Common Misunderstandings

Talking to people all day every day about religion,

we get asked a lot of questions!

I've noticed a trend with some main misunderstandings of our beliefs

doctrine

and purpose.

That's why I'm dedicating this blog post to debunking those misunderstandings! :D

Here are three of the most common misunderstandings:

1. We are here to trick people into joining our church.

Our purpose is to INVITE others

to come unto Christ through Faith in Him,

Repentance,

Baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost,

and Enduring to the End.

We want people to try our message out themselves

by kneeling and asking God if what we share is truly His message!

The last thing we want are those we teach to accept our word alone

without the witness of the Holy Ghost that it is true.

2. We save ourselves through our works.

This is easily the most common one we get as missionaries.

"Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah;

for he is full of grace and truth." 2 Nephi 2:6

We gain eternal life/saved through  and only through Christ's grace.

That is the cleansing power that allows us to be comfortable

in our Heavenly Father's presence and allow us to live with Him after this life.

Christ has said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

That is what He asks for us to do.

Love him and therefore feel his Grace working in our lives.

That is why we believe our actions or works are so important

because Christ has asked us to act by keeping his commandments.

"faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone...

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."
-James 2:17-18

Our faith without works is dead and we believe strongly

that true faith leads to ACTION.

3. We worship Joseph Smith.

Our church has been given the nickname "Mormons"

but the true title is

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We believe that God has called a prophet in these days

and the first prophet to restore his church in our day is Joseph Smith.

We have a current prophet President Thomas S. Monson.

Christ is the center of our worship services.

Yes we discuss Joseph Smith often because he restored Christ's church!

He brought back, in it's fullness, The Lord's kingdom

to the earth today.

It was through honest studying of the Bible

and personal prayer in which He received a miraculous answer!

His story is miraculous as those prophets of old in biblical times.

We worship Christ as our Savior and our weekly services include the sacrament

which is a reminder of Christ's sacrifice for all of us.


Christ is our Savior and I can testify that His kingdom is on the earth once again.

I can also say without a doubt that you can know it too

through your own experience.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Contact the local missionaries here.





 

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Green Wood

Getting the opportunity to serve people are some of my favorite moments on my mission.

There was a specific person that we would move wood for.

She would keep her wooden stove running when it got cold to stop her pipes from freezing allowing her to have water in the house. 

As we searched through her garage we were instructed to find the dry wood and avoid the green wood.

Standing, Confused, not being able to tell the difference between what really is green wood or not, we decided to bring it all in since it all looked pretty much the same.

She came out and assessed the wood, 

Bringing a piece of wood to her nose she smelled it and after shaking her head she set it down next to the main pile.

"That's green wood." She plainly said. 

Scratching my head, I asked how she could tell.

With a simple response she said, "You can smell it, It's green wood."

Being the city boy I am, confused and impressed at the same time, I accepted it and watched as she separated the green wood from the dry wood.

We don't know the follies of Satan.

The smell of green wood was not familiar to me, 

In consequence I made the mistake of collecting green wood that does not burn well.

Many times we are not familiar with the follies of Satan.

Many times without direction we make the wrong decision, not knowing, and fall into his trap.

 

Today we have a Prophet on this earth.

Who knows very well, through inspiration and preparation throughout his life, the smell of "green wood."

God speaks to us through a prophet today.

Don't make the mistake of collecting green wood!

Especially when we are given direction on how to pick out the dry from the green.

Satan is trying harder and harder and the world is becoming increasingly darker.

It will get harder to be able to discern between right and wrong.

Trust in the Prophet. 

Seek the light that comes from his inspired counsel.

Read of his words and listen to his direction.

And avoid the green wood.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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The Red Square

As missionaries we play basketball all the time.

And when I say all the time,

I mean every free moment that we could possibly play,

we play basketball.

At one point there was a missionary who became frustrated because they couldn't play quite up to what they wanted.

They never seemed to be able to win!

I watched as they practiced shooting the ball over and over again and improving,

but slowly.

Walking up to them I pointed out the red square above the basket.

Relaying how that can be used to aim to make the ball in the basket,

they were surprised and tried using it.

They then made 10+ shots without missing.

A couple of weeks later the missionary was able to beat the rest of the missionaries

and come out on top!

The goal they had set was accomplished!

How many times do we find ourselves frustrated at the lack of improvement?

Do we find ourselves trying time and time again to better ourselves,

but only to find the ball continuing to  miss the basket?

That square behind the hoop is the key to improving and accomplishing our goal.

Heavenly Father has given us this square!

We are blessed to be here on this earth at a time when Prophets of God have been called once again!

Just a recently we were able to hear from the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson,

and from Twelve Apostles of the Lord!

I am here to tell you that the secret to being happy and improving this life,

is listening to the prophets that are on the earth today.

God loves his children and once again speaks through his messengers, just like in Biblical times.

Read their messages

and find the red square and your key to reaching your goals.

I can testify that Christ lives!

Their is a special spirit this time of year as we near the time when He rose from the tomb,

and lived again so that we all can overcome death and come unto Him.

He is the Christ

and the Son of God.

I close in his name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Step into the Wilderness

Often when we follow the counsel of The Lord,

we will have to tarry in the wilderness before we find our promised land.

This pattern is shown time and time again.

Lehi was promised a great land,

and he tarried 8+ years in the wilderness before he arrived.

The Israelites were promised a great land,

and they tarried in the wilderness for 40 years before they arrived.

Blessings and answers almost always come line upon line, precept upon precept.

There was a change that I was earnestly trying to make in my life.

No matter how hard I tried I seemed to always fall short.

Amid my frustration a challenge was extended to me to read the Book of Mormon 20 minutes a day.

Grudgingly I accepted the challenge not know the affects it was going to have.

I soon found myself lost in the stories and teachings of the prophets.















On my knees I sought for an answer once again to know of the truth of the Book.

My heart was once again touched and my testimony strengthened.

All during strength came to me.

I was happier.

My life was simpler.

The relationship with those around me grew

I was able to become more Christlike,

and in the end, I made the change, that seemed impossible to
accomplish not long before.

The Book of Mormon has power.

We will be blessed as we search and ponder it's teachings.

The blessings and answers will not come until we take that step of faith,

step into the wilderness and the unknown,

take the chance and trust in God,

and receive that witness from your Heavenly Father of the truth of it's power.

I know and testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

It was translated by a prophet called of God

and we have a prophet on the earth today.

It will bless your life in ways that seemed impossible

The Book will change who you are.

Take the step of faith,

and read it.

And most importantly,

Pray about it.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Is this Non-Fiction?

We were at a family's house watching the restoration DVD and their son (who is in kindergarten) was sitting right next to me.

It began to portray Joseph Smith seeking out answers to his questions in the Bible.

And then, making that decision that changed the world, knelt down in a grove of trees and asked his Heavenly Father what his soul pondered.

Their son turned to me and asked if the movie was non-fiction.

With a smile I told him that everything that was on the movie actually happened.

It truly was Non-Fiction!

How do I know this?

How do I know that as Joseph Smith knelt down in the grove of trees that he really did have his prayer answered by God and his son Jesus Christ

That They actually appeared to him in flesh and bone and spoke to him?

That he really was called as a prophet of God to restore Christ's true church on the earth once again?

Because I have knelt down and asked God myself.

As missionaries we don't want people to just listen to us and call it good,

No!

We want you to question it! We want you to honestly seek for the truth!

We want you to find out the same way we did, on your knees.

Talk to missionaries! Listen to what they teach!

But don't just leave it at that,

Get down on your knees and ask God, and listen to what your Heavenly Father teaches you through the Holy Ghost.

That is what we invite people to do, seek for themselves and ask the center of all truth, your Heavenly Father.

Imagine if this really was true,

It means that God speaks to his children today through a living Prophet

It means there is one true church on this earth

It means that the Priesthood power that Christ ordained his apostles with is once again found among members of his church on the earth today.

What we claim is miraculous.

How we ask you to find out is miraculous.

You Heavenly Father will answer your prayer.

Diligently seek and ask.

I say all of these things in the name of Him whose church is found once again on this earth, Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Missionaries for YOU, YES YOU!

All of the new products coming out are all about giving the customer something that is aimed to them personally.

Businesses are all about customer service and catering to the needs of the customer.

Well guess what else is catered and here just for you?

Missionaries! :D

We dedicate 2 years of our lives to come and be your missionaries, yes YOUR missionaries.

We are here for you!

How personal is that?

No matter how hot!

No matter how cold...

No matter what project...

No matter what question, whether deep or simple, 

We can help!

Just ask!!

Find out who your missionaries are and get to know them! 

Click Here to get in contact with your missionaries.

Do it! Do it now! I promise you wont regret it! :)

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Am I on a Mission?

My last companion,

Elder Willis, always said something that I loved and find myself saying now,

"Are we on our missions?"

It really hit me every time he said it, heck yah I'm on my mission!!

And how epicly cool is that?

No matter how hard the time we were going through at that point I couldn't help but smile.

I was on a mission. Did I really have a reason to be discouraged?

When we fully grasp where we are and who we are, do we really have a reason to be discouraged?

Are we children of God? Does God really have a plan for us? Do we really have loving Heavenly Parents?

YES!

Don't get discouraged and if you do let it be a small moment

Ask yourself, Are you here on earth?

Because you are. ;)

Which means there is a God, and He loves you and I.

Pray to him! Fervently!

He loves you.

Realize where you are and who you are.

And let it change you!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Famine in our Lives

The most memorable moment in the MTC was that first evening.

They had 50+ missionaries all in one classroom teaching one person. We all have had been missionaries for only a few hours and we were expected to work together to teach a person the Gospel of Christ that we have a testimony of.

I didn't know what to say.

I grew up living this gospel and I honestly could not come up with an answer to this person's questions.

I wouldn't say I was discouraged that night, because I knew the Lord would strengthen me, but I definitely realized I had a long way to go.

I realized how much of a famine in my life I had to overcome to help those in my mission.

Now don't get me wrong, my parents taught me extremely well and I graduated from seminary, I had all the scripture mastery references memorized, I did my homework, but I still was missing something.

It really hit me hard when I was reading in Genesis and the plea of the people to Egypt for the want of food, "Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate." Genesis 47:19

 They knew how much of a famine they were in. They realized how little they were without food I realized that night in the MTC how little I was without the spirit.

They wanted to give of their lives and all they posses to recieve that food they needed to live. That night I wanted to give of everything to have the spirit so I can help those I know i'm going to grow to love.

When I'm becoming frustrated I find myself reflecting on this humbling experience.

We are all in a famine and the only way we can quench our hunger is to bring the spirit more fully in our lives.

The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just for Salvation after this life but rather strength and happiness during this life also.

Realize how much of a famine you are in, allow the hunger to grow in you, and then feed the hunger.

As you do this you will feel joy.

"The Lord gives us His Holy Spirit in this life as a foretaste of the joy of eternal life." -Bible Dictionary 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Boogers or Kit-Kats?

We had the opportunity to teach Elder's Quorum this last Sunday and with it had an object lesson.

We had two volunteers and two cups with different candies in it. The first was a candy that looked like boogers:

 and the second was a Kit-Kat bar:

We gave the one volunteer the first cup with the boogers in it and told him to convince the other volunteer to eat whatever is in that cup. As he struggled to describe the "boogers" in the cup he managed to convince him enough that the other volunteer ate whatever was in the cup without even looking at it!

We gave him the second cup and he convinced him to eat it with ease. It was chocolate with a crisp cookie on the inside!

What was the difference between the two?

He knew what a Kit-Kat bar was and had tasted it himself and could easily explain without restraint how good the Kit-Kat bar actually was! The boogers was another story.

As we feel the joy through the gospel we can easily express that joy to others. When we know the gospel and have strong emotions about it, we can more powerfully convey a love for the gospel and touch people's hearts that no one else can.

But it all starts with your own conversion.

Ask what the prophet Alma directs: Can ye feel so now?

Feel so now.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Things Unseen

When I was attending BYU-Idaho, I had the privilege to have my brother come out and visit me!

He came right after a snowfall so we decided to go sledding on the sand dunes (which were bigger than any hill we had in Wisconsin.)

Finding a well trodden path we jumped on the sled. I watched them go down and glanced over my shoulder to see a completely untouched side of the dune. I set my sled in the snow, pushed off, and flew down the hill.

I eventually reached the bottom and stood up calling my brother to follow me down stating how "epicly awesome" it was.

I glanced up at the hill and called for him to stop. I realized looking from the top down it was impossible to see the rock faces that jutted out of the sand creating mini cliffs. I had managed to make it to the bottom avoiding every rock face. However my brother was not as lucky!

He made it to the bottom in quite a bit more pain and looking back he realized the rock faces in which he hit nearly every one.

Yes, we can make it through this life as we hold on to the scriptures and prayer. However we can make it through our lives with a lot less pain as we listen to those whom have gone before us.

"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land."-1 Nephi 17:55

We have had role models put into our lives to follow, seek their counsel and be humble enough to follow what they council you.

They are at the bottom of the hill and can see the masked dangers. They themselves have hit the "rock-faces" on their sled ride and they know how to avoid them much better than the one sitting at the top of the hill.

Follow the counsel we are so blessed to receive

Especially the counsel received from our Savior.

In the name of our savior, counselor, and brother, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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Vanilla Vs. Syrup

Everybody likes a good batch of chocolate chip cookies, it's just a fact.

My brother and I had a craving for them and decided to make a batch. Since my parents were out on their date night we decided to go for it with no supervision.

It went really well! We were working together, having a blast, and then we got to an ingredient: Vanilla.

We didn't have any vanilla.

Stumped we thought about what we could do. Neither of us could drive, and instead of doing the sensible thing and asking the neighbors for some, we substituted it with another ingredient...

Syrup.

They looked the same right? They both tasted pretty darn good.

The dough got EVERYWHERE.

Because of the substituted ingredient the dough was ridiculously sticky.

My parents soon came home and were flabbergasted at what we had done. Who in their right mind would substitute syrup for vanilla????

After scraping the dough off of the counters my mom kindly shared with me that syrup does not substitute for vanilla.

I look back at this experience and find a spiritual parallel.

To my young mind, who was very new at cooking, Syrup and Vanilla looked the same, so it should be okay right?

My mom knew beyond the surface and beyond the looks of the ingredients and knew that it wouldn't work.

As spiritual children we are constantly learning and realizing the Adversaries traps. However some of his attempts are taught by prophets today, so we don't have to learn the hard way.

We are spiritual children who need guidance from our parents. The more we study the words of the modern day prophets and the prophets in the scriptures, the more we'll know to avoid those follies of Satan.

Study the words of your Heavenly Father that he shares through his prophets.

Pray to know that we have a prophet today in whom we are continually given guidance.

Know the difference between Vanilla and Syrup, so when the time comes, you can enjoy some delicious chocolate chip cookies and avoid the scraping of dough off the counters.

I close in the name of Jesus Christ, who makes it possible to escape any dough-scraping experience, Amen.

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Power of God

"The Priesthood is the power and authority that God gives to man to act in all things necessary for the salvation of God’s children."

The Priesthood is the result of the restoration of the true church of Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, on this earth once again. It makes baptism into our church a key to salvation and allows to have a prophet of God, President Thomas S. Monson, to guide and direct Christ's church on this earth today. 

 God allows us, his children, to hold the priesthood and be able to act "all things necessary for the salvation of God's children."

I recently had the opportunity to do just that!

There is a sister that has decided to get baptized and the only thing in her way is her addiction to smoking. 

Having faith, she asked us to give her a priesthood blessing for strength to be able to overcome this addiction.

Walking in to her house she mentioned that she really had an urge for a cigarette and it was taking all of her will power not to go outside and satisfy the addiction. 

Through the authority of the priesthood we pronounced a blessing upon her.

Immediately following she said in amazement that she had "No desire for a cigarette."

The priesthood is real and truly is the power of God.

There are countless stories of miracles that have been wrought through the power and authority that God blesses his children with that they may serve others.

Seek the power and authority of God, allow it to bless your life, and have the faith to ask for it's power in your life when you feel that desire.

Those who hold the priesthood, always strive to be worthy, always be ready to be God's instrument in his composition of salvation in his children's lives. 

I say all of these things with a testimony of it's truth and power, in the name of he who wrought many miracles with the same divine power, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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Standing our Ground

We were helping a member from the ward build fence on his horse farm and I had no idea of the lesson I would learn that day!

We had a section of the fence knocked down and the horses were gathering around. The farmer affirmed us that the horses wouldn't try to get out and that we shouldn't worry.

Continuing to work, the horses continued to crowd. One of his dogs nipped at one of the horses and a horse took off through the gap.

Because one escaped, the rest needed to follow. I was shoved out of the way as a horse jumped the fence landing on the ground with a thud, and the others breaking through the gap and fence.

I was left there as my companion and the other two elders rushed out to try to coax the horses back. The farmer handed me a board and told me that if any of the horses came charging at me, to wave the board and stand my ground.

I was left, a city boy, completely out of my element, with a board, and horses eying me to see how sure I was of guarding the hole in the fence.

I wasn't so sure.

However I did have faith that what I was taught would work, and I stood there holding that board and didn't move a muscle.

Soon the horses were back and I was relieved of my duty.

In this life, the charge to live righteously and to endure to the end may be similar to a terrified city boy holding a board with a bunch of horses eying him.

All we know is that we have to stand our ground, and no matter what, use the board (Scriptures, Prayer, Church, etc.) and never lose our ground.

"I am satisfied that there is no need to stand still and let the filth and violence overwhelm us, or to run in despair. The tide, high and menacing as it is, can be turned back..." -Gordon B. Hinkley

It CAN be turned back.

So turn it back.

Never lose your ground.

And never lose your hope.

All things are possible through him.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Equation for Eternal Life

In 2 Nephi 31, Nephi tells us the equation on how we can endure to the end! After we enter the gate of baptism, this is what is required:

Press Forward with Steadfastness in Christ (Vs. 20) + Perfect Brightness of Hope + Love of Everyone + Feasting on the Word's of Christ = Eternal Life!

The dictionary states that Steadfastness means to show loyalty in the face of trouble and difficulty. Even when life get's hard we need to be loyal to Christ and turn to him as our first choice, not last resort.

Hope is something that has had it's meaning change over time. Today we use it to convey uncertainty. It's true meaning is to have an expectation or desire for something to happen. Expect Christ to help you through trials, have the desire to grow from your experiences. As long as we are living righteously Christ will always provide a way out!

Love of everyone is loving people enough to want whats best for them.

Feasting on the Word's of Christ entails not just reading, but feasting! Not only does this mean having the continual desire to read his word, but to really find joy and fulfillment out of it! When I feast on a meal I definitely always feel it after! Such as should be studying, feel it after!

Eternal Life is living the life that our loving Heavenly Father lives. He want's us to have what he has and will always, through his son, provide a way to achieve it as long as we make the choice and apply the equation of eternal life in our lives!

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