We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet!

Conference is coming up and I am sooooo excited to hear from our prophet today, Thomas S. Monson. Just as we had prophets in the Bible who led the people of their time, we have have a prophet of our time who leads us in what we need to do today! Isn't that most excellent?! So I decided I'd let those of you who haven't met him before... meet him! And what's even more excellent is that we get to hear from him in a few weeks!

Baptism. Simplified.

Sometimes... I'm lazy. I know it's hard to believe... but I do have some faults. Today I'm going to be lazy... in a good way (if that's possible). I'm going to give you the run-down on baptism, what it is and scriptures that go with it. But... instead of having me write it (this is where the laziness kicks in), I found the most perfect article from the Friend (a church magazine for children) that explains it even better. Pretty wicked awesome, huh? (Don't forget to click on the link an actually read it.)

https://lds.org/friend/2008/08/questions-and-answers-about-baptism?lang=eng

Easy as...that.

Today as I was studying I decided I would prepare a talk for an upcoming event in our mission. We've all been asked to prepare a talk on three subjects and we'll randomly be called on to present our Talks. As I was preparing I took out my Preach my Gospel and began my talk on how Scripture give us the power to teach. It wasn't until I had turned the page and I saw that it talked about teaching simply, then I new that simplicity is what gives us the Power to teach. Christ lived a simple life, the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, and the way we teach it is simply. Everyone deserves to hear the Gospel, its establishment is in simplicity.

The Spirit of God

As I've mentioned before... I spent some time in Germany before my mission. Most of my time in Germany was spent learning the language. I love learning languages and I love getting to know how people from all over the world live. Well, since being in New York I've been DYING to speak German... I just really want to keep it up and use it. Since I've been here I've always come a jump away from giving Germans a tour! Well today as we were on our way to the Hill Cumorah we got a call asking where we were and that there were two Germans at the Hill Cumorah. Perfect... we were almost there. When we got there I greeted them and they said that they were members of our church doing a Tour of all the Church Historical Sites starting in Palmyra. Wie Schoen! I was so excited to talk to them and to use my German and they were very kind. They even shared their testimonies and we had a great conversation together. The man said he could bear his testimony for hours about how much the Lord loves us. I was so grateful for the words he provided and that he knew that each and everyone of us were children of God. As we talked I thought about this very subject. I know that no matter where we are in the world... the Lord will give us blessings and he will look down upon us and recognize who we are. I know that when the Gospel of Jesus Christ reaches those in distant lands, they also feel this same love, and it doesn't matter where you are or what your culture is, that the Spirit of God is a language that everyone can understand.

Working Hard... or Hardly Working?

I was flying home from Germany this last May and right when I landed I started one of the busiest weeks of my life... not only had it been two straight days since I'd slept, but I was on a sleep schedule that was 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles... and this was only the beginning. Right when I got off the plane it was go, go, go. My sister was getting married and we had a lot to get done. During the next few days it was trying to stay awake, setting up for her reception, and family time. Not to mention I was still jet-lagged. 

By the time her wedding came around... the day never seemed to end... but once it was over the going didn't stop... we had a family job the following day in Central California, so after a 4 hour drive both ways, three days straight of work, and a lot of junk food. I was roasted. I was ready to sleep for the whole next week. I hadn't even had time to unpack my bags and I'd been home a week. 

So after I organized my stuff, took a shower, and ate... I slept, and I slept, and I slept... then I ate again. At this point it hadn't even been 24 hours since I'd started my veg and I was dead tired of doing nothing. For goodness sake there was plenty to get done, I didn't have much time before I would be leaving on my mission and I was sitting on the couch drinking Jarritos Lime Soda and eating peanut butter pretzels from Trader Joe's.

I realized that during this time I had fallen into the deep pit of "Hardly Working"... and oh how I wished to find a ladder so I could climb out. How often do we find ourselves "Hardly Working"... sure we work all day and then come home, but do we use our time wisely or do we sit in front of the Television for a few hours to unwind. 

Christ said: “I must work the works of him that sent me” (John 9:4)

Have we accomplished what the Lord has asked us to do? Are we working hard to maintain a solid testimony or are we relying on the words that inspired us a few months ago? Nourishing our faith is constant... and critical. It you don't milk a cow every day... you don't get milk... it's as simple as that:

Faith, Hope, and Charity

As I was studying the other day... I decided that I should study Charity. Before my mission my friends father once told me "Everyone yells and calls out peace. But they never talk about how was can reach peace. We can't merely say Peace and wish it to happen... we need to do something. Rather than claiming peace to world we should claim Faith, Hope, and Charity. Through these three things we can gain Peace."
In Ether 12:28 is reads "I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me the fountain of all righteousness."
We can bring forth peace through this righteousness, declare Faith, Hope, and Charity! 

The Great Healer

"Then he can heal us... then he can cleanse us from the venomous sting of sin."

Sometimes I think the world looks at repentance as a waste of time... but it's only because they don't know the powerful affects of it. We all do wrong... and we all feel guilty for what we've done... sometimes its hard to admit this wrong, we feel embarrassed or maybe that if we ignore it... it will go away. Why not be cleansed from these mistakes... why not reach out to our Savior and say... "I have done wrong... help me." Our Savior Jesus Christ did not die so we can merely speak of him but so we can use the gift of repentance through him. Each and everyday we can repent for th small things we do... we do not need to suffer with guilt.

At the end of this talk the speaker, Elder Kearon, says: "Not one of you has thrown away your last chance. You can change, you can come back, you can claim mercy. Come unto the only One who can heal, and you will find peace."