Come Listen to a Prophets Voice

"As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to be led by living prophets—inspired men called to speak for the Lord, just as Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, and other prophets of the scriptures. We sustain the President of the Church as our prophet, seer, and revelator—the only person on the earth who receives revelation to guide the entire Church. We also sustain the counselors in the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators.

Like the prophets of old, prophets today testify of Jesus Christ and teach His gospel. They make known God’s will and true character. They speak boldly and clearly, denouncing sin and warning of its consequences. At times, they may be inspired to prophesy of future events for our benefit."
(True to the Faith)

This Saturday and Sunday we have a wonderful opportunity to hear from the Lords Prophets and Apostles. Twice a year they speak words of hope, love, and guidance. Our Lord speaks through them to us to warn us of what we need to do better or what we need to watch out for. I promise that something these Prophets and Apostles say will relate to you in your life and the Holy Ghost will enter into your heart telling you that what they are saying is true.

The Story of the Lightbulb

"On a dark December night 36 years ago, a Lockheed 1011 jumbo jet crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing over 100 people. This terrible accident was one of the deadliest crashes in the history of the United States.

A curious thing about this accident is that all vital parts and systems of the airplane were functioning perfectly—the plane could have easily landed safely at its destination in Miami, only 20 miles (32km) away.

During the final approach, however, the crew noticed that one green light had failed to illuminate—a light that indicates whether or not the nose landing gear has extended successfully. The pilots discontinued the approach, set the aircraft into a circling holding pattern over the pitch-black Everglades, and turned their attention toward investigating the problem.

They became so preoccupied with their search that they failed to realize the plane was gradually descending closer and closer toward the dark swamp below. By the time someone noticed what was happening, it was too late to avoid the disaster.

After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out lightbulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic death of over 100 people.

Of course, the malfunctioning lightbulb didn’t cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most."

(President Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

This story, in a way, happens in our lives every now and again. Sometimes we lose sight of what matters most, whether to us or to God, and we pay attention to those small things. More specifically, I want to compare this to going to church. Attending church is a great focus and we all know that God wants every single one of us in His church sunday mornings. Proof that God wants us at church comes from the great promised blessings to those who keep the sabbath day holy: the fullness of the Earth will be ours along with a fullness of joy!

Sometimes we wake up Sunday mornings and there is contention in the home or we feel we need to run to the store to buy a couple of items and there is no time to make it to church. Maybe our clothes haven't been ironed and prepared. Whatever the reasons we may have, they are only "worth about 20 cents" and should not keep us from the things that matter most.

If we keep our sight focused on the Lord and what he wants for us we will always be happy. We just need the strength to overcome those small things that might keep us from the greater things.

Our Mediator

This is a video called The Mediator. Its a story of a young man who falls into debt and cannot pay off the loans he has been given. While he is pleading for mercy, his creditor demands justice. The only way both can be satisfied is when there is a mediator who can pay the price justice require but extend mercy to those in need.

The Savior is our Mediator. We "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3: 23) We cannot pay the price for our own sins or mistakes. We all have a debt that we cannot pay ourselves. But Christ, by living a perfect life, has made it possible for our sins to be paid off by his mercy.

In the video the Mediator said, "you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way. You need not go to prison.” All that Christ has asked from us is to live his gospel. He asks us to have faith, repent, be baptized, and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. If you have not yet followed his terms in your life, I would invite you to do so. This is the only way that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven.

I know what Christ expects of us. It will not be easy to live up to His expectations but it will be worth it in the end. I know that when we give all the effort we've got to live worthy of these expectations, Christ will make up for the rest.

The Family and the Temple

Recently, I studied the question of "How can families be happier and more united?"  I was directed to study in Mosiah chapter 2, in the Book of Mormon. There were two specific verses that stuck out to me, 5 and 6. In this chapter a king is calling together the people of his kingdom to give them cousel and instruction. He commanded them to gather around the temple to hear him speak. In verse 5 it says "...when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters... and they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple..." The man of every household gathered his whole family and brought them to the temple. No one was left out and their minds and hearts were open to hearing the words that their leader needed to tell them.

To help our families become happier and more united we need to gather everyone in the family and take them to the temple. Everything we do in the church focuses on helping people progress towards the temple to make covenants, or solemn binding agreements, with God. In the temples of the Lord, family members can be sealed to one another for time and eternity. There is no better way to unify your whole family than to assure through the Lord that your family will be together forever.

The temple is the best place in the world! It is my favorite place to be. Its my invitation to you all to prepare yourselves to enter into one of the temples of the Lord. I know that this is one of the biggest blessing that a family can recieve. More peace and happiness lies there than in any other place.



The Love of God

This past week I had a great experience of teaching someone of who God is and how we are connected to him. We talked of God's perfect love for each of His children and how He knows exactly what we are all going through. As I sat there and spoke of this perfect love, tears of comfort came from this humble daughter of God. The Spirit came and testified to her that our message is true. I don't know what challenges she is going through in her life, but God wanted her to know at that moment how much He loves her.

Since talking to her, I have tried to imagine what it would be like to go through this life of trials and burdens and not know or feel of the love from our Father in Heaven. We are not always going to have a simple, easy life where everything goes our way. But if we know and can feel of God's love that He has for each of us, we can make it through anything. We will never question why bad things are happening to us, but we will know that we are being given opportunities to learn and grow.

I know that God cares for every one of us. That He has a perfect love that we cannot fully understand. This is a video of many people who learned for themselves who God is and how much he loves them.
                                                                Watch the video!!