Temple

I have been thinking a lot about the temple this week!  Maybe it's because I'm not near a temple that I can see everyday like I was growing up.  I miss seeing the beautiful temple in Cache Valley.  We are so blessed to have a temple right there for us.  As I think about the temple a primary song comes to mind.  The song that comes to mind is I Love to See the Temple.  The song goes like this:

I love to see the temple. I'm going there someday To feel the Holy Spirit, To listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God, A place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple. I'll go inside someday. I'll cov'nant with my Father; I'll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place Where we are sealed together. As a child of God, I've learned this truth; A fam'ly is forever.

Many people wonder why the temple is secret.  My response to this question is that it's not!  It's a sacred thing.  It's something that God has given to us and we don't want it to be mocked or misused.  We make certain promises when we go to the temple and that's why we must have a recommend.  It's for our safety.  It's not keep anyone out of the temple or to make it a mysterious place, but to keep it holy.  Just as this song says the temple truly is the house of God!

This song says, I'll prepare myself while I am young, but IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO PREPARE!!!  How can we prepare?  We can prepare by doing the simple things!  We can go to church on Sundays, partake of the sacrament, read our scriptures, read the church magazines, pay our tithing, fast, listen to conference (which is coming up so soon :) ), and live up to our baptismal covenants that we have made or will make!  We can truly strive to live as Christ lived and as he would have us each live.  One way to know how he would have us live in our world today is by heeding the councel of our modern day Prophet, his Councelors, and the Apostles.

Spilt Water

I had an experience the other week at church that has really had me thinking the last little while.  We were at church in Ronan, MT and it was time for the sacrament to be passed.  The bread came and the water came, but something happened when the water came... I picked up the cup and then immediately dropped it.  Water of course went spilling all over me.  I felt foolish at first and thought that only a two year old would do something like that, but as I've thought about this embarrassing experience it has had much greater meaning than simply doing something and feeling dumb.  What does the water represent?  It represents our Savior's blood he freely spilt for us.  Exactly the point that has hit me:  He gave his blood for me and I can either use the Atonement and make his suffering worth it, or I can ignore his gift to me and simply spill the water cup.  I know that what I did was an innocent mistake and I thankfully took another water glass, and was able to partake of the sacrament.  I know that our Savior was willing and ready to perform the act of the Atonement for each one of us.  He loves us that much!  He wanted to make it possible for each of us to return to live with our Heavenly Father.  None of us has ever done anything too bad to use the Atonement and be forgiven of our mistakes!  Through the Atonement we can be completely forgiven of our sins and be pure and clean!  It is never too late!  Our Savior is there waiting for us with open arms, he is waiting to welcome us back to the fold!  The choice is ours-  We can spill the water cup or we can partake and be cleansed!  I, for one, would much rather partake of the Atonement and allow him to cleanse me.

Building on a Sturdy Foundation

A sand castle looks nice, but what happens when the water comes?
Does a sand castle withstand?  We all know what happens when the waves come- all of our hard work is demolished and our sand castle is gone!  It doesn't hold up when the storm comes.  How do we make sure that our lives are much stronger than the sand castle?  We build on something much much stronger!  There's a primary song that the kids learn that goes: The wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock, And the rains came tumbling down.  The rains came down, and the floods came up, the rains came down, and the floods came up, the rains came down, and the floods came up, And the house on the rock stood still.  The foolish man built his house upon the sand, the foolish man built his house upon the sand, the foolish man built his house upon the sand, And the rains came tumbling down.  The rains came down, and the floods came up, the rains came down, and the floods came up, the rains came down, and the floods came up, And the house on the sand washed away.  I have always liked this song, but now it has so much more than just words to it.  It is telling us how we should build our life.  It's telling us that the things of the world are the sand that we can build upon.  The things of the world may appear to make us happy, but when the "storms" of life come are we truly happy?  Do these things support and sustain us?  Are our friends always there for us?

Thankfully we know that there is something better that we can build upon.  What would this be you may ask,  well here you go!  The answer to all life's questions can be found in the scriptures:  3 Nephi 11:39 says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them."  This scripture is found in the part of the Book of Mormon where Christ has come to the Nephites.  He has come as a resurrected being and is teaching them.  He is bringing them the Gospel in it's fulness.  He is telling them how to "build" their lives.  He tells them that the things he has taught them are the "rock" that they should build on.  If we build our lives on the "rock" that the Savior has shown us, then when the "storms" of life come our hard work, like the sand castle, will not be washed away.  Our lives will stay intact.  The rock will withstand our "storms", or trials.  The Savior, who is the rock we build upon, will support us and sustain us.  I know that he helps us to weather the storms if we will let him be there with us.  He will not leave us.  He will bear some of the burden that we cannot bear on our own!  I know that when we build our life on the things of the Savior, his doctrines, we will withstand the "storms" of life.  We will be happy and the Savior will be there for us through these "storms"!

Where are We Being Led?

I have been thinking a lot about the decisions that we make each day.  We have so many opportunities to choose right and so many times we can choose wrong.  We have a gift called agency, which is the ability to choose.  The Book of Mormon teaches us this in 2 Nephi 2:27 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.  And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."  On Saturday this verse meant something different to me than it ever had before.  It told me exactly how I can know if a choice is correct or not!  It taught me that as I am thinking about a choice I can think if it brings me closer to the Savior, the great Mediator of all men, or if it takes me further away from him.  I have loved this picture since I first saw it, but as I thought of it Saturday I thought of it differently too.  It was a perfect image of agency to me that day.  Our Savior is there waiting for us at all times beckoning us to come unto him.  The devil, however, is not going to be there for us when we make choices that take us farther from our Savior. Why would we ever want to make choices then  that take us further away from our Savior and lead us to no one?  I don't believe that any of us want to be further from our Savior, but the fact is that we all make mistakes and choose things that do take us away.  The best news is that we can turn around and head back towards our Savior.  He is waiting for us and desires to put his arm around us.  Just as this child is with Him so too can we be with Him as we strive to make choices, big and little, each day that will lead us to Him.  He wants us to come unto Him!  Don't let Satan trick us and lead us away to somewhere that no one will be waiting for us.  Our Savior WILL be there for us!  He loves us!

Baptism

Last week I was privileged to be a part of two baptisms!  Why do we get so excited as missionaries when baptisms come around?  After all if you don't understand it looks just like someone gets dunked in some water and gets all wet.  It's so much more than that when you learn what it's all about.  Our whole purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end!  Well, that's our purpose, but I still didn't answer why baptism is so important.  It's so important, because in the bible it tells of Christ's baptism.  Matthew 3: 13-17 is my favorite account in the Bible.  It tells us that John baptized Jesus.  Why John?  Good question, because he had the proper authority from God to perform a baptism.  We need to be baptized by that same authority which has been restored to the Earth in these Latter Days.  Another of my favorite scriptures pertaining to baptism is found in the Book of Mormon.  It is 2 Nephi 31: 5.  It states:  "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!"  This verse hits home to me.  None of us are perfect, but Christ was and he was baptized.  Why wouldn't we need to be baptized?!  Of course we need to be baptized!  We should follow the example our Savior set for us.  He set the PERFECT example!  The Book of Mormon goes on to say in verses 9-10:  9) "And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. 10) And he said unto the children of men:  Follow thou me.  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?"  Baptism is something we MUST do to follow the example of our Savior.  It is the gate that we must enter through!

So We Begin

Today I have started a blog that will hopefully help someone come closer to their Savior, Jesus Christ.  We, as missionaries, have been asked to begin a blog and be online missionaries.  This is not to waste time or catch-up with our friends and family back home, but it is to help fulfill my purpose as a missionary!  This purpose is to: Invite others to come unto Christ.  I am excited to begin this "new" phase of missionary work and hope that the Spirit will lead me as I begin.  If anyone has suggestions of how to make this blog more helpful and inviting let me know!