Have Faith : Step into the Darkness

"There are times when we have to step into the darkness in faith, confident that God will place solid ground beneath our feet once we do."

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

We must show our Faith in God in order to receive His Highest Blessings.

"Now, he who finds the Grail must face 3 challenges.

First, is the path of God: Only the penitent man shall pass.

Second, is the word of God: Only in the footsteps of God, shall he proceed.

Last is the breath of God: Only in a leap from the lion's head shall he prove his worth."
-- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

So what do we do to show Faith?

First : Pray

Second : Read Scriptures

Last : Go to Church

What can you do to be closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ, in your own Life?

Prepare for Disaster

Let's face it, each of us will have disasters in our life.  What kind of disaster?

 Wind?

 Water?

 

 

Fire?

 Earth?

 Small Children?

 Some of these might seem pretty scary, but none of them can destroy that which is of most importance.

With each of these Disasters there come a temptation to lose Faith, give up hope, or simply sink into despair.  However we can prepare for this temptation before hand, so that we will not be in despair, give up hope, or lose our Faith.

What is needed for us to be prepared when these temptations come upon us?

Read.

Pray.

  

Go to Church.

It is by doing these small and simple things that the great things are brought to pass.

"You know, brethren, 

that a very large ship 

is benefited very much 

by a very small helm 

in the time of a storm, 

by being kept workways 

with the wind and the waves."

-- Doctrine and Covenants 123:16

"And now, my sons, remember, remember 

that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, 

who is Christ, the Son of God, 

that ye must build your foundation; 

 that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, 

yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, 

yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, 

it shall have no power over you 

to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, 

because of the rock upon which ye are built, 

which is a sure foundation, 

a foundation whereon 

if men build 

they cannot fall."

--  Helaman 5:12

 .

Joseph Smith : Prophet of the Restoration

This is one of my favorite movies.  The Bible speaks of the "restitution of all things."(Acts 3:21)  The Bible also says that there would be a general or great Apostasy, or a "falling away."(2 Thessalonians 2:3)

In Ezekiel 37 The Lord speaks to His Prophet of two books of Scripture, the Stick of Judah and the Stick of Ephraim.  The Stick of Judah is the Bible, because it was written by the Jews.

What then is the Stick of Ephraim?

What book of Scripture did the tribe of Ephraim write?

The Stick of Ephraim is the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon was written upon the American continent.

The Book of Mormon was brought forth in modern times by a Prophet of God.

The Book of Mormon was Translated by the Gift and Power of God.

This movie is a depiction of what Joseph Smith went through in order to restore the Church to the Earth.

ENJOY

Click HERE for a free copy of the Book of Mormon

We all must be DOING something ... For in the DOING, do we BECOME.

O. Vincent Haleck

Easter Remembrance

Pray About It . . . What Does it Mean to Pray ? ? ?

Prayer is one of the ways in which we as Humans receive Revelation.

The Bible Dictionary states the following about Prayer :

        "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

        Christians are taught to pray in Christ’s name (John 14:13–14; 15:7, 16; 16:23–24). We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ—when his words abide in us (John 15:7). We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent his mind, but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart."

Prayer is something we should do out of love.  When we love the savior we will pray to the Father for forgiveness when we have done something wrong.  When we love our neighbors we will pray for them even when they are not in need of help.

The pattern of Prayer that Christ taught His diciples was to pray to the Father, in the Name of Christ.  Much like a letter to a dear friend.  We speak freely and sometimes emotionally in personal prayer.  We can say whatever we want our Father to hear.  We give Thanks for our blessings, and we ask for those things we still need help with.

I hope that we might each find a new desire to pray, and to speak with our Heavenly Father more often.

This is my prayer for everyone, in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

General Conference is TOMORROW

General Conference - President Eyring

Don't Forget to watch General Conference everyone!!

This Weekend a Prophet of God will speak to the World.

The 182nd Annual General Conference is this Week

So....for those of you who don't know it is time for the 182nd Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Messages will be given by the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities and General Officers of the Church.

General sessions will be held on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., followed by the priesthood session at 7:00 p.m. Central time. Two more general sessions will be held on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Central time; the morning session includes the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word.

Anyone can watch conference in local church meetinghouses, or in their homes.

For viewing conference at a local meetinghouse, check with local church leaders on availability of the broadcast by Satellite or Internet feed.

Live broadcasts will be available at the following locations:

• Conference.lds.org: video and audio in multiple languages
• Mormonchannel.org and Mormon Channel mobile apps: video and audio in English only
• BYU.tv: video and audio in multiple languages
• Facebook.com/LDS: video in English only (Choose “General Conference” from the left menu.)

In addition, many cable and radio stations will have the conference available.
Visit http://www.bonneville.info/ for broadcast information or check local listings.

The opportunity to listen to a Prophet of God doesn't happen very often. 

Everyone is invited to listen as Apostles of the Lord speak and teach.

Lamps and Lightbulbs

So this one time I was trying to explain how priesthood Authority works, and why it is important.  I came up with my own story, and it goes something like this.


     Once upon a time there was a Lamp.  That Lamp was the Gospel.  Then Christ came to teach the Gospel, perform the Atonement, and establish His church.  The church Christ established is like a LampShade, it holds all the 'Light and Knowledge' of the Gospel.

     However, after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ the church was persecuted, and the Apostles who received Priesthood Authority were killed.  This means that the Lamp was broken, because no one had the Authority to direct Christ's Church.

     Less than 500 years later there were a small number of churches that had pieces of the broken Lamp.  People knew that something had been lost and they tried as best they could to reform the Lamp.  Roughly 1000 years later there were many churches, or many Lamps, that all claimed to be the "True Lamp".  That they each had part of that Lamp it is true, but none were the Lamp of the Gospel as it was supposed to be.

     Now we have a world where we can choose from many churches, almost like going to the store to buy a Lamp, there are planty of options.  Some Lamps are tall and flexible, some are short and round, others may be there more for looks than for light.

  

 


But even if the Lamp came close, the Lightbulb of Authority was still missing.  You see Christ is the 'Light of the world', and so even if you have all the components of a functioning Lamp only when He puts in the Lightbulb does that church give Light.

     In 1820 Joseph Smith asked God in prayer, which church to join.  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and called him to be a new Prophet to restore His church to the Earth, exactly as it was when Christ was on the Earth.

     The same Lamp of the Gospel, with the same church organization or LampShade, was once again found on the Earth.  God gave the Authority of the Priesthood to Joseph Smith, who ordained others, and the Priesthood has never again left the Earth.