Hello there! Sorry for the long absence. Moving from one area to another is always an adjustment! But I'm settled now and I'm ready for a new post. The talk I chose for this week is "The key to Spiritual Protection" by President Boyd K. Packer. President Packer begins his talk with a question all parents have wondered at one time or another: "Is there a safe place to raise children?" The answer is yes and the place is "a gospel-centered home." Paul prophesied that our days would be perilous times and listed a series of characteristics men would have (from covetous to blasphemers, from incontinent to traitors and so on). Moroni, the last prophet to write in the Book of Mormon, also warned of the "awful situation" in which the world would be in the last days. Not only did these prophets warn us, but they both also provided a remedy, a key to spiritual protection: the Holy Scriptures. Of the scriptures President Packer says: "They teach us where to go and what to do. They offer hope and knowledge." President Packer also stresses the importance of teaching little children using the scriptures:
"Children taught an understanding of the scriptures early in life will come to know the path they should walk and will be more inclined to remain on that path. Those who stray will have the ability to return and, with help, can find their way back."
One of the big issues I have found people encounter as they approach the scriptures for the first time is understanding the language. The standard works (other name for the scriptures) are not written in modern English and this might put many off that try to make sense of all those fancy words. Here is President Packer's promise: "If the language of the scriptures at first seems strange to you, keep reading. Soon you will come to recognize the beauty and power found on those pages." A life lived following following the course prescribed in the scriptures should be our goal:
"Continue forward until the time when the Lord’s blessings will come to you and the Holy Ghost will be revealed as a moving force in your life."
If that's not the kind of life we are living at the moment, there is a way back:
"Jesus Christ has prescribed a very clear method for us to repent and find healing in our lives. The cure for most mistakes can be found by seeking forgiveness through personal prayer. However, there are certain spiritual illnesses, particularly those dealing with violations of the moral law, which absolutely require the assistance and treatment of a qualified spiritual physician."
I love this truth: it doesn't matter how big or small our sins are, Jesus Christ can lift that weight off our shoulders:
"The gospel teaches us to be happy, to have faith rather than fear, to find hope and overcome despair, to leave darkness and turn toward the light of the everlasting gospel."
We might not be able to end wars or conflicts that rage all throughout the world, but listen to this inspired promise from a servant of the Lord:
"Peace can be settled in the heart of each who turns to the scriptures and unlocks the promises of protection and redemption that are taught therein."
I hope we will all read our scriptures more and more often! Here's the link to all of them. Enjoy!
There's nothing too hawaiian around me at the moment (just a lot of rain actually!) but I felt optimistic.
My blog is not going unnoticed among friends and friends' friends and it's weird to think that several people other than me will be reading this in about an hour or so. Thank you.
First of all, do we all know what the Atonement is? Let's turn to Preach My Gospel:
"As used in the scriptures, to atone is to suffer the penalty for an act of sin, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinners and allowing them to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross. He was the only one capable of making a perfect Atonement for all mankind. He suffered the penalty for our sins in Gethsemane and died on the cross. He took upon Himself the pains, sicknesses, temptations, afflictions, and infirmities of us all."
Gethsemane and the cross are mentioned twice and that's where Jesus Christ performed this greatest act of love and grace. Of the two powers of the Atonement (the saving power and the enabling power), in his latest talk Elder Scott focuses on the enabling power; in his own words: "the personal strength we can receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." The entire talk is an insightful commentary of the famous Book of Mormon story of the Lamanites who converted to the Lord, buried their weapons of war forever and never unburied them -- not even to defend their brethren came to brutally slay them. The Lord later provided help through their young sons, who weren't under the same covenant with God. The first interesting point -- something I've learned as I studied this talk -- is that "one of the vital steps to complete repentance is to bear the short- and long-term consequences of our past sins."Why couldn't those fathers go to the battle to defend their families? Why was it alright for their sons to go instead? It's the same principle by which it is not wise for ex alcoholics to walk into a pub lest they fall back into old, bad habits! The Lord knew the weaknesses of those men and in His wisdom He didn't allow them to be exposed to wars and weapons again. Thus we learn two important Gospel principles and truths:
"Breaking a covenant with the Lord is never justified."
"Satan will try to use our memory of any previous guilt to lure us back into his influence. We must be ever vigilant to avoid his enticements. Such was the case of the faithful Ammonite fathers. Even after their years of faithful living, it was imperative for them to protect themselves spiritually from any attraction to the memory of past sins."
Elder Scott draws a very interesting parallel between those Ammonites' and Captain Moroni's preparations for war:
"In between the many battles, Captain Moroni directed fortification of the weakest cities. “He caused that they should build a breastwork of timbers upon the inner bank of the ditch; and they cast up dirt out of the ditch against the breastwork of timbers … until they had encircled the city … with a strong wall of timbers and earth, to an exceeding height.” Captain Moroni understood the importance of fortifying the weak areas to create strength.
"These Ammonite fathers were much the same. They needed taller and wider fortifications between their faithful lives and the unrighteous behavior of their past. Their sons, who were blessed with righteous traditions, were not as vulnerable to the same temptations. They were able to defend their families faithfully without compromising their spiritual well-being."
Let's listen to Elder Scott's statement about rebellion and weakness:
This is so reassuring with me. What is best than a knowledge that God loves us and wants to help us get rid of our weaknesses? The best thing we can be doing in life is using this knowledge to improve ourselves. Believing, knowing that Christ suffered and died to enable us to become better and more like Him is humbling and it fills me with hope.
Sin is sin, and God"cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance"(D&C 1:31); but that's because He loves us and He wants us to become like Him. Elder Scott said that God can't tolerate sin "because He knows what it takes to become like Him". Weak things become strong when they're in the hands of the Lord: that's what happened to the 2,000 young and inexperienced sons of Helaman (although they were all injured to some degree, no one died in the conflicts) and that's what happens to us when we fully rely in Christ, are obedient, "go and do".
We talked about the fortifications Captain Moroni built to strengthen the weak places and turn them into strongholds, but what spiritual fortifications can we build for ourselves and how do we do that? Here's what Elder Scott suggests:
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Make covenants and receive ordinances for yourself. Then steadily and consistently work to provide ordinances in the temple for your own ancestors.
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Share the gospel with nonmember or less-active family members or friends. Sharing these truths can bring a renewed enthusiasm into your life.
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Serve faithfully in all Church callings, especially home teaching and visiting teaching assignments. Don't be just a 15-minutes-a-month home or visiting teacher. Rather, reach out to each individual member of the family. Get to know them personally. Be a real friend. Through acts of kindness, show them how very much you care for each of them.
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Most important, serve the members of your own family. Make the spiritual development of your spouse and children a very high priority. Be attentive to the things you can do to help each one. Give freely of your time and attention.
Four simple ways of serving our God and our fellowmen. The recipe is that simple. The Atonement is real and it is within anyone's reach -- anyone who's willing to put his or her faith in God and Jesus Christ and to show that faith. As we do so, we will grow spiritually stronger and wiser. We will become spiritually self-sufficient and we will have enough strength to share with others freely. Said Elder Scott: " As you lose your life in the service of Father in Heaven’s children, Satan’s temptations lose power in your life."
I have felt the reality of the Atonement in my life. And the joy that comes from sharing that reality with people? UNPAYABLE, UNMISSABLE and... UNless you try it you can't describe it :)
It's so good to be updating my blog this week. It's one of those routines that you come to love after a while. Plus, I've been receiving some positive feedback by some of my readers and that's so refreshing. Thank you!
I'm particularly excited because the topic of this week is missionary work! You knew it would happen, didn't you? Missionaries usually can't go so long without talking about missionary work!
Last General Conference Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Twelve titled his talk "Put your trust in the Lord". It's very much member-oriented. It's for both those members who love doing missionary work and for those who struggle a little. Both categories can all take courage from the exhortation contained in the title!
The idea of members sharing the gospel with others in natural, casual ways is not new. The Prophet Joseph Smith loved to talk about missionary work (hereare some quotes you can check out) and Elder Ballard reminds us of one of the shortest and plainest of his statements on the matter: "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel."
Just to mention a few more among the most recent: more than 50 years ago President David O. McKay stated the most famous "Every member a missionary"; about 40 years ago President Spencer W. Kimball challenged us members to "lengthen our stride [and] enlarge a vision." And just a few months ago President Thomas S. Monson reiterated:"Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work." Speaking of the hastening of the Lord's work, in his last conference talk Elder Ballard made it clear that such hastening "in our day [...] can be done only when every member of the Church reaches out with love to share the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to work together in partnership with our 80,000 missionaries now serving." That is so so true! Missionaries are dying to work with members. We do our finding, we try to talk to everyone and bring the gospel to everyone; but members are the key. They have always been. Those wards and branches, stakes and districts that have experienced the most miraculous growths are those whose members have been actively engaged.
Some members hesitate to do missionary work, and Elder Ballard individuates the two major causes for this:
"The first one is fear. Many members do not even pray for opportunities to share the gospel, fearing that they might receive divine promptings to do something they think they are not capable of doing.
"The second reason is misunderstanding of what missionary work is."
I could go on days reassuring, promising, assuring you all that you needn't fear anything and anyone when you're sharing the gospel, but the words of an apostle will do it better that mine could ever do:
If we are all engaged, the Lord will have so many hands through which He can accomplish His wonders, so many mouths through which He can speak to His elect, and so many more eyes to watch over His children, our brothers and sisters. And here is the challenge for our time and day, for the here and now: "We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior." Elder Ballard quotes from a letter a member sent him to report on his family's effort in sharing the gospel. I have one more testimony to add to that. After Conference I emailed some of my friends and I extended Elder Ballard's challenge to them. I was so happy to read this the following week: "I took your and Elder Ballard's challenge
to talk to people about the gospel, and the first time it happened
was the Monday after Conference! I was at work and one of the
physician's asked me if I'd had a good weekend. I of course said that I
had and he asked what I did. I very easily could have just brushed him
off and not gone into any detail about what we did, but I decided to
tell him that [my husband]and I watched General Conference, which I explained
happens in our Church every October and April where we have the
opportunity to watch and listen to the Prophet of our church and other
leaders speak to us and give us guidance on how to improve our lives and
help others as well. He looked at me kind of weird and said, "Do they
ask you for money?" I chuckled and told him no. He then went on to say
that he thought it was so cool that we have missionaries who give up
two years of their lives to help other people, and he said he thinks all
youth in the world should do that because the Mormon's turn out so
well. Needless to say, I was a little nervous to tell him about
Conference but knew that I'd be guided on what to say and I was. It
was a neat experience."
Self-explicative, huh? The persons my friend talked to hasn't become a member (yet!), he hasn't even agreed to meet with the missionaries (yet!), but who can say that my friend failed!
One of my friends on Facebook has been a member of the Church since last January. He loves the gospel, his testimony is very strong. His natural concern for his friends is amazing. He lets the missionaries teach in his home, he goes out with them, he talks with his friends about the gospel and he invites them to talk to the missionaries, to befriend them on Facebook and listen to the message of the restored gospel. Some accept, some don't, and some even ignore the invitation. Can we say that my friend fails when the latter two happen?
Of course we can't choose for others -- we can't force them to accept the invitation to meet with the missionaries, listen to and accept the gospel. Elder Ballard said:
"It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand. While the outcome is a result of the exercise of one’s agency, sharing the gospel is our responsibility."
From personal experience I can assure you of one thing: the more we share, the more we like to share. The more we share the gospel, the stronger our testimony grows. There are just so many reasons why we want to be involved in our Father's work!
Let us heed our prophet's counsel and Elder Ballard's exhortation. Let us all seek to find the one!
