Forgiveness

Today we are going to talk about forgiveness. We are getting into Paul's epistles to the Corinthians.

Lets review a few scriptures: 2 Corinthians 2:1-11, Matthew 6:14-15, and Doctrine & Covenants 64:9-10.
(Doctrine and Covenants are found the the triple combination of the LDS scriptures or are found online at lds.org/scriptures)

Then lets go over the following questions:

• What were the people of Corinth commanded to do "if any have caused grief?"
• The people of Corinth were commanded to forgive them, and show an increased measure of love and kindness. They/we should also "confirm" our love for them.
• What blessings do we see if we forgive?
• One of the main blessings that we receive from forgiving others is forgiveness ourselves. Heavenly Father will forgive us when we forgive others.
• What is the danger of failing to forgive?
• The dangers are that we will not be forgiven and we will be committing a greater sin than the person who offended us. 

We need to put our trust in the Lord and forgive others, even when it seems like a really hard thing to do. We are given the power to forgive others, so we can do it we just need to put our mind and heart to it. I also think that the person we need to forgive the most is ourselves. We are the hardest on ourselves and so it is that much more important to forgive ourselves. We can overcome anything with the help of the Lord through the Atonement.

The following video is one amazing man's experience with forgiveness. May we all be like unto him and forgive.

Gospel Prinicples Chapter 4

"Freedom to Choose"

 Our freedom to choose is so important. We are told through the scriptures that Agency has been given to us from the very beginning. We were able to choose to come down to earth and to get a body or to follow the plan that Satan had proposed in our pre-earth life. Agency was the principle issue that we fought over in our pre-earth life. Satan's plan was to take away our agency from the beginning and to force us to return to live with God again. Agency is the thing that makes this life a time of testing. It is what allows us to make choices and to either follow what Christ would have us do or to follow what Satan would have us do. An analogy that I really like comes from the manual, it says, "When we follow the temptations of Satan, we limit our choices. The following example suggests how this works. Imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads: 'Danger—whirlpool. No swimming allowed here.' We might think that is a restriction. But is it? We still have many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the beach and pick up seashells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. But once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown." We are told how to escape the grasp of Satan many times in the scriptures. We are told to "watch and pray continually," as we do that we will be able to overcome the temptations of Satan and be able to make correct choices.

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 2 of 13

Article of Faith #2, "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."

This is a very significant statement about the Atonement of Christ. This statement is saying that we don't believe in "original sin," and so little children are the only people perfect on this earth, besides Jesus Christ. We believe that we are responsible for our own actions and sins. Adam definitely brought sin into the world, but it's not because of him that we sin. God gave us all our own agency to choose whether or not we were going to follow his commandments. The Atonement covered that original sin and we are able to repent and be forgiven of those things that we do wrong.This also has to do with when we believe people should be baptized, which is at the age of 8 years old. It says in the Bible, " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us...." (1 Peter 3:18-21) This is saying that after Christ was crucified, he went to the spirits in prison and taught them. It also says that he taught those who were once disobedient and when Noah was saved only 8 were saved with him, which is the same number that saves us now when we are baptized. So we should be baptized at age 8. Also in modern revelation, "And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of hands." (Doctrine and Covenants 68:27) We are responsible for our own actions and sins. The Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all. I know that is it real and that it works, all we have to do is apply it to our own lives.

The Articles of Faith part 1 of 13

Article of Faith #1, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

This is a very simple; yet powerful statement. This is a basic belief that needs to be held by anyone who can be considered Christian. We must believe that God is our Eternal Father, and that His Son is Jesus Christ and that His messenger is the Holy Ghost. Through the power of the Holy Ghost is how anyone gains a testimony of anything, namely that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Holy one of Israel. Without this basic doctrinal belief none of us would be here at this time. How would we know the Bible to be true, the Book of Mormon to be from God, that there really is a God and He is our Heavenly Father? We could not know. There is only one way we can know truth and that is through the confirmation of the Holy Ghost. Whether we recognize that or not, is up to us. This is a foundational doctrine that we believe. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet, that Jesus Christ lives, and that it is after all we can do and faith is Christ that His grace is sufficent for us, which leads into next weeks blog post...Article of Faith #2.

Scriptures

The scriptures are our main source of help in this life. They teach us exactly what we need to be doing in order to return back to live with our Father in Heaven. That is why we have been commanded to read and study our scriptures daily. It the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord says, "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." There are so many scriptures that tell us we need to study them. We all need to make it part of our daily lives and to continue to "search, ponder, and pray," as the childrens song book says.

Prophets

We can learn so much about prophets from the scriptures and from our online resources. I found this about prophets on http://www.lds.org/, "As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to be led by living prophets--inspired men called to speak for the Lord, as did Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, and other prophets of the scriptures. We sustain the President of the Church as prophet, seer, and revelator--the only person on the earth that receives revelation to guide the entire Church. We also sustain the counselors in the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Tweleve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators." It also says, "Like prophets of old, prophets today testify of Jesus Christ and teach His gospel. They make known God's will and true character. They speak boldly and clearly, denouncing sin and warning of it's consequences. At times, they may be inspired to prophesy of future events for our benefit." I know that it is such a benefit for us to have a prophet on the earth today. He helps lead and guide us in our times of need. I am so excited to go out and teach people about this wonderful gift that our Father in Heaven has given us. I know that Thomas S. Monson, the President of the Church, is a Prophet of God and that he leads and guides this church by the power and guidance of the Spirit.

And so it begins....

Well, it has been an interesting ride up to this point. I can't believe that it has been 14 months since I started my mission. It has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. A ton of ups but there are those days where you just don't know what to do or how you are going to do it. I love the opprotunity I have to be here serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is nothing else that I would rather be doing at this time in my life than this. Of course, like I said, there are going to be ups and downs but the ups always out weigh the downs. One of my favorite scriptures comes from the Doctrine and Covenants. In section 18 it tells us that we will receive so much joy if we just bring one soul unto Christ, and that how much more joy will we have if we bring many souls unto him. I am so grateful for the opprotunity I have to do that. We are also promised that we preaching the gospel is going to bring us the most joy in this life and in the life to come. In most caseses I feel like the prophet Alma in chapter 29 when he exclaims, "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me." That is my goal and purpose, "to help others come unto Christ by recieving the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." There are many people out there in the world that are searching for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all we have to do is open our mouths and they will hear us. http://www.mormon.org/ is a great website to help us all come closer unto Jesus Christ. He is our savior and redeemer. There is none other way for us to be redeemed from the Fall, only through him and by him are we saved after all we can do. I love my savior for that reason. I hope this has helped you all in some way, shape or form. I love you all. You are in my prayers. Keep up the great work! God speed.