Heb. 11 is very good! It shows the great faith that the prophets had. Bit it wasn't easy for them. They went through alot, they were put into prison, they were tortured, beaten etc. And the STILL had their faith.
We will always have hard times and challenges. "Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."
Alma 32 is great at explaining the Doctrines of Faith.
I read about Joseph Smith this morning. He was concerned which church he needed to join. He read in the Bible James 1:5, ".. if any of you lack wisdom.. ask God." He was 14 years old at the time, and what increditable faith young children have. In the scriptures it tells us many times that we must be like a little child, having much faith, hope and love.
Joseph went to quite place in a grove of trees to ask God which church he needed to join.
Just as he prayed he said,"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me calling me by name and said pointing to the other, This is my beloved Son, Hear Him."
I know that Joseph Smith had much faith, that he did see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ.
I have come to have a greater knowledge and understanding of faith. It takes much action. Being on my mission I have been able to say my prayers every night and through out the day. I have noticed a difference from praying not at all to praying often. I fell more intune with the spirit and am able to recognize the answers to prayers when they come. No my faith is not perfect, but I'm continuing to do my best at showing my love for my Father in Heaven, and having a good attitude about any trail or struggle that comes my way.
Faith #3
"In order for your faith to lead you to salvation, it must be centered in the Lord Jesus Christ."
I LOVE this! We express our faith by the way we live.
The Sabbath Day, Sunday, a day we go to church partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants we made with God when we were baptized.
In the Bible Exodus 20:8-11 it talks about keeping the sabbath day holy. What does this mean?
Our thoughts and actions should always be centered on Jesus Christ, especially on Sunday.
Its a day that we go and worship our God, but it shouldn't be for just a couple ours. I think he deserves a full day yes? Our Father in Heaven does alot for us and we should be able to make a day for him.
I will admit, back home, I wasn't the best at this. After church I would play video games, or watch a movie.
I tried to keep that day sacred for the Lord, like the counsel in Exodus.
There were some Sundays me and my dad would take a motorcycle ride up in the mountains. We would talk about the things we learned at church or the blessings the Lord has blessed us with.
That's a great day we can be able to spend with our families and loved ones, and the Lord.
By keeping this day holy I've been able to appreciate the Savior more and the blessings that I have received.
Faith #4
Sister Hurd studied about the sacrament yesterday for personal study. we talked about it and what we should think or remember during the sacrament.
In Matt 26:26-28 Christ explains the importance of the sacrament. I've noticed that during the sacrament we always sing a sacrament hymn. A hymn that specifically talks of Christ.
On Sunday, during relief society, the teacher that was teaching quoted the sacrament prayer. She changed some of the words. When she did it made the sacrament prayers alot more meaningful to me and the covenant (promises) that I made to Heavenly Father.
Doctrine and Covenants 20:77
Divine Nature #1
After reading the scriptures, divine nature to me is a person full of love for all people. They are confidence in themselves and the gospel. They are humble and thank the Lord continuous though out the day. they don't do things of the world or care what the world thinks of them. I love what it says in Alma 7:23-24 about divine nature. It reads,"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive. And see that ye have faith, hope, charity, and then ye will always abound in good works."
Individual Worth #1
These scriptures tell us that God knew us before we came to earth. He loves us, He created the earth FOR us.
He sent us the Holy Ghost to show us truth. When Joseph Smith was searching for what church to join, he read James 1:5. The Spirit touched His heart, and he felt that that was something He needed to do. And that was to "ask God."
Individual Worth #3
Me and one of my previous companions, when we were tracting, every person we talked to we would try and see what attribute they had. It was hard at first but it started to be alot of fun. Then the last door we knocked was a not so happy man.
After talking to him, we walked away from that door. We were very quiet at first. Instead of being negative towards him we started naming some Christlike attributes he had. After that intense convo we were able to smile and we realized that everyone does have some Christlike attributes. We can often times be blinded to those if we are focusing on the negative things about that person.
We also came to understand that "every soul is great in the eyes of God." We came to have a greater love and still do have a greater love for all the people we talk to.
Knowledge #4
Eternal Families.
I read an ensign talk,"The power of Early Preparation." Talking about family home evening in the home. I've never understood the importance of family home evening (FHE). I mean I knew it was like a church thing so i just thought, "well that's what we do," not understanding why.
This talk made sense to me as to why we have FHE. Family is so important to our Heavenly Father. FHE is a great way we can get to know each other as a family and enjoy those happy times.
But part of FHE is preparing for eternal life. Its not something that we just wait to act on. We don't wait to follow God, don't wait to listen to our parents, don't wait to do a family activity. We have to start now, and start building those relationships. Between God, Parents and family.
My family didn't do alot of FHE. I remember we read scriptures together as a family for prob about a year. Its those times that I remember most, even tho I wasn't the most supportive at it.
Serving a mission I've seen how families are supposed to be. No, not saying the families out here are perfect because they aren't. Every family has their hard times. But I see and understand the importance family is to our Heavenly Father and I'm grateful for not just the members but for the other families that I have seen who are not members. I'm grateful for them showing me the importance of families and what it means to be a family forever. I know that FHE does help the family to have the spirit in the home, and to have a close family relationship. Something I am excited and look forward with my family.
Choice & Accountability #1
Have you asked the Lord? Feast upon the words of Christ, they (the spirit) will tell us what to do.
We must pray to the Lord often. I like the story of the brother of Jared. The Lord tells him to build vessels so that He may take them to a promised land. The Lord all the things he must do, but the brother of Jared begins to rely to much on the Lord. When the time came to find light in the boats, the Lord said to the brother of Jared, "What will ye htat I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?...For ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forht, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?"
The brother of Jared ended up finding a way to make light.
The Lord wants us to exercise our agency, He wants us to study it out in our minds. He promises us that if we "study it out in our minds and the ask Him if it be right, and if is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right."
Being on a mission has truly helped. I feel very close with the spirit. I hope to just be able to always keep my regualr personal scripture study and prayers. I have come to understand the importance of it.
Choice & Accountability #3
I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father to give us the gift of agency. There is so many blessings and responsibility that comes from this great gift. You wouldn't think so tho, cuz we are always making choices everyday. Some good and some not so good. But from every choice we make we are able to learn from them. If we make a good choice the Lord will bless us. The commandments aren't given to us to MAKE us do something, but they are there to help protect us.
I love Doctrine and Covenants 82:10. The Lord promises to bless us if we do what He asks.
Choice & Accountability #4
It asks you to read some scriptures on repentance. I feel like you can never learn to much about this subject!
Repentance is a big thing and its something that, at least for me, I always need reminding!
I love how it talks about repentance in Doctrine and Covenants 19:15-20. It still just amazes me to think that Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered for all of our sins. If we are baptized by someone holding that right authority we can and are able to repent and be forgiven.
I then thought about the repentance process. I learned a awesome way to remember it here on my mission.. Its called the A B C D's of Repentance.
A- Admit the sin and that it was wrong
B- Be sorry
C- Confess to God and Bishop (if a serious sin) so he can help
D- Don't do it again
In Alma 34:31-35, it talks about repentance. Verse 33 it says,"...I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity..."
This verse is amazing to me, and it touched my heart as I read it.
I know that I make mistakes everyday, and I know that I have to repent everyday. To be honest, sometimes I don't even know what I did. I do ask Heavenly Father to open my eyes and help me see of those mistakes that I make so I can do better and be more like him.
I know that it has really helped me and I do feel so much more love for everyone around me and our Father in Heavens love for me and His children.
Choice and Accountability #5
The Holy Ghost will always show us truth. He testifies of Jesus Christ and The Father.
The Holy Ghost is a good spirit, full of love, meekness gentleness. When we feel that way we feel the Spirit.
What a great blessing to have the Spirit show us whats good and whats not.
Choice and Accountability #6
We are daughters of God. We will stand as witnesses of Him, we are to strive to live the Young Women values. By doing these things we can strengthen our families, homes we will be prepared to make more promises to God and enjoy the blessings He gives us.
What great blessings!! I know that if I do these things the Lord will bless me and my family and hopefully a good worthy husband.
Virtue #1
"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."
I love how important chasity is. I didn't know just how serious it was until I came here on my mission. Its crazy how Satan and the world make it sound like its normal and casual.
After reading the Family Proclimation, I understand how Heavenly Father wants us to be, that families are special and eternal.
I want my family to be a strong and faithful family. There are many blessings if you keep the law of chasity.
Virtue #2
John 14:26-27 -----> Promise blessings.
The Spirit will teach us all things, and help us remember things.
John 15:26 -----> Spirit of truth and testifies of truth
2 Nephi 32:1-5 -----> Speak with the tongue of angels
D&C 45:57-59 -----> We wont be cast out we will be able to have eternal lives and have families.
D&C 88:3-4 -----> Receiving the Holy Ghost is important for our salvation so we can be good and strive to do whats right.
If we keep ourselves clean and pure we are able to have the spirit. When we ahve the spirit we will be able to do many things. Being a missionary, I feel as though we constantly feel the spirit and are guided. I love that feeling and hope that I can continue to be worthy of having the spirit.
Virtue #3
These Questions are AWESOME!!!!! Truly thinking of the people I teach and myself. I feel like if I can answer these Questions feeling good about them I can and will be prepared to go to the temple. These Questions are amazing I will read them often to help remind me of why I am here and where I am going.
I invite everyone to read Alma 5 and write all the Questions down that Alma asks.
