"What have I done with His name?"

I was listening to a song in the car the other day and the words caught my attention.

"Father named me after Grandpa
He said he hoped that I would one day
Be the man that he was
Well, Grandpa died when I was five years old
And so he hasn't been around to know
What his namesake has done
But what if he's watching
What if Grandpa's seen all I've become

What have I done with his name
I'm hoping he won't be ashamed
The right or the wrong
I've done it all with his name

Someone named me after Mormon
Trying to turn world against me
Because of faith etched in gold
But that name has stood for goodness
And its fame now floods the nations
By the words Mormon wrote
Now, what if he's watching
Have I been true to what Mormon made known

There's a Name above all others
And it's the only one that saves
So Grandpa, me and Mormon
We love this Name
And we know He's watching
Jesus sees all of our faith

What will we do with His name
He's hoping we won't be ashamed
The right or the wrong
We do it all with His name
But, He can catch us when we fall
'Cause that's what He does with His name

That blessed name
I love His name"

This song really made me sit back and think. "What have I done with His name?" Being a missionary I wear the name Jesus Christ on my name badge, but when my mission is over I won't have the name badge anymore. When I was 8 years old I was baptized and I promised to take upon my self the name of Christ at all times. In 2 Nephi 31:13 it says,"..I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism-yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost..."
I love what the prophet Alma taught in Mosiah 18:8,"...yea, and are willing...to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in."

What have you done with His name? As for me, I really hope that He won't be ashamed!

Remember who you are and what you stand for!

Remember.. to be obedient

This morning during my personal study, I was studying on Christlike attributes. The one I decided to study on today was obedience. It is a short section in Preach my Gospel, but an important one. The first thing that really stood out to me was, "[obedience] it is an act of faith, you may sometimes be required to do things you do not completely understand." This is so true, and it is hard for us to do sometimes. I had an experience like this and it wasn't easy, but I knew it was something I needed to do. Everything turned out for the best, as it usually does when we are obedient and do what the Lord asks of us.
I've been reading in the Book of Mormon again, the first family it talks about it Lehi's. Its amazing to me how obedient Lehi is to the Lord, and does what the Lord asks. Lehi's son is just as obedient as his father is.  

They left their home in Jerusalem, and traveled for a time close to the Red Sea. The Lord told Lehi, that they needed to return to Jerusalem to receive the records of his forefathers.

I love Nephi's responce to his father when he asked them to go back. "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) 
Being obedient is something that I have really desired to do. Which is weird, cause before the mission I did the complete opposite of what people asked me. It wasn't anything to crazy, but for example, my mom would ask me to do something and I just didn't do it.
I want to do the best I can to be as obedient as I can. To the Lord and to other people as well. I know that being obedient is sometimes hard. BUT, this morning during my study I read something that Nephi said that really made me think. Nephi's brothers Laman and Lemuel were always rebelling. There was this specific time when Laman and Lemuel were rebelling and Nephi said, "And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly lest the Lord should be angry with us, and smite us because of our iniquity..." (1 Nephi 18:10)

Sometimes I worry about what others think of me, but I should worry about what the Lord thinks. I want to be obedient to Him, because I love Him. It explains it very simple in the scriptures,"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) I love this quote that was said at one of our zone conferences, "Our willingness to obey is most frequently tested before we are actually taught how to obey."

I'm grateful that I do have a desire to be obedient. I do love the Lord, and I know I can show/express my love to Him by being obedient to the things He has asked of us to do. I know that we truly are happier when we obey. I would like to challenge all of you to be obedient to the Lord and also your parents. They both love you and our here to help us. I promise you will feel that freedom and that happiness that the Lord wants us to feel.

Remember who you are and what you stand for!