A Few Insights From (One of?) Peter's First Healing(s?)

Last night, Joe and I read in Acts chapter 3 about one of the first, if not the first, recorded healing after Jesus' ascension.

And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 

Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. ... 

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 

And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

Acts 3: 2-3, 6-8

There are a couple of things that stand out to me here. The first is that the lame man didn't get what he asked for - he got something better. That happens a lot with God. We, in our finite wisdom or mortal desires, ask for something we want or that we think is best, only to find that God knows our needs better than we do, and He's already preparing something for us that's better than what we asked for. When we pray for a blessing and don't get it, we need to remember that God is a lot more wise, patient, loving, and benevolent than we are. He's not saying "No," because He's mad at us or because He just doesn't feel like blessing us just then. Everything He does is planned to work out for the best good for everyone. If He withholds a blessing from you, or gives you a different blessing than the one you asked for, or answers your prayers in a way that you didn't expect, just know that God knows what He's doing, and be grateful that God has even better blessings ahead than the ones that you asked for.

Another thing that stood out here is that Peter didn't let his inability to give the lame man what he asked for stop him from lending a hand. Sometimes, people ask us to do things that we can't do. Everyone has different talents and resources. Peter couldn't do anything for the lame man financially, but he could still help him in other ways. We can't all do healings. Not all of us have money to spare. And some of us don't even have time or energy to help much, but everyone can do something. Sometimes, we have no more that we can offer but a kind word, a friendly gesture, or a smile, but sometimes that's just what that person really needed. Let the Spirit guide you. When you think there's nothing you can do, you can turn to Him for advice, and a good example.

It occurs to me that there's not a whole lot the Spirit can do for anyone. He has no body that He could use to physically help anyone. He has no material possessions to share. The Spirit often can't do much more than be a voice is someone's head or a feeling in their heart, but He doesn't let His limitations stop Him from doing what He can. He can be the voice of reason, a word of advice, a shoulder to cry on (even without an actual, physical shoulder), a warm feeling of comfort, a light of inspiration, or warning against evil. And He is all that and more. Though there are many things that He can't do, He is always doing what He can.

A third lesson I want to take from this is that when you're happy, be happy! If you've got something to say, say it. If you've got something to do, do it. It usually doesn't matter a whole lot where you are or who may be watching. Don't let others rain on your parade, and especially don't let them make you hesitate from doing what you feel you should. Sure, the temple probably isn't the best place for "leaping," and though praising God is usually a good thing, it didn't seem like he was doing it quietly or reverently. But God had just done something wonderful for this man, and he wanted to thank Him as joyfully and emphatically as he could. I don't think God would fault Him for that. God cares more about people's hearts than their actions (I think), and this man's heart was clearly in the right place. As soon as he was able to move on his own, the first place he went was into the temple. That says a lot about that man and his character. Not that the act of physically walking into the temple means much, but it being the first place he went as soon as he was able - where he went when he wanted to praise God - says a lot about the content of the man's heart.

And a lot of the rules people insist that others follow have more to do with tradition and customs than actually following the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't do a whole lot of shouting or leaping Himself, but I don't think He spoke anything against it. Sometimes we see someone that we don't think is acting the way they should, but it may simply be that we don't understand their situation. We may think that so-and-so should keep his voice down, especially in the temple, but we may not know what it is that he's so excited about. We don't know what's going on in other's lives, so what room do we have to judge them? Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject.

So, those are my handful of thoughts out of those few verses. There are certainly one or two things in there that we could each learn from and apply. Just thought I'd share those insights with you. I hope they do you some good.

Happiness

Joseph Smith once said that "happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it;"

I've always loved that quote. I kind of think that the purest form of love is a desire for the loved person to be happy. It's encouraging to know that God loves us and wants us to be happy - that happiness is the reason we're alive.

People sometimes define happiness different ways, and search for happiness in various places. I've been guilty of that. But because God loves us, He hasn't left of to search for happiness on our own. He has given us commandments to guide us along the path of happiness. The more I think about it, the more I think that all that God does, He does to make us happy.

Life isn't always happy. Sometimes we have to take the good with the bad. And sometimes, we make our own unhappiness by going against the commandments of God. But in either case, it's comforting to know that God has made a plan for our happiness, and that He does everything in His power to make it possible for us to follow it.

That Which We Persist in Doing

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is one of my favorite principles: Exercise. Improved capacity through repeated attempts. Diligence yields ability.

It reflects something that President Deiter F. Uchtdorf said in his October 2009 talk, The Love of God:

My dear brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged if you stumble at times. Don’t feel downcast or despair if you don’t feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you. (Emphasis Added)

I used to need to remind myself to blog every morning. I taped a piece of paper with the word "BLOG"  written on it to the computer screen, so that when I go on the computer each day, "BLOG" is the first thing I see, and do. But now I don't need that reminder. That piece of paper has been resting on top of the computer for months now. That which seemed only possible - maintaining a daily blog - has become a habit and, in some ways, I suppose, a part of me.

There are lots of things that we do regularly, or that we're supposed to do regularly. Such things become easier as we repeatedly do them. The more we do them, the easier it becomes to keep doing them, not because the tasks actually become easier, but because we have developed a habit of doing them.

I've recently started to keep a journal again. I write a little bit every night. As habits go, that one wasn't very hard to pick up, perhaps partly because I used to write in my journal every day until shortly before I started blogging. Because I had already developed a habit of journal-writing, it wasn't hard to pick back up.

So, we can become better people by developing habits of doing good things. Unfortunately, habits can also work against us. As Nathaniel Emmons once said: “Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.” If we choose our habits carefully and wisely, they will do a great of good for us by helping us to do good things. If we choose our habits poorly, they will get us stuck in ruts, leading us down roads the ends of which we'd rather not reach, or even think about.

We need to make good choices. We need to make good choices as frequently as we can so we can develop a habit of making good choices. Sometimes, making the right choice is difficult, but I believe that God will always make it possible. If we pray for His help and do what we can, we can succeed. And if we can succeed once, we can succeed again. And if we can succeed again and again, we can form a habit of succeeding, and if we etch that habit deeply enough, it will eventually become difficult to fail.

God may increase the challenge of the test, and Satan may increase the temptation to give up, but if we decide to choose the right, that choice will become easier and easier every time we make it. If we persist in making good choices, that will become easier for us to do until it eventually becomes a habit and a real part of us.

Joseph - A Lesson in Enduring Faithfulness

Not sure how much time I have. Going to the temple with family this morning. I'm not exactly sure when we're leaving, and I need to get ready. But first, I need to blog.

Yesterday, at Institute, we learned about Joseph who was sold into Egypt. To make his story "come to life," so to speak, not only did we read the scriptural account, but we also watched a movie that showed the events we were reading about. I'm glad we did, because the movie emphasizes something that must have been true, but could have been very easily missed if one was only reading the scriptural account.

In the Bible, we read "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, ...And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand." (Genesis 39: 2-3)

Joseph, despite being in unfortunate circumstances, was blessed and prospered by the Lord. From this, we may guess that Joseph was faithful to the Lord, despite his difficult circumstances, and was thus blessed and prospered. The video we saw showed how difficult and unpopular that faithfulness may have been.

The movie showed Joseph in the slave market, where he was advertised to Potifar, an Egyptian, as being very submissive and quiet. "He only ever opens his mouth to pray," the slaver said. Potifar asked which gods Joseph prayed to, and Joseph answered, only one. Then Potifar said something to the effect of "to only have one God to pray to, the boy must be very poor indeed." Everyone chuckled at that, except Joseph, who said that his one God provided all of his needs. But Potifar pointed out that, given that he was being sold into slavery, his God didn't seem to be doing a great job of helping him, and again, everyone but Joseph got a good laugh out of that. But because Potifar found Joseph amusing, he bought him, and later discovered that his God was, indeed, blessing him.

Of course, that was just a cinematic depiction. It probably didn't happen much like that. But Joseph was thrown into a situation where he could have felt that God had abandoned him, and he was taken to a land everyone worship other gods, but it would seem that Joseph stayed true to his own, and everyone knows the story about how Joseph, after being greatly prospered by the Lord, was tempted to Potifar's wife to lie with him, but he refused, saying, after God had blessed him so much "how then can I do the great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39: 9)

But Potifar's wife didn't take no for an answer. We didn't watch this part of the movie, thankfully, but the scriptures tell us "And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her." (Genesis 39: 10)

What I took most out of this lesson was not just that we need to resist temptations and stay faithful to the Lord, but that we need to resist temptations repeatedly, and stay faithful to the Lord, no matter what our challenges or circumstances are. Joseph taught me a lesson, not only in faithfulness, but in enduring faithfulness.

Diligence and enduring to the end are a lot easier said than done. It's always possible to resist the temptations we face, but when they refuse to be repelled for long, they tend to wear us down, and I think that, if we're not careful, repeated temptations can wear down and then break through our defenses, successfully enticing us to commit sin. So what can we do about that? We can't stop the temptations from coming. We can repel them, one at a time, but each time, it takes some of our moral strength to repel them, and eventually, our moral strength may give out. What we need is a way that we can regularly improve our moral defenses - a way that we can build up our fortress faster than repeated temptations and constant hardships tear them down.

The scriptures don't tell us what Joseph did to keep his spiritual defenses strong, unless "and he was a prosperous man" referred to his diligence. I've heard that good hard work is good for the body, mind, and soul of whoever does it. Perhaps Joseph's physical diligence helped him maintain his spiritual defenses.

For more advice, I'd turn to the good old seminary answers: read your scriptures, say your prayers, go to church. Joseph didn't have access to church or scriptures, but I bet he kept praying. The movie suggested that he did. I don't know what else Joseph might have done to keep his armor strong, but whatever he did, it worked.

In our day, we have similar challenges (but in much less desperate circumstances). We each have our own version of Potifar's wife, tempting us frequently, perhaps daily, perhaps multiple times per day. We all have a need to stay faithful to the Lord, despite many frequently repeated temptations to transgress. In order to repel those repeat temptations, we need to continually strengthen our defenses, to continually put on the Armor of God. Even that can't guarantee our safety, but I'm sure that if we do all we can, which includes asking God to help us, then whether we ultimately succeed or not, God will be pleased with our efforts and He will be with us.

I hope that we may all continually improve our spiritual defenses and stay faithful to the Lord to the end.

"The Great Test of Life"

Along the same lines of what I wrote yesterday, I found a photo on facebook with a quote that reads:

So, the great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God's commandments in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. ...It will take unshakeable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life.
-Henry B. Eyring

I wanted to share the photo itself, but my blog seems to have a problem with that idea.

After blogging yesterday, I felt that I had left something out. Life's not just to prove how strong we already are, but also to help make us stronger. In life, there will always be challenges. Our test is not only to prove that we are strong enough to overcome them but to, if necessary, become strong enough to overcome them. I believe the tests of life are designed to push us to our limits, and even beyond them, so we are frequently required to do things that we were unable to do before. I think that's true, partly because it matches up so well with a few things we already know to be true: Part of the purpose of life is to become more like God, and God is a much better, wiser, stronger person than we are.

President Eyring said that "it will take unshakeable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to choose the way to eternal life." Perhaps that is by design. Maybe the test isn't just to see who's good enough or strong enough to be worthy of eternal life, but also to help those of us who fall short (which is pretty much all of us) to take steps toward reaching that goal. It's not just to see who can lift the weight, but to make everyone stronger as they try.

But in order to become stronger, we must keep trying. This is unfortunate for many of us because the tests of life are often very discouraging. Some of the challenges we face require more faith, wisdom, and strength than we have. I believe that God sometimes gives us challenges that are impossible for us to face successfully without His help. I blogged about that once. I should re-read that blog post because I can't remember what I said.

Wow, I write long blog posts.

Okay, that was kind of helpful. That blog post, Problems That We Cannot Solve, addressed the condition that I just described, that of having challenges and weaknesses that we can't overcome without help from God. At the time, I said that it was a tool that God could use to encourage us to come to Him for more wisdom and strength. I recently heard of a story of a boy who was trying to do something, fix his bicycle, I think, but he just couldn't do it. Tearfully, he said to his father that he had done everything he could do, and the father said, "No you haven't. You haven't asked me to help you." Then the father helped his son fix the bicycle.

But what's the purpose of that? Asking God to solve our problems for us won't make us any more wise or capable than we already are. Maybe He wants to teach us how to do it by showing us how to do it? Maybe He's helping us, but He's only helping us as much as we need. For example, if we're trying to lift a weight together, maybe it's not that He lifts the weight for us, but that He has us give it every ounce of strength we have, and then He makes us the difference by supplying just enough strength that, together, we manage to lift the weight. That way, the weight is successfully lifted and we still get some exercise out of it.

Relating that back to the "great test of life" that President Eyring spoke of, the test seems mostly a question of whether we'll keep trying to reach our goals and overcome our challenges, even when it's extremely difficult and sometimes seems impossible. Perhaps it's as much of a test of diligent effort as a test of actual ability. Perhaps it's not so much of a test to see whether we're strong/wise/capable enough to overcome our challenges, but whether we're brave enough to try.

I know that God will help us, and that, succeed or fail, He'll be with us as long as we keep trying. Having God with me is worth an attempt at facing the challenges He gives me, no matter how discouraging my failure will be. *squares shoulders and takes a deep breath* I am a paladin. I will persevere. In victory or defeat, my God is with me. In His strength, I will triumph in the end.

Proving Ourselves

I have a problem with the logical relationship between Agency and Omniscience. The problem goes something like this: If God knows what I'd do or how I'd act under specific circumstances, and if He can manipulate the circumstances under which I make decisions, then couldn't He manipulate my choices, overriding my agency? This would worry me (and make me doubt the effectiveness of this "test") if not for the fact that, regardless of our circumstances, we each make our own decisions. God may try to influence us to make good decisions, just as Satan tries to influence us to make bad decisions. One certainly has more power than the other, but that doesn't mean that He always wins, because no matter how much either side pulls on us, we're the one that makes the choices.

Well, okay, we make the decisions, but God influences the choices we make by restricting what options we're given. Like a teacher assigning their students a multiple-choice test; He could simply give only one choice for each question, and we'd be forced to answer all of the questions correctly (or incorrectly) at His will, not ours. But life doesn't actually work like that. In life, we don't just have four or five options. We have COUNTLESS options. It'd be hard to eliminate all options expect for one. Even in the Multiple (No)-Choice Test Scenario, a person could simply put the pencil down and not take the test at all. They could write or draw on the test paper, or even eat it, if they wanted to. We're never out of options, and the choice is always ours to make.

Sure, but even if we're the ones making choices, God already knows which choices we'll make, so why even set up the test? As I understand it, God knows us better than we know ourselves. He may know what we'd do under certain circumstances, but we don't always. We might say that we'd make the right choice, no matter what, but would we really? When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God didn't actually want Abraham to kill his own son, nor was He trying to see if Abraham would be willing to do it if God asked it of him; He already knew that he would. The test was to prove to Abraham that he was willing to be faithful to the Lord, no matter what.

Maybe this test isn't to find out what kind of people we are, but rather to prove what kind of people we are. And not just to God, because He can already see into our hearts and know what kind of people we are, but for our own sakes, we're given the opportunity to prove it. Through this Earth life, we're given the opportunity to prove where we belong among the kingdoms of heaven. God may influence our circumstances, and I'm certain that He does- Trying to give us the best possible chance of success, or the hardest tests we are capable of passing, just to prove to us that we can pass them. So, when it's difficult to make the right decision, I don't think God's trying to make it impossible for us to succeed - I think He's trying to make it incredible when we do succeed. He might be making life difficult for us just so we can prove how strong we really are.

Missionary Work Lesson Outline

Okay, so I just re-watched Elder Ballards talk, Put Your Trust in the Lord, and I'm no closer to being prepared to teach this lesson than I was when I woke up this morning. I had a couple of quotes copied down from the first time I watched it recently, but those, and the topic of missionary work, are all I'm really pulling out of his talk that can help me. Fortunately, I've been blogging about this topic for half a week, so I might be able to turn my own blog posts into an outline.

"White Christmas" - I'm not sure whether or not I want to mention this in my lesson, to be honest. The goal that our Bishop is encouraging us to reach is a numeric one, and I kind of have mixed feelings about that. Yes, I would love to see people actually become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and be baptized, but I worry that if we put too much focus on just getting someone baptized, especially if we want it to happen by a certain date, we might end up baptizing someone before they're ready. As I said a few days ago, baptism is a commitment. If the investigator doesn't understand and accept the terms of the commitment, they might as well not even making.

But I also want to get people to want to do missionary work, so if I even mention any misgivings about the "White Christmas" goal, I need to talk at length about the content of my next blog post after that.

Three Good Reasons to Do Missionary Work - One, to share blessings (and I hope to brainstorm a list of Blessings Worth Sharing, adding items from my own list to "prime the pump"), Two, to save others, and Three, because God said so.

I may want to play with the order of this list. Maybe I'll list "To Save Others" first, tying it together with the saving ordinance involved in the White Christmas goal. If we're just baptizing people so we can reach our goal, then that's not so good, but if we're baptizing them because it's a saving ordinance and we care about the welfare of their soul, that's a lot better.

I also want to put a lot of weight onto the "Because God Said So" reason, mostly because God Himself did. For that, I might quote directly from my own blog post.

Through Prophets and Apostles from Joseph Smith to today, [God has] told us over and over again that "The greatest and most important duty..." And you've heard it so many times that you already know what it is without me having to finish the sentence. Now, I don't like to use infinitives. I'd freely say that many things, including many duties, are "great" or "important," but I'd consider myself foolish to casually throw around words like "greatest" and "most important." Furthermore, I'd be very surprised if God was any less careful with His words than I am with mine, knowing that they'd be written down, quoted from, and lived, by hundreds of millions of people. God has placed a very strong emphasis on missionary work, especially in the last few General Conferences. 

... 

God really wants us to preach the gospel. That alone should be reason enough for us.

Once I've got the Elder's agreeing that missionary work is a good idea, I'll want to talk with them about what's holding us back, or, in other words:

Reasons We Don't Do Missionary Work - Time permitting, I'll address the concerns I've listed; timidity, not knowing what to say (both cured by the presence of the Spirit), fear of hypocrisy (focus on the church, not you), fear of offending people (keep it positive, try not to compare churches), and fear of being overbearing (let them know that you honestly care about them and are sincerely trying to help them).

What I'm going to try NOT to do is to bring up a concern someone may have about missionary work without having a REALLY good answer to address that concern. The last thing I want to do is instill in someone a concern about doing missionary work that they didn't have before.

If we have time after all of that, I'm going to want to talk about practical application of these principles. Okay, so we have a lot of good reasons to do missionary work, and we've established that we have no good reason not to do missionary work. Now what, specifically, are we actually going to do? Yes, there's the Ward goal of getting someone baptized (or something like that), but what can we, as the Elder's Quorum and as individuals, do to help with that? Of course, this will be open for discussion. I'll want to hear other people's ideas and input on this, and if we're going to accept a goal, we all have to agree to it. I'm going to suggest that we adopt Elder Ballard's goal verbatim:

We are not asking everyone to do everything. We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just “one” between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful gift to the Savior.

Put simply; First, Pray for Missionary Opportunities; Second, Reach Out to at Least "One" before Christmas. That'll be a good individual goal. As a quorum, we may make a goal to extend the gospel to one individual per each active Elder. Yes, it's a numeric goal, but if we focus on this being our Christmas gift to the Savior, and an opportunity to share the blessings of the gospel with our fellow man, we (hopefully) won't get distracted with our desire to get good numbers.

I think that ought to make a pretty good lesson. I'll take some more time to try to organize my thoughts a little more, and I'll print up the relevant blog posts so I'll have those resources available while I'm teaching, but for now, I'm going to go get myself physically ready for church.

Blessings Worth Sharing

Before I want to begin, I just want to point out that this list is not going to be a comprehensive one, and that the blessings will be listed in no particular order. If I left out a few, or several, of your favorite blessings of the gospel, feel free to add them in a comment (If you can. I know the visitors from Facebook sometimes have trouble posting comments. Try clicking on "The Armor of God" at the top of the page, then navigating back to this blog post, "Blessings Worth Sharing," using the links in the sidebar, if you have to. I think you should be able to post a comment then). But honestly, most of this list will probably be big important blessings that I'm pretty sure they can't get in other churches, and a few of the smaller blessings that I'm especially fond of, again, in no particular order.

The Book of Mormon - This is one of the blessings that I'm sure is exclusive to our church (and a few split-off groups). The Book of Mormon is more than an exciting adventure book (which it is, in some places) and an interesting piece of history. It also helps to clear up some areas of doctrine that the Bible leaves fuzzy, and teaches us doctrine that the Bible leaves out. Don't get me wrong - the Bible is great, too. It has lots of fantastic stories and essential doctrine as well, but in my opinion, the Bible and the Book of Mormon help complete each other, which is not to say that they're "complete." I believe that there's more scripture out there that we haven't found yet, and even more scripture yet to be written.

Personal Revelation - This is one of the blessings that came up in my previous blog post, and the example I gave then still works. It's a wonderful blessing to know that God still speaks to His children - to all the world collectively, and to each of us individually. As we so often need help and guidance, it's a real blessing to know that Heavenly Father answers prayers.

Prophets and Apostles - It seems strange to me that this would be an LDS church exclusive. It probably isn't. But the main difference between our prophets and all others is that our prophets (Please don't be offended by this - it's just what I believe.) are actual messengers/representatives of God. Every six months, they speak to us, giving messages they've prepared under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and their messages are God's messages to the world for our day. God hasn't left us in the dark. He is constantly guiding His church through His servants, the Prophets.

Priesthood Authority - And the Prophets aren't the only special people in this church. God is rather good at delegation, and has lent some of His power to the worthy men of the church for the purpose of blessing and healing the sick and afflicted, and for performing sacred ordinances. Speaking of which...

Saving Ordinances - For those of you who may not know, I should probably explain that an ordinance  is a ceremony through which people make covenants (or promises) with God. Many of these ordinances, such as baptism, are essential to salvation, hence the term "saving" ordinances. In general, the terms of these covenants are that we promise to serve God and keep His commandments, and in return, He gives us His Spirit and promises that we may have Eternal Life with our families. Basically, through the Priesthood, we gain access to saving ordinances, and through those ordinances, we gain access to other blessings.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost - The Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirt, or Spirit of God, or Comforter, etc) is a member of the Godhead, which consists of our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is also the Comforter that Jesus Christ promised to send to His disciples. The Holy Spirit can have a calming and inspiring influence on us. He can give us heaven-sent directions and the courage to follow them. It's through Him that many revelations come, including the assurance that God knows our needs and circumstances, and will stay with us as we pass through our trials. In my opinion, being a faithful member of this church would be worth it, just for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

Eternal Families - This is another blessing that comes through Priesthood Ordinances. By being "sealed" or married in the temple, we can have the assurance that as long as we and our partners remain worthy, our relationship with them can last for eternity, and that extends to your children as well, so they'll still be yours in the afterlife. This is a great blessing for those who love their family, and especially for those who have lost children or a spouse. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints, we know that our family relationships can last forever.

The Plan of Salvation - And that's not all we know about the afterlife. We know where we go when we die, and it's not just the "Heaven or Hell" part that everyone knows about. We know that when we die, our spirits go to the spirit world, into a state of happiness or misery, depending on our actions in life. There, the faithful may preach to those who weren't faithful, or who never had the gospel in the first place, so they have another chance to come unto Christ after death but before the judgement. We know that each person will be resurrected - that is, they'll get their bodies back (good as new, if not better) before they're judged, and those who reach this point will go to either of three kingdoms: the Celestial Kingdom, where God lives; the Terrestrial Kingdom, which is for those who received the gospel, but not valiant in it, and those who were valiant Christians who chose not to receive the saving ordinances through proper priesthood authority (Also, this place is good enough and wonderful enough to satisfy most Christians, which is fortunate for the many good, but generic Christians who'll end up here.); and finally, the Telestial Kingdom, which is for the people who weren't righteous and didn't try to be. The Telestial Kingdom is essentially "hell," just judging by the people who go there, but it isn't "hell" in the traditional sense of a place where damned souls are tortured for eternity. No torture occurs in the Telestial Kingdom (except by people's own consciences). In fact, a prophet who saw a vision of it described it as being more glorious than Earth.

And that's not all the Plan of Salvation tells us. It also tells us about where we came from before we were born, why we came to Earth in the first place, and what we're supposed to to here. Which leads me to one of the biggest blessings of the gospel...

The Meaning of Life - I sometimes have to laugh at the irony that some of the "biggest" questions that people think of when they think of big questions - Where did we come from, Why are we here, Where do we go after we die, and What is the meaning of life - are things I've been taught since I was a child. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we know the meaning of life. We know that we're here to gain bodies and experience, and to be tested and prove ourselves, to grow spiritually and become more like our Heavenly Father. The ultimate goal is to become very much like Heavenly Father in almost every way, which many people believe is unthinkable, and I have to admit is rather hard to accept, but at the same time, it makes a lot of sense. If the purpose of Earth life was simply to return to heaven, then why didn't we simply stay in heaven and not come to Earth? The purpose of Earth life is to gain progress and experience that we couldn't get by just floating around with the clouds. And that leads me to the final blessing I'd like to share this morning, since this blog post is already very long.

The Purpose of Trials - Life is hard. It's hard for everyone. Our hardships vary in form and intensity, but we all experience them on a regular basis. In this church, we know that that's not an accident, nor is it a "flaw" in God's plan, but rather a central part of God's plan. It's through these trials that we gain experience and spiritual strength, and opportunities to prove how strong we are. By enduring trials, we prove how faithful we're willing to be, and we become stronger by exercising our power to endure. Our trials are not always punishments from God, but rather blessings from God, given with the purpose of bringing us closer to our Eternal Goal.

In summary, there are many blessings of the gospel, and many of us members of the church have no idea how blessed we are. Yet, these blessings were meant to be shared by all of God's children, and we are asked to share these blessings with others by sharing the gospel with them. It can seem daunting to do missionary work, but when we think about what missionary work really means - offering others the blessings that we already enjoy - it becomes easier for us, as Christians, to do it.

Reasons We Don't Do Missionary Work

There seems to be a mini-theme going on with my blog posts recently, namely lists of reasons to do things. Today, I'd like to continue with a variant of the theme and address some concerns on the topic of missionary work.

First, let's talk about general timidity. It's hard to talk to people sometimes. It's especially hard to talk about religion. And it's even harder to tell people that they should quit their religion, if they have one, and join yours. It takes a surprising amount of boldness to force some words out of your mouth, and one of those combinations of words is "I am a Mormon." Yet, so many brave Mormons have said those very words (on camera!) and posted them online for all the world to see. Perhaps we can take some courage from their examples by watching a few of those "I am a Mormon" videos until we feel like we could say something like that to our friends. If they can do it, so can we.

Second, what if we genuinely don't know what to say? Again, those "I am a Mormon" videos can help. Despite how I may have made things appear in my previous paragraph, those videos aren't just of people saying "I am a Mormon." They talk about themselves first. They talk about their lives, their families, their hobbies, etc., then maybe they share a personal experience, or talk about a particular aspect of the gospel that's especially meaningful to them, something that has helped them get through trials, or something that makes them joyful and excited about life (something that other people would want in their lives), and they say all this before dropping the M-word into the conversation. So, here's the formula I took from that: 1. Let them know you're a real person. (If they're already your friends, you may be able to skip that step.) 2. Talk about a part of the gospel that you find meaningful to your life, or may be helpful in theirs. 3. Tell them that you're a Mormon and invite them to learn more.

It can still be hard to know, specifically, what to say, but if you pray for the Spirit's help (knowing that He can help with both courage and inspiration), you'll find an opening.

Third concern, hypocrisy. None of us are perfect. There is no "Molly Mormon" or "Peter Priesthood." They don't exist. The church is filled with flawed, imperfect people who try and fail to reach such lofty goals on a daily basis. We're not trying to tell them that we're so perfect, they should be more like us, we're telling them that the gospel is perfect, and it had made us better and happier than we were before. I don't blog because I'm some spiritual giant who feels morally obligated to share my wonderfulness with the world. If anything, I blog to improve myself, to help myself keep going, to inspire myself (and whoever happens to read this) to do good. I may touch on other people's concerns, but mostly, I'm just listing my own and trying to convince myself that while these concerns may be valid, there are ways to get around them and I shouldn't let them stop me from doing what I know I should do. While I don't want to give anyone the false impression that I think I'm better than them, I should share my honest opinion that the Gospel of Jesus Christ could really bless their lives, especially when they get it straight from modern Apostles and Prophets.

Probably the biggest concern I have about sharing the gospel, number four on our list, if we're still counting, is my fear of offending people. You can't say that your church is the best church, or the true church, or the most complete church, without implying that theirs isn't. "Yeah, your church is okay, but you'd be better off with mine," is NOT something I want to say to anyone, ever. Thankfully, there are ways to share the gospel without offending others. Tell them that the gospel has really blessed your life, and that the things you've learned in the church are truly inspiring and helpful. Tell them how good it feels to know the meaning of life and to know that you can be with your family again. Try not to make it a competition ("My church blesses me more than your church blesses you.") because people hate to lose. Just tell them what you like about your church and then, when they start to feel like maybe they would like that, too, offer to share it with them.

Some people worry about being too pushy - that if they go over-the-top with trying to share the gospel, it might just push people away. I don't think I could get that problem if I tried, but I can see where the concern is coming from. As I've said before, we don't do missionary work just to baptize people or just to get them into the church. We do missionary work because this gospel blesses lives, and that's what we want: to bless their lives. On my mission, I heard the phrase "People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I'd like to adapt that. "People won't care until they know that you do." Or maybe "People won't care about your gospel until they know that you care about them." Something like that. Basically, when people know that you're sharing the gospel with them because you honestly believe it'll help them and you genuinely want that to happen, then they're much more likely to listen to you and not be offended than if they thought you were sharing the gospel just because you're a Mormon and that's what Mormons do. You may have heard this before, but if it comes from your heart (and they know that it comes from your heart), they won't be as bothered by it.

Tomorrow, I'm going to blog about the blessings of the gospel - the blessings that we can (and should want to) share with others by sharing the gospel with them. What I'm hoping for is a list of specific ways how the gospel can bless people's lives. Once we have that, we can apply it to real-world situations and circumstances. For example, if someone is struggling with a difficult and important question or decision, you can tell them about personal revelation and about how God can answer questions we bring to Him through prayer. You might mention that the answer will likely come through the Spirit, and explain that the Spirit testifies of truth, and tell what the presence of the Spirit feels like. That way, not only will they recognize the answer they receive in this specific circumstance, but they may also recognize the answer if/when they pray about the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And there are plenty of other blessings of the gospel besides personal revelation, so there should be lots of good reasons and opportunities to share. I'm looking forward to listing some of them. I think I'm starting to like using lists.

Three Good Reasons to Do Missionary Work

Yesterday, I wrote about one bad reason to do missionary work, namely for the sake of reaching some numeric goal. Today, I'd like to list a few good reasons to do missionary work.

First, to share the blessings that members of this church enjoy. One of the hallmarks of Christianity is compassion and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," etc. I think we can each personally testify of at least ONE good thing that has come to us as a result of being members of this church. If we have received some blessing for following a certain course of action, and we, as Christians, or even just as good people, desire others to be blessed as well, wouldn't we do well to advise others to the same course of action that has led to blessings in our lives?

Second, to help turn the tides in the war against evil. We all know that the world is slipping into sin. The amoral society of the world is becoming worse and worse by the year. Satan has entered his "end-game" and both he and God are fighting to claim as many souls as possible before Judgement Day. Similar to our desire to share in the ongoing blessings of membership in this church, we also want to share in the assurance of protection* that comes from being on the Lord's side.

*Protection from evil and the punishments thereof, not necessarily including protection from the perils of the world or acts of evildoers.

But you may be thinking, we're not the only good church. Many non-members will be spared at Judgement day. Why would it be so important to convert people to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, specifically? Because we do missionary work. Think about it. Say, you could improve a hundred people's lives by Judgement Day (the actual numbers are probably a lot higher, but work with me here). That's all well and good for you and those hundred people, but let's say that in the process improving their lives, you got them into a church that encourages them to improve other people's lives. Many of the hundred you helped would then go on to help others, expanding your influence exponentially, meaning that hundreds, if not thousands of lives could be improved. And lets say that multiple hundreds of people turn from sin to righteousness. That may make a small, but noticeable difference in the general state of the world.

Third reason, God wants us to. We all know that God wants us to do missionary work, right? Of course He does. Through Prophets and Apostles from Joseph Smith to today, He's told us over and over again that "The greatest and most important duty..." And you've heard it so many times that you already know what it is without me having to finish the sentence. Now, I don't like to use infinitives. I'd freely say that many things, including many duties, are "great" or "important," but I'd consider myself foolish to casually throw around words like "greatest" and "most important." Furthermore, I'd be very surprised if God was any less careful with His words than I am with mine, knowing that they'd be written down, quoted from, and lived, by hundreds of millions of people. God has placed a very strong emphasis on missionary work, especially in the last few General Conferences. I can say with certainty that God thinks this is important. In fact, I'm almost bold enough to say that God thinks this is most important, but I'm not quite that courageous.

Why? Well, either of the two reasons listed above may be reason enough for God to feel that this is important to Him, but as I wrote recently, there may be other reasons for God's commandments beyond the ones that are currently apparent to us. God sees the big picture. He knows what's going on better than anyone. He knows what'll happen if we do X, Y, or Z, and, having everyone's best interest at heart, He has asked us, repeatedly and with very strong language, to go out there and do missionary work. For whatever reason, known or unknown, God really wants us to preach the gospel. That alone should be reason enough for us.

Unfortunately, it's not always that simple. We're human. We have weaknesses, fears, and failings. Often, we're just too timid to share the gospel. I'll talk about the reasons we don't do missionary work later. Right now, I'm going to go to Institute.

"White Christmas"

I've been asked to give a lesson on Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk, Put Your Trust in the Lord, which, ironically, has rather little to do with putting your trust in the Lord, but instead focuses on missionary work.

Our ward is working toward a goal that the Bishop calls "White Christmas." This goal, to have everybody reach out and extend the gospel to at least one non-member before Christmas, was probably inspired by a quote from Elder Ballard's talk, "We are simply asking all members to pray, knowing that if every member, young and old, will reach out to just 'one' between now and Christmas, millions will feel the love of the Lord Jesus Christ."

The idea for the "White Christmas" goal may have originate higher up the food chain, perhaps at the Stake or Regional level. I'm not sure. Whenever I hear the Bishop mention it, I sort of tune out. I've heard this kind of thing before, and I don't like it.

Missionaries usually tend to adopt some kind of "White Christmas" goal, pushing themselves (and their investigators) in hopes of getting a certain number of baptisms by Christmas. I've always hated that. Yes, setting goals can help people achieve great things, but when the goal is a number of baptisms, rather than, say, the spiritual progress of the investigator, the missionaries are even more tempted to rush people toward baptism than they usually are. Yes, the saving ordinances are essential, but they mean nothing unless the people being baptized first understand that they're making important covenants, and second, are prepared to strive to keep those covenants for the rest of their lives.

Nephi described Baptism as a gate: 

Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. 

And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive. 

And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. 

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
2 Nephi 31: 17-20

Baptism puts people on the strait and narrow path, but they need to continue to follow it in order to come unto Christ. We can push people through the gate of baptism all we want, as long as we can find people who are willing to let us, but even though that'll give us good numbers, it won't do our "recent converts" much good.

I would much rather preach some non-denominational message about Christianity, and loving God, and repenting so we can come unto Christ, rather than pressuring someone to accept an ordinance that they don't fully understand and aren't really prepared for. Even if it doesn't help them to become members of this church, it can help them to become better Christians, or if they weren't Christians already, it can help them to become Christians. No matter how you slice it, it's a step in the right direction, and it's a step most people would be more likely to make. Not many non-Mormons want to talk to Mormon missionaries, but many Christians would accept the invitation to become better Christians.

Yet, that won't help them much, either. As the "gate" part of Nephi's message implies, people can only go so far along the path of righteousness without getting baptized. It could be said that in order to become the best Christians they could be, they need to be baptized. I'll admit that this "White Christmas" goal is likely to help some people a lot. I'm just worried that we'll focus so much on the baptism itself that the investigator will be left saying "Now what?" or worse, "Whew! Glad I got that taken care of. Now I can go back to what I was doing before and not worry about going to hell for it." Baptism is a commitment that everyone has to make, but it they don't understand and accept the commitment, it's virtually pointless for them to get baptized.

So, I guess what I'm saying that my only problem with this "White Christmas" goal is that it seems to be putting too much emphasis on the ordinance itself, and not enough emphasis on what the ordinance represents - a rebirth into a new life. As long as people understand that we're asking them to change their lives, and as long as they're willing to strive to do so, I don't have a problem with it. I just don't want to see people get baptized just for the sake of some numbers.

Speed X Time = Distance

A vehicle traveling 60 Miles Per Hour can, in two hours, cover a distance of 120 miles. A vehicle traveling 30 MPH can cover the same distance, but it would take twice as long. On the other hand, a vehicle traveling 120 MPH can travel 240 miles in the same amount of time it took the 60 MPH vehicle to travel 120 miles. Speed X Time = Distance.

Using that equation and those three vehicles as examples, how far could a vehicle traveling One MPH go? It all depends on how long they keep going.

In sports, there's usually a time limit. If you didn't score as many points as you wanted to by the time the time ran out, you didn't make it - at least, not in that game. In school, there's a time limit. If you don't complete an assignment by the time it's due, the teacher probably won't let you turn it in, or will at least decrease the grade you would have gotten on the assignment, which would affect your over-all grade. In blogging, I have a time limit. If I don't post my blog update by 12 Noon each day, my blog posts will be "late," and if I don't post anything on my blog by midnight, I didn't blog that day at all.

In life itself, there is also a time limit (sort of). If you don't do or accomplish something by the time you die, then your time is effectively "up." For example, if you don't repent by the time you die, you may not get another chance.

Yet, that doesn't mean that we need to reach our ultimate goal, perfection, by the time we die. That would be nearly impossible, no matter what your rate of progress is. The thing I love most about eternal progression is that we practically have an eternity to complete it. Even if our rate of spiritual progression  is comparable to only 1 MPH, and even if the difference between our current state and perfection is comparable to a distance of 1 Million Miles, or 24 Million Miles, or even 8,760 Million Miles, we can still get there. It'll just take us 1 Million hours, or 1 Million days, or 1 Million years of travel to get there. And with the perspective of ETERNITY, even 1 Million years seems like a short period of time.

Any Speed X Infinite Time = Infinite Distance.

Yet, that's not always true, either. There are some speeds at which a person could travel for even an infinite amount of time and never get any closer to their goal. Such is the case if a person is traveling in the wrong direction, or not moving at all. We'll never make it to the Celestial Kingdom if the choices we make point us to the Telestial Kingdom. But if we're making any kind of progress toward the Celestial Kingdom, even if it's two steps forward, one step back, we'll make it there eventually.

There may be people reading this, myself included, if I decide to read it later, who feel like they're not making any progress at all, or at least not any positive progress. To those people, I'd advise them to keep trying. The principle of spiritual inertia may be at work, and it'll take some effort to get on the right track and build up speed. Also, if the vehicle you're in is only traveling 1 Mile Per Hour, it may seem like it's not moving at all, but it is. Don't give up. Moving forward at any speed is still moving forward, and you have an infinite amount of time to cross that finish line. You'll make it eventually, as long as you don't quit.

That said, it's no excuse for lingering. The faster your spiritual progression is, the sooner you'll reach your goal. By working hard, we can advance more quickly, which is exciting, especially for those of us who don't have amazing amounts of patience.

No matter how far from our goal we feel we are, we have a finite amount of distance to travel, and in infinite amount of time to get there. We can get there relatively quickly by advancing quickly, or we can get there eventually as long as we're making any progress at all, so there's no reason to get discouraged. Our goal is not unobtainable, or even unrealistic. We can do it, as long as we don't quit.

Reasons to Keep "Pointless" Commandments

I have no idea what to blog about, and I'm running out of time. I'd better just start writing whatever comes to mind. Actually, I should have started doing that a long time ago. This blog post is going to stink, but at least I'm keeping my commitment to blog daily [whether I have anything to say or not].

I wonder if there's any virtue to keeping a commandment even if the reason the commandment was given no longer applies. Actually, as I was trying to find a way to phrase that question, I thought of the answer. Yes, there is still a point to keeping commandments that seem pointless, and there are a number of reasons for that.

First, there may be other purposes for the commandment than the ones that you know about. For example, we're supposed to give generously to the poor. I'd assume that's so God can bless the poor through us. But what if the poor don't accept the donation? What if we donate food to the poor, but they choose not to eat it, and it goes to waste. Well, that was pointless, wasn't it? Not entirely, because the donation required a sacrifice on our part, and sacrifices have a lot of benefits for the people who make the sacrifice, even if whatever is sacrificed goes to waste. Maybe God wants us to practice self-control, delayed gratification, and generosity, solely for our own benefit, if no one else's. I assumed the reason for blogging daily is to focus my mind on spiritual things first thing in the morning, but even on mornings when that doesn't happen, I should blog anyway. Maybe someone else will gain something from this blog post, even if I don't. Or maybe I'm just blogging to keep up the habit of blogging.

That leads me to another reason to keep "pointless" commandments: habit. If we commit ourselves to keep the commandments, even when the commandments in question don't seem to matter, it will help us to choose to keep the commandments that do matter. By teaching ourselves to be obedient, even in the small, seemingly unimportant things, we can develop the habit of being obedient also in the great and important things. And even the "pointless" things can contribute to spiritual inertia.

Any other reasons? One more would round off the list nicely, but I'm really short on time. Another reason to keep pointless commandments... Aha! I've got it. Devotion. See, even if the commandments don't make any sense to us, and don't seem to fulfill any purpose, God obviously wants us to keep them anyway, or He wouldn't have asked. Keeping "pointless" commandments is a way of showing God that even if such actions don't seem too important to us, we're willing to do them anyway because we know they're important to Him. We can keep God's commandments (pointless or not) simply because He asks us to. And, considering all He does for us, keeping a "pointless" commandment is really the least we can do.

Okay, this blog post is going a little late now, but I think I stumbled on something here...

Why do I blog every morning? Is it because I think I'll get something out of it? Yes, and no. Is it because I want other people to get something out of it? Well, sort of, but that's not why I started. I started simply because God asked me to. At first, it was because I thought He'd bless me if I did, and I'm sure He has, more than I realize. But if I know God wants me to blog, shouldn't I blog just because I know He wants me to? Shouldn't my desire to please Him and obey Him be enough of a reason to do it? And if I blog every morning for the purpose of pleasing God, I should definitely put more effort into it than I have been. Some days, I'm sure, I'm just going through the motions - blogging because I'm supposed to blog, so I can check it off the checklist. But I want my motivations to be more sincere than that. I want my motivations for blogging to be because God wants me to blog. I want to want to do it just because God wants me to do it. I want to have a desire to serve Him and make Him happy. I've been very selfish, really. I keep the commandments (when I actually succeed in keeping them) because I expect God to bless me for doing that. I want certain blessings, and I say to myself "If I want God to give me those blessings, I'd better keep some commandments so I can get on His good side." I want to be better than that.

Maybe I should write a list of reasons I should love God and want to serve Him, including everything He's already done for me, then make a conscious effort to keep His commandments as a way of saying "thanks for the blessings you've given me," rather than as a way of saying "please bless me more." Of course, my desires for doing this are also selfish. I'm doing it so I can get something I want, a change of character, and I can tell that deep down, I'm hoping that this will make me more pleasing to God, making Him more likely to give me the blessings I really want and think I need. Oh, well, I'm going to do it anyway. Even if my reasons for wanting to change my character aren't sincere now, maybe once I've changed my character, I'll have a more sincere reason for wanting my character to have changed. I may not be properly motivated now, and my reasons for wanting to change my motivation may not be properly motivated either, but maybe once I've changed my motivation, the motivation behind wanting to change my motivation may be finally in the right place.

I'm probably just confusing you. I'm sorry. Feel free to ignore most of this blog post, if you want. I figure this particular post is more for my own benefit than anyone else's anyway.

Two Poems on the War Against Sin

There's something about President Packer and his poems. Granted, not all of the poems he shares in his talks are his poems, but I just found a talk of his called The Spirit of Revelation, in which he shares two poems that I'd like to share with you today. The first one is called All the Water in the World. The author is unknown.

All the water in the world,
However hard it tried,
Could never sink the smallest ship
Unless it [gets] inside. 

And all the evil in the world,
The blackest kind of sin,
Can never hurt you the least bit
Unless you let it in.

This poem is meant to be inspiring, but I find two problems with it. First, even if we are never guilty of sin ourselves, we can still be harmed by the effects of the sins of others. And second, keeping sin out is a lot harder than this poem seems to suggest. To illustrate that point, I'd like to share the second poem from President Packer's talk. This one was written by Louisa May Alcott, and it's titled My Kingdom. President Packer only shared part of this poem, and for the sake of space, I'll follow suit, but the rest of the text can be found here.

A little kingdom I possess
where thoughts and feelings dwell,
And very hard I find the task
of governing it well;
For passion tempts and troubles me,
A wayward will misleads,
And selfishness its shadow casts
On all my words and deeds. ... 

Dear Father, help me with the love
that casteth out my fear;
Teach me to lean on thee, and feel
That thou art very near,
That no temptation is unseen
No childish grief too small,
Since thou, with patience infinite,
Doth soothe and comfort all.

I do not ask for any crown
But that which all may win
Nor seek to conquer any world
Except the one within. ...

The struggle to control our thoughts and actions is ongoing. It can seem like a real battle sometimes, and in many ways, it is. That, I believe, is why we were given the "war chapters" of the Book of Mormon. They show us the offensive strategies we need to watch out for and the defensive strategies we can use to counter them. Those chapters also show us the power of righteousness and the consequences of sin. The battle will be hard, no matter what we do, but knowing that we're at war with evil can help us prepare for and win our battles. Useful tactics can be found in the words of wise men and women both inside and outside the church. All people are fighting this war, and some of them are winning. Thankfully, many of those people are willing to share their strategies so we can win as well. So far, the strategy that's been most helpful to me is to remember that the battle is always raging. Satan is always on the attack, whether he's doing it openly, or with stealth. I always need to keep my guard up and try to repel all wayward thoughts. Otherwise, Satan will find an opening. The need of constant vigilance is of tremendous importance for me.

There are other tactics, too. Since everyone is different, they have different strengths and weaknesses. Since Satan attacks us according to our weaknesses, he may use slightly different tactics for each of us. And because his tactics vary for each person, a counter-strategy that works well for one person may not work so well for another. I've tried President Packer's Replace-Tempting-Thoughts-With-A-Hymn technique, but with varying success. The Remember-You're-At-War technique is working a lot better for me. I'd advise you to not just do what I do, butt to find out what works best for you personally. Find out what your weaknesses are, then try to learn ways to increase your defense in that area. Since everyone is different, I can't offer you specific advice and guarantee that it'll help, but I can advise you to actively search for tactics that will work for you, then use them. All the guidance you need is written down somewhere (in the war chapters, in a Conference talk, or somewhere else) or can be gained through personal revelation. I know that if you pray for help, then look for advice, God will steer you in the right direction and help you find the guidance you need to win.

Outside Help

I got back from camping a few hours ago, and one of the things I learned is the importance of bringing fire, and I mean a very sure way of making as much fire as you're going to need. In out-in-the-woods camping, this isn't difficult because you can usually gather all the firewood you need and you can start it easily. This campout, however, was a backyard campout - no firewood. In planning the trip, we made sure that we'd have access to a grill, and I assumed that included fuel and a way to light the fuel. I assumed wrong. While use the grill included access to charcoal, I found that I was unable to light it. I tried using a magnesium bar, but all I could make with it was sparks. We obtained some matches that I had failed to pack, but even lit matches weren't enough to light the charcoal. In the end, we needed to buy lighter fluid before we had any chance at all of lighting the grill and cooking our hamburgers.

I thought I had been prepared for the camp out, but it ended up being a strong learning experience that required outside help to be successful. The analogy here is fairly plain.

I'm sure we prepared, in the pre-mortal existence, for our mortal lives down here. We may have thought that we knew what we were doing. There may have been a point where we felt ready to tackle the challenges of life. If so, I'm guessing that we were probably wrong. Life carries burdens and challenges that we could not even have imagined, let alone prepared for. Fortunately, we have access to outside help.

God knows what all the challenges of life are (having faced them Himself once), and He knows what faculties we need to get through them. He knows whether or not we're prepared to face the challenges on our own, and when we're not, He's prepared to make up the difference when we ask Him to.

It's comforting to know that even when our hopes and plans are falling apart, we can ask God for outside help, and with His help we can do things that we couldn't do on our own. He's watching out for us, and unlike ours, His plans never fail.

Jacob's Ladder

Just a quick note to start off: Tomorrow's blog post is going to be late. I usually try to post my blog updates by noon each morning, but since I'll be camping then, that's not likely to happen at that time. I will blog tomorrow, but later than normal.

But now, let's get blogging! And I'm a little bit excited about it this time because (for once!) I actually have an idea of what to blog about today, and it has nothing to do with gospel principles on which I need to improve. It's a story about a vision that I had always been vaguely curious about, plus a few possible interpretations with an encouraging, over-arching theme. It's all positive, and it's going to be fun. Let's talk about Jacob's Ladder.

I first heard the phrase "Jacob's Ladder" when I was very young, about 8 maybe, when I was amused by a wooden toy whose mechanics still baffle me today, despite how simple it looks. The toy was, of course, named after a vision Jacob had... about a ladder. And that's really all I knew about it until yesterday at institute we were reading in Genesis about Jacob, brother of Esau. I'm not sure how I didn't realize that it was the same Jacob. I guess I assumed that it was a fairly common name then. It certainly is now!

Anyway, about the vision:

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 

And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 

Genesis 28: 12-13

My first thought was that the vision was a parable of life and death. Spirits come down the ladder out of heaven to be born, and climb back up the ladder when they die. The Lord, standing above the ladder, could have symbolized God's control over death, in that He choses who goes down the ladder when, and when people come back up. It seemed pretty straightforward to me at the time, but if there's one thing I know about parables, there's never only one meaning.

Another thought was that the ladder could have represented spiritual development. As we take the steps to become more like God and Jesus, we are, in a sense, climbing the ladder. And at the top of the ladder, we may reach heaven, the place where the Lord is. That part sounds great, but if climbing the ladder means making spiritual progress, what does that mean for the angels climbing down the ladder? The consensus of the class was that the ladder wasn't a measuring stick, showing us how much like (or unlike) Heavenly Father we are. If that were the case, it would put the descending angels in a pretty bad spot.

The teacher of the class thought it was important to point out the spacing in the phrase, "a ladder set up on the earth." The ladder wasn't "set upon the earth," as in being created in heaven, then lowered down here. It was "set up on the earth." This implies that the ladder was built here. But wait, wasn't there another group of people who tried to build a sort of "ladder" to climb up into heaven? There were no angels ascending or descending the Tower of Babel, as far as I know.

So, if the ladder represents something that was set up on the earth, and it wasn't the Towel of Babel, what was it? Our teacher suggested that it might represent the church. It was "set up" on the earth in the 1800's, and if we let the ascending part of the ladder represent spiritual progression, that part certainly works, too. A lot of people have ascended into heaven through their involvement in the church (both spiritually and mortally (martyrs)), but what about the descending angels? Our teacher had an answer for that, too. There were many angels sent down from heaven to help establish the church. The Angel Moroni stands out pretty strongly, not to mention John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John, just to list the first five angels that came to mind. There were many others whose visitation was referred to in the Doctrine and Covenants, so that part of the analogy checks out. Plus, even if the ladder doesn't/can't represent spiritual development, the "ascending" part of the ladder still works, since the angels that came down to help restore the church didn't stay down here for long. They always ascended right back up into heaven where they came from when their job was done.

On the other hand, if the descending part of the ladder could represent angels coming down temporarily to help us, then the ladder could represent our spiritual development, while including the encouraging message that we don't have to do it alone. We can have help sent down from heaven to uplift us, and maybe, just maybe, when we get up there, we might be sent back down to help someone else, completing the cycle. It's a beautiful image, when you look at it that way.

So, wether Jacob's Ladder represents death and life, spiritual progress and ministering angels, or the restoration of the church, there's one thought that comes to my mind in all these cases, and seems to me to be the over-arching theme of this vision: Heaven is close. And even if it's not physically close, it's close enough to be connected by the ladder. People climb up; people climb down. Heaven and Earth are not entirely cut off from each other. Whether it's through spiritual development or physical death, it's comforting to know that we can climb our way back into heaven. And whether it's a visitation of angels, or the creation of new life, it's a wonderful thing to know that God sends His choice spirits down to us, and they bring a little bit of heaven with them.

Though the vision of Jacob's ladder could be interpreted different ways, all the ways that I've thought of interpreting it are encouraging and inspiring. It's a revelation that you don't have to fully understand to know that it means something good. I'm glad I learned about it. And now I hope you are, too.

Help Them Help You

Captain Moroni may be one of the most epic heros of the Book of Mormon, but he sure seems to have a quick temper. As I read the Book of Mormon, I look for the times when Moroni gets angry, and I highlight the reasons he got mad. Most often, it's because the Lamanites are stubborn, or the Nephite rebels known as "King-men" are refusing to fight for their country, but in Alma 59, Moroni gets angry at the Nephite government "because of their indifference concerning the freedom of their country" (Alma 59: 13).

Please note: I'm not trying to get political this time. I'm just setting the stage for an analogy.

Let me backtrack a few verses. In Alma 59, verses 11 and 12, Moroni and the other chief captains of the Nephite army are reflecting on the recent losses they've suffered at the hands of the Lamanites, and they're worried that they might not ultimately win this war. Their concern stems from a physical problem - a lack of resources being sent to them from the government - and it hints at a spiritual problem - maybe God isn't blessing them as much as they need Him to because they're not being righteous enough.

These are the chief captains of the Nephites. They had dedicated their lives to the defense of their country. Nobody cares more than they do about the welfare of the Nephites. Yet, right now, it's not working out. This is discouraging to the chief captains, and it led to feelings of anger in the case of Captain Moroni. He may well have thought to himself, "Why don't they care about their freedom as much as I do? And if they do care, why aren't they fighting for it by sending us men and provisions?" In Alma 60, Captain Moroni writes a letter to the leader of the Nephites, expressing those questions and his anger at their inaction.

As I was reading these verse and thinking about the feelings he and the chief captains must have had, I wonder if the Spirit ever feels that way about us. In a sense, we're all fighting for our freedom from sin. Some of us are fighting harder than others. Some of us aren't fighting it at all. Yet, the Spirit is fighting for everyone's freedom, always striving to lead us down the right paths, encouraging us to make the right choices, pushing and pulling us as hard as he can, but in the end, it's ultimately up to us. No matter how hard the Holy Ghost fights for our freedom, we have the freedom to simply throw it away. This must be very frustrating to Him when we do that, when we fall into transgression despite everything He does to lead us away from it. I wonder if He ever has feelings of righteous anger, wondering why we don't care about our freedom as much as He does, or why we're not fighting for our freedom as hard as we should even though He always is. I wonder if He ever feels like saying "Look, pal, I've been working my butt off to keep you out of trouble, but you're going to go to hell away if you don't get off your butt and work with me. Don't you dare throw away all the work I've done for you!"

Nah, He's probably more diplomatic than that, but I can sort of feel for Him. There have been plenty of times when I just didn't care enough, when I was too tired to read my scriptures or when I forgot to say my prayers or didn't feel like praying. It's astonishing that my eternal life is on the line, yet I'm not always really concerned about that. How can I not care where and how I spend the rest of eternity? How can being tired justify jeopardizing the destiny of my soul? How is it that I can find momentary desires more compelling than my eternal welfare?

In short, Jesus died for me, the Holy Ghost is always pulling for me, and I probably have a Guardian Angel or two working on me, as well. Not to mention my Mom and my Bishop and everyone else who cares where my soul ends up. When all those people are trying to help me succeed, what right do I have to give up? How dare I insult all those people by not fighting for my soul at least as hard as they are? How can I throw away my divine potential when so many people are fighting so hard to help me keep it? Part of Captain Moroni's letter may well have been written to me:

Behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain. (Alma 60: 11)

 Salvation is hard. It's certainly a lot harder than saying a prayer and "accepting Jesus into your life." You've got to fight for it. No matter how many people are fighting for you, you, each individual, has to fight for their own souls or they'll lose them. No matter how much God or the Spirit or anyone else fight for us, in the end it'll all go to waste unless we get up and fight for ourselves. Captain Moroni couldn't protect the Nephites without help, and the Holy Ghost can't protect us without our help. We need to act.

What's on my Mind: Camp Out and Life

Sometimes, I have a really hard time thinking of or finding something I want to blog about. The only thing I can think of right now is preparing for the camp out I'm going on this weekend. I'm one of the 11-Year-Old's Scout Leaders in our ward, and this weekend, we're going on a camp out in a former 11-Year-Old's Scout Leader's backyard. Since is the first camp out one of our boys has ever been on, the first camp out I've been on in years, and the first camp out I've ever been a leader for, I'm trying to be extra-careful to make sure it goes smoothly. All of the food assignments have been made and everyone knows what they're bringing, but just to make sure of that, we're having something of a "dress rehearsal" for our meeting tonight. Everyone is going to bring the non-perishable goods that we'll need for the camp out. Hopefully, this will help us to know that we'll have everything that we'll need for the camp out.

I'm a little worried. I want the camp out to be a success, but I keep getting the feeling that I'm forgetting something, and that something important is going to go horribly wrong. Maybe that's just anxiety, or maybe God's trying to tell me that I haven't thought of everything. Being an 11-Year-Old's Scout Leader is my calling, so it's my duty to do a good job. As with so many other things, I'm worried that I'll fail.

But worrying isn't going to help anything. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, morale will. I can make this a good camp out simply by making the others think it's a good camp out. Camping is an experience. Whether it's a good experience or a bad experience is a matter of perspective, and perspective can be influenced by choice. While a certain amount of preparation is important, attitude is the real key. If I maintain a good attitude, and help the others to do the same, it'll be a good experience.

Perhaps life is mostly the same way. It take some preparation to make a life successful, and the more/better preparation you have, the better your life may turn out, but attitude is the real key to telling whether you'll be satisfied with your life or not. Life is an experience. Whether it's a good experience or a bad experience is a matter of perspective, and perspective (and life) can be greatly influenced by choice. I wonder how I felt in the spirit world, preparing for this life. Was I nervous then, too? Now, I believe that with a little bit of patience and faith, everything will work out eventually, especially if you try to keep up a positive attitude. Did I feel that way then?

I don't know, and I guess it doesn't really matter. The past is behind us. We can learn from it if we remember it, but the task at hand is to prepare for the future. The camp out will be successful. I'll make sure of it.

Like Father, Like Son

One of my favorite pieces of deep doctrine is "as man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be," not just because it tells us of our great potential, but also because it sort of humanizes God. He's not just an all-powerful super-being who lives on some cloud far across the cosmos. He is our (Heavenly) Father, who remembers what it was like to be human.

I don't mean to demean God by saying this. He has my respect, if only because He has attained perfection, which seems an impossible goal to me. I know that God is great, but it's also good to know that He can be a great friend. He's not much different from us, really - He's just a bit farther down the road than we are. But knowing that we're "cut from the same cloth," so to speak, helps me to understand His nature and improve my relationship with Him.

It's also, in large part, the same reason I like Jesus so much. Not only do I owe Him one (A BIG one!), but I also admire His strength, and by strength, I mean strength of will. He faced the same temptations we do, but He resisted them. He faced greater hardships than many of us do, but He persevered. He was as human as the rest of us, yet He was perfect. He proved that it was possible for us to succeed, and then He taught us how to succeed, and made it possible for us to overcome the mistakes we would almost inevitably make.

Jesus set the example for us, which would be pointless if we were incapable of following that example. But we can follow it. We can follow Him. And by doing so, we can end up where He is, as He is.

President Lorenzo Snow taught the truth I quoted above. He also wrote a poem with a similar message. I'd like to quote the whole poem, but I can't find it, and I don't have time to keep searching - I need to get to Institute. But here's the portion I have:

The boy, like to his father grown,
Has but attained unto his own;
To grow to sire from state of son,
Is not ’gainst Nature’s course to run. 

A son of God, like God to be,
Would not be robbing Deity. 

(As cited in LeRoi C. Snow, p. 661.)

(LeRoi C. Snow was President Snow's son. Apparently, he wrote a book.)

I like that poem (what little I have), especially that last couplet. "A son of God, like God to be..." To think that becoming like God is not only our potential, but the purpose of our existence, is truly inspiring. But, before we can become like Him in majesty and power, we need to become like Him in wisdom and righteousness. It's difficult, but it's a goal worth striving for, especially now that we know that it's possible, and what the end result will be.

Old Journal Insight - 1 Nephi 1:20

I'm so glad I decided to restart my journal writing. Last night, I was flipping through my journal, and I found many insights that I had forgotten about. Among my favorites was about the second half of 1  Nephi 1:20: "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

When I first started thinking about this verse, I thought it was saying that there were people who had faith, probably great faith, and those were the ones whom God chose to deliver. It seemed that God was playing favorites, preferring to save only those who did what He said, and leaving the rest to their own devices. At one time, I thought God was being selfish and picky.

But more recently, I saw the prerequisite of faith in a different light. The verse in question was referring to Lehi, who was delivered from the destruction of Jerusalem by being warned to leave it. Maybe it's not that God only chose to save Lehi because of his faith, but that He was able to save Lehi because he had enough faith to listen. Perhaps it's not a question of who God will choose to warn, but who will choose to listen to the warnings.

We receive promptings all the time, probably more than we notice or realize. I wonder how much more blessed our lives would be if we were more able to recognize and more willing to heed those promptings. Maybe I should start trying harder to make sure my radio tubes are in good repair.

Working at Full Capacity

The Daily Messages aren't always messages that I have a comment on, but this one is pretty interesting.

"Our Heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can—that we work according to our full capacity, however great or small that may be."
—Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Two Principles for Any Economy"

I've probably mentioned before on this blog that God really just wants us to do our best, but what does it mean to "do our best"? Does it mean to live up to our full potential? Unfortunately, we all fall short of that. No, I interpret this concept a little more loosely. Let's see if I can explain it.

Theoretically, as sons and daughters of God, we have infinite potential. We even have the potential to be perfectly sinless, simply by always choosing the right. Supposedly, if we had great wisdom and perfect self-control, we wouldn't even need a Savior, and yet, all of us do. We all fall short of our great potential, even if we do our best not to.

I don't think "doing our best" means living up to our full, prefect, potential. I genuinely think it simply means trying to. God knows we're not perfect. He knows we'll never be perfect as long as we live. We'll just keep making mistakes over and over again. As I understand it, none of us are, or even can be perfect. So, "doing our best" doesn't mean "achieving perfection," at least, not in my opinion.

Though we all have infinite potential, we each have a limited capacity to live up to that potential. We have limited wisdom, limited knowledge, and limited will-power. This means that we, currently, have limited capacity to make good choices. What God expects of us, if I'm right in this, is that we use what limited wisdom and will-power we have to do the best we can, and that will help us increase our capacity to do good by improving our wisdom and will-power. God expects our behavior to improve as our capacity to improve our behavior grows, but He doesn't ask any more than that. I think doing our best means trying to do our best.

I don't know if I explained that very well. Let's try an analogy. A master had two servants, and he commanded them to move a mountain. The first servant lamented "I can't move a mountain! No one can! No one on earth is that unnaturally strong!" The second servant went to work, and started moving that mountain one rock at a time. At first, he could only move the smaller rocks. But the more rocks he moved, the stronger he got. Eventually, he was able to move larger rocks, and then boulders. The first servant shook his head at the second servant, saying "It's no use. I'll never be as strong as the second servant, and even if I were, it wouldn't be enough. He may be able to roll boulders, but he'll never be strong enough to push over the whole mountain." But he didn't have to be. Little by little, using only what limited capacity he had, the second servant moved enough rocks and boulders that the mountain was noticeably smaller, and the servant was significantly stronger.

Then the master came back and said, "Okay, time's up. Stop working." Both servants were disappointed. "But I'm not done yet," the second servant said. "I haven't finished moving the mountain yet. I'm not ready." The master responded, "I think you're missing the point. Sure, it'd have been great if your were able to move the whole mountain by now - that's why I gave you such a lofty goal - but look at how much of the mountain you were able to remove! And if that's not impressive enough, look at how much stronger you are now for having tried to move the mountain. Yeah, I still want the whole mountain gone eventually, I'll let you get back to that in a minute - take all the time you need - but the point of this phase of the work is Progress, and you've made a significant amount of progress here, not just in getting the mountain moved, but in increasing your capacity to move mountains. Well done."

Yes, God wants us to become perfect, and if we're faithful, we eventually will. But if I'm right in this, what He wants us to accomplish in this life is progress - Progress toward the goal of perfection, and progress in our capacity to pursue that goal. Luckily, those two things go hand in hand, like moving rocks and becoming stronger. We can do it. Start with what you can do, and work your way up as your strength increases. Little by little, rock by rock, using only what limited capacity we have, we can reach our full potential.

Parched

Last night, I made sure I had an idea for what I was going to blog about this morning. I even still remember what the idea was. I just don't remember now why I thought it was a good idea. Luckily, I found this on Facebook instead.

This statement made me wonder, though: Why haven't we died yet? If reading the scriptures is as vital as drinking water, there are thousands of people who should have died of "thirst" a long time ago. Now, I understand that this saying means that the scriptures are as important to our spirits as water is to our bodies. We don't physically die from not reading the scriptures, but rather, we die spiritually. Still, I don't think that the thousands, no, millions, of people who don't read the scriptures are spiritually dead.

Maybe I'm overthinking this. The point of the message is that it's important, perhaps vital, to read the scriptures daily, and I agree. I'd also like to point out that humans need a certain amount of water per day. I'm not sure how much water that is. 8 glasses is the recommendation, but you can survive on 7 glasses, or even 6. I don't know what the minimum limit is, and honestly, I don't want to test it. My point is that you can't just sip some water occasionally and expect to be fully hydrated. (This topic is making my thirsty.)

In a similar manner, merely glancing at or skimming through the scriptures every so often, even daily, may not be enough to keep our spirits properly "hydrated." I'm not saying that we need to read at least so many verses every day, but we do need to spend some time really studying the scriptures. It's not the amount of reading, or even the amount of time you spend reading, but the quality of your study. How much did you learn? How deeply were your heart and mind affected by what you read? Will you remember it? Will you apply it? Will this session of scripture study help you become more like God? If you can answer "yes" to those last three questions, I'd say your scripture study was successful, no matter how little you read or how little time it took you to read it.

Still, it usually takes time to reach the state where we can read something in the scriptures and think about it long enough to have it actually affect us, which is why we're advised to make our daily scripture study a matter of an amount of time, rather than a number of verses or chapters. I should probably read my scriptures longer each night than I currently do, and maybe write down what I learn, so I can better retain it, or at least look back and remember after I forget. I should put a pad of paper near my scriptures near my bed. Better yet, I used to keep a journal in a three ring binder. I should find that binder and use that. I haven't actually written in a journal since I started blogging. Maybe I need to start doing both.