Reciently I've been going through a bit of a trial, so to speak, with my health and my spirit. And so today I asked the Elders (the guy missionaries) to give me a blessing. One of health and of comfort. As soon as their hands were placed upon my head, I put my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father that blessing given would be according to his will. I was almost overcome by a feeling of peace and comfort as the words were spoken, knowing that it was exactly what my Heavenly Father wanted me to hear and feel. I was blessed with what my Heavenly Father wanted for me. To be able to continue on in the work of my Savior Jesus Christ.
I am so grateful that the Priesthood, the authority to act in the name of God and Jesus Christ is on the earth today. I am grateful that the Elders were worthy to give me this blessing. I know the Priesthood it is real, I know that I will be healed and am already feeling it, and it is because of my faith that it will happen. I am grateful that this Priesthood authority is given to all worthy men of the church so that they can also go about as Christ did, healing the sick and aflicted, and giving words of comfort and peace to all of our Heavenly Father's children.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
"I know I'm breaking a commandment" But do you really know?
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commndments of God...they are blessed in all things..and if they hold out faithful to the end they are recieved into..a state of never ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41)
So many times as a missionary, we tell people know about how they are BREAKING the commandments of God. It's called calling to repentence. It's not a bad thing, and we try do it in a very loving way. And we try to help them to start the process of repentence and come closer to Christ. I'm not sure how many times it's happened, but pretty sure almost every day. One of the biggest things is that they KNOW they are breaking a commandment, but don't seem to truly seem to recognize that there are consequences of sin. ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.
"And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life... they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God." 2 Nephi 9:15
"For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.... Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;"
(Doctrine and Covenants 1:31-32)They say that "yes, I know I'm breaking a commandment" (whether it be the law of chasity, sabbath day, word of wisdom, etc...) but to me I think, Really? Do you REALLY know that you are breaking a commandment of God? Because to me, if you did know, you would find a way to correct it, to stop doing it.
Maybe, it's just that they don't quite understand the HOPE that there is. Jesus Christ suffered the penalty for your sins.
"Wherefore redemption commenth in and through the Holy Messiah...he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin..unto all those who have a broken heart and contrite spirit.." (2 Nephi 2:6-7) He suffered and died that if we repent (Aka broken heart and contrite spirit) and "hold out faithful to the end" in obedience to the commandments of GOD. We can be saved.
"We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Article of Faith 1:3)
Please know that there is hope, you can gain this happiness, first recognize that Jesus Christ is your Savior he lived and died for YOU, have faith in him, second repent: Stop doing what you're doing wrong, confess to God, make resitution, and start doing what's right, third, be Baptized (NOT just any "believe and be saved" baptism, Baptism by someone who holds the PROPER PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY OF GOD) for the remission of your sins, fourth RECIEVE the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of Hands, and lastly Endure to the End (keep repenting, having faith and being obedient to God's commandments)
"Unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God he can not be saved" (2Nephi 31:16)
THINK ON THAT.
So many times as a missionary, we tell people know about how they are BREAKING the commandments of God. It's called calling to repentence. It's not a bad thing, and we try do it in a very loving way. And we try to help them to start the process of repentence and come closer to Christ. I'm not sure how many times it's happened, but pretty sure almost every day. One of the biggest things is that they KNOW they are breaking a commandment, but don't seem to truly seem to recognize that there are consequences of sin. ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.
"And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life... they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God." 2 Nephi 9:15
"For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.... Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;"
(Doctrine and Covenants 1:31-32)They say that "yes, I know I'm breaking a commandment" (whether it be the law of chasity, sabbath day, word of wisdom, etc...) but to me I think, Really? Do you REALLY know that you are breaking a commandment of God? Because to me, if you did know, you would find a way to correct it, to stop doing it.
"Wherefore redemption commenth in and through the Holy Messiah...he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin..unto all those who have a broken heart and contrite spirit.." (2 Nephi 2:6-7) He suffered and died that if we repent (Aka broken heart and contrite spirit) and "hold out faithful to the end" in obedience to the commandments of GOD. We can be saved.
"We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Article of Faith 1:3)
Please know that there is hope, you can gain this happiness, first recognize that Jesus Christ is your Savior he lived and died for YOU, have faith in him, second repent: Stop doing what you're doing wrong, confess to God, make resitution, and start doing what's right, third, be Baptized (NOT just any "believe and be saved" baptism, Baptism by someone who holds the PROPER PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY OF GOD) for the remission of your sins, fourth RECIEVE the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of Hands, and lastly Endure to the End (keep repenting, having faith and being obedient to God's commandments)
"Unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God he can not be saved" (2Nephi 31:16)
THINK ON THAT.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Light of Christ
So I decided to look back at some old posts and I ran across this one, only it was in spanish, so I decided to translate it and put it up, b/c well I would say it's one of my favorites.
The other night my Companion and I had a wonderful experience that I want to share some thoughts about.
In recent weeks, we have been visiting a family that is "less-active who have come to Church for a long time. We visited them a lot, and most of all the mom and son who is ten, who was just baptized in March. There has been a big change in this family, especially in the Mom. When we visited them the other night she talked a little about her experience as she and her husband were baptized and the time when there were active, and now as she has this strength to attend Church every Sunday and be active with her family. She also bore her testimony one night at the home of her brother in law and in front of his mother and uncle of her husband who are not members. The Spirit was there and I know everyone felt it. Now she has more light in her eyes and told us she is reading in the Book of Mormon a little each day, and is reading to her husband at night.
This is what I thought of a lot the other night when I was sleeping. How we can all have more of this light in our lives? It started with the bracelets that I have of my nephew. The bracelets glow in the the dark but they can't glow unless they've been in the light for a period of time. I was thinking how this is like our spiritual lives. If we do not read in the Book of Mormon and the scriptures, if we do not pray, or don't attend the True Church of Jesus Christ, we do not receive the light of Christ to show everyone who are in the dark spiritually. So, as my bracelets and the mother of this family, we need to obey the commandments of God so that the world can see our light.
I want to share my testimony that I know the Book of Mormon is true, and that this Church is the True Church of Jesus Christ, the only True Church. I know that as we follow Jesus Christ, who showed us the way, we receive this light and more of his blessings.
The other night my Companion and I had a wonderful experience that I want to share some thoughts about.
In recent weeks, we have been visiting a family that is "less-active who have come to Church for a long time. We visited them a lot, and most of all the mom and son who is ten, who was just baptized in March. There has been a big change in this family, especially in the Mom. When we visited them the other night she talked a little about her experience as she and her husband were baptized and the time when there were active, and now as she has this strength to attend Church every Sunday and be active with her family. She also bore her testimony one night at the home of her brother in law and in front of his mother and uncle of her husband who are not members. The Spirit was there and I know everyone felt it. Now she has more light in her eyes and told us she is reading in the Book of Mormon a little each day, and is reading to her husband at night.
This is what I thought of a lot the other night when I was sleeping. How we can all have more of this light in our lives? It started with the bracelets that I have of my nephew. The bracelets glow in the the dark but they can't glow unless they've been in the light for a period of time. I was thinking how this is like our spiritual lives. If we do not read in the Book of Mormon and the scriptures, if we do not pray, or don't attend the True Church of Jesus Christ, we do not receive the light of Christ to show everyone who are in the dark spiritually. So, as my bracelets and the mother of this family, we need to obey the commandments of God so that the world can see our light.
I want to share my testimony that I know the Book of Mormon is true, and that this Church is the True Church of Jesus Christ, the only True Church. I know that as we follow Jesus Christ, who showed us the way, we receive this light and more of his blessings.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Dios le ama
"Por otra parte, tuvimos a nuestros padres terrenales que nos disciplinaban y los reverciabamos ¿por qué no obedeceremos mucho mejor al Padre de los espiritus, y viviremos?"
Siempre escuchamos la frase "Dios le ama" y escuchamos en respuesta "asi es" o "por supuesto". Pero alguna vez ha tenido tanto tiempo para pensar en ello? Dios es su Padre Celestial literalmente, el Padre de su espiritu. El le ama mas que de lo que puede pensar. En la escritura en Hebreos, el apostol Pablo esta hablando acerca de como si tenemos Padres aqui en la tierra, que nos aman incondicionalmente y quiero lo mejor para nosotros, dispuestos a escuchar a nosotros, nos dan consejo, y les mostramos que el respeto por ellos, porque nos ama así. Padre Celestial es el mismo, que le conoce y le ama más de lo que se puede imaginar. Él conoce nuestros pensamientos, nuestras intenciones, nuestros deseos, sólo quiere lo mejor para nosotros.
"Pues si vosotros, siendo malos, sabéis dar buenas dádivas a vuestros hijos, ¿cuánto más vuestro Padre celestial dará el Espíritu Santo a los que se lo pidan?" Lucas 11:13
Una cosa que me encanta del Evangelio es la de lo mucho que aprender acerca de nuestro Padre Celestial y de su Hijo Jesucristo. Apredemos como podemos tener una relación con nuestro Padre Celestial por medio de su hijo Jesucristo. Jesucristo es su hijo, nuestro hermano mayor, Salvador y Redentor. Sin él no podemos ser salvos, no podemos vivir con nuestras familias y nuestro Padre Celestial después de esta vida. Que amamos y reverenciamos nuestro Salvador Jesucristo. El Salvador siempre nos enseñó la importancia de tener una relación con nuestro Padre Celestial, cuando él estaba en lo más profundo de la agonía que sufren por nuestros pecados, clamó al Padre que le ayuda, y nuestro Padre Celestial envió un ángel para fortalecerlo. (Lucas 22: 41-43) Cuando él estaba enseñando a la gente, les enseñaba a pedid al Padre en su nombre; para dar gracias por lo que nos ha dado.
Nosotros, como hijos de Dios, si somos miembros de la Iglesia verdadera de su hijo o no, todos tenemos la oportunidad de adquirir esta misma relación con nuestro Padre Celestial. Es a través de la oración logramos esto. Oramos al Padre en el nombre de Jesucristo, podemos hablar de los deseos de nuestro corazón, todo lo que quiero decir a él, él nos oye. Él nos habla a través del Espíritu Santo, a través de nuestros pensamientos y sentimientos.
Siempre escuchamos la frase "Dios le ama" y escuchamos en respuesta "asi es" o "por supuesto". Pero alguna vez ha tenido tanto tiempo para pensar en ello? Dios es su Padre Celestial literalmente, el Padre de su espiritu. El le ama mas que de lo que puede pensar. En la escritura en Hebreos, el apostol Pablo esta hablando acerca de como si tenemos Padres aqui en la tierra, que nos aman incondicionalmente y quiero lo mejor para nosotros, dispuestos a escuchar a nosotros, nos dan consejo, y les mostramos que el respeto por ellos, porque nos ama así. Padre Celestial es el mismo, que le conoce y le ama más de lo que se puede imaginar. Él conoce nuestros pensamientos, nuestras intenciones, nuestros deseos, sólo quiere lo mejor para nosotros.
"Pues si vosotros, siendo malos, sabéis dar buenas dádivas a vuestros hijos, ¿cuánto más vuestro Padre celestial dará el Espíritu Santo a los que se lo pidan?" Lucas 11:13
Una cosa que me encanta del Evangelio es la de lo mucho que aprender acerca de nuestro Padre Celestial y de su Hijo Jesucristo. Apredemos como podemos tener una relación con nuestro Padre Celestial por medio de su hijo Jesucristo. Jesucristo es su hijo, nuestro hermano mayor, Salvador y Redentor. Sin él no podemos ser salvos, no podemos vivir con nuestras familias y nuestro Padre Celestial después de esta vida. Que amamos y reverenciamos nuestro Salvador Jesucristo. El Salvador siempre nos enseñó la importancia de tener una relación con nuestro Padre Celestial, cuando él estaba en lo más profundo de la agonía que sufren por nuestros pecados, clamó al Padre que le ayuda, y nuestro Padre Celestial envió un ángel para fortalecerlo. (Lucas 22: 41-43) Cuando él estaba enseñando a la gente, les enseñaba a pedid al Padre en su nombre; para dar gracias por lo que nos ha dado.
Nosotros, como hijos de Dios, si somos miembros de la Iglesia verdadera de su hijo o no, todos tenemos la oportunidad de adquirir esta misma relación con nuestro Padre Celestial. Es a través de la oración logramos esto. Oramos al Padre en el nombre de Jesucristo, podemos hablar de los deseos de nuestro corazón, todo lo que quiero decir a él, él nos oye. Él nos habla a través del Espíritu Santo, a través de nuestros pensamientos y sentimientos.
Yo sé que Dios es nuestro amoroso Padre Celestial, sé que es real, él ama a cada uno de nosotros. Yo sé que él escucha y contesta las oraciones, él está ahí, lo buscan y lo encuentran y encontrar una mayor felicidad en el conocimiento de que Dios es literalmente su Padre que esta el cielo.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
God loves us
"Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" Hebrews 12: 9
We always hear the phrase "God loves you" and we always hear in response "of course". But have you ever really taken the time to think about it? God is our Heavenly Father. Litterally the Father of our Spirits. He loves us more than we can think. In the scripture in Hebrews, the apostle Paul is speaking about how if we have fathers here on the earth, who love us unconditionally and want only the best for us, willing to listen to us, give us council, and we show them that respect for them, because they loves us like that. Heavenly Father is the same, he knows you and loves you more than you can even imagine. He knows our thoughts, our intentions, our desires, he wants only what is best for us.
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Luke 11:13
One thing I love about the Gospel is the how much we learn about our Heavenly Father. We learn how to have a relationship with him.
Jesus Christ is his son, our older brother, Savior and Redeemer. Without him we cannnot be saved, we cannot live with our families or our Heavenly Father after this life. We love and revere our Savior Jesus Christ. The Savior always taught us the importance of having a relationship with our Heavenly Father, when he was in the deepest of agony suffering for our sins, he cried unto the Father to help him, and our Heavenly Father sent an angel to strengthen him. When he was out teaching the people, he taught them to pray unto the Father in his name. To give thanks for what he has given us. We as children of God, whether members of his church or not, all have the opportunity to gain this same relationship with our Heavenly Father. It is through prayer we gain this. We pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, we can speak the desires of our hearts, whatever we want to say to him, he hears us. He speaks to us through the Holy Ghost, through our thoughts and feelings. I know God is our Loving Heavenly Father, I know he is real, he loves each and everyone of us. I know he hears and answers prayers, he is there, seek him and you will find him and find greater happiness in the Knowledge that God is litterally your Father is Heaven.
watch this video, where a man explains how he came to understand his relationship with God.http://old.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/videos?channelId=ad1fcf6cdfeac110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&sourceId=b01cce66e83a2210VgnVCM100000176f620a____
por los que hablan espanol, por favor miren este video y escuchan como este hombre realizo' su realcion con Dios.
http://mormon.org/mormonorg/spa/videos?channelId=ad1fcf6cdfeac110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&sourceId=6f16a0db6db66210VgnVCM100000176f620a____
We always hear the phrase "God loves you" and we always hear in response "of course". But have you ever really taken the time to think about it? God is our Heavenly Father. Litterally the Father of our Spirits. He loves us more than we can think. In the scripture in Hebrews, the apostle Paul is speaking about how if we have fathers here on the earth, who love us unconditionally and want only the best for us, willing to listen to us, give us council, and we show them that respect for them, because they loves us like that. Heavenly Father is the same, he knows you and loves you more than you can even imagine. He knows our thoughts, our intentions, our desires, he wants only what is best for us.
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Luke 11:13
One thing I love about the Gospel is the how much we learn about our Heavenly Father. We learn how to have a relationship with him.
Jesus Christ is his son, our older brother, Savior and Redeemer. Without him we cannnot be saved, we cannot live with our families or our Heavenly Father after this life. We love and revere our Savior Jesus Christ. The Savior always taught us the importance of having a relationship with our Heavenly Father, when he was in the deepest of agony suffering for our sins, he cried unto the Father to help him, and our Heavenly Father sent an angel to strengthen him. When he was out teaching the people, he taught them to pray unto the Father in his name. To give thanks for what he has given us. We as children of God, whether members of his church or not, all have the opportunity to gain this same relationship with our Heavenly Father. It is through prayer we gain this. We pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, we can speak the desires of our hearts, whatever we want to say to him, he hears us. He speaks to us through the Holy Ghost, through our thoughts and feelings. I know God is our Loving Heavenly Father, I know he is real, he loves each and everyone of us. I know he hears and answers prayers, he is there, seek him and you will find him and find greater happiness in the Knowledge that God is litterally your Father is Heaven.
watch this video, where a man explains how he came to understand his relationship with God.http://old.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/videos?channelId=ad1fcf6cdfeac110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&sourceId=b01cce66e83a2210VgnVCM100000176f620a____
por los que hablan espanol, por favor miren este video y escuchan como este hombre realizo' su realcion con Dios.
http://mormon.org/mormonorg/spa/videos?channelId=ad1fcf6cdfeac110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&sourceId=6f16a0db6db66210VgnVCM100000176f620a____
Monday, May 16, 2011
Trial of Faith
Ether 12:6 "..wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye recieve no witness until after the trial of your faith"
The other day my companion and I were walking around in an area, trying to talk to people, but it seemed like no one wanted to listen to us, well this had been happening the whole week. We were starting to get discouraged, and I was close to just giving up and going to another area to try to find people, when I decided to just go a little longer in the area, when we happened to see 2 young girls playing jump rope. After talking to them for a minute, we explained who we were and started to talk to them, when eventually their older and younger sisters came out and started to listen to us. The parents were busy cleaning a home, but when they were finished we were able to explain to them who were are and what is our message. They agreed to let us come visit them and we have plans to visit them on wednesday. It was such a cool experience, because it was a testimony to me and my companion that as we seek the miracles in our lives and expect miracles to happen they will, but only after the trial of our faith. If we just give up when things get hard we will never grow and we will miss out on so many wonderful oportunities to recieve blessings from our Heavenly Father. I want to encourage all of you to remember this scripture and to remember that many times as we seek for something that we want, even something for our benefit, we won't recieve it right away, but after we have struggled and show our faith to God.
The other day my companion and I were walking around in an area, trying to talk to people, but it seemed like no one wanted to listen to us, well this had been happening the whole week. We were starting to get discouraged, and I was close to just giving up and going to another area to try to find people, when I decided to just go a little longer in the area, when we happened to see 2 young girls playing jump rope. After talking to them for a minute, we explained who we were and started to talk to them, when eventually their older and younger sisters came out and started to listen to us. The parents were busy cleaning a home, but when they were finished we were able to explain to them who were are and what is our message. They agreed to let us come visit them and we have plans to visit them on wednesday. It was such a cool experience, because it was a testimony to me and my companion that as we seek the miracles in our lives and expect miracles to happen they will, but only after the trial of our faith. If we just give up when things get hard we will never grow and we will miss out on so many wonderful oportunities to recieve blessings from our Heavenly Father. I want to encourage all of you to remember this scripture and to remember that many times as we seek for something that we want, even something for our benefit, we won't recieve it right away, but after we have struggled and show our faith to God.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Why?
The other day my companion and I asked an investigator what they expected from our visit. She told us that she wanted to find out what was so important to us that we are out walking around talking to people; rain, snow, or sun, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Wow, I thought what a perfect oportunity to be able to share this with her. So we explained that it is because of the happiness, the pure joy that we feel because of our knowledge that the truth of God has been restored. The blessings of God through his priesthood power and authority are here on the earth again. The power to be able to more fully comprehend the Atonement of Jesus Christ is here on earth. The Restoration. Things that had been lost or distorted for centuries after the death of the apostles of Christ have been restored! What great joy this brings! Words for me can not begin to explain how I feel about this Gospel. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ that they only way for us to be able to return and live with our Heavenly Father is to be cleansed from our sins. And we can only recieve that through first Faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentence, baptism by someone who holds to authority of the priesthood of God for the remission of sins, recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands and enduring to the end. This is the only true way to God. Having the Gospel in my life is the most wondeful thing ever. I have recieved so much pure joy from knowing the truth. So you ask: Why do I do this? Because I want everyone to be able to recieve the pure joy and happiness that has blessed my life. How can you have this? By beginning to read in the Book of Mormon and do ask Moroni asks (Moroni 10:3-5) Ask God the Eternal Father in the name Christ with real intent (Meaning you are willing to act on the answer you recieve) that these things are true and as you do, you will begin to feel as I do and will begin to understand the truth. Then find missionaries, have them teach you and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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