A Clouded Mind?

As I have started reading the Book of Mormon again recently a lot has had a different meaning this time than any of the other times I've read the Book of Mormon.  I truly believe this is what makes the Book of Mormon the best book ever, you can read it repeatedly back-to-back and continue to get something else out of it.  The Book of Mormon definitely has the answers to our questions and concerns.  The Book of Mormon begins with a family.  The father's name is Lehi.  He has four sons (oldest to youngest):  Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi.  In chapter 8 of 1 Nephi (page 14 of the Book of Mormon) Lehi has a vision.  He sees many things, but he tells of a river of water in this chapter, 1 Nephi 8: 26.  Nephi (Lehi's youngest son) desires to know about the vision his father saw, so he prays about it.  The spirit comes and he has a vision about the things his father has seen.  After Nephi has his vision his older brothers complain that they don't understand.  Part of the reason they can't understand is because they didn't turn to the Lord for answers.  Nephi interprets some of the "dream" to them.  A particular verse caught my attention.  It is 1 Nephi 15:27,  It says:  And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water. As I have pondered on this scripture I have had some thoughts.  One of them was, "How could Lehi not have noticed the filth?"  It doesn't seem hard to notice if water is clean or filthy.  Maybe if it said dirty I wouldn't have thought that, but filth I would think he should notice.  After this thought came to my mind our lives today.  Sometimes we don't notice how "filthy" the things of the world are today.  We have so many things that society feels are okay, that just aren't.  These will not bring us into the purity of the atonement, but drag us down into the dredges of Satan.  Avoid all things that are filthy.  Notice the things we are doing and stay in the clear water.  No one wants to swim in the filthy water!  Sin can cloud our minds and we don't notice the filth of the water.  Evaluate the water (or choices) you are near and be wise.  Avoid the filthy water of Lehi's vision!

How 'Bout a Donut?

I received a copy of this story at church a few weeks ago and I felt like I should share it with you.  Here's the story:

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending Seminary in Utah.  In Utah Seminary classes are held as release time during the school day.  Brother Christianson taught Seminary at a high school.  He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules.  Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period class and no other teacher wanted him, so he went to Brother Christianson's Seminary class.  

Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room.  He was also the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, Brother Chriastianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him.  After class, Brother Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Chriastianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200?  That's pretty good, Steve, "Brother Christianson said.  "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try." said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10?  I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work.  Can you do it?  I need you to tell me you can do it."  Brother Christianson said.  Steve said, "Well.... I think I can... Yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good!  I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.  When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts.  Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.  Everyone was pretty excited- it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Brother Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you wan a donut?"


Cynthia said, "Yes!"

Brother Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so the Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.  Then Steve again sat in his desk.  Brother Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Brother Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes."  Brother Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?"  Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their donut.  And down the second aisle, until Brother Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team.  He was very popular.  Then Brother Christiansn asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Can I do my own push-ups?"

Brother Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Brother Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten push-ups.  Scott said, "HEY!  I said I didn't want one!"
Brother Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts.  Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it."  And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little bit.  He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down.  You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.  Brother Christianson started down the third row.  Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Brother Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Brother Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?"  Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.  Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these push-ups done for each donut.  There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Brother Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten push-ups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts.  So, Robert began to watch Steve closely.  Brother Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the hearters along the sides of the room.  When Brother Christianson realized this, he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room.  He started to worry if Stever would be able to make it.

Brother Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next.  Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time.  He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Brother Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Brother Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your push-ups.  You can do them any way that you want." And Brother Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO!  Don't come in!  Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on.  Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Brother Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason come in you will have to do ten push-ups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Brother Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now.  Jason, do you want a donut?"

 "Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?"  Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort.  Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Brother Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters.  Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity.  Sweat was dripping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular.  Brother Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a donut?"

Linda said very sadly, "No, thank you."

Brother Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.  Then Brother Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan.  "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Brother Christianson, can I help him?"

Brother Christianson with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone.  Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said, "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, 'Into thy hands I commend my spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything taht was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died.  And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."

When everyone in the classroom heard what the teacher meant by it and realized everything, Steve smiled on the ground where he laid in his own sweat and began to cry.

I Will Go and Do

One of my heroes is Nephi from the Book of Mormon.  He is such a shining example of standing for what is right.  I want to share a story about Nephi with you.  It is in the Book of Mormon and I won't completely give everything away, but I want to talk about the very beginning of the Book of Mormon with you.  Lehi (the father) is commanded by the Lord to take his family and leave Jerusalem.  They leave all of the worldly possessions and take just what they need with them.They walk into the wilderness leaving everything behind.  They walk for about four days and then Lehi receives a commandment from Heavenly Father. The commandment is that his sons (Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi) are to return to Jerusalem and get the brass plates from Laban.
How excited would you be to head back to the place you just left after walking for four days?  It doesn't sound really fun to me, but the question is would you do it willingly because Heavenly father asked you to?  I hope that I would be like Nephi and not like his brothers Laman and Lemuel.  Nephi's brothers were not excited to go.  Nephi  showed great faith as he replied: 1 Nephi 3:7 " I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  Nephi understands that the Lord will never give us something that we cannot do.  He gathers up his brothers and they head back to Jerusalem.  The first time they go to Laban's house they fail.  Laban will not give up the plates and he sends men after them to kill them.  The second time they take all of their worldly items (their gold, silver, and riches) and try to trade him these for the plates.  He loves the things they bring and so he takes them and then sends men after them to kill them.  At this point his brothers don't want to go back.
Thankfully we have Nephi that says he will go back.  He gets there and is commanded to do something very hard. I'm going to leave this part a mystery and you can read it in the Book of Mormon. The account is in 1 Nephi 4.  I will tell you that he is able to obtain the plates.  The Lord provides a way that he can accomplish the commandment he had given to Nephi and his brothers.  Sometimes in our lives we are given commandments from Heavenly Father that seem impossible. If the Lord commands us to do something he will provide a way that we can fulfill that commandment.  Never forget this!  There is nothing that is impossible with the Lord.  I know that we can do anything the Lord asks us to do.  Let us go forth with faith, believing that our Heavenly Father will help us.  It wasn't easy for Nephi to accomplish what the Lord asked, but the Lord made it possible and this is how it is in our lives.  It may not be easy to accomplish, but it will be something we can do.  It will never be impossible if it is a commandment from Heavenly Father!

Walking on Water

I decided that I wanted to study the New Testament and focus more on the Savior and His life.  A story that I have heard many times struck me and has made me think about how soon I turn to my Savior to help me.  The story is found in Matthew 14: 24- 33.  The story goes that the apostles were out on a ship at night and the wind and the waves were terrible.  The apostles were scared and then they looked out and saw something walking on the water.  Naturally, they were more scared at this point.  They thought it was an evil spirit or a ghost.  Jesus called out to them not to be afraid and that it was Him.  Peter says to Jesus that if it truly is Him he should bid Peter to walk out to Him on the water.  Jesus tells Peter that he can get out of the boat and walk to Him.  I cannot imagine the faith that Peter shows by stepping out of the boat and into the water truly believing that he can walk on the water.  I am pretty sure that my faith would not have been that strong.
But, Peter is in the water, or should I say on the water at this point.  He is doing it! He is walking on the water!  Then he notices the wind and how HUGE the waves are.  He looses sight of the Savior and focuses on the water for a split second and he begins to sink. The part that stood out to me was the next verse:  30, But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  And the very next words are And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, ...  How often in our life do we lose sight of our Savior and rather than immediately cry out for His help we wait until we're nearly "drowning"? I know that our Savior is always there for us and that He will immediately stretch forth His hand to help us.  Jesus loves us and is waiting for us to turn to him.  We don't need to wait until we can barely breath to turn to him and to cry out for help.  He loves you and wants to help!

Kites... and commandments?!

So often in life we think that if only we didn't have rules that we would be so free and we could just "take flight".  Now think of a kite.  It is held down with a string.  Right?!  That's what you would think:  If we were to cut the string the kite would soar.  It would go so much higher than it ever can with that string attached to it.  However, this is a thought that completely doesn't happen.  When a kite's string is cut the kite plows into the ground.  The same goes with our lifes.  If we were not to have any commandments, we would not do nearly as well as we do when we have commandments to help us.  The commandments are not to "hold us down" but to allow us to "fly high".  The commandments don't bind us, but they free us.  We need guidelines to follow to stay free and not become ensnared.  These commandments are such blessings.  Next time you are tempted to "cut the strings" and "fly high" just remember a kite and what happens when it's strings are cut.  The same thing happens to us.  Allow the commandments to bless your life.

By Small and Simple Things

I have been pondering on a lesson that President Gardner taught us during a training meeting.  As I was riding the transfer van from Billings to Helena and then coming to Great Falls there were areas where a lot of the pine trees were turning red and dying.  I remember that I knew what was happening.  The bark beetles were getting to these trees and ruining them.  A bark beetle at first glance wouldn't seem very threatening, but it is.  See all the damage that has occurred from a meesley little bark beetle.  There are so many little things in our life that can damage our lives and the potential that we have.  We need to be aware and careful of the "little things".  The scriptures tell us that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass, but the opposite effect is true as well: by small and simple things are great things ruined.  We need to pay attention to the small things that can help if we do them and hurt if we don't.  For example: prayers, scripture study, church attendance, movies we watch, language we use.  None of these seem too huge, but as we make good choices and use these to bless our life we will be protected from these bark beetles, but as we neglect these small things the bark beetles can get to us and ruin hard work.  It's not easy for us to grow, so don't let all your hard work and effort be demolished by a small and simple bark beetle!  Evaluate the small things in your life and see what changes you can make to guard against damage.

The Edge...

Our Heavenly Father gives us commandments to keep us safe, but the choice is ours to obey or not.  I know that our Heavenly Father doesn't give us commandments to limit our choices but to expand them.  When we don't pay attention to the commandments we sometimes get very close to the edge.  We leave the "safe" area that our Heavenly Father has told us to stay in and we go into the "dangerous" territory that Satan is in charge of.  At first it may seem a little uncomfortable to be at a party with alcohol, or to watch an R rated movie, but over time we become used to the danger of being on the edge.  The danger in breaking commandments never leaves.  Just because we feel comfortable there doesn't mean that the danger has left.  I don't typically go sit on the edge of cliffs, and in this picture I certainly wasn't comfortable.  I would have felt much better if I would have been at least 10 feet farther away from the edge.  I decided, however, that the fear was worth it and I wanted this picture, so I went and put myself in danger to get a cool picture.  How many times in life do we get close to the edge for the sake of looking cool, or to impress a girl/guy, or to rebel against our parents council, or any other reason?  I can think of so many times that people get close to the edge for no reason really at all.  Sometimes we get so comfortable on the edge that the fall doesn't even seem scary.  I know that living life on the edge and in the "danger zone" isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Satan wants us to believe this, but I know differently.  Our Heavenly Father desires true happiness for us and lovingly gives us commandments to keep us safe and happy.  When we follow his council and obey his commandments we are safe from sin and happy as ever.  Don't live your life on the edge.  Take a step back and realize the peace that comes from keeping the commandments.