"Followers of Christ" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Howdy!

This week I really though I'd have to postpone my blog entry. Not so! I'm here ready to discuss another talk by an apostle. This week we'll be with Elder Dallin H. Oaks - who has been a member of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles since May 1984. The title of his latest conference address is "Followers of Christ".

This talk is full of examples, facts, and anecdotes that show the deep commitment Mormons have to follow Jesus Christ. It both shows non-members that we are Christians indeed and reminds us all - as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - what we should be do, think, and believe to qualify for the title of Christians (literally "followers of Christ").

Elder Oaks is well aware that we are not perfect, and one of his first admonishments is for those of us who've stumbled in their efforts to follow Christ:

As taught by President Monson, obedience is key. You will find Elder Oaks' teaching about obedience pretty useful as well.

Elder Oaks goes on to point out how we, as Christians, pray to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ; are committed to strengthen and uphold the role of family in today's society; always strive to help our neighbor and rescue who's in need; forgive each other.

This is a very touching experience related by Elder Oaks about Christlike forgiveness, which is one of the core values of the LDS faith:

  "Chris Williams drew upon his faith in Jesus Christ to forgive the drunken driver who caused the death of his wife and two of their children. Only two days after the tragedy and still deeply distraught, this forgiving man, then serving as one of our bishops, said, 'As a disciple of Christ, I had no other choice.'"

Many people are not aware of the outstanding efforts made by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the humanitarian field. Some numbers given by Elder Oaks leave no room for doubts:

• $13 million given in cash and relief supplies after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011+31,000 Church-sponsored volunteers who gave more than 600,000 hours of service;
• 300,000 hours of service in cleanup efforts by about 28,000 Church members following the hurricane Sandy that hit the eastern United States;
• 300,000 pounds (136,000 kg) of clothing and shoes for the refugees in the African nation of Chad only in the last year;
• 30 million people of all faiths and races assisted in 179 countries during the last 25 years. 

The missionary effort of the LDS Church is well known and it's inspired by one of the last teaching the Savior left with His original apostles: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). At the time when this talk was given (April 2013) the missionary force of the church consisted of 60,000+ missionaries. Today there are more than 75,000! 

The last point Elder Oaks touches on in this talk is the LDS belief and practice of becoming more like Jesus Christ everyday:

"From modern revelation, unique to the restored gospel, we know that the commandment to seek perfection is part of God the Father’s plan for the salvation of His children. Under that plan we are all heirs of our heavenly parents. “We are the children of God,” the Apostle Paul taught, “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16–17). This means, as we are told in the New Testament, that we are “heirs … of eternal life” (Titus 3:7) and that if we come to the Father, we are to “inherit all things” (Revelation 21:7)—all that He has—a concept our mortal minds can hardly grasp. But at least we can understand that achieving this ultimate destiny in eternity is possible only if we follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, who taught that “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). We seek to follow Him and become more like Him, here and hereafter."

Much doctrine and much encouragement can be found in this talk.

We invite all men to come unto Christ and we ourselves strive to do that on a daily basis. 

I hope you enjoyed this week's entry! I'm always eager to have your feedback :)  

Singe the October 2013 General Conference is coming up, here's a page where you can find useful tools to share this wonderful, unique event with your online friends and family members!  

Bye for now :) 

-Ottavio

"You Know Enough" by Elder Neil L. Andersen

Have you ever found yourselves in front of a task (any kind of task: church, school, work and the list goes on...) without having a clue how you're going to accomplish it? As a missionary, it happens to me all the time. The talk I'll share this week has helped me a lot whenever I've had to do things that seemed bigger than me.

Elder Neil L. Andersen (who is currently the junior member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles) was yet to be called as an apostle when he gave this talk -- but I think it's such a great one that, that it definitely deserves studying and looking at! Its title is "You know enough".

When Elder Andersen was getting ready to serve a mission as a young man, he was wondering whether he would be able to be a good missionary. He relates:

"I felt very inadequate and unprepared. I remember praying,“Heavenly Father, how can I serve a mission when I know so little?” I believed in the Church, but I felt my spiritual knowledge was very limited."As I prayed, the feeling came:“You don't know everything, but you know enough!” That reassurance gave me the courage to take the next step into the mission field."

 I think we can all have that exact spiritual experience as we go to our Father in Heaven and ask Him for comfort and reassurance. 99% of my stress is due to my fear that the lord expects me to be all perfect, all at once. I somehow think that the Lord expects me to be able to deal with all the difficulties of life by myself. When I get caught in that misconception, I fail to understand the very purpose of those trials and of my imperfections. "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27; italics added) What a wonderful scripture! What a wonderful promise from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 

Let's read the story of how Elder Andersen helped a missionary stay in the mission field in a moment of crisis:

"The missionary told me about his challenging childhood, of learning disorders, of moving from one family to another. He spoke sincerely of his inability to learn a new language and adapt to a new culture. Then he added, “Brother Andersen, I don't even know if God loves me.” As he said those words, I felt a sure and forceful feeling come into my spirit: “He does know I love him. He knows it.”I let him continue for a few more minutes, and then I said, “Elder, I'm sympathetic to much of what you've said, but I must correct you on one thing: you do know God loves you. You know He does.”As I said those words to him, the same Spirit that had spoken to me spoke to him. He bowed his head and began to cry. He apologized. “Brother Andersen,” he said, “I do know God loves me; I do know it.” He didn't know everything, but he knew enough. He knew God loved him. That priceless piece of spiritual knowledge was sufficient for his doubt to be replaced with faith. He found the strength to stay on his mission."

The simple, basic knowledge that God loved him helped this young elder (I always like this oxymoron!) stay on his mission. My mission president says that to understand the gospel and resolve concerns we have to K.I.S.S. ("Keep It Simple and Stupid"). That does make the difference! 

In his talk, Elder Andersen says that as "we choose the road of faith [...] our questions and doubts are resolved or become less concerning to us. Our faith becomes simple and pure. We come to know what we already knew."

It takes faith to realize that we don't know everything, but we know enough. It probably takes even more faith to realize that the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ don't expect us to know everything. How wonderful is that, though! A good friend of mine, every time I talk to her about my problems and challenges, reminds me that I need to learn to turn it over to the Lord and quit over worrying about it!

I love this talk. It's been a huge part of my life ever since I first read it. It helps me remember that my Heavenly Father is a merciful God, who doesn't expect me to know everything. I'm sure He wants me to learn and increase my knowledge. But there are times when He does whisper to me -- just like He did to Elder Andersen more than 40 years ago -- "You don't know everything, but you know enough".

I do recommend that you read the entire talk. You might also wanna check out this nice Mormon Message.

Share your thoughts about this talk with me if you feel like. I love to hear from you all!

Bye for now.

-Ottavio 

"Obedience brings blessings" by Thomas S. Monson

Hello there!

The talk I picked for this week is "Obedience brings blessings". It was given by President Thomas S. Monson during last General Conference (April 2013).

I love President Monson's talks. They're always full of teachings and principles, but he never sounds preachy. Every talk of his, has at least one anecdote of his childhood. Apparently Tommy Monson was a very active child!

This talk is no exception. But let's proceed with order!

I was reading this talk this morning and one of the things that caught my attention was President Monson's definition of obedience. He said:

"There is no need for you or for me, in this enlightened age when the fulness of the gospel has been restored, to sail uncharted seas or to travel unmarked roads in search of truth. A loving Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing guide—even obedience"

Of the many ways you can look at obedience, this is one of the most insightful. Not only does it give you the what of obedience, but it also gives you a why. The what is not hard to find; it's in the word itself: obedience means to obey (laws, commandments etc). The why is not always that obvious to find out. President Monson teaches that we need to be obedient, if we want to find the truth we're all looking for in life.
It's like a map: you have all the directions you need in it, but you won't get to your destination unless you follow those directions closely. 

President Monson relates a story from his childhood thanks to which he learned something about obedience. This took place at Vivian Park, Utah. Young Tom Monson and his friend Danny were trying to figure out how to get rid of the grass that covered an area on which they had decided to have a campfire with some canyon friends. He recalls:

"And then what I thought was the perfect solution came into my eight-year-old mind. I said to Danny, “All we need is to set these weeds on fire. We'll just burn a circle in the weeds!” He readily agreed, and I ran to our cabin to get a few matches. Lest any of you think that at the tender age of eight we were permitted to use matches, I want to make it clear that both Danny and I were forbidden to use them without adult supervision. Both of us had been warned repeatedly of the dangers of fire. However, I knew where my family kept the matches, and we needed to clear that field. Without so much as a second thought, I ran to our cabin and grabbed a few matchsticks, making certain no one was watching. I hid them quickly in one of my pockets.Back to Danny I ran, excited that in my pocket I had the solution to our problem. I recall thinking that the fire would burn only as far as we wanted and then would somehow magically extinguish itself. I struck a match on a rock and set the parched June grass ablaze. It ignited as though it had been drenched in gasoline. At first Danny and I were thrilled as we watched the weeds disappear, but it soon became apparent that the fire was not about to go out on its own. We panicked as we realized there was nothing we could do to stop it. The menacing flames began to follow the wild grass up the mountainside, endangering the pine trees and everything else in their path. Finally we had no option but to run for help. Soon all available men and women at Vivian Park were dashing back and forth with wet burlap bags, beating at the flames in an attempt to extinguish them. After several hours the last remaining embers were smothered. The ages-old pine trees had been saved, as were the homes the flames would eventually have reached.Danny and I learned several difficult but important lessons that day—not the least of which was the importance of obedience."

Isn't this story a perfect example of how disobedience to certain set rules puts us in danger? Young Monson knew he wasn't allowed to use matches, but he thought he knew better and he knew where his parents kept matches. He transgressed a rule and he he almost set an entire forest on fire!
Lessons about obedience are "difficult but important". I like that definition. Personally, sometimes I wish I could have it my way. It just seems so much easier to me. But I know the my Heavenly Father does know better, and every time I do things His way - not mine - I find that that was indeed the best way.

In his loving way of teaching, President Monson doesn't dwell too long on the consequences of disobedience. Instead, he stresses out the blessings promised to the obedient:

 “He that keepeth [God’s] commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things." (D&C 93:28)

A true prophet of God always points to Jesus Christ. And the Savior is a perfect example of obedience. As President Monson teaches in this talk:

"No greater example of obedience exists than that of our Savior. Of Him, Paul observed:'Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;'And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.'" (Hebrews 5:8-9)

I invite you all to read and study this talk. The insight it gives and the inspiration it provides are priceless.

Let me know what you think about obedience, about the prophet, about this post, and about the talk!
Thanks for reading all the way through.

Bye for now!
-Ottavio

Why Apostles and prophets today?

Hello everyone! My name is Ottavio and I'm a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If I said "Mormons" would it make it any more familiar? Yes, I'm a Mormon! 

There are many things Mormons are very well known for. Perhaps you might have heard of the wonderful Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or you might have seen one of the 141 operating temples the Church has all across the globe. Maybe one of your neighbors is a Mormon, or maybe you're a Mormon yourself (in which case I commend you for the excellent choice!). Well, one of the unique features of the LDS Church is that we are led by living prophets and apostles. 

Have you ever wondered why? The Prophet Joseph Smith said it best: "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth." (Articles of Faith 1:6). So the reason why we have apostles and prophets is pretty simple: we believe that the organization Christ left on earth (the Church He founded) 2,000 years ago was valid back then and is still valid now.

Do you ever stop and think of how important it is to have prophets and apostles in these modern days? I said that Joseph Smith was a prophet. How do we know that? Well, he left quite a detailed account of how and when God the Father and Jesus Christ called him to be a prophet, and he translated the Book of Mormon (something he just couldn't have accomplished without the help and power of God). "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." said the Savior, and that pattern of recognizing a prophet by their fruit (their teachings, their lives) still works today. 

I'd spend hours just talking about Joseph Smith and his divine call, but I think it would be just as useful and informative to focus on modern-day, living prophets' teachings. Each week I'll post and comment one of the latest talks given by different living prophets and apostles, thus helping myself (and hopefully some of you out there) realize what a great blessing it is to have inspired people who deliver those messages God would have us hear. Those talks I'll post have all been given during one of the General Conferences of the LDS Church -- an event that happens twice a year (first weekend of April and October). 

You are all welcome to post comments with your thoughts and personal insights.

I know that as we apply the teachings of modern-day prophets and apostles (which all come down to Jesus Christ and His teachings) our lives will be blessed. We'll be able to see the world around us with different eyes and we'll have a stronger capacity to serve those around us.

Bye for now!

 -Ottavio

                            Thomas S. Monson (the man in the middle) is the current Prophet of God. 
                            The two men with him are his councillors.

     A picture of the twelve men currently serving as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.