Things I recently read

Today I was reading "Mine Errand from the Lord Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Boyd K. Packer". He is an apostle of Jesus Christ. Here are some quotes about the light of Christ that were interesting to me. "The First Presidency has written, "There is a universally diffused essence which is the light and the life of the world, "Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," which proceedeth forth from the presence of God throughout the imensity of space, the light and power of which God bestows in different degrees to "them that ask him," according to their faith and obedience." "Regardless of whether this inner light , this knowledge of right and wrong, is called the Light of Christ, moral sense, or conscience, it can direct us to moderate our actions---unless, that is, we subdue it or silence it."
"The more we know about the Light of Christ, the more we will understand about life and the more we will have a deep love for all mankind. We will be better teachers and missionaries and parents, and better men and women and children. We will have deeper regard for our brothers and sisters in the Church and for those who do not believe and have not yet had conferred upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost."
"There is a "true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." This Light of Christ is the ingredient which binds the whole human familly together and forms something of a universal conscience. There is nothing that is right that we cannot achieve if our individual and our national conscience is clear."
"The Light of Christ existed in you before you were born, an it will be with you every moment that you live and will not perish when the mortal part of you has turned to dust. Every man, woman, and child of every nation, creed, or color-everyone, no matter where they live or what they believe or what they do- has within them the imperishable Light of Christ. In this respect all men are created equally"
"If we understand the reality of the Light of Christ in everyone we see and in every meeting we attend and within ourselves, and understand the great challenge that we have-the surroundings in which we live, the danger that sometimes besets us-we will have courage and inspiration beyond that which we have known heretofore. And it must be so! And it will be so! All of this is a dimension of gospel truth that too few understand."

Easter message

I love Easter. I remember a talk a year or 2 ago in general conference where it was said that without Easter we would not have Christmas. Now this took me a few minutes to understand. I thought He was still born. Then I got it, we would not celebrate His life and Birth had it not been for His Atoning Sacrifice for us and Resurrection. Because of that first Easter we celebrate our Savior Jesus Christ's life. Those who are members of His church strive to always remember Him and His sacrifice for us. I know that Jesus Christ is God's Son, body and spirit. He lived a perfect example for us and suffered for our sins that we might not have to and died for us so He could take His body back the third day so we can live again as He does. We can repent and be able to live with Him again. I know these things are true. I am going to end with a few paragraphs of my favorite talk during general conference, given by Elder Jefferey R. Holland
"Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said, “I will not leave you comfortless. [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”²⁰

My other plea at Easter time is that these scenes of Christ’s lonely sacrifice, laced with moments of denial and abandonment and, at least once, outright betrayal, must never be reenacted by us. He has walked alone once. Now, may I ask that never again will He have to confront sin without our aid and assistance, that never again will He find only unresponsive onlookers when He sees you and me along His Via Dolorosa in our present day. As we approach this holy week—Passover Thursday with its Paschal Lamb, atoning Friday with its cross, Resurrection Sunday with its empty tomb—may we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,”²¹ for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." For full text see www.lds.org

Book of Mormon

"As part of the Restoration of the gospel, God brought forth the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. By the power of God, Joseph Smith translated this book from an ancient record written on gold plates. The Book of Mormon is “a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel” (Introduction to the Book of Mormon).

The Book of Mormon is a powerful witness of Jesus Christ. It helps us understand His teachings, including those in the Bible." www.mormon.org

I know that the Book of Mormon is the record of a people long ago. It is true and will lead us to Christ and help us live His gospel. I know that after He was resurrected Jesus Christ visited these people. The prophets of the Book of Mormon taught of Jesus Christ and continually testified of His coming and Atoning Sacrafice to save all men if they will believe in Him and follow Him. If we read The Book of Mormon and take Moroni's challenge (Moroni 10: 4-5) to pray and ask if it is true we will know the truth of it through the power of the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Member Missionaries

One of the talks during General Conference was about something I have been thinking about for a while now and just didn't really know where to start. That was my reason for starting my blog, member missionary work. I know I am not reaching many people with my little blog but it was something that I felt like I should do.
Elder L Tom Perry in his Sunday afternoon talk said this "As members of the church we seem to be missing in action. A member oriented program is the key to success for missionary work." He then gave us 3 objectives, 1 All of us should remember to be better missionaries. D&c 88:81- Every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor. 2 pray for help to find people for missionaries. "We are missing golden opportunities to grow the church when we wait for the full time missionaries to do the finding" Missionaries should do the teaching and we should do the finding. 3. We must open our mouths and testify, we must warn our neighbors D&C 33:7-8. "Thrust in your sickle and reap with all your might, mind, and strength. Open your mouths and 1 Declare our belief in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and the chance for eternal life. 2 Share the story of the first vision in our own words. 3 Testify of the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ.
He ended with this counsel, Ponder how it feels to be lost and what it means to be spiritual shepherds who will leave the 99 and find the one that is lost. D&C 18:10-15

The Prophets message

I was having a hard time today deciding what to blog about. I wanted it to be on conference but I was trying to kind of summarize the first day and couldn't do it very well. So I decided to pick one talk to write about today. I chose our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson's Sunday morning talk. These are the notes I took from His talk. It is full of hope and comfort.
"It would be easy to become fearful of the future if we allowed ourselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in our lives. We should concentrate on our blessings and remember none of us make it through life without suffering. But God will be with us if we keep our faith in Him and keep His commandments. Remain steadfast and of good cheer as we make the Gospel of Jesus Christ the center of our lives. This will pull us through whatever comes. We have examples of this in family histories and in other members of the church dong these things. "In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"John 16:33. We are not left to walk alone no matter how dark our pathway. Our promised blessings are beyond measure. Our knowledge of the gospel and the love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior Jesus Christ will sustain us. If we walk uprightly and keep the commandments there will be Nothing that can defeat us. Be of Good cheer. Our Future is as bright as our Faith!!!

General conference

General conference is a wonderful 2 days of guidance and council given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (and all others who want to watch it) by the Prophet and the Apostles and other General Authorities.
I learned this conference that you get out of conference what you put into it. I have watched many other General conferences, but I came away from this one feeling renewed, recommitted, comforted, hopeful. I sat down with my kids through all 4 sessions (2 Saturday and 2 Sunday) I had paper to take notes. I ended up taking 8 pages front and back of notes. And I came away thinking that this was the best General conference ever. Now was it? I'm going to say probably not, but for me it was because I got more out of it than ever before. During this week I will blog about the things I learned and what was said. But if I do it all today it will be way too long.
I think in all that we do we get out what we put in as one of the speakers said you reap what you sow. This has to do especially with the Gospel. Are we putting in that which we would like to get out. Do we expect Eternal Life and Salvation and our we putting in our whole hearts and minds and strength? Or do we expect all this and half heartedly live the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ. Are we spectators, sideline sitters, or are we out doing and being what we can and hope to be.

What a blessing it is to have a living Prophet on the earth to day to give us revelation and guidance from our eternal Father in Heaven.
I know that a boy 14 years old went into a grove of trees to pray to God and ask which church he should join. The answer came as God the Father and His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that none were right and called him to a great work. Joseph Smith was the first Prophet of these the last days and there has always been a living Prophet on the earth since that time. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is The only true church on the earth with Priesthood power and the saving ordinances needed to return to our Heavenly Father and receive eternal life and exaltation. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Happiness

In 1995 The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints wrote "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". In this Proclamation it says "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Now in my life, I have learned that individual happiness is "most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." When we keep our bodies healthy, and stay away from mind altering substances whether that be drugs, alcoholic beverages, prescription pain killers that are so addicting, when we are morally clean (immorality leads to sorrow, confusion, and emptiness), when we are trying to help and lift others around us like our Savior Jesus Christ always did, when we are honest in all that we do, these things bring happiness.
The thing that will make us the happiest is a close relationship to our Heavenly Father, God. When we have trust and faith in Him, and can turn to Him in prayer and know that those prayers will be answered, when we strive to do what he has asked us to do, this brings us true happiness. When we know who we are, children of God, and that we can live with Him again we are truly happy.
Now does this mean that trials won't come and that we will never be sad, No. But we will have faith and the strength and support to get through it. We will be better for it and trials become learning and growing experiences. We can look at trials this way, as Elder Wirthlin said in October conference, "Come what may and Love it."

Who we are

A truth that I have come to know and rely on is that I am a daughter of God. He lives, He knows me, and He loves me. I am here on earth to overcome weaknesses and temptations so I can live with Him again. Now I know that I cannot overcome anything without the atoning sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him I am a sinner and always will be. But because He suffered and died for me I can repent of my sins and be forgiven. What a wonderful gift our Savior has given us.
For more info see www.mormon.org


"God is your Father in Heaven. He knows you personally. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and your Savior. His life and teachings are the way to peace and happiness." Quote from ww.mormon.org