Do you sin? Guess what?!.. SO DO I!!!!

I've blogged alot about challenges and hard times. We all have them right? We don't have them once or twice a year.. We have them ALOT...

Sometimes people think that to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints you needs be perfect. Some might think that there are to many rules, and we aren't free to do the things that we want to. How do you feel?

I can say that, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints you do not need to be perfect. When I was a teenager I thought that I had to be perfect all the time. When I was about 17 years old, I got sick and tired of it and chose to rebel. I still had a testimony of Jesus Christ, I knew that He was indeed my Savior but I just purposely did things to make others mad or do something to give someone something to talk about. I was a not so happy person.

I thought I was happy, I laughed, I smiled but deep down I was SO miserable and angry.
Now, that I am a missionary I think back on the things that I have done and said to others and I'm not proud of it at all. I have felt SO much guilt, and often thought of just giving up.
I think about how I felt back then, and how I feel now. There is a HUGE difference!
We are to remember the sins or mistakes that we have done, so that we can be reminded how it felt and not do it again. It takes a long time to heal, "healing blessings come in many ways." Remember that the Lord reveals to us our weaknesses so that we can be stronger and strive to be more and more like him. Sounds like alot of work yes? Well, I love what Elder Packer said this general conference. He said.."If someone is looking for a church that requires very little, this is not the one. It is not easy to be a Latter-day Saint, but in the long run it is the only true course." I know this comment to be true. I know that other people have had it worse than I have, but looking back on my decisions and my way of thinking was no bueno. Ya it was easier but I wasn't going anywhere in life. This gospel of Jesus Christ is the way of life! It is mine! Its one of the greatest things that I could have. I will not go back to the person I was because I see what is important. My Savior Jesus Christ is important to me. He was willing to suffer for not just me, but the WHOLE world just so we wouldn't have to. So when I make those sins and mistakes, because we ALL do, I can kneel down and ask Him to forgive me and learn from those mistakes that I made.

I don't know everything about the church of Jesus Christ, and I wont know everything here in this life. What I do know, is that it changed me to be a better person. I know this gospel does bring much happiness into peoples lives, I am a witness of this. I've seen many lives change here in California. Its been one of the greatest things that I have seen, and I feel very blessed to have witnessed these miracles. I thank my Father in Heaven for helping see the things that matter most in life. I thank Him for never leaving me, even when I was a rebellious teenager and a brat to my family. We all sin, but there is ALWAYS repentance! "..as oft as [you] repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent [you] were forgiven." (Moroni 6:8)

Remember who you are and what you stand for!

"Follow thou Me"

Today we were able to see a wonderful woman take that next step and follow Jesus Christ. Yup, she was baptized!

Earlier that morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon, I had left off the night before in 2 Nephi 30. So I started reading and read chapter 30 and 31. Chapter 31 talks about baptism, which was a little ironic because we had a baptism today. I read through each verse as carefully as I could. I feel like I should have this chapter memorized because I've read it so many times. I've come to like this chapter the more and more I read it.
The prophet Nephi explains in chapter 31 why Christ was baptized, and how important it is for us to be baptized. One of the GREATEST things about getting baptized, isn't just taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, but we also receive a wonderful gift! The gift of the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit to be a constant companion to us. To help lead and guide us through the rest of our lives as long as we live worthy of it. What an AMAZING gift our Father in Heaven has given us!
As I was reading however there was a question that Nephi asked that caught my attention. " And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the work of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighter to save." 2 Nephi 31:19

What an interesting question. Are we done once we enter the waters of baptism? Nope, life still goes on. We will still have trials and struggles, and that's why the atonement of Jesus Christ is so great. We are able to repent, and return to live with Him. In the next verse it says,"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." I love this last part.. "If ye shall press forward, and endure to the end...We shall have eternal life."

Just like in my last post, we are not perfect but we can be clean and I know that baptism is a way that we can be clean. We can be as clean as we were when we were first baptized as long as we repent and keep going forward following Christ.

I know that Christ lives and I know that we will one day return to live with our Father in Heaven again and we can be with our families forever.
Remember who you are and what you stand for!

"Things we know, and things we DO NOT"

Have any of you lost a loved one? Was it through natural causes or did they take their own life?   
I have often thought about what happens to those who take their own life. We know that the law of Moses, or the 10 commandments, that is says "Thou shalt not kill." OK, well does this mean also taking one's own life? 
I pondered on this question for awhile. A very good friend of mine took his life about 5 days before I left for my mission.  
My friend called me on the phone and told me this terrible news. I hung up the phone and just sat outside on my porch.
I was shocked when I heard this news, I thought no not him! Why him?!

I don't know why, but I have been thinking alot about him lately. Especially when I study about the Plan of Salvation.

I wonder, if there is hope for him and if he could be forgiven. Would God, and could forgive an act such as this one.

I came across a talk on LDS.org by Elder M. Russell Ballard, "Things we know, and things we do not." There is a part of this talk that brought much comfort to my soul, as I hope it does with yours as well. "I believe the Lord will consider each case separately and judge the circumstances of each individual. I have sincerely sought direction from our Father in Heaven to help me understand the nature of suicide. And I have come to know, as well as anything else that I know from God, that these people have a place in the kingdom of our Father, and it is not one of darkness or despair, but one where they can receive comfort and experience serenity." "...it is clear that hope exists."

In Doctrine and Covenants 138:58-59 it says,"The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God, And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation."
I know there is hope for all those who have passed on. I know that I will see him again. "... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

Forgiveness

So.. I was reading in DoctRine and Covenants 64:9-10; it Reads," Wherefore, i say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." Reading this really hit me. BefoRe I came out heRe on my mission, theRe was a situation I had with a fRiend. Things happened and things weRe said and I was Really angRy with heR, I was for a long time.
One of my fRiends came home fRom his mission and we talked about the things that had happened between me and heR. He told me to foRgive heR, and move on. I was upset with this answeR!! He wasn't seeing my side of things. The way he was looking at the situation reminds me of the way ouR SavioR looks at ouR situations. With Love! Just like it says in Matt 5:44 ,"...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which dispitefully use you , and persecute you.." 
When I Read this scRiptuRe I knew what i needed to do! Ask my Heavenly FatheR foR foRgiveness, foR not foRgiving heR. How can we seek foR foRgiveness fRom ouR FatheR in Heaven, when we aRen't willing to foRgive otheRs? It's just as impoRtant to foRgive otheRs as it is to ask foR foRgiveness.
We have so many example's of foRgivness in the scRiptures. Joseph, who's bRotheRs sold him into Egypt, the PRophet Joseph Smith "throughout his ministry was frequently persecuted by his enemies, and sometimes he was even betrayed by his friends. Though he was attacked and maligned, the Prophet consistently preached that we should follow the Savior’s admonition to forgive others", and of couRse the SavioR who was spit on, whipped and beaten and yet he asked the Father to "foRgive them."-Luke 23:34
Now, that I am on my mission I'm so happy that I looked to my fRiend and my SavioR's example. It wasn't easy foR me to do this. But, with help fRom the LoRd I was able to foRgive heR and move on. She is a daughteR of God and He loves heR, and I love heR to! I know that the LoRd has foRgiven both of us foR the things that happened.
A peRfect example of foRgiveness, that we all can look to