Overcoming Discouragement

My favorite person in the Book of Mormon is Amulek, one of the biggest reasons is because he is someone I can relate to!

Before he was called upon the Lord to serve he was a normal person going about his life. Then Alma, a prophet of God, was revealed unto  him and he ended up going out with Alma and teaching with him!

Could you imagine the prophet coming to your doorstep and asking if you'll go out and be a missionary with him?

That would be pretty awesome.

Amulek was an awesome missionary and taught with the spirit and power. However there's a specific point where I feel like I can really relate to Amulek and that's in chapter 15.

Up to this point Amulek saw people he converted, get thrown in a fire and burned because of their beliefs.(14:10) He was then imprisoned and ridiculed. Stripped naked and abused physically and by words (14:20), then was saved by a miracle and was freed from his afflictions for that moment. (14:27)

He returns to a land where his family and friends live and finds out that they all want to have nothing to do with him because of his beliefs. (15:16)

Was his mission and calling easy? of course not! I don't know if I would be able to bear that much!

In Alma 15:18, we read that Alma, "took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord."

Almulek became discouraged. He was brought down. I know I would have had a hard time going through those afflictions if I even could. Amulek righteously bore his afflictions, and when it became more than he could bare he allowed Alma to help him become strengthened in the Lord.

When we feel as if our afflictions are more than we can bear, turn to the Lord and whether it's on your own or through someone else, strengthen yourself in the Lord.

In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Read More

Trusting in the Lord

Alma and his people were being righteous and thriving, following the Lord and his commandments, and then suddenly the Lamanites stumble upon them and take them captive. (Mosiah 23).

I would have to say I'd be wondering why that happened to me! Here we are finally away from persecution and then the Lamanites, who weren't even looking for us, just happen to come upon us!

It slowly got worse and worse and finally the people turned to the Lord.

This is what I find interesting, they were being righteous and living the right way, but the Lord had a different plan that offered more joy than what they had at that time.

Because of their persecutions they turned to the Lord and prayed to him for help. (Mosiah 24:12-13)

The Lord strengthened them to take on the burden, he didn't take away the burden, however the people were blessed because of that. (Mosiah 24:14)

Then, after they turned to the Lord and were strengthened, the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites and they were able to escape to Zarahemla and bring the blessing of Baptism to that city. (Mosiah 25:17)

Alma ended up baptizing hundreds of people and allowing them to come unto Christ. He eventually established God's church in the land and had to have others help him teach because they were so numerous.

The end of the whole event was glorious and incredible! However the beginning wasn't. When we go through hard things in life, know that as long as we trust in the Lord the end will always be amazing.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Read More

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!

Read More

Pray Always, and Do Not Faint

 

2 Nephi 32: 9 "But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

Do not perform anything unto the Lord SAVE in the first place ye shall pray.

And why do we do that?

Because our performance will be consecrated...

Definition of Consecrated: Make or Declare (something, typically a church) sacred; dedicate formally to a religious or divine purpose.

If we do everything unto Christ by first praying it will have the divine purpose of being welfare for our souls.

Definition of Welfare: The health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.

Our Actions, under prayer will be dedicated for a divine purpose to help our health, happiness, and fortune be blessed under his name.

Pray ALWAYS and do NOT faint!

Read More

Finding the Will

Finding the will to live the gospel, serve a mission, give up an addiction, it all is based on our past experiences and our relationship with God.

My whole life I've planned on serving a mission, I just always expected it of myself. Growing up my biggest worry was how long it was. Could I really give up all of this to serve? Could I give up music? Could I give up movies, video games, my family, friends, etc.? 

As I got closer to my mission I really started preparing for the experience and I came to realize that I wasn't asking the right questions. I should be asking myself, Could I serve the Lord for two years? Could I gain the blessings that are promised to missionaries? Could I help people come closer to Christ for two full years? Those questions are a lot easier to answer, YES!

When we come closer to Christ we have a desire to serve him and change our life to come in harmony with his gospel. We read of this in the Book of Mormon in Alma 22. King Lamoni desires to serve the Lord and enter into his fold. He first says he will offer up his kingdom to know him (Verse 15) And then after a process says he will give up all of his sins to know thee. (Verse 18)

This story in the scriptures represents the point perfectly. King Lamoni didn't want to give up his sins, he didn't ask himself if he could give up his sins, he asked himself if he wanted to know Christ. Those are the questions we need to be asking ourselves. Do we want to come unto Christ? Do we want to receive the blessings that are promised to the faithful? 

Then you will find the will to change your life and come unto Christ. 

Read More

True Conversion

I was listening to Elder Hollands MTC talk and he talked about how the missionaries need to become converted before they can convert others, so I went to the scriptures to figure out what true conversion was.

Laman and Lemuel came to mind and thinking of their story I realized they had some pretty awesome spiritual experiences.

First, they had a prophet of God as their dad.

Second, they had their little brother beat them up by the power of the Lord (1 Nephi 17:53)

Third, they saw an actual angel of the Lord! (1 Nephi 3:29)

Fourth, Their little brother, without ever building a ship before, makes one and then proceeds to boat across the whole ocean.

The list goes on and on! How do they not have a sure knowledge of the Lord their God? They have had incredible miracles happen right in front of their eyes!

I got in to thinking about their testimony and if it was strong or not. I bet after they saw an angel they had a testimony of angels. They could testify that angels were real. Yet after the angel leaves they still aren't willing to do the will of the Lord. (1 Nephi 3:31)

Laman and Lemuel had a testimony, but were not converted. Alma describes this knowledge as a seed that has sprouted. The seed is good and we know it at that point! But if we do not keep nurturing the seed it will not grow anymore and that seed will die. (Alma 32)

As we find ourselves having tender mercies in our lives and find our testimony growing, allow it to add to your conversion also. Let it affect the way you act and live. Allow it to change your direction and head towards Christ. Allow it to change YOU.

Read More

Liken Faith Unto a Seed

Alma 32 is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon for two reasons:

1.It has profound doctrine on faith

2.It teaches it in a simple way!

I'll share my thoughts and hopefully inspire! I challenge you that as you read you read the chapter yourselves and share your insights also! Every verse can mean something different to every person and thats the magic of the scriptures.

To explain the setting before we dive in to the doctrine, Alma has been trying to teach the Zoramites and have found that they aren't willing to accept God's word. Now Alma is approached by a group of Zoramites who were poor and were cast out of the churches because of how poor they were.

Alma, as found in verse 6, "turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had humbled them." Alma, a missionary called of the Lord, is pumped that he found those that the Lord has prepared to hear his message!

First, let's look at how they were prepared. The people were outcasts, hated and seen as not worthy of worship. God put a trial in their life so he can humble them to hear his word! God loves us enough to bless us with what we need and not just what we want.

In verses 10-17 he commends them for being humble in heart. He states that they are willing to listen and believe without being compelled or need to have physical evidence. That's when Alma dives into his lesson on faith.

"Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

I have found when teaching Christ's doctrine the people that truly accept it are those who are hoping that the message we're sharing is true. That hope is where faith is born, which Alma taught so clearly here by stating "faith ye hope for things."

Alma in verse 27 then starts with a commitment and asks everybody to excersize a little bit of faith and just try out what he is about to say. He asks them to "give place for a portion of my words."

He starts to outline an expiriement on how to come to know if what he is teaching is true. These are the steps:

1. Plant the seed in your heart.

2.Pay attention to the feelings that accompany the seed.

3.If "swelling motions" are felt then it is a good seed.

Easy enough right? "And know behold is your knowledge perfect in that thing? Yea your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant."

Now you know! The expirement worked! It now is growing inside of you! However, Alma continues with the most important part of the message.

"O then is not this real? I say unot you, ye, because it is light; because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? Behold I say unto you, nay."

Wait. I thought he just taught that we did have perfect knowledge. Re-analyzing I found that we have a perfect knowledge in a specific thing, but not a pefect knowledge. Will we ever be able to come to a perfect knowledge on this earth? Of course not! Our minds can't process a perfect knowledge of this world. This is why faith is so important.

"Neithe rmust ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good."

I like to compare this to a person who has just recently been baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They know that being baptized was the right choice. They know it for sure and know that they have come unto Christ's true church. Just like Alma stated they had a perfect knowledge of the truety of the church. Is baptism the end?

Christ's Gospel is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and ENDURING TO THE END. We cannot lay aside our faith because we know one thing is true. We still have to endure to the end! Alma states it as nourishing the tree (which came from the seed of faith.)

"Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root and grow up..."

When one is baptized they have a tree inside of them, symbolically of course, but they haven't allowed it to take root. The more we endure the more the tree will sink it's roots into us. That is why God gives us trials, so we can sink our trees deeper into our soul.

Enduring is essential to God's plan for us. Keep your faith and endure. Then in the end you will be able to "pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet."

As we excersize faith in Christ he will allow it to work in us. He will assist in any way he can without taking away our agency to help us grow that faith inside of us. I know that Christ lives and atoned for our sins. If you haven't tried the seed, try it! Read the Book of Mormon and ask God, in Christ's name, if the book is true, and I know that as you do it sincerely and with real intent he will give an answer unto you, just as James 1:5 promises. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Read More