Jesus Christ is Greater than Angels

This week we are going to be looking into Hebrews 1-2 and we are going to be looking more into Jesus Christ.

1. Lets look at “Epistle to the Hebrews” in the Bible Dictionary under Pauline Epistles (pp. 746–47). Read the first paragraph and the “Analysis of Hebrews,” number 1–5, and we are going to make a list of what Jesus Christ is superior to.

• Sin
• Boasting
• Death
• Comment on this post with some of the ones you found.

2.   Now let's read Hebrews 1 and make a list of three truths Paul taught about the Savior Jesus Christ.

• An appointed heir of all things
• Creator of worlds
• First begotten into the world

3.  And finally lets read Hebrews 2:7–18; 4:13–16; Alma 7:11–15; Doctrine and Covenants 122:8, and describe how these scriptures explain reasons the Son of God came to earth to experience mortality.

• He needed to suffer in order to make perfect our salvation
• To deliver us from bondage
• To succor us
• So that he can relate to us personally

“Be Thou an Example of the Believers”

Alright so this week we are going to be looking into 1 Timothy. We have to remember that Paul wrote this to a person who was already a member of the church and who had great knowledge of the workings of the church. It also appears that Timothy is one of Paul's most trusted friends and companions. 

1. Let's first have a look at 1 Timothy 2:9–10 and describe in writing what Paul said about dress standards. 

Here Paul talks about how we need to be modest in dress (I know he says women, but it can also apply to men). We also don't need to wear all kinds of fancy jewelry and broadcast our wealth.

How does Doctrine and Covenants 61:18, 36 help us understand that what Paul taught applies to both men and women?


It teaches us that we need to warn everyone and encourage everyone to live up to the standards set by the Lord.

Study Moses 6:9; Mosiah 2:37; Alma 41:2. Then list three reasons our bodies could be considered sacred.

• God created us
• God/the prophets refer to them as temples.
• Our bodies will be resurrected 

How does understanding that our bodies are sacred help us know why they should be covered modestly? 

Knowing our bodies are sacred allows us to know where we come from and it helps us to want to cover up our bodies and not show them off to the world. Things that are sacred shouldn't be broadcast about.

What is mentioned in Alma 1:32 that relates to the other concern Paul mentioned about dress? 

Alma mentions that people not of the church at his time wore costly apparel, which in some cases (not all) can lead to other sins.

What can you do to apply these principles in your life?

This is something I want you to think about personally, but as for me, I can remind myself that I don't always have to have the best things, especially when it comes to clothing. I just need to be able to cover everything up.

2.    List the evidences Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1–5 that an apostasy would not only come in the future, but that some people were already practicing false doctrines:

• Seducing spirits
• Doctrines of devils
• Lies and hypocrisy
• Forbidding to marry
• Abstain from meats

3.    How could Paul’s counsel to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12 be used to strengthen a new missionary or a young person called to serve in any responsibility?

It can be strengthening because it shows that even though one may be young it doesn't mean that we can't be examples and show the way that we are supposed to live. We don't need to rub it in their faces, but we can just be a quite example.

4.    Review 1 Timothy 6:7–11 and answer the following questions:

• What did Paul teach about the love of money?
• Loving money can lead us to fall into pits of sin
• In what sense is the love of money the “root of all evil”?

• The love of money being the root of all evil is when men seek after money more than they seek after the things of God. It is not a sin to have money, but it is a sin to want money more than God.

5.    What guidelines are given in 1 Timothy 6:17–19 and Jacob 2:18–19 that when followed can help ensure that you do not focus too much on money or material wealth?

Paul teaches us that we need to not lay hold our riches, but lay hold the truths of God and trust in him. He says before that we did not bring anything into this world and we won't be able to bring anything physical out of this world. We also need to lay a sure foundation in Christ and God. We need to seek for God first and then riches. If we seek for riches we need to use them for good.

Becoming New Creatures in Christ

This week we are going to be looking into Paul's letter to the Colossians. There's a lot of good stuff this week, so lets just dive right in.

1. First we are going to make a list of names, titles, and phrases used by Paul in Colossians 1:13–2:7 to describe the Savior. 

• His Son
• The Firstborn of every creature
• The Firstborn of the dead
• the head of the body and the church
• What did Paul teach that Jesus Christ has done for us?
• Paul teaches us that Christ has done everything for us. He created the heavens and the earth, he performed the atonement, he gives us knowledge and wisdom, he gives us the resurrection.
• What do these verses teach about the responsibilities we have to receive the blessings of the Lord?
• The verses teach us that we need to follow the commandments and live up to our covenants in order to receive the blessings promised.

2. Next write Helaman 5:12 next to Colossians 2:7 in the margin of your scriptures (or in the notes section if you are using it online or on your smart phone). After reading these two scriptures, write a paragraph explaining what it means to be “rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith.”

• As we put our faith in Christ we can become strong in our testimony. We don't have to worry about our foundation failing us. I am reminded of a primary song entitled, "The wise man and the foolish man." We learn from this song about a wise man who built his house upon a firm foundation and when the rains came and the floods came his house did not fall; however there was a foolish man who did not build his house on a strong foundation and when the rains came and the floods rose his house was washed away. When temptation and sin come our way, if we have our foundations strong we will not falter.

3. Review Colossians 2:8, 18 and the institute student manual commentary for Colossians 2:18-19, “What does Paul Mean by the Worshiping of Angels?” (p. 345). List at least four means of deception Paul warned the Saints about in Colossae. What does 2 Nephi 9:28-29 add to what Paul warned.

• We can be deceived through philosophy, traditions of men, traditions of the world, and through the pride of the world.
• Nephi adds that we need to be careful of the counsel of the world.

4. Review Colossians 3 and make a list of what we should “put on” and “put off” or “mortify.” Make a chart like the following one and place your findings in the corresponding column:

Things We Should Seek After or “Put On”	Things We Should “Mortify” or “Put Off”
Things above the earth Mercy Kindness Humility Meekness Long suffering Forgiveness Charity Peace Wisdom Gratitude Love	Fornication Uncleanliness Inordinate affection Evil concupiscence Covetousness Idolatry Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy Filthy communication Lying

5. Review Colossians 3:15-21 and identify in writing several ideas that would help families live in greater harmony. Then answer the following questions in writing:

• What specific counsel did Paul give to children, parents, husbands, and wives?
• Wives love husbands
• Husbands love wives
• Children love and obey parents
• Do all things heartily unto the Lord
• Sing praises together
• Serve Jesus Christ
• What did Paul teach about the importance of hymns?
• Hymns can teach us
• They bring us together as a family
• Give praise unto God

Gospel Principles Chapter 6

"The Fall of Adam and Eve"

The Fall. This one is always a little tricky. There's so many different views on what actually took place and if it was symbolism or not. The way I like to look at it is that this record is an account, or in other words, what actually took place; also that everything can be taken as a symbol--especially for our day. So we can take out of this event is both literally what happened and that there is going to be some application for our day. So back to what happened. In a nutshell, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and gave them two commandments. One, multiply and replenish the earth aka have kids, and two, don't eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They knew the consequence of eating the fruit and that was if they ate they would die, and be cast out of the garden. One day a serpent, Satan, came and tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit. He told them that if they ate they would "be as gods, knowing good and evil," and that they wouldn't die, which is where the lie came in because God said that they would and he doesn't go against his word. Anyway, they decided to eat of the fruit and they were both cast out. This brought in two types of death, physical and spiritual. Physical is pretty self-explanatory, and spiritual death is the separation of us and God. Many people think that this was a bad thing, that they transgressed the law and partook of the fruit, but like all things great things happen when we make mistakes. And this mistake was needed for all of us to be able to come here to the earth. The prophet Lehi explains in 2 Nephi 2:22-25,
             "And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And all thigs which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created. ...
             "And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
           " But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
       "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."
I love this explanation of why it was necessary for the Fall. So many other great blessings have happened because of this one act. It was truly a great blessing.

Gospel Principles Chapter 3

"Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior"

Why was the need for a Savior so important? The answer: Because our Heavenly Father knew that we would all come here and make mistakes, and that we would need help along our way. "We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father" (Gospel Principles, 13). The scriptures teach us that Jesus Christ was foreordained and chosen to be our Savior. In the Book of Mormon, there is an account of the Savior appearing to a man named the Brother of Jared and Christ tells him, "Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. … In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name" (Ether 3:14) Even though Jesus Christ was chosen to be our Savior, Lucifer stepped up and said, "Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor" (Moses 4:1). Satan wanted to take away some vital things from us and Heavenly Father. The first thing he wanted was to take away our agency, or our right to chose, which we will discuss more in Chapter 4, and the second thing is he wanted Heavenly Father's glory. After hearing this he said, "I will send the first" (Abraham 3:27). Because Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ, Lucifer got angry and rebelled against God. In his rebellion, Satan managed to convince one third of the hosts of heaven to come with him, and in doing so, they were also cast out of heaven along with Satan. We know that we made the right choice because we are here today. "By following [Christ's] teachings, we can inherit a place in the celestial kingdom. He did His part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and become worthy of exaltation" (Gospel Principles, 16).

Gospel Principles Chapter 1

Chapter 1 is one of my favorites. The title is "Our Heavenly Father." We learn all about our Heavenly Father in this chapter. First off, how can we know that there is a God? Alma, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, tells us, "All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).  Everything around us tells us that there is a God, and that he exists. That leads us into what is He like, or in other words, what is the nature of God? One of the first attributes we know is, because we are made in his image--he has a body like ours. "He is a God of righteousness, with attributes such as love, mercy, charity, truth, power, faith, knowledge, and judgment. He has all power. He knows all things. He is full of goodness" (Gospel Principles, 5). After we know the nature of our Heavenly Father, we would like to get to know him, right? I would think so anyway. So there's a few ways that we can do this. First, we need to believe that he is actually there. Second, we need to study his word, or the scriptures. Third, we gotta communicate, or pray. And fourth, is we need to be obedient to His commandments. "As we do these things, we will come to know God and eventually have eternal life" (Gospel Principles, 7). That is one of my favorite quotes in the whole chapter. I know this to be true.

The Articles of Faith part 9 of 13

Article of Faith #9, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God."

This is such a vital part of the church. This Article of Faith is talking about revelation, not only past revelation, but present and future revelation as well. President Ezra Taft Benson in an address given at Brigham Young University in 1980 gave a talk entitled, "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet." This is where I will get a majority of my quotes. One of my favorite parts of it talks about modern-day prophets. He says in his third point, "The living prophet is more important than a dead prophet." Under this third point he states, "God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the Ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore the most important prophet so far as you and I are concerned is the living one in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each month in our Church Magazines. Our instructions about what we should do for each six months are found in the General Conference addresses which are printed in the Church magazine.
"Beware of those who would set up the dead prophets above the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence."

Also in the second point, which is called, "The living prophet is more vital to us than the Standard Works," also has some great insights for us about prophets and the scriptures. He tells of a story of Joseph Smith when he was in Kirtland, Ohio. He tells of a man who gets up and tells the people that the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, are all that we need and that we should "confine ourselves to them." He then asked Brigham Young to get up and tell them how he felt about the same topic. Brigham Young said that the books of scripture in front of him were nothing compared to the living prophet. Joseph Smith got up and stated, "Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth."

So as you can see. Yes, the prophets of old are important, but modern day, and more importantly, living prophets are so vital for us today. The revelation that we gain from the prophet is more vital to us than any other form of scripture. Therefore we need to heed the council of the prophet. Follow what he says and we won't go astray. I know this to be true.

The Articles of Faith part 8 of 13

Article of Faith #8, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

I think that this is one of my favorite Articles of Faith, not because it mentions the Book of Mormon, which is one reason, but because of the Primary Song. It was one of the easiest to memorize and so because of that I remember it still today.

The Bible is such an amazing book. It helps us get a glimpse of the life of Christ, at lest the important parts. It teaches us basic doctrines that we need to follow in order to return to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It teaches us to be better people in a world of continuously failing values. The Bible gives us our initial Faith in Jesus Christ, and that want to do something better with our lives.

The Book of Mormon is also an amazing book. It continues to help us grow our faith in Jesus Christ. It clarifies so much about the doctrine of Christ. We can learn so much about our Savior, and what he went through by reading and studying the Book of Mormon. The Spirit of God just flows from its pages. A lot of the time I feel the Bible gives us the what we need to do, and the Book of Mormon gives us the how and why we do them.

Together these two books have changed lives. As we use them in conjunction with each other and as the word of God, we can grow stronger in our faith and closer to Jesus Christ and eventually reach our goal of returning to live with our Father in Heaven. These two books have the most influential power in the world. Together with the Spirit of the Lord, we have what we need to get back to live with Him.

The Articles of Faith part 7of 13

Article of Faith #7, "We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth."

Gifts are an amazing thing that the Lord gives all of us. The Prophet Joseph Smith only mentioned a few of those gifts in this Article of Faith. The scriptures also mention a ton of gifts that we can get from the Spirit. The Bible and Book of Mormon both give us examples of gifts of the spirit. We can find reference to these in Moroni 10, "For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom; And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles; And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things; And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits; And again, to another, all kinds of tongues; And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues. And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will. And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ. And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men." Moroni explains that different gifts of the spirit are given to different people; of course, we can all strive to have these different gifts, but not everyone is born with these gifts. As we try to acquire these gifts we need to ask God. He is the only one who can give them to us. Prayer is the first step in gaining anything from God. I know that we can all attain the gifts that we would like in this life if we just put our hearts and souls into it. 

The Articles of Faith part 4 of 13

Article of Faith #4, "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

So I think first we must define what a principle is and what an ordinance is. So first off, a principle is "an underlying faculty or endowment" and an ordinance is "a prescribed usage, practice, or ceremony." So what that is saying is that a principle is a basic need that's established, like faith, and an ordinance is something that is performed, like baptism. (Definitions came from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)


Now that we have that established we can get into what the first principles and ordinances are. The first one being, "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." So what is faith, and why do we need it? Faith as explained in the scriptures is, "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." (Alma 32:21) So we must hope for things that we can't see, but we know are there. It's like the air we breathe, we can't see the air but we know it's there. It fills our lungs every time we take a breath, and so it is with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. We can't see them, but we can still know that they are there. We can feel the Spirit, and we can have their influence in our lives. We need faith in our lives so that we can know who to turn to in our times of need. It is what gets us through those hard times and picks us up when we are down.


Second is repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is a change of heart. It is turning away from the thing we don't want in our lives and adding something we do want in our lives. There is 5 steps to repentance: 1) To acknowledge that we are sinning, 2) be sorry and feel godly sorrow, 3) confess to God, 4) correct the mistake, and 5) endure to the end. As we apply these five steps in our lives, our lives become so much easier to handle and to get through. It's not making big changes, but the small ones that really add up to making big ones.


Third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. Why is baptism by immersion so important? What is it a symbol of? What Christ baptized? Baptism is so important because it does exactly what Joseph Smith said it does, and that is gives us a remission of our sins, or it cleanses us. It symbolizes not only Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, but our own as well, by dying to our old life, burying it and coming up renewed with a new life, or in other words being born again. Christ showed us the way in all things, including baptism. In Matthew 3:13-17, we can witness Christ's baptism. We get a little bit better glimpse at what Christ did for us in the Book of Mormon, Nephi gives us a great explanation in 2 Nephi 31, he tells us, "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water! And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water? Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments. Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove. And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father? And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall followthe Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel." Christ has set forth the example and we all need to follow it. Baptism is our first covenant and ordinance that must be performed if we are to inherit the Kingdom of God, except it's not finish. Christ said, "yet a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God," which leads into the fourth thing.

Fourth, the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. This is also known as the baptism by fire.The gift of the Holy Ghost is so very important. It is the purifying, or sanctifying, part of baptism. The gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. This can help us stay closer to our Heavenly Father, and to have to ability to be guided in all things. The Holy Ghost provides comfort, protection, and revelation.


These are the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. We know that we need to continue on and endure to the end in order to live with God in the end. These are just the beginning. I love this gospel. It is so simple and allows all to come closer to Jesus Christ. 

The Articles of Faith part 3 of 13

Article of Faith #3, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

Well, yesterday we were in Kalispell, MT for a missionary meeting, and President Gardner challenged all of us to put up a post specifically for someone we are teaching. I thought about this challenge this morning and realized that I was going to be blogging about Article of Faith #3 today, and found this to be perfect for someone I am teaching.


The Atonement of Jesus Christ is soooo special. It can be very hard to understand in the sense of how it works, or why it works. I don't know the answers to this, nor can I direct you to someone who knows, besides God. All I know is that it works. Our Heavenly Father knew us before we can to earth. He know that we were all going to make mistakes in this life and that we were going to need a Savior; that is why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. The Atonement is so much larger than we think it is, but in the simple version it consists of three things: 1) Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, 2) His death and suffering on the cross, and 3) His resurrection the third day. The Book of Mormon gives us some great insight as to what exactly Christ suffered for; in the book of Alma, chapter 7, verses 11-13 it tells us, "And he shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance..." The book of Mormon also tells us of who this atonement covers it says in Alma 34:10, "For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice." The scripture continues on through verses 11-16. They are some great verses on the Atonement and I'll invite all of you to read those. I know that through the Atonement of Christ we can all be saved, as long as we are doing our part. Not that we can work our way into Heaven, because that is not the way we can do it, but we can't believe our way to Heaven either. We must do all we can and believe and then the grace of Christ is sufficient for all. I know that as we turn to our savior in humility he will forgive us of all our trespasses. The relief that we get when we use the Atonement in our lives is unbelievable. Alma tells us that he was "filled with joy as exceeding as was [his] pain." This can be the same for us. I know this is true.

Adversity

Adversity. What is it? Why do we need it? A prophet in the Book of Mormon said to his son,"For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." Merriam-Webster dictionary defines adversity as, "a state, condition, or instance of serious or continued difficulty." LDS.org has so many great things on it, this is one of those, "Trials, disappointments, sadness, sickness, and heartache are a difficult part of life, but with the help of the Lord they can lead to spiritual growth, refinement, and progress." The prophets and apostles today have been speaking a lot lately on adversity. We all go through it, and we may not all like it or be able to relate, but the Lord can and already went through everything that we will ever go through. The Savior and his teachings, the gospel,willl help you. Keep your heads up and trust in the Lord and everything will be alright. 

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.

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.

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."