Saturday, April 30, 2011

Judging Others

   About 18 months ago I was serving in a little town in northwestern Montana called Eureka. I hold Eureka very dear to my heart, for I saw many miracles there and loved the people with whom I served around. One day my companion and I were walking down the street knocking on doors. As we were walking up to a small house, somebody pulled up in a beat up car and started approaching the house we were walking to. At a first glimpse, this man looked pretty rough around the edges. He was wearing raggedy, wrinkly clothing that did not appear to be washed or cared for. He had pretty messy hair and a scruffy beard. He had lots of chains, necklaces, piercings, and other forms of jewelry. I made an unfair judgement and immediately had the thought that this man would never want to listen to us, let alone join the church. But, nonetheless, I felt like we needed to talk to him. He turned out to be very friendly and expressed to us that he wasn't interested at the time but to come back later when his wife was home. To make a long story short, we went back a couplethree months later and ended up teaching him and his wife. A few short months after that, him and his wife both joined the church and are still active today.

Learn how civility and kindness go much deeper than appearances and quick judgments.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Choose This Day To Serve God


 "There is a danger in the word someday when what it means is “not this day.” All of us will need [God's] help to avoid the tragedy of procrastinating what we must do here and now to have eternal life. By serving Him this day, you will come to know Him better. You will feel His love and appreciation. You would not want to delay receiving that blessing. And feeling His love will draw you back to His service, wiping away both complacency and discouragement." - Henry B. Eyring

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Jesus Christ Lives Today

  I am currently a full-time missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single day and night, I spend my time testifying that Jesus lives and that the gospel of Christ can bless peoples lives. So.. How exactly is it that the gospel can bring peace to the world? How is that the teachings of Christ can help us to love our fellow men?


  From the feet of the Christus statue on Temple Square, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf answers those questions with this declaration: “As an Apostle of the Lord, I testify that Jesus Christ lives today.” He explains how the Savior and His Atonement provide answers to our questions. The Savior’s gospel, he says, can “bring great joy and happiness to the world.” Watch the video of President Uchtdorf’s testimony of the Savior and His ability to lift us above worldly things to find peace.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

None Were With Him

   Especially at this Easter Season, I turn my heart and my thoughts towards the Savior Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice in my behalf. Jesus' life was not full of glamor and fame. He did not do the things He did for recognition and for worldly glory. In fact, Jesus' life was a very lonely path. The reason He walked alone is so that we as mankind do not have to. I quote Elder Holland and say, "I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully anticipated emotionally and spiritually—that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” "


  Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Endure To The End

  When I think of the word "endure" I immediately think of running a race. In order to finish a race we must have endurance and stamina. Starting the race is not merely enough, but our goal is to cross the finish line by enduring till the end of the race. And so it is with life.  When we have entered the strait and narrow path by our faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, it is like we are starting the "race of life." Baptism is only the beginning of our new lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. We must then give our all to stay on the path for the rest of our lives. The way that we do this is by continually exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting daily of our sins, and heeding to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Once we have been forgiven of our sins, we should try every day to remain free from sin so that we can always have the Holy Ghost with us. In the covenant of baptism, we promise our Father in Heaven that we will obey His commandments for the rest of our lives. If we fall short, we must repent in order to retain the blessings of the covenant.

 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland teaches us that when things don't look promising ahead, we must always look forward.
"Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead."
  
 When Jesus was ministering among the people in the Americas he taught, " “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.” (3 Ne. 15:9.)
   When Nephi was teaching his brethren about baptism, he said that when we are baptized, it is only the gate. And that we must “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ . . . and endure to the end,” for the rest our lives.. THEN we are promised by God, “Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).