Christmas!

Sigh... I love this time of year!! I love seeing all of the Christmas lights around town and hearing all of the Christmas music in the stores and in the car. However, thing I love the most about this time of year is that for a couple weeks out of the year people are really striving to look outside themselves and serve others. It seems like people are striving more to understand Christ and be more like Him, and that really is what Christmas is all about.
I love reading the Bible story of Jesus Christ's birth in Bethlehem. His mother, Mary, and her soon-to-be husband Joseph were on their way to pay their tax. Mary was great with child and "because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7) she had baby Jesus in a stable, and laid him in a manager. At the birth of the Savior, shepherds, came from their fields to worship the Him. These shepherds had been steadfastly watching over their flocks when an angel of the Lord appeared to them and gave them "good tidings of great joy" (Luke 2:10). This angel told them that that day, a babe had been born in the city of David. Or more specifically, a Savior had been born into the world. After the shepherds heard the heavenly host singing praises to God they went searching after this baby.
There also came three wise men from the east, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I'm grateful for their gifts, but my mind causes me to reflect on the gift that the shepherds gave. They didn't bring any material items to give to the baby, but they had brought their humble hearts. They sacrificed to find the Savior, and worship Him in the way that they could. Today, we are like those shepherds. We cannot give the Savior physical gifts like the wise men did but we can give Him our hearts, and our lives. We can still give Him a gift. We can choose to serve Him. We can search after Him. I know that when we search that we don't have to look far, He is always close by us. I love the Savior. I'm so grateful that He came to this world and gave His life so we could all return again with Him someday.
Christmas time really is the time of joy.

Obedience

There is no substitute for obedience. It is the first law of heaven. When I look back at my life, and my mission experience, the happiest times that I have had were those times when I did exactly what I knew I was suppose to do. I have always been happiest when I have followed the rules instead of ignoring them. Or when I pretended they didn't exist.
From modern revelation we learn that "When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (Doctrine and Covenants 120:21, pg. 265). All of our blessings can be tied back to some law or commandment that we have decided to be obedient to. Sometimes it may seem like commandments restrict our freedom, but I know that living commandments it what really makes us free.
 Take a funnel for instance:

   Say you needed to get one piece of rice through a funnel.  So, you hold the funnel right-side up and put the grain of rice in the top. There are a lot of different ways you can get the rice into the funnel. It can go in on the right side, on the left side, down the middle, etc... But as the grain of rice goes down the funnel there is only one way that it can escape. There is only one little tiny tiny hole at the bottom. However, if you hold the funnel upside-down, there is only one hole for the rice to go in, but there are so many different ways that the grain of rice can come out! It can escape on the right side, the left side, down the middle, etc... This is how commandments can be viewed. If we disregard commandments it may seem freeing in the beginning. There seem to be so many different ways to go. But what about in the end? How many options do we have to escape? When we obey the commandments- even though it may seem restricting in the beginning- we have so much more freedom in the end.
  I know God loves us enough to give us commandments. I know we are given commandments for a reason, even if we don 't completely understand why. I know that when we are obedient to those commandments peace and joy will begin to fill our lives.

Service

  Alright... so this week I have spent a lot of time raking leaves. Living in southern Utah most of my life, I've never really had to rake many leaves. Mostly you just look at palm trees and cactus' down there. So, my arms are sore. I'm a wimp... lets be honest. Yesterday, as I was raking the backyard of an older woman in our congregation I couldn't help but feel happy. Raking really isn't a big deal, and anyone can do it (even me) but as I was pulling that rake again and again, until my arms hurt, I couldn't help but think of the Savior. When He was on the earth He didn't walk around and rake leaves, but His life was all in the service of others. He sought out "the one" who needed help and then administered to them. He was a friend to those who had no one, he healed in every way He knew how. And although he's not physically here anymore, He is just as real, and still provides that ever-caring service.
  So although raking leaves isn't a huge grand amount of service, I felt close to my Savior as I did it. I know when we serve and and love others we are doing as Jesus Christ would have done. Not only that but we are showing Him and our Heavenly Father how much we love them. There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that states, "....When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17, pg. 148-9). I know our Savior loves us, and He just wants us to help each other out in this life. I know that through service we can find an amazing amount of joy.

Joseph's Smith First Vision

One of the unique things that I get to do as a missionary here in the New York Rochester mission is that I get to give tours to those visitors that come to Palmyra to visit the church sites. We call the sites here the "Cradle of the Restoration" because this is where the a latter-day prophet was called on the earth again.
 We believe that Jesus Christ established His church while He was living on the earth, and gave the power and authority, to act in His name, to His 12 apostles. Sadly, our Savior, and His apostles, were rejected. And with that rejection, doctrines were confused and God took His power and authority off the earth for a time. There was a time of "spiritual darkness", or what we call an apostasy.
  But, because God loves us, at the appropriate time, God again called a prophet on the earth. In the spring of 1820 there was a 14-year old boy, Joseph Smith, that lived in Palmyra, New York. He saw all of the religious revivalism that was going on around him and just wanted to know where truth was found. One day, as this young boy was reading in the King James Bible he came across a scriptural verse in James 1:5 that reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not and it shall be given him."  Joseph lacked wisdom... so he decided to do what James directed and ask God.
  So on a spring morning he went out into the woods behind his house and knelt down and began to offer up the desires of his heart to God. Then, in his own words, 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!"

 Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, appeared to that young boy that spring morning to answer his prayers. They told Joseph that none of the churches, at that time, had the fullness of truth. They were drawing near with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him. After that, at the appropriate time, Joseph Smith was called from God to be the prophet to lead and guide Jesus Christ's church today. Through him Jesus Christ's power and authority was restored again, and the fullness of truth is back.
 I know that that event took place. I know that we have a prophet who has that same power and authority on the earth today. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he did see all that he said he saw. I know that this is Jesus Christ's church and that has always brought me my greatest sense of joy and belonging.

The Sacrament

Whew!! So, this week we put on an "Open House" for our church. It was chaotic and crazy but it was a lot of fun to put together. We had all of the different programs and auxiliaries that our church is involved in come and talk about some of the things that we offer. It was a really fun night where anyone could come in and learn a little bit more about our church and at the end we had our Mission President, President Jack R. Christianson, give a devotional. He talked about the incredible programs and auxiliaries that the church offers, but that the main focus and reason for our Sunday attendance is the Sacrament.

When we enter into the waters of baptism we make a covenant, or a two-way promise, with God. We promise God that we will:
-Always remember His Son, Jesus Christ
-That we will take the Savior's name upon us
-That we will keep His commandments

He in return promises that we can:
-Have the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit
-Get a remission for our sins
-Be born again

We don't have to be re-baptized to renew these covenants. That is what the sacrament is for. Every week, at church, we get to partake of the water and the bread, that is blessed and passed to the congregation by those holding the power and authority of God. When we partake of these emblems it is as if we are being re-baptized. Our covenants are renewed. Those mistakes that we made, and repented of, that week are washed away just like the day you were baptized. You've got another clean slate! What a miracle!!

I love the sacrament. I'm so grateful for it. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, He wants us home again with Him. I know that is by making, keeping, and renewing these precious covenants that we're going to make it there.

The Holy Ghost

  This afternoon I was thinking of an experience that I had when I was really little. We use to have two bunnies when I lived in Kanab, UT. There names were Whiskers and Scooter and sometimes we would take them out of their cage and let them run in our backyard. One day, I was sitting outside watching them run around. when something else caught my attention. I remember turning my back to the rabbits and getting engaged in another task. I was fully focused on the new project that I had immersed myself in when I felt this distinct, and very prompt, impression to turn around. Although I was little, I remember it felt like someone had hastily tapped me on the shoulder. As I turned around I caught a glance of a cat, moving quickly to go pounce on Scooter, who was oblivious to the whole thing. I ran toward the cat and got there right in time to scare it away from my little bunny :).

  So... yes, this is a strange story, and most of you probably don't see a bunny's life as high priority, but I learned a lot of lessons from that experience. I learned a lot about the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. He is with the Father and the Son, and they have the same purpose but they are three separate beings. There are many different roles that the Holy Ghost can play in our lives. He testifies of truth, helps lead us in the right direction, provides power to teach and to learn, he can warn us in times of danger (like if your rabbit is in danger :)), and one of my favorite roles of the Holy Ghost is that he is a comforter. I love the scripture in in John 14:18 that says, " I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." Our Heavenly Father speaks and comforts us through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is a precious gift that our Father in Heaven offers to all of those who have been baptized, by the right authority. The Holy Ghost can be our CONSTANT companion, if we are worthy of it.

  I'm so grateful for this gift! I'm also grateful for a Father in Heaven who loved his daughter enough to help her protect her little bunny. Because Scooter was important to me he was also important to Heavenly Father.  He loves us. He wants us to succeed and be happy and that is why He has given us the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Prayer

So... here's a story:

When I was 16 years old I wanted to go to one of my friend's weddings, who lived about a hour and a half from my house in St. George UT. It wasn't a planned trip and I had just gotten my driver's license and so my Dad was really hesitant on letting me go. He wanted me to take a friend but none of my friends were available, and I, being stubborn, persisted until my Dad finally gave in and consented.
I was excited to get out on my own and prove to myself and everyone else that I was a "grown up" now. I got to my friend's wedding safely and headed back home just as it started to get dark outside. As I was driving on an old road I heard some strange noise, over the radio, and decided to pull over to see what was wrong. When I got out of the car I noticed that my tire had popped! I was shocked and worried because I had no idea how to change a tire! I wasn't sure what to do because it was dark and there weren't any immediate towns close by to walk to.

I got back in my car and realized, with dismay, that my phone wasn't getting service. So I sat there, and waited. Waited for what? I'm still not quite sure. As I was waiting in the dark I started to feel really uneasy. I wasn't sure what to do, and as I played with my phone I found a musical segment that I had recorded a couple days previous. The song was a hymn called "Did you think to Pray?". As I sat in the dark and listened to the song, the words played in my head:

"Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ your Savior, did you sue for loving favor? As a shield today?
Oh, how praying rests the weary. Prayer will change the night to day.
So, when life gets dark and dreary, don't forget to pray."

By this point, I was scared. So I prayed. I prayed and prayed. And a miracle happened, for one brief moment I got enough bars on my cell phone to call my Mom and tell her where I was and that I was stranded. The last thing I heard was her saying, "Dad is on his way". So I waited again. The whole time replaying that song over and over until, about a hour later, my knight in shining armor- my Dad- arrived.
I know that there are many blessings that come from praying to our Heavenly Father. When we pray He can help guide us in our everyday life, He helps us resist temptation, He helps us make good decisions, He forgives us of our sins, He can warn us of times of danger, He can give us feelings of peace and comfort, and we will be closer to Him when we pray. I know that just like my earthly Father was willing to drive out to the middle of nowhere to rescue his stranded daughter, our Heavenly Father will help rescue us, and give us joy, as we lean on Him and talk to Him through daily prayer.