"A Foundation Whereon If Men Build They Cannot Fall"

Life is hard.  Everyday seems to have its own set of challenges.  Some storms of life are little showers that pass relatively quickly.  Some storms of life are tsunamis that could destroy almost everything.  With a pretty much unpredictable forecast if events in life, how can we not get washed away?  The answer is Christ!  He is the unchanging solid foundation we can build on!
Helaman 5: 12 reads, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

The Book of Mormon

I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon!  I have read it, and I have felt the Spirit testify to me.  I know that it is God's word.  It contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel.  I know that by the gift and power of God, Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.  It is another testament of Jesus Christ.  The only way to know if it is true is to read it and pray about it.  If you want to know if it is true, find out yourself!  

The Sure Compass

"O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever."(Alma 37: 46).  I found this counsel of Alma to his son Helaman interesting.  Life is difficult right?  What does Alma know that we need to know?

How Do We Avoid Sin?

Nehemiah, in the Old Testimate, started a large task.  He recieved permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  He, and those helping him, worked hard.  They were focused on their work; they knew what they wanted to accomplish.  There were other people who didn't like that they were rebuilding the wall.  They sent messangers to Nehemiah"saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono."(see Nehemiah 6: 2)  Nehemiah recognized that "they thought to do me mischief."(see Nehemiah 6: 2)  He sent a reply back to them.  Nehemiah 6: 3 reads: "And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"  He did this with all 4 of their attempts.  Nehemiah was firm in his decision; the wall was finished in just 52 days!

How can we find stability in a world of trouble?

I can't begin to count how many times on my mission I have heard, many times in many ways, people express a voice of concern because of all the bad in the world.  This is a topic that weighs on a lot of our minds.  I feel like there is a push to find stability and safety.  In the world there is much concern and confusion.  In this quest to find safety physically and spiritually, we must turn to God. 

When we turn to God we seek His Spirit and His words.  We can receive council from God as we study the scriptures.  The scriptures are God's word given to man through His Prophets.  Nephi, a Prophet in the Book of Mormon, said this about the scriptures, "And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would  hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."  This is found in 1 Nephi 15:24.  If we desire to be safe and have peace, we must study the scriptures.

The Search that yields great rewards

For a few weeks, my scripture study in the morning was centered around getting to know Jesus.  My mission president asked us as missionaries to study about our Savior as we were approaching the Christmas season.  I went through the scriptures and read as many scriptures about the Savior as I could for those few weeks.  Before this experience I knew about Jesus and definitely had a testimony about who he is and what he has done for me, but this experience helped me out a lot because I was able to learn a little bit more about the significance of who he is and what he did.  We can't learn too much about his life and who he is.  In 3 Nephi chapter nine in the Book of Mormon, Christ introduces himself and says:

13O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

14Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

15Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

16I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.

17And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled.

18I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

Are You Truely Hungry? Lets Feast!

The scriptures hold all of the answers to the pressing questions we have.  It is wonderful that our loving Heavenly Father called Prophets to write down the text we now enjoy today.  We all need to sink our teeth deeper into the feast of the scriptures our Father has provided for us.

Being a missionary in Montana, I get to drive a lot.  This last week we went down to Billings for a conference,  this trip alone was over 270 miles one way.  Cars have these cool mirrors that we can look into and see things behind us that we couldn't see unless we turned our head around.  In these mirrors we can see the territory we just covered, and we can see the cars coming up from behind us.  We use them to help us be safe while driving.

Oct. 15, 2010

Today is a great day!  I was able to study out of the scriptures this morning and I came across a lot of great things.  One thing stood out to me in particular, it is in the book of Ether chapter 4.  Ether is one of the last books in the Book of Mormon.  The verse that stood out to me the most is verse 12 which reads,

"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world."

This stood out to me.  I know that whatever leads us to do good is defiantly from God.