Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon. What is it? Do we even need it? Where did it come from? These are some of the many questions that come about when The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is brought up. So what exactly is the Book of Mormon? It is exactly what the title says, another testament of our Savior Jesus Christ. It says in the Introduction, " the Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel." It is so important that we don't look at the Book of Mormon as "another Bible" or that it is adding or taking away from the Bible. It is used so that we can better understand and apply the principles in the Bible. Joseph Smith said, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” That right there is a pretty bold statement, and as we disect what he said it all really makes sense. The Bible has been translated so many times either from its original or from the translated that there have been errors made and then you have people who purposely change things in the Bible. The Book of Mormon has been translated from it's original once, and every other translation is based off of the English, so that no or few translation errors can occur. It is the keystone of our religion because without the Book of Mormon there are very few things that lead us to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. It also helps us to gain a clearer understanding of our doctrines. So without the Book of Mormon, everything in our church crumbles. And of course, last but not least, if we abide by the principles in the book we can draw closer to God. The same thing happens when we follow what the Bible says to do, and it is only the teachings of Jesus Christ that can draw us closer to God. It says in the Book of Mormon, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26). It also says, "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness" (2 Nephi 33:10-11). As we listen to the words of Christ, we can only come closer to him. There is a promise given to us from the prophet Moroni, he is the last prophet in the Book of Mormon, and he tells us, "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:3-5). It says in Galations 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." That is how we can know if the Book of Mormon, or anything for that matter, is true. That is what the scriptures tell us. We all need to find out for ourselves.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Actions

The things we do and say are very important to our daily lives and the daily lives of others. They not only affect our daily lives but also our eternal salvation if we are not careful. Actions can be for our good and for the bad. We have been given that opportunity by our Heavenly Father. He has given us the ability to choose, or agency. As we use our agency properly we can come in closer harmony with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but as we misuse our agency it drives us further and further away from our Heavenly Father and closer and closer to Satan. It says in the Book of Mormon, 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." That is really the only two things that we have to decide. It tells us that all of the choices we make in this life are to either choose God or choose Satan, and that should decide what our actions should be. Of course we have to love God and have faith, but our actions are another part of how we get into Heaven. It says all of the time in the scriptures that we need to have faith, but that we also need to show that faith. If we continue on in doing those things, and "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," we can eventually return to live with our Father in Heaven.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Our Thoughts.....

I've been told many times in my life that "our thoughts are what lead us to action." One of my favorite analogies about our thoughts is that our minds are like a stage. Preach My Gospel says, "Your mind is like a stage in a theater; in the theater of your mind, however, only one actor can be on stage at a time. If the stage is left bare, thoughts of darkness and sin often enter the stage to tempt. But these thoughts have no power if the stage of your mind is occupied by wholesome thoughts, such as a memorized hymn or verse of scripture that you can call upon in a moment of temptation. By controlling the stage of your mind, you can successfully resist persistent urges to yield to temptation and indulge in sin. You can become pure and virtuous." There is so much that comes with our thoughts. As we continue to apply the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives it becomes easier for us to control our thougths. I especially like the ideas to have a memorized hymn or scripture that we can call upon in order to fight off those thoughts. In times of need we can always turn to our Heavenly Father to help fight off those thoughts. President Boyd K. Packer said, "I have come to know that thoughts, like water, will stay on course if we make a place for them to go. Otherwise, our thoughts follow the course of least resistance, always seeking the lower levels. Probably the greatest challenge and the most difficult thing you will face in mortal life is to learn to control your thoughts."  It is amazing to see how much the Lord will bless us if we ask him to help us in those times of need. The quote from President Packer is so true. Our thoughts will go to the place of easiest resistance. If we don't allow a place for our thoughts to go they will wander to places that we don't want them to go. That is why we have to channel our thoughts and do those things to help us in those times when the "water" goes over the banks, or in other words when our thoughts get out of control. The Lord will always help us if we turn to him. One of President Packers ideas for helping to ward of those bad thoughts is our choice in music. One of my past blogs talks a little bit more about music and it's influences in our lives, but it is so true that as we fill our minds with bad entertainment those bad thoughts will continue to come back if we don't properly take care of them.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Our Words Mean More Than We Think...

They say that "our actions speak louder than words," but sometimes I think that our words are what really mean the most to people. One of my favorite hymns says,
"Let us oft speak kinds words to each other At home or where'er we may be; Like the warblings of birds on the heather, The tones will be welcome and free. They'll gladden the heart that's repining, Give courage and hope from above, And where the dark clouds hide the shining, Let in the bright sunlight of love. Oh, the kinds words we give shall in memory live And sunshine forever impart. Let us oft speak kind words to each other; Kind words are sweet tones of the heart. Like the sunbeams of morn on the mountains, The soul they awake to good cheer; Like the murmur of cool, pleasant fountains, They fall in sweet cadences near. Let's oft, then, in kindly toned voices, Our mutual friendship renew, Till heart meets with heart and rejoices In friendship that ever is true. Oh, the kind words we give shall in memory live And sunshine forever impart. Let us oft speak kind words to each other; Kind words are sweet tones of the heart."
The words we speak greatly influence the way that we can feel of the Spirit of God. It says in the Doctrine and Covenants 52:16, "He that speakth, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances." God says that we need to watch out language. It also says in the 10 Commandments, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain....Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neightbour." The Lord gives us direct commandments to watch what we say. It is something that everyone can continue to work on in their lives.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Who Is Your Hero?

Heroes are an important part of all of our lives. There is a poster that hangs on my wall at home that has the saying, "Who is Your Hero?" I think it is such an inspirational quote. Also on the poster is pictures of heroes from the Book of Mormon. That is how I think we all need to be. We need to look toward someone that we want to be like and have them be our hero. Some great examples that I can think of off the top of my head are Jesus Christ, Captain Moroni, Paul, Ammon, Aaron, Moses. The list goes on and on. There is a website that has all of these posters on them and many more. It is amazing to see the artists rendition of our heroes. http://www.realheroposters.com/magento/ 

Captain Moroni is one of my favorite Book of Mormon heroes. He is so amazing and does so many things. One of my favorite quotes comes from about him it says in Alma 48:17-18, "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be like unto Moroni, behold, the very power of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power the hearts of the children of men. Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God."

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Church In Christ's Day

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ from the Bible. Joseph Smith wrote what is called the Articles of Faith, and in Article of Faith #6 it says, “We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.” In the Gospel Principles manual we learn a ton about the church in the former times. Chapter 16 is dedicated to that. We can find it on lds.org or http://lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-16-the-church-of-jesus-christ-in-former-times?lang=eng. I love having so many resourses at our disposal. They help us to gain further light and knowlege. If we only had time to look at everything and to apply them all to our lives. Keep up the great work and I love you all.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Music

Music is such an inspirational part of our lives. The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said, “Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns. Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end." A really good quote about music and learning music says this, "Parents should encourage their children to receive instruction in musical skills, enabling them to use their talents to serve in the Church." Music is such an influential part of our lives it influences the things that we think and do and say. It's one of the best ways we can show our appreciation for the Lord. He says, "My soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." There is so much out there for us and we need to filter out those things that are going to be harmful to us.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Family


One of my favorite videos on http://www.mormon.org/ is called Swashbuckler. It is a great video that shows how family time can be made fun. I'll put a link on the comments so that you can all check it out. Family is the most important thing in this life. God has made it that way. We read in Genesis, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." He created Adam and Eve, later after the Fall of Adam, they had children and we read about those children and their families in later chapters and books. An awesome proclamation on the family comes from the First Presidency, it is called, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." http://lds.org/family/proclamation?lang=eng that is the link to check out the full proclamation. It says in there, "...the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." There is so much in this that it is hard to do it justice. I love having a living prophet on the earth today who leads and guides us. Remeber that families are important to our Heavenly Father and Satan is trying his hardest to break apart the family.