to me I have been able to see that even though we are far away from each other that he still loves me. Because of this I have been able to see how my Heavenly Father must feel about all of us. He like my Dad has sent his children away from home for a short amount of time. During this period of time each of us learns and grows and even though we are unable to see our Heavenly Father He is able to communicate with us and give us advice.

Our Heavenly Father knows that our time here on earth is short no matter how long it may seem to us. Eventually we will be able to go home and Live with Him forever. But for now we can rely on His advice and use this time to become the Men and Women that He knows we can be.

Just like our earthly parents love and care for us so does our Heavenly Father. So remember that whenever things are hard we can turn to Him and ask for advice just like we ask our parents and because He loves us He will answer. He loves each and everyone of us. Look to Him in prayer and you will receive comfort.

Faith With Works

On my mission I've learned to see the importance of work. Before I came to Oregon I had been kind of lazy. I always did my chores at home, but it usually took a lot of prodding from my parents. I just didn't see the point in making my bed, pulling weeds, or mowing the lawn. The weeds and the grass would soon grow again and when I went to bed at night I would quickly mess up my bed sheets. I didn't like to work on things that didn't show results.

When I came out on my mission I was soon involved with a task that I thought was pointless and produced no results. This task was called tracting and involved knocking door after door on a street. I quickly came to not like tracting. Doors were often closed in our faces and people always had excuses to not talk to us.

After several weeks of knocking doors I had not seen anything come from our efforts. No one we had met was willing to let us us come in and teach them about the Restored Gospel. I was little depressed because of this.

Like making my bed or weeding I thought that tracting was a waste of time. I voiced my reservations to my companion, who said we need to have faith and that we needed to just keep going. I took his advice hoping that something would eventually come.

Even after my companion had told me to keep going we still didn't see anything come from our efforts. It wasn't until several weeks later that we were walking down the street that we had a lady pull up alongside us in her car. I immediately recognized that we had knocked on her door a couple of days earlier and that she had told us that she was not interested in listening to us. The woman started talking to us and told us that she now wanted to listen and to learn more.

From that time on my companion and I were able to teach this lady. Our hours and hours of tracting had finally paid off. As I reflected on this experience later I was reminded of a scripture:

Even so faith if it hath no works, is dead, being alone.

James 2:17

As my companion and I had gone out each day and tracted we had faith that we would find someone to teach. It had taken a long time, but because of our persistence we had been blessed. If I had told my companion that I didn't want to tract and that we should just walked around then we wouldn't met the lady in the car and she wouldn't have stopped us on the street.

Even though the tracting had produced little success it eventually brought forth a brief, but great reward. Just like the grass of a lawn would soon grow back there would be many more hours of tracting with little success. But I grew to realize the joy of the work. The work led us to small brief successes that don't last, but are so worth the effort to get to. That's why we mow lawns, weed, make our beds or do anything. It's for the end result.

I came to realize that our Heavenly Father wants us to work. Like my parents He knows that work is important. When we work it lets us appreciate the things that He has given us. Because of He gave us everything then we would take His gifts for granted.

God makes us work so our faith means something. If we believe then it should inspire us to do something. So if we have a problems we need helps with let us put our faith in God. Let us get down and pray and then go do something to solve the problem. As we act God will help us and miracles will occur.

May we look for these miracles as we continue to work and seek for answers.

What is the Atonement?

Atonement Definition: Because of Him we can change and live again.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a peculiar vocabulary. Phrases like "Choose the right", "Return Missionary", and "Oh my heck!" pepper our language and set us apart as a people.

To members of the church this terminology seems commonplace. We often forget that those not of our faith often have no idea what we mean when we talk of Priesthood Quorum and Relief Society. As cool as Relief Society and Priesthood Quorums are there is one word often used by Latter-Day Saints that stands above the rest and that is the word Atonement. This word has deep meaning and shows just how much God loves us.

The word Atonement was something that I had heard growing up and truly didn't understand until I reached the mission field. I had always skipped over the meaning of the word because I wasn't very good at paying attention in Seminary and Primary.

When I arrived in Oregon my first missionary companion was always talking about the Atonement and how it was the most important event in history and how everyone needed it. Hearing my companion's sincere love of the Atonement made me want to learn more. The reason being I wanted to know why it was so important and figure out how it could be important in my life.

One day as my companion and I were preparing for a lesson I looked at my companion and asked, "What is the Atonement?" He looked at me, a surprised look on his face. The surprise wasn't because he hadn't heard this question before, but because it was coming from me, a teenage boy who had been a member of the Church all of his life. He asked me if I was serious? I nodded yes.

My companion then turned in the scriptures to Alma chapter 7. He told me to look at verses eleven through thirteen, which said:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and affliction and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

As I read these verses I began to understand how vitally important the Atonement could be in my life. I had always heard that Christ had died for us and that He rose again, but as I pondered the scriptures I had just read I began to see what He had done for us.

I began to see why Christ had suffered every pain, affliction, and temptation that I had ever been through and why He had borne my sicknesses. It made it possible for Him to know what I was feeling when I was down or when I just didn't feel like moving on. This gave comfort to me to know that there was someone who knew how I felt. That I wasn't alone in my sufferings.

The scripture also explained that Christ had also broken the bands of death. Meaning that because He died and rose again that I and all people could live again. That death was a temporary thing. This brought great comfort to me because a week before my Grandmother had passed away. Being on my mission I was unable to attend her funeral. But because of Christ I knew I would be able to see her again and my time spent away from her wouldn't last.

But the most important thing I learned from these scriptures was that He could blot out my sins. Because of Him I didn't have to let the things I had done in the past define who I am and who I can become. I wasn't trapped by old habits and that I could always grow and continue to get better.

Ever since that day I came to see what the Atonement is and how it has helped me to grow and to become a better person. Through prayer and constant repenting I have been able to see myself change and become a better person. I'm still me, I'm just a better me.

The Atonement is the greatest thing to ever happen and is the message that missionaries teach people about. We teach the simple message that Because of Him we can be made perfect and that we never have to give up hope. We can always overcome.

May we follow the example of Paul who taught that because of Christ's Atonement:

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Phillipians 4:13

Let us all be strengthened through Christ.

The Thirteenth Article of Faith

When I started my service as a missionary I found out just how important my example could be. The way I acted around people could affect their view of Latter-Day Saints for years. This was a concept that I really hadn't thought about before my mission. Before coming to Oregon I had never thought that anyone's opinion of the Church could be changed based on my behavior. I quickly realized that things in Oregon were a little bit different than they were in Utah.

In Utah I had been surrounded by Latter-Day Saints and no matter what I did or said people's view there couldn't be changed that easily. But in Oregon I found that there were many people in Oregon who had never heard of the Church and only knew the Latter-Day Saints as Mormons. These people were ready to make their decisions based on how I and my companion acted around them. It was a daunting task to show through our example what we believed.

At this time I was given some advice from my father who told me to remember the Church's Articles of Faith. Specifically the Thirteenth Article of Faith. As I read the Thirteenth Article of Faith I found the pattern that I needed to follow to show how Latter-Day Saints acted.

As member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
-The Thirteenth Article of Faith

This is the way that we as Latter-Day Saints believe in acting and in treating those around us. As a missionary I've done my best and see many Church members to their best to follow the admonition of Paul and be true followers of Christ. Because as member of His Church we have all promised him that we "are willing to mourn with those that mourn" and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort".

It can be a tough promise to keep sometimes, but it's always worth keeping. I have seen the blessings in my life and in my mission as I've helped those around me and always hoped for the best things in this life. I know that as we all do our best to follow the Admonition of Paul and remember the promise that we make at baptism that we will be blessed. May we all continue to endure all things.

The First Week in the Mission.

The first week of my mission was tough for me. I remember feeling overwhelmed everyday as I went and tried to talk to people on the street and in their homes about the Restored Gospel. I knew that the message of the Restoration blesses everyone, but I was scared of messing up. I spent a lot of time praying for courage and to know what to say to people. But when I talked to people I found that I was still afraid and had a tendency to speak too fast, call myself the wrong name, and switch my words around. I felt unworthy and kept wishing for help. That help though came in a different form than I had prayed for. I realized as I tried to talk to people that even though I fumbled with my words people were listening and had a desire to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not because of me though, but because the Holy Ghost was testifying to people of the truth of the Restoration. Because I was about the Lord's work I was helped by His Spirit. He had answered my prayer not by giving me courage or the ability to speak well, but to know that everything would be okay as long as I tried my best. I came to realize that all the Lord asks of us is to do our best and to come unto Him through faith in Him, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end. When we strive to do this we can find comfort and healing. May we all come unto Christ is my sincere prayer. Amen.