I've been thinking a lot lately about happiness.  Why are some people happier than others?  Why does the grass always look greener on the other side?  I read this scripture from The Book of Mormon in my studies this morning:

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.  For behold they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.  O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." Mosiah 2:41



Me being happy!!



This is King Benjamin a Prophet in The Book of Mormon giving a sermon to his people and he tells them how they can be happy.  He tells us that those that are blessed in all things by God are keeping the commandments.  But He not only refers to happiness right now on earth but he says that if we keep the commandments we "may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness".  That is the ultimate goal, to live with our Heavenly Father again and to have never-ending happiness!  So we need to follow all the commandments and all will be well!  That is easier said than done, we know the commandments but often we fall short but that is why our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.  We just need to do our best and the rest is made up by our Saviour.  I'm grateful for repentance!  

Christmas has to come to an end...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know that I did!  I was away from my family and friends back home in Canada but the Lord had blessed me with a wonderful Christmas here with the lovely people of Tennessee!  My companion and I did some Christmas celebration hoping and spent time with 3 different families and were also blessed to have a baptism of one of our dear friends on Christmas Eve! It will for sure be a Christmas to be remembered!

Now that Christmas it over that special light of Christ that we saw everywhere seems to have died down. The Christmas spirit is infectious, we are constantly wishing people a Merry Christmas and singing beautiful carols about our beloved Savior Jesus Christ. And then once December 25th comes the excitement and anticipation is over.  We take down our decorations and our trees and we see the empty spots where our decorations used to be.  Now the trick is to keep that spirit of Christmas with us all year round.  As Christians we need to continue to honor our Lord and Savior even after the Christmas holidays and make sure our actions are in line with him.  As a missionary I've thought about this idea a lot more this year. I was baptised and made a promise to my Father in Heaven to follow him and obey his commandments. I promised to...

“humble [myself] before God, … and witness before the church that [I] have truly repented of all [my] sins, and are willing to take upon [myself] the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by [my] works that [I] have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of [my] sins” (D&C 20:37).

I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I will honor him by honoring that convenient that I made with him.  I know that as I have faith and repent of my sins my life comes more in line with what the Lord expects of me.  I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have and the opportunity that I have right now share it with others.  I know that Jesus Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for my sins and for your sins and I know that he  suffered and died on the cross for us as well.  And I know that you will have an added measure of peace in your life as you make an effort to come closer to your Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ!

Trust Jesus!

I came across this amazing quote today...

"Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten and Beloved Son of God. … He is our Savior from sin and death. This is the most important knowledge on earth." - Dallin H. Oaks

I love this quote!  Of all the things that we need to know and to learn, the most important is knowing that Jesus Christ is our Saviour!  The scriptures teach many beautiful principles and commandments that we are  to follow but we need to start with understanding the atonement of Jesus Christ. When we talk of the atonement we are giving reference to Jesus Christ's shedding of blood in the garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross and then His bodily resurrection.  The only way in which we can return to live with our Father in Heaven is through this atonement.  We will all be resurrected, that is a free gift given to us from Jesus Christ but in order to be forgiven for our sins we must repent.  We will be forgiven for our sins to the degree in which we have faith, repent and obey God's commandments.

We make mistakes on a daily basis and we needed a way to be forgiven for those sins! We cannot be perfect ourselves but through the Atonement we can have all of our sins washed away and we can be clean.  I love that scripture in Isaiah where it talks about our sins being washed away..

Come now, and let us ^areason together, saith the Lord: though your ^bsins be as scarlet, they shall be as ^cwhite as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. - Isaiah 1:18

I know that as we repent we will feel our sins being washed away.  I know this because I have repented and continue to repent.  Sometimes our sins are big and we have a hard time letting go of them but we must trust in the redeeming power of the atonement and repent and forsake our sins and then we are promised that the Lord will remember our sins no more!

I love to talk about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! He has done so much for every single one of us!  He was the only perfect person to live on this earth and his life was a perfect example of what we can pattern our lives after.  So continue on and trust in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repent!

"Be strong and of a good ^acourage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the ^bLord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not ^cfail thee, nor ^dforsake thee." Deut 31:6