A Mission Blesses

Two years ago an announcement was made by the Lord's Prophet and Apostles here on earth. That announcement was that young men could leave on missions at the age of eighteen and young women at the age of nineteen. Previously a boy had to be nineteen and a girl had to be twenty-one. This was a huge change and has since let over eighty-thousand young Latter-Day Saints leave their homes to serve God. This force of missionaries is here to help spread the Gospel to all the world and to hasten the Lord's work.

Missions have a further purpose than just helping spread the Gospel though. They help to turn missionaries from kids into confident mature adults. This world is a world set on satisfying the needs of the individual. In this world all concerns for others are ignored as people focus only on themselves. For two years though a missionary forgets his own needs and looks outward. A missionary seeks to share the Gospel with random people he has never met. In return there is no monetary gifts or a leadership position in the Church. There is only the reward of knowing that he has tried to help someone return to live with their Heavenly Father.

The happiness that this missionary feels helps him to see that truthfulness of when Christ says:

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Mark 8:35

No Greater happiness can be found in life than when we serve those around us. Because when we serve others we only serve God. (Mosiah 2:17)

Another way that missionaries grow during their eighteen months to two years of service is that they learn the importance of work. Missionary life isn't easy at all. From six-thirty in the morning to ten-thirty at night a missionary is working to spread the Gospel. A missionary has to make sure that during all that time he is working. As a missionary works hard he sees blessings come into his life. He finds peace that He is doing God's will. He will see miracles happen in his life and in the lives of those around him. Most importantly he will learn to love those he comes in contact with.

The work that a missionary does on his mission helps him to develop an attitude of hard work. An attitude that he will take home with him. This attitude will help a missionary to thrive at work. To earn the respect of his coworkers. It will also help him to work hard for his family and to love his family even more.

The blessings of a mission are incredible. I have seen myself become a hard worker throughout my mission. I have also gained confidence in what I do and what I say. I have also come to love those around me no matter who they are or what they do. But the greatest blessing I've received out here is a stronger testimony. When I came out I had a very weak testimony. I believed in God, but not much else. As I've served I've gained a testimony of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. I've come to know that God's is on the earth today and it is only in this Church that the priesthood authority of God rests, and that through this priesthood I can live with my family for forever.

My mission has been the greatest experience that I have had so far in my life and I know that it is one of the greatest experiences I or anyone can have. A mission can be hard at times, it can even be boring, but the growth that comes from a mission shouldn't be traded for anything. Jobs can wait, school can wait, and even girlfriends can too. I know this because I've those things up for two years.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

3 Nephi 13:33

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.

The Blessings of a Modern Day Prophet

In the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon we read the writings of men called prophets. These were men who were mighty in faith and received revelation from God. These men were also given power from God. This power was called the priesthood. Because of this power prophets were able to heal, they could talk to God, and they were able to five counsel to God's children.

Stories about some of these prophets such as Noah, Moses, and Elijah are well known. Noah and Elijah boldly declared the words of God while Moses and Elijah performed great miracles. For a period of time though there were no prophets on the earth and many believed that there was no need for a prophet. But that is not so because it is said:

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets
-Amos 3:7

Thus a prophet was needed and in the 1800s another prophet was called and his name was Joseph Smith. Joseph was given priesthood power from God and received revelation. Ever since that time there has been a prophet on the earth who has held the priesthood and received revelation. Today the prophet is Thomas S. Monson. Thomas S. Monson is a man dear to my heart and I would like to share an experience that helped me to know that President Monson was a prophet.

First off this experience I am about to share is one near and dear to my heart. Because it was only two years ago that I really didn't want to go on a mission. I had grown up hearing about how a mission was the most important thing that I could do. I had also heard that it was the greatest thing I could do for my life. I knew deep down inside that going on a mission would bring many blessings and that I would be able to help people to come unto Christ. But I didn't want to go. For one thing my testimony wasn't that strong and I realized that two years was a long time to be away from home.

So I pretty much decided that I wasn't going on a mission. I kept telling my friends that I was going to go to a year of college and then I would leave on a mission. But that was never in my plans. I was going to go off to college and never even think of going.

At first everything went according to plan. It seemed as if I was going to be able to enjoy a life without a mission. But that year something happened that would change my life for forever. An announcement was made that young men and young women could now serve as missionaries at younger ages. Most of my friends were ecstatic because of this change. I was not however. I just remembered feeling angry and I even called my mom up and told her that there was no way I was ever going to serve a mission.

Thomas S. Monson

It was a bad time for me as I felt alone. I can remember the next day watching what is called General Conference. I listened to tons of talks given by church leaders and I hardened my heart during the majority of the talks. I just kept wishing that they would stop talking about missionary work.

Near the end of the Conference President Monson got up to speak. For the first time that day I decided to straighten up and pay attention. Mostly because Monson always told stories and I love listening to stories. As he began to talk President Monson shared this story:

On one extremely cold Saturday night during the winter of 1983–84, Sister Monson and I drove several miles to the mountain valley of Midway, Utah, where we have a home. The temperature that night was minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit (–31°C), and we wanted to make certain all was well at our home there. We checked and found that it was fine, so we left to return to Salt Lake City. We barely made it the few miles to the highway before our car stopped working. We were completely stranded. I have seldom, if ever, been as cold as we were that night.

Reluctantly we began walking toward the nearest town, the cars whizzing past us. Finally one car stopped, and a young man offered to help. We eventually found that the diesel fuel in our gas tank had thickened because of the cold, making it impossible for us to drive the car. This kind young man drove us back to our Midway home. I attempted to reimburse him for his services, but he graciously declined. He indicated that he was a Boy Scout and wanted to do a good turn. I identified myself to him, and he expressed his appreciation for the privilege to be of help. Assuming that he was about missionary age, I asked him if he had plans to serve a mission. He indicated he was not certain just what he wanted to do.

On the following Monday morning, I wrote a letter to this young man and thanked him for his kindness. In the letter I encouraged him to serve a full-time mission. I enclosed a copy of one of my books and underscored the chapters on missionary service.

About a week later the young man’s mother telephoned and advised that her son was an outstanding young man but that because of certain influences in his life, his long-held desire to serve a mission had diminished. She indicated she and his father had fasted and prayed that his heart would be changed. They had placed his name on the prayer roll of the Provo Utah Temple. They hoped that somehow, in some way, his heart would be touched for good and he would return to his desire to fill a mission and to serve the Lord faithfully. The mother wanted me to know that she looked upon the events of that cold evening as an answer to their prayers in his behalf.
-Thomas S. Monson Consider the Blessings
As President Monson concluded his story I got the feeling that I needed to serve a mission. All my anger and all my fear about a mission melted away at that instant. I knew what I needed to do. When the talk was over I got up and I gave a call to my on to let her know of my decision.

Because of that talk my life has changed. I am now on a mission and I know that the counsel I received that morning from President Monson came from The Lord. I know it without a doubt. I know that President Monson is a prophet, that God inspired men in the past and that he continues to inspire men today.

I invite all to listen to Thomas S. Monson, to take note of how you feel and go ask God if he is a prophet. I know that if you try this that you can know that there is a prophet on the earth today.

A Family that Runs Together Stays Together

A couple of years ago on Thanksgiving my family started a tradition that I have come love. That Thanksgiving my family decided to go on a run before sitting down as a family to have some turkey and stuffing. It was an idea that may seem weird to a lot of people, but it does makes sense to try to workout on a day known for gluttony. Also I loved the idea because I love to run.

Altogether there were seven of us that day that went to run: my parents, my two sisters, me, my brother, and my sister's husband. The seven of us drove down to Woods Cross, Utah where we jumped on the bike path that ran along the Legacy Parkway. From that point all of us were off on a ten mile run to Farmington. All of us that is except my brother who was riding his bike.

The first couple of miles went really well as all of us stayed together in a pack. But the farther we went along the more spread out our family got. As we ran along my Dad fell to the back of the run and was far behind the rest of us. This was unfortunate because he was the only one who knew where we were going. So as me and the rest of my family blazed ahead on what turned out to be an abandoned railroad track our Dad followed behind trying to catch up and tell us that we had left the path.

The path that we were following slowly got harder and harder as we ran through the gravel that had once made up part of the railroad. I can remember thinking that the path had gotten a lot harder and seemed to be taking us a lot longer than anticipated. Eventually my Dad highjacked my brother's bike and rode up to where I was and told me that me that the entire family was now going the wrong way.

My family and I then were able to get back on the right path and make it to our destination in Farmington. From this first family run on Thanksgiving I was able to gain a lot. First I got a story that my family shares all the time. But most importantly I saw how important it is to follow leaders. If my family had waited for my Dad our trip that day would have been a lot shorter and a lot less tiring.

In our day and age we also have leaders that we have been given to follow. These leaders called Prophets are men called of God who have been given His authority to guide and direct His children here on this earth. These prophets have been given to us since ancient times when men like Moses, Noah, and Elijah guided the people and made sure that they stayed on the right path.

God has placed a prophet on the earth today and his name is President Thomas S. Monson. He has been given priesthood authority to lead and to guide Heavenly Father's children. As we follow the counsel of the prophet in this day and age we will be able to stay on the path that God has given us and not take detours. We will also find blessings as we follow God's chosen leaders.For:

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Amos 3:7  

Me and my siblings.

To learn more about how there is a prophet on the earth today check out this link.

http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/restoration