Missionary Work - Becoming Zion

Hello all, I would like to share my thoughts about missionary work and becoming a Zion people. I think these both go hand in hand, you cannot become a Zion people without first becoming a missionary at heart.

To me a successful missionary doesn't have anything to do with baptisms, or converting people to the gospel. To me being a missionary is a way of life, it is taking time out of your busy schedule to help others succeed and draw closer to God, it is loving others, caring for others, and serving others. We know only true happiness comes through being obedient to God's laws.

Mosiah 2:17 And, behold I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

When we serve others with good intentions everyone is blessed. The people getting served are blessed with the help they need to become a better person, The server gets blessed with the joy that only comes from helping others and he gets blessings for doing the Lord's work.

As we change our hearts by serving others and striving to become more christlike we will start to establish Zion. To establish ourselves as a Zion people we must prepare ourselves for the second coming. We must Obey the Commandments, avoid temptation, repent, and put the atonement to work in our own lives. We do not have to be perfect, that is why Christ suffered for us. We do however, need to do the best we can and the Lord will make up the difference.

We need to hold fast to our beliefs and values, even when they are not very popular to many. We must care for the poor and the needy if we are able and we must depart of our substance when our brother is in need. It is not up to us to decide if someone really needs help or not, if they appear to be in need we must help.

In Mosiah 4:19 it says; For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

Brothers and Sisters, I challenge myself and each one of us to become missionaries, and do what we can to serve others who are in need.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Beware

Hello all, it seems like it has been a while since I have posted on here.

In my reading this week I have been learning about false prophets who will preach false Doctrines, lie, and do whatever they can to get you to doubt your beliefs. This is a common theme in our days today. There are lots of people who will hear something the church has came out with and instead of learning about it through the apostles we turn to facebook, websites, or any place we can to try to find answers. I have been guilty of this at time in my life and that is why I got rid of all my social media accounts for a few years.

I will be the first to admit when there is a new church policy that comes out it is easy to not understand and to look for answers in places I shouldn't. This has caused negativity and a slight wavering of my testimony at times. It wasn't until I talked to my Bishop and listened to the council of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf to doubt my doubts when I encounter something I may not understand at first rather than doubting my faith.

I have learned that I can find any answer I want to any question by just doing a simple google search. This brings up multiple contradictory "correct" answers. Its funny how that works. This is why it is important to beware of pride and to put off the "Natural man" for the natural man is an enemy to God.

It is perfectly acceptable to not understand or to disagree with new policies or revelations as long as we take the necessary steps to find out the truth of them for ourselves. I know if we look to answers to our questions in the right places our doubts will be removed from us as we get a full understanding. Once we have received our answer it is important to be content and move on with a steadfast and immovable faith.

There are many examples in the scripture of how pride destroyed many nations. I pray that we can all avoid being prideful when something doesn't sit right with us. May we have the courage to do whatever is necessary to learn and understand the reasons behind decisions made by our Church leaders.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Baptism, Sacrament, and The Holy Ghost

This week I have been studying some of the ordinances of the Gospel and the sacredness of such. I was impressed that the ordinances all tie back into the Holy Ghost. Sometimes it can seem as we do certain ordinance it feels like we are just "going through the motions". Recently in my life I have felt that with some of the things I do. I have noticed when I do this I am not getting the blessings I need from them and I feel like I would have been just as well off if I hadn't participated in the ordinances.

I have had a big personal challenge that has been weighing me down for as long as I can remember. this is the addiction of pornography. As I have worked on overcoming my addiction I have been able to get a better understanding of the blessings that come from having the Holy Ghost close at all times.

First of all when I partake of the sacrament worthily I am always touched by the Holy Ghost, every time. I sometime receive an answer to a concern I may have through the still small voice, or it may be a prompting to give someone a compliment, or to just say hi to a certain individual. By making an effort to truly repent of my sins so I can draw closer to our savior I am able to recognize the promptings of the spirit. When this happens I am more inclined to steer away from the evil temptations of the adversary.

I want to end with a scripture I read this week that really hit me it is found in 3 Nephi 18:29 it reads; "For whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul...."

Brothers and Sister, the ordinance of partaking of the sacrament is a very sacred ordinance where we can renew our baptismal covenants with the Lord if we partake worthily. My challenge to each and everyone of you is to make yourself right with the Lord if needed by taking the necessary steps of repenting of your sins. Go see your Bishop if needed and he can help you on your recovery.

I can testify to you based on my experiences that as you strive to be cleansed of your sins and draw closer to Jesus Christ you will be able to recognize and hear the prompting of the Holy Ghost in your life. He will lead you away from wrongdoings and harm if you only heed his promptings. Let's not partake of the sacrament unworthily because like the scripture above says we will be eating and drinking "damnation to his soul". You do not need to be perfect to partake of the sacrament you do have to be making steps in the right direction and your Bishop can help you decide if you are worthy for the sacrament.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The fall con't

This week have have studied more about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. I have read many scriptures that stood out to me and I want to share with you some of the thoughts, ideas, and feelings that came to me.

In Jacob 2:21 I read "...And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them..." Brothers and Sisters, this is another scripture that reminds us that the Savior loves each and every one of us no matter the choices we have made. His love is ongoing and never ending. There is nothing we can do that will stop Him from loving us. He may get disappointed in some of our actions and the choices we make however, he will not stop loving us. He wants each and everyone of us to use the atonement in our lives so we can reach our eternal goal.

Friends, I know that God lives, he loves each and everyone of us the same. Like the parable of the lost sheep, Christ will leave his ninety nine that are on the straight and narrow path to find the one that is lost, and when he finds the lost he will rejoice.
Like it says in Luke 15:7, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

The church is true

The fall

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. Mosiah 3:19

Friends, as I have been reading a little bit about the fall this week the above scripture really stood out to me. It made me do some self reflecting on my tendencies to be a natural man. I wondered if I am working to "putteth off the natural man" or if I am yielding "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit".

I will be the first to say that this life is difficult, challenging, and it is easy to forget who we are amid the turmoils of temptation. There is so much evil in the world today that tries to persuade us that what is wrong is right. There are many situations in life that cause us to lower our standards and make choices we wouldn't normally make if we want to be "popular".

As a Father of 4 wonderful children I have been given the responsibility to raise them in truth and righteousness. Like we learn in The Family: A Proclamation to the World; "individuals who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God."

I think we should all ask ourselves the following questions;

When away from your family do you act the way you want your children to act?
Do you participate in demeaning behavior?
Do you live the standards you are trying to teach your children at all times?
Are you yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putting off the Natural Man?
Do the choice's you make daily draw you closer to God?
Am I using the atonement in my life?

I want to publicly recommit this day to follow the council of the above scripture  and "becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

I would like to challenge anyone who reads this to take the necessary steps to put the atonement to work in your life. That is what it is for, no matter how far you think you have fallen, it is never too late. The savior is waiting patiently to help us through our worldly struggles, but he will not do it unless we ask and act for ourselves.

I love the Lord

Covenants

A covenant is a two way promise. Throughout our lives we make many covenants to God. Some of the covenants we make happen when we are baptized and when we receive the Priesthood.

In D&C 20:37 it tells us of the covenants of Baptism when it says "are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins" In this verse it tells us the covenants we make at baptism, they being; Take upon them the name of christ, serve him until the end, manifest they have received a remission of their sins through the spirit of Christ.
If we covenant to do all of this the Lord covenants that we will be forgiven of our sins, and that his spirit will always be with us.

When a young man receives the priesthood Heavenly Father gives his Oath that we can have the power of the priesthood if we magnify our callings and strive keep the commandments.

I have learned through my own personal experiences that when we sin and fail to live up to our end of covenants we feel pain. The Holy Ghost is hard to hear and recognize, we can go into a downward spiral that is hard to get out of. Not only does this affect ourselves but it affects all of those we come into contact with especially our loved ones.

I hope that everyone can realize the importance of living up to all of the covenants we make with God. What we learn in Psalms 89:34 is reminds us that if we keep our end of the promise the Lord will to, it reads "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."

Thanks for reading

Justin

The Book of Mormon

This week I dove into reading some of the prefaces of the Book of Mormon including, the title page, the testimony of the 3 witnesses, the testimony of the 8 witnesses, and the testimony of Joseph Smith. I have also studied a lot of related scriptures that explain the importance of obeying God and the value of the golden plates.

Because of some of the choices I have been making lately I feel like I am moving away from the savior and the still small voice is getting harder to hear. When you pile on all of the stresses of day to day life it can be hard to climb out of that rut. Although, I know the only way to get it turned around is to turn to our Savior, this is hard to do when discouraged.

As I started reading the Testimony of Joseph Smith my daughter came into the room and asked if I would read to her. I obliged and started over so she could hear the whole thing. During the reading she asked me questions about the many visits Joseph received from Moroni and about the Urim and Thumim.

My daughter is 10 years old and I figured she knew about the first vision, the Urim and Thumim, etc and I think she did but just forgot. I started to think about my other children and what questions they might have about the gospel. The conversation I had with my daughter made me remember how important the gospel, the church, and the Savior is to me. The only thing I could think about is how I need to share this with my children.

I started to realize my oldest son will be old enough to serve a mission in 4 years my second son in 6 years and my youngest son in 10 years. Then I started asking myself the following questions; Are my boys going to serve a mission? Are my boys preparing themselves to serve a mission? What am I doing to help them prepare? I can't answer the first two question but, I can answer the third question and the answer is that I am not doing enough.

I know that it is through our example as parents that things become important to our children. Right then and there I recommited to doing daily personal and family scripture study, daily family prayers, weekly family home evening, and making an effort to fulfill all of my Priesthood responsibilities and helping and encouraging my children to do the same.

I want to challenge everyone who views this post to take an inventory of your life like I did and reprioritize things if necessary to put the most important things first. Our example to our children can affect many generations of people for good or bad. I hope and pray that as my children continue to grow and develop into adults I can look back and know I made it clear to them that I value and am extremely grateful for the restoration of the gospel.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.