Growth Amidst the Storm

This build up of snow stands in front of one of the most powerful waterfalls on the planet.  Niagara Falls.  150,000 gallons of water pour over these falls every second!  The rock at the base of this mound probably didn't enjoy being bombarded with all that water, but here it's grown to be an amazing work of nature.

We sometimes feel like were under 150,000 gallons of water... or I guess more like we're under a ton of stress. But in the end Heavenly Father is just tring to build us and make us stronger.

• 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
• 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. (Alma 7:11-12)

The Savior suffered for more than our sins.  He took our pains, sicknesses, and infirmities upon  himself so he would know how to help us.  He knows what each of us have been through because he's endured it for us individually. It's easy to think that when we are in the midst of torrential difficulties that there is no one who understands.  But he does.  We can lean on him in hard times and he will lift us up to our greatest potential.

• 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. 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)

Faith Is Like A Little Seed

Seeds are peculiar things.  Or, at least they would be if we never experimented with planting them and watering them.  I mean, imagine you'd never experimented with a seed or seen one growing.  I might laugh at putting a pebble like object in a pot of dirt and spending a bunch of time every day taking care of it.  I might even try to stop others from wasting their time if I lacked the belief that seeds would grow.   I would wonder at the dedication others took to get up each morning and spend such time watering the dirt with a rock in it.  I would be shocked when they spent money on more rich soil and fertilizer. 

Thankfully I've believed others when they've said that these things will grow to be plants, even large trees, and I've experimented on that belief.  I've tried it.  Now I don't have to laugh at truth and wonder at plain facts, and I'm not shocked when I see people pay a price to have stronger and faster growth.  This growth can be compared to our own spiritual growth.

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma compared faith to a seed.

• 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. 
• 28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. (Alma 32 read past these 2 it's a great chapter)

When we are willing to believe enough to experiment on the promises of our loving Heavenly Father through praying, studying the scriptures, and keeping the commandments we can experience the 'swelling' within us.  That swelling is the spirit -

• 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faith, 
• 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  (Galatians 5 parenthesis added)

We can all enjoy these great blessings if we will but give the gospel a try.  God loves us and wants only the best for us.  No matter what the case may be this is the way to the most happiness.

Steps To Happiness!

Last week we went down to the whirlpools of the Niagara River.  They are way neat!  But before we got to see them we had to walk down about 300 steps... this is hard for a missionary who's not in shape.. at all.  The difficulty made it worth even more once we got there, but we had to trust through it all that the steps would eventually lead to where we wanted to go. We could catch glimpses of the river all the way down but could not see the whole thing until we had reached the bottom and the trees cleared.

In life we take leaps of faith.  We trust our Heavenly Father that the steps he asks us to take, though they are difficult, will lead us to where we want to go.  It's not always easy to endure in faith, but we can catch glimpses of the truthfulness of His word all along the way.  We can receive a witness from the Holy Ghost through prayer, scripture study, church attendance, and other obedient acts. Every step we take we get a clearer view of what lies ahead as the obstacles clear.  As a member of the Godhead the Holy Ghost, or the comforter, is like a hiker coming up from having seen the whirlpools and explaining how great they are!  This witness of truth brings so much comfort into our lives if we will but seek it.

• 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

• 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (James 1:5-6)

How Can He Fill My Cup?

 I love the optimist vs. pessimist lesson we can take from a cup filled halfway.  Is it half full? or is it half empty..?  I say it's half full!  There's still a bunch of water you can drink after all.

I had a cup of juice the other day.  I love juice.  Someone kindly offered me more juice but I denied them.  I thought I already had enough in my cup.  They were more than willing to give me more, but because I thought I had enough they were not able to give me more without forcing it down my throat.  In reality I looked down into my cup a few minutes later and saw the bottom of the cup... I was still thirsty.  Downer.

Often life is the same way.  Our Heavenly Father loves us and just wants to bless us with everything He has.  He knows our cups are practically empty and wants to fill us with "love, joy, peace...gentleness, goodness, faith," (Galatians 5:22), but we reject His offers through disobedience.  The Lord has said,

•  20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
• 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (D&C 130:20-21)

The Lord also told us why he leaves our cups half empty sometimes:

•  27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. 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)

So how do we get more juice?  First, recognize that we don't have it all (through humility), and then accept His offers to 'make weak things become strong' (through obedience).  I love juice.  But I love the Gospel even more.  Jesus Christ and his teachings will help everyone willing to come unto him.

Is There Enough Time In Your Bottle?

When I was in Sunday school as a little kid I remember my teacher bringing in a big bottle, a bunch of sand and some mongo rocks.  She poured all the sand into the jar and then began trying to fit the rocks in.  They didn't fit! Us five and six year old's then started brain storming how we could fit all the rocks in the jar.

Eventually (and not without help from the teacher) we realized we needed to fit the big stuff in first.  The rocks could all fit in the jar, and then the sand would fall into place around the rocks.


Sometimes our days seem like they would overflow if we tried to add one more thing.  When the to-do list is longer than life, work is getting hectic, it's finals week at school, and then you're car breaks down it's easy to get frustrated.  The lesson we learned in Sunday school can apply to this.  If we put the important things in first, all the rest will fall into place.  What's important is to have the faith to know what the important things are.  When we have faith we know that when the prophet Jacob said,

• 18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.
• 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

he was talking about priorities.  Let's use Facebook as an example.  Think of the time you spend on Facebook... Now think of the time you spend in the scriptures.  In most cases Facebook will win because it's sooo easy to get rapped up in.  But let's face it, reading the word of God is more helpful than reading that bobby got forty thousand points on the Ultimate Unicorn game.

It's easy to think that taking time out of our already crouded day for prayer, scripture study, and church would be a bad idea, but when we have faith in the promises Heavenly Father has made to us He can bless us according to that faith!  And after the massive mess I'm sure we obliviously made when I was five, we learned the lesson that when we put the gospel of Jesus Christ first, everything else will fall into place.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Become One In Your Hand!

I love PB & J sandwiches!  As a kid I would never eat them because I hated mixed foods.  They had to be separate.  It's taken some willingness on my part to keep trying it in order to come to like it.  Now I've come to know the greatness of this union of flavors. The smooth sweet taste of Jam accented and enhanced by the thick salty peanut butter. It's mouthwatering!

When peanut butter and jelly become one in your hand you are in for a great feast.  Another feast is to be had when we combine the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ with the Bible!  Just as the Bible is a record of the people in Jerusalem in and around the time of Christ, The Book of Mormon is a record of the people in the Americas around that time.  These books are united in purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. In order to come to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true." (Introduction to Book of Mormon)

We are asked in the Bible to 'join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.' (Ezekiel 37: 15-17) -talking about the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

Jesus said, 'And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;' (John 10:16)  There were more of Heavenly Father's children that had not had the opportunity to see Christ because they were across the sea.  Jesus visited them after his resurrection and said, 'And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;' (3 Nephi 15: 21)

God loves each and every one of us and will help us know Him no matter where we are, we just have to open the door.  We do this by seeking His word in the scriptures.

Jesus Christ, The Mediator

I watched this movie when I was younger and I got my first piece of understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how it works. 

 

   As we accept Jesus Christ's help as our savior, through repentance and using the atonement, we will obtain the 'greatest of all the gifts of God.'

• 7 And, if you ^akeep my commandments and ^bendure to the end you shall have ^ceternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.  (D&C 14:7)

How Can We Become Roasted Starbursts?

Have you ever tried a Starburst roasted over a fire?  It's amazing!  I would go camping as a kid and I came to love these more than marshmallows (probably because my mallows would always spontaniously combust...).  They're hard work sometimes and they're easy to mess up.  You have to make sure you poke them through correctly so they don't fall in the fire, leave them in for the right amount of time so it doesn't all melt away, restrain yourself from eating them too fast or it'll burn off all your taste buds, and, of course, be sure to savor them when they've made it to their final destination (AKA your mouth). 

 The gospel is the same way sometimes.  There are a lot of steps we take to progress along the path back to Heavenly Father, and it's not always easy.  Sometimes when we're not holding to the word of God tight enough we slip away and fall into trouble.  Other times we get distracted and let the most important things in our lives drip away.  Often we get anxious to get out of hard times, but Heavenly Father knows that sometimes we need to go through the fire in order to taste the best. He will usually help us get through it rather than immediately remove us from it.  It's not an easy road: there's a lot of steps and there will be fires we have to endure. In the end it will all be for our good.

Just as Joseph Smith was at one of the hardest points in his life. He received this answer to his prayer:

• 7 My son, ^apeace be unto thy soul; thine ^badversity and thine afflictions shall be but a ^csmall moment;  
• 8 And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; (D&C 121:7-8)

So lets strive to endure the "refiner's fire" well so we can enjoy the glorious blessings that come as a result.