Conference Time!

I love to read the scriptures because they are the words that God has inspired the Prophets to write. We can open up the Old Testament and to read about the warnings Noah gave the people before the floods came and to read in the New Testament as Jesus Christ performs miracles and teaches all those who will listen in parables and then to read in The Book of Mormon as Alma the Younger testifies of his experiences using the redeeming power of the Atonement. 

One doctrine I love to teach about is that God has called a modern day Prophet today.  The scriptures tell us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever so if He called Prophets in the ancient times then it only makes sense that he would call a Prophet in modern times.  Joseph Smith was the first prophet called in these latter days and since his death God has continued to call Prophets to lead His church. 



My friends and I attending the April 2011 Session of Conference



Today our Prophet's name is Thomas S. Monson and every 6 months we have an exciting opportunity to listen to him and the other apostles speak.  This is such an amazing exciting opportunity we have to listen to what our Heavenly Father inspires them to teach.  These men of God pray and seek inspiration to know what the world needs to hear.  I'm so excited to listen to them speak this weekend! 

One of the modern day Apostles, Jeffrey R. Holland said this about conference 

“If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you,”

I hope you all watch as much of this conference as you can.  Take the time to pray before you sit down and watch it and ask God for your own "personal prophetic epistle".  

Follow this link to watch the 4 sessions of Conference on line http://www.gc.lds.org/ , check your local listings or come to one of our church building and watch it live 10am and 2pm mountain standard time.  Here in Franklin Tennessee you can join us at the chapel on 1100 Grey Fox Lane at 11am and then again at 3pm!

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/03/why-do-we-need-prophets?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/preparing-for-general-conference?lang=eng

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!  

The Widow's Mites

I love the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus.  In my studies I've started reading through the Old Testament and I have never felt closer to my Saviour. He was the ultimate teacher, he saw the small things happening around him and used them as parables.  I love the message of this video.  

I have been thinking about about my life and about the sacrifices I am willing to make for the Lord.  I have gained a testimony of paying my tithing and giving the Lord 10 percent of my income.  I have seen that act of faith bless me many times.  Right now I am on a mission serving for 18 months in Tennessee and I am giving of my personal time in order to help others come unto Christ.  There's this song called "Bless My Son" on a CD called "The Work" by The Nashville Tribute Band that has a line in it that talks about how a mission adds up to 10 percent of our lives. I love that line and when times get hard I remember that even though people aren't home when they say they will be and people don't listen when I answer their questions I can know that I am in the service of the Lord.  As I watched this video I thought about how I'm serving the Lord.  Am I serving the Lord like this sweet widow tossing in ALL I can to the Lord?  Everything we have is from the Lord and all he asks us in return is to follow his commandments and to serve him.  The scriptures tell us that when we are in the service of our fellow beings we are in the service of our God. And I love being in the service of my God!! 

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!

Christmas is a celebration about Jesus Christ!

Its easy to get caught up in the flashing lights and bling of Christmas but I encourage you all to spend some times thinking about our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the reason for the season and even though the world might have lost its focus at Christmas it doesn't mean we have to!

We are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and in honor of him we are giving gifts to the ones we love.  The Gifts we give show our loved ones that we appreciate them. The Christmas season is about giving and not getting.  After Christmas we often hear people ask "what did you get for Christmas?".  Instead of asking that we should ask "what did you GIVE for Christmas?"

For many years I remember our family prayerfully choosing a family we wanted to serve at Christmas and we would leave them anonymous gifts at their doorstep for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. We would leave a piece of a nativity set and then a silly gift that would go along with the 12 Days of Christmas song.  We would try our best to do it early in the morning and not get caught.  I learned a valuable lesson as a child that giving was more important than getting.

Make this Christmas about Christ and think about what gifts you can give to him this year! I love this Video, it shows the true meaning of Christmas! Just focus on Christ!!


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Don't Spend Christmas Keep it all year round!

We had to opportunity this past weekend to hear from the first presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to get us into the Christmas spirit.  It was a great program that brought such a sweet spirit.  President Thomas S. Monson talked about how we shouldn't be spending Christmas each December but that we should be keeping Christmas in our hearts all year round. He said:

"Because when we keep the spirit of Christmas we keep the spirit of Christ, for the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit. It will block out all the distractions around us, which can diminish Christmas and swallow up its true meaning "

I love that thought so much!  We celebrate the birth of Christ because of the atonement that he made for us and becasue he died for us.  We need to take that spirit of Christmas, the thoughtfulness, the charity, the love, and take it into our every day lives.  We need to live the spirit of Christmas all year round.

So lets all remember the reason for the season.  Lets all keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all year long!

Rejoice in Christ!!

One of the best things about being a missionary is that I get to talk about Jesus all the time!! Its the best!  There is a scripture in The Book of Mormon that I love..

 "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies" -2 Nephi 25:26

That Scripture truly does describe what we do as missionaries.  We spend our days TALKING to people about Christ.  We have the awesome job of teaching people about how a relationship with Jesus Christ WILL bless their lives.  Then we get to REJOICE  in Christ.  We get to see people grow and change through repenting of their sins and accepting the atonement of our beloved Savior Jesus Christ.  It has been an amazing experience to see the light of Christ in people, to see how people's lives improve because of their knowledge of Jesus Christ. We spend our time PREACHING and PROPHESYING of how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed our lives and we get to share the promise in the scriptures of how it will bless the lives of all who will receive it!  And in our mission we get to write according to the prophecies in our blogs!  How great is that?

The most important thing that we teach people is that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  It reminds me of that famous verse the New Testament, John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Our Father in Heaven loves us so much that he created a means by which we could return to him.  He knew that we would sin when we came to this earth so he created a means by which we can be forgiven and become like him.  He allowed his beloved Son, Jesus Christ to suffer for our sins in the garden of Gethsemane and to suffer and die on the cross for us so that we could be cleansed from all our sins and have everlasting eternal life! The best gift we could ever get.

As missionaries we get to talk to people about this beautiful message.  We love the Bible and teach from it often and God has given us more scripture, The Book of Mormon that compliments and clarifies the teachings in the Bible.  Check out http://mormon.org/ and find out more or meet with a missionary just like me! http://mormon.org/missionaries/